For those Ravens, wizards who used the crows formed from Rune letters to cast ancient magic, ancient magic was a one-shot deal. Even Gungnir, which was said to unfailingly strike its target, was only a spell with incredible speed, immense power, and an almost perfect hit rate.
But for Leonard, it was a tracking spell he could control freely, even switch to a different target at any moment.
The same scene from earlier repeated itself. Gungnir, like a bolt of lightning, merged with the golden lightning for an instant, separated again, and shot toward Leonard.
Leonard stepped aside, then watched Gungnir pass right by him and strike the incoming scorpion tail.
The tail collapsed instantly. The magic carried by Gungnir, with its powerful annihilating effect, spread over Raichel's body at once and burned him to ashes.
And that was only Gungnir's residual force. The true body of Gungnir pierced through the Dragon Raichel in the blink of an eye.
A trace of shock flashed across the Dragon Raichel's face, and then that expression vanished with the rest of him, scattering into ash on the wind.
One spear, two kills. What had looked like a hopeless situation was resolved in an instant.
But the danger had not come only from those two Raichels. The most dangerous one, the Thunderbird, had not been dealt with yet.
The Dragon Raichel was dead, but the effects of his breath still remained. Leonard still could not use Apparition to escape.
He had no choice but to face that overwhelming golden lightning head-on.
Boom!
With a deafening crash, Leonard's body was thrown backward. Golden lightning crackled across him, tangling with and erasing the silver radiance of the Ancient Sprout.
The Thunderbird's power was far greater than the Dragon's. Even the Ancient Sprout's defensive ability was struggling to hold out.
Leonard gritted his teeth as his body locked up, and searing pain swept through him.
Just as the golden lightning was about to be devoured by the Ancient Sprout's silver glow, the Thunderbird Raichel briefly appeared in midair, then turned into lightning again and rushed at Leonard once more.
If he took another hit like that, even if he did not die, he would be crippled.
Leonard stared at the golden lightning. He had already tested it. Even Gungnir could not hit it, much less any other spell, and in his current condition he had no way to cast magic to counterattack.
But Leonard's senses were sharp enough to notice that the lightning's target did not seem to be him. Judging from the angle of the first attack, its real target appeared to be the tubular launcher in his hand.
When it had approached earlier, it had even deliberately lowered the lightning's power, as though afraid of destroying the launcher outright. Otherwise, that blow probably would have injured Leonard much more badly.
Unbelievable. This member of Raven was not even this attentive when dealing with Leonard himself, the heir of ancient magic.
Leonard hesitated for a moment, then used ancient magic to painstakingly carve several patterns into the tubular launcher with his fingers. After that, he hurled the launcher away with all his strength.
He wanted to confirm the enemy's true target, so he really put force into it. The launcher flew a full fifty meters in the opposite direction.
If his body had not been in such poor condition, Leonard could have thrown it one or two hundred meters.
Sure enough, the lightning that had been heading straight for Leonard suddenly veered away and chased after the launcher. Just before reaching it, it reverted to its original form, and a clawed hand like an eagle's snatched up the launcher. The movement was so gentle it was almost like taking a young girl by the hand.
Still in midair, Leonard rolled his eyes, twisted hard, and finally shook off the golden lightning. His body vanished and reappeared directly beneath the Thunderbird Raichel.
A fierce light flashed through his eyes. Looking up at the Thunderbird Raichel in the air, he let out a cold smile as a silver spear of lightning rapidly took shape in his hand.
After grabbing the tubular launcher, the Thunderbird Raichel instinctively began examining this "alchemical device."
Then he saw the glowing silver Ancient Runes carved into it.
His previously vicious, bright eyes turned white, as though he had lost consciousness.
But very soon, his expression twisted in struggle, and fear appeared on his feather-covered face.
And by then, Gungnir in Leonard's hand had already reached the space beneath him.
One explosion completely ended the Thunderbird Raichel. Leonard watched the figure in the sky gradually disintegrate and let out a long breath.
That had been hard. He had finally dealt with Raichel without using plants. The remaining main body should not be a problem for his future self.
Leonard instinctively looked toward the three people who had been holding him back.
Tonks was still sleeping peacefully, or rather lying peacefully unconscious. Even with the Shrieking Shack collapsed, she had not woken up.
Sirius Black looked utterly dazed. After being knocked down, he had never gotten back up. He was basically dead weight number two.
Then there was Lupin...
Leonard looked at the convulsing Lupin on the ground, and an appreciative smile appeared on his face.
As expected of one of his own people, reliable indeed. His strength was just far too lacking. He had not been of any use at all and had nearly gotten himself killed.
He would have to arrange a plant symbiosis package for him too later.
Picking up the tubular launcher that had fallen from the sky, the one that had done such great service, Leonard walked over to Lupin.
At this point, Lupin no longer had the strength to maintain his Werewolf form. Without the suppression of his Werewolf constitution, the Manticore's poison was spreading with terrifying speed, and it looked as though Lupin was about to turn into a little purple man.
Leonard quickly forced a bottle of antidote of his own making down Lupin's throat. Seeing that the poison had receded but not completely disappeared, Leonard hoisted Lupin up with a sigh and prepared to carry him up to Hogsmeade Village.
The village hospital was not as good as the school hospital wing, but Leonard simply did not have the strength to carry Lupin all the way there.
The Shrieking Shack might have a secret passage, but a secret passage was still only a secret passage, not a Portkey. Hogwarts was so far from here that walking there would take nearly two hours, and the path was terrible. At Leonard's height, he would barely be able to keep his head up the whole way.
Leonard had absolutely no desire to carry an adult man along a rough path for two hours.
"Black, take that Auror with you... turn into a dog, otherwise it'll be hard to explain when we get to the village," Leonard shouted at Sirius. "Professor Lupin needs to get to the hospital right away."
"...Oh!" Sirius froze for a moment, then hurriedly got to his feet. Just as he was about to check on Tonks, he looked behind Leonard and his face filled with shock.
"William! Behind you!"
"What?" Leonard froze, and suddenly felt a chill in his chest as a blood-soaked hand appeared in front of him, jutting through his chest.
There was not the slightest trace of beauty in that hand. Feathers, black fur, and scales were all jumbled together, like the limb of some grotesque hybrid monster.
The claw pulled free, and an overwhelming sense of emptiness swept over him.
"Heh... I've got you now."
Raichel's sinister voice sounded from behind Leonard.