Only after a long while did the two finally separate.
Link's limbs plowed into the rock wall, his body sliding backward at high speed and carving out four deep grooves as he went. He didn't barely come to a stop until he was near the bottom of the cavern.
As the terrifying cold mist spread outward, the surrounding Hunters all retreated one after another. Only Emily and Krell moved against the flow, running straight toward Link.
Sensing someone approaching, Link raised an arm, about to attack, but then he suddenly heard Emily's familiar voice, "Link!"
Turning his head to look at the two people running toward him, a flicker of pain flashed through Link's scarlet eyes.
Clutching his head, he let out a tortured roar. Then space twisted violently, and he vanished in an instant.
In the very next moment, he reappeared beside Voldemort.
Compared to Link, Voldemort looked to be in much better condition this time.
At the very least, he hadn't been sent flying. Instead, he had forcibly stabilized his body with magic.
Faced with Link's renewed assault, he didn't panic. As he twisted his body, he actually threw a punch of his own.
BOOM!
Two overwhelmingly powerful forces collided once again.
Under the surging energy, even the surrounding air visibly warped.
This caused the corners of Voldemort's mouth to slowly curl upward.
His usual attack style did indeed favor mid- to long-range combat, but that didn't mean he was bad at close combat.
In fact, this body of his, one that had undergone countless bloodline modifications, had become non-human in appearance, but in return had granted him physical attributes far beyond human limits.
This was the power he had traded his looks for.
With such an innate advantage, now that he had reacted, Link's purely close-quarters attacks could no longer achieve any greater results.
"A beast… is still just a beast in the end!" While the two were locked together, Voldemort said smugly.
At the same time, the wand in his other hand rose.
The sound of furious thunder exploded once more.
A bolt of blood-red lightning struck Link squarely in the chest. Even with the buffering effect of the cold mist, Link was still blasted deep into the rock wall.
The scene mirrored what had happened to Voldemort earlier.
But Link recovered faster than Voldemort had.
With almost no pause at all, Link blinked away in the next instant and launched an entirely new round of attacks.
Fists, elbows, knees, legs, even teeth, completely deranged, Link turned almost every part of his body into a weapon.
The cold mist and black smoke swirling around him also kept continuously changing shape under his conscious and unconscious control, launching attacks at Voldemort from all kinds of bizarre angles.
Amid one unending string of explosions after another, the battle between Link and Voldemort grew more and more intense, yet for a short time, it once again settled into a stalemate where neither could gain the upper hand.
———
[Inside the Mindscape]
Link, in a purely spiritual form, was witnessing everything from a first-person perspective.
The shock he felt watching the battle between "Mike" and Voldemort was no less than what Emily and the Death Eaters were feeling outside.
In truth, Link had to admit that when it came to combat, Mike possessed talent that surpassed his by countless times.
Just like the last time, when Mike had directly used an energy application method that went beyond Link's understanding, helping him survive a critical moment against Voldemort, this time, Mike was once again showing Link what real energy control truly meant.
And in fact, the techniques Mike was using this time were even more refined than before.
After all, last time Mike had relied mainly on pure energy output focused on density and strength. This time, however, Mike wasn't using any power that exceeded Link's own limits.
In other words, in theory, Link could right now also hard-clash with Voldemort like Mike was doing and not fall behind.
But in reality, Link knew very clearly that this was impossible.
Whether it was blending ambient moisture with magic to form cold mist with powerful shielding and corrosive properties, or forcibly ignoring the surrounding Anti-Disapparition Charm to perform near zero-cooldown Disapparation teleports, or infusing curse power directly into the body to boost physical attributes via black smoke, every single one of these techniques was something Link simply couldn't do at the moment.
It could even be said that before witnessing Mike's battle today, Link had never even thought of approaching things from these directions.
Most importantly, in the midst of this high-intensity battle, Mike was still continuously absorbing combat experience to strengthen himself.
Like just now, when several of Voldemort's attacks had already broken through the cold mist's defenses, only to be blocked at the last critical instant by ice-crystal shields formed by highly compressed mist.
