I'm always forgetting the spelling of Athenaeum so I'll refer to it as Hall of Knowledge.
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"I must thank you, Cyrus. If you hadn't killed that wizard's body at Gringotts, I wouldn't have found this vessel after escaping," Voldemort said softly.
For over a hundred years, Ranrok's body had seemingly lain in some corner of the underground caverns beneath Gringotts. He hadn't died, but had lost consciousness. This allowed Voldemort to easily take control of the body, simultaneously gaining access to Ranrok's memories.
Now, Voldemort had obtained the entry ticket to ancient magic. When he was fully revived, he could conduct some magical experiments to transfer Ranrok's ancient magic talents to himself.
At that point, not even Dumbledore would be a match for him.
Of course, Voldemort still had one more question for Cyrus.
"Tell me, what have you done with my Horcruxes?"
Despite Voldemort's attempt to appear calm, his voice quickened, and his pupils contracted when he mentioned the Horcruxes. After discovering the loss of the goblet, Voldemort had immediately checked on his other Horcruxes, only to find that they were all missing.
He hadn't gone to look for the diadem, but he had little hope for it now.
"You stole my things. I believe Dumbledore taught you that this was wrong, didn't he?" Voldemort said.
Cyrus: ???
"You've got to be joking, Tom," Cyrus almost laughed. "Aside from the diary and the ring, which one of those Horcruxes truly belonged to you?"
"Those are my Horcruxes! Fragments of my soul!" Voldemort snarled at Cyrus. "You didn't destroy them, did you? You wouldn't do that, would you? It wouldn't be beneficial for you."
"Who knows? Not everyone acts solely for benefit. Maybe I was just curious," Cyrus replied with a playful tone.
Toying with a Dark Lord was certainly entertaining.
"How about we make a deal? I can tell you that I have two Horcruxes right now. Hand over that book, and I'll give you the ring," Cyrus proposed an offer Voldemort would find hard to refuse.
In reality, Cyrus intended to deceive Voldemort. He had already consumed the soul fragment within the ring. The ring was now just an empty shell, a broken container with no use.
Swapping the ring for the book would be a pure gain for Cyrus!
But to Cyrus's surprise, Voldemort refused.
Voldemort was actually a bit surprised; he thought Cyrus might have three Horcruxes.
Could the diadem still be in the Room of Requirement? Voldemort's mind started racing.
If the diadem was still there, he had little to worry about. Even if only one Horcrux remained, it would still ensure his immortality. He had made so many Horcruxes precisely to handle situations like this.
"You're so foolish, Cyrus," he said with a relaxed smile.
"By killing you, both the ring and the cup will be mine!"
Voldemort's face was filled with arrogance, apparently bolstered by Ranrok's talent and the goblin armor.
Indeed, Voldemort was stronger now compared to when he was in Gringotts.
However, Cyrus noticed that even with Ranrok's ancient magic talent and mithril-enhanced magical strength, the power he wielded still fell short of the Voldemort who hadn't yet faced death.
Although the special magic that could wield ancient spells provided a significant boost to the power of magic, breaking the rules of modern magic, it didn't necessarily mean that those who mastered ancient magic were stronger than modern wizards.
Each wizard's magical strength varied.
Wizards like Voldemort and Dumbledore were absolute geniuses, even in the entire history of wizards!
"Kill me? You think you can just because you've got a new body?"
Cyrus, having been attuned to the echoes of ancient magic these past few days, had also seen an increase in his magical strength. Additionally, after absorbing Voldemort's soul fragment, his magical power had significantly improved.
Ultimately, Voldemort was just a defeated adversary. What was there to fear?
This time, without waiting for Voldemort to make a move, Cyrus took a step forward and his wand shot out a black curse.
Voldemort relied on the goblin armor's defensive power and didn't even attempt to dodge. Instead, he shattered the spell with a swipe of his clawed hand. He then clasped his two massive hands together, and the black mist, tinged with blood-red light, gathered in his palms. In the next moment—
The black mist lunged like a serpent!
Cyrus's amber-like eyes flashed with electric light, and lightning instantly shattered the serpent.
Moist thunderclouds spread rapidly in the confined space, forming a massive vortex that enveloped both Cyrus and Voldemort.
In the pitch-black thunderclouds, only the lightning and those golden eyes still gleamed with light!
A net of lightning surrounded Voldemort, with whistling lightning serpents piercing through solid rock!
The ear-piercing sound of explosions tore through the air, electric light flashing—
An endless thunderstorm swallowed Voldemort in an instant, with dense currents of electricity striking his armor like a torrential downpour, accompanied by incessant thunderclaps!
Voldemort stood in the midst of the lightning with difficulty, the magical defenses of the goblin armor blocking most of the lightning, but the impact of the currents wasn't easily neutralized. He felt as though he were standing in a raging torrent, with the oncoming attacks making it hard even to lift his arms!
More importantly, the lightning, like rampaging serpents, found every gap, instantly burrowing into the cracks of the armor and gnawing at his flesh.
Although Voldemort was using Ranrok's body, he was the one controlling it, and thus, the pain had to be endured by him alone.
"Ah—"
A guttural roar erupted from the goblin's throat, as crimson-black smoke coiled around Ranrok, dispelling the lightning and creating a vacuum around Voldemort. The ground beneath him cracked, and with a sweep of his massive hands, magic swirled around his fingertips!
Instantly, the floor of the Hall of Knowledge began to rise!
The earth fractured, like a riverbed scorched by the sun for months, and the shattered rocks seemed to come alive, transforming into surging waves of soil!
Then, these waves morphed into a horde of wild beasts.
