stonecrandall Chapter 184, Section 183: The Scheming Principal, the True Demon King
Chapter 184, Section 183: The Scheming Principal, the True Demon King
Chapter 184, Section 183: The Scheming Principal, the True Demon King
The sea of fire was churning.
The air was filled with the smell of burning and scorching.
The entire dueling arena seemed to be engulfed by fierce flames. Yet, even so, the young Albus Dumbledore remained unharmed as he continued to close in on Ian.
No matter how Ian manipulated the flames, they all seemed to encounter some kind of interference and uncontrollably veered away when they approached this peerless young man.
"Are you an Obscurial who has successfully escaped fate?" As if afraid that Ian might not have heard him clearly amidst the commotion, the young Albus Dumbledore asked again.
The voice, as always, carried a certain fiery quality.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, but my magic is innate; I have never been an Obscurial." Ian was somewhat surprised by what the young Albus Dumbledore said.
of course.
It was that very first sentence that seemed to have already seen through his origins. Although the information was slightly incorrect, it was clear that the young Albus Dumbledore already knew that he did not belong to this time.
"I see..."
Ian responded.
Young Albus Dumbledore's eyes immediately dimmed slightly. However, he continued his pace, slowly approaching Ian, who was not far away.
No matter how fierce the fire was.
He still moved around freely.
"What trace did you see in my magic?" Ian recalled what his teacher Morgan had said before, and now he dared not continue to address the young Albus Dumbledore as "you." After all, this encounter today might remain in the mind of the older Albus Dumbledore in the future.
Of course, based on what Ian knew about the rules of time, it's also possible that the old headmaster always remembered them, which is a bit unsettling to think about.
"Yes, Trace, it seems your understanding of magic is quite profound. It's hard to imagine that I would encounter such a brilliant and talented younger person at my age."
"Perhaps this can also inspire me." In the midst of the raging flames, the figure of the young Albus Dumbledore stood out.
He was still closing in on Ian.
This is clearly not without reason.
Sensing a sense of crisis, Ian immediately waved his wand again.
"Resist the ring of fire!"
As a wizard, one naturally needs to possess some means to prevent others from getting close. Suddenly, as Ian's magic surged, a ring of flames rose abruptly from Ian's center.
It was like a ring encircling Ian, and under Ian's control, it began to expand rapidly, surging outwards from Ian as if to overturn everything around it.
"You have quite a few self-created spells, but... they're not very meaningful." Faced with the fiercely attacking ring of fire, the young Albus Dumbledore continued to use mysterious magic to maintain interference with the flames.
but.
This time, the instant the flame was deflected, he suddenly waved his wand and instantly took control of the not-so-powerful flame.
Between the hands of this handsome young man, the flame transformed in the blink of an eye, from a flat wisp of flame into a long whip that resembled a chain.
"Whoosh whoosh~"
Dumbledore wielded the fiery chains as if commanding an invisible army.
With a gentle wave of his wand, the chains traced a graceful arc in the air, then flew with tremendous force towards Ian opposite him, accompanied by a roaring sound and a scorching heat wave.
"This tactic seems somewhat familiar." Ian's eyes flashed with surprise upon seeing this, but he did not back down. Instead, he quickly raised his wand to prepare to counterattack.
However, the chains of fire moved faster than anyone could have imagined, instantly wrapping around Ian's body and binding him tightly. The flames were intense, seemingly threatening to engulf everything, but surprisingly, they did not harm Ian's skin, only scorching his clothes with a hissing sound.
Ian's clothes quickly began to turn black.
It keeps falling off.
The little wizard's wand fell straight to the ground.
"Ouch, my clothes are almost gone! Looks like you're a pedophile?" He could only scream at the top of his lungs, and sure enough, the effect of his scream was more immediate than magic.
"Yam-de!"
Perhaps those three words won't actually make the ex-husband willingly leave with nothing, like on Xiaohongshu (a Chinese social media platform), but they will definitely bring the fiery chains controlled by the young Albus Dumbledore to an abrupt halt.
