In an instant, Ivan was caught between life and death, his face ashen, as Dumbledore cast a spell far more powerful than he had ever imagined, one that seemed to contain the other's will…and even in his fire-form, Ivan was not able to completely withstand it.
Dumbledore took another step forward and pointed his wand, causing several chandeliers to fall from the ceiling.
Ivan casually waved his wand and destroyed several of the falling chandeliers. He then dodged the second spell and reappeared in the middle of the sea of fire.
Thick white flames surged around Ivan.
After swallowing a large amount of nutrients, the rising sea of fire had covered half of the church, but Ivan was still not satisfied. Instead, he added fuel to the fire, drawing magic from the alchemical device on his right wrist to continue increasing the power of the fire.
A large number of fire-simulated creatures howled and surged in the flames, and then, as if they had been directed to do so, they swarmed towards Dumbledore.
Having learned his lesson, Ivan's goal was to cover the whole church, thus preventing Dumbledore from using Apparition again.
Unless the other party is willing to leave the church altogether, but that would be a breach of their tacit agreement, and there would be no need to continue the fight…
Waves of demonic flames covered the sky and the earth, crashing down with unstoppable force.
Dumbledore stood quietly against the heat, as if he had given up.
However, Fawkes, who had been hovering over the church, suddenly let out a loud cry and stood in front of Li Huo with his mouth wide open.
It was as if a storm had swept through the church. To Ivan's astonishment, the sea of white fire twisted into a vortex and was sucked into Fawkes's mouth…
However, the Fire of Malice was not easy to digest. As the Fire of Malice was sucked into his mouth, the golden flames on Fox's body gradually extinguished. In contrast, his body was rapidly expanding, making him look like a large turkey that had eaten too much…
Ivan, naturally, could not tolerate the disappearance of the fierce fire he had used up so much magic to create, so he waved his wand.
"Sectumsempra! (God's Edge Shadowless)"
The invisible magic blade passed through the barrier of the sea of fire and slashed at the phoenix that was devouring the flames like a thick sword.
Dumbledore flicked his wand and a broken stone pillar flew up in front of Fox.
However, he apparently underestimated the power of the Obscurus. The powerful blade of magic sliced the stone pillar in half, and the remaining edge pierced Fox's body. Golden-red blood spilled down, and the pain made the proud phoenix cry out…
The cry of the phoenix angered Dumbledore, and countless golden-red points of light emerged from his left wand and converged into a whip of light that lashed out at Ivan…
Ivan's body flickered as he used Apparition again and disappeared into the church.
Dumbledore immediately closed his eyes and released his senses, and as soon as he sensed the magical fluctuations, he quickly waved his wand, sending a thin whip of light straight at an empty space behind him.
As soon as Ivan appeared, the light whip struck him!
Fortunately, Ivan's protective ring was able to shield him from the attack. Magical barriers surrounded him and then exploded. By the time Ivan managed to retreat out of the light whip's range, half of the protective ring on his fingers had shattered.
Ivan didn't have time to wonder how Dumbledore had seen through his Disapparations, as the injured Phoenix Fawkes had gone berserk and was hurtling towards him.
White flames were rising from Fawkes's body, and the phoenix, now several times larger, was clearly at its limit, as if it would explode any second…
To Ivan's horror, the golden whip quivered and lashed out again.
The tables were turned, and Ivan was cornered.
Having already been seen through by Dumbledore once, he dared not bet on whether his remaining protective rings would help him withstand another attack from the whip.
However, Ivan's rich combat experience allowed him to remain calm even in such a desperate situation. Just as the light whip was about to reach him, the alchemical device on Ivan's right wrist suddenly became extremely hot, a sign that his magic had been extracted in a large amount in a short period of time!
"Out of the frying pan!" snapped Ivan, and after expending fifty dials of magic, a monstrous python burst out of the black mist.
When the golden-red light struck the thick scales, it was like a blunt knife piercing into flesh. The foul-smelling snake blood splattered all over the place, and the snake's body was lacerated. However, the terrifying snake ignored it and swallowed the approaching phoenix.
A high phoenix cry filled the church, and Dumbledore quickly waved his wand, creating a semi-circular golden shield in front of him.
In the next moment, endless light and heat erupted from the huge snake's body. Even the biological cage constructed from fifty magic scales could not restrain this terrifying power.
Ivan only had time to steer the serpent's body towards Dumbledore before the serpent's upper body exploded, sending a huge explosion of white and red flames in all directions.
Fire erupted into the sky, and the nearby wooden tables and chairs were sent flying. The surrounding glass could not withstand the violent impact and shattered, as did Ivan's hastily constructed protective barrier.
It took over a minute for the explosion to die down, and the protective rings on Ivan's fingers had all burst. In the end, he was only able to hold on to his magic robes.
After trying her best to wave her wand to dispel the flames around her, Ivan looked around and saw that the ruined church was a mess. The ground seemed to have been plowed hard, and two of the strong pillars had snapped in half. The entire church looked like it was about to collapse, and one of the walls had collapsed.
Dumbledore loomed in the firelight, a brilliant golden dome of light hanging upside down around him, separating the flames of the outside world from the falling rubble…
Ivan, however, was keenly aware that Dumbledore was not as relaxed as he seemed.
On the contrary, the other party's expression was extremely ugly, and his right hand was emitting a faint black mist. The excessive use of magic seemed to have pushed his body to its limits, and he could no longer hold back the curse…