At this point I had time to notice that among "my" people there were only two conditionally unfit people who were most affected by the surrounding background of negative energy. If these two cannot overcome themselves, if their will is not strong enough, then we will have to transfer them to less responsible places or even positions, perhaps we will retrain them to a non-combat profile. The Aurors, on the other hand, were truly worthy wizards, and when Amelia said that these people were "hers" and that she trusted them, she was right.
None of them had succumbed to the "darkness", as far as skills and abilities were concerned, I saw nothing outstanding, i.e. everything was very "standard", limited. So, after fifteen minutes of unsuccessful attempts to find hidden passages with the help of "normal" scanning charms, I took pity on her and bluntly pointed my finger at the wall that had a hidden passage. One of many.
Not only with the help of spiritual vision, but also with the help of spirit contracts, I have already managed to study the entire space around me, and also to send spirits to the most interesting places to guard both evidence and material values of interest to me, or samples of curious magical solutions, which I do not mind studying later.
I also kept an eye on the enemy forces with the help of the same spirits, so I knew the location of all the newly formed ambushes and barricades, including the one placed just outside the passage the stormtroopers were trying to open.
I had to admit that they had been quite successful. Unlike some of the other passageways, this one and four others like it were designed for the fastest movement, most likely for stealthy movement in case of an attack, or for the movement of ordinary workers.
The defense of the entrance was designed more for stealth and powerful camouflage, created by a complex and powerful cascade of enchantments. I don't know why enchantments are so popular with the locals, but if I were the creator of all this mess, I would have used spells.
Unlike enchantments, spells are much harder to create and combine into working complexes, but if you spend more time, the result will surpass any enchantment I've seen in Britain. Well, as they say, it's a matter of taste. And while I was pondering how I could do the same thing, but using Ommyodo spells and sealing them with seals, the men got the job done, breaking the spells and activating a clever identification pass system, the key to which is the tattoo of the local workers. It took only a few minutes to drag one of the stunned objects inside and place his hand in front of the scanning module of the enchantment hidden in the stone.
With no further effect, a shuddering mareva ran along the wall, and then part of the masonry moved aside. Multicolored rays, dominated by green and red, flew into the passage, along with several trembling, almost transparent clumps of Bombardas. No one took these "greetings" on shields: the people were prepared for such a turn of events, so no one stepped into the passage, but that didn't save any of us from stone dust and shrapnel from small stone fragments broken by magical explosions.
For the next few minutes, the two sides exchanged random blows that did almost no damage — a psychological pressure that no one cared about. Well, you couldn't call the broken wall opposite the passage and the corners of the opening, or the defenders' barricade, which was occasionally repaired by simple transfiguration or repair, damage?
After we were, you might say, pinned down, the enemy didn't fire green beams of Avadas or anything else equally "unstoppable," but as soon as we organized ourselves into a group with strong cover for a breakthrough, the Avadas went back into action. The breakaway group immediately dispersed: people jumped back, fell sharply to the ground, and rolled back into cover. Seeing such skill, the attackers no longer tried to take cover with simple protego, for it was fraught with danger. Parity was established and time dragged on again.
I watched and waited for unexpected solutions, which unfortunately did not come, so I had to take action. There were a lot of options, but I chose the one that least demonstrated my abilities. I took a simple stone, slightly larger than my fist, and placed the outline of simple alarm clock charms on it, one after the other, only replacing the sound module with a "connector" in which I built the "Bombarda" web, which generously supplied the alarm clock outline with energy. I set the countdown to three seconds and threw the bomb around the corner towards the barricades.
No one had time to notice, especially since no one here can see magic, so they looked at my work with the strangest expressions, and the explosion that followed the throw, followed by screams of pain, stunned the people. Only a few of them worked properly, that is, they immediately attacked the enemy's position, or what was left of it.
The five Aurors, the oldest and most experienced, moved first, scattering paralyzing spells around, and I followed with a quiet step, as I had been watching the enemy with the help of spirits all the time, so I could see the effect of my homemade grenade.
The barricade was also damaged, but not significantly, as the position was carefully fortified, but the people were scattered, no one was left on their feet, although there were some people trying to get up and continue the fight. At first glance, it was no weaker than the legendary "M67" in terms of defeating manpower — some of them were just shapeless pieces of flesh scattered around.
There were survivors, yes, but with such wounds, life is very short and not for long. Obviously, the wounded had been killed in the same way, and they looked at me with even more strange and in some places even suspicious glances. I also took note of this and memorized people — why do I need those who are insecure about me or similar cowards? And I'll try to get these five Aurors to join me if I can. After we finished here, we moved on.
After walking down the corridor to the end, we walked through the double doors. As I said, this place has a very heavy atmosphere, so people didn't feel the change, but I did, and I immediately looked with my spiritual sight. But to my surprise, it turned out to be some kind of runic barrier built into the walls and doors.
I didn't even realize what it was at first, but I didn't feel threatened by it, so I walked along with everyone else, but I was foolish to ignore it, so I tried to pay attention to everything, every little thing... I wish I hadn't. ....
At first I thought I saw another trap, then I caught a movement that I was paying attention to, and I regretted it. The runes on the walls, floor, ceiling, and doors created a barrier, but I only realized what it was when I saw humanoid figures floating in the air beyond the spiritually visible boundary.
And when I looked closer, I saw many, many ghosts, or rather, evil spirits, which were once the souls of people, men, women, and children, who had been brutally tortured before their deaths and would not let their souls leave afterward.
The local masters apparently decided that the abundance of evil spirits was a palevo, so an ingenious runic cage was installed into which every soul of the dead in these dungeons was sent, and an external barrier on the floor of the first floor not only finally locked the barrier, but also silenced the emanations. Not completely.
Unable to leave the place of pain, unable to feel the path but unable to move along it, the souls continued to suffer even after death and eventually turned into evil spirits, and the more they became, the faster the unborn and newly arrived souls turned into such things. These beings seem to be the ones who create this "heavy background.
Moans of pain, vicious growls, howls, and other blood-curdling sounds — none of these can be heard because the evil entities are locked in an impenetrable cage. They hate everyone and everything around them, and if they break free, I'm sure some of them will turn into dementors — too much pain they've known, too much evil they've absorbed. Yes, I knew that souls could reincarnate as evil spiritual entities, but I'd never seen descriptions of anything like what the owners of this place had unwittingly or maliciously done.
I can't say that I'm not interested in exploring all of this, especially since the rune chains won't let my spirits through, but I won't leave this nightmare alone, and I'll deal with it later....