Warning: Non-Beta, pardon me for the typos or the screwed up grammar because English isn't my mother language.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any franchise in this story!
It was midnight when the soft rays of full moon illuminate the land when the biting cold of Romanian's nighttime reached its peak. It was also when the Tepes Council and Cainblood Vampire Faction were going to meet on the battlefield for an all-out war.
Or it was how it should have supposedly been.
I was standing next to the Vlad Tepes himself, who was sitting in his majestic throne, on the elevated podium; I was staring at the hundreds of vampires, consisted of the six Vampire Ancestors, a hundred of Vampire Nobles and a thousand of Lesser Vampires. My position showed my status as someone who had earned the respect of the King of Wallachia himself and the common rabbles below couldn't show their dissatisfaction for a mere mortal like me to stand above them, not without incurring the wrath of the King of the Tepes Council himself.
Not all vampires in the Tepes Council accepted me, though surprisingly the Vampire Ancestors and the Vampire Nobles had grudgingly accepted my value after I distributed the Bloodedges and the Runic Plates to them. They still looked down on me because I'm a mortal. At least, the King of Tepes Faction and the Seventh Princess had accepted my presence in their rank.
Many people would underestimate me because of my physical age and my status as the muggle-born fresh out of his first year in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but Vlad and Mina Tepes knew better than looking down on me. They understood that my physical appearance couldn't be used to measure my true capability.
Although I was far weaker than the older Vampire Ancestors in this room, my physical and magical prowess was high enough to topple the later half of Vampire Ancestors and hundreds of others vampires in the room. Furthermore, I was Vlad's respected guest for I have saved him when he was ambushed and supplied them with something precious in their eyes, which would become the icon of Tepes Council in the foreseeable future.
My eyes were sweeping the vampires under the podium. The front row was filled with the Vampire Ancestors, from the 2nd Prince to the 7th Princess Mina Tepes, clad in a pompous attire befitting their royal status under the quality dark coat with a hood pulled down. I could see my finest creations were either sheathed around their waits or strapped on their backs.
Each Vampire Ancestor was armed to the teeth with one of the four types of the Bloodedges and five sets of Runic Plates, which was consisted of Defensive Runic Plate, Paralyzing Runic Plate, and Conflagration Runic Plate in a charmed (to have bigger space inside) leather bag hanging on their waists.
On the other hand, the hundred Vampire Nobles were armed with the leftover Bloodedges and a set of Runic Plates. The Lesser Vampires were armed with simple melee weapons.
The distribution of quality weapons showed how vampires took their hierarchy system very seriously. It was something I couldn't understand.
My musing was cut short no later than Vlad stood up from his majestic throne. The King of Tepes Council swept his sight on his people for a moment before he began his pre-battle speech.
"My dear children and my loyal people," started Vlad Tepes imposingly, "Tonight, we shall show to those revolting invaders that this land is ours, that the Tepes isn't weak! We shall show them the true meaning of the fear and engrave the name of Tepes in their blackened souls!"
There were no cheers but I could see the blood-red eyes of the vampires below the elevated stand were glinting viciously. Their blood red eyes were glimmering with bloodlust that only a beast could possess. The vicious aura exploded from the thousands of vampires and they didn't even try to restrain their desire for bloodshed.
Before the True Ancestor of the Tepes Council ordered his people to jump on the battlefield, I stepped forwards, taking the True Ancestor's attention. When his curious blood red eyes landed on me, I took it as the cue to tell him my own preparation to make this war short.
I didn't harbour any plan to join a long battle. There was only a week left until the first of September.
"My lord," I started with a polite tone, "Before you send your people to the battlefield, I want to inform you about something that I am sure will make you delighted."
"And pray tell me what's it, my young wizard friend?" said Vlad, pinning his curious blood red eyes on me.
The thousand of sets of blood red eyes focused on me. I took it as the cue to present what I've prepared since three nights ago. I silently slipped my hand into my own cloak; it was a black coloured cloak which was embellished with complex rune schemes that the current era Rune Master could only dream to create, to cover the process of taking out something from my 'Inventory'.
