Chapter 225: Whack-a-Mole

A shaman?

When Murphy saw the drum in the old man's hands and his attire, he had actually already formed a similar guess in his heart.

The wizarding world and the Muggle world were, after all, not completely isolated. Although possessors of extraordinary power like wizards were hiding themselves as much as possible, over the long passage of time, Muggles would always discover traces of wizards' existence, thereby passing down many legends about them.

And the prevalence of shamanic culture in Eastern Europe was also due to the influence of genuine shamanic wizards.

"My name is Alexei Romanov, and I have been cultivating in the depths of this forest for several years." Suddenly, the old shaman spoke, using the Soviet language, yet it was extremely ancient and obscure; even though Murphy had already learned the Soviet language, he still found it very difficult to understand.

"Ancient spiritual veins gather here. On this land that has not been disturbed for thousands upon tens of thousands of years, all things and ancient spirits intermingle with one another. I listen to their conversations, and I sleep within their songs..."

"We live together, we rest together. I have come to know every piece of land here, every stream, every tree, every bird and beast..."

"And you are destroying everything here."

"Strange outsider, I ask you to leave this place."

Just leave?

Murphy was somewhat surprised.

"Great Shaman! He is a foreign wizard! He is preparing to assassinate the president of a Muggle nation!" The Soviet wizard hurriedly reminded him.

Alexei glanced at him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Vitaly Peregud, a member of the Emperor's personal guard. I once followed you and studied in the ancestral mausoleum for a period of time." The Soviet wizard hurriedly said, "Great Shaman, the Emperor ordered me to protect the president. We cannot let him leave!"

"Please take action to capture him."

But the old man remained unmoved. "Mundane affairs have nothing to do with us. If he is not going to kill our people, then let him be. Even if we do not interfere, the country he belongs to will handle it."

Murphy was somewhat pleasantly surprised. This was actually an extreme conservative who did not care about the life or death of Muggle society at all.

"Thank you for your open-mindedness, Great Shaman." Murphy was also very polite. "However, I have one small request. Could you erase this wizard gentleman's memory? If you can do me this favor, any conditions can be discussed."

However, Alexei's gaze suddenly sharpened, and a terrifying expression appeared on his wrinkled face: "Stranger, can you not understand my words? I said, please leave this place!"

Murphy frowned. Among those conservative wizards, some were just selfish fellows. They not only did not care about Muggle society, but they also did not care about the life or death of their own compatriots.

But clearly, the Great Shaman before him was not such a person.

He didn't even give him a chance to propose conditions. It seemed that for him, there was no room for negotiation when it came to protecting his own compatriots.

But erasing the memory of the Soviet wizard opposite him was a necessity.

It seemed that this matter could not be negotiated.

Murphy sighed. "Since that is the case, then you stay as well."

After speaking, he suddenly transformed into a bolt of lightning again, appearing behind Alexei. He reached out, summoned a greatsword from his "storage ring," gripped it in his hand, and slashed out with one strike.

Murphy's powerful physical constitution and the terrifying mobility he could achieve by moving via lightning made his efficiency in using such physical attacks during combat higher than using spells. Against most wizards, Murphy was certain that few could survive three moves under this method of attack.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the old man didn't make any moves, but behind him, a stone pillar rose from the ground, blocking Murphy's slash.

Alexei turned his head. "Foolish!"

He struck the ground with his wooden staff, and a shockwave knocked Murphy back. Then, he turned around and tapped his staff on the leather drum. No sound was emitted, but Murphy's expression sharpened, and he "pop" transformed into a bolt of lightning and flashed to the side.

"Thud, thud, thud..." After several crisp sounds of wood, seven or eight wounds as deep as half a foot appeared on the trees behind Murphy's original position, as if they had been cut by a sharp blade.

Murphy was startled. "Wind blades?"

That seemed to be an extremely sharp shockwave, with a speed even exceeding the speed of sound.

The lethality of this thing was no worse than *Sectumsempra*, and, this old man was actually casting spells silently?

"Leave, otherwise, die here!" Alexei warned for the last time.

And Murphy's response was also very simple: "Spatial Anchor!"

This was a spell that countered *Apparition*, Portkeys, and various other means of spatial movement. It was something Murphy had only recently found in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts. It could prohibit spatial movement within a certain area, preventing enemies from escaping.

Murphy himself had the lightning movement method and was not worried about being trapped, but this could prevent the two Soviet wizards opposite him from disengaging from the battle at any time.

With different stances, communication was destined to be impossible. Once this spell was cast, Murphy had already decided to start a massacre.

Sensing the slight sluggishness of the myriad spirits around him, Alexei also understood Murphy's determination. He no longer tried to persuade him and held his wooden staff high. Immediately, the surrounding temperature rose sharply, and suddenly a heavenly fire descended from the sky, striking toward Murphy. The latter immediately flashed again and launched an attack from Alexei's side.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Three consecutive sword strikes from different positions were actually all blocked by rock pillars on their own. Murphy's greatsword had already been twisted into a pretzel, and he threw it aside, but his attack did not end. With a wave of his hand, dozens of grenades appeared before him. "Vadiwasi!"

The grenade pins were pulled, and they flew toward the old shaman one after another, directly turning into individual projectiles.

Alexei hadn't seen those small metal balls much, but he instinctively sensed danger. He tapped his wooden staff again, and a stone wall emerged from the ground, shielding himself and Vitaly behind it.

"Boom! Boom!..."

A series of explosions filled Alexei's position with dust and smoke.

But Murphy had long since suffered enough from the "no smoke, no damage" trope and simply didn't believe this could blow the old shaman to death. He waved his wand to clear the smoke and dust, only to see the stone wall shattered, but sure enough, the figures of the two were gone from behind it.

Under the grenade bombardment, they had no other escape route; they could only go down!

That Vitaly had previously demonstrated the ability to tunnel through the earth. He was the old shaman's student; there was no reason the old shaman wouldn't know it.

It was just like a mole.

However, he wasn't without a way to play Whack-a-Mole.

Murphy flew high into the sky again, waved his hand, and took an anti-tank rocket launcher from his ring.

He loaded it and looked below, only to see two lines of upturned earth; they had separated!

Tsk!

Murphy had no choice but to aim at one of them and pull the trigger.

The rocket dragged a trail of white smoke and landed in front of that line of earth.

But just before the rocket landed, a figure suddenly emerged from the ground and leaped to the side, so the explosion did not achieve the expected effect.

Alexei!

Murphy was somewhat puzzled. Could it be that the old shaman also had the ability to foresee the future by a few seconds?

But he wasn't discouraged. A flash of light landed, and another machine gun appeared in his hand. He aimed at the old shaman and began to fire wildly.

Alexei erected a stone wall again, but for a moment, he was beaten and couldn't lift his head.

There was no help for it; compared to a wizard's spells or magic, the firing rate of firearms was simply too high.

But the old shaman didn't sit still and wait for death. He chanted a strange spell and slammed his leather drum. Immediately, dozens of thick roots emerged from the ground, winding toward Murphy one after another. The latter threw away the machine gun and flashed to the side of the old shaman. "Avada Kedavra!"

The old shaman was startled. He knew this spell and hurriedly tapped his wooden staff. A stone wall rose in time, blocking this lethal spell.

However, just the moment the old shaman breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye.

"Oh no! Vitaly!"

A long sword descended from the sky, plunging into the front of the other line of earth tens of meters away.

With a muffled "thud."

That line of earth stopped.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 226 =====