Chapter 166: A Sudden Battle
Regarding research, Vaughn’s attitude was very rigorous, only saying, “To be precise, this is the more likely possibility.”
“…”
Ajinbad was not comforted by Vaughn’s caution.
The muscles in his tense jaw twitched a few times, and a powerful pressure suddenly spread from his body, making his loose robe puff out.
The air was heavy and viscous.
And such an impact even spread further. The originally calm harbor suddenly whipped up a wind.
At the center of the “storm,” bearing the most pressure, Vaughn’s expression was calm. He even had the mood to discern several discordant areas within this harbor from Ajinbad’s manic magical fluctuations.
For example, a canning factory in the distance!
The wind howled throughout the entire harbor.
And in the northeast corner of the harbor, inside a disused canning factory, several middle-aged men in suits looked out at the dock through the windows.
“It’s Babajide Ajinbad. The old man’s magic is astonishing, but why is he suddenly making such a big fuss?”
Hearing his companion’s confusion, one person closed his eyes and sensed, “The emotions in the wind are violent… He’s very angry, and…”
He frowned slightly, “Fear?”
Someone said in surprise, “Could you have misread it?”
“Perhaps…” The sensor reopened his eyes, a look of confusion in them. “I’m more curious what Vaughn Weasley said to make Ajinbad lose his composure like this?”
The eyes of several people shimmered with a faint magical glow.
Under the effect of the enhanced sensing spell, they could observe the target from a great distance.
Of course, their target was not Ajinbad!
“Vaughn Weasley…”
A Black man whispered the name. The raging wind outside beat against the windows, the sound of trembling glass urgent and noisy, just like their current inner turmoil.
“Damn it, why is this guy always acting with the Federation?”
“Don’t be fooled by his age. He’s not stupid. Just the other day I saw an article in the newspaper analyzing that Ilvermorny was being targeted by various organizations and powers for sheltering students, and that the WAC’s North American visit was fraught with peril… Reporters can see the danger, do you think they don’t understand? Aren’t they prepared?”
“Speaking of his age… do you think, how much of what’s circulating in the newspapers about him is true?”
“Which aspect are you referring to? Inventing the Wolfsbane Potion, or founding the WAC? I think it’s likely all true. Otherwise, why would those people in England push a fake to the forefront?”
“I don’t necessarily think so. I heard that Weasley is also one of the pure-blood families in England. Pure-blood… Humph, what wouldn’t those people do?”
“Didn’t the newspaper say Weasley was called a pure-blood traitor?”
“You believe that nonsense? Those Limeys, a derogatory term for Englishmen, were still promoting it everywhere more than ten years ago. Their one-year-old savior killed a legendary dark wizard. Ha, do they think everyone is a fool?”
“Speaking of which, that savior is said to be from the Potter family.”
“Which Potter?”
“Joshua Potter. Remember? Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor back in school, the bald one who always liked to boast about his family lineage.”
“How could I forget? I remember it clearly. Last year, Marino was killed by someone from the Potter family, right in front of me!”
The heavy topic ended the men’s desire to chat, and silence fell within the canning factory.
The Black man who first uttered Vaughn’s name, somewhat uncomfortably loosened his tie and changed the subject, “Why did the organization mandate that we wear Muggle formal wear? Honestly, I’ve only worn it a few times in the past twenty years.”
By the window, the middle-aged wizard who had sensed Ajinbad’s emotions and had been observing the group while they spoke, replied, “Chairman DeSantis believes this will strengthen our conviction, remind us where we come from, and why we fight against pure-bloods.”
The Black man pouted, “Yes, Essex. We come from Muggles. Our struggle is a just fight against discrimination and oppression. I’ve memorized all the speeches, I don’t need this damned tie to remind me… And these damned windows are driving me crazy with their noise.”
Saying that, he raised his wand.
The middle-aged wizard called Essex sensed what he was about to do, frowned, and said, “Don’t mess around, be careful not to expose us.”