What I took out was the set of CCCO Ver. 2.0, consisted of the fist-sized Celestite orbs and the 30x30 cm square plate of Fluorite with a complex rune scheme engraved on its smooth surface.
I ignored everyone's curiosity and took a few steps in front of the Ruler of Wallachia. I then put down the stone plate first before I put down the crystal ball on the spot prepared on the plate. Next, I channelled my 'Mana' into the artefact, activating it.
The complicated rune scheme on the fluorite's smooth surface glowed with mysterious cyan light and the round and smooth Celestite Orbs shined brightly afterwards. The Celestite Orbs then projected a semitransparent screen three meters above it in the empty air. The screen was 5x7.5 m wide and was separated into nine different windows. It showed the real-time video of the enemy posts around the Tepes Council's base.
"This is . . . I see, so this is the magic trinket equivalent of the mortal's latest CCTV, isn't it?" commented Vlad Tepes, impressed. I nodded my head silently in gratitude for his praise. "Colour me impressed, my young wizard friend. However, is this only what you have prepared? Perhaps, is there something more?"
"This is only the beginning, my lord," I responded calmly and turned my sight on the floating screen.
Although it was at midnight and supposedly dark outside, the lighting of the video wasn't bad. Normal human eyes could see the detail of the Cainblood's Vampire Faction posts in each window.
The enemy's army had surrounded the Tepes Council's territory in the tight encirclement, sealing all eight directions. In each post, there were around 500 Lesser Vampires, 250 Vampire Nobles and 75 Vampire Ancestors. The total number of the enemy was, more or less, around 6,600 vampires.
It made me curious how such massive quantity of vampires being kept hidden from the masses. I supposed they had their ways, just like wizards and witches with their Statue of Secrecy. But, I digressed.
I turned my sight to the vampires below and began my explanation: "As you all have known from the scouts, in this so-called war, the Cainblood Vampire Faction's army outnumbered the Tepes Council by five to one. Even though the Vampire Ancestors and Vampire Nobles are armed with the Bloodedges and the Runic Plates set, Tepes Council will be cornered into a deep end if they swarm us with their bigger number, which I am very sure it is their plan. Thus, I have prepared something I hope to cull down their number or be enough to eradicate all opposition in one sweep."
The reactions were varying. Some showed their interest strongly; some showed indifference and some showed distaste to me. I ignored the third group easily.
"And what's your plan to cut down their number, my young friend?" asked Vlad with a curious glint in his blood red eyes.
"My plan is this . . ." I replied while taking out a small jade orb from my 'Inventory', masked with my cloak.
The effect was instant. There were those with incredulous looks, those with annoyed expression because they thought I was fooling around and those who openly showed their contempt because of a mere racial difference between us.
My lips curled into a vicious smile. "Look at the screen," I told them. After they followed my instruction, I channelled my 'Mana' into the jade orb, activating the trigger planted in it and shattering the jade in the process.
A moment later, the screen displayed an amazing sight. Each post was engulfed in raging fire. A shimmering dome-shaped barrier contained both fire and the vampire appeared from empty air. When the enemy's vampires tried to get out, the barrier stopped them. They tried to destroy the barrier with their weapons or limbs but they barrier stayed strong.
This was the power of well-done preparation. After I found out that there were massive leylines under Tepes' Castle which spread for several kilometres wide, not unlike the ones under Hogwarts' castle, I made a simple yet brutal plan.
First, I created eight massive altars with rune scheme for summoning a magical fire and creating a powerful barrier to block the fire and vampires from getting out. It was a shame I couldn't create a suitable rune scheme to summon forth the Fiendfyre because it would eliminate all enemies in one sweep. In the end, I could only create a suitable rune scheme for summoning forth the high-level fire elemental curse.
Second, I tasked my House-elves to subtly put the plates under each post. I wasn't sure if my minions could do it without alerting those vampires. To my surprise, however, they easily dug underground rooms and put the plates in there. Somehow, my cute, little minions had increased their stealth ability without my knowledge. It wasn't bad. In the matter of the fact, I was proud of their progress.
