HP: The Arcane Thief
HP: The Arcane Thief - Chapter 78: Creature above XXXXX

"What did you say?! Above XXXXX?!" Exclaimed Martina as the three of them stood in a quiet corridor outside the great hall.

"Unfortunately yes. It's a very powerful dark creature," confirmed Axel.

Akiko nodded grimly. "That would explain it," she said in realization.

"Explain what?" Asked Axel quickly. If Akiko could explain this, it would save him the trouble of explaining this by himself.

The genius-nin glanced at Martina with hesitation. Axel waved his hand, "She's fine," he said, vouching for Martina.

Those words might not mean much if someone else said it, but coming from someone who had made her sign a secrecy contract just to keep his secrets, Akiko knew that Martina could be trusted, at least in this urgent situation.

She nodded, as she decided to go with it.

"Alright, I'm very sensitive to yin or darkness magic. And just a few moments ago, I suddenly felt a terrible disturbance in the yin element that almost made me pass out." she explained. It's the reason why she came to find Axel in the first place. Her Grandfather is not here and there's no one else she could trust about her Yin affinity secret.

"I've never sensed anything like this before," she said gravely.

Axel shook his head inwardly. This much wasn't enough. The two of them need to know more in order to face the creature. But the problem was, he couldn't explain how he knew about it.

"I know a bit more about this creature," he said, drawing everyone's attention.

"You know? What is it that we're facing?"

"You both already know about Dementors, right?" He asked.

Akiko and Martina nodded in affirmation. "Is it the Dementors again?" Asked Martina with some distress.

Axel chuckled ironically. If it was only that easy. "It's not. It is an evolution of a Dementor. It's called... a Demogorgon." he said, recalling the information he had gotten from the system.

"What?!"

The two girls were understandably mystified. So, Axel explained to them as quickly as possible.

Dementors are actually incomplete creatures. They seek darkness and souls for their completion. And when a sufficient number of souls and Dark energy is consumed, under the right circumstances, they can evolve. They become more powerful, more sentient, more corporeal. And more…a lot more dangerous.

"And that thing... it's actually in school right now?!" Martina covered her mouth in horror. "How did it end up here?!"

Axel shook his head, "The situation is beyond improbable, but the priority is how to deal with it before it's too late."

Actually, the circumstances of evolution are too difficult to be met on Earth, what with the lack of sufficient dark magic. And since the creature is more corporeal, it loses its ability to travel from the Netherworld to here. So, these creatures are only supposed to be found in the Netherworld. But somehow, it's here tonight in Hogwarts, about to cause a lot of Mayhem.

"How do we deal with it?" Akiko asked the main question. Both the girls at least had enough sense to not ask how Axel knew what he knew.

Axel looked into his Magi-mirror, smoothly hinting at the source of his information.

"It's a very dangerous creature. Fighting it alone without prior preparations guarantees certain death for each one of us."

!!!

Now that was a blow that took them by surprise. Each of them was somewhat aware of the other's power. Even all on their own, each of them was a force to be reckoned with, with different types of skills and specialties. Even XXXXX Creatures like dragons weren't impossible for them to deal with let alone just surviving against one. But here Axel was, guaranteeing certain death in a one-on-one confrontation against this creature.

"But, since we are going to be facing it together, with such preparations, we have a real shot at this," he said, reigniting their hopes.

"What do we have to do?" Asked Martina and Akiko nodded.

Axel looked at her seriously, "How powerful is your Patronus?"

Martina nodded a bit apprehensively. "It's quite powerful. But…" But it hadn't properly worked in their last encounter with Dementors on the previous Halloween. She had been too scared and unfocused to cast it in one attempt, almost losing their lives.

"Don't hesitate. You can do it," said Axel with surety. Even though this girl could be quite unreliable, Axel atleast had this much faith in her ability.

Axel then looked at Akiko. "How many weapons do you have?"

As the granddaughter of Hiroshi Yamazaki and the Heiress of two powerful clans? Akiko smirked, "A lot."

...

In front of Axel's eyes, the system Interface showed him the live location of the Demogorgon as he ran through the corridors in a blur together with Akiko, with Martina actually flying behind them.

Of course, all three of them were almost invisible, only showing themselves enough to be able to see each other.

Axel was currently wearing a black hoody with the hood on, black jeans, and black sneakers. His hands had fingerless gloves and his face was covered with a mask, only leaving his eyes visible.

Due to necessity, Martina had also lent a suit Akiko, which was one of the prototypes she had made for herself. Since the suits can change into anything, she had turned it into her usual tight ninja clothing that outlined her curves and like Axel, her face also had a mask on. "It's close. I can feel it."

