They hesitated for only half a second before their spells cascaded toward Magni like quicksilver.
Hydrus likewise condensed her voice into fine needles, which fell upon Magni like a torrential storm.
Magni was like a coin flipping into the air under a cowboy's rapid fire, or a solitary boat tossed upon a violent sea.
Caught in the violent discharge of magic, he lost control of his body and was blasted into the sky!
Some young wizards even squeezed their eyes shut.
The scene—
—was simply too brutal!
...
Several minutes later, Magni finally plummeted back down.
Not a single patch of skin remained intact. The minute attacks formed by the laws of sound continued to pierce his body, causing extensive puncture wounds.
While the combined assault from Dumbledore and Grindelwald wasn't as powerful as Glenda Chittock in her prime, it still represented the pinnacle of the modern wizarding world. Anyone else would have been reduced to dust long ago!
The onlookers thought to themselves that surely no one in this world could withstand the combined might of those three!
Glenda stared intently at Magni, praying in her heart that this round of attacks would finally be enough!
However, her hopes were dashed.
A bloody, mangled Magni rose to his feet once more.
The wounds on his body began to knit together with terrifying speed.
Though drenched in blood, his overwhelming presence did not diminish in the slightest.
"Die... die... die... die... die..."
Magni's eyes were bloodshot,
and thick white smoke billowed from his nostrils.
The lightning dancing around him grew more violent, threatening to annihilate everything in sight.
Magni soared off the ground,
suspending himself in mid-air.
The sun stood directly behind him,
yet the blinding daylight could not mask the brilliance of the lightning in his palms.
A terrifying attack was brewing between his hands.
Everyone knew—
—a world-ending blow was about to descend.
Hydrus, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald were horrified. They fought with everything they had left to stop him, even though they were at the end of their tether.
McGall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick all joined the fray.
Among the older students, those brave enough began to launch attacks at the 'god' in the sky, led by Miss Isaline Windsor.
Even though Bode Gray and Glenda Chittock were severely injured, they raised their wands and joined the offensive!
In that moment, hearts were united, and it seemed as if they might actually succeed!
Yet Magni remained unmoved under the barrage; the various spells couldn't even get close to him! The lightning of Mjölnir shielded him completely, repelling every attack.
Magni continued to gather power. The magical energy and the power of laws contained within his lightning were visibly terrifying. Gravity in the surrounding area seemed to fail as massive amounts of debris and soil began to float upward.
By the look of it, Magni intended to wipe Hogwarts off the face of the earth!
Just then, a spectral figure appeared beside Hydrus.
'So noisy. Who is disturbing my slumber?'
The phantom was none other than Hydrus's chuunibyou-prone ancestor, the consciousness of Salazar Slytherin stored within the castle.
'Oh, a weakened Old God, I see.'
Slytherin looked around. 'I can understand Rowena ignoring worldly affairs, but why hasn't that brute Godric come out to handle this?'
'Ah, so you've placed a seal on him, my girl? Hahaha! That old fool finally got what was coming to him!'
Seeing the power building in Magni's hands while the others continued their futile attacks, Salazar shook his head.
'Hydrus, child, you have inherited this castle. Why do you not use its power to repel the enemy?'
'A pathetic little godling like this could be snuffed out with a flick of a wrist!'
Hydrus stopped her movements. She had been on the verge of despair; her newly recovered magic was already spent, and their attacks were doing nothing to Magni.
But what did her ancestor just say?
Snuffed out with a flick of a wrist!
Glenda had also mentioned several times that Dumbledore should use the castle's power.
Hydrus closed her eyes and began to commune with the castle.
The distribution of magic within the castle was rerouted.
Hidden passages sealed themselves, and the moving staircases ground to a halt.
The ghosts stood frozen like statues. Peeves collapsed to the floor in a panic, unable to move.
The entrance to the Room of Requirement manifested as all the lights inside the castle were extinguished!
'The power of Hogwarts is my power!'
A millennium's worth of accumulated magic was now held within Hydrus's grasp.
She realized she had always underestimated the sheer depth of Hogwarts' foundations.
The emotional magic generated by a thousand years of love, hate, joy, and sorrow within these walls was incredibly vast!
Furthermore, the core of Hogwarts buried deep underground was the most brilliant masterpiece of Ancient Magic. Even Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone paled in comparison to the life's work of the four Founders!
"Die, all of you!"
Magni finished charging. He slammed his palms together and thrust them downward!
The world-annihilating strike fell!
Amidst the screams of the young wizards,
Hydrus tilted her head back and let out a roar:
"HAA!!"
Bolstered by unparalleled magic, this sonic blast was infinitely more concentrated than the one before!