The last step of my plan was to burn down the posts and the vampires in it while they had their own pre-battle preparation.
I loved it when the plan went smoothly.
When the vampires in the Tepes' throne room watched the spectacular sight, their eyes turned wide and their lower jaws slackened in disbelief. Then, their disbelief turned into awe and fear.
I had shown how it was better to have me as an ally instead of as an enemy.
After that, I turned my attention to the continuous stream of system notices, informing me of every MVP I did tonight. I was amazed at how the system followed the massive influx of the information. I found out that I'd completed the requirement to clear up my quest.
A few minutes later, the system prompts stopped and I found out that I had levelled up ten times to level 49. I was close to level 50, only 29.2% left to level up.
I opened my 'Status Window' to check my updated information and found,
Asmodias Lustburg
General Information:
- Race: Wizard
- Title(s): [Gamer] [Adept Sorcerer] [Locked] [Locked]
- Level: 49 – 70.8% to next level
- Health: 1110
- Mana: 6300(3150+100%)
Statistics Attributes:
Strength: 111
Agility: 114
Mind: 310(124+100%+50%)
Magic: 315(126+100%+50%)
Miscellaneous:
[Free Attribute Points: 245]
One level left before the third Title's slot was unlocked.
The second slot of the 'Title' was used for 'Adept Sorcerer' title. I'd got that title after my 'Magic' reached 100pts. For the detail of the Title, it went like this:
Adept Sorcerer - Perk: Increase Mind and Magic statistics by 50%
I dismissed my 'Status Window' and turned my sight to all vampires in this room and found they were still staring at the screen with blank faces as the fire and the magical barrier still existed in the enemy's burning posts.
My inner clock alerted me that the duration of the rune scheme I'd installed under the enemy's posts was almost up, I immediately changed the viewing mode from normal to magic vision by channelling my 'Mana' to one symbol engraved on the plate.
The feeds changed from normal mode into negative view; the blazing fire became orange colour and several dark red dots could be spotted in the orange glow. The dark red dots were the vampires of Cainblood Faction that survived the deadly trap somehow.
I'd found out that Vampires could use magic, albeit not as good as a mortal. There were three main branches of mysteries Vampire could use. The first was their Umbrakinetic, the ability to control shadow. The second was the ability to shapeshift into shadows, fogs or nocturnal animals. The last in the list was blood magic and following its name, blood magic needed their blood which was very precious to vampires.
It was very enlightening when I found out that fact from Mina Tepes a few days ago.
The explanation about these three magical abilities was for another time since I'd digressed long enough.
"What the meaning of this view, my friend?" said Vlad after he snapped out from his daze.
The other vampires had returned back from their dazed trance too and they looked at me with varying emotions, ranging from grudging respect, curiosity, wariness and even blatant fear. I ignored the vampires below and focused my attention on the King of Tepes Council.
"This, my lord, is the magic viewing mode of my upgraded device, the CCS Ver. 2.0, which connect to the CCCO Ver.2.0. The orange light is the colour of the widescale 'Incendio' rune scheme I've planted under their posts last night while the dark red dots are the surviving enemies. I don't know how they survived my trap but I guess most of them made of stronger stuff."
After a small pause, I continued, "I suppose it's better if you order your army to attack them when they are still down and we finish this farce of a war in one sweep, no?"
The True Ancestor guffawed loudly after he listened to my words. After he calmed down, he ordered his underlings to attack their downed enemy and apprehended his first son if he had survived my trap. They started to move; some changed into fogs, some changed into animals like bats or crows and some went out with their feet.
Vlad himself didn't go down the battlefield. There was nothing he could do in the field and his army was enough to clean up their remaining enemy.
With this, Cainblood Vampire Faction was officially dethroned from their place as one of the six strongest vampire covens in the world. They needed a long time to recover their lost number. The power vacuum would shake the vampire community and it would become chaotic soon enough. However, I put aside that thought for later musing.
"Well, since this farce has finished, more or less, how about we take a leisure break in my study, my young wizard friend?" said Vlad.
Since there was nothing to do, I accepted Vlad's offer. Then, we went together to his study.