Axel nodded, it was indeed close. And now, even he could feel it. The familiar ominous and hopeless feeling, quite similar to the one he felt in the Dementors' presence, only much more… sinister. And judging by the quick intensification of the this feeling it would seem that they were almost there.

"Martina, it's time," Axel said, glancing back a Martina.

It was better to cast the Patronus before. With the unreliability of Martina, it's not certain if she would be able to do it after they come closer to the creature.

Martina nodded, taking out her staff.

She would be lying to say that she wasn't nervous. From what Axel had explained, there were high chances she could die a horrible death just now. But, whether she liked it or not, she was not a runner. She was a coward, but she wouldn't run away from situations like this, a situation where she's risking her own life for saving others. Even though this was what had gotten her killed in her previous life.

[Child of Magic]

She used her second cheat ability that she had gotten for saving the previous world.

Yes, this was the reason for her insane Magical talent. Magic comes easily to her and the power of every magic spell she casts can be magnified multiple times according to her will. Sadly, she had not been able to use this gift to its full potential.

Closing her eyes, she recalled all the happy memories she had formed in this world, as well as the happiness of saving the lives of millions of people in her previous world with her research. And finally, she recalled Axel's powerful and reassuring presence right beside her, which made her fear vanish, filling her up with motivation. Yes, she couldn't embarrass herself again. Raising the staff, she said the incantation.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A bright light erupted from her staff, lighting up the whole corridor as an extremely corporeal and life-like owl emerged from her wand. The creative seemed to have a sentience of its own as it flew around and came to sit on Martina's shoulder. Dense waves of positive energy radiated from it, completely disrupting the previous gloomy atmosphere.

"It worked!" Martina jumped in joy, feeling accomplished at not failing like the previous time.

"Don't celebrate yet," muttered Akiko, feeling the dark presence getting stronger as they reached their destination. In the next moment, they heard a sound. It was a creepy mixture of breathing and groaning, which sent chills down their spine.

"Alright, I'm scared," admitted Martina, moving a bit closer to Axel.

"Just stay back. You've done your part. We'll do the rest" said Axel, running forward to the next corridor where the creature was. There they saw it, a giant silhouette, wrapped in a cloak, currently hunched over in a facing away from them. It must have sensed their approach, because it turned its head in their direction, slowly drawing to its full height.

!!!

The moonlight coming from the window in the corridor fell on the creature, and two things became visible at that moment, surprising them. First, the creature's appearance. It was around 15 feet tall, quite taller than a Dementor, wrapped in a dark torn and shabby cloak and rotten flash visible at the uncovered parts.

The second thing that was very noticeable was,

"Mrs. Norris!" Cried Martina in horror. Blood was clearly dripping from the creature's cloth covered head that only exposed a mouth. And lying on the ground where the creature was previously hunched over, was the half eaten body of a cat which used to be Mrs. Norris.

'More corporeal indeed,' thought Axel, truly realizing what that meant. This thing ate more than just souls.

The creature sucked in a breath and then,

"SCREEEEEE!" It screeched in one of the most sickening sound Axel had heard, which even trumped that of Umbridge's. A wave of its aura hit them, clashing with the Auro of Martina's Patronus.

"It's working! Let's proceed with the plan!" Shouted Axel, infusing his knife with light magic. Martina had truly done her job. The clothes they were wearing, made from the Basilisk hide, are highly resistant to magic. That's the reason why their soul wasn't getting sucked out of their bodies right now. Without them, they'd already be dead since the pull is much much stronger compared to a Dementor's. And the Patronus had prevented Demogorgon'spresence from affecting their minds. Otherwise, most of its prey can't even muster the will to escape, let alone fight back.

Annoyed by the Patronus, the creature screeched again as it extended its hand.

!!!

A mass of dark magic came out of its hand heading for them. It was the Demogorgon'sability. It could harness dark energy.

"Akiko!" Called out Axel.

"I've got it!" Came her reply as she formed a few handseals. "Yin Release: Dark Shield

A shield formed in front of them, defending them from the corrosive darkness. The creature let out a shriek of frustration as it moved forward.

"Can't let it come closer!" Shouted Axel, backing away along with Martina and Akiko. That was the main problem. The intensity of Demogorgon'spull on the soul increases with the distance. So, it's very risky to get near it.

"Yin Release: Chains of Hell!" Akiko cast another Jutsu, and black chains emerged from the ground, wrapping up the creature. "Now,"

Axel nodded as two kunai appeared in his hands.

