It has to be said.
The First Generation Dark Lord was undeniably powerful and imposing.
Soaring through the air.
Fiendfyre raged around.
Grindelwald's donations were incredibly extravagant and charitable.
Dumbledore glanced at him, a slight smile playing on his lips. "After all these years, your Fiendfyre is still so... flamboyant, so infuriating."
Upon hearing this, Grindelwald grinned, a smile brimming with arrogance, "Flamboyance? Albus, that's art."
Before he could finish speaking...
The Ancient Dragon's second wave of attacks has arrived!
It opened its enormous maw, and a torrent of blazing dragon breath, powerful enough to melt everything, erupted forth!
That dragon's breath wasn't ordinary flame; it emitted an eerie, almost white light—a terrifying force with temperatures so high it could incinerate all matter, even Magic Power! Wherever the dragon's breath passed, the air itself seemed to burn, leaving behind a twisted, lingering scorch mark! Dumbledore's expression grew grave. The Elder Wand swung again, this time not with a defensive spell, but with an offensive magic.
"GciusMa ima!"
A chilling current erupted from the tip of the staff, colliding violently with the blazing dragon breath in mid-air!
The cold current and the dragon's breath intertwined, erupting with a deafening roar. Large amounts of white steam spread outwards like a volcanic eruption, instantly enveloping the entire open space!
The steam was incredibly hot, hot enough to cook an ordinary Wizard like a lobster instantly. But a faint, mist-like protective layer appeared around Dumbledore.
Insulate against high temperatures.
Yes, Old Deng isn't just good at using Fire God Opens the Way; that's just Fire God Opens the Way cool-looking magic trick. In reality, Wizard like him are basically all-rounders.
Grindelwald did something that even made Dumbledore raise an eyebrow. He didn't dodge or defend himself; instead, he opened his arms wide and charged into the scorching steam that could melt steel!
But the next second, he understood.
From within the steam came a low, guttural laugh, as if it came from hell.
Then, the white steam filling the sky began to disappear at a visible speed—not dissipated, but swallowed up!
Grindelwald's figure appeared and disappeared in the steam. The ball of black Fiendfyre surrounding him had now expanded to a diameter of more than ten meters, like a huge, greedy maw, frantically devouring everything around him!
The high-temperature steam, the residual dragon breath energy, and the Magic Power permeating the air were all swept up by the Fiendfyre and turned into its own nourishment!
The Fiendfyre devoured everything and turned it into its own.
This is the terrifying aspect of a fully leveled Fiendfyre.
As the steam completely dissipated, Grindelwald hovered in mid-air, surrounded by black flames that were even larger and more intense than before. A satisfied smile graced his face, and his heterochromatic eyes reflected the astonished gaze of the Ancient Dragon.
"Thank you for the treat," he said softly, then pointed.
The enormous ball of black Fiendfyre, like a hunting dog obeying a command, pounced on the Dragon!
The Dragon roared, unleashing another burst of dragon breath! The white dragon breath collided violently with the black Fiendfyre in mid-air!
This time, there was no explosion, no impact.
Only devouring.
The black Fiendfyre were gradually devouring the white dragon breath!
For the first time, terror appeared in the Dragon's eyes.
It had lived for tens of thousands of years, seen countless challengers, and killed countless overconfident ants. But it had never seen anything like it—a flame that could devour dragon breath!
Grindelwald's laughter echoed in the air, "What? Never seen Fiendfyre before? Well, you big Lizard, you've lived for ten thousand years, and you haven't seen many worthy opponents, have you?"
Before he could finish speaking, the Dragon suddenly swung its head, and its massive, scaled head crashed down on him like a collapsing mountain!
Grindelwald didn't take the hit head-on. His figure vanished from his spot in an instant—it was Apparition, incredibly fast. When he reappeared, he was already behind the Dragon.
But before he could launch an attack, Dumbledore's voice rang out:
" Gellert, to the left!"
Grindelwald instinctively looked to his left.
The Dragon's tail was lashing out at him with the Cleansweep of a thousand armies!
His pupils contracted slightly, but the smile on his lips deepened. He didn't flinch, but instead pushed forward with both hands.
