The Return of the King

"Jafar Yahya?" Dumbledore asked softly, his expression grave.

"Albus Dumbledore," the young man stepped forward slowly, his eyes as deep as the abyss of the universe, his voice low and imposing with an ancient authority, "you are the only wizard in this era worthy of my respect. As a sign of my respect, I may tell you my true identity—"

His tone was cold, but without any contempt; rather, it was a respectful gesture, as if bowing to a former formidable enemy. He slightly raised his hand, displaying his silvery fingertips to everyone.

"I am the terminator of the ancient Greece black magic era, known as the Vile Herpo."

Everyone gasped in shock.

Herpo was a figure from ancient times, nearly two thousand years ago—older than Hogwarts. Two thousand years ago! Just imagine that era: Andros, who could summon Patronus the size of Giant; Moses, who could single-handedly part the Red Sea ...

At this moment, the Order of the Order of the Phoenix members who were originally in other rooms also finished their battle, successfully defeating the remaining Death Eaters into this room.

They sensed something was wrong as soon as they entered, and immediately surrounded the five people, nervously raising their wands. Arthur, Bill, Molly, Diggle, and the others all looked serious—even the usually jovial Diggle remained silent, staring intently at the five people, sweat beading on his forehead.

They stood in a semicircle, protecting Harry and the other three students behind them.

But for some reason, even with dozens of wands pointing at them simultaneously, the presence of those five people still made everyone feel suffocated.

It was as if they hadn't surrounded the enemy, but rather they had been surrounded by these five men.

Bellatrix, who was still standing to the side, was selectively ignored by everyone. She stumbled to Voldemort's side, determined to fight to the death for her master.

"I must be going crazy," Sirius Black muttered. "This isn't a normal human fight."

Even Sirius Black, who is usually fearless, is behaving this way, so you can imagine how uneasy the others are.

It's worth noting that at his peak, Grindelwald single-handedly defeated the entire prison guard responsible for escorting him. Although he had the advantage of a surprise attack, the fact remains that he fought eleven opponents alone.

Five demon kings would require at least fifty Auror to contend with.

(The reason this ratio is lower is because Grindelwald has the advantage of surprise attacks, and the level of Auror varies greatly; elite Auror are obviously stronger than ordinary Auror.)

Lupin's face had turned ashen. He swallowed hard before saying with difficulty, "I suspect we've entered some kind of illusion. This all feels too unreal..."

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and Fudge and Scrimgeour rushed in through the door with more than thirty Auror. Beside Fudge was a Ministry of Magic employee dressed in an Unspeakable uniform. When Fudge saw Voldemort's familiar yet terrifying face standing in the center, Fudge froze.

"God... The Mysterious Man-- "

"Shut up, Fudge!" Scrimgeour roared, strutting past Fudge and drawing his wand. "Croaker, you're in charge of protecting Minister Fudge —everyone else, listen up! Form ranks! Activate 'Sealing Domain'!"

The one called "Croaker" was the Unspeakable, whose full name was Thor Croaker. He was a partner in the Department of Mysteries with Broderick Bode Bode, who had recently died unexpectedly. Seeing the Department of Mysteries in such a mess due to the intruders, he knew the matter was serious and quickly nodded in agreement, drew his wand, and stood in front of Fudge.

With a command, the Auror activated the highest level of defenses in the Ministry of Magic, instantly enveloping the entire Death Chamber in a blinding golden magic net, completely sealing off any possibility of Apparition.

Under Scrimgeour's command, the Auror quickly took their positions, cooperating with the Order of the Phoenix of the Order of the Phoenix at the other end to completely surround the five.

Although Scrimgeour already knew that Voldemort would appear here today, he hadn't expected that he would also have to face four other Dark Lords.

The pirate king Barbarossa was infamous, and the Beast Priest Anubi was a ruthless figure who roamed the Africa wizarding world; Morgan le Fay, needless to say, had recently witnessed her abilities firsthand.

The last young wizard, though unknown, was observant and noticed Dumbledore's deep apprehension towards him. Someone who could inspire such fear in Dumbledore could not be a simple character.

He can only hope now—

Skylar Malfoy will be able to arrive as soon as possible.

"Initiate the attack!"

More than thirty Auror and over twenty Order of the Phoenix wizards unleashed nearly sixty spells in an instant, raining down on the five people in the center. Flames, lightning, ice, explosions, vines, shockwaves... a deluge!

"Demon Devouring Vortex!"

Morgan le Fay gave a soft shout, and with a flick of her sleeve, several swirling black holes appeared around her, swallowing all magical attacks like abysses. Every attack was distorted and absorbed the moment it touched the vortex, without even the energy fluctuations spreading out.

Barbarossa slammed his wand into the ground, causing the floor to crack open as if connecting to a distant ocean. A massive, wall-like torrent of water surged forth from all directions, crashing down upon the Auror and the Order of the Phoenix!

Anubi spread his arms and roared to the sky, a wild howl that reverberated throughout the hall. He thrust his wand into the ground, and crimson magic spread from the earth—a dozen steel-haired behemoths crawled out of the blood magic array, some resembling lions, others leopards, their eyes gleaming with wildness and bloodlust. They transformed into afterimages too fast for the naked eye to catch as they pounced on the crowd.

At the heart of this chaos, Dumbledore inch.

He raised his wand, and a silver beam of magic shot straight at Herpo's heart, moving so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible, leaving a faint crack in space.

