Boom!

Victor swung hard, pulling a collapsible baton from his back and smashing it into a Dark Cult member’s head. The Dormammu follower crumpled to the ground, out cold.

At the same time, Sebastian grabbed the wrist of a cultist swinging at him. He yanked the guy forward, slammed an elbow into his stomach, and followed with a sharp uppercut to the chin. The cultist dropped next to Victor’s opponent, unconscious.

Victor, fresh off his takedown, glanced at Sebastian to see if he needed backup. Seeing Sebastian had already handled his guy, Victor raised his eyebrows in respect. “Nice moves. I figured you were all about magic, not throwing punches like that.”

Sebastian shrugged. “No rule says mages have to just stand there blasting spells. Big shots like the Ancient One or Agatha can toss out epic magic with a flick, but for me? Mixing in some hand-to-hand works better right now.”

Victor, about the same age as Sebastian, didn’t say it out loud, but he totally got it. Both teens, both mages, and both down to brawl—Sebastian’s style clicked with him. Growing up without friends his age, Victor felt a spark of connection, like he could actually vibe with this guy.

He gave a small grin, nodded at Sebastian, and the two charged back into the fight.

Using quick spells and slick moves, Sebastian and Victor tore through the regular Dark Cult members, who didn’t stand a chance. Victor’s magic leaned toward disorienting tricks, while Sebastian used Wingardium Leviosa—no wand needed—to boost his jumps and speed.

After mowing down who-knows-how-many waves of enemies, they finally ran into someone different.

This cultist had a red mark on his forehead, his eyes dark and cracked, like he’d been warped by the dark dimension’s power.

Victor didn’t hesitate. He clasped his hands, muttering a low chant. A faint glow flickered between his palms. He dropped to one knee, slapping a hand on the ground and another on the nearby wall. Fiery cracks shot out from his touch, racing across the ground and wall toward the cultist.

In a flash, Victor’s fiery cracks reached the cultist. A blazing explosion erupted, flames shooting high.

Boom!

Victor smirked, thinking he’d won. But his grin froze. The flames vanished, swallowed up in an instant. A dark red glow pulsed on the cultist’s forehead, surrounded by a creepy, shadowy aura. That dark energy had sucked up the explosion’s power and flames, leaving the cultist barely scratched.

Victor had known the Dark Cult wasn’t a pushover—that’s why he’d called in the Ancient One’s crew. But facing someone actually powered by the dark dimension? It threw him off, big time.

“Sebastian, watch out—this guy’s tough,” Victor warned.

“Got it,” Sebastian said, gripping his wand. “I’ve run into dark dimension creeps before, so I know they’re no joke.”

Victor glanced at Sebastian’s wand, a short wooden stick that hummed with energy. He could sense it boosting Sebastian’s magic, making it stronger and steadier, like it had leveled up in seconds.

Magic came in all kinds of flavors, so Victor didn’t dwell on it. He gave Sebastian a quick nod. “If you know how strong they are, let’s skip the chat and take this guy down together!”

“Deal!” Sebastian shot back.

Sebastian eyed the Dark Cult member charging at them and muttered under his breath. He planted his feet, stepped forward, and waved his wand and left hand. The ground in front of him warped and buckled, rippling like waves on the ocean. The cultist stumbled, barely staying upright, and dropped low to the ground to avoid falling.

Victor saw his chance. His palms glowed red-hot, conjuring two fireballs. He hurled them at the cultist one after the other.

But just as the fireballs closed in, the cultist thrust out a mess of writhing tentacles made of dark energy. The tentacles snagged the fireballs, snuffing them out. Using the shadowy tendrils to pull himself up from the ground and cling to the wall, the cultist launched toward Sebastian and Victor.

Wingardium Leviosa!

Sebastian silently cast the spell, pointing his wand and flicking it upward. The cultist shot into the air, like an invisible hand had yanked him skyward. He flailed, barely holding on with his dark energy tentacles to keep from floating away.

Victor didn’t miss a beat. He clasped his hands, sparks crackling between his fingers. With a sharp push forward, he unleashed a blinding bolt of lightning. The electric blast was too fast for the cultist’s dark energy to absorb. It hit hard, charring the cultist’s body as white smoke poured off him. He plummeted to the ground, lifeless.

Sebastian waved his wand, and the warped ground smoothed out.

He and Victor exchanged quick looks, both impressed but too focused to say it. Without a word, they pushed deeper into the village, closing in on its core.

But as they hustled through a narrow alley, a dark shadow spread like ink, swallowing the space around them. It closed in fast, like a massive black curtain trapping them.

When Sebastian blinked, the alley was gone. So was Victor. He stood alone in a dim, eerie hall. Above him, colors swirled like a cosmic void, part starry sky, part microscopic world. No question—this was the dark dimension, or at least a pocket of it. Somehow, Sebastian had been pulled right to the edge of the rift between the dark dimension and Earth.

