"Hurry up and tell me—what did you see?!!!!!!"
Voldemort's anxious voice rang in Harry's ears.
What Voldemort did not know was that Harry himself was completely dumbfounded.
Could someone please tell him why he was being scolded by the Mirror of Erised?
Back in his first year, it had never done that.
The closer Voldemort came to immortality, the more frantic he became.
He already had a foreboding that that damned John Wick might not actually be dead after all.
But immortality was right in front of him.
How could he possibly give it up now?
Inside the Mirror of Erised, the reflected Harry had already started dancing, showing not the slightest intention of handing over the Grail.
Voldemort's greedy gaze kept searching for a way to break the impasse.
He shoved Harry aside and crawled right up to the mirror, scrutinizing it obsessively.
He did not dare damage the mirror; that might cause the Grail to disappear.
Harry was extremely tense. After all, he had not expected Voldemort to arrive before him.
Reaching for his wand, Harry prepared to launch a sneak attack.
Voldemort sensed his intent, raised his wand, and fired a red beam of light that made Harry's entire body convulse.
"Tell me—how do you take what's inside."
Voldemort had already gone mad. He did not kill Harry, because he believed the thing inside required someone else to retrieve it for him.
"I don't know!"
Harry was telling the truth. He wasn't part of the Constellation Society; how could he possibly know the method?
"Crucio~~!!!"
Voldemort did not believe him and used the Cruciatus Curse to torture Harry.
"Arrrrrrrrrggggggggghh!!!!"
Harry let out a scream. He tried to struggle to his feet, only to be kicked back down by Voldemort.
"Harry Potter. You've enjoyed the title of savior in the wizarding world for so many years, all because of my failure."
Voldemort grabbed Harry by the collar and yanked him up. His narrow, crimson eyes looked as though they were about to devour him alive.
"Tell me, Harry," Voldemort whispered dangerously, "where is the Grail?"
His hand moved away from Harry's body, yet that invisible force continued to clamp around Harry's neck.
Harry's body kept rising. Voldemort suddenly flicked his hand, and Harry was smashed violently back down.
Bang!
"Ack!"
Voldemort did not stop. With another wave of his hand, Harry was hurled again and again, his internal organs feeling as if they were about to shatter.
"That's enough. A couple more hits and it'll be just right."
John's voice rang out as he strolled casually out of the maze.
Looking at Harry, John said helplessly, "Why did you come in here at all?"
Harry couldn't speak. He stared at John, disbelief written all over his face.
"In this regard, he's smarter than you," John said, shaking his head helplessly. "The moment he entered the Constellation Society, he should have been able to guess that I was fine."
"Isn't that right, Tommy?"
John looked at Voldemort.
Voldemort had also regained his composure, his narrow red eyes fixed on John.
"What? Surprised?" John chuckled lightly. "You were still in contact with the head of the Mahoutokoro School of Magic, and you turned Bellatrix into something neither human nor ghost. Your tastes are really quite peculiar."
"You lured me in here," Voldemort sneered. "Planning to ambush me?"
"But if it were an ambush, you shouldn't have shown yourself. AVADA KEDAVRA!!"
Voldemort raised his wand, and a streak of green lightning flashed past John.
John dodged it and said calmly, "An ambush? You're mistaken, Tommy."
He walked forward slowly and spoke in an even tone. "Dealing with you doesn't require that."
"This is the fourth time, Tommy."
He lifted his hand and clenched it in midair. The Silver Wick Sword appeared in his grasp.
The silver ring spread over his arm. John smiled faintly. "You'll still be defeated by my hand."
"This time, you won't be able to escape."
John's words were almost unbelievable. He actually intended to face Voldemort head-on.
Harry cried out anxiously, "John, don't underestimate him!"
"Shut up," John said irritably. "I haven't even settled accounts with you for sneaking into my Constellation Society."
Harry fell silent.
"The fire dragon was also prepared by you," Voldemort said as he faced John. "How did you do it?"
"How did I do it?" John replied calmly. "Does serving one's king require a reason?"
He took a vial from his pocket, a bottle of blood with an octopus swimming inside, and drank it down.
Magic Blood state.
John licked the corner of his mouth, his pupils narrowing into vertical slits.
"It's time to end this, Tommy."
He moved. Swoosh!
The sword in his hand swung down, a blade of flame tearing through the air.
Voldemort immediately slashed his wand, a streak of green light shooting toward John.
"An obsolete Dark Lord like you should fade away into the dust of history."
John's body vanished and reappeared in an instant. He drew his wand and flicked it, and the ground beneath Voldemort's feet collapsed.
In the instant before he fell, Voldemort's body lifted into the air.
To fly without a broom or any other aid was something only two people could do.
One was Voldemort. The other was Snape.
Seeing Voldemort take to the air, John activated the Meteor Boots and rose as well.
His wand swept out, and a brilliant beam of white light shot forth.