Mina who surprisingly stayed behind as her step-siblings and other vampires went for the hunt followed us after Vlad beckoned to her to join us.
—»·O·«—
"Pardon me? I thought I heard that wrong, my lord? Could you repeat it for me?"
I stared incredulously at the legendary vampire sitting on the sofa across me. The cup with delicious earl grey tea stopped a few inches away from my lips. My body had frozen the moment I heard what Vlad had said.
I was sitting in the high-quality sofa inside Vlad Tepes' luxurious study. Meanwhile, sitting on the other sofa, across the table in front of me, was Vlad Tepes and his latest adopted daughter: Mina Tepes the 7th Tepes Princess.
It was the next night after the army of the Cainblood Vampire Faction was utterly destroyed by my well-placed traps. Since the notice of the completed quest hadn't appeared yet, I decided to visit the Tepes' Castle like what I've done in past several nights.
"In behest of my Council's decision, my youngest daughter, Mina, will be wed to you after you entered adulthood by your people's law, my young friend," said Vlad Tepes at once.
I regarded the vampire lord carefully and I found the old vampire was dead serious. His blood eyes dared me to challenge his verdict. I then turned my sight to Mina, trying to see her reaction and saw her twinkling red eyes, shining gleefully as she stared back, coaxing me to accept it. She had a small, shy smile as she gave me a faint nod. If she was still a human, I was sure her cheeks would turn red from her excitement.
I mentally sighed at that. There was a perpetual loop of a headache and soothing sensation in my head. Even my Gamer's Mind was working hard, huh?
"Can you give me the reason behind this sudden offer, my lord?" I said politely, hiding my real thoughts about the matter.
"You've shown your valour, my young friend, and my council will be delighted if someone like you joined our coven. Although you're a mere baby in the eyes of undead like us, you have shown you're capable and worth our respect," said Vlad Tepes at once. "It's up to you if you want to be turned into a Vampire Ancestor by me in the future, or stay as a mortal to your death door. The future isn't set in stone. Perhaps, you will accept it, perhaps you will not. Who knows what will happen, no?"
"What'll happen if I decline your generosity, my lord?" I inquired, tasting the water so to speak.
Vlad smiled amiably but my 'Danger Detection' skill blared alive. I stared at Vlad's twinkling eyes and found the hidden brutality and viciousness in there. I realized that declining this offer was a big no-no for me.
". . . hypothetically, of course," I added in hurry.
Vlad simply smiled and said, "You're a smart young wizard, my friend. So, should've guessed it, no?"
I let my body sink into the high-quality sofa as my mind tried to think my answer carefully. Should I accept this one-sided decision pushed to me, or not? That question took the majority of my mindscape.
Declining sounds tempting but I could expect Vlad and the Tepes Council would take it as an insult. After all, this was their princess they had offered to me. If they felt insulted because I declined this offer — it was more like something forced to me actually — then they would be offended and they would become my enemy.
I didn't want to make a massive organization that had deeply rooted in the world for hundreds of years as my enemy, not when I was still weak. Yes, I realized that I was still weak. It was true that I had triumphed against the more powerful enemy from Lord Voldemort to Marius Cainblood and lately the thousands Cainblood vampires.
However, it was because I used my brain. I won because of a surprise factor and thorough preparation and systematic plan. At the moment, I didn't have any upper hand against the Tepes Council. If they became my enemy, it was basically my dead end.
"What to do? What to do? What to do?" I chanted that mantra in my head.
My mind reiterated what I had known about the vampire from Mina.
Vampires were also known as the undead, the creature of the night and the darkness. Many believed vampire to be a living corpse but the assumption was both correct and wrong. It was correct because they were close to the corpse yet it was wrong because they weren't entirely dead.
A vampire could grow as slowly as it was; they had a heartbeat as faintly as it was; they needed sustenance even though it was to keep their own blood to circulate and most important of all, in this special circumstance, they could procreate and produce offspring.
However, as creatures with alignment closer to the darkness, the chaos and the death, their procreating was very rare. It was close to an unholy miracle.