“I just want to quiet them down. It’s just a small spell. The harbor outside is a mess because of that old guy, no one will notice.”
Hearing this, Essex thought for a moment and didn’t stop him.
The Black man brewed for a while, and a binding spell was cast at the surrounding windows.
The spell was successful.
As the windows were fixed by the spell, the annoying clattering noise immediately disappeared, and Essex continued to look towards the dock.
The visual aspect of the enhanced sensing spell was enough for his sight to pierce through the wind and water mist, clearly seeing the 12-year-old target on the dock.
Then, something that terrified Essex happened—
The moment the Black man’s magic took effect and the window noise vanished, he saw the boy at the end of his vision suddenly turn his head to look over!
Essex’s heart leaped.
He’d been discovered?
How could that be?
What terrified Essex even more was that the young wizard looking this way suddenly broke into a smile, his lips moving.
In that instant, the distant spatial distance seemed to vanish, and the boy’s voice, just beginning to change, sounded in Essex’s ears…
No, that’s not right, it appeared directly in his mind!
“Hello!”
The next second, the boy disappeared from his vision!
As a seasoned wizard, almost without thinking, Essex suddenly turned his head and roared, “Everyone be careful, Apparition!”
Before his voice fell, the air around them began to distort!
A vortex of spatial wrinkles, accompanied by crackling sounds, expanded with a “poof.”
A distorted figure materialized within it!
“Disarmi—”
These wizards were battle-hardened. As soon as Essex gave the warning, they had alertly drawn their wands.
The Black wizard, who had just finished casting his spell, naturally cast the Disarming Charm the moment the figure appeared.
However, his spell was not completed this time!
The figure crossing space, still distorted like an image on a mirror, hadn’t fully formed before a red light shot out from the still-unfolding vortex.
The red light hit him unexpectedly, cutting short the Black man’s spell. Under the terrifying power of the curse, he was sent flying backward, his wand slipping from his grasp.
Crack!
A fair hand caught it!
Vaughn stepped out of the spatial vortex. With his other hand, he held his wand and made a light sweep beside him, summoning a lustrous and potent Full Body-Bind Curse, protecting him securely.
Immediately after, a barrage of spells drowned him!
“How could this be!”
“From so far away, how did he discover us? He’s only 12 years old, why does he have such proficient Apparition and Disarming Charm? Why?”
Countless “whys” filled Essex’s mind.
Of course, with his extensive combat experience, even in his shock, he instinctively cast two blasting curses. Explosions, firelight, mixed with the colors of various spells cast by others, engulfed the terrifying boy.
But such a scene did not bring Essex any peace!
In this world, wizards of any country believe that a person as a whole is composed of body and spirit.
Body represents the physical form, the tangible entity that exists in reality.
Spirit is the unified term for soul, consciousness, and spirit. Wizards believe that magic, emotions, and other elements that create magic and miracles all originate from the spirit!
Spirit is miracle, it is mystery, it is the hand that changes reality, it is the eye that peers into the future!
That’s why there are innate Animagi, Legilimens, and also innate Seers in this world. Essex was someone born with the talent for prophecy.
It’s just that his talent wasn’t as powerful as the great prophets in historical records; his prophecies were more like a premonition of danger.
Just like at this moment, looking at the place engulfed by spells, Essex’s heart was filled with intense unease!
That sense of unease was so clear, as if his spirituality was frantically warning him:
Danger!
Essex couldn’t explain why, but past experience told him that heeding instinctive warnings was often more effective than his own rational judgments.
“Be careful!”
He shouted, using the shortest words possible, to warn his companions.
The next moment, Essex saw the source of the danger—
Amidst the spells, explosions, firelight, and dust, two beams of azure light illuminated. The instant he saw the light, Essex felt as if his brain had been struck!
Bang!
With a dull roar that seemed to reach the depths of his consciousness, Essex felt himself floating, and a vast darkness appeared before his eyes.
His vision was like a small window, floating above his head!
