"A coward, eh?" Dumbledore murmured, raising his eyebrows, but he made no attempt to contradict her.
"If you insist, then prove it…"
Dumbledore's expression became grave, and he raised his left hand, clutching his wand to his chest and bowing slightly.
Ivan, who was sitting directly across from him, knew that this was the etiquette of a duel between wizards. He took a deep breath, raised his wand, and slowly bowed in return.
Golden-red phoenixes flew over the church, making fairy music, as if they were witnesses to an epic duel.
When Xanadu stopped abruptly, Ivan waved his wand without warning, and three dark lights flashed through the air.
However, such an obvious method of attack was clearly not going to work, as Dumbledore merely flicked his wrist and a white semi-circular shield shot out from the tip of his wand.
The black beam of light kept hitting the shield, producing muffled sounds. Soon, cracks appeared on the surface of the shield.
"Reducto! (Shattered to pieces)!" Ivan was relentless, closing the distance between them as he cast another spell, shattering the barrier in front of him.
Dumbledore took his time, and with a quick swipe of the wand in his left hand, the long table on the platform flew down and blocked Ivan's Smashing Charm. He then lifted his wand slightly, and the remains of the broken table followed his instructions, turning into sharp steel needles that scattered towards Ivan.
A torrent of scarlet flames suddenly appeared in front of Ivan, creating a thick wall of fire that prevented Dumbledore from fighting back.
After Ivan increased the output of his magic, a fireball the size of a person's head emerged from the firewall and slammed into Dumbledore like a cannon.
"This is as far as you go…" Dumbledore suddenly said, and the wand in his left hand emitted a golden light. With a gentle sweep, the wall of fire that blocked his path was sliced apart, and the fireballs that filled the sky were annihilated.
He was sick and tired of this tentative exchange of blows. If it was just this intensity, they would probably fight to the end of the day.
Ivan understood this, and so wisps of flame began to drift out of the tip of the wand. Unlike before, these flames were not the usual scarlet red, but an eerie white that expanded several times its original size upon contact with air.
"Confringo ~! (Exploding thunder!")
Using Fire as a shield, Ivan cast the most powerful spell he could control!
The white flames swept past the wall of fire, using everything as nourishment. As they continued to expand, they gradually transformed into a powerful fire dragon that roared as it charged forward!
Dumbledore's calm face became grave for the first time, as he could clearly sense the threat posed by the flames.
"End of all curses!" Dumbledore read.
Incomparably magical power spread out in all directions from Dumbledore, like a circular wall, keeping the terrible fire at bay.
The two terrible forces collided, and the whole church shook with the sound of the explosion.
Ivan, however, was well aware that Dumbledore had not been consumed by his fire, and that the barrier created by his special spell, Oblivion, was stronger than he thought.
Although the defensive barrier was gradually shrinking under his relentless attacks, it still seemed as stable as a mountain.
Dumbledore, in the midst of the flames, explained slowly, as if he were conducting a normal lesson. "[The All-Curses Final Curse] was created to deal with such an extremely dangerous Dark Magic…"
Ivan perceives Dumbledore's hidden meaning, and believes that "All Spells End" is a counter to Fire Curses, which would be impractical to break through.
"Really? How about this?" Dumbledore's words did not affect Ivan's mood, and his deep voice echoed through the church.
"Crosses flying!"
As soon as Ivan's voice trailed off, a five-metre-long metal cross on the white wall behind Dumbledore was forcibly pulled down by magic, like a giant steel sword, mixed with flying dust and debris, and brought crashing down with indescribable speed…
Having to maintain his spell, Dumbledore was unable to turn in time, and his cursed right side made every movement particularly difficult.
In less than a second, the heavy cross passed through the sea of fire and crashed into the protective barrier!
The All-Curses, which was specifically designed to deal with magical incantations, was much weaker in dealing with physical damage. Its seemingly indestructible defense was shattered almost instantly.
The surrounding flames were like raging waves, crashing down from the sky and melting the huge cross in their flames.
Dumbledore's face remained calm in the face of this desperate situation, and the heat from the flames caused his robes to rustle. Before he could die, Dumbledore's body vanished into thin air.
Ivan did not expect Dumbledore to still have the presence of mind to use Apparition after being forcibly interrupted.
The well-thought-out blow missed again, and the heavy cross smashed heavily into the stone floor, sinking deep into the indentation it had created. The Fire Dragon then crashed to the ground, melting it into molten iron…
Sensing Dumbledore's sudden disappearance, Ivan quickly looked around, but the damaged church was empty and Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen.
Was it the Disillusionment Charm?
Yvonne thought to herself that Dumbledore must have used Apparition to avoid her attack, but she was certain that he had not left the church.
After all, the duel had been forced by Dumbledore, and there was no way the other party would leave the area.
As Ivan expected, a powerful surge of magic hit him from behind.
Ivan felt a chill run down his spine and quickly turned around, only to find Dumbledore behind him.
A red-gold beam of light was now in sight.
It was too late to cast the spell, and the golden-red beam easily penetrated Ivan's body, blasting a crater in the ground behind him.
However, the strange thing was that not a single drop of blood flowed out of the wound. Instead, Ivan's entire body collapsed into a large ball of flames, and in a second, he reformed into his human form…