Magni's full-power strike, backed by the strength of Mjölnir, collided with the sonic blast, only to shatter instantly. It couldn't hold its ground for even a second!
The sonic blast, which should have been invisible, now appeared to everyone as a magnificent prism of light!
"No!"
Amidst Magni's agonizing cry, the sonic cannon engulfed him...
"Damned wizards! My brother will avenge me! Just you wait—he will have his revenge!!"
In that flash of light, the once-unrivaled Magni,
grandson of Odin and son of Thor,
was reduced to ash. Not a single trace of him remained in this world...
Hydrus gazed up at the azure sky revealed by the dispersed clouds. She felt her strength leave her and slumped onto the ground in a 'duck-sit'—she was now too weak to maintain any of her magical physical traits.
The phantom of Salazar Slytherin vanished with a smile. The castle needed to quickly replenish its magical reserves, leaving no energy to sustain his projection.
After two seconds of stunned silence, the onlookers erupted into earth-shaking cheers!
Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald, his joy clear for all to see. With the enemy vanquished, he wanted to share the moment with his old friend; perhaps a drink upstairs was in order.
However, Grindelwald's expression was grave. His eyes scanned the castle's surroundings repeatedly, as if searching for a hidden foe.
Dumbledore asked curiously, "Gael, what is it?"
"In the visions of the future I saw, Hydrus dies! Right here, on this very grass! There must be something we've overlooked. We cannot be careless, Al!"
Dumbledore's pupils constricted. Many of Gael's prophecies had already been proven true.
—The lives of Muggle-born wizards in Britain were improving by the day;
Ukraine had begun experiments combining magic and Muggle technology; even within the Ukrainian government, the existence of wizards was no longer a secret!
Under Hydrus's [efforts], it seemed the dreams of their youth were soon to be realized!
The young wizards rushed toward Hydrus with joy.
Whether she was Audrey or Hydrus,
this currently frail little witch was the idol in their hearts, the leader they wished to follow!
They wanted to toss her into the air and celebrate her new title!
The Godslayer!
It was a far greater honor than being a Dragonslayer!
The Weasley children were so excited their freckles seemed to glow red! Ron roared like a wild beast, while Fred and George set off Dr. Filibuster's fireworks as they ran!
Draco Malfoy charged toward Hydrus like a madman. That was his cousin! His boss!
Harry and Hermione were swept along in the crowd, their eyes shining. Audrey was their idol for life!
Hydrus was hoisted into the air by the young wizards.
Her face was different from Audrey's now.
Audrey's beauty had been bright and delicate,
but Hydrus possessed a mysterious, soul-stirring beauty.
But regardless, this giggling girl being tossed in the air was their faith incarnate!
"Avada Kedavra!"
A sudden flash of green light struck Hydrus while she was still in the air.
The jubilant celebration felt as if a pause button had been pressed.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald spun around in shock, watching as the light left Hydrus's eyes and she plummeted to the ground.
The fanatic expressions froze on the students' faces as the professors cried out and rushed toward her.
The rowdy cheers stopped abruptly, mirroring the sudden extinguishment of life.
Hydrus was simply too weak. With her magic depleted, she couldn't even maintain her inherent 5X magical creature resilience, allowing a sneak-attack Killing Curse to succeed!
Tracing the origin of the spell,
they saw Arjonia holding her wand, a crazed, triumphant sneer plastered on her face.
"Hahahaha! The little bitch is finally dead! She's finally dead!"
She danced and gestured wildly before the stunned crowd. Filch, who had been watching her from the back of the throng, wore a complex expression. He had never believed Arjonia was truly insane, but now...
Whoosh!
A thick bolt of green light struck Arjonia. This Killing Curse came from Grindelwald.
Arjonia was dead, that hideous grin permanently etched onto her features.
Dumbledore looked at the fuming Grindelwald and said nothing.
To let someone who had been lost in despair for years find hope again, only to have it cruelly snuffed out—how agonizing that pain must be.
Dumbledore felt it as if it were his own.
"Edmond!!"
Grindelwald shouted.
"Whether our long-cherished wish can be realized now rests on you!"
A tabby cat leaped gracefully from the second floor, transforming into Edmond Grindelwald upon landing.
He walked toward Hydrus, the young wizards parting the way as he approached.
"Professor Bagshot!"
"Professor Bagshot!"
Edmond's expression was calm as he drew a small vial from over his heart.
The bottle contained a certain potion,
half azure and half blood-red.
He had once sacrificed an eye to obtain the Panacea of the Veela Ancestor. Now was the time for it to serve its purpose.
The scales of fate were about to tip.
Equivalent exchange!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]