Rewind time to two and a half minutes earlier.
William stood on a land piled with corpses, with a crimson scene before him, and at his feet lay countless broken remains of Goblins, Trolls, and Wizard apparitions, slowly turning into mist, merging back into the sticky, blood-red air around, waiting for the next condensation...
The air was filled with the smell of rust and ash, each breath bearing a burning sensation.
He couldn't remember how many waves of monsters had passed; time had lost its measure here, with only the eternal cycle of slaughter and rebirth.
The fatigue was like a lurking plague, constantly surging up from the depths of his soul — this virtual realm not only drained magic power but continually siphoned William's spiritual power and will to fight, sustaining its operation, even reversing the power to strengthen the caster — put simply, the trapped William had become Isadora's indirect energy source.
But, just like a Samsung battery, it would explode.
The energy cycle within the virtual realm used the caster as the fulcrum, with the trapped individual's power as fuel...
William continued to throw punches, the silver-white Guardian God tiger charging out, once again crushing the new wave of roaring apparitions with precise and efficient movements. While fighting, he was waiting for something —
After being trapped in this virtual realm and failing to break free, William quickly devised a strategy.
The strength of such a cycle would certainly affect the stability of its nodes, and conversely, the nodes would impact the stability of the cycle — therefore, William easily thought of the Secret Vault, that massive, pure energy, containing the power to almost sink Honshu Island.
That was Isadora's target; her obsession and plans were closely related to it.
Therefore, William didn't even need to make any arrangements; he only needed to protect the lives of those unrelated to this matter as much as possible —
The Werewolf Corps and Golem forces would follow his last command to protect and evacuate innocent civilians amid the external chaos, and within Hogwarts Castle, his students would probably not let him down, not to mention those — the "emergency rations" left for Kabuda and the hidden Defense Runes throughout the castle.
What he needed to do now, and the only thing he could do, was wait…
Suddenly.
Without any warning, the entire world trembled violently as if a giant hammer had smashed it, like a glass vat.
Now!
A brilliant light exploded in William's eyes, and all fatigue was instantly suppressed. He stomped his left foot forward suddenly, stepping hard on the pile of remains at his feet.
"Buzz—"
Centered on his left foot, a silver-white magic circle with a diameter of several meters, highly intricate and delicate in structure, emerged instantly and spread. The circle was composed of numerous dense Ancient Runes, shimmering with pure white light, which climbed onto the blood-red chains embedded in William's limbs —
"Come!"
William let out a low shout, and the next moment, the pulling force from the chains that weakened him abruptly reversed, pouring a vast and pure power into William's body —
As if the pillars supporting the entire world had broken, the crimson sky above William's head suddenly crawled with black, web-like massive cracks, and the ground beneath him split into pieces, with the surrounding mist rolling backward and evaporating, the apparitions formed by grievances vanishing in chunks.
Then, the chains running through William's limbs relentlessly snapped inch by inch from their roots connected to the virtual realm, turning into flying ash.
The virtual realm crumbled entirely, like a sandcastle with its base removed, in an instant.
Then, William's figure began to fall, as the bright yellow Thunderbird wings spread with a "swoosh," stabilizing his figure. Looking at the greenery before him and the surrounding valley, the man instinctively breathed a sigh of relief…
He had succeeded.
But there was no time to rejoice; William forced himself to gather his spirits, connecting his mind with the most familiar wave deep within Hogwarts Castle —
The next moment, his figure seemed to be erased by a rubber, disappearing without a trace.
...
Isadora's hand was less than a foot away from the Secret Vault.
Ecstasy entwined her heart like poisonous vines, the Elder Wand in her hand buzzing with excitement, and the energy of the Secret Vault, like a gentle stream, began voluntarily flowing toward her. She could feel that as long as she could make the most primitive contact, she could establish the deepest link; all this... the power she had waited for hundreds of years ultimately belonged to her.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald lay half-slumped by the edge of the pit, powerless to stop her.
However, just as her fingertips were about to touch the light sphere —
A figure, like a specter, naturally "emerged" from the light sphere, abruptly blocking the way between her and the Secret Vault.
It was William Richard, his face pale, his breath somewhat unstable, clearly in poor condition, yet he stood there, facing her —
The ecstasy within the woman instantly froze, shock crawling across her cheeks; how did he manage to escape?! The cage she constructed was supposed to be unbreakable…
She saw William seem to say something, the sharp pain from her shoulder dragging her back to reality —
"Do you think you can stop me?!"
Isadora instinctively screamed, her voice distorted with emotion; the hand she stretched out no longer paused, reaching forward faster and more fiercely, her five fingers entwined with a mix of crimson and white energy, powerful enough to tear through steel —
Yet, facing this attack aimed directly at his throat, William's reaction stunned both Isadora and the two old men by the pit.
He didn't block it, didn't counterattack, just very naturally sidestepped slightly.
Like giving way to a student carrying something heavy in the corridor, with ease, casually, and even with a side gesture, signaled "after you."
Thus, the woman's full-strength, determined attack missed.
No, it didn't miss.
Because William had stepped aside, there was no longer any obstacle in the woman's way. Her hand, wrapped in frenzied energy, firmly slapped onto the light sphere of the Secret Vault.
