Joshua could vaguely feel that the obscure energy still existed in his body. But what he didn't know was that the reason why he was able to freely manipulate that power in the past was entirely because of the magic spell attached to the Deathly Hallows brand.
Although his brand mark has been erased by Maka's analysis, the strange energy has also been suppressed by Maka. But if he takes the initiative to trigger it, a sudden rampage is basically a certainty.
"Bang bang!"
He only heard two muffled sounds and disappeared in an instant. The black fog in the whole room immediately shrank, and the two former companions who rushed towards him were bounced away.
Just like the self-protection mechanism of living things, behavior under normal conditions will always control the upper limit of the power that can be exerted to an insurance value. But when the will to control the body is replaced by something else, this mechanism becomes useless.
An Obscurial that is almost out of control is obviously more terrifying than an Obscurial that acts under self-control.
"Bang bang—" Two groups of black mist rushed towards him again, but were blocked again.
Joshua's consciousness was severely disturbed, and he didn't even know where he was. At this moment, he only remembered one thing -
"That person... I want to find that person... Mike... Ryan..."
"boom!"
As the side wall was suddenly smashed by him, bricks were flying everywhere. Joshua broke out of the wall based on instinct and impulse, destroying the magic on the wall as well.
"Do you still have consciousness?" The old wizard standing at the door squinted his eyes and asked with a hint of greed, "Do you still have self-awareness? If so, wouldn't it be..."
As Joshua flew straight into the night sky outside, the old wizard waved his hand fiercely, causing the two Obscurials to catch up.
Almost at the same time, the other Obscurials hiding in the manor here suddenly felt their chests heat up, and they also received orders to set off immediately.
"Little girl, just stay here for me! Humph!" The old man snorted coldly and pointed the wand directly at Zoe, trapping her firmly in place.
…
On the other side, Maka, who had just sent Sirius and others back to Hogwarts, reappeared on the banks of the Hudson River. The first thing he did when he returned to New York was to summon back all the alienated Acromantulas arranged here.
For this attack, his little darlings did a good job - at least their efforts ensured that Sirius and the two sisters could be safely transferred.
But after all, there were too many enemies. Even if Maka left all the Acromantulas in the United States, she could not successfully defend this riverside hut.
He hurriedly checked and found that most of the little guys were still healthy. It can be seen that although they failed to complete the task perfectly, it is not so easy for the Obscurus to hurt them.
"...Why, something unusual happened just a short while after I left?"
Under Maka's inquiry, several of the Acromantulas told him something - not long ago, there was a large group of black things flying across the sky in the distance. The scene was so big that anyone who was not blind could A keen wizard would not be able to miss it.
"It seems that the Magical Congress of the United States is busy again..."
Maka shook her head slightly, then stepped onto the magic book and flew in the direction mentioned by the Acromantula.
…
The manor where Joshua and Zoe were imprisoned is located near River Edge in northern New York, less than twenty miles from Long Island Sound.
Led by Joshua, whose consciousness was almost in chaos, a group of Obscurials chased him and flew in circles over the land. Not long after, they plunged into the salty sea breeze.
In mid-air without obstacles, Joshua's speed is always faster than the other Obscurials. However, his flight path was quite confusing. As he dashed from left to right, his pursuers were hanging him not far behind him.
However, they were probably limited to not being thrown too far away. Even if the pursuers still had the intention of surrounding Joshua, they were clearly out of their depth.
Thus, across this strait, a seemingly endless chase began.
Dozens of black mists flew up and down dragging their long tails, sometimes passing over the sea surface, stirring up water marks, and sometimes suddenly raising their angles and stabbing straight into the sky.
The cold wind on the sea was howling constantly, mixed with the sound of waves lapping on the sea surface. I don’t know since when, the clouds in the sky gradually thickened.
There was a faint flash of thunder in the clouds, as if playing a drumbeat for the sound of the waves, dull but clear.
Such sudden changes make it difficult to imagine that they are naturally formed rain clouds. It is as if... something is controlling it, making the atmosphere in this sea area tense.
At this moment, a low cry suddenly sounded from the distant direction of the North Atlantic. Even though the strong wind roared on the sea, it still could not be completely blown away.
Not long after, a black spot suddenly appeared on the sea level in the east, heading towards the direction of the Obscures at an alarming speed.