The chains and flames, though still present, immediately stopped burning the young wizard's robes, and even the young Albus Dumbledore reached out to repair the burned areas on Ian's robes.
"..."
His expression was utterly speechless.
"I won."
"The younger version of Albus Dumbledore sighed and said in a low voice."
"Really? I don't believe it."
The little wizard, bound like a dumpling, seemed to still be stubborn. He squeezed his tightly bound hands hard, and the elderwood wand that had fallen from the ground flew into his hand.
A surge of magical power began to flow.
only.
This time, the young Albus Dumbledore chose to turn a blind eye.
"Let me get here, and I've won." He plunged his wand into the ground, and the ground began to shake violently, as if touched by an invisible force.
"what?"
The bound wizard finally showed a hint of panic. As magical runes rose from the ground, he visibly began to melt into a pool of soft mud.
In this regard.
The young Albus Dumbledore was not surprised. He was as calm and composed as Ian, who had known all along that he had fought him, even though he was not Ian in his true form.
It is clear.
There was a reason why the young Albus Dumbledore pretended not to see through it.
Following the path Dumbledore had taken, mysterious runes began to emerge from the ground. These runes shimmered with a deep, eerie light, like the brightest stars in the night sky, or like magical symbols recorded in ancient texts. They were arranged in a staggered pattern, forming a complex and mysterious design.
It emanated powerful magical energy.
The young Albus Dumbledore turned his gaze to an inconspicuous corner.
There.
The gravel on the ground was surging.
"Just like I said about you, you little brat, you're really cunning and treacherous." He watched as a disheveled figure crawled out of the sand.
"I was hiding eighteen meters underground and you still managed to find me!?" Ian was extremely frustrated. He shook off the sand on his body but didn't take his wand from his waist.
"Your Transfiguration can imbue inanimate objects with magic; it's a talent that makes one envious." The young Albus Dumbledore put away his wand at this moment.
His tone was sincere, and there was indeed a hint of envy in it.
"It's useless, you still managed to find me."
Ian sighed helplessly.
"I trust my intuition more than my eyes. I must say, you are truly amazing, but unfortunately, your control over magic is far less refined than mine."
"Of course, it's not your fault. You've obviously not been exposed to magic for very long, and I can imagine that you're practically unmatched in terms of sheer magical power." The young Albus Dumbledore spoke with a sigh, then looked at the doppelganger that had turned into a pile of mud.
"The only thing I can't understand is why you, who already possess magic that can dominate the world, would develop such a fighting style. This is truly a question that troubles me."
The young Albus Dumbledore's expression turned somewhat strange.
"It's never wrong to be cautious. As a native Englishman, you probably don't understand. Before you have the ability to stand up to the world on your own, even someone like me needs to be cautious enough." Ian's soul does not belong to this land, so the ideas he believes in are obviously difficult for most people in this land to understand.
The young Albus Dumbledore simply chuckled upon hearing this.
"Then your caution is clearly not up to par." His gaze held a deep meaning, and a sense of danger that sent chills down Ian's spine.
"Ahem, let's not say anything since we've seen through each other. We can still be good brothers." Ian's expression was quite awkward. To be honest, this was the first time since he adopted this fighting style that someone had actually found out his true form.
"Are you admitting defeat?"
The young Albus Dumbledore spoke with a smile.
"Of course not."
The young wizard answered without hesitation.
"Oh?"
This was clearly somewhat unexpected for the young Albus Dumbledore.
"Do you have another trump card up your sleeve?"
He looked at Ian with great curiosity.
"It's just a magic-suppressing field, I know this stuff very well." Ian looked around at the magic runes on the ground and was somewhat surprised to find that he wasn't the only one who liked to ponder these kinds of things.
The reason his "stand-in" collapsed, and the reason he crawled out of the ground in such a disheveled state, was all because this realm, created using some kind of ritual, sealed off the power of magic.
If not.
He should have looked really cool when he emerged from the ground...