“This… my consciousness was thrown into the Mind World? Was that blue light Legilimency?”
This realization brought Essex a sense of absurdity and terror.
It also made him clearly understand that Vaughn Weasley, this 12-year-old young wizard, was far more powerful than he, and the organization had estimated!
Time flowed very slowly in the world of thought.
Yet, through the window-like vision, Essex could see, “frame by frame,” what was happening outside!
He saw that everyone, including himself, had frozen in place.
He saw that in the area filled with firelight and smoke, as they “stopped,” the semi-transparent Full Body-Bind Curse gradually became visible.
The spells cast by several people did not seem to have caused much damage to it; it was still functioning perfectly, protecting its owner.
He saw Vaughn Weasley “slowly” wave his wand, and the windows of the canning factory shattered silently.
The wind rushed in!
Like a slow-motion scene from a Muggle movie, Vaughn Weasley, this terrifying fellow, slowly emerged from the haze caused by the violent airflow, his robe and red hair fluttering in the wind.
He raised his wand!
Broken glass, window frames, debris… everything usable was transformed into ropes under the command of that fair hand and wand.
Then, like snakes, they coiled towards them!
The other party intended to capture them alive!
Essex struggled desperately. Fortunately, he also knew Memory Charms. For the past year, to resist pure-bloods and to prevent one captured member from threatening all members of the organization, they had all been equipped with mind defenses by the organization.
Essex tried to communicate with the cold sensation hidden deep within his mind.
Chairman DeSantis had personally constructed a barrier for him. Its primary function was to hide secrets, but at moments like these, its power could help him break free from Vaughn Weasley’s Legilimency!
He succeeded!
As the thing hidden deep within his mind responded to his call, enveloping his consciousness in coldness.
His consciousness returned to his body.
The moment he opened his eyes, the wind was howling in his ears, and his subjective sense of time returned to normal. The ropes he had seen coiling slowly in the Mind World had already arrived before him like lightning.
Essex skillfully spat out a torrent of flames, burning the transformed ropes to ashes.
“Huh?”
He heard Vaughn Weasley utter a surprised sound, but he didn’t dare to look. The other party’s mysterious Legilimency had left him shaken!
He didn’t even dare to linger. He cast several spells in quick succession, briefly hindering Vaughn Weasley, then retreated, his body twisting with the air, and disappeared.
“Interesting…”
A flick of his wand restored the near-collapsed Full Body-Bind Curse to its full strength. Vaughn narrowed his eyes as he watched the place where Essex had disappeared.
At this moment, two crackling sounds were heard.
It was Lupin and Matthew.
“President, what happened?” Lupin asked, warily watching the wizards holding wands opposite Vaughn.
Matthew was more direct, raising his wand as if to attack.
“They pose no immediate threat, dear Matthew.” Vaughn said with a smile. He waved his wand, and the surrounding wind dissipated.
At the same time, the transformed ropes had already bound those individuals.
“These are all living individuals who can provide intelligence. You two have arrived just in time. Take them away. I’ll interrogate them later.”
“Yes!”
The two agreed. Lupin asked, “Aren’t you going back?”
Vaughn shook his head. “One escaped. I need to follow and see. If I can find the lair of these hospitable Yankees, it could save a lot of trouble!”
…
Apparition, Apparition!
The sensation of his body constantly twisting with space and light made Essex dizzy and nauseous.
But he dared not stop. Vaughn Weasley’s powerful strength pressed down heavily on his heart, forcing him to keep traversing space, trying to escape the other party as quickly as possible.
In just a few minutes, Essex had traversed the vast expanse of Boston’s urban area and appeared on the other side of the city.
With another Apparition, having escaped the distorted space, Essex finally couldn’t help but vomit.
He knelt on the ground, vomiting and coughing as if suffocating, and only after a while did he calm down.
Raising his head, he looked around. The sparse houses and dense vegetation told him he was likely in some place in the far outskirts.