The ball of Fiendfyre, entangled with the dragon's breath, instantly split in two! One half continued to devour the dragon's breath, while the other half transformed into a massive, pitch-black wall of fire, blocking his path!
The giant tail slammed fiercely into the wall of fire!
The wall of fire trembled violently, and countless cracks appeared on its surface, but it did not collapse. Instead, it clung tightly to the scales on the giant tail, frantically devouring the Dragon's primordial Magic Power!
The Dragon let out a painful roar and abruptly pulled back its tail. More than a dozen of the scales on its tail had been eroded and mottled by the Fiendfyre, revealing the blood-red flesh beneath.
Grindelwald wasn't faring any better. Taking the blow head-on caused his Magic Power to surge violently, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. But his smile grew even brighter, even more maniacal:
"Interesting! Very interesting!"
Dumbledore shook his head, but his eyes were full of admiration. He knew that Grindelwald's Fiendfyre had reached a level he had never seen before—it was not just magic, but something akin to art, an existence fused with the caster's soul.
He wasted no time, raised his wand, and began to chant a complex and ancient spell.
The Dragon's attention was completely drawn to Grindelwald, and it failed to notice the threat brewing behind it.
Grindelwald noticed. His smile deepened.
"Hey, giant Lizard!" he shouted, hurling another ball of Fiendfyre at the Dragon. "Look here!"
The Dragon roared, unleashing another burst of dragon breath that clashed once more with the Fiendfyre.
And Dumbledore's spell was finally complete.
A thick beam of Magic Power, shimmering with iridescent light, shot out from the tip of the Elder Wand and struck precisely the spear that Grindelwald had previously inserted into the top of the Dragon's head!
The spear instantly burst forth with a blinding light, and countless tiny, rune-like patterns spread from its body, quickly covering the Dragon's head!
That was Dumbledore's unique runic magic—a complex Mental Attack that could be injected directly into the enemy's body through a physical medium!
The Dragon's body stiffened violently!
Its eyes were wide open, its pupils trembling wildly, clearly experiencing an indescribable Mental Shock! The runes, like living things, burrowed into its skull, penetrated its soul, and frantically tore at its mental defenses built up over millennia!
Grindelwald seized the opportunity and pushed forward with both hands.
The Fiendfyre entangled with the dragon's breath surged violently! It no longer merely devoured, but began to attack actively! Countless black Fire Serpent split from the fireball, spreading wildly along the Dragon's neck, limbs, and body. Wherever they passed, the dragon's seemingly indestructible scales began to crack and melt! The Dragon let out a deafening scream! Its body struggled violently, rolling frantically on the ground, trying to extinguish the Fiendfyre clinging to it. But the Fiendfyre was no ordinary flame—the more it struggled, the more intense the Fiendfyre became, greedily devouring its Magic Power, its flesh, and its Life Force!
Dumbledore knelt on one knee, panting heavily. Maintaining that kind of runic magic was taking a heavy toll on him.
His face was deathly pale, and cold sweat poured down his forehead, but he didn't collapse. He simply looked up at the crazed Dragon, his eyes filled with unwavering determination. "It seems we're close to winning."
Grindelwald hovered in mid-air, surrounded by ever-growing black Fiendfyre.
His robes fluttered in the hot wind, his silver hair danced in the air, and his heterochromatic eyes burned with a black light as dark as the depths of hell.
"Etc."
Ian's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of warning. Dumbledore looked up at him. The twelve-year-old boy was staring at the fallen Dragon with an amused expression.
It's not dead yet.
The words had barely left his mouth.
As expected.
The colossal body, as large as a mountain range, suddenly moved. Not a mere twitch, but a real, powerful movement. The Dragon's chest began to rise and fall. Its left eye, pierced by the golden beam of light, was healing at a visible speed! Its right eye, devoured by the black fire dragon, was also regenerating! The scales, cracked and scorched by the Fiendfyre, were falling off, revealing new, even darker and harder scales underneath!
What's going on?!
Dumbledore's pupils suddenly contracted.
Grindelwald's smile froze on his face.
"This... how is this possible?!" he roared in disbelief. "We clearly pierced its eyes! My Fiendfyre devoured a third of its primordial Magic Power!"
