The Importance of Finishing the Job

"You... you're insane, you're a madman! What good will this do to you?" Riddle roared, increasing the power of the spell, Cruciatus Curse suddenly advanced several tens of centimeters.

However, Aaron was also unleashing a fierce attack, frantically consuming his Magic Power to sustain the Sectumsempra Curse. At this point, the gap in strength between the two sides had narrowed considerably, and Riddle's hope of a quick victory was now just wishful thinking.

"There's nothing wrong with it, but if it can make the enemy feel overwhelmed, it means I haven't done anything wrong."

"Aaron Gaius," Riddle gritted his teeth in anger, "Didn't I say I wouldn't kill you? Is it really worth fighting me to the death?"

"Isn't this all your fault?" Aaron said with a look of grief and indignation. "I didn't want it to be like this either, but as the saying goes, it's not the thief you should be afraid of, but the one who has his eye on you."

If I don't kill you today, I'll have a Voldemort watching me from now on, and nobody can stand that!

Riddle's face darkened, and his lips twitched uncontrollably.

He considered himself to be fairly well-mannered, but at that moment he had an urge to unleash a torrent of curses.

But he quickly realized something, a sinister smile appearing on his lips. He calmed down and asked meaningfully, "The plan is good, but haven't you considered what would happen if we failed?"

"You can rest assured about that; I have considered everything thoroughly."

A fight to the death is ideal, but a lose-lose situation is also acceptable to me.

Don't forget I also have a Phoenix, a Holy Dragon, and three first-year Warlock.

"Although they can't be of much help in combat, they don't need to learn how to finish off enemies," Aaron said casually, but his words struck a nerve with Riddle.

He could accept being defeated by Aaron; being defeated by a genius wasn't shameful. But he couldn't tolerate being picked off by a few minor Warlock; that would be a tremendous insult.

Especially since there's a Harry Potter character in it—it's blatant self-deprecation!

"I won't give you a chance," Riddle said sternly. "Unless this Magic Array is activated, your plan will never begin."

"You make it sound like I need an opportunity." Aaron said, struggling to take out his first Wand, his free left hand pointing at the Magic Array on the ground.

"Wait a minute," Harry quickly stopped Aaron and said, "We can help. We should be able to buy you a few seconds."

"No, please, I'm begging you, don't make things worse," Aaron said in a panic. "If you enter now, he can easily use a spell to pull you into the Magic Array, and then things will get complicated."

"What if we shoot from a distance?" Ron asked.

"That would be even worse. He could then retreat outside the Magic Array, and my plan would truly be stillborn."

"No need to be so cautious, you can give it a try," Riddle chuckled, his voice full of temptation.

But the three of them shivered and silently took a step back.

"Aaron, what can we do?" Hermione asked worriedly. "Isn't there any other way?"

"If I had, I wouldn't have gone to this extent."

In short, don't worry about me, I'm definitely not going to die.

Prepare to finish him off, but remember to be quick, accurate, and ruthless; don't give him any chance.

Riddle's expression hardened slightly, sensing that Aaron seemed to have noticed something.

But at this point, he dared not ask any more questions, after all, his opponent was unusually shrewd, and it would be disastrous if he really noticed something.

Aaron added the final piece to the Magic Array, and the black blood on the circle quickly evaporated, turning reddish-brown. The Magic Array also began to flash with a dark red light.

A faint crackling sound filled the air, and black lightning flashed intermittently. At first, it was only the thickness of a hair, but in the blink of an eye, it formed an extremely ferocious black Thunder Serpent.

The Thunder Serpent roared as it shot out of the Magic Array and flew straight toward the Tianyu Plate. The electric charge it emitted alone was enough to shock the two of them.

Riddle trembled, trying to get away from the Magic Array beneath his feet, because a thunderstorm was brewing above them; if it fell, they would be crippled or killed.

But Aaron stubbornly held onto his Sectumsempra Curse, not giving him a chance to retreat.

"You madman, do you want to die with me?"

"Dream on, you don't deserve to die with me." Aaron said righteously. "By the way, just a friendly reminder, the main material of that sword is Mithril, which has excellent conductivity."

"What?"

Riddle stared wide-eyed at the silver Longsword stuck in front of him, the arcs of electricity clearly visible on it.

This isn't a sword, it's a giant lightning rod!

Rumble...

The black Thunder Serpent bared its fangs and fell vertically from above, aiming directly at the core of the Magic Array.

But the moment it landed, the Thunder Serpent seemed to sense something and separated some of its energy, which flew towards Riddle, or more precisely, towards the silver Longsword in front of him.

And so, the Thunder split the score 3-7, Aaron 3-7, and Riddle 7-7.

Under the onslaught of the thunderstorm, Aaron and Riddle were forced to remove their respective spells, only managing to let out a bloodcurdling wail.

The entire Secret Chamber was shaking constantly, and sand and dust mixed with clear lake water fell from the skylight.

