"Can't... I still need to..." Capricornus made his choice just before his consciousness plunged completely into darkness.
He chose to relinquish all control over the godly remains fused within his body and channeled the last bit of magic he could muster into them.
This was a forbidden spell, strictly prohibited by the Secret Society, but at this point, Capricornus could no longer care about the rules.
Thud!
Capricornus collapsed to the ground, seemingly lifeless. Yet, his body began twitching in an eerie, unnatural way.
His muscles contracted and swelled as though they had developed a mind of their own.
Accompanied by the grating sound of bones shifting, Capricornus' corpse twisted into a grotesque ball of flesh, exuding an astonishing surge of magical energy.
The magic radiating from him was suffused with decay and despair. Just one look at it, and it was clear this was something ominous.
"It's over... the godly remains have gone out of control..." Vigo was utterly terrified, standing frozen in place, muttering to herself.
"Inserting magic into the parasitic fragments of a false god's corpse and then relinquishing all control over it—using one's own body as fuel to drive the remains into a frenzy. Tsk! What a reckless spell," Rhys said, immediately seeing through Capricornus' intentions.
In the face of death, Capricornus had chosen to drag others down with him, ensuring he would not face the Grim Reaper alone.
What Sagittarius had done earlier, transforming into two fireballs, was somewhat similar to what Capricornus was doing now, but his case was more of a pseudo-loss of control.
At that time, his consciousness was still intact, allowing him to split the fireball in two—attacking Rhys while attempting to escape in soul state. Capricornus, on the other hand, had died before activating the spell, resulting in complete loss of control, making his situation even more dangerous than Sagittarius'.
After hearing Rhys' calm explanation, Vigo completely lost her composure.
She screamed, cursed at Rhys, and finally declared her intention to drag them all down together. She also decided to relinquish her control over the godly remains within her body.
Rhys glanced at her, almost too indifferent to care.
Unlike Sagittarius and Capricornus, Vigo had not yet achieved the same level of fusion with the godly remains. In other words, even if she self-destructed, her explosion wouldn't be as powerful as that of her companions.
Her value as a newcomer was even lower than Sagittarius and Capricornus. The intelligence she could provide about the Secret Society was likely minimal.
If Rhys had a choice, he would've preferred to keep Sagittarius alive. That guy was hot-headed and easily provoked—perfect for interrogation. His strength and rank were also just right—not too high to be uncontrollable like Capricornus and not too low to be irrelevant like Vigo.
Unfortunately, he chose to end his own life.
Given the strength of these three from the Secret Society, suicide in front of Rhys was something they could achieve.
But even so, it was a smart choice because the terror of surviving would far outweigh death. Rhys glanced at Vigo again.
Rhys' gaze made Vigo shudder, and she hastened the output of her magic.
'Good, he's still at some distance. I have enough time—Ah!'
Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder, causing her body to freeze.
Cold magic surged into her, and the magic flowing within her quickly stalled as if encountering numerous obstacles.
She used all her strength to turn her head, only to see another Rhys standing right beside her.
"Your companions were right. Without mastering a domain, you're ultimately just a second-rate wizard," Rhys snapped his fingers, and the "Rhys" standing in front of Vigo turned into a water bullet.
As it turned out, the Rhys she had been seeing was never his true form—or at least, it had been for a moment, but in the next instant, it was not.
Rhys could transfer his true self to any part of his domain at will.
This was the strength of a domain.
"Stop trying to activate the remains inside you. I've already sealed your magic. My total magic reserves aren't very high, so I can only keep you sealed for half a day. But that should be more than enough," Rhys calmly advised, hoping to dissuade Vigo from further pointless attempts. This would save both of them some trouble.
The water bullet that Rhys' decoy had turned into didn't go to waste.
While talking to Vigo, Rhys directed it towards the grotesque mass that Capricornus had turned into, blasting a large hole in the center of the fleshy ball.
The fleshball squirmed, and the hole blasted by the water bullet was quickly filled with newly grown flesh.
"What a hassle..." Rhys frowned.
The fleshball was constantly being restrained within his domain and was acting purely on instinct, so its danger level wasn't particularly high. Given enough time, he could slowly drain its magic reserves.
But...
Rhys lifted his head, sensing an intense magic force rapidly approaching.
"Didn't expect Dumbledore to be this perceptive," Rhys muttered. "Such sharp senses, and this scorching power... looks like he may have opened a domain too."
During his fight with Capricornus, both sides had been restrained, making sure not to cause too much commotion. But this grotesque fleshball had no such awareness; it seemed eager to announce its presence to the world.
And now, Dumbledore was being drawn in.
For Rhys, this wasn't a bad thing—he could just leave the fleshball for Dumbledore to handle.
"Let's go, yeah?"
Seeing that someone was coming to take over, Rhys decided not to linger. Cheerfully, he grabbed Vigo's arm. The rain that had fallen onto her didn't flow off but instead formed a thin membrane, wrapping around her.
Moments later, Rhys and Vigo sank into the now-muddy grass, softened by the rainwater.
...
The dark, corrupt, and negative magic surged, and Dumbledore immediately lifted his head, sharply aware that something was very wrong.
"Sorry, I've got some matters to attend to. If you have any further questions, feel free to discuss them with Minister Fudge." With a smile, Dumbledore gently moved the wizards blocking his way aside and strode out of the Quidditch stadium.
Though no one knew exactly what Dumbledore was going to do, Cornelius Fudge, now the center of everyone's attention, was delighted.
He warmly greeted the remaining wizards in the stadium, leading them to the Quidditch team's changing rooms to shelter from the rain while discussing the intricacies of the Animagus Reversal Spell.
...
Rhys emerged from the ground, dragging along the motionless Vigo.
He had just made a swift escape, traveling underground from the edge of the Forbidden Forest all the way to the dungeons, skillfully avoiding the professors' patrols.
As he opened the sealed door to the dungeons, he was startled—Ravenclaw's ghost was standing there with her body, right by the sealed entrance.
"What are you up to?"
"I should be asking you the same thing. Why are you breaking into the seal in the middle of the night?"
Rhys shoved Vigo forward.
"Here, I brought you a little experiment subject."
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