This kind of fighting style was something Link had never even heard of.
But Mike wasn't without flaws.
For example, when it came to mindset, he clearly wasn't mature enough.
Or rather, he wasn't ruthless enough.
At this thought, Link's spiritual body let out a cold laugh and said, 'Mike, you've drawn enough aggro already. Now shift your attacks to those Death Eaters above and let them taste death as well!'
Locked in a furious battle, Mike completely ignored Link's words.
Seeing this, Link wasn't surprised and continued, 'Before you came out, they were throwing plenty of Killing Curses at Emily and the others, you know.'
The moment those words were spoken, Mike's body stiffened in mid-exchange while punching Voldemort.
Seizing this opening, blood-red light flared violently around Voldemort as he knocked Mike flying.
After doing this, Voldemort didn't press the advantage. Instead, he drew in his power and adopted a defensive stance.
Based on prior experience, "Link" would teleport back to his side at any second to attack again.
This kind of high-intensity, high-frequency assault did indeed cause him some trouble.
But that was all it did.
As time passed, Voldemort could clearly sense that the magic power within "Link" was gradually losing control.
This gave "Link" greater strength, but it also meant that Link's "transformation" was nearing its end, unless Link truly didn't care about his own life.
Under these circumstances, Voldemort didn't need to waste any more energy by attacking proactively. He simply had to stand his ground, block every attack from "Link," and wait for "Link" to step into hell on his own.
Just as he had originally planned.
A beast was still just a beast.
He could toy with Link until death.
Only this time, Voldemort's prediction fell completely short.
The "Link" who had been blown away didn't teleport back again. Instead, riding the very momentum from Voldemort's strike, he charged straight into the Death Eaters' formation above.
"Kill..."
A muffled sound spilled from "Link's" mouth. The powerful soundwave alone ruptured the eardrums of several nearby Death Eaters, thick black-red blood dripping straight down from their ears.
The agony caused by the destruction of the inner-ear semicircular canals, the body's balance organs, was something ordinary people could never truly comprehend.
The next moment, as the cold mist spread outward from "Link," the horrifying low temperature instantly stripped them of all life, forever freezing their pain-twisted expressions onto their faces.
This sudden scene left many Death Eaters momentarily stunned.
But they quickly understood.
Compared to them, the Death Eaters who had been frozen to death were the luckiest of all.
Because "Link" moved again.
They saw "Link" rapidly fire finger-gun shots, several streams of black smoke compressed to the extreme blasting forward and tearing open layers of air pressure as they traveled.
The black smoke exploded, and the Death Eaters blocking his path were instantly reduced to a rain of blood.
Feeling the sticky sensation and rancid stench of blood splattering onto themselves, the surrounding Death Eaters finally reacted and raised their wands, but they were far too slow.
With a flash, Link cut straight into an even denser crowd. The black mist around his entire body transformed into several razor-sharp blades, dancing wildly.
For a moment, blood sprayed everywhere, severed limbs fell to the ground, and often only after a long while did those Death Eaters who had temporarily survived dismemberment let out their agonized screams.
Panic spread through the Death Eaters' ranks alongside an ever-thickening stench of blood.
At this point, very few still dared to raise their wands against "Link."
Under "Link's" beast-like, frenzied slaughter, most of the Death Eaters screamed and fled toward the cavern entrance.
Peter Pettigrew was the fastest runner among them.
Even though, when Voldemort was holding the upper hand, he had already "taken the lead" as a senior commander among the Death Eaters, charging to the front of the formation to display his bravery and loyalty, the skills and instincts of fleeing had long since been carved into his bones during more than a decade spent on the run.
The moment "Link" charged into the formation, every cell in his body had already been screaming a warning at him.
This made him the very first to react and start running.
Unfortunately for him, Mike had seen him before, on the night of Voldemort's resurrection.
And the impression he left had been quite deep.
After all, Peter Pettigrew was one of the very few people who had managed to escape alive after Mike took control of the body.
So, Peter Pettigrew was unlucky.