Since the moment Vlad was turned into a True Ancestor, his Mistresses were rarely pregnant with Vlad's spawn and if there was a slim chance they were pregnant, the delivering process would be beyond dangerous for the mother and child. It wasn't a rare occurrence for the mother and the infant died in the process. Hence, adoption was the better alternative since the adopted vampire also bore the same blood with the adopting vampire.
Having Mina as my fiancée didn't seem to be a bad idea. We had bonded enough in the past two weeks I spent my time in this castle. The real problem was how the Tepes Council would control me later. Of course, it wouldn't be a problem after I became strong enough.
I was 100% sure that I don't wish to be a vampire. For immortality, I had the Philosopher Stone with me and I was in the process reverse-engineering the stone. After I could recreate the Magnum Opus of Nicholas Flamel, I could grasp immortality easily.
I silently checked Vlad with my 'Observation' and found his stats were still filled with question marks. How high his level actually was?
I weighed my options carefully.
After a while, I returned back to reality and stared at the father-daughter pair in front of me. Vlad Tepes seemed calm while the anxiety in Mina's eyes was obvious even to me.
With a heavy sigh, I decided to take a leap of faith.
"I . . . humbly accept your generous offer, my lord," I said while smiling a faint, strained smile.
"Good! Good! Very good!" said Vlad with a wide smirk on his face, his fangs poking out and his blood red eyes glittering brightly. It was an intimidating sight, to be honest.
"However, I can still attend Hogwarts until I graduate, yes?"
"Of course, of course, you can continue your education until you graduate from Hogwarts. How long it'll be? Seven years?"
"Six years," I corrected.
"It is only six years — a blink of eyes for me," said Vlad dismissively, "Since you have accepted my council's offer, you're my daughter's fiancé for henceforth. I'll leave you, the two youngsters, behind to build a closer bond."
Vlad stood up and walked to one of the dark corners in his study. His body transformed into shadow and my 'Presence Detection' lost him immediately thereafter. There were only me and Mina left in the room.
"So, how shall I call you from henceforth? Shall I call you with 'husband'?" said Mina with a faint, embarrassed smile on her doll-like face.
At that moment, a familiar sound rang in my head.
Ding!
You have completed special event quest!
Reward(s): 10,000Exp, Permanent Alliance with Tepes Council, Registered as Tepes Council's Member, Mina Tepes becomes your fiancée
Levelled up to level 50.
Gained 1pt for Strength, Agility, Mind and Magic statistic attributes.
Gained 5pts for free attribute points.
Your third Title's slot has been unlocked.
You can switch your Gamer's Mind and Gamer's Body skill between active and non-active.
Your Health, Willpower and all negative status effects have been healed.
Although I have levelled up and gained many perks from this level 50 milestone, I didn't feel happy.
"It's a little hasty to call me with 'husband', don't you think?" I replied blankly.
Yes, I wasn't happy.
Not at all. . .
—»·O·«—
It happened before Asmodias Lustburg prepared his trap to cull down the Cainblood Vampire Faction's army; his house-elves were in the middle of an important operation.
40 house-elves, fully armed to their teeth, were surrounding Malfoy's manor. They have tracked back Dobby's connection to the family he served.
They have wasted the whole week to prepare this operation — the first operation they did without their master guidance or planning. Everything was prepared by Barmy and Wonky as well as some input from the others.
Of course, the brainstorming the whole plans didn't last more than three hours. The reason why they wasted so much time it was because of the D.O.A. style tournament to find the leader of seven squads for the operation, bar Barmy's squad as the leader was obvious. All house-elves wanted the glory to lead a squad in the name of their most glorious master.
Fortunately, there was no casualty in that savage tournament and the most dangerous wound was broken bones and cracked skulls; nobody was permanently maimed in that tournament.
They have found out that Malfoy House had bonded with three house-elves in this week and every two days, the master assassin of House-Elves Black Ops, Freaky and Horny, had killed those house-elves in cold blood.
Normally, house-elves wouldn't kill their own kind with the exceptional cases but the members of House-elves Black Ops were different from their normal brethren. They were trained, dangerous and lethal house-elves that have been freed from the moronic indoctrination of house-elves as they grew up from a mere moldable, foolish adolescent.
