"This is troublesome." Sherlock leaned against the wall and spat on the ground. "Originally, even if I couldn't kill too many, I should have at least incapacitated half of them. As it turns out, only three died, and the others can basically still act."
"You're setting your standards too high," Eddie said quietly. "Even a well-trained Auror couldn't take down three Death Eaters all at once."
Sherlock was actually very clear about his current strength.
His Floating Wand casting system could only bully Wizards who were weaker than him or around the same level.
To put it in the terms of a fantasy novel, he was invincible among his peers.
But if their strength was higher than his, apart from sneak attacks like the one just now, he could only gain a slight advantage in a head-on battle.
If it was someone as high-level as Dumbledore or Lord Voldemort—though he hadn't fought them—Sherlock knew in his heart that even if he could fire off a thousand spells instantly at once, the result would be the same.
The level of these Death Eaters varied, and the strongest among them was likely Bella.
From that Killing Curse in the Time Room, Sherlock could tell that this madwoman's Dark Arts were much more powerful than a normal person's. Since the Explosion Charm just now hadn't killed her, things would only become more troublesome later.
Those Death Eaters had now withdrawn from Sherlock's Control Magic domain, which caused a strange sense of unease to rise in his heart.
"I'm going over to take a look."
Eddie looked at his current state with concern.
"Can you still manage like this?"
"A man can never say he can't."(TN: Wtf?)
Although Sherlock was physically exhausted, he was still in the mood to joke at a time like this.
"Don't worry, I won't engage them in a head-on battle; I'm just going to see what's happening."
Saying that, he turned his head to look at the only exit from the labyrinth to the hall behind him.
"Be careful. When necessary, saving your own life is most important!"
Eddie nodded with a solemn expression, then watched Sherlock walk into the darkness.
Sherlock didn't use a Lumos Charm; under the 'vision' of his Control Magic, he could see every detail within eight metres.
Small insects crawled back and forth on the ground, and debris blasted from the walls was scattered everywhere.
He stepped carefully, trying his best not to make a single sound.
Until he reached the bodies of the three Death Eaters killed in the explosion, he found no sign of Bella and the others.
Sherlock hadn't intended to stop in front of the three corpses, but he suddenly discovered that the male Wizard's body lying at his feet was an 'acquaintance'.
Rabastan Lestrange.
A month ago, it was he and his brother who had killed Algy right in front of Sherlock and Eddie.
Control Magic saw everything on Rabastan's body exceptionally clearly, and Sherlock squinted as he discovered something interesting.
He crouched down, reached his hand into the robes that had been blasted into tattered rags, and fished out a small box that looked like a badge.
After silently putting the box into his pocket, he continued forward a few more steps, and the figures of the Death Eaters finally appeared within the vision of his Control Magic.
But the number was clearly much smaller than before!
Sherlock frowned and carefully took two more steps forward, finding that he hadn't missed anything; only a dozen or so Death Eaters remained behind the corner, while the others had all disappeared.
At the same time, he keenly noticed that as he continued to approach, those Death Eaters also seemed to know his position, raising their wands in full alert!
They can sense my position too!
Sherlock thought of it instantly and quickly guessed the reason.
There was no light or food in this room; how could there be insects?
Those insects were magical creatures bred by Dark Wizards!
Once he realised the problem, Sherlock didn't hesitate to use Control Magic to directly crush those fragile insects, then controlled his flying wands to cast spells!
"Reducto!"
The commotion of the Explosion Charm this time was weakened countless times compared to before, because only five wands were waved.
Furthermore, the Death Eaters hiding behind the corner had already cast Shield Charms on themselves again.
The Explosion Charm had no lethal effect at all, but Sherlock's goal wasn't to kill.
After using the Explosion Charm, he abruptly turned around, no longer hiding his footsteps, and ran towards Eddie's direction at a fast pace.
Just as he took his first step, a sharp incantation was already heard from Eddie's side!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Green beams of light flashed in the darkness, while other messy spell sounds followed!
Red and green beams of light flashed continuously, echoing each other in the dark.
Sherlock saw the hole he had blasted through the wall.
The wall behind that hole had also been blown open; behind the two holes was the hall outside the labyrinth!
Bella had led her people around the back, through the corridor between the two partition walls, and finally reached Eddie's position through the blasted hole!
Sherlock breathed rapidly, not only due to excessive physical exertion but also because of tension.
He soon ran through the two blasted holes into the hall outside the labyrinth.
Eddie wasn't dead yet; he had kept himself in a state of high alert and had sensed the Death Eaters before the sneak attack, dodging the fatal spell at the first opportunity.
Although he was later hit by a Dark Arts spell, it wasn't fatal after all.
In front of the door, Madam Selwyn had reached the final stage of breaking the curse; the black door was glowing with a faint light, looking as if it were about to be opened!
Bella clearly noticed this as well. She reacted extremely quickly, no longer leading her people to pursue Eddie, who was hiding behind the labyrinth wall, but instead changing direction and rushing towards the black door that had its sealing magic removed!
Madam Selwyn actually didn't understand why Sherlock wanted her to open the door.
But she knew that he was the only one she could rely on. Even if she didn't open the door, Bella would have a way to open it regardless.
When the door opened, not only did Bella lead the Death Eaters into the room behind it, but Sherlock also strove to get close to the door's position.
Behind the black door was an extremely simple and empty room, with no furniture or decorations inside, only a plain Black Stone Slab sitting on a pillar in the middle of the room!
Bella's movements were much faster than Sherlock's; when she stepped into the room, Sherlock was still five metres away from the door!
However, before she could even see the environment behind the black door clearly, the stone slab on the pillar flew up into the air.