This relieved him.
But then came regret!
“Damn it…”
He regretted the inaccurate intelligence—the organization had never mentioned before that Vaughn Weasley was so powerful. His spell proficiency, power, and magical ability all far exceeded the average adult wizard’s!
Especially his skilled and terrifying mastery of Memory Charms!
On the other hand, he regretted that he, who had noticed Vaughn Weasley’s abnormality at the first moment, should have decisively led everyone away. But faced with the surprise attack of the other party’s Apparition, he instinctively chose to counterattack.
The result was that others fell into enemy hands!
He punched the ground several times to vent his inner frustration, then struggled to stand up. He knew that regret wouldn’t change anything.
What he should do now was to get away from Boston quickly, then find an opportunity to return to the organization and report Vaughn Weasley’s strength intelligence to prevent further losses!
With that in mind, Essex, after resting for a while, began to Apparate again.
Being cautious by nature, he did not choose to return to the organization immediately but decided to teleport to a more desolate wilderness first to ensure his safety.
After several more Apparitions, Essex appeared in a forest.
This was a reserve set up by Muggles, far from any town, sparsely populated, and one of his pre-arranged hiding places.
“I’ll rest for two days, then go back when it’s safe!”
He sighed, looked around at the dense jungle, determined his direction based on the few trees he remembered, and then walked to a small hill and quietly uttered a spell.
The next moment, the small hill disappeared, and a simple camp was revealed.
Seeing the camp, Essex relaxed a bit, and then a voice came from behind him:
“You’re not planning to go back yet? A bit disappointing. I followed you for nearly forty minutes!”
The voice was so unfamiliar and yet familiar!
Just forty minutes ago, it had sounded in his ears, in his mind.
Essex’s heart was shocked, fear like an invisible hand gripped his heart, making his breathing rapid, but he was a warrior, battle-hardened!
Without turning around, the wand he had been holding suddenly deflected, and a thin red light shot from the tip.
*Boom*—
Essex heard the sound of the spell being deflected, but he couldn’t care anymore. He seized the opportunity to rush forward a few steps, his body stretching into a long strip as space distorted, and he plunged into a vortex that suddenly appeared in the air!
But Vaughn was faster than him!
“Your Disarming Charm is as thin as chopsticks.”
The demonic whisper caused Essex’s pupils to vibrate violently.
When?
Unable to make many movements during Apparition, Essex saw with his peripheral vision that Vaughn Weasley had already caught up behind him.
Even though he had successfully entered the vortex and successfully Apparated, he couldn’t escape the other party—
The tubular passage of spatial travel, countless sceneries slid by as if on flat paintings.
Light and shadow spun rapidly.
Vaughn Weasley’s distorted figure, in his eyes, amidst the spinning light and shadow, traversed and intertwined with the countless picture-like landscapes.
Soon, the other party “invaded”!
The shock of his magic being encroached upon, the visual impact of a person stretching from a plane into a three-dimensional entity, made Essex unable to suppress his fear any longer.
For the first time in his life, he mobilized a large amount of emotion in an instant, combined it with magic, and forced the spatial passage to “spit” him out!
The perspective changed rapidly, and Essex stumbled into view.
But to his despair, he clearly saw that Vaughn Weasley, clad in a velvet robe without a single wrinkle, his red hair fluttering, had also materialized, waiting in front of him.
Damn it!
How infuriating!
Anger and despair almost overwhelmed Essex, but his remaining reason told him he couldn’t stop. His form blurred slightly, and a distorted vortex reappeared.
Escape!
Even if it meant splitting apart, he had to escape!
Fighting back was useless; only Apparition was his only path to survival. He had to live, and he had to bring back the intelligence about Vaughn Weasley’s formidable power!
Essex gritted his teeth and plunged into the vortex again.
The moment he entered the vortex, he felt intense pain in his body. It was likely a splitting accident. He saw his body like a rapidly spinning noodle, with streams of bright red color flying out.