Voldemort's transfiguration spell was executed with great finesse. The beasts tore through the thunderclouds, being shattered by the dense lightning web but continuously charging forward.
Cyrus's expression was solemn, and under his incantations, the lightning also transformed into thunder beasts, clashing with the oncoming horde!
They were almost evenly matched. Ranrok's strength far exceeded that of an average dark wizard, and with the aid of the goblin armor, Voldemort was much stronger than when he was in Gringotts!
By now, there wasn't a single intact piece of ground left in the Hall of Knowledge. Their spells had turned the entire room into ruins.
If not for the fact that the Hall of Knowledge was located directly beneath Hogwarts and the castle itself was protected by spells, this place might have already collapsed like the underground caverns of Gringotts!
Cyrus thrust a spear of lightning with one hand while gripping a scarlet flame with the other. The fire blazed like molten lava, yet even hotter!
Boom!!!
The flames erupted instantly!
In a split second, the entire Hall of Knowledge was consumed by the explosion, shattering all the spells within it!
As the residual flames, like a falling sun, burned out in the darkness, the hall fell silent once again. Only tiny sparks and currents of electricity flickered like fireflies, reminiscent of a summer night.
However, this night was far from refreshing.
The air inside the Hall of Knowledge was now extraordinarily dry; even breathing felt like inhaling scorching smoke, as if swallowing hot sand from a desert.
"Cough, cough—"
Voldemort coughed uncomfortably. At the moment the fire spell exploded, he had been too preoccupied to maintain any semblance of composure. Although he wasn't injured, he looked exceptionally disheveled.
"Scourgify."
He cast a spell to make himself look less like an African native. When his scarlet gaze fell back on Cyrus, he saw his opponent holding his wand and looking at him arrogantly.
"Is this it? The so-called Dark Lord, and this is all you've got?"
Cyrus gazed at Voldemort with contempt, his golden eyes lowered, as if disappointed by Voldemort's current strength to the point of disinterest.
In reality, though, his condition wasn't as optimistic.
After the powerful spell's explosion, his soul seemed to have encountered a problem. He had only recently absorbed the fragment of the soul from the ring and hadn't fully digested it. The residual will of Voldemort was fighting in the depths of his soul.
Willpower is crucial for a wizard to cast spells normally. Now, with another consciousness resisting in Cyrus's mind, even though it was weak and far from being able to control him, its faint whispering was enough to affect the battle, potentially becoming a fatal weakness.
'Tch!' Cyrus clicked his tongue in slight annoyance.
He needed just a bit more time to completely digest the soul fragment, but the timing now was far from ideal.
Cyrus steadied himself. The most important thing now was to ensure Voldemort didn't notice anything amiss!
"Continuing to fight like this is meaningless. You're not my match right now, and I know you can't be killed. Besides—" Cyrus said softly, his gaze lifting slightly upwards, "You wouldn't want to attract Dumbledore's attention, would you?"
Voldemort fell silent.
"Once again, how about we make a deal?"
Cyrus smiled and took out a broken ring.
After a subtle rub in his hand, the ring suddenly looked as good as new.
"Let's exchange this Horcrux for that magical book you just obtained."
The silver ring gleamed in Cyrus's hand. In the dim cave, Voldemort couldn't see it clearly from over ten meters away. However, he could confirm it was the Gaunt family ring, his Horcrux!
He hesitated.
He wasn't sure about Cyrus's current state, but he was certainly alarmed by the power of the spell Cyrus had just cast!
That fire, no doubt evolved from Fiendfyre, likely infused with the ancient magic's power, combined with lightning for an even more devastating effect.
There was one point Cyrus made that Voldemort agreed with wholeheartedly: continuing to fight wouldn't yield any benefits, especially with that old undying Dumbledore right overhead.
Cyrus was determined to get that book, and if Voldemort didn't hand it over, he suspected Cyrus wouldn't let him leave so easily.
The location of the Hall of Knowledge still belonged to Hogwarts, where Apparition was not possible, and Cyrus had blocked the only exit. Unless he abandoned Ranrok's body, there was no way out.
But this body was still useful to him.
Although he looked down on Ranrok, a goblin, his magical power surpassed that of most wizards. Before his complete resurrection, Voldemort wasn't willing to lose this body. Even after his resurrection, he needed to study this body to ensure that he could possess the ancient magic talent after being revived.
In other words, Ranrok's body was more important to Voldemort than that book, which might contain ancient magic.
It was his key to mastering ancient magic.
Voldemort's crimson eyes gleamed with greed as he slowly extended two twisted, branch-like fingers:
"Not just the ring, but also the cup! Two Horcruxes in exchange!"
If they were going to trade, one Horcrux wasn't enough, right?
Voldemort doesn't want his lifeblood to be in the hands of others. He wants both the cup and the ring!
'Hand over the cup?'
Cyrus hesitated for a moment.
The cup was different from the crown. It would not be of any use to him for the time being. Even if he handed it over, he would not lose anything. Voldemort could not destroy the cup anyway, so he could find a way to get it back later.
But after a brief thought, he still did not agree to Voldemort's request.
If the cup was given to Voldemort, it would be difficult to find it again. Having already lost his Horcrux once, Voldemort would definitely store it in a place where no one could find it, or even throw it into the sea.
He didn't want to face a Voldemort who could never be killed.
"Only the ring!"
Cyrus said without letting anyone know.
Although he was not in good condition at the moment, he still acted very strong, and only in this way could Voldemort not understand his current condition.
Of course, Cyrus was not taking risks without any confidence, and in the worst case, he was also sure to get out of it unscathed.
The so-called worst refers to the fact that Voldemort and Dumbledore joined forces to kill him.
And this is obviously impossible.
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