"?!"
The expression on Isadora's face instantly shifted from hideous to bewildered, and because she used too much force, her body swayed slightly with the momentum of her lunge. Instinctively, she clenched her hand, and the warm, surging sensation of the energy from the Secret Vault flowed into her palm.
Power... infinite power was flooding in!
Smoother and greater than she had imagined.
Then, she abruptly turned her head, looking towards William, who was retreating with a calm expression, eyes filled with incredulous doubt—"Why don't you stop me?" she blurted out instinctively.
William simply blinked at her, his tone sincere enough to send chills down one's spine, "I always respect a woman's wishes." He shrugged, his gaze flicked to the slightly quivering Secret Vault, then continued to retreat.
"..."
Isadora's mind went blank momentarily due to the absurdity of this response and the overwhelming power nearly bursting her body. But the next moment, the incredible sense of fullness permeating her body shattered all doubts.
"Ha ha... ha→hahaha↑!!!"
Feeling the magic within her crazily surge, and her body starting to materialize into flesh, it seemed even more miraculous than Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone. Imagining a splendid future, the woman couldn't help but laugh up to the sky, a laugh filled with maniacal pride and derision.
"Ignorant! Shortsighted! Arrogant! William Richard, you are just as I thought, a complete fool!"
She released her grip on the Secret Vault—of course, the energy connection was already established, she turned around to face William, spreading her arms as if embracing the entire world—
"You actually chose to hand over such power? You think you have some trump card that can work? Before absolute power, all schemes are jokes! Now, I have the Secret Vault, I have the Elder Wand, I am..." Isadora seemed to be giving a victory speech, her shrill voice echoing in the pit.
Meanwhile, William had already walked to where Dumbledore and Grindelwald were slumped by the pit's edge.
He first checked Dumbledore's injuries, then looked at the dust-covered but wide-eyed Grindelwald, and very casually raised his magic wand.
"Protego."
A thick, purple-glimmering hemispherical shield enveloped the three of them, and then, under the confused and puzzled gazes of the two old men, William did something that baffled them even more—
He put down his magic wand, then tightly covered his ears with both hands.
He also motioned towards the two old men with his mouth, indicating they do the same.
Although Dumbledore didn't understand, he still used his fingers to plug his ears, while Grindelwald rolled his eyes instinctively but followed suit, muttering, "What are you up to..."
In the center of the pit, Isadora's mockery continued, "...I will personally establish the onset of a new era! And you all will become..."
Her voice abruptly stopped.
Because the energy orb that had been obediently outputting energy behind her, without any warning, its brightness surged ten thousand times.
"Buzz—"
A low hum that defies description, shaking the soul, and blinding white light instantly engulfed Isadora's figure, followed by an unimaginable gravitational pull.
Isadora's face froze mid-laugh, realizing she couldn't move, as if the white light had "stuck" her in place.
The woman began to struggle, trying to sever her connection with the Secret Vault, but not only did the connection not sever, it held her tighter, like hard iron chains, binding her firmly.
"No—this is not what I want... Ah!!"
The woman's scream was drowned in the white light and hum.
The next moment, under the watchful gazes of the remaining three, the glowing white iron orb, along with the distorted, blurred form of Isadora stuck to it, like a spaceship launched by a gravitational catapult, smashed through layers of rubble, dirt, castle foundation, floor...
With unstoppable force, it shot vertically upwards, tore through the Map Chamber, shattered the surface structures of Hogwarts Castle, and became a beam of light piercing the skies, shooting straight into the sky.
The brightness of the beam illuminated the entire Scottish Highlands as if it were daylight, quickly receded, shrinking, disappearing into the clouds above.
Then—
"Boom——!!!!!!!!"
Even through thick dirt and hard castle walls, even with William's Protego buffering, this extremely muffled, seemingly continent-rattling terrifying blast echoed from the high heavens, making the three's eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
The entire Hogwarts Castle, and even the ground beneath their feet, visibly shook, dust falling, distant panicked shouts of students could be faintly heard.
Silence descended on the pit.
A moment later, the super shield was withdrawn by William.
He lowered his hands from his ears, gave them a pat, feeling a bit of ringing.
Grindelwald also lowered his hands, he looked at the massive round hole overhead pierced through the layers by the Secret Vault, then outside at the sky now filled with red twilight, finally, back at the calm-faced William, his small eyes filled with big question marks.
"...That's it?"
Grindelwald held back for a long time, finally asking loudly.
"What else?"
William asked back just as loudly, walking to the edge of the pit, looking up at the "skylight," "Looks like renovating will cost quite a bit."
"...I thought you'd at least fight another round, with some flashy spell battle, she'd hurl more harsh words, you'd reveal some conspiracy, ultimately scrape through..."
Grindelwald gestured, tone somewhat unfulfilled, still incredulous that everything had ended.
Hearing this, William withdrew his gaze, looked at Grindelwald, shrugged, and said matter-of-factly, "How many times did we fight in the last few chapters? All the tropes are used up, that fool couldn't come up with anything new, even then fighting..." Pausing mid-sentence, William waved his hand dismissively—
"Wouldn't that be a pure filler chapter?"