Hogwarts: Lacus doesn't want to be a witch who destroys nations.

Chapter 108 Hesitation

He pointed to a twisted, empty space ahead: "It's nearby. I sensed unusually active magic there many years ago, but I never imagined it was for this reason—be careful, what's guarding it might have become enormous because of the runes."

Lux also sensed it; on the system map, the glowing dots representing runes almost overlapped with a huge, hostile red cursor.

They pushed aside the last thicket of thorns covered in icicles, and the sight before them made Lux gasp.

That wasn't any "thing" at all, but a giant tree-man!

A colossal creature composed of countless thick vines, twisted branches, thick moss, and glowing mushrooms, it looked like a deformed tree-man, but was far larger and more ferocious than any magical plant she knew, its gnarled limbs deeply embedded in the frozen earth.

[Rune discovered: Overgrowth]

Sensing the presence of living beings, the treant let out a deep roar like the rumble of the earth, slowly turned around, and raised its huge fist made of hard wood, slamming it down hard on the spot where the two were.

"Step back!" Dumbledore shouted, his wand flashing out instantly.

A huge, semi-transparent silver shield suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.

"boom!!"

The wooden fist slammed into the shield with a deafening roar, but the shield firmly blocked the attack.

Lux found the treant extremely familiar; wasn't that the monster that had chased and fought her in the Forbidden Forest before?

But things are different now. Lux has mastered a great deal of magic, not to mention Dumbledore is by her side.

"Lux!" Dumbledore's voice remained calm, but his pace quickened. "Show me, use all your power to deal with it! I'll ensure your safety, but let me see your current limits. I need to see your ability to handle runes!"

Lux gritted her teeth, knowing this was the crucial moment to gain Dumbledore's trust. Without further hesitation, she pointed her wand at the giant tree.

"Extremely painful!"

A blinding, pale white beam of light struck the treant's trunk with pinpoint accuracy. However, the treant merely let out an even more furious roar, its movements momentarily faltering. Its body, covered in thick moss and wood, clearly exhibited extremely high resistance to the spell of pain.

"Obstacles galore!" "To be shattered to pieces!"

The spells struck the treant, blasting away some wood chips and moss, but they couldn't cause any fatal damage.

The tree-man's other arm swept across like a giant whip, creating a whistling sound.

Dumbledore swung his staff again, and an earthen wall rose from the ground to block the sweep. The earthen wall was easily shattered, but it bought Lux time once more.

Lux's eyes narrowed; she knew that conventional spells had limited effectiveness.

She began to use the techniques she had learned from Grindelwald, and her spells became more powerful, efficient, and fast-paced. She even began to try silent casting.

"Armor for protection!" to block the flying splinters.

"Blazing flames!" A blazing fire serpent lunged at the treant, igniting some of the moss on its body. The treant roared in pain and frantically pounded at the flames.

While helping Lux block the treant's main attack, Dumbledore carefully observed her every move, her spellcasting methods, and her fighting style.

His gaze grew increasingly hesitant, given Lux's efficient, ruthless, and maximum-damage-seeking approach to magic at that moment—

It was so similar, so much like the shadow of that person in his memory. Grindelwald's shadow seemed to reappear clearly before him through Lux's battle.

Just then, Lux seized an opening when the treant was slapping the flames, and suddenly lunged forward, her wand pointing directly at its head.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A dazzling green light tore through the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, striking the tree-man's head with pinpoint accuracy.

Lux's Killing Curse is a spell that is boosted by ability power, making it more effective against most living beings than the original Killing Curse. It can even blow the head off the treant in front of her.

The treant's massive body suddenly froze, then crashed backward, its enormous form slamming into the ground and causing a violent tremor. Countless snowflakes and icicles rained down from the trees.

Defeat the Overgrown Bowtruckle (Lv16) to gain +180 experience points.

[Sucker rune detected: Overgrowth]

[Should we absorb it?]

"Absorb!" Lux murmured to herself.

The dense green light on the fallen tree-man's corpse began to swirl, transforming into countless tiny green specks that surged into Lux's body like fireflies.

[Rune absorbed: Overgrowth]

[Overgrowth: When a unit dies near you, you gain increased maximum health (+0.5 per unit), and after accumulating a certain number, you gain Adaptive Force.]

A surge of life energy instantly filled Lux's entire body, and she felt that her life force limit had been raised once again.

She put away her wand and looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stood there quietly, not looking at the dead tree, but at Lux, his eyes filled with indescribable complex emotions: shock, understanding, worry, and even a trace of barely perceptible pain.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse: "I saw it, I felt the so-called runes, and you—"

He paused, seemingly unsure how to describe Lux's earlier battle. "Your magic—did he teach you?"

Lux nodded silently.

Dumbledore closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the cold air, and when he opened his eyes again, his gaze had returned to its usual calm, but the turmoil within had not subsided.

"I believe you now, Lux. The runes are real, and the power they grant may be immense."

His tone was extremely grave: "We must stop him from acquiring more runes."

"Then what are we waiting for, Professor?" Lux stepped forward urgently. "He might not have fully mastered the Conqueror rune yet. This is our last chance! We must find him and stop him!"

However, Dumbledore remained silent once again.

He turned around and looked into the dark shadows deep in the forbidden forest, his back view appearing unusually heavy and hesitant.

"Professor?" Lux looked at him, puzzled.

"—When I was young, Gellert and I envisioned together that greater good." Dumbledore's voice was deep, as if he were speaking to a memory.

"We believe that wizards are inherently superior and should lead the world, break the International Law of Secrecy, and establish a new order. Using magic, even curses, is justified in this endeavor."

"Everything is for a greater good—"

He closed his eyes in pain.

"Until that terrible duel, the death of my sister—I don't know whose curse it was—mine? His? We were estranged from then on—"

He turned to look at Lux, his eyes filled with confusion and struggle: "And now, he's on the path we all dreamed of, and he possesses even greater power, while I—"

"For years I've been hiding in Hogwarts, teaching the younger generation, and I've kept asking myself, was the ideal I had back then wrong, or was it just the way it was implemented that was wrong? Now I'm stopping him, is it for justice, or just out of fear and the shadow of the past? Can I really face him again?"

At this moment, Dumbledore appeared vulnerable and bewildered.

Grindelwald was not only his former best friend and lover, but also the deepest shadow in his heart. To confront Grindelwald meant to confront his most unbearable past and his deepest guilt.

Lux was taken aback when she saw Dumbledore's expression, and then an uncontrollable surge of anger rose up within her.

"You're a coward, Dumbledore!"