Ian sighed, a look of near helplessness, completely out of character for his age, appearing on his youthful face:
"Gentlemen, I forgot to remind you that the truly terrifying aspect of an Ancient Dragon is not its breath, nor its power, but rather..." He paused, looking at the colossal creature rapidly recovering:
"Its Magic Resistance and regeneration."
The Dragon suddenly opened its eyes—no, it had four eyes. The two destroyed eyes had been completely regenerated, even brighter than before! Its head slowly turned, looking at the two tiny humans. The initial contempt was gone from its gaze; only pure, undisguised killing intent remained.
But it didn't attack immediately. It simply stared at them silently, as if savoring the prey's despair.
Dumbledore sensed something was wrong. He raised his wand, and a probing Cutting Curse shot out...
The spell struck the Dragon's scales, and then... vanished.
It wasn't repelled, it wasn't resisted, it simply vanished, as if it had never existed.
"This is..." Dumbledore's voice was hoarse.
" Magic Resistance evolution," Ian said. " Ancient Dragon develop temporary resistance to magic after being attacked. Your attack was too powerful, so powerful that it felt truly threatened. Therefore, its body—or rather, its instincts—is evolving frantically to adapt to your magic."
Grindelwald's face turned extremely grim. "You mean, the harder we attack it, the harder it becomes to attack?"
Ian nodded. "More or less. And..." He pointed to the old scales rapidly falling off the Dragon's body. "Look there." The two followed his finger.
In the areas scorched by the Fiendfyre, old scales are falling off and new scales are growing. The color of the new scales is deeper and darker than before, and strange, rune-like patterns even appear on their surface.
"It's evolving against your Fiendfyre," Ian said. "The newly grown scales will have a natural advantage against fire magic. If you give it a few more minutes, your Fiendfyre might not even be able to burn through its skin."
Grindelwald's face turned ashen.
Dumbledore a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He looked at the recovering Dragon, his mind racing:
"What about its weaknesses? Surely there's a limit to this kind of evolution?"
Ian thought for a moment, "Theoretically, yes. Each evolution requires a large amount of Life Force and primal Magic Power. If we can inflict enough damage in a short time, making its evolution speed unable to keep up with the rate of injury, we can kill it."
He paused, then added:
"But the problem is, given your current state..."
He didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was already clear.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald exchanged a glance, both seeing the same thing in each other's eyes.
Exhausted, but not yet given up.
Grindelwald spoke first, his voice hoarse but firm. "Then let it fall behind."
He raised his wand again, and the Fiendfyre around him, which had dimmed considerably, reignited. But this time, the flames were a deeper, more eerie color, as if all the energy had been compressed to its limit.
Dumbledore also raised the Elder Wand, its tip gathering a final glimmer of light. His face was ashen, and his body swayed precariously, but he did not fall.
" Ian," Dumbledore said, "If we fail..."
"You will not fail," Ian interrupted him, a serious glint in his deep eyes, "Because you are Dumbledore and Grindelwald."
He stepped back a few paces, leaned against the roots of a giant tree, and then took out one strange object from his pocket.
It was a small, square device that shimmered with a faint magical light, with several constantly rotating gears on its surface and a thumb-sized crystal lens that was automatically focusing.
Grindelwald's lips twitched slightly. "What's that?"
Ian blinked, his innocent expression making you want to punch him. " The Time Machine has a built-in function—a Spacetime Camera. It can record any moment in any time and space."
He adjusted the camera, pointed it at the two of them, and flashed a bright smile:
"Never mind me, keep going. I just wanted to record the two professors' most embarrassing moment."
Dumbledore:..."
Grindelwald..."
The Dragon clearly didn't have the patience to wait for them to finish speaking.
It suddenly opened its massive maw, and a breath of dragon fire, even more intense and enormous than before, erupted forth! The color of that dragon fire was no longer white, but rather a strange, deep blue, like liquid flames—a terrifying existence with temperatures reaching extremes, enough to incinerate space itself! And so it was seen.
Wherever the dragon's breath passed, the air twisted wildly, and the vitrified rocks on the ground instantly evaporated, leaving behind a bottomless ravine emitting blue smoke!
The scene was absolutely horrifying!
Fortunately, this place is in ancient times; otherwise, if a battle of this magnitude were to take place in an urban area, the entire city might be affected, far exceeding the impact of Paris back then.