Harry, Harry, and his two companions were also affected, swaying left and right, staring dumbfounded at the two extremely conspicuous humanoid skeletons bathed in lightning.

A few seconds later, the Magic Array disappeared with the lightning, leaving two charred figures on the cracked ground.

"Aaron."

Hermione murmured something to herself and ran quickly toward him.

Harry and Ron didn't hesitate either, and followed Hermione with Ginny.

"You absolutely can't get hurt!" Hermione carefully turned Aaron's face over, worried that his eyes were red from crying.

She is now at a loss and doesn't know what to do.

As a top student, she knows quite a few spells, but she hasn't learned any healing spells, so she can't be of any help.

"He's definitely still alive," Harry said somewhat uncertainly. "I know Aaron Gaius; he wouldn't risk his life if he wasn't sure."

"Hurry up and take him to the professors!" Ron was about to help Aaron up when he reluctantly withdrew his hands. "That won't work either! That barrier will take at least half a day to break."

"Never mind all that, let's get him there first." Hermione wiped away her tears. "At least they can tell us how to handle an emergency."

At this moment, Fawkes the Phoenix flew to Aaron's side, shedding a few crystal-clear hot tears that dripped onto Aaron's face.

The dark tan on his face had faded considerably, revealing a healthy, rosy complexion.

"That's right! Phoenix tears can heal wounds." Harry suddenly realized, "Aaron is saved."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at the Phoenix, whose eyes were blurry with tears. "Thank you, Fawkes."

A moment later, Aaron groggily opened his eyes, saw three familiar faces, and a smile appeared on his lips. "I survived."

"Don't even mention it!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You almost died, do you know that?"

"I won't die. I still have a Potions. Abei will save me in time," Aaron explained. "By the way, where's my Dragon Cub?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it since then."

"Forget it, now that the outcome is decided, that thing isn't that important anymore."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

Aaron didn't answer, but waved his hand and forced himself to sit up. "Could you get me the sword first?"

Harry nodded, drew the silver Longsword, and handed it to Aaron.

"This sword is of really good quality; it was struck by lightning so hard, yet it's completely unharmed."

"That's my own opinion. If the quality isn't up to par, I wouldn't dare to take it out."

Harry paused for a moment, then turned to look at the Basilisk, which was still steaming hot from being roasted by lightning, and was speechless.

"Speaking of which, we're both second-year students, isn't your ability a bit too much?" Ron said with a hint of envy and jealousy. "Don't even mention the Prefect, even the graduates probably couldn't beat you."

Aaron gave him a disdainful look and explained confidently, "I just used the time you spent daydreaming to study, the time you spent playing to train, and the time you spent plotting to do something wrong to think."

Ron:...

Why do those words sound so hurtful?

"Um... I admit to the first two sentences, but I really didn't have any ulterior motives."

"Really? Then please explain the Polyjuice Potion."

"I... this..." Ron stammered, looking awkwardly at Harry and Hermione, hoping they could say a few words for him, since the three of them had done it together.

The two of them, one looking at the ceiling and the other at the ground, worked together quite well.

They're not stupid; it's better for one person to be embarrassed than for three people to be embarrassed together.

Aaron shook his head with amusement, noticing the new color in Ginny's face. "How is she?"

"She's a little better than before, but still unconscious." Ron looked at Aaron gratefully. "Thank you so much this time. If you hadn't defeated Tom Riddle and taken my sister's life force, I don't know what would have happened."

"No need to thank me, I'm doing this for myself too."

"If Voldemort were to resurrect, it wouldn't do me any good."

"Thinking like that really hurts me!"

Riddle's voice was clear and audible to everyone. Several people were shocked and looked over in horror.

Riddle, his body charred black, slowly stood up. His injuries were healing at a visible speed, though he was emitting a faint, hazy glow, much less distinct than before.

Aaron was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the three of them, including Harry, and said, "Don't tell me you didn't finish them off."

"We saw how badly he was injured..." Harry said anxiously, but seeing Aaron's angry expression, he couldn't say anything more.

Hermione and Ron were also pale, trembling with fear.

I thought Riddle was barely alive, if he wasn't dead, but who would have thought he'd be back to full health in less than a minute!

"This is terrible. How could you guys be so unreliable?" Aaron said bitterly. At this moment, he truly understood how terrible a terrible teammate could be. All the hard work he had put in to create a great situation had been turned around by Voldemort.

"Harry Potter, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Riddle laughed. "Just now I truly felt death brush past me."

"Incendio!" Hermione suddenly shouted.

But Riddle simply raised his Wand, and the Flagrante Curse was neutralized; Hermione's Wand was also knocked away.

"If it were just now, this spell would have posed a threat to me, but now this little fire isn't even enough to keep warm."

Hermione took a few steps back in fear, and Harry grabbed his Longsword and charged forward with a roar, but he was blasted away by a pale white light before he was knocked to the feet of the three of them.

Ron immediately helped him up, and said shakily, "Aaron, can you do that move again? We'll all take the lightning strike with you if necessary."