———————————

Before a glowing, slit-like rift, the Ancient One stared at a massive, fiery eye glaring back from the other side. “Dormammu, still not giving up?” she said, cool as ice.

“Ancient One, Earth will be mine one day!” the voice boomed.

“Not today,” she shot back.

Her hands moved swiftly, forming a glowing magic seal. A fiery spell circle flared in front of her, its blazing lines stretching toward the rift. Slowly but surely, the rift began to close, like a wound being stitched up, shrinking bit by bit.

Dormammu’s voice growled, “You might seal this rift, Ancient One, but I can make your team pay. Let’s see if you save their lives or keep closing the rift while they die!”

Six shimmering crystal mirrors materialized in front of her. Each showed one of her team: Agatha, Jericho, Daniel, Mordo, Victor, and Sebastian. Dark Cult members were closing in on each of them, ready to strike.

The Ancient One didn’t flinch. “Dormammu, I brought them here because I trust their strength. Your powered-up goons? They don’t stand a chance.”

“We’ll see about that!” Dormammu snarled.

—————————————

Sebastian stood surrounded by four Dark Cult members, their eyes glinting with malice. He realized they’d ambushed him, yanking him away from Victor and trapping him in this eerie pocket of the dark dimension. But honestly, Sebastian was kind of stoked. This was exactly the kind of challenge he’d been waiting for.

He’d been wondering how much his magic had leveled up lately, and now was the perfect chance to find out. These guys totally think I’m an easy target, he muttered to himself, a sly grin creeping across his face.

The four cultists didn’t bother with small talk. Two in front and two behind, they conjured glowing crystal spears in their hands, the energy shimmering like glass. Without a word, they charged, their weapons aimed to take Sebastian down.

Sebastian didn’t blink. He whipped his wand toward the two cultists rushing from the front and shouted, “Impedimenta!”

A burst of blue-white sparks shot from the wand’s tip, popping like tiny fireworks. The spell slammed into the two cultists, freezing them mid-step. They swung their crystal spears to block, but they didn’t get how Sebastian’s magic worked. The curse hit anyway, like they’d crashed into an invisible barricade. Both flew backward, sprawling on the ground in a messy heap.

At the same time, Sebastian flicked his wand behind him, whispering, “Protego!”

An invisible shield flared up, a wall of energy between him and the two cultists creeping up from the rear. Their crystal spears stabbed forward but bounced off the shield, the force hurling them back like they’d been slammed by a truck.

“Wingardium Leviosa!”

Before the first two cultists could scramble to their feet, Sebastian pointed his wand and cast the levitation spell. One cultist floated up, dangling helplessly in the air. Sebastian swung him like a battering ram, smashing him into the other cultist. On the fourth hit, the floating cultist’s neck snapped with a sickening crack, and he went still, lifeless.

Sebastian released the spell, letting the body drop. He turned to cast Wingardium Leviosa on the next cultist, but just then, the dark red runes on the three surviving cultists’ foreheads flared with a creepy glow. Their eyes, already charred and cracked like burnt coal, grew darker, with blue-purple veins crawling across their faces like a twisted tattoo.

The three Dark Cult members roared in unison, their dark red runes glowing brighter. The one Sebastian had tried to lift with Wingardium Leviosa suddenly erupted with a surge of shadowy energy, breaking free from the spell’s grip. The other two charged at Sebastian, moving way faster than before, their bodies crackling with dark dimension power.

They’re way stronger now—my levitation spell couldn’t hold them, Sebastian thought, his heart racing.

He quickly cast Wingardium Leviosa on himself, leaping up as the trio rushed him. He kicked off a nearby stone pillar, soaring into the air. As the cultists chased, leaping after him, Sebastian aimed his wand and fired a red glow.

“Reducto!”

Boom!

A massive explosion blasted the air in front of the cultists. The blast hit the lead cultist head-on, tearing through him and sending his bloodied body crashing down.

Reducto, a high-level spell, packed the punch of a grenade. It wasn’t as wild as Expulso, which could level a street with enough juice, but it got the job done.

The two remaining cultists didn’t even glance at their fallen buddy. They kept coming, their shadowy energy morphing into dark, writhing tentacles that lashed toward Sebastian.

Sebastian canceled the levitation spell, letting himself plummet to dodge the inky tentacles. Just before he hit the ground, he recast Wingardium Leviosa to soften his landing.

His eyes flicked to the rubble scattered from the Reducto blast. With a sharp wave of his wand, he sent the debris flying, spinning the chunks into razor-sharp stone spikes. They shot upward, rocketing toward the two cultists still in midair.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep