The massive wing slammed down, smashing more than a dozen boxes of candy.
Lupin dodged nimbly, raking several bloody gashes across the wing with his claws as he sped along its edge and closed in on Raichel.
Raichel seemed flustered. His wild, disorderly attacks were like someone swatting at a mosquito, but Lupin was far more agile than any mosquito, and far deadlier too.
In no time, Lupin was right on him, launching a relentless, tide-like assault. Wounds opened across Raichel's skin, blood spraying everywhere.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it... damn it!" Raichel roared. "You filthy flea, hold still!"
But anger did nothing to make him faster or stronger.
In his Werewolf form, Lupin went all out, carving one bone-deep wound after another into Raichel's body. One slash across the neck had nearly taken Raichel's life.
If Lupin had been a little more accustomed to fighting in his Werewolf form, that blow would have been enough to take Raichel's head clean off.
That near-fatal strike finally made Raichel realize something. Lupin, with both speed and strength, was on a completely different level from an ordinary wizard.
His fragile, magic-resistant scales were useless against those razor-sharp claws.
With a furious roar, Raichel's body swelled rapidly, expanding like a true Occamy.
The tail Lupin had severed regenerated at once, growing back even deadlier, whipping wildly through the cramped basement.
Tonks was curled up in a corner, her body flickering with the light of the Shield Charm, but that thin layer of protection gave her almost no sense of safety.
As a physically fragile wizard, the Jinxes she had always been proud of were completely useless here. Instead, the wings and tail rampaging through the basement could take her life at any moment.
The only thing she could do was protect herself as best she could and avoid becoming a burden to Lupin.
Lupin's face was grim, but mentally he was calm. After fully transforming into a Werewolf, he was handling Raichel with ease, and he was even starting to master the explosive physical abilities that came with the transformation.
The more familiar he became with this body, the greater the pressure he put on Raichel. Raichel's seemingly airtight defense was gradually losing its ability to suppress him.
Just as Lupin was about to end the fight and finish Raichel off, a pair of wings and a tail smashed toward him at the same time. The assault was so dense that Lupin had no choice but to cross his arms in front of himself and brace for the impact.
A dull thud rang out.
Lupin was sent flying, but he steadied himself in midair and landed lightly on the ground.
Then, all of a sudden, the severed tail on the floor sprang up like a venomous snake and wrapped itself around Lupin's legs.
Lupin tore the fragile tail apart almost instantly, but that brief moment was enough to stall him and leave a gap in his movements.
"Hahaha, die!" Raichel burst into mad laughter, his head shooting forward like a snake's as he lunged to bite Lupin.
At that critical moment, a black dog burst out from the side. With a bark, it slammed into Raichel's head and knocked it aside.
Seeing that familiar dog, Lupin froze for a second and blurted out, "Sirius?"
"Woof!" the black dog barked unhappily, then jerked its head toward Raichel.
Lupin understood at once and immediately joined forces with Sirius to attack.
Raichel had already been barely holding on against Lupin alone. Under the two of them working together, he became even less able to cope. His enormous body, instead of serving as a weapon, became a burden.
It didn't take long for Lupin to seize an opening and tear off his head with one swipe of his claws.
The head bounced across the floor a few times, while blood gushed from the headless corpse.
"We did it!" Lupin let out a breath of relief as he looked at the collapsing body, then turned to the black dog. "Sirius, what are you doing here?"
The black dog shifted back into human form, and Sirius Black's face appeared, stirring complicated emotions in Lupin.
"I came to help you. Someone told me you were in danger." Sirius also let out a relieved breath.
"Someone told you I was in danger? Who?"
Lupin had just started to say something more when he saw the severed head on the ground curl into a strangely meaningful smile.
"Watch out!" Lupin shouted, pulling Sirius to his side.
But the head did not explode or launch some final desperate counterattack. It merely looked at them, a crazed grin spreading across its face.
"So you're the reason I've felt like someone was watching me this whole time?"
Even with his head severed from his body, Raichel showed no sign of dying.
"The fugitive Sirius Black. A Werewolf. And an Auror."
He bared his teeth in a savage grin as he stared at the group, whose expressions had all changed.
"Now, I've found you."
The moment he finished speaking, both the huge corpse and the severed head began to dissipate at high speed. Within moments, they vanished completely, leaving behind only chaos, as if the underground warehouse had been torn apart by a storm.
"Damn it... what kind of monster is that?" Lupin stared at the place where the body had disappeared. If not for the faint pain from his wounds, he would have thought the whole thing had been a nightmare.
A man whose head had been cut off could still speak. He could still threaten them.
"Not sure, but obviously we didn't kill him." Sirius was not especially shocked. After all, the raven had already told him how difficult this monster was to deal with.
Lupin looked at Sirius, his expression complicated. "Sirius..."
"I'm innocent." Sirius forced out a smile. "The one who betrayed us was Peter Pettigrew."
Lupin let out a breath of relief. He was just about to ask for details when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from upstairs.
He immediately realized that the Aurors had probably noticed the commotion and come back down to check on it.
"Sirius, you can't stay here." He looked at Sirius. "Go. Leave this to me."
Sirius nodded, then lifted his chin and pointed toward Tonks, asking what about her.
"Leave everything to me. I'll convince her." As Lupin spoke, his body gradually shrank back down, returning to human form. "We'll talk later. Meet me at the usual place."
Sirius understood. Under Tonks's watchful gaze, he transformed back into the black dog, slipped into the secret passage, and left.
Tonks stared blankly at Lupin, who had just let a wanted criminal go. Seeing him hesitate as though he wanted to say something, she got to her feet at once and said seriously,
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Tonks blinked. "We were just attacked by a monster."
When she noticed Lupin's doubtful expression, she went on, "You saved me. This is my repayment."
Then she blinked again. "But as payment, when you go meet your friend, remember to take me with you."
"You..." Lupin looked at the girl in front of him with a headache coming on. Aberforth had been right. This girl really was troublesome.
But the Aurors were already coming down, and there was no time left to bargain. Lupin could only nod helplessly, pull himself together, and prepare to deal with the Aurors, who had been thrown into disarray when their temporary office was wrecked.