"Hahahaha! Old woman, is this how you keep yourself eained... Pig on some little guy?"

  Edward Garling's voice thundered across the ndscape like a storm, impossible to ignore.

  The woman, whom Maverick presumed to be Olympe Maxime, wore a disgusted expression at the loud echo before lifting her gaze.

  He followed her line of sight and spotted a small silhouette streaking rapidly downward from the sky. What began as a mere speck greidly, sharpening its form until it revealed a figure he knew all too well.

  Boom!

  The man nded a few meters from the woman, hitting the heated ground with a heavy impact, his stance even more dramatic than hers.

  Two Arch-Magus now stood before him, the three f a teriangle. For hungry journalists ossip seekers, this moment would overshadow even the apocalyptic duel from an ho.

  "Your words are as vulgar as ever..." He heard the eak with a tone of loathing, likely in respoo the strange greeting moments ago, though no magic was used to amplify her voice.

  "Haha... What do you wao call you... Madame Maxime?" Edward replied, his toeasing as if speaking to an acquaintance. His magic pulsed with a sound like a heartbeat, sweeping away the smoky dust left in the wake of his nding.

  Maverick didn't see Ali or Aisha with Edward, and he wasn't about to funt his Magical-Sense in front of these two monsters. If he were careful, he could do it without them notig, but he didn't bother. He trusted his teacher.

  Edward, he didn't mind, but this Maxime—he knew nothing about her, except what he had read and heard.

  In any case, this pce, in its current state, was not for the average person. The heat radiating from the area would be unbearable for any normal being. Their skin and flesh would burn to the bohe moment they set foot here without some form of prote. It was better they weren't here.

  Maxime let out a dismissive huff. "I'd rather you keep that foul mouth of yours shut," she said before turnitention baaverick. "I'll ask again... Why kill him when he was no longer a threat?"

  Maverick didn't respond immediately, taking a moment to think carefully. Even with his teacher present, he didn't want Edward to step in, nor did he want Maxime to realize their e.

  Fortunately, Edward seemed to share the same mi. He didn't respond to her earlier ent, simply shrugged it off before turning his attention to Maverick. He too voiced Maxime's doubt in his own way.

  "I'd like to know that as well," he asked, his tone growing sharp. "After all, he was a fh cillor of the ICW. Criminal or not, his fate should have been decided by the Iional Supreme Court of Magiot by a random guy dressed like some No-Maj viginte..."

  There was a brief pause before his gaze narrowed, and he leaned in slightly, adding o question. "So tell me, who the hell are you?"

  It was a reasonable doubt, and Maverick took a moment to carefully sider his respohe two King-ranked magicals watched as his crimson eyes flicked between them, before the distorted voice rang out.

  "ICW... the same anization that issued his warrant," the figure spoke, gesturing toward the corpse. "Dead... or alive, wasn't it?... As far as I see... I haven't broken any ws to answer for."

  Finally, log eyes with his mentor, he added sharply, "My identity... it has nothing to do with you, Speaker..." It art of the act, and he ying his role.

  And this was Bloodraven speaking. His tone remained deliberately ft, and the distortion in his voice made it nearly impossible for ao dis anything about him. Iy, it was all to cultivate an air of mystery and to keep the half-giant witch from making any random guesses.

  From what he had learned from his teacher, he had some insight into the Seven Arch-Magus and their personalities. They were proud, and rightfully so, given their immense power and status.

  But they weren't petty—at least, this woman shouldn't be the type to stoop to such pettiness, f him to remove the mask, especially when he hadn't broken any ws.

  His as—and his teacher's—were simply a matter of being overly cautious. Still, if the worst came to pass, he had already made preparations for that sario.

  And speaking of, the woman merely raised an eyebrow as she listeo his sharp remark, her expression briefly turning unreadable, as if some strahought had crossed her mind.

  Then a tense silence fell, until Edward decided to break it, as the st response had been directed at him. "To be ho, I don't care who you are. But you shouldn't have killed him. The man likely has associates. It would have beeer to hand him over for interrogation and trial..."

  Maverick, feeling bold, responded without ging his ft tone. "I'll be blunt, Speaker Garling, Speaker Maxime," he gnced betweewo Arch-Magus. "Your ICW isn't some noble anization hteous angels. It's a den of old, corrupt politis, just like thur human representatives... The seven of you may not care because these matters may be too small for your majestic selves to intervene... but do you have any idea how many times this filth has gotten away with his crimes, using the very system the ICW runs on?"

  Maxime was momentarily taken abaot by the sharpness of his words, but by the boldness with which they were spoken. It had been a long, long time sinyone had addressed her so directly. Her growing, subtle i began transform into something deeper, evolving into an unusual curiosity.

  After all, Arch-Magus would be aced to people l their attitudes when speaking to them. They would rarely enter anyone who would face them with btant frontation.

  "Careful there..." Edward's voice turned cold, his eyes narrowing. "You may not have broken any ws, but you're ridig the very system that the entire wizarding world runs on... what we represent."

  A tense sileretched once again until Maxime spoke up. "He's right..." Her ued aowledgment surprised both of them, who had been pying along with the act. They saw her expression had ged, now pletely something else.

  She fshed a smile—almost alluring—that sent a shiver down Maverick's spine. "Monsieur Raven," she tinued gaze fixed on him, "you are corre yument... So now that you've captured this dangerous criminal, why don't you e with me to headquarters? I'll personally arrahe warrent reward for you."

  The er of his eye twitched. Who the hell is Monsieur Reven? He pined inwardly, ahat the woman was vandalizing his alias.

  Her words sounded fishy from start to finish, so he decided it was time to make his exit. There was no reaso for him to stay. Though he appeared fine oside, he was exhausted and badly in need of treatment.

  More importantly, he didn't want to risk stayihis woman any longer. Even though he and his mentor were putting on an act, there was always a ce she might figure something out. Bloodraven was Bloodraven, aeo keep the alias remained a mystery to everyone.

  He had noticed for a while now that the anti-apparition barriers had already been removed by his teacher, so there were no longer aernal obstacles preventing the use of space-based skills.

  But Apparition was dangerous for a reason. If a third party were to interfere during the moment of the jump, it could lead to some nasty, ued sequences.

  Moreover, he khe Arch-Magus could manipute space at specific points, so preventing him from even attempting to Apparate wouldn't be much of a problem for the half-giant witch.

  And judging by the woman's st remark, it was clear she either wao know something or had already figured something out. Asking him to go to the ICW HQ was just nonsense, a less direct way of saying she wanted him to e with her—or she would grab him herself if necessary.

  But this wasn't an issue for him. The woman, Maxime, was already uhe illusion spell. Now, you might wonder hoowerful Arch-Magus like her hadn't noticed anything.

  Well, that's the most dangerous aspect of the illusion spell. As long as the caster doesn't alter anything that deviates from reality, the person or people uhe spell would have no way of realizing they were affected.

  As a result, even though she was caught in it, her powerful senses detected nothing amiss because nothing had been ged.

  In other words, the spell was dormant, waiting for the caster's instru. Until Maverick decided otherwise, everything she saw, smelled, a would be the same reality that anyone else, not affected by the spell, would perceive.

  The longer she remained uhe spell, the easier it would be for him to make a quick ge. It would be a short window, but enough time for him to bail before she noticed.

  And she would notice—he was sure of it. Not immediately, but quickly enough, given the sharpness of an Arch-Magus's Magical-Sense.

  Gathering his thoughts and focus, he met the witch's gaze. His crimson eyes narrowed dangerously as his voice came out ft, distorted. "Not ied. You give the bounty, the whole 100,000 galleons, to the nation this area belongs to."

  The woman narrowed her eyes in response. She wasn't intimidated, but this was the sed time this person had fronted or rejected her, and it intrigued her even more.

  She wao know who could be so bold, s, as to faot just her, but two Arch-Magus at once.

  There was no hidden motive behind her request. To her, it was just a simple ask. She was used to getting things her way. Most importantly, she simply wahe information for herself, not Edward—just herself. It was a strange kind of rivalry—if it could even be called that.

  "I insist, Monsieur Reven. Please allow me to show my appreciation for your bravery in... putting ao that criminal... And you worry about the damage here. My repair spell is quite good, if I do say so myself..." she pressed, trying to remain as respectful as possible.

  She wasn't used to showing this much courtesy to anyone, especially to an unknown persardless of how intrigued she was by him.

  The more she insisted, the more uneasy Maverick felt. Even Edward sehat the woman to something.

  Not wanting the situation t on any longer, Maverick decided to act.

