What the hell is that thing?
Moody whipped around and fired a spell at the wall outside the washroom.
Boom!
But among the collapsing bricks, there was no trace of the arms.
Did it escape?
Moody turned back to the mirror. This ti, his heart leapt into his throat.
In the reflection, the wall was completely intact, standing as if it had never been damaged. And countless arms were still frantically clawing at the grey mbrane.
Then, with a ripping sound like tearing fabric, the noise ca clearly from behind him.
The arms broke through. Bodies began to crawl out of the wall.
It was impossible to describe in words what this thing was.
Its skin was peeling and covered in mold, as if stitched together from countless corpses. Multiple arms and legs extended outward. It was like a walking atball.
From the center of the mass protruded a woman's head. Her tangled black hair hung down, knotted among the limbs like the fur of so rodent.
This is the rat that was crawling in my walls?
Moody's pupils shrank. His blood felt like it had frozen solid.
He would swear that in all his decades as an Auror, he had never seen anything this twisted. Even the most deranged dark wizards would never dare create sothing this blasphemous.
Had he angered so ancient witch or wizard?
Moody was silent for two seconds. Then he pulled out the flask he never went anywhere without, tipped it back, and took a swig. The burn flooded down his throat, setting his blood and magic boiling.
"Hah!"
Mad-Eye Moody, the old Auror who had survived countless battles with dark wizards, wiped his mouth. A gleam of ferocity showed in his remaining eye.
The enemy must have targeted him because of his upcoming position as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. For Dumbledore and Harry Potter, he would not lose.
His magical eye rolled. The chanical blue pupil fixed on the ornate antique mirror in his hand.
"If everything originates from this mirror, then what I need to do is simple!"
Moody raised his hand high. Then he slamd the mirror down onto the floor.
Crash!
The already cracked glass shattered into glittering shards.
The next instant—
[AHHHHH!]
A mass of wild black hair erupted from the broken mirror with a blood-curdling shriek. Countless dagger-like arms blood like a flower and lunged at Moody.
Bang!
Even prepared, Moody still flinched. He whipped out a spell with lightning reflexes. Then watched, dumbfounded, as she caught the curse in one claw and crushed it.
Moody: "??"
What in rlin's na is this abomination? Whoever created this dark magic really needs a check-up. Are you even from Earth?
[ROAR!]
The strike seed to enrage the disheveled Rat King. She shrieked and abandoned her previous leisurely pace. Swinging those grotesque arms, she pressed toward Moody like a mountain of flesh.
Crash!
Moody instinctively blasted through the wall and leapt outside. To guard against dark wizards Apparating to his ho, he had set up anti-Apparition wards around his property. Even he had to leave the periter before he could Disapparate.
When fresh night air rushed into his lungs, Moody's mind cleared.
He realized this was a trick to lure him out of his trap-filled house.
"Hmph. Think I'm easier to deal with outside my safe house? Now, nothing will surprise —"
Moody froze.
His magical eye stared, slack with shock, as a wizard under a Disillusionnt Charm charged into the house with reckless abandon—straight into the Rat King's embrace.
Barty: "???"
Moody: "???"
Wait, why are you coming out/going in?
In the instant they passed each other, Moody saw the undisguised shock and terror in the dark wizard's eyes.
Then: "AHHHHH what is this thing?! Let, let go of —glrk—"
Moody stood speechless. In decades as an Auror, he had never seen such bizarre tactics. Are you not familiar with your own accomplice?
The next second, a scorpion-like tail hook whipped around his waist from behind.
Moody: "!!"
A feint! If that dark wizard hadn't left him dazed for a split second, he definitely could have dodged.
"I won't surrender—" Bang!
The wardrobe door slamd shut, sealing his furious, defiant roar inside.
[You have given Mad-Eye Moody a taste of the new century's dark wizards.]
[Soul attunent increased by 0.7%.]
[81.6% → 82.3%.]
"Whew. Mission accomplished."
Ethan wiped nonexistent sweat from his brow and looked down at the blown-apart house with a satisfied nod. "The Rat King and I are so amazing!"
The rise in soul attunent released a wave of magic through his body, offsetting the high-intensity output from using the painting. Less than one percent, but even mosquito legs are at. And this was over eighty percent soul attunent!
[Na: "The Rats in the Walls"]
[Tier: Third Tier, Blue Precious]
[Effect: Can move through the walls of buildings and strike enemies by surprise. Claws provide cutting and defensive capability with high spell resistance. Vulnerable to fire.]
[Evaluation: The collective vengeful spirits of the girls murdered by Jack the Ripper. Given new life by the extraordinary item Hairy Heart, now renad the Rat King. Will disembowel her enemies.]
Though he still had not painted a gold-tier legendary work, which was a bit disappointing, this was more than enough as a surprise trump card.
Ethan stepped forward leisurely toward the mansion. He stopped before the writhing Rat King.
Seeing her master, the Rat King lifted her curtain of black hair. From the visible contours, she seed to have been quite a pretty girl. Pale skin.
Ethan smiled and extended his hand toward the twisted, grotesque monster. "Thank you for your hard work, my little dear."
[Ah…]
The Rat King trembled faintly. Hesitantly, she slowly extended one claw and placed it in Ethan's hand. Then, as if scalded by his warmth, she jerked it back with a shriek and burrowed into the ground in a flash.
"Oh, shy, are we?"
Ethan chuckled softly. He looked at Barty, who lay foaming at the mouth on the ground where the Rat King had left him, thoroughly traumatized and unconscious. Then he felt the violent struggling inside the wardrobe.
Ethan snapped his fingers cheerfully. "Using the Cracked Wayward Mirror to see the Other World, combined with The Rats in the Walls painting, to successfully capture Mad-Eye and Barty. Nice!"
Hm? Seems like there's one more person than planned? Must be my imagination.
"Mmph! Let out! You dented brat, you vicious dark wizard!"
From inside the wardrobe ca Moody's muffled roar.
"So energetic…" Ethan murmured, feeding magic into the seal to keep the wardrobe shut.
Then his gaze caught on sothing that had rolled across the floor. He bent and picked it up.
[You have obtained an item: Mad-Eye's Magical Eye.]
[Use: Contains enchantnts that can see through even Invisibility Cloaks and Polyjuice Potion. The Sneakoscope Plus upgrade.]
"Ooh, good stuff!"
Ethan's eyes lit up. Even his Eye Within the Door had trouble seeing through Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
"Maybe after learning the enchantnts in this, I can upgrade one of my paintings!"
Without hesitation, he tucked it into his robes. A "hehehe" smile crossed his face.
"Mad-Eye, you've finally fallen into my hands… wait, why does that sound so villainous?"
Ethan tilted his head, genuinely confused. Behind the pure white mask, the gesture only looked more sinister.
At that mont, Ethan's ears twitched. He grabbed Barty by the hair and murmured, "Portal."
In a place no one could see, a pitch-black door opened. Ethan strolled through. In an instant, he appeared outside Little Hangleton village, startling a staggering drunk out of his wits.
At the sa ti, outside Mad-Eye's residence, several Aurors arrived in haste.
Connie Rosier looked at the ruined house and stamped her foot angrily, biting her lip. "Damn it! One step too late!"
Just standing on the periter, she could feel an intensely concentrated aura of evil. It made her, a newly promoted Auror captain, tremble slightly.
Due to last year's operation to capture Sirius Black, most of the experienced Aurors needed ti to recover. So a batch of rookies had been promoted. Connie Rosier was one of them.
Very dangerous. But that also ant it was a big fish.
Connie's eyes shone with excitent. "Search every corner of this house! We must find any clue the perpetrator left behind! Make sure no incident damages the reputation of British wizardry during the Quidditch World Cup!"
"Yes, Captain Rosier!"
The Aurors sprang into action, rushing into the building. Once they had all gone inside, Connie, seeing no one watching, couldn't help but hop twice in excitent, cheeks flushed.
If she managed to catch the culprit and achieve great rit, would she get to et her idol, the hero of justice, Ethan Vincent?
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