The Butcher of Hogsmeade

Whether it was due to adrenaline or not, when a deadly threat came, Shen Hou calmed down completely. After being inspired with the determination and courage to save himself, he suddenly found that his senses had become extremely sharp and his thinking was incredibly clear.

Shen Hou was unaware that this change was not due to adrenaline, but rather to the witcher's senses being heightened by danger.

In an instant, the complete structure of the safe house appeared in my mind; the house was not large, and the interior was divided into a hallway, a kitchen, a bedroom and a living room. Except for the bedroom and the bathroom, there were no doors separating them; the second floor was a low attic, and there was no staircase to go up. If necessary, one could only go up and down by a wooden ladder.

Such a structure would undoubtedly be extremely advantageous for an assassin who is lurking in the shadows and familiar with the environment.

As his senses gradually opened up, Shen Hou silently crept up to the second intruder.

Before the dark wizard who had entered the bedroom through the back window was completely dead, Shen Hou had already pierced the throat of the second intruder. This time it was at the bathroom door. The intruder squeezed through the narrow window and groped his way out; he was completely unaware that the moonlight shining in through the narrow window prematurely exposed his figure outside the bathroom door. As a result, he had just muttered "It's too dark" when he felt a chill in his throat and then collapsed weakly by the bathroom partition door.

The second intruder put up a slightly more resistance than the first. Unable to chant the incantation, he used his last bit of strength to pound on the bathroom stall door; the glass rattled, alerting the other intruders.

Caught off guard, Shen Hou was so frightened that he almost jumped back and stabbed again; this time he stabbed at the heart, and he held tightly to the other's hand, which was still unwilling to let go, to stop him from continuing to strike.

Fortunately, simply knocking on the glass wouldn't send an accurate message. The wizards clearly didn't understand Muggle cryptography, so the fallen dark wizard couldn't explicitly tell his companions that a killer lurked in the darkness, using melee weapons—not magic.

Here we must address another preconceived notion: since Gryffindor, how many years has it been since the wizarding world witnessed battles fought with melee weapons? Wizards may fight without wands or spells, but is it possible to fight without magic altogether?

It's not a werewolf hiding in this house.

The inertia of their thinking left the dark wizards completely unprepared for the impending danger, even though Shen Hou was already drenched in a cold sweat from the shock.

People were still entering through the doors and windows; there were more than a dozen dark wizards attacking, divided into at least two groups. The second dark wizard, who entered through the bathroom window, asked his companion as he crawled in, "What are you knocking on? Did you find anything?"

He didn't receive a reply; instead, he was met with a cold, blood-tinged glint. The black wizard's hands were still gripping the window frame, his feet about to jump to the ground. In that brief moment, his body was suspended in mid-air, unable to move or react to save his life, despite being aware of the deadly danger.

The dark wizard let out a short, piercing scream: "Who!" These were his last words. As his feet touched the ground, "Demon Fangs" pierced his throat, while his wand-wielding hand was pinned to the window frame, rendering him immobile and losing his chance for a final blow.

Immediately following, a second stab pierced his heart; not to make the same mistake twice, Shen Hou delivered the finishing blow. The black wizard instantly lost all strength, his body slowly slumping against the windowsill. Because his hands were trapped on the outside of the window, he was as if he were hanging on the windowsill, half-sitting dead.

The stench of blood permeated the small space of the bathroom.

At the same time, a soft murmur came from the direction of the living room; it was the dark wizards who had entered from different directions meeting up. Shen Hou judged that there were at least three different voices, all asking the same question: "Have you encountered anyone?"

The identical negative answers aroused the dark wizard's unease.

"Go check over to the bedroom area; that's Perry's responsibility there, and also the attic..."

Before he could finish speaking, a reply came from upstairs: "There's no one upstairs."

"Damn it, did they run away and only leave a trap here?" someone couldn't contain themselves any longer. "It's too dark, turn on the lights..."

"Don't do anything stupid!" someone tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"Fluorescent light flashes..."

"Igni!"

"Boom!"

A flame ignited in the center of the living room before the illumination spell, illuminating the figures of all the dark wizards. The sudden change from darkness to light caused everyone to instinctively squint.

All living beings have an instinctive fear of fire; it is a memory etched into their genes, regardless of whether they are wizards or Muggles. Especially when the fire appears suddenly and is very close to you, everyone's instinctive reaction is to shrink back.

The quick-reacting black wizard cast an "Iron Armor Curse" on himself, while the slow-reacting ones were still instinctively retreating, and Shen Hou's figure cut into the light and shadow like a ghost.

This is where the starkly different combat skills among the dark wizards become apparent: some are still foolishly asking who you are, while others have already raised their wands, ready to unleash a silent curse upon the newcomer. However, having gained the upper hand, Shen Hou has no intention of giving the dark wizards a chance.

"Ald!" A wave of energy swept across the living room, not intended to harm anyone, but simply to disrupt the enemy's rhythm.

The triangular bayonet targeted the guy who reacted the fastest and had almost already aimed his wand at Shen Hou. At this point, there was no time to focus on a precise stab; Shen Hou could only roughly aim at the enemy's chest and thrust the "Demon Fang" horizontally.

Designed specifically for rapid assassinations on the battlefield, the weapon pierced the chest with unparalleled smoothness. The black wizard's cloak, robes, fat, and muscles could not prevent the weapon from piercing his chest and going right through his lungs.

The severe open pneumothorax made it impossible for the dark wizard to even breathe, let alone cast spells; his whole body convulsed from the excruciating pain and difficulty breathing, and his wand was easily snatched from his hand and thrown into a corner. The perpetrator, after withdrawing the weapon, made no further moves, not even glancing at him again, and turned to pounce on his accomplices.

When yet another dark wizard was assassinated at close range, the others finally reacted, and the living room instantly erupted in chaos; at the same time, five or six spells shot out from the dark wizards' wands, flying wildly in the limited space, but hardly touching Shen Hou's side, instead landing more on his companions.

In the flickering firelight, Shen Hou moved around the black wizards like a fish swimming underwater, using the Quen sign to protect himself while making more use of the living or dead black wizards to block magic. At this time, he was no longer obsessed with reaping lives, but chose to wound them more to incapacitate them rather than kill them immediately. He would take the black wizards' wands but spare their lives for the time being, so as to preserve as many "barriers" as possible in the room.

The Black Wizards' numerical advantage became a hindrance at this moment, because every time Shen Hou attacked with a spell or a military dagger, he was undoubtedly facing the enemy, and even if the Black Wizards didn't care about the lives of their comrades, they could accurately locate the rapidly moving Shen Hou.

The relatively small environment is not suitable for using AOE ultimate skills that clear large areas, otherwise wouldn't that be suicide?

In this environment, even if a werewolf were here, there would be a considerable chance of wiping out the entire group of dark wizards present, let alone an assassin who uses werewolf-style witcher swordsmanship, possesses witcher senses and strength, and is able to think calmly and react in a timely manner.

A strong stench of blood permeated the living room.

Unable to withstand the pressure, some dark wizards broke down and began to flee, crying out, "Don't go in! Burn the house! Blow it up! Kill him!" They not only cried out, but also put their words into action, immediately turning back to launch powerful spells at the safe house after escaping a certain distance.

Thunderous explosions, shattering, houses collapsing and the ground sinking—powerful spells struck the walls and roofs, and even houses reinforced with sturdy spells quickly became shaky and on the verge of collapse.

The commotion reached the room, causing even the black wizard who hadn't yet escaped to panic.

Just then, everyone heard a majestic and loud voice coming from above.

"Finite!"