"My magic is hard to work with, and so is yours. Rounding it up, this competition is truly fair now." Ian straightened his hair, which was so thick that sand would drip from it if he shook it twice.
"It seems you are indeed familiar with such rituals. Hmm, that makes sense. However, since you are aware of the current situation, I suppose you haven't forgotten my identity, have you?"
The young Albus Dumbledore smiled broadly.
"You have many identities. Which one are you referring to?"
The little wizard wasn't nervous at all.
He watched as the young man opposite him lifted his robe.
"Of course, it's my proudest identity right now... Kid, get acquainted with me, I am Albus Dumbledore... from Gryffindor House."
talking.
This handsome young man, disregarding all martial ethics, drew a gleaming longsword. It wasn't the sword of Gryffindor, but its sharp edge and ornate design clearly indicated it was crafted by a master.
The sword's blade was sharp and its chilling aura was palpable.
"I said I won."
Dumbledore gripped the sword hilt tightly, his arm muscles bulging slightly, revealing his hidden strength.
The longsword seemed to come alive in his hand, its tip trembling slightly as if responding to its master's will. It moved swiftly toward Ian's neck, accompanying its master's every move.
This is Albus Dumbledore's little-known swordsmanship, and it's also the reason why Albus Dumbledore dared to abandon magic. Unable to defeat Ian in terms of magic, he chose the operation most advantageous to himself.
A magic-free zone.
Few wizards are able to deal with a swordsman of exceptional skill in this kind of area.
"Fortunately, I had a contingency plan for this situation."
Most wizards can't use magic and might panic when faced with a swordsman lunging at them, but Ian wasn't one of them. The young wizard simply and excitedly shoved his money pouch into it. Just as Albus Dumbledore could pull out a longsword, Ian could certainly use his money pouch, which contained a multitude of trump cards.
Failing to seal away all the alchemical creations was undoubtedly the biggest mistake of the younger Albus Dumbledore. Of course, this might also be due to his current location within the Room of Requirement.
Albus Dumbledore did not choose the method of absolute magic suppression.
"My future professor! Times have changed!"
He shouted.
Ian pulled out a homemade Gatling gun. Although magic might not be able to be input into it, in manual mode it still had the structure of a firearm and the power to fire all the built-in bullets in one minute.
The machine gun was entirely black, radiating a cold metallic luster. Its massive barrel contrasted sharply with his lean physique, yet this did not diminish its intimidating presence in the slightest.
"!!!???"
Voila.
The young Albus Dumbledore was taken aback. His sharp steps abruptly halted, and the longsword he was swinging froze in mid-air.
He was probably only a few dozen steps away from Ian.
however.
The House that he was so proud of didn't seem to be able to give him the courage to keep going—no wonder, since Albus Dumbledore, who knew a lot about Muggles, was a discerning man.
"What...what are you doing?"
For the first time, the handsome young man showed a look of shock, and his voice even stammered.
"Three thousand six hundred revolutions per second, with great compassion to save all beings, my future professor, I'm telling you, in front of this thing, we who have no magic are just what you call... mortals." Ian pulled the trigger, and the Gatling gun began to spin, its barrel reflecting a dazzling light under the sunlight simulated by the Room of Requirement.
"Fuck you!"
Young Albus Dumbledore's pupils contracted sharply. Perhaps it was the first time in his life he had sworn, and with sweat beading on his forehead, he immediately and decisively threw the longsword in his hand.
The target is not Ian.
Instead, it was the endless stream of demonic runes on the ground.
at the same time.
"Da da da da~"
Blue flames have already appeared.
The Gatling gun's rotating barrel erupted with a deafening roar, like the howling of an enraged beast. Countless bullets rained down like a dense barrage.
They sliced through the air, leaving trails of intense heat.
"By Merlin!"
Young Albus Dumbledore scurried across the ground, but fortunately, after rolling several times, the longsword he threw severed the runes he had set himself.
The magic has returned to its active state.