When they fight, they don't wrestle in the mud harmlessly like children. They fight with the skill of a martial guru with intent to apprehend, maim or kill their enemy in the most efficient way.
When they do magic, they don't only do magic for household's chore or rough magic to defend themselves. They do the lethal kind of magic to harm those who are in their path.
They were also armed with the latest muggle firearms that enchanted with rune-based enchantment with varying effects.
It wasn't a mistake if they were acknowledged to be ten times more efficient than even special units of Country's black ops.
Besides, they lived with a single creed: "Everything for Master Lusty-Bug Sir's glory."
To keep their creed, they wouldn't shy away from the path of bloodshed. They would wipe out anything that would threaten their most glorious master.
"This is Barmy to all squads in the ground zero! Is the preparation ready?"
Barmy, the beret-wearing, tyrannical leader of the H.E.B.O. spoke to the other squad leaders via the magical version of walky-talky their brothers and sisters in 'Crafty Department' have created.
The general of House-elves Black Ops immediately received answers from the leaders of the squads dispatched to the war zone one by one.
"This is the Horny squad. We have disposed of the bad house-elf serving the bad wizard."
That was the fourth house-elf serving for their target in the last eight days. Barmy took a mental note at that before he dismissed it. Their target won't see them tomorrow after tonight. He was sure of it.
"This is the Crazy squad. The muggle's explosives have been planted and ready to detonate anytime. We are on standby to burn everything to the ground!"
Ah, the Crazy squad was filled with nothing but explosion-nuts and pyromaniacs. They were the masters of burning everything into cinders.
"This is the Cocky squad. We are almost finished cleaning the bad wizard's golds!"
Well, Cocky was still a cocky house-elf. Barmy noted that little fact.
Sometimes, the cocky house-elf would present a good idea, even though he had overstepped his limits. Unfortunately, Barmy found the majority of the house-elf ideas were insufferable and blasphemous. Not even the most brutal punishment Barmy had delivered to the cocky house-elf had cured the fool's foolishness.
At least, Cocky's skill was on the top-ten list. It was his only saving grace.
"This is the Corny squad. We are still in the middle of cleaning the bad artefacts, over!"
Now, it's unacceptable! They were pressed by the schedule.
Barmy interjected immediately and gave an order to the Corny squad, "Speed up your job, Corny squad! To others, continue your report."
"This is the Corny squad, again. Asking for reinforcements! The bad artefacts are too many and too baaad~ over!"
As Barmy extorted his mind to find a way to deal with this conundrum, he heard the report of another squad.
"This is the Jerky squad. We have finished installing Anti-Portkey and Anti-Apparition wards! Can I go to help the Corny squad, Sir?"
"The Horny squad wants to help the Corny squad too, sir."
Barmy was elated that the other squads were very competent. It helped him out with his dilemma.
"The Jerky squad and the Horny squad, go help the Corny squad!" said Barmy to the Jerky squad and the Horny squad.
"This is the Jerky squad. Affirmative!"
"This is the Horny squad. We heard it clearly!"
"This is the Potty squad. The Floo connection has been cut down, sir. Can I help Corny squad too? Over!"
"If your squad have finished your task; go help the Corny squad!" Barmy ordered at once.
"This is the Potty squad. Affirmative, sir!"
"This is the Flunky squad. No suspicious wizards around the parameter, sir!"
After the Flunky squad, there was no squad left.
There were eight squads in this operation; the Barmy squad, the Horny squad, the Crazy squad, the Cocky squad, the Corny squad, the Jerky squad, the Potty squad and the Flunky squad. Each squad had five members, squad's leader included.
Each operator of this mission was generally armed with a customized bulletproof vest, a set of black military uniform enchanted to be resistant to low-to-mid level curse, a black military helm with magical version of the night vision and heat vision goggles, a pair of customized military combat boots with silent rune-based enchantment, a taser gun, and a survival knife enchanted with sharpness and anti-breaking enchantments. They were also armed with secondary firearms: five 'Eurometaal Nr20' Anti-Personnel Fragmentation Hand Grenade with anti-heat, anti-kinetic force, which would creat radii soundproof barrier when activated and a Colt Anaconda Six-Shot Revolver with anti-breaking, anti-theft, auto-cleaning, auto-reloading rune-based enchantments.