Before anyone could react, the stone slab landed in Sherlock's hand at extreme speed!
By the time Bella realised the problem, hundreds of wands were already pointed together at the Black Stone Slab in the air!
"What would happen if I used a Reducto right now?"
Sherlock panted heavily, but a relaxed smile appeared on his face.
Bella's face was as dark as ink. She and all the Death Eaters around her raised their wands and pointed them at Sherlock.
"You dare!" she screamed in a piercing voice.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you really shouldn't scare me. My non-verbal casting is pretty good; if I accidentally use the spell, who knows if this thing can hold up or not."
As Sherlock spoke, Madam Selwyn and the drowsy Amy, who was leaning against the wall, had already been brought under control by the Death Eaters.
The wounded Eddie was also brought out of the labyrinth by those dozen or so Death Eaters.
Eddie's condition looked very poor; he had been hit by some unknown spell, his face was bloodless, and his body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Give me that thing, or I'll kill the three of them!"
Sherlock was very calm, not losing his composure because they had hostages.
"I suppose you sent Algy to break into the Department of Mysteries last time just for this thing, right?" he said, squinting. "Your mole in the Ministry was exposed, four of your companions were captured, and now you've brought so many people to break in again. The Dark Lord must be determined to get this thing in my hands, right?"
Bella stared fixedly at Sherlock, her eyes bloodshot.
Sherlock had seized the initiative; she had to do something to take it back!
"Do you think I really won't do it? Goyle! Kill that little gir—"
"Reducto."
As Sherlock's emotionless incantation sounded, Bella's whole body couldn't help but tremble!
"Boom!"
An Explosion Charm, much weaker than normal, went off on the stone slab. A few small stone chips crumbled off, but it wasn't completely destroyed.
But this was enough to show that the stone slab wasn't indestructible; a few more Explosion Charms would definitely shatter it!
"Who did you say you were going to kill first?" Sherlock dug at his ear and said nonchalantly. "If you touch a single hair on her head, I'll blow a piece off this slab. Do you think that's a fair trade?"
Bella stared at him in disbelief.
"You're a lunatic! A complete lunatic!"
"Before you talk about others, think about what people say about you."
Sherlock wasn't actually that crazy; he had already determined the hardness of the stone slab once he touched it. It could be destroyed, but it wouldn't be that simple.
He was actually very tired now, finding it difficult even to stand, so he simply sat on the ground. In the air, those hundreds of wands remained pointed at the Black Stone Slab at all times.
"Now that we both have leverage over each other, can we have a proper talk? To be honest, I have no interest at all in what your master wants to do with this thing. After all, I'm not an Auror; I'm only doing this because you forced my hand."
Bella rarely found herself in a position to negotiate with others, but Lord Voldemort indeed placed extreme importance on this stone slab, so she had to consider backing down.
"You can take the three of them and leave, but give that thing to us!"
Before Sherlock could reply, the restrained Madam Selwyn shouted excitedly.
"The Dark Lord must not get that thing! It can erase the existence of things! With it, the Dark Lord could try to eliminate his greatest enemy who stands in his way..."
"Smack!"
Bella unhesitatingly turned and slapped Madam Selwyn across the face, while simultaneously raising her wand.
"Shut up! You bitch!"
"What are you afraid of? Let her speak."
Sherlock spoke calmly, but anyone familiar with him could easily hear the imperceptible tremor in his voice.
Bella hesitated for a few seconds, then she actually stopped!
She slowly lowered her wand, as if afraid that Sherlock would suddenly go berserk and shatter the stone slab.
But in fact, while Sherlock's attention was focused on Madam Selwyn's words, she quietly pressed her left arm.
A Dark Mark there was glowing slightly hot.
After seeing the stone slab, the memories hidden in the deepest part of her mind were all recalled, and Madam Selwyn said in a hurried voice,
"On that stone slab are carved the oldest Ancient Magics. It can erase all existence of objects possessing magical power! At the same time, it can also wipe out all the effects brought by that inanimate object!"
Hearing Madam Selwyn's explanation, a bright light suddenly lit up in Sherlock's eyes!
A strange smile appeared on his face.
It was like a lost traveller who had been searching for the way home; just when he had lost hope, he suddenly discovered that the path was actually right beneath his feet!
"You mean..." he asked with a clear tremor in his voice, "if someone used a wand to kill a person, as long as that wand touches this stone slab, the slab can erase the wand and all the effects it brought, making the person killed by it come back to life?"
"In theory, yes," Madam Selwyn said, panting.
"Why do you say 'in theory'?" The hopeful smile on Sherlock's face froze.
"We've tested the slab's effects. Exactly how powerful its Reversal Ability is depends on the strength of the magical substance being directly erased. If the wand that killed someone has very weak magic itself, it cannot bring the dead back to life!"
"To reach the level of resurrection, how much magical power does the substance need to have?"
"I'm not sure; our research hadn't reached that stage yet."
Sherlock fell silent again.
If everything Madam Selwyn said was true, then this was a gamble!
While they were talking, Bella kept clutching her left arm tightly.
Her mood was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface; she was extremely anxious, not understanding why her master hadn't responded to her summons.
Sherlock's silence didn't last long before he softly called out Amy's name.
"Amy, Amy."
Leaning against the wall, looking listless as if she hadn't slept for days, Amy gently blinked her eyelids, which seemed unable to stay open, and looked at Sherlock.
"John..."
Sherlock saw her half-open eyes, and he also saw those pupils that had changed from azure blue to pale gold!
Those golden eyes were incredibly familiar, making him feel as if he had seen them somewhere before!