"Protect yourself! Protect yourself! Protect yourself!" The young Albus Dumbledore frantically chanted the spell, his lips almost falling off from shouting it.
The "bullets" that were unleashed were finally blocked by the invisible "shield," giving the young Albus Dumbledore a chance to catch his breath.
"Disarm you!"
He seized the opportunity to cast a spell on Ian.
The Gatling gun in Ian's hand was knocked away.
Seeing that the "big weapon" had finally been dealt with.
Young Albus Dumbledore finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, the next moment, he felt dizzy and couldn't help but kneel down on the ground.
It's not just that my whole body feels weak.
Even the brain has become so heavy that it can hardly function.
"What's in here...?"
He looked down with difficulty at his body and saw that there were at least a dozen needles inserted into it. Clearly, without invincibility frames, his fancy rolls had not been very effective in dodging.
"It's the water of life and death that I've boiled too much of."
The young wizard blinked and gave an honest answer. Of course, he wouldn't kill his future headmaster; the Gatling gun he pulled out was a specially made model designed to counter a possible "Slytherin Rebellion."
As mentioned before, Ian is genuinely aware of potential threats. However, dealing with his classmates wouldn't warrant the use of real weapons.
They deserve to be punished so severely.
"..."
Hearing Ian's reply.
Albus Dumbledore, swaying uncontrollably, was incredibly frustrated. He knew the brat in front of him was cunning, but he never expected him to be this cunning.
"I could never teach you these things, never... never." The young Albus Dumbledore's voice was filled with an incredulous stubbornness.
"You're not my apprentice! Damn it! How can this Life and Death Water be so potent!"
He slowly pulled out all the needles, shook his head a few times, and then struggled to lift his head, holding his eyelids up with all his might, his eyes fixed on Ian in front of him.
"Yes, you didn't take me as your apprentice, but Professor Grindelwald always said I was his apprentice." Ian was still telling the truth, but not the whole truth.
He couldn't betray his good uncle.
"Grindelwald... Grindelwald... This is really... so damn treacherous..." The young Albus Dumbledore kept repeating the name.
He strained as if he wanted to memorize the name.
"So, I've won now."
Ian walked up to the kneeling, younger version of Albus Dumbledore and pressed his wand against the younger Albus Dumbledore's forehead.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"Heh, I admit your underhanded tricks... did surprise me, but as I just told you, I won the moment I set up this ritual."
The young Albus Dumbledore shook his head.
He looked at Ian with a slightly guilty expression.
In his eyes.
I'm very sleepy.
But it couldn't overshadow that resolute emotion.
"Forehead?"
Ian glanced at the runes around him that the young Albus Dumbledore had destroyed himself, and frowned slightly, unable to understand what the young Albus Dumbledore was talking about.
"I set up more than one ritual, kid," the young Albus Dumbledore offered, his hand suddenly reaching for his wand as he channeled magic into it.
next moment.
The broken runes began to twist and change, and just as the little wizard was trying to decipher them, the dark runes actually gathered together and gradually disappeared from the ground.
"This is……"
Ian was somewhat surprised and uncertain.
He had clearly figured something out.
only.
It's too late.
"Hiss~"
Dozens of black hands, like claws reaching out from hell, suddenly emerged from the gravel on the ground and swiftly and forcefully grabbed Ian's ankles.
Ian's magic was frozen. He tried to struggle, but those hands were like iron clamps, holding him tightly and preventing him from moving.
"Dark magic!"
The little wizard exclaimed in surprise.
"It's the darkest of the dark magic ever!" He really hadn't expected that Albus Dumbledore, who was only in his fifth or sixth year of high school, would already be involved in this kind of dark magic that involved sacrifice.
Yes.
Sacrifice magic.
This was incredibly evil dark magic. And yet, it was being used by a Hogwarts student. Someone without a nose at that age probably hadn't even encountered this kind of magic.
"I'm sorry to have made you suffer all this... but I think it was worth it, at least for me." The young Albus Dumbledore gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"I only know my brother Tom. If he knew about your situation, he would cry himself to death in the bathroom." Ian was slightly flustered inside, but he didn't show it on his face.
