A Series of Traps

Chapter 32 A Series of Traps

Hearing the fake Beck's righteous words, Avada, who was in stealth mode, couldn't help but feel a little emotional. If he didn't have magical senses and didn't know about Horcruxes, he might have felt a little sorry for the fragment of a soul in front of him.

Unfortunately, he understood Horcruxes, knowing that Horcruxes like the diary did indeed possess the ability to act and think autonomously, but were essentially still part of his own body; he also possessed magical senses, which allowed him to easily see that the mental and magical voids in Professor Baker's body were in an "incomplete" state, and that they were of the same origin as the original body in the crystal ball.

In other words, the fake Baker is like an artificial intelligence—it thinks and interacts with the outside world according to a predetermined program (i.e., memory), but it lacks true self-awareness. Moreover, its behavior at this moment represents the real Professor Baker to some extent; that is to say, if the real Professor Baker encountered this situation, he would most likely do and say the same thing.

So let's focus on helping Professor Baker return to his original form.

Thinking this to himself, Avada continued his actions without stopping, silently or in a low voice casting the most familiar spells he could to attack the fake Beck. He used the surrounding cover and his movements to avoid revealing his position by casting spells, completely disregarding the rapidly depleting energy.

Meanwhile, Baron, who was casually using some minor curses and was spared from being attacked thanks to the fake Beck, silently observed the fake Beck's every move.

Is it coming? The timing...?

Suddenly, the fake Beck in mid-air turned pale, but a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He abruptly turned his head and glared at a certain spot on the ground, while quickly raising his wand!

"It's coming!"

"Immediately imprison them!"

Almost at the same moment the fake Baker raised his wand to aim at something, Baron immediately struck, casting a spell at the fake Baker that was far superior to the previous one. But the fake Baker, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, tilted his head slightly, causing the spell to miss.

Then, with a hint of amusement, he glanced at the astonished Baron, and his wand flashed in another direction, unleashing a dazzling red light without hesitation. Even from a distance of over ten meters, and only partially illuminated by that red light, Baron felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, making him drowsy—it was an incredibly powerful Stunning Charm!

"Now!"

Suddenly, the fake Baker's body trembled. The cables that had been firmly attached to the ceiling all came loose at the same time, causing his body to immediately lose its support and begin to fall uncontrollably. The brilliant red light also lost its aim, hitting an open space and dissipating into countless particles of light.

"Obstacles are numerous!"

"They'll all be petrified!"

In the instant the sling detached, before Fake Beck could even cast a Levitation Charm, two spells struck his body precisely at the same time. The Barrier Charm broke through his Bubble Head Charm, while the Petrify Charm immobilized his body—though its effect only lasted a few seconds given Fake Beck's immense power, he was now plummeting downwards!

And just like that, the fake Baker's body crashed solidly to the ground from more than five meters in the air.

In this situation, I need an invisible opponent to put pressure on me, preventing me from quickly removing the toxins and curses. This would force me to use the "Extrasensory Charm."

The Extrasensory Charm was almost exclusively created to counter the Disguise Charm. A wizard using the Extrasensory Charm will have incredibly sharp senses, easily gathering all information about their surroundings, thus effortlessly detecting any movement and quickly pinpointing the location of an invisible person. However, this spell has a drawback: the sheer volume of information it generates puts immense mental strain on the user, making it unusable for extended periods, lasting at most a few seconds.

[The moment the Senses Charm dissipates and the mind suddenly relaxes will create a very favorable opening for an attack. But I know this will be an opening, so before ending Senses Charm, I will pretend to have found the enemy and react, baiting the enemy into attacking during their opening, before truly ending Senses Charm and launching an attack.]

[Therefore, all you need to do is place a Smoothing Charm on the ceiling beforehand and activate it when the Extrasensory Perception truly ends, allowing me to fall without warning, thus creating a larger window of opportunity. Your mental connection allows you to simultaneously seize this moment, using a Binding Charm or Petrification Charm to immobilize me, preventing me from slowing my descent, and then have someone else break the Bubble Head Charm…]

In this way, my body will not only suffer severe injuries from the fall, but will also lose its protection, becoming vulnerable to the toxins and curses once again.

"Professor Baker is really ruthless to himself..."

Seeing the fake Beck fall heavily to the ground with a thud, Avada Kedavra's eye twitched. He then immediately dispelled the Disillusionment Charm to reveal his true form and cast a Stunning Charm on the still-unable-to-get-up fake Beck.

"Ken?!"

Fake Baker was, after all, an incredibly experienced combat master. Even though he was severely injured and had several broken bones, he endured the pain and rolled away to avoid the spell. Then, he saw the enemy's true face and cried out in utter astonishment.

While his attention was completely drawn to Avada Kedavra, Balon behind him had already quietly cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself and disappeared to some unknown place.

[At this point, I've suffered considerable damage, and my condition has deteriorated significantly. Therefore, I'll attempt to leave the Room of Requirement and seek help from other professors. My true self will then use spatial magic to conceal the location of the door, leaving me with only one option: to fight seriously and with all my might. In this situation, the Ken who reappears will only have one thing to do: defend with all his might—though I'm incredibly weak, I'm still not someone you can defeat in a direct confrontation.]

However, once I saw that the person who dispelled the illusion curse was my student, I refrained from using lethal or overly powerful spells. Coupled with my own weakness, Ken wouldn't face much pressure defending against me. He only needed to place the Ironclad Curse; no matter what tricks I played, he wouldn't budge, and could simply continue to wear me down.

Next, it was Mr. Shafik's turn to go invisible, and then...

Just as Professor Beck had predicted, after the fake Beck treated his external injuries and fractures while enduring Avada's attacks, he began to retreat while defending himself, attempting to approach the door of the Room of Requirement. However, when he discovered that the door had disappeared at some point, the pressure on Avada suddenly increased.

The legion created by the Transfiguration spell, the waterfall that appeared out of thin air overhead, the flames that burst from the ground from time to time, the curse that could descend from afar through the Ironclad Charm, and the powerful magic that was constantly being released from the fake Beck's wand... At this moment, Avada felt that he was not fighting alone, but being besieged by a large group of wizards. The incredibly diverse, almost all-around attack magic caused the single Ironclad Charm to show signs of collapse after only a short while. Moreover, every time he tried to cast the Ironclad Charm again, there would be spells that could bypass the Ironclad Charm, either from afar or from the ground, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, his magical senses allowed him to detect all the signs of magic being activated, enabling him to dodge or defend as if he had a premonition. This greatly reduced the pressure he faced, making him seem somewhat at ease amidst the fake Beck's frenzied attacks.

Throughout the battle, language other than incantations ceased to be used. The fake Beck seemed no longer interested in asking questions, only in defeating the student before him and uncovering the whole story; while Avada silently calculated the steps...

Their gazes swept across the battlefield where countless spells danced, fixed intently on each other's eyes.

(End of this chapter)