  Maxime watched as the mysterious person narrowed his crimso her once again before speaking. "I said I'm not ied. Nor in your appreciation. What I did, I did because I believed it was the right thing to do."

  As the distorted voice rang out, his body slowly began to asd, floating upward.

  She raised a brow, unaware of what was truly happening. "I advise you not to use Apparition, Monsieur. Why 't you just e with me? I'm not some dangerous animal..." She shot a brief, disdainful g Edward before tinuing, "Unlike some people here..."

  What she witnessed left her ego shaken for a very, very long time. So much so that every time she saw a bck flying creature, she would be reminded of what had happened—how she, an Arch-Magus, had been outwitted.

  She saw him raise his head and both hands to the sky, as if embrag it.

  Then a voice rang out. Not from ahere, but from all around her. It was the same distorted voice, eg in the air. Just one word.

  "Farewell..."

  The figure, shrouded in bck, began to unravel before her eyes. Its solid form began to dissolve into a dark mist that drifted zily around it. Slowly, as if defying the ws of nature, bck feathers began to sprout from the figure's surface, oer another, until the entire body was cloaked in a sinister plume.

  One.

  Two.

  Three...

  One by one, pairs of crimson eyes appeared on the body, like something sinister was emerging.

  The se was unnatural, even for her, someone who had seen all kinds of bizarre and unusual things. However, she showed no outward rea and was determio uhe identity of the daring figure behind the mask.

  What gave her fidence was her space magic, having already blocked his location.

  Her fidence was uionable, but it was, unfortunately, mispced.

  Fp!

  To her astonishment, the body, now cloaked in bck feathers and with sinister eyes, suddenly exploded into dozens of bck ravens.

  Fp, fp, fp, fp.

  She watched as the ravens scattered in all dires, then morphed into a dark mist before dissolving into the air. The entire spectacle unfolded in the blink of an eye, and it took her a moment to collect herself.

  Boom!

  A massive burst of magic erupted from her, surging outward like a tsunami, sending hot rocks and debris flying in all dires, even catg Edward off guard for a brief moment.

  Her power, the sheer momentum alone, would be enough to overwhelm anyoh her rank, but to Edward, it was hardly signifit.

  Ihan a fra of a sed, he jured a magical barrier to steady himself, mainly to keep the debris from staining his clothes.

  He had figured everything out the moment he saw the feathers form. Annoyed yet impressed, he realized that once again, his pupil had pulled one over on him without him notig. However, he let things py out, pretending to be surprised, ensuring Maxime wouldn't suspect a thing.

  Maxime maintained her intense magical flow for some time, all while her Magical-Sense swept the area. For an Arch-Magus, searg the entire desert would be effortless, but unfortunately for her, she found nothing.

  In fact, what she had seen in those final moments was nothing but an illusion. The real him had already flown far away, watg from a distance. He had Apparated the moment his illusion had served its purpose, just before she unleashed her momentum.

  The space was once again filled with tense silence, as it was clear the half-giant witch was far from being in a good mood. That was until the other man, who seemed to have already earned her displeasure, decided to make things worse.

  "Well... that was... some strange magic, but impressive, don't you think?" he remarked, a deliberate teasing smile tugging at his lips.

  Maxime shot him a gre, her irritation rising. "Did you do something to me?" she asked, her tone almost paranoid.

  The man immediately raised his hands in mock surrender, as if to cim innoce. "I swear on my magic, I did nothing..."

  Her gre intensified, growing even more heated as she fixed her eyes on his smirking smile.

  After a long, scrutinizing look, she huffed, marking the end of it all. "I'll unmask him... sooner or ter..." she added, both to herself and for Edward to hear. As she spoke, a magical struct materialized beh her feet, lifting her upward.

  But before she could asd too far, Edward's voice rang out, calling after her. "Wait, woman... you told him you'd fix this pce up!"

  Her mood soured even further. "Do it yourself, you annoying lion. Think of it as returning the favor for helping with the barrier... and don't fet t that thing's corpse," she shot back, leaving him stunned.

  "No, wait... That wasn't supposed to be a favor, that was your responsibility, you bsted French #%*^&#... AT LEAST STAY AND HELP!" he screamed after her, putting everything he had into the shout.

  Boom!

  Before he could protest any further, Maxime shot upward like a rocket, disappearing from sight.