Chapter 30

Before a crack resembling a vertical pupil, the Ancient One gazed at the massive eye on the other side and said calmly, "Dormammu, are you still not giving up?"

"Dormammu, sooner or later, the earth will be mine!" the voice echoed ominously.

"At least not yet!"

With that, the Ancient One formed a magical seal with both hands, conjuring a magic circle made of countless lines of fire in front of her. The delicate filigree lines extended toward the crack, stitching it up little by little. Though slow, it was evident that the dimensional crack was shrinking and healing at a visible rate.

"Dormammu, maybe I can't stop you from closing the dimensional cracks, but I can make the people you brought die in front of you. I am very curious—will you choose to save their lives or just sit back and watch their deaths while continuing to seal this dimensional crack?"

As Dormammu's voice faded, six crystal mirrors materialized in front of the Ancient One. Each mirror revealed one of her companions: Agatha, Jericho, Daniel, Mordo, Victor, and finally Abel. Through the mirrors, it was clear that each of them was surrounded by varying numbers of dark church members, all approaching threateningly.

"Dormammu, since I brought them here, it means I have confidence in them. With your believers, who have temporarily enhanced their strength, they won't be able to harm my companions."

"Then we shall wait and see, Ancient One!"

Abel observed the four dark church believers closing in on him and realized he had been ambushed and forcibly separated from Victor. However, for Abel, the current situation was exactly what he wanted.

He had been unsure of his magical growth recently, but now he had an excellent opportunity to test his abilities.

The dark church believers underestimated him.

As the four dark church members surrounded Abel, forming translucent, crystal-like energy spears between their hands, they charged at him without any hesitation.

Without a moment's pause, Abel waved his magic wand directly at the two attackers rushing toward him.

"Sunt multa impedimenta!"

Forked light burst forth from the tip of the wand, manifesting as small blue-and-white fireworks. The magic stopped in front of the two dark church members, who attempted to use their crystal energy spears to block the spell. Unbeknownst to them, their understanding of Abel's magic was limited. Even though they tried to resist, the spell still had an effect.

As if hitting numerous obstacles, the two dark church members were immediately sent flying backward, crashing to the ground.

At the same time, Abel placed his wand behind his back and said softly, "Protego!"

An invisible wall of energy materialized between Abel and the two dark church members behind him. When they lunged forward, their crystal energy spears collided with the barrier, sending them rebounding backward.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Before the two members who had just been repelled could regain their footing, Abel waved his wand again, controlling one of them with the Levitation Charm and using him as a weapon to repeatedly strike the other dark church member. After the fourth impact, he broke the opponent's neck, rendering him lifeless.

Abel released the Levitation Charm on the defeated member and cast it on the remaining dark church member. However, at that moment, the dark red runes on the foreheads of the three remaining believers suddenly glowed fiercely, and their eyes appeared charred. The dark circles under their eyes deepened and spread outward, revealing shades of blue and purple.

In unison, the three roared, especially the dark church believer who had been under Abel's control. Instantly, a violent black aura erupted, shattering the confines of the Levitation Charm, allowing the other two to rush toward Abel with significantly increased speed.

The dark dimension's power within them had surged, overpowering his spell.

Once again, Abel cast the Levitation Charm on himself, leaping into the air just as the three assailants reached him. He stepped onto a nearby stone pillar and launched himself upward, watching as they barreled toward him. He waved his wand, shooting a red glow at them.

"Bombarda!"

Boom!

An explosion erupted in front of the three dark church members, and the one at the front was thrown backward by the force.

As a fragmented higher-level spell, the explosive power of this magic was comparable to that of a grenade or ordinary explosives, although it fell short of the destructive capabilities of a thunderbolt that could decimate an entire street, given sufficient magical power.

The two remaining dark church members were undeterred by their companion's injury or death and continued their furious assault on Abel, their black auras transforming into dark tentacles that lashed out toward him.

At that moment, Abel released the Levitation Charm on himself, allowing his body to drop rapidly, narrowly avoiding the dark tentacles. Just before he hit the ground, he cast the Levitation Charm again to soften his landing.

Noticing the rubble scattered from the explosion, Abel violently waved his wand, sending the debris soaring into the air, transforming it into stone nails that spun rapidly. The nails shot upward toward the two dark church members still in pursuit.

"Transfiguration!"

"WaddiWasi!"

The spell WaddiWasi could be employed in various ways; it could shoot an object at bullet-like speed or condense magical energy to create an energy projectile.

The barrage of stone nails exceeded the two dark church members' expectations. Though they reacted swiftly, employing various defenses, they still sustained significant injuries and collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, Abel stood a distance away, unleashing a torrent of flames from his wand, which formed a cloud of fire hovering above him. With another wave of his wand, the fire cloud shattered, transforming into a swarm of fiery crows that surged toward the half-living dark church members like an overwhelming tide.