For the main firearms, each member was given different firearm. The firearm distribution was following the hierarchy, meaning that the leader got a better weapon than the underlings. First of all, the main firearms for squad leaders were Calico M960 Submachine Gun (SMG) with 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition calibre with anti-breaking, anti-theft, auto-cleaning and auto-reloading rune-based enchantments. On the other hand, the main firearms for the underlings were Bushmaster M17S Bull-Pup Civilian Sporting Rifle with 5.56x45mm calibre bullet and anti-breaking, anti-theft, auto-cleaning and auto-reloading rune-based enchantments.
There were also special firearms for the squad with the special tasks like the Funky squad and the Crazy squad. The main firearms for the Funky squad which watched the surrounding parameter were Barrett M90 Bolt-Action Bullpup Anti-Material Sniper Rifle with Optics, Optional Scopes, Sights and Night Vision sighting assists and anti-breaking, anti-theft, auto-cleaning and auto-reloading rune-based enchantments.
Meanwhile, the Crazy squad with more . . . destructive role was armed with Dynamit-Nobel Panzerfaust 3, the Single-Shot Disposable Anti-tank Rocket Launcher with an auto-self-banishing rune-based enchantment after being used and KBP RPO-A (Shmel) Shoulder-Fired, Rocket-Propelled Flamethrower with anti-breaking, anti-theft, auto-cleaning and Dark Magic 'Tainting' rune-based enchantments.
Overall, they were the best of H.E.B.O. could offer and the chance their operation would fail was very low.
Barmy made a pensive expression as he thought his next move. He looked at his wristwatch, Rolex Yellow Gold Stainless Steel, which had been liberated from muggle's shop somewhere. It showed the time was at 1 AM.
The bad wizard and his family members were sleeping, oblivious to the fact that their house had been invaded and their precious possession had been ransacked. Then again, they wouldn't be the best black ops if they were found our early, were they not?
"This is Barmy to all squads bar the Flunky squad and the Crazy squad. After you all finished storing the bad wizard's magic trinkets into a safe place, start the mission immediately!"
"This is the Corny squad. Affirmative, sir!"
"This is the Jerky squad. Affirmative, sir!"
"This is the Horny squad. Affirmative, sir!"
"This is the Potty squad. Affirmative, sir!"
Barmy turned his head to look back at his squad member. There were Pussy, Prissy, Dummy and Freaky, standing with their back straight. They were exuding alertness only most experienced soldier of a nation could display. At such show of alertness, Barmy felt a smidgen of pride because he had a part in shaping these house-elves into something worthy to serve his most glorious master.
Shorter than what Barmy had estimated, the assault teams returned to the extraction point. All squads with the Crazy squad and the Flunky squad as the exceptions were presenting themselves before his squad. However, the dictatorial leader found that the Cocky squad and the Horny squad had brought extra with them.
The cocky squad had brought the bad wizard's wife with them. The woman was bound with strong rope and her wand was nowhere to be seen. The woman had a terrified expression on her face. She was surprisingly naked and the stink smell of post-coitus came from her body.
Barmy realized that the woman and the bad wizard had likely had sex before they fell asleep. In the end, Barmy didn't care about that insignificant little detail.
On the other hand, the Horny squad had taken the bad wizard's daughter with them. Barmy vaguely remembered how the young witch was supposedly their future mistress' archenemy. Wonky had told him many times about the group of young witches that had antagonized their future mistress.
The young witch was also tied with rope and her wand was confiscated. Her face contorted in fear and confusion —it was mostly confusion, Barmy guessed— as she couldn't understand what was happening.
There was no bad wizard — the main target — and he should have been dealt by them before his body was sent to a freezer in Alpha Base. Wizard's body still had some uses even though they'd died.
The dictatorial leader of H.E.B.O. focused his sight on the likely perpetrator of this stunt and glared at Cocky.