The low whistle gradually became louder, and the snake-like thunder crawling in the clouds turned into lightning piercing the sky. After a dazzling light that hit the sea surface flashed by, the thunder that resounded across the sea awakened the torrential downpour.
It's approaching, approaching rapidly!
The huge gray-yellow body that looks like an eagle is not inferior to the fire dragon, and its flying speed is far superior to the latter. A pair of wings, one big, two small, flapping gently, effortlessly crossed a long section of the sea.
Behind it, the three-leaf tail feathers dragged straight in the air, stabilizing its flight.
The closer you get, the more terrifying you can see its speed; and the closer you look, the more you can understand its innate abilities.
Suddenly, there was thunder and lightning, heavy rain, and the storm swept the sea waves, setting off layers of huge waves.
Most of the group of Obscurials chasing Joshua slowed down, and they who still retained consciousness vaguely understood that this frightening divine bird was probably attracted by their pursuit on the sea.
However, they might stop moving forward, but how could Joshua expect this
He could see the black mist continuing to move forward amidst the pouring rain, and the majestic rain curtain that had been smashed away loomed into a hazy water curtain in front of him, mixed with the rain, making it difficult to see clearly.
Most of those who were silent were thinking that Joshua would probably die at the hands of the divine bird.
Although they couldn't recognize what the divine bird was, they could understand it without even thinking about the fact that the bird could control the wind and rain and even cause thunder and lightning.
And this group of silent ones are not brave people to begin with. Although they have to obey the master's order, the terrible master is not here at the moment.
So in a blink of an eye, they thought of running away.
However, they did not expect that the divine bird did not pay too much attention to Joshua who was running amok alone, but instead focused on their group of more conspicuous targets.
"Crack-boom-"
Another bolt of lightning fell hard at a speed that caught people off guard. On the empty sea, the Obscurans who transformed into black mist became living targets one by one.
At this moment, Maka, who had been searching all the way, finally arrived at the chaotic scene.
"…Thunderbird?"
He stopped in mid-air, and the rain curtain quietly slid away around him, not even getting the corners of his robe wet.
"This rare magical creature has not been completely extinct?"
There are records about this extremely rare magical creature in various documents in the magical world. The most recent one is probably "Monsters and Where to Find Them" by Newt Scamander.
This is also one of the textbooks for Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts.
But even Mr. Scamander, who had seen this creature in person, could not describe it in too much detail.
It is said that when he was traveling in Egypt, he rescued a thunderbird from the hands of a businessman. But while he was trying to send it back to his hometown, he was ultimately unable to complete it due to unknown obstacles.
Maka stood in the sky, looking at the sea in the distance, and carefully looked at the thunderbird. But not long after, he turned his attention to those Obscurials who were evacuating in a panic.
"Click—"
Another powerful thunder and lightning hit a certain group of black fog with dazzling light. The strong electricity wiped out most of the black mist, and then it fell straight into the huge waves.
Just when Maka was about to continue watching, he suddenly discovered another ball of black mist flying up and down. Look at the way it flies like a headless fly, with obvious strangeness.
"What's going on?" Makaxu stared at the black mist and said inexplicably, "Are you crazy?"
He thought so, but he couldn't just sit back and ignore it.
Judging from what the Acromantula saw previously, the group of Obscurials obviously flew all the way after another Obscurial. If you say that, it is really possible that it is Joshua.
After all, it was already here, and even if it wasn't, he still had to confirm it.
No longer thinking about it, Maka took advantage of the situation and flew quickly toward the black mist that was rushing everywhere with the Illusion Body Spell. High in the sky, the thunderbird flapped its wings and effortlessly chased the group of obscurities further and further away.
Its departure caused the wind, rain, and lightning here to slow down slightly, which saved Maka a lot of energy.
"Joshua?" He shouted through the tight rain curtain with the help of the power of the amplifying spell.
Originally, Maka didn't have much hope for this roar. Even if it was Joshua, just looking at the way the other person was running around, it was probably impossible to pay attention to him.
But he never thought that his shout would cause the black mist to stop immediately.
"...Mike...Lane..."
The black mist suddenly expanded, then suddenly shrank, turning into a human form again. After muttering softly, he seemed to have lost all his strength, drifting down in the wind and rain, and fell into the sea.