Chapter 214: Chapter 211 - On the Night of the Storm (4)
Thirty minutes later, Luna and her dragon had regained some strength after a short rest, although not much, it was enough to start making their way towards the Water Spout further and further away on the horizon.
"Do we really have to go inside that?" Luna asked once again, looking at the Water Spout connecting the sea and the sky. As almost the first victim of that aquatic wind monstrosity, she knew its power all too well. If it hadn't been for Asterion's arrival, she would probably be inside the Water Spout.
"It's almost certain that the second portal is inside the Water Spout." Asterion replied as the raindrops hit his face, his expression indifferent to the fact that the cold seemed to be getting stronger.
Rose, standing next to him, nodded. "Dumbledore likes to make people challenge their fears and face challenges that can lead them to grow in character and maturity."
Luna wanted to complain hearing Rose's words, who in their right mind isn't afraid of nature's fury? Although she could see that the test involved overcoming fears in the face of adversity, she still wanted to kick Dumbledore's old ass.
Suddenly, Asterion and Rose looked in a certain direction at the same time. Rose showed a helpless expression while Asterion showed an indifference with a touch of coldness in her gaze.
"They've arrived." Asterion spoke, in his senses, three completely different magical auras appeared in different places within a radius of ten kilometers. He recognized two of the three magical auras, one belonging to the captain of the Russian team, Alexei Ivanov, and the other to the young redhead named Anastasia who had fought against him.
This meant that all three magical auras belonged to the Russian team.
"I still don't know how the Russian team managed to hatch three dragon eggs, Russia is one of the most backward countries in terms of breeding and protecting magical creatures." Rose commented, her voice full of suspicion, sensing Alexei's aura.
For you to understand how bad the Russian Magizoologists' skills were, there were no more than ten Russian Magizoologists at the moment. So Rose's suspicion of the Russian team was more than believable, it was almost certain that the Russian team had somehow cheated in front of everyone and hadn't even bothered to hide it in the first place.
"It doesn't matter if they cheat or not." Luna answered from the side with a rather evil expression, which contrasted sharply with her delicate face. She needed to vent the anger she was feeling right now and the Russian team had arrived at just the right moment.
Rose also showed an excited expression, apparently happy to finally be fighting.
"Let's wait a few minutes and attack, their dragons will probably be exhausted from flying for so long in the storm. If they're foolish enough to approach the Water Spout it's even better, it'll save us time." Rose cracked her tense neck and spoke, her voice extremely animated, her plan was simple, attack when everyone is tired.
Asterion agreed with Rose and Luna's plan, they had the advantage of almost an hour, they knew the strength of the storm, the Hogwarts team just needed to wait a while and ambush their enemies at their weakest moment.
Turning to look at his teammate, Asterion looked at her and spoke with an unquestioning tone. "Luna, during the fight don't take any risks, your dragon hasn't fully recovered yet, we don't need you falling into the sea in case the dragon dies in a counterattack by the Russians."
"I'm not a child, your grace." Luna replied without showing any weakness in the face of Asterion's blatant protection. She wasn't a glass sculpture that would shatter with a simple touch from someone.
Although she really wasn't as strong as Asterion or Rose, or even the captains of the other teams who possessed Grade 1 strength, she still had the power to fight anyone without any fear.
If she was willing to pay the price, even Grade 1 Wizards and Witches couldn't dream of touching her clothes, although the price for that was being tormented by whispers and voices in her mind for a few months.
Asterion couldn't help but look at Luna with an expression of surprise on his face; it was the first time Luna had responded to him so forcefully. Rolling his eyes at the girl's clear dissatisfaction, he spoke in a calm tone, "I'm not calling you weak, Luna, just be careful. Me, Rose or Cedric don't want you to get hurt."
Luna pouted and looked away, but nodded, and if she looked closely, she could see that her lips had curved into a beautiful smile.
Seeing this, Rose gave her a mischievous look and spoke in a deliberately loud tone. "How lovely, it's like father and daughter~ Are you sure you don't want to adopt Luna, Asty?"
Luna and Asterion looked at Rose at the same time, if their eyes could judge anyone, Rose would be behind bars for such a bad joke.
"Let's go, I'll get old if I hear one more unfunny joke from Rose." Luna commented as she made herself comfortable in the saddle. Rose snorted loudly, expressing her dissatisfaction with her words, she had an excellent sense of humor, but how could mere mortals appreciate her jokes?
Asterion rolled his eyes at his fiancée and settled at the base of Ancalagon's neck, as his saddle had been destroyed by the Worm in the Desert City, he had to make do with being relatively comfortable.
The three of them remained silent, all waiting for the right moment to attack the Russian team unawares.