"Tom? Someone very close to my future self?" The young Albus Dumbledore struggled to his feet, still seemingly battling the effects of the Water of Life and Death.
"Forget about Tom, I admit defeat." Ian still had some trump cards up his sleeve, but he didn't want to use those kinds of cards, which were used only once and then were gone, in this kind of sparring.
"I accept your surrender, but... please allow me to apologize to you again." The young Albus Dumbledore, resisting the effects of the drug, pulled open Ian's robe.
"Hiss~"
Ian felt a chill run down his chest, and now he was genuinely panicked.
Could Old Deng really have been a bishop when he was young?
"What are you going to do to me?"
The little wizard's eyes widened in horror.
I want to win twice.
The young Albus Dumbledore had a feeling of stealing Ian's lines, but thankfully he didn't do anything strange to Ian; he simply started drawing runes on Ian's body with his wand.
Due to the water of life and death.
The handsome young man's hands trembled and his body swayed, but he still persevered with sheer willpower, continuing to draw magical runes on Ian's body.
"I think there's a reason you've come at this time." The young Albus Dumbledore seemed to be dissecting Ian, revealing his almost supernaturally intelligent mind to him.
but.
What he displayed was a wisdom far beyond Ian's expectations.
"What a rare opportunity! Perhaps in the future I will want to use you to convey some message, but in my current view, this is an opportunity I must seize."
"I am deeply sorry for you, for my future self." Though he spoke words of remorse, the young Albus Dumbledore did not stop what he was doing.
"What do you mean?"
Ian already had a bad feeling.
He was ready to retaliate at any time.
"You told me that you are not a silent person who has successfully changed your fate, which disappoints me, but does not make me despair... because in my eyes you can be exactly what I expect to see."
"Just a little change... and knowledge, ability, far surpasses any help from my Dumbledore." The young Albus Dumbledore's hands didn't stop moving.
He looked up and met Ian's gaze.
"I believe you will have extraordinary significance for me... for my future self, so I must take the gamble." Albus Dumbledore's words were firm and earnest.
The young wizard felt a chill run down his spine.
"Is this really the Albus Dumbledore I know?!"
Ian was experiencing intense emotional turmoil.
Of course he understood.
This Albus Dumbledore clearly wants to turn him into an Obscurial, and then use him and the future Albus Dumbledore to find a solution to the Obscurial problem!
This is absolutely outrageous!
Not only did they want to sacrifice Ian, but they also plotted against their future selves... How insane must someone be to come up with such a monstrous and insane plan the moment they saw Ian!
White Demon King?
Damn the White Demon King!
This is the real first Dark Lord!
"I think, really, there's no need for this. We can talk." Ian, of course, knew why the young Albus Dumbledore was so fixated on the Obscurials.
If his memory serves him correctly, at this point in time, his good friend Ariana is still alive, and her brother Albus Dumbledore has been trying to resolve the situation surrounding her.
The younger version of the headmaster, who was troubled by the possibility that Ariana didn't have enough time and that his research was still going nowhere, was clearly using him as a "sacrifice" to find hope.
"Some sins... I cannot escape." The young Albus Dumbledore sighed deeply, his eyes filled with guilt but without a trace of struggle.
The number of magical runes kept increasing.
There was some kind of force that seemed to be growing.
Ian knew he couldn't wait any longer.
"Clang!"
A bottle of murky medicine fell from his sleeve.
It shattered on the ground.
The splashed potion landed on the black hands, and for a moment, the black hands seemed to lose their power, releasing Ian and drooping to the ground like withered branches.
"Whoosh~"
Just as Ian was frantically retreating and raising his wand, Albus Dumbledore, with a serious expression, flicked his wand, dispelling the potion dripping onto the black hand and manipulating it to re-envelop Ian.
Black fog filled the sky.
Anyone who didn't know better would think Ian was fighting Voldemort.
"Protect the Gods!"
no way.
