Such a sudden turn of events should, by all rights, have set off a chain reaction.
But the Snake God's oppressive presence was so overwhelming that most people had yet to recover from their terror.
Dumbledore was beside himself with urgency. He wanted to order the dozens of key holders to open the ring's barrier immediately, but one look at Il and the others opposite him told him that was impossible.
"Fire God Clears the Way!"
"Fire Escape Shield!"
Two long, dragonlike streams of flame, one red and one blue, hurtled toward the ring's barrier with tremendous force.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald were going to force their way through.
Boom!
But before the two fiery dragons could even leave the officials' platform, an enormous cruciform greatsword appeared out of nowhere and cleaved them apart.
The phantom of the enormous cruciform greatsword slowly faded, revealing Edward behind it, dressed in lavish red-and-white papal regalia, a sword in one hand and the Cross held between the fingers of the other.
Edward's eyes shone with holy light. Seeing that they intended to attack again, he shook his head and spoke with an air of compassion.
"Stop. Shawn is the source of all calamity. He will cause countless deaths, and Heaven is too small. It's almost full.
"So as long as he dies, the world will return to its proper course, and we can go back to the way things were."
As Edward spoke, the other four elders of the Double Serpent Society quietly surrounded Dumbledore and the other two old men, neither attacking nor provoking them.
Dumbledore's and Grindelwald's expressions did not change. Their attack had been rushed, so Edward blocking it alone was hardly surprising.
But his shameless words enraged the two old men.
They did not bother winning the argument, disdaining a