Of course, more importantly, he saw Vaughn Weasley’s figure, also blurred due to spatial distortion, reaching out towards him.
The spinning light and shadow of the spatial passage suddenly dimmed because of this hand!
It broke free from the constraints of space, extending from those flat paintings like a ghost emerging from a screen in a Muggle movie.
What terrified Essex even more was that although his body was spinning at high speed, he seemed unable to escape the approaching hand!
He suddenly realized that it wasn’t that the hand was fast, but that he had become “slow”!
Just like the moon, no matter how fast it spins, it can only follow the Earth’s path!
Vaughn Weasley, this terrifying being who constantly shattered common sense, could not only invade his Apparition but also forcibly “take away” control of his magic!
Essex watched helplessly as that fair, slender hand slowly pressed down on his neck.
The next moment, excruciating pain!
In a desolate valley, the air exploded with a bang. Vaughn, one hand around Essex’s neck, emerged from space.
Essex was covered in blood.
*Plop*!
He fell to the ground, then screamed.
His piercing cry startled a flock of birds and the panicked sounds of escaping beasts.
Vaughn looked down at the pitiful figure—one of his legs was missing, and there was a huge, smooth wound extending from his back to his buttocks.
Blood gushed out madly.
A very severe split!
But Vaughn was not worried at all. For a Potions Master like him, as long as the person didn’t die immediately, there were plenty of ways to save them.
After observing carefully for a while, he confirmed that the other party had no other hidden, unseen injuries, nor had his body suffered conditions like split limbs appearing inside his abdomen or half his internal organs missing.
Waving his wand, he summoned a ball of clear water to wash away the dirt and blood from the other party. Vaughn opened his satchel, took out a bottle of Spermaceti, and gently dripped it onto the wound of the other party’s severed leg and back.
The potion took effect, and wisps of white smoke rose. The middle-aged wizard lying on the ground convulsed with pain.
Vaughn soothed, “Bear with it. This is a highly concentrated Spermaceti Potion I specially refined when I was practicing Apparition. It hurts a lot, but the effect is excellent… You probably won’t get your leg back. Actually, why did you run? You should understand that my Apparition skills are superior to yours. You couldn’t escape, and not only did you waste your effort, but you ended up like this!”
“Ugh—” The middle-aged wizard gritted his teeth, his face pale and covered in sweat from the intense pain.
His injuries were severe. Vaughn used two full bottles of Spermaceti before the wound finally closed, covered by a newly grown, almost transparent membrane mixed with foam and soft blood scabs.
It looked disgusting.
Putting away the bottles, Vaughn looked around and waved his wand again, summoning large leaves from some unknown tree species and laying them on the ground as a temporary bed.
The function of Spermaceti was to promote the body’s self-healing, not to make injuries disappear, and newly grown human tissue was still easily infected.
Severe injury, blood loss, and excruciating pain, all tormenting him, blurred Essex’s vision. His oxygen-deprived brain could no longer maintain conscious awareness.
When the bleeding was controlled and he was temporarily out of danger, the adrenaline and cardiotonics released by the body’s self-protection mechanism stopped secreting.
Weakness and fatigue washed over Essex.
In his hazy state, he felt Vaughn Weasley move him onto the “bed” and heard the other party say teasingly:
“… You should be glad I don’t usually like dead people, because once they’re dead, they can no longer speak. Their value goes from priceless to a pile of useless fat, protein, and carbohydrates.”
Familiar and distant terms.
So distant that it was more than 20 years ago, when he was still a Muggle.
Essex tried hard to open his eyes and look at this incredibly powerful genius wizard who seemed to know so much about Muggles, but he was too tired.
He heard Vaughn Weasley summon flames and start a bonfire, then, in the warmth of the firelight, he fell into a deep sleep…
When Essex woke up again, it was already night.
Flames licked the firewood, making crackling sounds. Further away, it was completely dark, and the dense forest, invisible, echoed with insect chirps and various rustling sounds.
