At the same time as the explosion, the hundred or so wizards responsible for maintaining the barrier were badly injured by the backlash.
The magical barrier that had trapped Grindelwald shattered within seconds of losing its source of power.
Looking at the howling Auror on the ground, Connor finally understood why Grindelwald had waited so long to attack. He wanted to instantly cripple their resistance!
The tables were turned, and the wizard representatives who had been invited to watch the show panicked and screamed.
If Grindelwald had been a caged tiger before, he was now out of his cage, and they, the high and mighty spectators surrounding the cage, had been cast into the abyss as prey!
Avada Kedavra ~ (Avada Kedavra)
Grindelwald, who had regained his freedom, raised his hand and cast a Death Curse at Connor, who had just issued the order to imprison him!
It was clear that Grindelwald was still reeling from the sudden turn of events. By the time he saw Grindelwald lift his wand, it was too late. The gloomy green light was too fast to be imagined, and it was upon Grindelwald in an instant.
Just as Connor thought he was going to die there, the chair on the floor flew up and blocked his way.
The green beam of light hit the wooden chair and exploded, sending splinters of wood flying across Conal's face. Conal didn't seem to care. He took a few awkward steps back, grateful for the narrow escape.
"Thank you for your help, Sir Harls…" Connor said gratefully, turning to Ivan, who had saved his life.
Ivan nodded and waved Connor away, then turned to Grindelwald, who was emerging from the flames, and said slowly, "It seems your plan is not so perfect after all…"
"Life is full of surprises, isn't it?" Grindelwald said casually, raising his eyebrows.
The reason he did not leave immediately after his escape was not because he wanted to chat with Ivan. In fact, he could not leave because the Anti-Phantom Apparition Array in the Capitol Building had not been lifted and was still in effect.
This was somewhat unexpected.
Grindelwald had placed a triggering spell in the Department of Mysteries to ensure that he would be able to escape even after his identity was exposed. The moment he sensed a large-scale magical conflict, the seeds of fire he had left behind would immediately erupt and devour the entire Department!
However, it seemed that the Aurors stationed in the Department of Mysteries were not as useless as he had expected. They should have suppressed his fire…
"Since we're already here, why don't we stay here! We still have to settle the score…" Ivan said coldly. He took the lead and shook his wand, sending out several dark magical beams.
Grindelwald took his time. He tapped the air with his Elder Wand, and an invisible magical shield appeared. The beam hit it with an eerie thud.
Ivan was not going to let him get away with this. He swung his human-bone wand again, and tiny bolts of blue lightning instantly formed at the tip of the wand. With unbelievable speed, they shattered the already-torn magical shield and slammed into Grindelwald.
However, the attack did not have much effect, as Grindelwald was surrounded by another solid surge of magic that deflected the incoming lightning.
"Your powers have weakened…" Grindelwald said suddenly. Ivan's charms were powerful, but there was still a gap between them and the power he had displayed in the Necropolis of Nicolas Flamel.
This made him even more certain of his previous guess. The young wizard in front of him must have used some special method to increase his combat strength, and it was likely that he would not last long.
"That's more than enough to deal with you…" Ivan didn't try to explain, nor did he seem to do anything about it, as a faint white mist began to seep out of his wand.
With a carefree neigh, the illusory shadow of a unicorn appeared in front of everyone.
The wizards could feel their fear subsiding, and many of them stopped running and turned to look at the two men confronting each other in the chairman's office.
Ivan didn't have the energy to care about what the others were thinking. He waved his wand and a python dozens of meters long charged out, its raised body almost hitting the ceiling.
The elusive Shadow of the Unicorn also stepped out of the mist and charged towards Grindelwald, using the python as cover.
Grindelwald's brow furrowed, and he swung his Elder Wand with all his might. The python that charged at him was torn in half by some unknown force, spilling its blood all over the place. Guided by magic, the snake's blood condensed into a long whip that whipped at the illusory shadow of the unicorn.
Ivan, who had seen this strange blood magic before, was not prepared to let the Unicorn's Shadow face it head-on. With a gentle twist of his wand, the illusory unicorn let out a sharp cry, then suddenly jumped over the snake-blood whip and pierced through the ground.
Grindelwald was taken aback, apparently not expecting this, but he quickly recovered, and the wizard's robe he was wearing changed back into the Cloak of Invisibility, and he vanished…
During the last battle, Ivan learned how difficult the Cloak of Invisibility was, and was not completely defenseless. The moment he saw Grindelwald disappear, he quickly grabbed a bag of Alchemical Powder from the pocket of his wizard robes and threw it into the air.
"Wind!" cried Ivan, waving his wand.
Under the influence of blood magic, a strong gust of wind appeared out of thin air in the Chairman's office. The alchemical powder that was scattered in the air was mixed with the wind and blown forward.
A moment later, more than half of the Chairman's office was covered in scarlet alchemical powder, and Grindelwald was forced to reveal himself.
"Clean it!" Grindelwald tried to tap the cloak to get rid of the red powder, to no avail.
"Don't waste your breath. This is an alchemical powder that I made specifically for you. It's highly exorcising and adhesive. It won't disappear for days… Don't try to use the same trick twice on me!" Ivan sneered, holding his human bone wand.