Harry Potter: I am the Legend

A gust of sea wind blew past, carrying with it a pure white brassiere that gently descended from the sky. The ship rocked rhythmically with the waves.

Chloe lay face down on the deck, her bare back exposed. Her face was as pale as a sheet, and sweat dripped continuously from her forehead. Nearby, Mary had shrunk into a corner, covering her eyes, too terrified to look.

Hoffa expressed some sympathy: "I'm starting now."

"Can you not talk?"

"Okay."

He raised the dagger.

Chloe shouted, "Wait!"

He lowered the dagger. "What's wrong?"

"J-just… be gentle."

She trembled as she spoke.

Hoffa pressed one hand firmly on her back and used the other to clamp her mouth shut. Then, with a forceful motion, he drove the blade down.

The dagger pierced into an eye embedded in Chloe's back. She let out a pained groan, her body convulsing. Unable to control herself, she bit down on Hoffa's hand, tears streaming from her eyes from the pain.

Hoffa remained silent, though beads of sweat dripped from his chin onto the nun's back.

With a forceful pull, he extracted the eye growing from her back. The grotesque organ seemed alive, twitching frantically, its tendrils writhing as though struggling to escape.

"Ah!!"

"It hurts so much!!"

Chloe groaned under Hoffa's hand, blood gushing from her back and flowing down her slender waist onto the deck.

Hoffa threw the extracted eye into the sea. In the depths, sharks caught the alluring scent of blood, thrashing their tails as they rushed toward the surface in a frenzied chase.

Mary remained huddled in the corner, watching as one eye after another was extracted and tossed into the ocean.

Her toes curled, and though she covered her eyes, some inexplicable force compelled her to peek through her fingers at the gray-haired boy. His expression was cold and composed as he wielded the blade with precision.

Perhaps it was his calm, detached demeanor that gave her strength. Trembling, she crawled across the deck toward Chloe and grabbed her arm.

"Hang in there, my dear. Just a little longer."

But Chloe couldn't bear it. She could only scream in agony.

"Hurry! Please, hurry!"

Hoffa pulled out the dagger and, like a machine, repeated the motion. Strike after strike, amidst Chloe's near-unconscious cries of pain, he removed all the eyes.

Mary clumsily brought out towels and bandages, tending to Chloe's wounds and staunching the bleeding. At that moment, the nun's lips were deathly pale, and she was on the brink of collapse.

The operation complete, Hoffa didn't dare rest for a moment.

Though he had eliminated the dark magic the black wizards were using to track them, this only severed their immediate pursuit.

Yet the speedboats in the distance were closing in. Their priority now was to leave this place quickly and find a safe haven to treat the nun, or she might succumb to blood loss.

As the lifeboat's engine roared to life again, Hoffa felt a sudden chill sweep over him. Shivering, he looked down.

To his shock, the surface of the sea had begun to sprout tiny shards of ice. The ice rapidly expanded, covering the water with a layer of frost.

Not only that, but flakes of snow floated eerily in the sky. These snowflakes didn't fall but hovered, converging in the air to form sharp icicles.

Meanwhile, on one of the speedboats in the distance, a man raised his arm and clenched his fist in the air.

The approaching speedboats ground to a halt.

"Freeze the sea," he commanded.

The black wizards behind him exchanged glances, their expressions laced with disdain.

Still, they plunged their hands into the seawater, chanting softly, "Frozen land."

Immediately, at the center of each black wizard's arm, the surface of the sea froze at an astonishing speed.

The surging waves and howling winds came to a sudden halt, stilled under the oppressive cold.

A flying fish, seemingly sensing danger, leaped out of the water in a desperate bid to escape. But the moment it broke the surface, it froze mid-air, forming a delicate crescent-shaped ice sculpture.

As the frozen sea became sturdy enough to walk upon, the tall man sitting in the first boat straightened up. "This fight is mine. Stay out of it."

His words caused an uproar among the black-robed figures aboard the same boat.

"What? Mans told us we must capture Lemei at all costs!"

"Hey, if that woman escapes, can you take responsibility? Do you even realize she's one of Grindelwald's targets too?"

"Silence!"

Dominic turned back and roared, "I command this sea! No one escapes me. If you truly want to help, then after the fight, take the prisoners and leave. That's all you're good for."

With that, he grabbed a massive two-meter-long cruciform sword, strapped it to his back, and strode off the speedboat onto the ice.

The black wizards exchanged icy glances as they watched his retreating figure.

One sneered, "No wonder they stuck him in this godforsaken place as a gatekeeper. Now I get why Grindelwald doesn't think much of him."

Another muttered, "Forget Grindelwald—even I want to slap him sometimes. Arrogant bastard. Watch him get himself killed without even knowing how."

As the ice spread rapidly over the sea and the icicles formed in the sky, Hoffa's heart sank.

This was bad—very bad. He had underestimated them. Too slow. Learning from their previous failure to stop him, these enemies had now sealed off all his options for flight or escape by swimming.

Glancing back at Chloe, pale as a ghost, and Mary, huddled in the corner clutching her head like a frightened rabbit, Hoffa realized he was utterly alone.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled two handguns from his pockets.

He crouched down and placed one gun in each of their trembling hands.

"Listen, take these for protection."

Chloe didn't speak. Shaking, she sat silently in the corner, letting Hoffa place the gun in her hand.

After a pause, he spoke gravely, "If—just if—I don't make it and they catch you, then… you must end it yourselves."

Mary shrieked, recoiling as though the gun had burned her, and threw it aside.

Hoffa calmly retrieved the gun and put it back in her hand. "Listen to me. If they capture you, you'll be sent to a concentration camp. There, you might be poisoned, starved, violated, or even skinned alive. Better to end it yourself than to endure that. Do you understand?"

Chloe rasped weakly, "Don't jinx it, Hoffa."

Hoffa didn't respond. The situation was too dire. His eyes remained fixed on the icy horizon.

Strangely, the black-robed wizards who had just frozen the sea now retreated. Their departure brought Hoffa no relief. Instead, an invisible pressure bore down on him, heavy as a mountain.

Ice shards rolled across the sea, which had turned into an eerie frozen plain. The once-turbulent waves were now jagged peaks of ice, creating a surreal landscape.

The icy surface trembled slightly.

Hoffa narrowed his eyes.

Through the cold, dense mist, a tall and imposing figure began to emerge.

It was just one person.

Wearing black metallic gauntlets infused with magic, he leaped off the frozen lifeboat and strode across the undulating ice toward the towering silhouette ahead.

The frozen sea shuddered faintly underfoot, and the previously warm sea breeze had transformed into a biting winter gale.

As they drew closer, stopping about twenty meters apart, Hoffa got a clear look at the man who had come for him.

The man wore heavy armor, his helmet tapering to a sharp point. He carried a massive cruciform sword as wide as Hoffa's waist on his shoulder. The whole ensemble made him look like a knight transported from the medieval era.

"Hoffa?"

A muffled voice came from inside the armor.

"Issan Dominic," Hoffa replied softly.

"Half a year, and my junior still remembers me. I'm honored."

The helmet's visor opened, revealing a middle-aged face. Three vertical scars slashed across one of his eyes, giving him a ferocious appearance.

(End of Chapter)

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