Herpo remained unmoved, merely raising his right hand and blocking with a single finger.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, Dumbledore's attack was deflected by the fingertip, but wisps of smoke began to rise from that finger, as if it were scorching. He lowered his eyes slightly, looked at the finger, and smiled gently.

"Not bad attack. You're worthy of being my opponent."

He raised his head, and a genuine interest finally surfaced in his eyes.

Within the Sealing Domain, the Auror and members of the Order of the Phoenix launched a full-scale attack, but the Five Demon Kings remained as steadfast as a rock.

Morgan strolled leisurely, absorbing over 90% of the attacks with a single Magic-Devouring Vortex. Slightly stronger wizards, such as Scrimgeour and Ogden, were able to break through the black vortex's defenses and launch scattered attacks from tricky angles, barely posing a minor threat.

But the real trouble came from the Anubi conjured. Each of them was faster than a cheetah and more ferocious than a lion. When the spells struck their hides, they only produced a Mars. Soon, many wizards were wounded by their claws. If it weren't for their numerical advantage and timely rescue, there would probably have been casualties.

"Scatter them!" Nymphadora shouted, "Don't fight them head-on, find their weaknesses!"

But the weaknesses of these beastly phantoms were never exposed. Gadwin Robards used his Blasting Curse to repel both of them, but he was also hit in the shoulder and was knocked to the ground, bleeding profusely.

Barbarossa's water magic is also unpredictable. Even when Lupin, Sirius Black, Dedalow Diggle, Arthur, Molly, and Bill joined forces, they could only barely restrain him and repeatedly encountered dangerous situations.

Herpo remained standing still, without moving an inch.

He glanced at Dumbledore amidst the chaos of battle, a smirk playing on his lips. "Modern magic is too noisy."

Dumbledore took the initiative.

He raised his wand, and a long, bright whip of lightning instantly materialized in the void, crackling and sizzling. He swung the Elder Wand fiercely, and the lightning howled, creating a gust of wind that swept up Herpo. The lightning on the whip crackled in unison, as if trying to scorch Herpo at its center.

Herpo finally raised his hand in response.

"Ancient Spirit Summoning Technique."

Eight layers of Black Shadow unfolded like the pitch-black night, appearing from behind him. Each shadow was a reflection of his spirit, equivalent to a clone split off from his shadow.

The lightning whip was caught by one of the Black Shadow, whose power was slowly absorbed until both the Black Shadow and the whip vanished.

"It seems your magic is only enough to sever one of my spirit possessions," Herpo said expressionlessly. "And I still have seven."

Dumbledore; the magic before him was unlike anything he had ever heard of. He couldn't determine the true nature of this so-called "spirit possession."

Voldemort watched coldly from the sidelines, his hands gripping his wand tightly, but he showed no sign of making a move, as if he was waiting for something.

By this time, the Order of the Phoenix and the Auror alliance had already suffered casualties. Two Auror lay on the ground, their bodies contorted; one had lost both arms, and the other was in a deep coma. Although they had the advantage of terrain and numbers, Morgan could absorb most of the magical attacks, and Anubi could summon steel-haired behemoths in an endless stream. With the two of them combined, their numerical advantage could not be offset.

Barbarossa had it even easier; the six opponents were no match for him, and victory was only a matter of time.

A flushed Arthur brandished his wand, joining the others to cleave the Barbarossa tsunami in two, completely unaware of the steel-maned beast stealthily approaching from behind—

A silver-white, lightning-like spell transformed into a sharp spear crackling with thunder, piercing the beast's skull from outside the door and pinning it to the spot!

The air suddenly jolted.

Backlit by the entrance, a blurry black figure slowly emerged on the stone steps.

"Skylar!" Hermione couldn't help but call out. Although she couldn't see him clearly, the girl had been thinking about him day and night and was already very familiar with his figure.

Ginny gazed thoughtfully at Hermione's expression. In that instant, she seemed to understand something. Even though she had been fond of Harry since childhood, she couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement for this suddenly appearing boy.

This isn't Hermione's fault.

Which girl hasn't fantasized about being rescued by a prince? And that House of Malfoy boy always seems to appear at the most critical moments.

Hearing Hermione's emotional call, even Ron no longer felt jealous this time. For the first time, he clearly felt the gap between himself and Skylar. It has to be said that the rich second-generation of the House of Malfoy could indeed give people an indescribable sense of security.

The young man, clad in the Supreme Robe, slowly walked in, his noble and composed demeanor like that of a returning king.

His brows and eyes were calm and sharp, and his aura was as gentle as moonlight in the night, instantly calming everyone's uneasy hearts. His eyes reflected the entire battle situation, but his face showed no panic, only indifference and calculation.

Only Bellatrix remained of the Death Eaters, which was expected, but the fact that two Auror were severely injured, even with Dumbledore's appearance, was something he hadn't anticipated.

The enemy's strength was much greater than he had anticipated.

"You've finally come..." Voldemort's eyes flickered slightly as he muttered to himself, a complex expression flashing in his eyes.

Four figures followed closely behind Skylar and entered.

Daphne Greengrass, Cho Chang, Morrie MacDougal, Susan Bones; they no longer possessed a trace of student naiveté, only the calmness of the battlefield and the belief in victory.

Harry pursed his lips tightly, his gaze sweeping over Cho Chang, who was following behind Skylar, his deep eyes flashing with a light no one could know.

"Sixty men can't even take down five... This is really a bit troublesome," Skylar said calmly.