A War of Attrition, Other Motives

"Wait, hold on!" Aaron hurriedly waved his hand. "I'm just an ordinary fifteen-year-old Warlock. There's no need to target me like this, is there?"

"A fifteen-year-old Warlock, no doubt, but is he really just an ordinary one?" Voldemort sneered. "It might be more interesting to kill your friends in front of you when you're completely defenseless."

"Hehe!" Aaron forced a laugh and said nothing more.

One against three is difficult, but not impossible.

If we can stall for long enough, Jeans and the others should be able to get here soon!

"You'd better stay away, or I won't be responsible if you accidentally hurt someone."

But none of the three left; instead, they stood firmly behind him.

"Sigh!" Aaron sighed helplessly. "Do you all think you're heroes? Do I have to tell you you're a burden before you'll stay away?"

The three exchanged a glance and tacitly distanced themselves from Aaron.

Harry Potter, seeing this, couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed; he seemed to have been said that to him before.

The three Death Eater raised their Wand as they walked forward.

Blue and white magic balls shot out from the tip of the Wand, all heading towards Aaron.

He neither dodged nor avoided the attacks, letting them fall on him and then slip right through.

An explosion was heard.

The three Death Eater stared blankly at the craters blasted into the ground; they seemed to have hit them, but also seemed to have missed.

"He's hiding," one of the Death Eater said. "It's a strange deception."

"He must be nearby."

"A human," Barty Crouch Jr. explained, "Gaius's Illusion Magic magic is extremely sophisticated."

"I can see that." Voldemort shifted his gaze to the other side of the screen. To others, the area appeared empty, but this top-level Grand Archmage could easily see him.

"I just don't like cheating." Voldemort stretched out his hand. "Mad-Eye."

"Yes." Barty Crouch Jr. immediately removed the eyeball that was rolling around.

Voldemort smiled at where Aaron was, then pointed his Wand at the Demon Eye.

A dark green aura shot out from the demonic eye, and an invisible wave instantly spread in all directions, thus forming a special field.

The Illusion Magic was broken, Aaron was exposed to everyone's view.

"A generous gift of crabs!"

They're not even giving us a moment's rest!

The three Death Eater quickly spotted him and attacked him with ordinary magic projectiles.

Aaron immediately cast an Iron Armor Charm on himself and then began to dodge the attacks, without any intention of fighting back.

A little over a minute later, the cemetery was blasted into a pitted and uneven area.

Aaron stood in the damp mud, panting heavily. He looked extremely disheveled, but there wasn't a single drop of sweat on his forehead.

The three Death Eater ' chests heaved slightly; they had never seen such a fast-moving mudfish before.

"What are you doing?" Voldemort roared angrily. "Playing games with him?"

"He's a man," a Death Eater said timidly. "Didn't you say we couldn't kill him?"

"Cruciatus Curse!"

The Death Eater immediately let out a piercing scream, and the other two Death Eater trembled with fear.

"You can't kill them, but I didn't say you can't hurt them," Voldemort said calmly. "One minute. I'll give you one minute. If you don't satisfy me, you'll be punished."

The three Death Eater paused for a moment, their gazes towards Aaron now filled with a hint of ruthlessness.

"Gollum!"

Aaron couldn't help but swallow hard; it seemed that stalling for time would be difficult.

He didn't care about the three Death Eater, but Voldemort's patience was being worn down little by little.

The next moment, the three Death Eater also got serious.

A Death Eater unleashed a ferocious demonic fire, burning crimson and roaring like a giant beast as it lunged at Aaron.

"Fiendfyre, are you trying to kill me?"

"That's more like it, Avery."

"That wasn't even child's play," Voldemort said, and all the Death Eater laughed, including Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch Jr.

Aaron snorted softly, and as the fire behemoth lunged at him, he gripped the flame-shaped fangs with both hands, then opened his mouth and inhaled.

The giant beast seemed to sense something and wanted to leave immediately, but it was out of control and was sucked into Aaron's stomach at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Aaron let out a satisfied burp.

The amount and magic of Fiendfyre were much greater than the Incendio cast by Peter Pettigrew, and he felt that his own magic power had recovered by half.

"Human, I..." Avery nervously explained to Voldemort, "I didn't know he could swallow Fiendfyre; it's never happened before."

"I understand, I won't say anything more."

But I should remind you that half of the minute has already passed.

"The Imperius Curse."

The second Death Eater's Soul Spell struck Aaron, and just as he thought he had succeeded, a dense, eerie purple light appeared in his pupils, and he collapsed to the ground like a walking corpse.