"Asty, it's very likely that others will arrive in a few moments, so let's take out all the members of the Russian team and quickly run towards Water Spout, otherwise we'll be the focus of everyone when other teams arrive." Rose whispered, watching her fiancé's completely wet face, she wanted to reach up and remove the lock of dark hair stuck to his face, but she refrained, concentrating on the moment.
Asterion nodded, his eyes shining with a touch of coldness, they had to be quick and deadly, without giving the Russian team room to react or even counterattack. "Quick and deadly." He said to the two girls, who nodded in agreement with his words.
Ancalagon was the first to take off, followed by Oberon and Luna's nameless dragon, all three members of the Hogwarts team set off on the hunt.
...
Alexei, mounted on a beautiful seven-meter-long Antipodean Opaleye, narrowed his eyes trying to locate any sign that might indicate the direction of the second portal, but in the face of the darkness of the night and the storm, his eyes weren't much help.
He tried to sense anything with his senses, but it was useless too, he wasn't a Special Grade Wizard capable of detecting even the slightest pulse of magic in the air.
To make matters worse, the prolonged flight was tiring his dragon out faster than expected, he estimated that the dragon would run out of steam in twenty minutes. Being one of the weaker dragons, the Opaleye wasn't exactly known for its physical strength or strong breath, it was beautiful and one of the weaker dragon breeds.
Another thing that was bothering Alexei was that unlike the first phase of the desert, the second part of the sea seemed even crueler, with no safe haven to rest or even a place to land. In other words, the entire second part of the race was a race against time, failure meant falling into the sea full of gigantic and potentially deadly waves.
Suddenly, a chill ran through Alexei's body, the intense cold of the storm seemed insignificant in the face of the coldness he was feeling at the moment. It was like standing in front of a superior predator without being paralyzed and unable to do anything but watch as it devoured you.
Alexei knew the feeling, it was the feeling from when he faced Asterion Black. Even within his Domain Expansion, he was helpless in front of the boy infinitely younger than him. He was beaten from head to toe while his Domain Expansion was only able to do some damage to the enemy's armor.
The black-haired, red-eyed boy broke his pride and crushed him like he was nothing. Even though Asterion couldn't use his full power, limited to the strength of a mere Grade 2 Wizard, he still crushed him like he was nothing.
However, Alexei's monologue was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings and before he could react, a huge mouth emerged from the darkness as the beast's teeth dug into his dragon's neck.
The Antipodean Opaleye flailed in the air as it spun upside down, but unfortunately for the beautiful dragon, Ancalagon didn't let go of its neck as he drove his teeth even deeper into the dragon's flesh and scales.
Still shocked by the repeated events, Alexei woke up to hear his dragon crying and before he could do anything, the sound of bones breaking rang out in the rainy atmosphere. An even louder cry rang out as the dragon fought for its life.
Alexei found himself plummeting from the sky as he looked up, noticing the red eyes staring coldly down at him.
Drawing his wand, Alexei was ready to cast a spell, but was interrupted with a powerful kick to his face, which made his head reel as he lost consciousness for a moment.
Ancalagon had no mercy for the Antipodean Opaleye, as he ripped the beautiful creature's head off without showing a shred of compassion.
Hearing the strong wind, the water crashing into his face and the deafening sound of thunder, Alexei woke up while they were still plummeting from the sky like a shooting star towards the stormy sea. With the help of his instincts, he quickly removed the belt holding him to the saddle and separated from the dragon.
As it fell from the sky, he saw the beautiful Antipodean Opaleye lifeless, the creature headless and falling with it. Alexei felt sorry for the dragon's death, but using his wand, he applied a floating spell, falling gently into the stormy water.
Floating in the sea, Alexei looked up and saw only the huge shadow in the air before disappearing into the darkness of the night.
"Asterion Black…"
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 212 - On the Night of the Storm (5), Chapter 213 -At the Highest Point of Heaven (END Dragon Race), Chapter 214 - The Spark of Chaos (1), Chapter 215 - The Spark of Chaos (2), Chapter 216 - The Spark of Chaos (3), Chapter 217 - The Spark of Chaos (4), Chapter 218 - Ancient Artifact (1), Chapter 219 - Ancient Artifact (2), Chapter 220 - The Last Moment Before Chaos (1), Chapter 221 - The Last Moment Before Chaos (2, Chapter 222 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (1), Chapter 223 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (2), Chapter 224 - The Labyrinth of Cnossos (3).
Next Chapter of the Third Volume: Chapter 225 - A Dark Day (1), Chapter 226 - A Dark Day (2), Chapter 227 - A Talk Between Two Monarchs (1).
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