"You Dare--"
In many stories, the ending can be predicted from the beginning. The underground world that is full of sinister air suddenly burst out into the angry howls, which are as sharp as the howling of a wolf when it sees the full moon.
"Mocking--"
In the third second after taking confusion medicine, the old wizard rose up from the table, the dense pustules and scabies on his head turned red to purple, and then to black. Next, they began to boil like the magic potion that was about to be brewed. The flesh thorns on his face also became excited. They twisted crazily while growing rapidly as if they couldn't wait to get away from the wizard's face.
"Great--"
The old wizard was enraged beyond measure, and his tone was full of anger as he spoke. He lifted a short, thick cane with a gem at its tip, seemingly wanting to curse the deceived person with a fierce spell.
But it was quite unfortunate that he seemed to have forgotten that his current state had already lost control of the explosive and evil magic force, and his attempt to cast a spell actively exacerbated the chaos in his own magical force, causing it to further spiral out of control. He was like a wax figure placed on a flame, starting from the top of his head and spreading throughout his entire body, melting rapidly.
In a blink of an eye, the person who was still alive just moments ago had transformed into a heap of dark, gooey pus on the ground!
"I'm sorry, Great... What?"
The thin bamboo stick, who traded with the old wizard, looked strangely cold and sneered. He took the secret silver on the table and stuffed it into his robe. Then, he walked to the pile of pus and examined it for a moment. He pulled out the wizard's magic staff from inside, and carefully inspected the ruby at its top with a torch hanging in mid-air.
Through that layer of black cloth, Ammosta could also sense his smugness on his face.
The thin bamboo stick noticed the gaze on him and turned his head to look at Ammosta with an unfriendly expression, as if he thought Ammosta was going to steal from him. So, he muttered a low threat,
"Here, greed and insatiable curiosity can cause you to lose your life at any moment, King Viper, do not think that tearing a few big watchdogs to pieces will make everyone afraid of you--"
Ammosta sneered lightly, lowering his head to deeply gaze at the pool of solution. After a while, a hoarse, old voice emerged from beneath his hood.
"Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Liar, but you seem to have forgotten that carelessness is also very deadly besides greed and curiosity."
"What?"
At the moment the thin bamboo stick was stunned, a black shadow with blood-red eyes suddenly shot up from the pile of pus on the ground. The shadow, like the personification of death, floated in mid-air and roared an eerie cry at the thin bamboo stick,
"Come and embrace death with me, scoundrel!"
The shadow in the air surpassed the understanding of the thin bamboo stick. He had no thought of resisting it and turned to run, but unfortunately, every inch of space in the underground world was bound by the enchantment of reversing shadow-mimicking shape-shifting spell. The nearest fireplace was at least half a mile away.
Before the thin bamboo stick could run out of the short wall, the huge shadow of death-like already caught up with him, diving down from half in the air to the ground. It opened its mouth lined with sharp teeth and swallowed the thin bamboo stick's body and his scream in an instant!
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack---
The grinding sound that made his teeth ache clearly reached his ears, mixing with the bloody streams of water that fell to the ground, rich and stinking. The blood smell made Ammosta's brows furrow.
The Death form of the old wizard was only a struggle at the brink of death, and it could not exist in the world for long.
The shadow that had avenged its life's death quickly faded. As it was about to disappear completely, it turned and stared at Ammosta with a hoarse voice filled with resentment.
"You knew that thing was fake, but you didn't warn me!"
"Why do you attribute your own foolishness to others?"
Ammosta coldly said, "Before I become interested in your current form, you'd better disappear quickly. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind keeping you in a glass bottle for decades before sending you to hell."
Ammosta's words he could not refute, the shadow sighed helplessly and looked around with reluctance before his figure faded away completely. He took a few steps towards death with long strides.
Some people around noticed the commotion, but none were surprised by what had happened, nor did anyone want to approach to find out what exactly occurred. As the thin bamboo stick wizard had said, in this No Land, a surging curiosity might lead to your death at any moment.
A streak of silver light shot through the dark air as Ammosta summoned the band of scarred silver, cleaning it up and neatly placing it into his chest without a second thought, feeling particularly happy.
After the crisp snap of a finger, the magma of the old wizard and the flesh fragments of the thin bamboo stick spontaneously ignited golden magic fire. In just a few moments, the flames had cleared away the dirty ground and destroyed any remaining traces of both people from their existence on earth.
If you take something from someone else, it's polite to help with the aftermath. That's what we call a sense of public morality.
"It seems that I missed a good show, Mr. King Viper?"
Ammosta turned his head to look at the source of the voice. A middle-aged wizard with black eyes and golden hair was standing under the tall billboard, smiling at him.
"Perhaps, you narrowly avoided some trouble."
Ammosta nodded in agreement, with a cold and indifferent tone.
The newcomer was named Kakus Fli, a well-known go-between in the underground world, hailing from the Fli clan, one of the twenty-eight sacred clans.
This family once enjoyed a renowned reputation in the magical world. At its most glorious, the head of the family even served as the Minister of Magic, making it a well-deserved elite family.
But it was unfortunate that Hector Fli, the Minister of Magic of the Fli family at that time, did not have the strategic vision beyond reality. He ignored Albus Dumbledore's warning and mistakenly estimated the harm that the first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, who was at the height of his power at that time, would bring to Britain and even the entire European magical world. As a result, he was driven off by enraged wizards.
And as a result of losing the protection of power, the Fli family suffered a severe setback and gradually faded into obscurity from the British magical community.
For two or three generations, the declining Fli family has been seeking a way to reclaim its position at the center stage. They have tried various paths, but always failed, as there is an unbeatable figure standing at the end of any path in this current era.
In fact, Albus Dumbledore had never targeted the declining Fli family, but the people of the magical world would not forget that it was Hector who ignored Dumbledore's warning, leading to heavy casualties in the later fight against Grindelwald.
Fifty years have passed, and the anger towards the Fli family has gradually dissipated, but Albus Dumbledore is still alive!
The current Minister of Magic, however, always adopts a vigilant attitude towards the centenarian professor at Hogwarts School. They have no reason to risk angering the greatest wizard of the contemporary era for a speck of dust that should have been long forgotten in the course of history.
In the end, the helpless Fli family decided to turn to the shadowy side.
They sent out one of the few decent younger members of the family to operate in the underworld, willing to take on the risk of retribution and step into the limelight. This person worked hard to accumulate wealth and connections, quietly waiting for an opportunity to return to the light.
