Once one's strength reaches the level of Link and Dumbledore, battles between opponents of equal strength become increasingly complicated.
Their powerful magic and mental strength give them greater perception and faster reactions, but at the same time, they have to devote energy to calculating and considering every movement and every external factor in the battle.
As a result, when faced with such an extremely high volume of information to process, the two people actually fighting within it get the impression that the battle is taking an extremely long time.
But in reality, this is only an illusion caused by all the consideration and calculations they are making.
To spectators watching the battle, the pace of combat between such powerful individuals is so fast that it is almost impossible to understand!
When the battle becomes intense, the two sides can even clash more than a dozen times within just a few seconds, leaving onlookers dazzled.
Emily and Mrs. Flamel were experiencing something similar at this moment.
They had watched with their own eyes as the International Confederation of Wizards building exploded. They had watched Iyeta sacrifice the residents of the inner city and absorb the magic reserves that Sky City had accumulated over hundreds of years. They had watched Link enter a berserk state as well and fight Iyeta once again.
The dazzling white light produced by fists and blades colliding filled the entire mirror, also illuminating Emily and Mrs. Flamel's pale, stunned faces.
By the time they came to their senses, the entire sky barrier of Sky City had already been destroyed, and Link and Dumbledore had joined forces once again to begin another round of battle against Iyeta.
Watching Link being knocked away again and again in the scene, only to get back up and continue fighting, Emily's heart suddenly began to ache.
She instinctively clutched her left chest, staring tensely at the scene before her, and had even forgotten to breathe.
Mrs. Flamel beside her, however, had relaxed instead.
She calmly looked at the jeweled dagger in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
Link, who was fighting fiercely above Jerusalem, naturally never imagined that his mother was watching him.
Or rather, he had expected Mrs. Flamel to have her own means of observing his situation, but he did not care.
After all, compared with something like that, Iyeta, who was wildly swinging her blade before him, was obviously the more troublesome problem.
"Boom!"
Another magic blade came sweeping over. Link's figure flickered, and he forced the magic within his body to activate the Apparition spell, dodging it.
After Iyeta took control of Sky City's magic reserves, the range of her attacks became absurdly vast. With movement speed in his normal state, there was simply no way to dodge them.
As for taking the attacks head-on, that was obviously even less realistic.
Considering the intensity of Iyeta's attacks, the amount of magic required to withstand them directly was far greater than what was needed to dodge.
So the Apparition spell became the best choice.
However, this was clearly only a temporary solution.
Using the Apparition spell repeatedly within a short period would also damage the body, and such injuries would continually worsen with the number of times the spell was used, eventually reaching the point where the caster could no longer endure them.
Link was strong and physically fit, so his limit was somewhat higher.
But Dumbledore was different.
Facing the incoming magic blades, Dumbledore also began forcibly using the Apparition spell.
Repeated use had already caused a large amount of damage to accumulate within his body. The enormous pain even caused his magic to circulate with slight interruptions, slowing the speed at which he could cast his spells.
Under normal circumstances, this would not have been a major problem.
But now, that brief moment of hesitation left Dumbledore directly exposed beneath the magic blade.
"Buzz!"
The blade swept past, and Dumbledore disappeared almost at the same time.
When he appeared beside Link again, a huge, hideous slash mark had appeared across his chest.
The wound began at his right shoulder and extended all the way to his left kidney, with the deepest part even reaching his internal organs.
Strangely, despite suffering such an injury, Dumbledore showed no other reaction apart from becoming somewhat paler. There was not even any blood coming from the wound.
"This is what happens when you're injured by power activated by the King's Blood," Dumbledore said somewhat weakly. "Those energies have already entered my body. While numbing my nerves, they're devouring my flesh and soul to nourish the King's Blood. Once I truly die, the King's Blood that has been nourished by them will return to its original host."
After finishing his explanation, Dumbledore's face became even paler.
He forced out a smile and continued, "Link, it looks like I really am going to die in battle today."