Ian could only have used the Guardian Angel spell.
A silvery-white light rose up.
They intertwined rapidly and brilliantly like a meteor shower, forming a dazzling net of light, and the girl's figure began to appear vaguely.
Yes.
The magic did not fail.
And it wouldn't fail. When the little wizard arrived at this time, he sensed something, felt a sense of surprise, and could clearly perceive the connection between himself and Ariana.
I originally wanted to discuss this with the younger version of Albus Dumbledore.
did not expect.
He didn't give Albus Dumbledore any surprises.
It was the young Albus Dumbledore who gave him a real shock.
"Ariana! Quick! Kill your evil and wicked brother!" Ian cried out for help to his best friend, who had fully materialized, as he frantically tried to remove the runes from his body.
Ariana, in the form of a guardian deity, slowly emerged from the light.
She wore a suit of shimmering silver armor, her long hair cascading down her back and flowing gently in the wind. She held a slender and ornate longsword that radiated a faint, divine glow.
"Swish swish~"
The black hands that came hurtling towards them were chopped into pieces. When they came into contact with the longsword in Ariana's hand, they were as helpless as if they had encountered a block of ice at high temperature.
A dark force that blots out the sky.
The girl didn't slash more than a few times.
Because of her appearance.
Those dark hands had already begun to fall one after another.
It's like it's out of control.
"Huh? Brother?"
Ariana finally got a clear look at her opponent's face.
Her expression was one of surprise.
"This...this...what...what's going on!" Young Albus Dumbledore staggered back several steps, staring at Ian's Patronus with a look of shock and disbelief.
"Impossible! Impossible!"
The handsome young man's wand had already fallen to the ground.
He forced himself to kneel on the ground, his body straining against the ground.
"Brother, how come you've gotten younger again? And you want to... take on Ian?" Ariana was clearly not clear about the situation. She floated in front of Dumbledore, who seemed to have lost all his strength.
The girl raised her hand.
He touched the handsome young man's forehead.
It's as if they wanted to confirm whether the younger version of Albus Dumbledore had a fever.
"Ariana...so..."
Albus Dumbledore's body visibly trembled violently.
"I see, so you wanted to verify... this..."
His eyes began to dim and he became lost in thought.
As if he had lost the belief that would sustain him, the Water of Life and Death finally took effect, causing the young Albus Dumbledore to collapse backward, limp and weak.
"Brother Albus?"
Ariana quickly steadied her brother's head.
"Ian, has he been controlled by an evil dark wizard?"
She turned back to look at the little wizard with some concern.
"What black wizard! He himself is the greatest black wizard! The Dark Lord!" Ian was furious. He used all his strength to completely erase the magic runes from his body.
even so.
He also felt that he was not clean.
"what?"
Ariana was clearly taken aback.
She wanted to say something else.
But then Ian's entire body began to emit a strange light.
The girl who was supposed to be a guardian spirit vanished without a trace in an instant.
Also disappearing was Ian, who was still somewhat dazed.
"Going back already?"
Ian felt a strong wave of dizziness, as if he had been suddenly pulled into a bizarre and fantastical world by an invisible force. Strange light enveloped him, carrying strange colors and pulses, changing unpredictably like a kaleidoscope, making it impossible for him to focus.
Enveloped in this light, the surrounding scenery began to become distorted and bizarre. Space and time seemed to lose their meaning, and everything fell into an indescribable state of chaos.
"Buzz buzz buzz~"
A deep, drawn-out hum filled the young wizard's ears, like an ancient incantation echoing within. Suddenly, all was still. The strange light gradually faded, replaced by a familiar and warm aura. Ian opened his eyes abruptly and found himself in a spacious and brightly lit room.
That was Nicolas Lemaître's office, which he knew all too well.
The large clock.
Right beside me.
There's also the anxious and worried Harry Potter, the slightly strange-looking Nicolas Flamel, and Albus Dumbledore clutching his heart, looking visibly relieved.
Senior version.
(End of this chapter)