“How dare you--”

Many stories are predictable from the start; the ominous underground world suddenly erupts with furious howls, sharp enough to rival a werewolf's scream upon seeing the full moon.

“To toy with--”

In the third second after consuming the disorienting potion, the old wizard slammed the table, and the dense boils and scabs on his head quickly changed from red to purple, then from purple to black. Following that, they began to bubble like a potion about to be brewed, and the flesh spikes on his face became agitated, twisting wildly and rapidly growing, as if they could not wait to break free from the old wizard's face.

“Great--”

The old wizard was furious, his tone rising and falling, clearly reflecting the anger in his heart. He raised a short, thick staff topped with a gemstone high above his head, seemingly intending to cast a vicious curse on the one who deceived him.

But unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten that his current state had already lost control of the volatile, malevolent magic, and the act of actively casting a spell further sent his chaotic magic spiraling out of control. He resembled a wax figure being roasted over flames, melting quickly from the top of his head down.

In the blink of an eye, the once-living man had turned into a pool of dark, viscous ooze on the ground!

“Sorry, great… what?”

The thin bamboo pole, who had made a deal with the old wizard, let out a strange, cold laugh. He grabbed the mithril on the table and stuffed it into his robe, then walked over to the pool of ooze, taking a few glances before pulling out the old wizard's remaining staff and examining the ruby at the top of the staff in the light of the floating torch.

Through that layer of black cloth, Amostha could sense the smugness on his face.

The thin bamboo pole noticed the gaze directed at him and turned his head with an unfriendly expression toward Amostha, seemingly thinking that Amostha was planning to double-cross him. He then whispered a threat, “In this place, greed and insatiable curiosity can lead to losing your life at any moment, Kin Viper. Don’t think that just because you've torn apart a few big wolfhounds, everyone will fear you--”

Amostha smirked disdainfully, lowered his head, and stared deeply at the pool of ooze. After a moment, a hoarse, aged voice emerged from beneath his hood, “Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Fraud, but it seems you’ve forgotten one thing: besides greed and curiosity, carelessness can also be very deadly.”

“What?”

At that moment, as the thin bamboo pole was stunned, a black shadow with scarlet eyes suddenly emerged from the pool of ooze. The shadow, resembling the Grim Reaper, floated in mid-air and let out a piercing scream directed at the thin bamboo pole, “Embrace death with me, you shameless one!”

The shadow in the air was beyond the thin bamboo pole's comprehension; he had no thought of resisting it and turned to flee. But unfortunately, every inch of space in the underground world was bound by the Counter-Phantom Transmutation Spell, and the nearest fireplace was at least half a mile away.

Before the thin bamboo pole could escape the low wall, the massive shadow resembling death had already caught up with him, diving down from the air toward the ground. It opened its blood-filled mouth full of sharp teeth, instantly engulfing the thin bamboo pole's body and his scream!

Crunch, crunch, crunch---

The sound of teeth gnashing clearly reached Amostha's ears, mixed with the blood and brain matter that fell to the ground like a stream, the rich, foul smell of blood making Amostha frown inwardly.

The Grim Reaper form of the old wizard was merely a struggle before death, unable to exist in the world for long.

After avenging itself, the shadow quickly faded away. Before it completely disappeared, it turned to stare intensely at Amostha, its hoarse voice filled with resentment, “You knew that thing was fake, but you didn’t remind me!”

“Why do you blame your foolishness on others?” Amostha replied coldly. “Before I take an interest in your current form, you’d better disappear quickly; otherwise, I wouldn’t mind letting you spend decades in a glass bottle before sending you to hell.”

Amostha's words left him with no retort. The shadow sighed helplessly, gazing around with longing before its figure completely faded, striding toward death.

Some people nearby noticed the commotion, but no one was surprised by what had happened, nor did anyone want to approach and inquire about the specifics. Just as the thin bamboo pole wizard had said, in this lawless place, insatiable curiosity could lead to one's demise at any moment.

A silver light cut through the dark air as Amostha summoned the mithril covered in bite marks from the flesh, cleaned it up, and then casually tucked it into his robe, feeling exceptionally pleased.

With a sharp snap of his fingers, golden magical flames suddenly ignited on the ooze formed from the old wizard and the crushed flesh of the thin bamboo pole. Within just a few breaths, the flames cleaned the filthy ground and obliterated the last traces of the two men in the world.

Since one has taken another's belongings, one must help handle the aftermath; this is called a sense of public duty.

“It seems I’ve missed quite a show, Mr. Kin Viper?” Amostha turned his head toward the source of the voice. A middle-aged wizard with blonde hair and black eyes, looking affable, stood under a tall public notice board smiling at him.

“Perhaps you’ve narrowly escaped some trouble,” Amostha nodded slightly, his tone indifferent.

The newcomer was named Karkus Freely, a somewhat well-known broker in the underground world, hailing from the Freely family, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

This family once enjoyed great fame in the magical realm; at its peak, the head of the family even served as the Minister of Magic, truly one of the powerful families.

Unfortunately, Hector Freely, the then-Minister of Magic from the Freely family, lacked the strategic vision to surpass reality. He ignored Albus Dumbledore's warnings and misjudged the damage that the then-rising first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, would bring to Britain and even the entire European magical world. Consequently, he was ousted by angry wizards.

Having lost the protection of power, the Freely family suffered severe setbacks and gradually faded from the British magical community.

For two or three generations, the declining Freely family has been seeking ways to return to the center stage, experiencing many attempts but always failing because at the end of any path stands a figure that the current era cannot surpass.

In fact, Albus Dumbledore never specifically targeted the fallen Freely family, but the people of the magical community would not forget that it was because Hector ignored Dumbledore's warnings that the British magical world later suffered heavy casualties in the fight against Grindelwald.

Fifty years have passed, and people's anger toward the Freely family has gradually dissipated, but Albus Dumbledore is still alive!

The current powers of the Ministry of Magic have always treated the centenarian at Hogwarts with the utmost caution; they have no need to risk angering the greatest wizard of the present for a dust particle that should have long been submerged in the river of history.

Ultimately, the helpless Freely family decided to plunge into the shadows.

They sent out the most presentable of their few descendants, willingly exposing themselves to the risk of retaliation while operating in the underground world, striving to accumulate wealth and connections, silently awaiting the opportunity to return to the light.