"Everyone dies, as long as they're human."
As he spoke, Link reached out and grabbed Dumbledore's arm, using the Apparition spell once again to dodge another slash.
His tone and expression were both extremely indifferent, creating a stark contrast with the berserk aura of crimson divine light spreading around him.
This state was not caused by Occlumency. He genuinely did not care whether Dumbledore lived or died.
When Dumbledore had advised him to retreat earlier, he had already made it clear that he would never run away.
If there was a battle, then fight.
If he could not win, then fight to the death!
That was what he truly thought at this moment.
And since he did not even care whether he himself lived or died, naturally he would not care about Dumbledore's life either.
After all, as he had just said, everyone would die.
The only difference was whether it was worth it.
In Link's mind, this was simply a transaction. As long as the price was right, he did not mind dying.
For example, right now, he intended to self-destruct together with Iyeta when the final moment came.
According to his calculations, the self-destruction of a mid-stage Legendary wizard using his entire life along with a large amount of King's Blood power should be enough to take Iyeta down with him.
This way of thinking was frightening.
There were certainly many brave people in Western society who were willing to give their lives for certain things.
But very few people could calmly calculate the value of their own lives.
People like that existed on a large scale only in a certain great country in the East.
In the past, those people had calculated the value of their own lives in this way. Once they felt the price was worth paying, they had given up their lives without hesitation.
In the end, they fought a bright future for the generations that came after them!
Deep down, Link was still the same Link from his previous life.
He had received the education passed down from his ancestors, and the stories he had grown up hearing were stories of those heroes.
Naturally, he possessed similar qualities.
"Whoo."
Taking a deep breath, Link felt the injuries that had accumulated inside his body.
He estimated that after three more uses of the Apparition spell, his body would no longer be able to endure it.
In other words, he could not keep running.
He had to use the next three Apparitions to get close to Iyeta and carry out his final self-destruction!
Having made up his mind, Link endured the pain and began gathering his magic once again.
Before he could activate it, however, a wrinkled hand pressed down on his shoulder.
"Link, you're still a student of Hogwarts, right?"
Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Of course."
Link answered instinctively.
Most people who came from Hogwarts, even after graduating, would instinctively give the same answer when hearing such a question.
It was instinct.
People were always attached to the beautiful youth they had left behind, and this attachment only grew stronger with time.
Hogwarts carried their memories of the past, as well as their hopes.
Thus, for many people who had once studied at Hogwarts, it was no longer simply a school of magic, but something more like a homeland.
The wizards of the French magical world could sacrifice their lives for Beauxbatons, and naturally, the wizards of the British magical world were no different.
Even Voldemort, after gaining power, had thought of returning to Hogwarts first.
Although this was very likely because Voldemort wanted to use Hogwarts to accomplish some of his schemes.
But who could say that Voldemort had not felt even the slightest bit of genuine affection for Hogwarts?
Link was naturally the same.
However, right after speaking, Link quickly realized something.
He turned to look at Dumbledore. He said nothing, but his expression became complicated.
"Haha! Don't worry, I won't die. I still want to watch you children get married and have children, and then send your children to Hogwarts!"
Dumbledore laughed loudly. "I'm only going to offer all my magic to you. Besides, being the headmaster of Hogwarts doesn't necessarily require powerful magic. As long as I'm alive, that's enough."
As soon as he finished speaking, crimson divine light similar to Link's began to spread across Dumbledore's body.
The moment these rays appeared, they surged into Link's body as though possessed by madness.
This caused the crimson divine light around Link, which had already dimmed considerably from repeatedly enduring Iyeta's attacks, to become increasingly dazzling.
Dumbledore's face began to grow older and older.
"You won't die, child, but you'll live a life more painful than death. This is your path. From the moment you chose to take part in this matter and disrupt that prophecy, everything was already destined. I have to admit, this is a better path than the one before. Your actions and sacrifice will open up a new path for the magical world! It's just that I pity you, my child…"
Dumbledore lamented, and by the time he reached the end, tears were already streaming down his face.