At that moment, the last Death Eater Apparition behind Aaron, and uttered a "Crunch in the Heart..."

"Don't move!"

The last Death Eater Time Stop casting his spell, as a gun was pressed against his abdomen.

The Death Eater who attacked Cedric and his group were still groaning on the ground; given that precedent, he didn't think he could withstand this shot.

"Twenty seconds left," Voldemort said coldly.

The Death Eater shuddered; he'd rather take a bullet than suffer Voldemort's punishment.

He dared not hesitate and immediately cast the Cruciatus Curse. Aaron, without any hesitation, pulled the trigger.

Both of them were sent flying backwards at the same time.

When the Death Eater landed on the ground, the left side of its body was severely burned, with bones and steaming flesh mixed together, a sight that would make anyone's scalp crawl.

Aaron staggered to his feet. His Iron Armor Charm had protected him from the opponent's Cruciatus Curse, but that shot had further depleted his already limited Magical Energy.

"Watch out!" Harry suddenly shouted.

The sound of something cutting through the air reached Aaron's ears, and he instinctively made a dodging motion, but a streak of blue light still grazed his arm.

Blood seeped from his shoulder, staining his robes red.

"Apparition." Aaron gave a wry smile. "I was careless. I forgot about you. I thought you wouldn't be needed after I cast the Fierce Fire Curse."

Upon hearing this, Avery remained silent, cautiously pointing his Wand at Aaron.

He dared not be careless. The other two Death Eater with him had lost their fighting ability. All things considered, this fifteen-year-old Warlock had defeated a Archmage.

"Don't be so nervous. I'm almost at my limit, if not completely exhausted." Aaron casually tore off his sleeve and began to bandage himself with his Wand.

Seeing this, Avery knew that the opportunity was rare, so he immediately cast the Cruciatus Curse.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, Apparition to dodge the spell, "Sectumsempra."

"Ah!"

Avery was sent flying, his body covered in bloody cuts as if slashed by knives, and he screamed in agony.

"Now we're even."

Upon hearing this, several black lines appeared on the foreheads of the Death Eater.

Avery only hurt him, but this round of retaliation is almost no different from being torn to pieces.

"I'm so disappointed." Voldemort sighed deeply, looking at the Death Eater lying on the ground, and said angrily, "Thirteen of you! You haven't improved much at all, getting beaten to a pulp by a student."

"This only proves that you have excellent taste."

Voldemort snorted coldly, "Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, I heard your sons have a good relationship with him, you'll be the ones to go this time."

Crabbe and Goyle glanced at Lucius without leaving a trace, and seeing that he did not hesitate, they immediately followed.

"Uncle Lucius, it's been a long time!" Aaron said half-jokingly.

Lucius hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Your magic is almost depleted; you won't be a match for us."

Surrender! Serving the Dark Lord will not mistreat you.

"No, I'll say it again, he doesn't deserve it."

Voldemort's anger flared instantly. "Attack now!"

Lucius didn't hesitate and immediately waved his Wand, with Crabbe and Goyle assisting him from the side.

The three combined their magic to form a terrifying shockwave that swept across the ground toward Aaron.

Aaron shook his head and pointed his Wand at the ground.

The ground suddenly cracked open, and the earth, rocks, and bones from the graveyard mingled together, crashing into the shockwave of Lucius and his companions under the command of the Wand.

Rumble!

With a loud bang, both sides were buried in the mud at the same time.

A short while later, the big guy Crabbe crawled out and dug Goyle and Lucius out.

"Master, we didn't mean to kill him," Goyle said tremblingly.

"Shut up! You can't kill him." Voldemort looked at the loose ground. "Are you coming out on your own, or should I help you out?"

"Get out yourself." A hand suddenly emerged from the soil, and Aaron struggled to pull himself out, coughing up some dirt in the process.

His face was almost completely bloodless, and his body was staggering, as if he might collapse at any moment.

No one dared to underestimate him. Including Lucius and the other two, Aaron had defeated ten enemies who were no weaker than himself. Such a formidable record was unbelievable to anyone.

"To be honest, I'm quite curious," Voldemort asked. "What are you waiting for?"

Aaron's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm and said, "It's nothing."

"No, you must be waiting for something." Voldemort said with great certainty, "I started paying attention to you when you were a grade 11, and I know you far better than anyone else."

"Perhaps you don't know me well enough," Aaron shrugged.

"I know your methods. Two years ago, you almost killed me when I was ten years old with Magic Array."

You've never used Magic Array before. There was a simpler way to end the battle, but you chose a complicated method, even at the cost of injuring yourself.

Do you think I'd believe you if you said you had no other motives?

Aaron:...