“Awake?”
Hearing the voice, Essex instinctively tensed his body, then the memories of falling asleep rushed back. His expression stiffened, his muscles relaxed, and he turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.
The campfire was burning brightly, and Vaughn Weasley was sitting at the other end, with a very familiar wand and a wallet at his feet.
Essex felt his pocket. His wallet was indeed gone.
As if noticing his movement, Vaughn looked up and raised the card he was holding. “I was a bit bored while you were unconscious, so I found something on you to get to know you in advance and pass the time… Your name is Bruce Essex?”
His familiar and gentle demeanor made Essex momentarily stunned.
“You…”
Essex found his throat so dry that he couldn’t even make a sound.
Across from him, Vaughn, who was re-examining the identification, pointed to his side. “Don’t worry, you lost a lot of blood and are a bit dehydrated. Just replenish your fluids. I’ve prepared it for you, and there’s a cup of potion here to replenish blood. Drink it together!”
Essex hesitated.
But thinking about it, if the other party wanted to harm him, there would be no need for such a roundabout way. He couldn’t defeat him anyway, and the other party had plenty of opportunities when he was unconscious.
He no longer hesitated. He picked up the cup and drank it down in one gulp. The sweet liquid soothed his almost burning throat.
Essex breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the cup of potion. The strange smell of the medicine stung his nose, but he drank it anyway.
This action made Vaughn smile.
“A wise choice. It seems you don’t want to die, which is good. It lays a good foundation for our smooth communication later.”
Was this sarcasm?
Essex wasn’t sure, but he knew Vaughn Weasley was right; he didn’t want to die!
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have drunk the water and potion.
But out of pride, Essex said with a hoarse voice, “You… don’t try to get anything from me, I won’t say anything… Don’t even think of getting anything from my memory. I have a mind barrier. It protects my inner secrets and also monitors them…”
Vaughn nodded. “I know. I already tried when you were unconscious. It’s a rather ingenious self-destructing defense spell. If I forcibly break it, it will ‘dissolve’ your secrets in your consciousness and then burn you into an idiot.”
“… I know its function, I requested it that way. You don’t need to provoke me!”
Essex panted wearily, “You don’t need to provoke me!”
Vaughn was unfazed by his intention being exposed and smiled, “Alright, it seems your situation is even more difficult than I anticipated, resorting to such extreme measures to keep secrets… In the past year, your organization must have had quite a few people captured, right?”
Essex closed his eyes, unwilling to answer.
He had said he wouldn’t reveal organizational intelligence!
Seeing his resolve, Vaughn shrugged and put down the identification he was holding. “Bruce Essex, this surname, are your ancestors English?”
“…”
“This doesn’t count as you revealing information, does it? We’re just chatting. You’re very weak right now and can’t Apparate. We have to stay here at least one night, and we’re idle, so why not get to know each other?”
“…”
Still silence.
But after a moment, Essex opened his eyes. “Yes, my great-grandfather immigrated to America in the late 19th century. To commemorate his hometown, he changed his surname to Essex.”
“After immigrating to America, have you always lived in Massachusetts?”
Hearing this, Essex glanced at Vaughn.
Vaughn smiled. “When you Apparated earlier, I followed you and found you were very familiar with Boston, so you’re likely local.”
“That’s right…”
Essex answered briefly. Speaking of this, he thought again of the young man’s inconceivable Apparition and couldn’t help but twitch his eyelids.
The chilling scenes of the spatial passage being invaded by the other party hours ago reappeared before his eyes.
Is this genius?
Essex couldn’t help but think dejectedly.
He was 38 years old, and the other party was only 12!
Yet in reality, he had no power to fight back against the other party, in every sense of the word!
This was true not only in combat but also in the current verbal exchange!
Yes, both Vaughn and Essex understood that there was no real conversation between them. The so-called chat at this moment was actually a form of negotiation, a psychological degradation strategy through “small talk,” to soften conflict emotions.