He released his tightly held grip on Link, and his body began falling from the high sky. His final words, along with his tears, were scattered by the wind.
Link, who had received Dumbledore's sacrifice, remained expressionless.
Link was not worried about Dumbledore's safety. That old man would not die. Nulan and the others would catch him.
However, after sacrificing all his magic, he probably would not live much longer.
But that did not matter.
Feeling the rapidly growing power within his body and several new cracks appearing on the data panel before him, Link let out a deep sigh.
Dumbledore's sacrifice was the same as that of the Sky City residents. Both had taken a long detour, which meant that the power he had actually absorbed was still insufficient to truly defeat Iyeta.
In other words, self-destruction was still necessary.
The power Dumbledore had given him could at most raise an already high chance of success to its maximum.
As for the words Dumbledore had said at the end, Link simply took them as encouragement.
"Boom!"
The berserk magic blades continued roaring through the sky.
Link's figure quietly disappeared among the countless blades.
When he appeared again, Link was already close to Iyeta.
At such a distance, Link could finally see Iyeta's face clearly.
She looked somewhat frightened, yet also somewhat angry.
The magic blades filling the air became increasingly dense.
This was because Iyeta had compressed the range of her attacks, thereby increasing their frequency.
The frequency of these attacks had already exceeded Link's limit for dodging. A large number of slashes struck him, and soon Link was covered in blood.
But Link clearly did not care about any of this.
"Huh? You've already sensed what I'm going to do? That isn't strange. After all, you've reached this level of strength too. It's normal for you to sense some kind of omen." The corners of Link's mouth lifted slightly as he said with a grim smile, "What really surprises me is that you can actually feel fear too!!"
A huge roar rang across the sky.
The situation on the battlefield instantly reversed.
Iyeta finally could not withstand the pressure and began controlling the magic to turn around and flee.
Link pursued her relentlessly.
The crimson divine light surrounding him had completely turned black-red.
This was a sign that Link had begun burning his own life and the King's Blood.
Driven by such power, Link almost immediately caught up with Iyeta.
"Aren't you supposed to be so damn powerful!?"
Link seized Iyeta's arm and roared as he punched her in the face.
The enormous force smashed Iyeta's head inward, and the flesh attached to her skull was obliterated.
Iyeta, left with only part of her head, screamed in terror as the crimson divine light and magic around her frantically attacked Link. They also broke through Link's defenses and shattered the arm with which Link was holding her.
It was obvious that she truly wanted to break free from Link and stay alive.
But it was already too late.
Link laughed wildly as he wrapped himself around Iyeta like a koala, and a flash of blood-red light erupted from within him.
"Let's die together!!"
"Boom!"
A blood-red energy sphere swallowed the two of them, then began expanding wildly.
Nulan and the others, who had just caught Dumbledore, stared blankly at the blood-colored sphere above them. Below, the believers in Jerusalem also stopped fighting and stared blankly at the sky.
Even though they were thousands of kilometers away, the power radiating from that blood-red energy sphere still pressed down on everyone like a mountain, making them want to kneel and worship!
This was the power belonging to a god!
Under everyone's gaze, the blood-red energy sphere finally stopped expanding and began rapidly collapsing.
In the end, it suddenly exploded.
"No!!"
Inside the safe room beneath Flamel Castle, Mrs. Flamel let out a piercing scream.
She was no foolish country woman. She understood perfectly well what the scene in the two-way mirror meant.
Her son, Link, was dead!
Emily beside her was already sobbing uncontrollably, but although Mrs. Flamel's eyes were bloodshot and the veins on her face stood out, she did not cry any further.
"No! My son, Link, you won't die. You can't die!"
Mrs. Flamel murmured as Emily cried and tried to come over to comfort her.
When she came to her senses, she saw that Mrs. Foley had already raised the jeweled dagger and plunged it into her own chest.