"Cocky!" Barmy started, "Why did your squad and Horny's squad spare the bad wizard's wife and daughter. You know the content of the mission, yes?"
"Sir, Cocky thinks that it is better to leave them alive for further use!" said Cocky after a quick salute.
Barmy was intrigued by Cocky's reasoning and asked his rebelliousness underling a question.
"What do you mean?"
"Cocky has read their information that our brothers and sisters in the 'Snooping Department' has collected," started Cocky, "The bad wizard had many connections in wizarding Wizengamot and it is a pity to waste their connections. Furthermore, the girl is also heiress apparent of Black House, which has many political clouts in Great Britain's wizarding community's politic. Instead of killing them, Cocky thinks that their resources can be used to help our most glorious master in the future."
"Pray tell me how do you will keep them in line? They can rebel and endanger our most glorious master if they aren't controlled properly," said Barmy, giving Cocky his meanest glare.
"We can give them wizard's loyalty or love potions until they won't betray our most glorious master, sir! Our brothers and sisters in the 'Crafty Department' can prepare the potions if asked and Cocky is sure there won't be a problem, sir!"
The witches were horrified from the conversation of the two House-elves. They felt fear for their life and future. Too bad they could do nothing for they were bound on their place and their wands were confiscated. They couldn't even create an accidental magic phenomenon from their distress because of the muggle's handcuffs, which were enchanted with rune-based enchantment to restrain their magic.
Barmy made a pensive expression after Cocky finished his argument. Cocky's idea was good; he mentally praised Cocky's cunning plan. He knew that their most glorious master was an exceptional and extraordinarily outstanding wizard. However, his master was only a muggle-born and he didn't have any political clouts in Britain's magical society. It would help their master in his conquest later.
At that moment, his magical walky-talky device made a sound, telling him of the incoming call. He took out the device and listened to what the other side tried to tell him.
"This is the Crazy squad! We're waiting for the order to start burning down the place, sir. Please give us the instruction as quickly as possible. We have become restless from waiting for the order too long, sir!"
Barmy didn't answer immediately; he was thinking if burning down the bad wizard's house is necessary or not at this point.
Cocky's brilliant idea had changed the parameter of their mission. If Cocky hadn't given Barmy a good argument to defend his idea, Barmy would call for the daughter-mother pair's execution on the spot and blow Malfoy's manor soon after.
However, Barmy found that he couldn't blow the manor if they intended to use the witches like what Cocky had planned.
After Barmy contemplated silently for a moment, he decided to leave the manor alone for now. He told the Crazy squad about the sudden change in plan.
"Barmy to the Crazy squad. You all return back to extraction point immediately. There's a change in our plan!"
"What?" Barmy could hear Crazy's dismayed voice from the other side, "We won't blow up this place, Sir?"
"Yes," Barmy replied at once, "Return back immediately! This is an order!"
Popping sounds appeared around them at once. The Crazy squad had 'apparated' to Barmy's position. They were sulking because they were denied their favourite activity. The newly arrived five House-elves showed how ready they were to burn down the Malfoy's manor with their flamethrower in their arms.
"Crazy squad reporting, Sir!"
Crazy saluted to Barmy. His salute lacked the usual vigour because he was in withdrawal symptom from the lack of explosion or burning building.
Barmy dismissed the explosion-nut and pyromaniac house-elves and gave the two tied up witches a last glance. Then, he brought his brothers and sisters back to their Alpha Base, which was built deep underground somewhere unknown in Great Britain Island. He wanted to finish the extra objective as quickly as possible and get two loyal witches and their resources for his most glorious master, unwittingly adding another problem for his master.
Author's Humble Notes:
- I have changed the Stats contents. I'll edit the previous chapter later.
- I'm going to let you decide the fate of Lyra and Narcissa. Either they become Dias' loyal NORMAL attendant or become something more in salacious way. Pick your choice in the review.
- Anyway, good for you all who have answered my previous quiz correctly. The answer is Seraph of the End.
- I am going to take three days break. So, the next chapter and the official beginning of Second Year part will be published in the day after the day after tomorrow.