Chapter 84: Bribery and Interrogation

For a long while.

Harry and the others seemed only now to realize they could breathe, and they began gulping air.

The pervasive stench made everyone realize that what they had just seen was not an illusion, and the Giant Monster that Dali had single‑handedly knocked to the ground was not fake.

"Is it dead?"

Harry asked.

"It's not dead yet, but it probably won't survive," Dali said.

The Giant Monster's vitality was extremely tenacious; most of his earlier attacks had landed only on its legs and missed its vital points, until the final punch struck its crown, delivering a fatal blow.

At the same moment, Dali felt his Extraordinary Trait being rapidly digested inside his body.

In this battle, he had pushed the Barbarian's trait to its limit, and combined with the use of Magic, achieved an unexpected effect, greatly aiding the digestion of the Extraordinary Trait.

What surprised Dali was that the Extraordinary Trait of his Law Enforcement Officer role was also being digested faster; although a bit slower than the Barbarian's, it was not much slower.

"Is it because he defeated the Giant Monster and protected Hogwarts?"

Dali guessed in his mind.

As Hogwarts's Law Enforcement Officer, he received extra bonuses in this fight, and if he imposed his duties as a Law Enforcement Officer on himself—such as protecting the grounds' safety—then the Law Enforcement Officer's Magic Pill would digest even faster.

Hmm, that makes sense.

Both Extraordinary Traits, which the Law Enforcement Officer originally digested a bit faster, were now almost fully digested after this battle.

In at most another two or three days, Dali will finish digesting these two Sequences and enter Sequence Seven.

These are the two Sequence Sevens Dali has long awaited.

Only upon reaching Sequence Seven can these two Sequences grant the key Extraordinary Ability, allowing him to unleash his full strength.

The Black Emperor's Sequence Seven is called the Briber; in this Sequence Dali can obtain a crucial Extraordinary Ability—Bribe!

Through Bribe, Dali can achieve the effects of Weakening, Enchanting, Linking, and Arrogance.

The Weakening effect is straightforward—it reduces the opponent's attacks and power. Enchanting makes the opponent feel friendly, thus unwilling to attack the Briber. Arrogance, via Bribe, makes the opponent overconfident and irrational. As for Linking, Bribe can create a Mysticism‑based connection between the parties.

And the foundation of all this is Bribe! It means giving the other side something.

It may seem not easy, but in fact the scope of Bribe's determination is quite broad.

Dali only needs to symbolically give the other side something to achieve the effect; it is very handy in practice.

For example, during the recent fight with the Giant Monster, Dali could even throw a stone at it to enact Bribe; regardless of whether the stone is what the Giant Monster wants or whether it accepts it, the moment Dali hurls the stone, the Weakening effect on the Giant Monster's attacks takes place.

That is Bribe!

And the Judicator Sequence's seventh rank is the Interrogator, also called Interrogation Officer; at this stage, Dali can obtain two crucial abilities: Spirit Pierce and Whip of Pain. The former attacks the opponent's spirit directly, the latter lashes the opponent's mind, both bypassing physical defenses to strike at their essence.

Earlier at Gulingge, Dali borrowed the Trensost Brass Book to elevate his stature, used Spirit Pierce to disrupt the Dark‑clad man's Avada Kedavra Curse, delivering a crucial blow to the opponent's spirit.

If Dali had the Interrogation Officer ability during the fight with the Giant Monster, that magically‑born creature with astonishing skin defense but little intellect would not withstand Dali's spirit attack, making its defeat much easier.

Dali gasped, pondering the upcoming Sequences, while Harry and Luoen checked the Giant Monster; as blood streamed from its nostrils, it finally breathed its last.

"Dead, finally dead."

Luoen let out a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, how do you feel?"

Dali looked at Hermione.

"My foot got a bit hurt, but nothing serious otherwise. Thank you for rescuing me; if it weren't for you, I might have..." Hermione began, then started crying again.

Luoen and Harry exchanged a guilty glance; had they not locked the Giant Monster in the girls' bathroom, Hermione might have been unharmed, or without the daytime quarrel, Hermione wouldn't have been here at this hour.

"No need to thank me; actually it's my fault for the daytime incident, I'm sorry," Luoen said, his face reddening.

"No, you don't need to apologize; it's my own problem," Hermione said, shaking her head.

She cared so much about grades that, between friends and scores, she chose the former.

She originally thought that earning the most extra points would earn everyone's approval, so she worked desperately to get higher scores, but now she sees she was gravely mistaken.

Grades are important, but not that important.

The corridor fell silent again, as everyone seemed a bit awkward, unsure what to say.

Dali had been smiling lightly at it all, but soon he furrowed his brows.

"Did you notice anything wrong?"

Dali said, glancing around.

"What?" Luoen asked, puzzled.

"It seems... a bit too quiet," Harry said, frowning.

"Wait, Dali fought the Giant Monster here for so long, why didn't any teacher come?" Hermione said, surprised.

Hearing this, everyone showed puzzled expressions.

Indeed, Dali's fight with the Giant Monster wasn't brief, and after that they chatted here for a while; why didn't a teacher appear? It defies logic.

Did they not notice what was happening underground?

Impossible—Professor Quirrell had clearly told everyone that even if other teachers were responsible for student safety, they should send someone to handle the Giant Monster, yet after so long, not a single person arrived.

Dali's brows knit tighter; he kept feeling he had overlooked something important.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a faint sound from the corridor's end, standing out clearly in the castle's dead silence.

"Who's there?"

Dali shouted loudly.

Immediately after, he heard frantic footsteps coming from behind a statue.

It was the three of Ma Er Fu.

They fled in panic, not daring to glance at Dali even once.

This guy is truly violent; there are no teachers here. If Dali found them disagreeable and came over to beat them up, who could they reason with?

"Ah…"

However, the three had only taken a few steps after running out when a sharp, mournful scream suddenly rang out, and they all fell to the ground at once.

On their backs, three blood‑stained marks had appeared at some unknown time, as if an invisible whip had struck them hard.