Running through the narrow corridor, I kept my back against the wall as I dodged spells and took down the men who stood in my way. "Sanguinem mittere!" "Zipped!" "Os ruptor!" (bone-breaker)! The spells whizzed past me, but I was quick on my feet, narrowly escaping each one.

Their reluctance to use powerful spells in such a tight space was surprising. They were afraid that the house might collapse and damage their precious products. Malfoy's tight leash on them was evident, as even in a fight for their lives, they subconsciously followed his orders. I couldn't decide if their loyalty was commendable or their stupidity was appalling. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Bomba.."

As one of the wizard tried to cast a spell at me, his partner stopped him. But before he could react, I pulled the trigger, and a bullet lodged into his head. "F*ck!" His partner shielded himself just in time as I fired at his feet. I narrowly dodged the spell that he sent back at me and finished him off.

The wall next to me shook violently as the explosive spell hit the walls, and I could hear the angry shouts of the wizards outside. "Bombarda!" they yelled, determined to break through the walls and get to me. "Kill the bastard!" "Avada Kedavra!" Their voices were laced with greed, and I could hear them planning how to take my belongings and make a fortune for themselves. I guess even they figured that Lucius would just kill them in anger, so they were going to pull a runner after killing me. Suddenly, I sensed danger.

I scrambled to find cover behind the wall, but it was no use. The wall blew up, and I was sent flying across the room. I was already at my limit, but I managed to throw my gun in the way of the killing curse, watching it get destroyed in the process. They were bewildered by my move, seeing 'a muggle' outsmarting their unblockable curse shocked them.

Their shock was short-lived, as I swiftly took them out with my pistol. The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the room as I fired round after round, taking them down one by one. I stepped over the bodies and walked towards the stairs, where I could hear some voices. Throwing my last grenade on the second story, I took a breather by the stairs while chugging down a numbing potion.

Breathing heavily, I took a moment to assess the situation. My clothes were tattered, and I was covered in bruises and cuts. The corridor was a mess, with broken furniture and debris littering the floor. The smoke was thick, making it difficult to breathe, and my eyes were still watering. Blood was dripping down my clothes.

"Focus"

I steadied myself and made my way upstairs with a pistol in hand.

As I reached the top of the stairs, I was immediately greeted by thick smoke. My eyes watered, and I could barely see anything in front of me. I could only make out a single door leading against the wall. I leaned towards the door, kicked it in, and crouched, ready to roll in. I could hear the sound of a spell being cast, and I braced myself for impact. I barely dodged the cutting curse that nicked my ear, feeling the heat of the curse as it flew past me. Just as I finished rolling, I shot the assailant, watching him fall to the ground.

As I surveyed my surroundings and honed in on my sense of hearing, the only sound that reached my ears was the rhythmic crackling of the fire. I knew I was finally alone. However, just as my body began to unwind, the pain that had been lying in wait pounced on me from all directions. I could feel the remnants of magic seeping from my wounds as my blood dripped down and pooled on the ground below me. The pain was almost unbearable.

The realization hit me like a truck. All the preaching about not using magic went down the drain when my blood started dripping everywhere. "Fuck." They could easily collect my blood, track me, or even worse, find my location.

As I lay there, I contemplated how this entire process sounded easy in my head, a former mercenary coming in guns blazing and taking out a wizard. But the reality was far from it. Once the wizards increased in number and became more cautious, it became a fight for survival. I knew that only my physical enhancement ritual had saved me. My enhanced reflexes and agility allowed me to stay ahead of their spells and keep moving. My key to success was their initial disdain for my supposed mugglerly, my enchanted guns, and my magical sense that helped me anticipate and dodge incoming spells. However, their increasing caution and number ultimately caught up with me.

I had originally thought that I would not get injured, and therefore never took into account that my blood would be spilled. Now, I have to use magic to erase my blood and then think of ways to mask my magical signature.

Pushing myself up, I looked over in the room and spotted containers and different packages. Figuring out that they were some esoteric artifacts, I extended my magical sense to feel the runes or wards around them, studying them carefully. Despite the exhaustion and pain, I knew that I had to press on and complete my mission. Maybe these artifacts could provide a solution for me.

Taking my wand out

I began casting cleaning and healing spells on myself to remove the grime and dirt from my wounds and patch myself up. However, I soon realized that I wasn't healing as quickly as I had expected. I had assumed that the ritual would enhance my healing, but it didn't seem to be working. Although these injuries would typically take less than two or three days to heal on their own, I had been hoping for an instant recovery. Still, beggars can't be choosers.

After tending to my injuries, I walked over to the artifacts and scanned them. Some were rare, but mostly just generic cursed objects intended to harm or be used as family collections or for study purposes. Malfoy mostly used these artifacts to transfer all over Europe, fulfilling favors, catering to friendships, and selling them. Most of them were from long-lost arctect, dead families, or stolen.

Vanishing my blood from the floor, I went downstairs to check other rooms while also vanishing any blood spots I saw, whether they were from the bodies around them or my dropped blood. Opening the next room, I started gathering all the artifacts I could find. After finding most of the artifacts, I broke the runes that made them inflammable and cast an "Agni" spell on them.

This mission was a total dud. I had a close call with death, found out I was not as invincible without magic and wasted all the artifacts I could have used in the future. Now, I had to burn them to mask my magical signature.

I still had one last stop before heading home or even canceling that trip in case the Aurors were already on the case to find the culprits.

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