“…… Muriel ...... Where are you? Where are you ......?"

Under the darkness of the night, which was darkened by the thick fog, a figure walked forward in a trance in the alley. I saw that his steps were vain, and he would involuntarily stumble with every step, as if he might fall to the ground at any moment.

Obviously, this is the Martin who has just been robbed of his beloved by Helmo.

Since leaving the underground black market, he has been roaming the streets of London almost aimlessly. If you just listen to his muttering, those who don't know may think that he is looking for someone named "Muriel".

However, he walked very slowly, coupled with that swaying and lost soul, how could he still have the slightest intention of looking for someone?

"Muriel...... Where have you been? ”

It's as if Martin has only one sentence left in his mind.

But what could he do? He had no idea where Helpo had gotten Muriel...... No, even if he knew, so what? Does he still have the ability to snatch people back from Helbo's hands?

Therefore, as if he could no longer do anything about everything, he could only walk through the streets without purpose. He didn't know what else he could think, so he simply didn't think about anything, only the thoughts of Muriel that couldn't be dispelled, still haunting in his heart.

Mully ...... Uh......"

Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling of nausea suddenly rose in his heart, causing him to lean over the street wall with one hand and lean down to retch.

The long period of depression and the pain of losing Muriel seemed to make his body feel a little strange - his retching lasted for a long time, and when he raised his head again, the corners of his mouth were also glittering.

However, since he hadn't eaten much for days, there wasn't even anything in his stomach to vomit on. Even when he vomited just now, it was just some sour water.

Martin leaned against the cold brick wall as if he had lost some strength, gasping for breath with difficulty.

But at this moment, another wave of discomfort suddenly drove away the nausea just now and forcibly occupied his heart. And in his mind, there was a strange dizziness.

It wasn't the usual dizziness, but a strange feeling that seemed to be in a blur of consciousness. He didn't know what was going on in him, but he could vaguely understand that it was definitely not a good sign.

In the midst of a moment of confusion, Martin seemed to have thought of something, and almost struggled to whisper to himself:

“…… Be...... Helbo. ”

Yes, it was Helmo who, like the other apprentices Helmo, had the so-called "seeds of power" planted in his body.

Once upon a time, this seed rooted in his soul was his hope, and he hoped to gain a piece of his own strength from it.

And now, it seems that the seed is finally about to blossom and bear fruit.

Will you gain any power? Maybe there will be! But the price you have to pay will probably be much greater than you ever imagined.

As the dizziness in his mind grew heavier, Martin could no longer support the weight of his body even if he was leaning against the wall, and he couldn't help but slowly slide down the wall, gradually withering at the base of the wall.

He suddenly began to tremble, not because of the cold, but because he needed to exert all his strength to resist the growing feeling of vertigo.

He could vaguely feel that if he lost consciousness like this, he might never be able to come to his senses again.

But at this moment, at the end of this small street, which was originally only him, there was a slightly messy footsteps on the ground.

Who's that? Who's coming? Is it Muriel...... Or is it the abominable Helbo?

Martin, whose consciousness had gradually fallen into chaos, thought wildly, he could not even realize that it was obvious that Muriel could not appear here.

Martin, who was kneeling in the corner, struggled to raise his head, only to see his eyelids half-drooping, his blurred vision and the pervasive gray fog that made it impossible for him to see what was ahead.

But with a faint hint of expectation, he still tried to support his body, and staggered in the direction where the footsteps came from with a more wavering pace than just now.

But in the next moment, a strong green light suddenly aroused his instinctive vigilance. The moment he sensed the danger, he immediately tried to dodge to the side, but his weak legs made him take a diagonal step, and then fell heavily on the stone-paved road.

"Bang!"

Just as he stumbled and fell to the ground, the green arc of light that burst through the fog in front of him slammed past him and landed on the ground behind him.

For a moment, the rubble scattered in all directions, and many of them fell on him.

"Hmm......"

Although the fall made his bones ach faintly, it didn't hurt him much. Instead, it was the rubble that splashed behind him, and one of them accidentally smashed into his head, and his head was bleeding when he landed.

However, it was this sudden pain that made his mind a little clearer for the time being.

"Shhh...... Who's that? ”

Martin got up again with the back of his bleeding head in his hands, and finally drew his wand with his other hand. When he found that there was another killing curse coming straight to him on the other side of the street, he quickly waved his wand and dragged a flower pot from the side of the street to block the extremely deadly curse.

"Whoa—"

With an explosion, the flower pot that flew into the air shattered, causing the dirt inside to spill all over the ground. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Martin, who had a little understanding of the current situation, immediately waved his wand again and released a rather powerful smashing spell.

"Huh?"

After casting a spell, he realized that his spell was much stronger than usual—could this be the power of the seed that Hyerbo had "gifted" him?

However, the dizziness that was still impacting his willpower continued to remind him that the price he was about to pay was perhaps extraordinary.

At the same time, Martin's crushing charm passed by the figure in the gray mist.

It's not that he missed, but the opponent's reflexes and actions were unusually agile, and he seemed to stumble and stumble, but he easily dodged his attack with just one side.

Seeing that the other party's side once again lit up with a striking green light, Martin hurriedly continued to drag things in to block. But the dangerous spell was blocked, and the other party was getting closer and closer to him.

A few seconds passed, and the figure finally came to the range of his barely able to see, and this slightly familiar figure made him stunned at the time.

It's the dwarf wizard - the same apprentice of Helmo, the dwarf wizard he had met in the Black Market's Sleeping Dragon Bar!

"You...... Stop it! ”

Martin saw who the other party was, and he also saw that the other party should have seen his side clearly. But it was obvious that the other party had no intention of stopping, because the familiar green light had once again bloomed with a terrifying brilliance on the wand in the other party's hand.

“…… Damn it. ”

Martin didn't have the strength to dodge now, and with the two sides so close, it was too late for him to repeat his old trick and drag something from the side to resist.

However, he clearly did not want to die at all.

To be honest, when he had just lost Muriel, he really thought about dying.

Because at that time, he suddenly realized that not only was it difficult for him to get back the woman he loved, but even the hope of following Helbo in the past had been completely extinguished with Helbo's ruthlessness.

Not only that, but in order to help Helpo, he also had irreparable enemies with the Ministry of Magic, his alma mater Hogwarts, and Namaka McLean.

When he loses everything and ends up alone, what is the point of living in this world?

However, Muriel may not be dead after all. To see her at least one more time...... Yes, even if it's just the last face, Martin doesn't want to die so meaninglessly.

Maybe in this life, he has become a complete failure, but he is really unwilling. Even if it's just a struggle at the end, he'll have to hold on for a little longer.

In the next second, the tip of Martin's wand also lit up with a miserable green light, almost at the same time as the mad-like dwarf wizard on the opposite side cast the killing curse.

"Avada Suo—"

Suddenly, two green lightning bolts staggered through the street, and at that moment, he only felt as if time had slowed down in the whole world.

He could even see that the two green arcs of light, which should have been extremely fast, were advancing inch by inch, and while the two brushed against each other, they were also slightly entangled and biased due to the effects of the high-speed movement of the magic power.

But in the end, looking at the green light that was getting closer and closer to his body, Martin gritted his teeth and widened his eyes.

Is it still a little worse?

After all, he was one step behind the other party, even if he had a little extraordinary performance at the last moment of life and death, it was still not enough to make up for the gap in reality.

However, just as the other party's life-seeking spell was about to touch his chest, the fog that had been immobile in the street suddenly contracted and flowed, and suddenly formed a gray-black vortex of mist an inch in front of Martin.

And then—

"Bang!"

Both Martin and the mad dwarf wizard were struck upside down by the force of the Requisition Curse, sliding on the stone pavement for some distance before they came to a stop.

There was a moment of dead silence, and both sides fell to the ground as if they were dead, silent. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed that Martin's fingers twitched slightly.

"Ahem...... Ahem...... I...... Still alive? ”

He opened his eyes with great difficulty, looking at the fog that had long since returned to calm, and a strange feeling appeared in his heart.

.。 m.