[Tracless]

[Light Infusion]

[Throwing]

The kunai in his hands began to flow in with Light magic, and Axel threw them out, sticking them straight into the creature's skull.

"SCREEEEEEECH!!!"

The creature screeched in agony as it struggled hard, almost breaking off the chains of darkness. But Axel wasn't done yet. He kept throwing out the Kunais, knives and swords, piercing the creature every time.

*Shing* *Shing* *Shing*

The creature kept wailing with each attack, but for some reason, there wasn't enough damage. It kept struggling against the chains as the pull on their souls got stronger, causing them to back away.

"I can't… hold it for much longer.." said Akiko through gritted teeth.

"We have to hurry! If the others arrive before us they'll die without the protection of the suit!" Said Martina, firing her own spells, none of which seemed to work.

"Damn it! I'm so going to make an offensive Patronus spell if I get out of this alive!" She exclaimed helplessly.

The pull on their souls intensified, and the creature began to attack them with its dark magic, which Martina had to defend them against.

Akiko could see where this was going. "It's... too powerful! We... agh...we should think of evacuation!" She said with difficulty. There were barely any ways to deal with a Dementor. And an evolution of that thing? It's a total abomination.

"I'm not done yet!" Shouted Axel.

'Work, damn it!" Thought Axel, throwing the Light magic infused weapons.

Axel didn't know what the problem was. Everyone had done their part, but he wasn't able to successfully play his part.

'System, why isn't it working?' He asked, even though he already knew the answer.

[Arcane Thief is not a Class that specializes in Light magic. Your [Light Infusion] skill is not strong enough to counter the dark energy of a Demogorgon, if delivered in such low quantity. And albeit they are more corporeal than Dementors, Demogorgons still have enough intangibility to negate most of the physical and magical damage.]

"Damn it!" It was a familiar feeling, realizing that your magic just wasn't strong enough. One that he hadn't felt for a while after getting healed. But he had to accept it. When it came to the big leagues, his magic was still not strong enough, when compared to people like Martina, Akiko, or Dumbledore. He couldn't overpower these people purely in terms of magical combat. At least not yet.

But, since when had he only relied on brute strength to get through? Actually, never. He was used to not being the most powerful in the room. But what he couldn't do with power, he had always more than made up for it with his other abilities.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Axel went back to the time when his magic was extremely weak, making almost every spell impossible for him. Even at that time, he had managed to use his magic effectively.

'Repetition.' That was the key.

"Martina, can you lend me your staff?" He asked.

Martina looked extremely regretful as she shook her head, "It's bound to me. No one else can use it."

'Sigh…' Axel had expected as much. He took out his own wand.

'I'm sorry for this,' he thought, apologizing beforehand.

The wand hummed in response, ready for anything. During this time, the degree of his bond with his wand had strengthened further, making the power out even better.

Raising his wand he activated his special skill.

[Light Infusion]

It's a skill that lets him infuse the Light element into his spells or weapons. And right now, he was doing exactly that.

Taking a deep breath, he began using the same spell that had been very useful during the time he was crippled.

"Electrica Impulsa, Electrica Impulsa, Electrica Impulsa…"

Within a few seconds, he had charged his wand dozens of times, generating an incredible amount of power. It had to be noted that this spell could already generate a lot of power back when he was crippled. And now, with the massive improvement he had gone through, the amount of magic stacked up was truly staggering.

*Crackle* CRACKLE*

White Lightning began to snake around his wand, all the way up to his hand. And Martina and Akiko had to distance themselves from him, the former due to the lightning discharge while the latter due to the incredible amount of Light Magic.

"SCREEECH!" The Demogorgon's struggles intensified. Only now, instead of coming closer to them, it was now trying to get as far away from Axel as possible.

"Drag it in front of the Window!" Said Axel with difficulty. With the power he was holding on, massive destruction would be caused if he released it in the castle. Axel was currently in an incredible amount of pain. He had never felt like this before. It felt like could put everything into the spell.

"Alright!"

Akiko tried her best, and Martina also helped, conjuring chains of her own to drag the struggling creature towards the window.

Axel's jaw clenched due to the sheer amount of concentration that was needed to maintain the spell, even with his incredible mental power. Blood started to leak from his nose and his head was pounding. His wand's condition was no better, even showing tiny fissures along its surface.

When it was finally right in front of the window, Axel was barely holding on.

"This one's for Mrs. Norris, you Demo-moron," he said, finally releasing the magic.

*ZAP* *BOOOOOOM*

…

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