The three of them, like the other wizards, descended from the stands and walked slowly toward the castle.
As they walked, Capricornus spoke, "The reason Gryffindor was able to severely wound the God-King Odin, known as the Father of the Gods, plunging the immortal into eternal slumber, was because he used the cursed Sword of Gryffindor, which was enchanted by the Goblin King, Ragnuk I. Once we get our hands on this sword, we too can possess the power to rival the gods."
Rhys, overhearing Capricorn's words, could barely hold back his laughter.
He had no idea how such rumors spread over time, but from what he'd seen, Gryffindor's sword was just an ordinary goblin-forged sword… nothing more.
And seriously, the way they inflated the reputation of those Norse false gods! "Eternal slumber"? That was ridiculous. How had they even come up with that term? The God-King must have had excellent sleep quality—he didn't even wake up when his skull was used to craft a crown.
Rhys was baffled by how later generations always seemed to fantasize that an ordinary person wielding a particular weapon could suddenly become invincible.
Gryffindor's sword had become a myth, and the same thing had happened with the so-called Elder Wand.
One sword could supposedly slay gods the moment you picked it up, and the other was said to make its owner unbeatable forever. Rhys found both claims absurd.
And then there were things like the "Sword in the Stone," which was said to have done something earth-shattering at some point, just sitting in a stone, waiting for someone to pull it out and become king of the realm.
Isn't this all just nonsense?
It's like picking a support role in a game, then after winning, claiming the victory was only possible because you supported the carry.
What's the difference?
Legends always come first, and legendary items follow.
Capricornus of the Secret Order thought Voldemort was mentally unstable and didn't want him in the group. Rhys viewed the Cult members in a similar light—he thought all three of them were a bit unhinged.
He moved silently underground, quietly following the trio. He planned to strike when they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. By then, they would be far enough from both the stadium and the castle, so their confrontation wouldn't attract much attention.
Daphne should be resting by now, Rhys figured. She was probably already deep in sleep.
He had just pulled a little trick, using a transfigured fake version of himself to trick Daphne into returning to the Slytherin common room to rest. His intention was to keep her from getting involved in the fight with the Secret Order.
These three members of the Cult were still too dangerous for her.
Rhys sighed inwardly—villains like Quirrell, with his middling power, were hard to come by!
At the end of the previous school year, Rhys had actually wanted to spare Quirrell. Such a valuable teaching resource shouldn't have been wasted after just one use!
If he could have kept him around, it would have provided Daphne with a few years' worth of training.
Unfortunately, by the time Rhys found Quirrell, the man had already been drained dry by Voldemort. There was no saving him.
At this moment, Daphne wasn't obediently going back to sleep as Rhys had expected. She had a sharp sense that something was wrong.
So, she made a slightly silly but effective decision: to wait right outside the bathroom!
She wasn't going to leave until she caught Rhys coming out.
It turned out to be a good idea. Rhys had seemingly dissolved into the bath itself—he went in and never came back out.
After waiting a long time without seeing Rhys, Daphne finally gathered her courage and quickly dashed into the bathroom.
After looking around, she clenched her fists.
Just as she suspected, Rhys had ditched her and snuck away!
There was no trace of him anywhere in the bathroom.
...
Rhys, unaware that his trick had been seen through, focused on the three members of the Secret Order ahead of him. They were not the kind of small-time characters that could be easily dealt with. The old man known as Capricornus had actually mastered a domain!
But once Capricornus summoned his domain, Rhys suddenly smiled, feeling relieved.
Capricornus stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, gently waving his arms. As he did so, a thin mist began to form at the forest's border.
"Luck's on our side tonight, the air is very humid," Capricornus said, sounding particularly pleased. He was even in the mood to talk more than usual. "Perfect conditions for deploying the Fog domain. Vigo, Sagittarius, you two need to work harder and grasp your own domains soon. Without mastering a domain, you'll never truly be worth much."
Capricornus's words deeply stung Sagittarius. Though he felt annoyed and frustrated, he couldn't argue because Capricornus was speaking the harsh truth.
Vigo, on the other hand, nodded and said he would spend more time studying the divine remains, aiming to open his own domain as soon as possible.
Seeing the attitude of his teammates, Sagittarius could only shrug helplessly. "There's really nothing I can do about domains. If I can't figure it out, I can't figure it out."
"I've really been studying, though! Check the usage logs of the quiet room in the organization if you don't believe me!" he added defensively.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever.." Capricornus felt his good mood completely ruined by Sagittarius.
Feeling annoyed, he sped up the activation of his domain. Soon, the thin mist covered the grass outside the castle entirely.
Perhaps due to the rising moisture, delicate threads of rain began to fall from the sky, bringing a chilling sensation.
The mist started to gather around the trio.
According to Capricornus's plan, this mist would provide them with a convenient protective layer, making them undetectable by magical means. More importantly, their movement speed within the fog would become astonishingly fast, allowing them to escape quickly even if they were discovered by the school's teachers.
But just as the mist began to close in around Capricornus, he suddenly sensed something was off. Even in the rain, the speed at which the mist was gathering seemed unnaturally fast.
Something was wrong!
"Activate your divine remains fully, now!" Capricornus shouted urgently.
Sagittarius and Vigo, though unsure why Capricornus had suddenly panicked, respected his strength enough to immediately activate the divine remains fused into their bodies.
Sagittarius's eyes instantly lost their luster, and his sclera turned a murky, dull color, while the veins on his face became an eerie purplish-blue. Vigo's skin turned an ashen gray, like that of a corpse, and a faint stench of decay began to waft through the air.
"You're no different, living off the scraps of your ancestors. What's even more laughable is that those so-called false gods aren't even your ancestors. You're nothing more than grave robbers," a young voice echoed through the mist.
"What, who ar—!"
In the next moment, the mist in front of Capricornus's chest suddenly coalesced into an ice spike.
Spilch!
Before he could react, it pierced his heart, leaving him with an expression of utter disbelief.
________
12 Advance Chapters—Patreon.com/HornyFBI