He had just knocked down a Death Eater behind him with a Disarming Charm, trying to use the other man to buy himself some time, when he turned his head and saw a blurred figure shrouded in black-and-white energy already blocking his path.
"Ah!"
Peter Pettigrew couldn't help screaming.
Clutching his ugly, bloated face, he shouted in a trembling, terror-filled voice, "Don't kill me! You can't kill me! I'm… I'm the master's important servant! Master! Save me!"
"Link" didn't bother wasting words on Peter Pettigrew.
As his finger lifted slightly, black smoke formed from highly compressed curse energy began gathering at his fingertips.
But in the next instant, it seemed Peter Pettigrew's prayers actually worked.
The sound of rushing wind erupted behind Link.
Wrapped in blazing blood-red light, Voldemort came howling in, and before he even arrived, a sickly green Killing Curse shot from his hand.
"Link" naturally canceled his charge-up, advancing instead of retreating as he brushed past the Killing Curse and rushed straight in front of Voldemort.
Then his left foot shifted, ice crystals crawling up his lower leg as he smoothly tripped Voldemort.
Crack!
The blood-red magic surrounding Voldemort instantly shattered the ice shield on Link's leg.
But at the same time, inertia caused Voldemort to lose his balance, his body tilting uncontrollably.
A flash of brutality gleamed in Link's mist-shrouded eyes.
He assumed a straight-kick stance and, after a perfectly timed sidestep, slammed his foot forward.
BOOM!
Layer after layer of shockwaves exploded across Voldemort's body.
Under this enormous force, Voldemort turned into a streaking afterimage and crashed straight into Peter Pettigrew.
The pitiful Peter Pettigrew didn't even have time to scream before, under the combined assault of Voldemort's blood-red magic and Link's brute strength, he was reduced to a cloud of blood mist.
Voldemort barely managed to steady himself.
He wiped away the blood and bits of flesh belonging to Peter Pettigrew that had splattered across him, and the rage in his heart reached its absolute peak.
As a servant entrusted with important duties, Peter Pettigrew might not have been especially capable and clearly had a fence-sitting nature, but being killed in front of him like this was something Voldemort simply couldn't accept.
This was practically the same as stepping directly on Voldemort's face.
Sensing the Death Eaters around him already fleeing en masse, Voldemort threw back his head and roared in fury, "Damn vermin! I'll tear out your tendons and grind your bones!"
Before he could finish speaking, a milky-white light burst from below.
Under the spreading magical glow, it gradually formed into a triangle.
Seeing this, Link's spiritual body inside the mindscape was instantly delighted.
Because this symbol was actually one of the agreed-upon codes between him and Krell, and in the current context its meaning was simple, the Anti-Disapparition Charm had been broken.
A few seconds later, without any need for Link to issue further orders, the Hunters below all unclipped vial-like test tubes from their utility belts, each bottle cap secured with wire clasps.
Accompanied by a series of crisp snapping sounds as wire clasps and caps popped free, every single person in the Hunters' formation vanished in a violent wave of spatial distortion.
This finally allowed Link's tightly wound nerves to relax somewhat.
Only somewhat.
Because he understood that although Emily and the others had escaped, the problem of how he was going to get out had become an entirely new one.
Mike had never known what retreat meant.
And if Link forcibly canceled Mike's transformation, then that bug-level ability to instantly Disapparate would vanish as well.
Without that ability, trying to charge up a Disapparation spell under Voldemort's attacks would be nothing but a delusional fantasy.
As expected, the enraged Voldemort's attacks grew even more ferocious.
The lives and deaths of the Flea family had never mattered to him. All he wanted now was to tear apart the Link who had humiliated him.
And just at that moment, a hoarse dragon's roar filled with joy suddenly rang out from below.
Although the battle between "Link" and Voldemort had reached a white-hot intensity, both of them instinctively diverted some attention to investigate.
They saw that the scarred, chain-bound Australian Opaleye had somehow broken free. It was now standing beneath them, head thrown back in a triumphant roar, venting its exhilaration.
At the same time, if one looked closely, two small figures could be seen standing at the cavern entrance behind the Opaleye.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.