"Thunder!" Ivan shouted as he flew through the air and pointed his wand at Grindelwald. Fine arcs of lightning gathered at the tip of the wand, and then a terrifying thunderstorm swept down like a silver serpent.
The lightning was incredibly fast, but Grindelwald was not new to this confrontation with Ivan. The moment the arc lit up, he reacted and flicked his Elder Wand. The petrified female Auror floated up in front of him and collided with the dense arc of lightning.
An ear-piercing thunderclap sounded, and the violent thunderstorm instantly shattered the petrified statue.
Engorgio ~ (Expand quickly) Incentio ~ (flames raging) Oppugno ~ (10,000 bullets fired)
Splinters of rock rained down as Grindelwald pointed his wand again and, under the effects of Obscurus, cast three spells in quick succession, causing the scattered debris to hover in the air. Under the effects of the Amplification Charm, the debris rapidly expanded to several times its original size, and, augmented by a ghostly blue flame, it shot towards Ivan.
These petrification fragments, each the size of a human head, attacked like cannonballs, exploding in midair.
Ivan flapped his wings and dodged between the explosions, anger on his face.
Grindelwald was able to tell that the recently destroyed statue was one of his own men, and it was likely that the statue was still alive. Grindelwald had used this to ward off his magic, no doubt with malicious intent.
Ivan, however, knew full well that his adversary was trying to provoke him, to throw him off balance and give him an advantage in a fight.
At the level of his and Grindelwald's magic, however, even if they fought for an entire day and night, they might not have been able to escape with their lives, as all kinds of charms were used to the extreme.
This was why Ivan gave the rest of the Felix Felicis to Flun. He needed a chance to defeat Grindelwald, and his instincts told him that Flun might be able to help…
As it happened, he was particularly confident in his intuition today!
… .
At the same time, Fran and the others, who had just escaped from the Department of Mysteries, ran into another fierce battle. After spending a lot of effort to finish off several fierce Saints and save four colleagues who had almost been killed, everyone looked at the gap in the wall on the right.
In the previous battle, they had worked together to cast an Exploding Spell, which killed several Saints and blasted holes in the solid walls. To everyone's surprise, the walls were left empty.
"This looks like a secret passage, and it's hidden so well that it must be an important place. Why don't we go in and take a look? Maybe we'll find something." Walker glanced around, then looked at Fran.
Aurorsis, on the other hand, had a different opinion. The ambush at the Department of Mysteries had traumatized him, and the three of them were the only ones who had died. Even if this secret passage was not a trap, it was bound to be extremely dangerous, so they had better gather more people before considering entering…
After a moment's hesitation, Flun accepted Walker's advice, partly because of his hunch about taking Felix Felicis, and partly because he agreed with him.
This secret passage was set up not far from the Department of Mysteries on the first floor, and given how secret it was, it had to be very important. It was probably where the witch Alison was hiding.
If that was the case, the battle earlier might have alerted the enemy.
To prevent their escape, Fran did not hesitate to wave his wand to widen the gap in the wall, then led Walker, Sith, and the four rescued Aurors into the secret passage.
It was a long, narrow corridor with a grey flagstone floor and torches set at intervals of three metres on either side of it, lit by a roaring scarlet flame. From the look of it, it was clear that this was not a makeshift passageway.
In order to avoid being under-staffed and beaten by the crowd, Flun also used his magical imprint to send a message to the Aurors fighting within the Ministry of Magic, telling them to gather as soon as possible.
At the same time, he led Walker and the others to move faster so that they would not be trapped here.
In just half a minute, they had passed through a long, narrow corridor that led to an extremely wide hall.
A dozen or so life-like statues of angels stood on either side of the room, looking very solemn and dignified. The walls of the room were separated by magical images.
Flan took a quick look around. Every battle that had taken place within the Ministry had been recorded, so it seemed that they were being watched. No wonder they had suffered such heavy losses.
"What is this place?" Walker asked, aghast.
"It's probably the French Ministry of Magic's main control room," Fran guessed, looking around before focusing on the five wizards in the middle of the hall.
The other four were just guards, and the one in the middle looked familiar to him. When he compared her to the picture in his mind, he was delighted. This was Alison, the witch they had been looking for!
According to the intelligence, the Horcrux was on the other party's neck…
Alison and the others turned their heads when they sensed the intrusion, but they did not look surprised. Alison had seen the magical images of Flan and the others defeating the guards and entering the main control room, but since there were not many of them, she was more inclined to destroy them there.
"Looks like we're in luck. We've got two fewer enemies than we have…" Sith raised his eyebrows, but as soon as he finished speaking, the main control room shook. The statues of angels on either side of the room suddenly came alive and surrounded them in a semicircle.
"Well, it seems to be more than that now," said Sith sheepishly, looking at the multitude of angel statues.
"You'd better shut the hell up…" Flan snapped, then whipped out her wand and blasted the head off an angel statue.
However, this did not affect the other party's movements. In just two or three seconds, the head that had been blown off regrew.
Alison glanced at Fran and the others, then said to the Saints, "You don't have to protect me. Go and kill them first. If you delay too long, more enemies might come!"