The Voice Behind Him

In the camp, everyone cheered at the distant blaze. If they could deal with the enemy without even getting close, who cared what method they used?

Eugene was pleasantly surprised as well. The Death Eater attacks on the camp had previously only involved single-digit numbers; they had merely been small skirmishes. Now, it seemed these weapons really were remarkably effective!

Still, he did not let his confidence swell. He knew their results this time were mainly because the Death Eaters had encountered these weapons for the first time and had been caught completely off guard.

But the good news was that they could maintain a considerable information advantage for quite some time.

Popping champagne at halftime was not a good habit. After telling everyone to collect themselves, Eugene led them in Apparating directly to the other side. He raised a hand and finished off the wailing Death Eaters, then went through the bodies one by one to make sure they were dead.

There really were two pretending to be dead. One was a dark wizard who Apparated away at once, while the other was a thick-skinned Hag.

The Hag was shot in the head by an irritable fellow, while the dark wizard was pursued by Eugene and Mrs. Lauren. A few seconds later, the two returned to where they had been.

"Taken care of."

Mrs. Lauren sounded somewhat regretful as she spoke. She had thought there would be an ambush on the other side, but not only had that dark wizard failed to lead her to any other dark wizards, he had split off the moment they landed. What a waste of her feelings.

Eugene was somewhat regretful too as he tied the pouch enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm back onto his belt.

Still, even if they had failed to expand their gains, they needed to make good use of what they had already achieved.

"Everyone—"

Eugene looked at his neighbors and friends, a sunny smile appearing on his face.

"This was the first large-scale Death Eater attack we have faced, but it will not be the last attack we face. Likewise, this will not be the last victory we achieve…"

With a clear goal for the future, Bernard had trained Eugene in public speaking during his final year at Hogwarts. Of course, Professor Grindelwald might have contributed a little as well.

In short, the future employees of the British Ministry of Magic were in for a treat.

Since the Death Eaters under Voldemort’s direct command had begun suffering losses, Eugene’s camp quickly drew Voldemort’s attention.

However, for certain special reasons, Voldemort was a little traumatized about going out these past few days, so he could not personally lead a force to wipe out this newly emerged camp that dared to resist him.

There was no helping it. Just two days ago, he had run into Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Grindelwald happened to be free as well. The two centenarians had shamelessly joined forces and beaten him into the ground. If not for his Horcruxes saving his life, he might not even have made it back.

Though he did not dare leave the house himself, Voldemort had another way of putting it. Did such a minor force deserve his personal attention?

"Have the Ministry of Magic handle it. Use any excuse you like and get rid of those people."

Voldemort glanced at the current Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, who was under the Imperius Curse and sat blankly in the corner of the meeting room.

"Yes, Master."

Pius Thicknesse nodded.

"This will raise Eugene’s camp to the same level as the Ministry of Magic."

Adam blinked, and his figure vanished from Voldemort’s meeting room. No one noticed that he had ever been there.

They said that when one was out in the world, status had to be earned personally. But in truth, one’s status was also closely tied to the status of one’s opponents.

If Eugene kept fighting only these scattered Death Eaters, how long would it take before he could turn his reputation into support for becoming Minister of Magic?

But once the Ministry of Magic moved against them, Eugene and his camp, in opposing the Ministry, would be elevated in nature to the same level as it.

People would unconsciously compare Eugene to the current Minister of Magic, because they were the leaders of their respective factions, just as people often compared Voldemort with Professor Dumbledore.

The latter comparison was about strength, while the former was about whether they were qualified leaders.

The stage had been set. Now it was up to Eugene to see how he performed~

Returning to his room, Adam calmed himself and continued studying the Spirituality Dimension. This was where he had been focusing most of his energy lately.

After all, this was true self-improvement. Unless the lives of people Adam cared about were at stake, everything else could be put off.

—After all, he had plenty of time.

Spirituality was the core and essence of all things, an inherent inner attribute that people usually called the soul, spirit body, or something similar.

As his research deepened, Adam discovered that the Spirituality Dimension was even more metaphysical than the Mind Dimension. Fortunately, he had Fawkes’s help. He had witnessed Fawkes’s rebirth firsthand and could replay it over and over through time magic.

Abandoning the material world’s method of observation and looking again after anchoring himself in the Mind Dimension, Adam could clearly capture the power beyond matter and the Mind Dimension during the process of rebirth.

The power of the Spirituality Dimension.

Fawkes’s spirituality was exactly as Adam had expected: warm, gentle, and brimming with vitality.

This was Fawkes’s core and essence. Its personality, power, appearance… everything, whether tangible or intangible, that combined to form the thing called "Fawkes" had developed from this source.

So… what attribute did his own spirituality possess?

Adam could not help feeling a little curious.

Trying to capture the power of spirituality within himself was extremely difficult. It had gone so smoothly when Fawkes was the target because Fawkes’s power in the Spirituality Dimension was strong enough, but Adam was only human.

At first, that was what Adam believed.

But…

"This… isn’t normal, is it?"

"Looking" at his own spiritual power—already roughly humanoid, with faintly discernible facial contours, the Book of Sealing in one hand and the Wand of Darkness in the other—Adam’s mind began racing.

After observing carefully for a while, Adam discovered that his spiritual power was gradually growing stronger with the help of the Book of Sealing and the Wand of Darkness. The increase was minuscule, and the process was excruciatingly slow, but it never stopped.

"So this is the essence of the Book of Sealing and the Wand of Darkness? Power that exists in the Spirituality Dimension, capable of making my spirituality stronger?"

Adam analyzed aloud, habitually stroking his chin.

"The Book of Sealing and the Wand of Darkness do not have such abilities. All of this is the result of your own efforts."

The voice that suddenly sounded from behind him made Adam’s hair stand on end in an instant, cold sweat covering his back.

"Who is it?!"

Adam abruptly opened his eyes, rose, spun around, and summoned the Wand of Darkness. The protective magic around him surged to its limit, while the surrounding space was divided and sealed off.

This was a safe house protected by the Fidelius Charm!

And… why did the other person know the names Book of Sealing and Wand of Darkness?

"Mm~ Mm~ Such high vigilance. Very good."

Before him stood a bespectacled man with distinctly Eastern features, smiling and nodding at Adam.