Three silver shields appeared in front of Voldemort's wand, blocking the Blasting Curse. With a flick of his wrist, he countered by sending a massive serpent lunging toward John, coiling in to entangle him.
John did not dodge. He simply swung the sword in his right hand and sliced the serpent apart.
Wand in his left hand, sword in his right.
John attacked and defended at once. With the Magic Blood state active, his magical power had reached a level close to Tier Seven.
A massive dog leapt out from within the maze and clamped its jaws around Voldemort. In the next second, the great hound exploded, scattering into fragments of stone.
The two fought from the ground up into the sky, then crashed back down to the earth again.
Transfiguration, Dark Magic, ancient spells…
Two equally learned opponents now displayed a clash of power beyond their peak.
"I am the true king of Slytherin!" Voldemort shattered the dog John had conjured with a burst of green light and roared, "I am the Heir of Slytherin, descendant of the Gaunts!"
"So what?"
John raised his hand and fired white light, his right hand slashing out with golden flames.
He sneered. "You ran from your own bloodline, Tommy."
"And now you're running from death."
John lifted his wand. The ground exploded into craters, transforming into hundreds of small birds that surged toward Voldemort.
"Stop calling me that!!!"
A transparent barrier appeared before Voldemort, and the flock of birds shattered the moment they struck it.
John drove the sword in his hand straight into the ground. The earth split apart, cracks spreading in dense webs.
From those fissures, crimson flames erupted.
Voldemort dodged again and again, yet his robes were still grazed.
Gripping his wand with both hands, John brought it down in a sweeping motion from above.
An invisible blade tore across the ground, cleaving the earth apart with a perfectly clean cut.
Pulling out the Silver Wick Sword, John said calmly, "You've been running all this time. You're a coward, Tom."
He exhaled, and mist spread around him, shrouding the area.
His voice echoed from all directions, dreamlike and unreal.
"Stop running. Accept death, Tommy boy."
Voldemort's wand erupted with a Fiendfyre serpent, blazing as it hissed.
"A shattered soul is doomed to never find rest."
With a swing of his wand, Voldemort sent the Fiendfyre serpent charging into the mist. A crimson fire dragon burst out of the fog, crashing head-on into the fire snake.
The shockwaves from their collision split cracks across the walls of the maze.
Harry was left stunned by the battle before him.
The commotion even surpassed the fight that had taken place at the Ministry of Magic.
This area was even more open, with no one else in the way.
The fire dragon's claws tore through the body of the fire serpent, while the serpent sank its fangs into the dragon's neck.
The two Fiendfyres perished together.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Reducto!"
Green light and white light collided, and the tremendous impact blasted the mist apart.
Blinding radiance burst outward, making the very air tremble in waves.
Ring after ring of magical fluctuations rippled outward.
Harry hid behind the walls of the maze, watching as the stone crumbled bit by bit.
As if it had weathered thousands of years, eroding away into nothing.
John felt the magic within his body draining rapidly.
At the same time, the system's notification sounded.
[Ding. Magic Blood has ended]
[Black Lake Spirit trait acquired: Elf, Softbody, Growth, Longevity]
[Elf: Enhanced affinity with elemental power]
[Softbody: Increased flexibility]
[Growth: Accelerated absorption of magical energy, accompanied by growth]
[Longevity: Greatly increased lifespan]
The Magic Blood state ended.
This meant that the explosive surge of power John had gained was fading as well.
Voldemort's attacks grew heavier. John controlled the Silver Wick Sword with his right hand, sending it flying toward Voldemort.
Voldemort swung his wand, knocking the Silver Wick Sword away.
Both of their attacks dissipated at the same time.
John took a step back.
And it was that single step...
That Voldemort noticed!
"You're far too arrogant."
A sharp, chilling voice rang out as Voldemort stared fixedly at John.
"You could have continued to grow. I must admit, your growth rate and talent already surpass what I had as a student."
"But it's a pity. You're too proud. You believed you could face me… defeat me."
"And I," Voldemort spread his arms wide and proclaimed with manic arrogance, "am invincible!"
He seemed to have already seen the outcome of his victory.
"Tell me, John—how do you take the Grail out?"
John laughed.
He watched Voldemort's one-man performance in calm silence.
Not a ripple of emotion crossed his face.
"The Grail? You really want it?" John said evenly. "Then use your soul, Tom."
Voldemort stared at him, and John continued in the same unhurried tone, "The way to open it is your soul. Just like the stupid things you did before. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
"A soul trapped in a broken body still wants immortality?"
John raised the Silver Wick Sword over his head and sneered. "You can achieve that in your dreams."
The dark vault above was filled with stars.
They were not ordinary stars. One by one, they began to move across the firmament.
The brightest nine stars shifted, aligning into a single straight line.
The celestial spheres converged.
~~~
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and Read 12 Chapters ahead: Patreon/Dragonel