A Frustrating Trip to America

Uther made it smoothly into the finals, and Adam and the others had bought tickets to watch the final match.

"I really have to thank you guys."

Standing at the edge of the arena, Uther looked at Adam and the other two sitting in the front row and complained,

"You said you’d come cheer for me as my friends and family, but aside from this match, not one of you came to watch. Where did all those years of brotherhood go?"

"We believed you’d definitely make it to the end, so it was enough to watch the final match."

Bernard defended himself.

In the end, Adam revealed the truth.

"We booked the tickets too late. Every match had already sold out, and we bought these three tickets from someone else."

"Oh, it’s about to start!"

Just then, Klon spotted the referee entering the arena from the other side, his face filled with excitement.

This was their first time watching an official duelling match!

"Alright, I’ll head over first. Remember to cheer for me~"

Not long after Uther left, the match began. Both sides emerged from their respective entrances and walked to their halves of the arena.

"Wow, that old guy is competing at his age?"

Looking at Uther’s opponent, Klon could not help commenting.

Adam and Bernard nodded in agreement. After all, the man facing Uther even had white hair on his head.

Yet this was actually the usual state of affairs in the Duelling Competition. A teenager like Uther would normally have cause for pride just by reaching the quarterfinals, while making it to the finals was unprecedented.

For that very reason, most of the surrounding spectators were waving banners and cheering for Uther, hoping he could create an unprecedented legend.

As Uther’s opponent looked at the young face across from him, so exotic in appearance, he bowed while silently cursing him as a monster.

Having followed Uther’s previous matches, his opponent knew full well that he had only around a forty percent chance of winning this duel. Still, he had not lost his fighting spirit because of it.

Even if Uther defeated him and created a legend, he would be remembered as a supporting character in that legend. And if he could defeat Uther…

Driven by surging ambition, the wizard launched an attack at Uther.

And for the first time, Uther displayed his current strength before everyone—

Stunning Spell, Disarming Spell, Knockback Jinx, Shield Charm, Finishing Spell… Every spell was cast silently, every response perfectly timed. The exchanges between attack and defense were so fast that the spectators could barely blink!

Bernard’s expression grew somewhat grave. He could not help sitting up straighter as he put himself in either duellist’s position and considered how he would respond.

Adam, meanwhile, paid more attention to Uther’s movements. He could not help marveling at how cool this kind of fight was, where they countered and broke each other’s spells while searching for weaknesses.

Then he thought about his own fighting style. When faced with spells, he would not dodge or block at all. Though it looked more forceful, it was not as visually impressive as Uther’s.

The battle remained deadlocked for several minutes before Uther’s opponent gradually began to falter. Cold sweat appeared on his forehead, while Uther seemed to be hitting his stride, his spell combinations and transitions becoming even smoother!

The situation collapsed in an instant. Less than three seconds passed from stalemate to defeat, and in the end, Uther’s opponent was cleanly disarmed by a Disarming Spell that sent his wand flying.

Wild cheers and shouts erupted from the stands. Everyone rose to their feet to witness this historic moment:

An eighteen-year-old boy had won the Duelling Competition championship!

Uther raised a hand to catch the wand, then walked to the center of the arena and returned it to his opponent.

"That was a thoroughly satisfying duel."

Uther’s opponent accepted the wand, but only gave a bitter smile.

"You didn’t go all out, did you?"

"Not at all. I gave it everything I had. A suitable opponent made this duel an opportunity for me to break through."

Uther’s words surprised his opponent, then his smile became a little more genuine.

"The honor is mine."

The two clasped hands. After a burst of camera flashes, the moment was forever captured and preserved in the Duelling Competition committee’s office.

During the following awards ceremony, Adam and the others, as Uther’s friends and family, did their part by once again leading the applause and cheers for him.

"Is this trophy pure gold?"

As soon as the awards ceremony ended, Klon immediately crowded around Uther.

"Hmm… From my experience, it obviously isn’t gold at this weight. Maybe it has a layer of gold plating on the outside?"

Uther weighed the trophy in his hand before passing it to Klon.

"You’ve gone ahead again."

Bernard suddenly sighed, seemingly out of nowhere.

But Uther knew what he meant.

"It was just a fortunate coincidence."

Duelling ability was ultimately a practical combat skill. Professor Grindelwald had trained them, but he had only given them sufficient foundations. They still needed to digest those foundations bit by bit through battle.

Hunting in the Forbidden Forest and sparring with Professor Grindelwald both counted as combat, but only an opponent like the one Uther had faced today—whose fighting style, strength, and every other aspect suited him perfectly—could produce the best results for absorbing that accumulated experience.

That was why Uther called it a fortunate coincidence. It truly had been too perfect a coincidence.

And Uther’s opponent also understood how rare such a situation was, which was why he had said it was an honor.

"I’ll catch up soon."

Bernard looked calm, but his tone brimmed with confidence.

He had not been fooling around in the Amazon during this time either. Watching Uther take another step forward with his own eyes was enough for him to catch up to Uther in a short time. He only needed a few more battles…

After following Adam and the others back to the hotel and seeing their packed luggage, Uther casually asked,

"Have you finished what you came here to do?"

"…"

Adam opened his mouth, but in the end, all his countless words became a single sigh.

"Ahh~"

Who could have imagined that the three vice presidents of the Magical Congress of the United States of America had not revealed Adam’s identity in the slightest while handling all those matters?

Other than them, the other Aurors and civilian staff of the Magical Congress of the United States of America simply did not know who he was.

Perhaps the Magical Congress of the United States of America had files from when the vice presidents investigated Adam, but those things had long since gone up in flames along with the entire building.

In other words, after Adam tore down the headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America and slaughtered his way through the Aurors, not a single person in the Magical Congress of the United States of America knew Adam’s identity!

After Adam used psychological invisibility to enter one of the Magical Congress of the United States of America’s relocated branch offices and learned this news, he was completely stunned.

As high-ranking officials of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, did those people not even have a single trusted confidant?

Without question, this dreadful news meant that Adam’s plan to use the Magical Congress of the United States of America to publicize his own strength had completely fallen through. After all, he could not exactly step forward and claim responsibility himself, could he?

As for the Magical Congress of the United States of America piecing together some clues to discover that this had something to do with Uther winning the Duelling Competition, then using Uther’s personal information to find his friends at Hogwarts, and eventually tracing it back to Adam…

Thinking of the vice president who had kept muttering about Fudge back then, Adam felt that possibility could be completely ignored.

Sigh, this frustrating trip to America… Only the little bit of money that had just arrived in his account could soothe his wounded heart.