Chapter 776: Chapter 162: Breaking the Surface

"Impressive, truly worthy of Vid Gray!"

Clementine wiped the water off her face, kneeling on the shore, as Madam Pomfrey draped a warm blanket around her.

The girl wrapped the blanket tightly around her, her lips turning blue from the cold, yet she still smiled and said:

"I deliberately chose the most tricky angle to attack, but you still dodged it! What about Miss Kitajima and Adam?"

Vid didn’t answer, knowing there was no chance to pull her back into the water, he wasn’t discouraged, only casting a Reparo Spell on himself.

A moment later, his fish tail transformed into legs, the scales reverted to trousers, and the gills on his cheeks seemed to meld into his skin and disappear.

He emerged from the lake, dripping all over, and walked step by step towards the shore.

Clementine’s gaze wandered over him, openly admiring, her face still holding that slightly shy yet somewhat embarrassed smile.

Vid couldn’t be bothered to look at her. As soon as he got close to the shore, Madam Pomfrey seized him, and a blanket fell from above, wrapping him securely. Soon after, a vial of pungent magic potion was pushed to his mouth.

"Quick, drink this!" Madam Pomfrey hurriedly said, "Letting students soak underwater for hours, even risking deadly danger! Dumbledore must be mad to agree to such a competition plan!"

Sometimes, Madam Pomfrey’s oppressive force even surpassed Professor McGonagall—especially when she began to nag endlessly for your safety, even Snape dared not say a word.

Vid didn’t speak, obediently drank the spicy magic potion, and immediately felt several streams of heat emanating from his ears.

"Alright, your competition is over," Madam Pomfrey said in a relatively gentle tone, "Go rest in the tent over there for a while."

"I want to see the results of the other competitors, Madam," Vid said.

Clementine raised her hand and said, "Me too."

Madam Pomfrey’s stern gaze swept over the two, seeing that their mental state was still good, she didn’t insist and hurriedly left.

Vid casually found a vacant spot to sit down, placing the extra two magic wands on the ground, looking at the Flow Mirror.

Soon, Clementine also sat beside him, propping her hands on the ground, looking up at the screen and sighed, "How unlucky... if I had mastered the Nonverbal Spell, maybe I would have had a chance?"

On the screen, Kitajima Rikka and Adam Kagami were quiet for a while, then began to struggle, but not much, appearing more as if they were trembling with the seaweed.

Therefore, they were unable to escape their bindings, looking as powerless as most wizards who lose their magic wands.

"It’s not that simple."

Vid responded this time, softly saying, "Underwater, every 10 meters descended adds one atmosphere of pressure, they are at a depth of over forty meters..."

He paused briefly, then continued:

"The pressure of the lake water will make their eardrums ache, judgment decline, and induce a state similar to drunkenness. They might not even remember which spells to use now."

"Is that why you pulled them into such deep waters?"

Clementine approached him a bit, curiously looking into his eyes and asked, "How do you know all this? Did you sneak into the depths of the Black Lake to loot before?"

"Why would I do that?" Vid said, "There are many dangerous creatures in the Black Lake, no sane person would just dive in."

"Then I must be insane?" Clementine grinned, "If I could become a merperson, I’d love to swim through every sea region. I’d go where no one has been before and see sights no one else has seen!"

Vid couldn’t help but turn his head and look at her.

This girl who had shamelessly ambushed him earlier now had eyes glistening, seemingly filled with an idealistic glow.

Not far away, several Aurors were already riding brooms drifting above the lake, occasionally checking the time and then looking towards the judges’ seat.

Most people’s gaze didn’t leave the Flow Mirror.

Wizards generally only know the aerial landscape, unaware of the deep sea pressure’s invisible threats, and thus find the two’s powerless struggle quite strange.

"Why doesn’t Adam use the Diffindo Spell?" Ilvermorny’s Stella urgently clenched her fist, "Cut the seaweed and get out!"

"Burning Curse, Explosive Spell, or even Decurse to the Full Body-Bind Curse would work!" Students from the Magic Institute also discussed it fervently, "Any spell will do, just escape this predicament first!"

Unfortunately, the two underwater couldn’t hear their advice. After struggling for a while, Adam, relying on the Muggle Scuba Diving Equipment, gradually exhausted his oxygen, suddenly convulsing violently.

His oxygen tank was hidden elsewhere underwater, now unable to instantly come, and under tension and vigorous movement, the oxygen consumption greatly increased.

On the other side, Kitajima Rikka saw his bulging, furious eyes and despairing gaze, instantly understanding.

She gritted her teeth, looking at the seemingly endless black seaweed around, her thoughts suddenly exceptionally clear—

In a short time, it’s unlikely any champion would return to shore.

Even if someone returned, the chance of them noticing the nearly seaweed-covered two was near zero.

At this time, there’s only one way...

Kitajima Rikka glanced at the blue fish filming them not far away, raised her head, took a deep breath, and surged her internal magic power.

"Crack!"

The bubble surrounding her head suddenly burst, lake water instantly kissed the girl’s somewhat pale face.

On the referee table, two sparks shot out.

Madam Fujiwara’s face was as dark as water, while Ilvermorny’s Agilbert sighed helplessly.

The Aurors waved their magic wands, and soon, a jet of lake water surged like a volcano from the bottom, forcibly ejecting the two from the water, caught midair by their respective school heads who wielded their magic wands.

"Ugh—"

Adam and Kitajima Rikka simultaneously groaned, spitting out blood-tinged foam, a rush of warm blood also flowing out of their noses.

When their bodies hit the ground, they convulsed like dehydrated fish, spider-web-like red marks appearing on their skin.

"My god!" someone gasped from the audience, "What kind of magic caused this? I’ve never seen such terrifying injuries!"

Bagman opened his mouth—someone had stolen the lines he was about to say! 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Meanwhile, Clementine also found it surprising and asked, "What’s going on?"

She secretly evaluated Vid, unable to believe he would use such terrifying Dark Magic with so many watching—those two looked near death!

At the judges’ table, among the nearby Auror team, more dangerous glances fell on Vid.

"This isn’t magic," Vid said calmly and clearly, "Rapid ascent from tens of meters underwater, pressure drops by 80% within seconds, gases initially dissolved in the blood quickly form bubbles, these bubbles are now rampaging through their blood vessels."

Clementine thought for a moment, tilting her head, "Though I don’t understand, simply put... is it like suddenly opening a shaken beer?"

She spread her five fingers wide, making a "pop" sound with her mouth.

Vid nodded, "That’s about it."

Their unfriendly glances shifted from Vid, but the Aurors who participated in the "rescue (killing)" showed awkward yet slightly suspicious expressions.

Vid also hadn’t expected the Ministry of Magic Aurors’ rescue methods would be so crude, if those two were not wizards, such an action might have caused lethal internal injuries.

Of course, in the magic world, the only change was that Madam Pomfrey no longer checked if they had been hit by evil magic, but instead offered a potion emitting purple smoke.

"Drink it! These injuries... you’ll need to stay at the school hospital for at least two days."

Madam Pomfrey, with a look of tenderness, watched the two whose pupils showed signs of dilation, waved her magic wand, and had a crystal bottle approach their lips.