The Meaning of War

"Looks like you have a guest." Grindelwald smiled at Dumbledore as he saw Xiwen arrive through the Dimensional Gate.

Seeing this, Dumbledore turned to look at Xiwen and asked in confusion, "Strange, what happened?"

Xiwen hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, looked at Grindelwald at the top of the tower, and said seriously, "Since Mr. Grindelwald is here as well, I'll say what I have to say now."

"We can't continue this war. There's a Demon God who can amplify his power by exploiting negative emotions, and he's constantly eyeing this world!" Xiwen said solemnly.

"Frequency in warfare will only empower that Demon God, while simultaneously weakening the world's own ability to resist him. With this shift in power, we will find ourselves in an extremely dangerous situation!"

"The Demon God... has the Grey Lady's Prophecy come true?" Dumbledore's expression darkened, and he asked in a solemn voice.

"That's right, just as the Grey Lady said, the Demon God has already descended upon this chaos!" Speaking of the chaos, Xiwen glanced at Grindelwald and answered with equal seriousness.

Ravenclaw's Prophecy states, "The Black Fire will cause upheaval in the world," which likely foreshadows Grindelwald's Fire Shield Protection; and indeed, he has instigated a worldwide war, leading to the current chaos.

The third line of the Prophecy, "The Demon God descends amidst chaos," seemed to foreshadow the current state of war. Therefore, Xiwen's gaze towards Grindelwald was not friendly.

"Just now, I had a brief exchange with the projection of the Demon God, and barely managed to escape." He suppressed his dissatisfaction with Grindelwald and continued, "If even a projection can possess such power, I find it hard to imagine the immense calamity that the Demon God's true form will bring to the world when it descends!"

At this moment, Grindelwald suddenly spoke up, "I did indeed foresee the descent of the Demon God. I could see that his power was extremely strong, and it would not be easy for a wizard to contend with him."

"So you mean... you agree to stop the war?" Xiwen looked at him suspiciously, feeling that Grindelwald shouldn't be such an easy person to talk to.

"Agree to stop the war? Hah, Doctor Strange, you're taking war way too lightly!" Grindelwald suddenly chuckled and said coldly.

"When a war breaks out, it is like a fire that is set ablaze on the steppe. Either the fire will burn the steppe to ashes, or the storm on the steppe will extinguish it completely. There is no other way to stop it."

"Moreover, when it comes to facing that Demon God, I actually believe this war is even more necessary."

"Strange, Albus, if you could broaden your perspective and stop viewing war as a monstrous threat, you would naturally discover that it is merely a way of redistributing resources in the world. In essence, war is simply a process of survival of the fittest, and the sacrifices that accompany it are all for For the Greater Good!"

"After this war ends, I will completely break down all barriers within the wizarding world, gather all the vital forces of the Wizarding World, and unite to fight against that so-called Demon God. After the war, the Wizarding World will not be in its current state, forced to rely on fragmented and scattered forces to resist."

"I dare say that the Wizarding World in this fragmented state could never withstand that powerful Demon God!"

"Albus, wasn't making the Wizarding World a better place our shared desire?" Grindelwald stared into Dumbledore's sharp, light blue eyes with his strange pupils, speaking in a sincere and heartfelt voice.

"If you're willing to join us, the two of us working together will surely be able to quickly end this war, and then we can better gather all our strength to fight against that so-called Demon God!"

Xiwen's eyes widened in astonishment at Grindelwald's words.

Grindelwald's words were so tempting, Xiwen felt. If he were the one standing opposite him, he might already be convinced by his sincere words, and might even be ready to serve him faithfully...

I wonder what Dumbledore will think of Grindelwald's comments?

Xiwen looked at Dumbledore with some concern, only to find that his gaze was as sharp and resolute as ever, seemingly unaffected by Grindelwald's words.

"I know there may be some truth to what you say, Grindelwald," Dumbledore said slowly, shaking his head and addressing Grindelwald by his surname with a touch of awkwardness. "But the path you envision is undoubtedly too cruel for ordinary wizards and Muggle World people."

"Existence does not necessarily equate to justification. Although war has accompanied humanity and wizards for thousands of years, among all available options, war is always the last resort to achieve a goal, and also the most costly one."

"So What If...? we can have a proper talk, each take a step back, and reach a consensus, the number of people injured will naturally be less than that caused by starting a war, and our strength will be greater." Dumbledore looked directly into Grindelwald's heterochromatic eyes and said calmly.

"Dumbledore, if you cannot let go of those inferior races, we will never reach a consensus!" Grindelwald subtly changed his form of address for Dumbledore, speaking coldly. "Do you really want a divided world to face that Demon God?"

"But I would rather not face the Demon God with a world riddled with holes!" Dumbledore said, raising his voice as well.

The two stared at each other, and sparks seemed to ignite where their gazes met.

Seeing that things were going badly, Xiwen quickly floated between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, using his transparent body to block their view.

This is not the time for these two to start a conflict. Each of them is an extremely important force in the Wizarding World's fight against the Demon God, and any loss to these two powerhouses would be a significant weakening of the current fighting force!

With his back to Grindelwald, Xiwen turned to Dumbledore and said, "Let's go back and discuss a plan, Dumbledore."

"Alright." Dumbledore naturally didn't want to act rashly with Grindelwald, so he nodded slightly.

Then, they walked together into the still-open golden halo next to them.

Just before the aperture closed, Grindelwald's voice came from behind.

"Dumbledore, if you can't figure out a way to deal with the Demon God, you can ask me for help," he said softly. "After all, we still share the common goal of fighting the Demon God ..."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"Good."

Passing through the Dimensional Gate, Dumbledore and the Ghost Xiwen arrived at Flamel's safe house in Paris.

Inside the safe house's workshop, Helena removed the Ravenclaw's Diadem from her head, causing it to float in mid-air. Meanwhile, Flamel was examining it with some unidentified instruments.

"It's truly amazing! I never imagined that a specific arrangement of Runes could completely alter the properties of an alchemical product!" Flamel exclaimed, his eyes wide. "No, no, there's something else involved... I must say, Rowena Ravenclaw is truly a great alchemist!"

"Excuse me, Nico," Dumbledore said, going straight to Flamel after entering the safe house. "There's no time to lose. I want to know the details about that Demon God right now. We need your wisdom."

Flamel glanced longingly at the Ravenclaw's Diadem floating before him, but nodded, gesturing for Helena to put the Diadem back on, before turning to Dumbledore.

"Alright, Doctor Strange, you can now give everyone a detailed explanation of what this so-called Demon God is all about." Dumbledore asked Xiwen, seeing that Flamel's gaze had turned to them.

Everyone present became serious and listened attentively to Xiwen's story.

Xiwen nodded slightly, organized his thoughts briefly, and then spoke slowly:

"It all started with a warning I received from a junior brother from another universe..."