The round moon illuminated the night sky.
On a towering platform hundreds of meters high, a surging emotion, like magma, broke through the narrow crevices of the earth's surface.
The moment Hoffa saw him, a torrent of hatred flared in his heart. He had almost forgotten what Grindelwald once looked like—forgotten his pale, short hair and those mercilessly cold eyes.
All that remained was the memory of the madness in his face when he lured Fatir into killing his own daughter.
"Gellert Grindelwald!"
In a fury, Hoffa roared his mentor's full name.
At that moment, his eyes glowed crimson, his mouth stretched grotesquely to his ears, and his luxurious blue robe tore apart as his swollen muscles expanded. His chest blazed with the fiery glow of three rings, which rapidly spread across his body. His fingers transformed into crimson, curved blades as he vanished instantly from where he stood. In a blink, he reappeared just meters from the white-haired man.
Slash!
The white-haired man's hair fluttered wildly in the wind, forming a curtain behind him.
The boy leapt high into the air, his body bending like a bow under the moonlight. Twisting his waist, he brought his five fingers together and slashed down heavily.
Clang!
Sparks erupted.
The blade-like fingers cut into thick metal.
Hoffa had crashed into a metallic shield. Behind it stood two full-metal knights, each wielding a heavy shield. They knelt before Grindelwald, blocking the ferocious strike.
Hoffa's eyes burned crimson. Beyond the five slashes across the shield, the man behind it—his head encased in a metal cage—tilted his head slightly. Beneath the bars, his aged and gaunt lips curled into a faint smile.
"Humph."
A vast, condensed psychic forcefield swept over the platform like a tsunami.
Crack!
Crack!
The shattered stones from Hoffa's earlier collision began to hover, twist, and expand, transforming into metal knights. They rose slowly from the ground, their warhorses neighing.
The knights lifted spiral lances, aiming them directly at Hoffa's chest.
In an instant, the previously empty platform was filled with dozens of knights converging on the two figures at its center. Simultaneously, the knights whose shields Hoffa had slashed transformed under the effects of transfiguration. In the blink of an eye, they became massive iron chains, their silvery metal slithering around Hoffa's bulging arms.
"Grindelwald!"
Hoffa's entire body grew even larger. Under the night sky, enormous blood-red wings burst from his back, and his face split into two, revealing sharp, predatory teeth.
Boom!
The chains binding him were violently shredded to pieces, transforming into stone shards before they even hit the ground.
Hoffa neither dodged nor flinched. The lances pierced through his chest, impaling him like a sieve.
But amidst the blood splatter, the three rings on Hoffa's chest split open, morphing into a massive mouth.
Crunch!
As Hoffa grinned fiercely in the moonlight, the thrusting lances were bitten into fragments by the monstrous maw on his chest.
A psychic shockwave erupted!
All the knights reverted to rubble.
Behind the shield, Grindelwald's eyes narrowed.
His immense psychic forcefield condensed into a singular point. The rubble swiftly reassembled, morphing into a hovering silver shield in front of him—smooth and seamless like a droplet of water.
"Die!"
Boom!
Crack!
Two immense psychic forces collided.
Hoffa, monstrous in form, smashed his fist into the shield with terrifying speed.
The clouds in the sky scattered violently. On the ground, the reveling crowd grew dizzy; some bled from their noses.
On the towering platform, the shield—smooth as a droplet—shattered under the blow.
Metal fragments flew everywhere, turning back into stone before they landed.
The bones in Hoffa's right arm were instantly pulverized, bending at a grotesque ninety-degree angle from the recoil of his rage-fueled strike.
But his enormous fist still smashed into Grindelwald's calm face.
The blow sent Grindelwald flying.
The metal cage on his head cracked open, driving shards into his cheekbones.
He crashed deep into the ground, sliding dozens of meters.
Blood and brain matter splattered across the mirror-like platform, leaving his fate uncertain.
"Hah!"
Under the moonlight, Hoffa—his head grotesquely split open—extended a long tongue to lick the blood off his fist, his face twisted with savage delight.
The gaping maw on his chest also extended its tongue, greedily lapping at the blood on his body.
In an instant, the shattered bones of his right arm mended themselves. Hoffa took a step forward—
Clink!
Only to collide with an invisible barrier.
He frowned and raised his fist, shattering the barrier with a punch.
The space around him fragmented like glass.
Everything—moonlight, blood, Grindelwald, the platform, the rubble—shattered into pieces.
Beyond the fractured space, the moonlight remained as bright as ever, and the reveling crowd on the ground continued their celebrations.
Grindelwald still sat calmly, ten meters away.
As before, unscathed, as if what Grindelwald had shattered just moments ago was nothing more than an illusion.
Grindelwald steadied himself on his legs and rose.
Crack.
Crack.
At the same time, countless mirrors rose around Hoffa. Each mirror reflected a version of Grindelwald, some real, some illusory—indistinguishable from one another.
"How long has it been since we last met, Hoffa? Three years, fifty-three years, three months, or perhaps only three hours? Or maybe, we've never truly met at all," the man in the mirror said slowly.
"Grindelwald," Hoffa muttered, turning in circles amid the maze of mirrors, desperately trying to locate the real one. But the mirrors only multiplied.
"Face me!"
In a fit of rage, Hoffa clapped his hands together. Crimson spikes erupted from the ground, and his arm morphed into a metallic whip. He swung it in a wide arc, slicing through every mirror.
But in the next instant, the shards themselves became parts of new mirrors. Even after shattering, Hoffa remained surrounded, unchanged.
Grindelwald in the mirrors sighed softly, his tone almost like that of a patient mentor. "I saw your transformation earlier. You've grown, even learning to deceive others with illusions. But you shouldn't misuse the power of the Night God. After all, it doesn't truly belong to you."
"Grindelwald!!"
Hoffa bent over, clutching his head. His fingers dug into his scalp as he let out a muffled, furious roar. He bit his lower lip until it bled, the metallic taste seeping into his mouth.
Finally, the volcanic emotions simmered down. The fiery triple-ring scar on his chest retracted, and the grotesque second mouth vanished.
He withdrew his fingers, his form shrinking and thinning until he returned to his original state—a thin, bald boy.
Cross-legged, he sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and meditated.
When he opened them again, the mirrors were gone.
The sole real Grindelwald stood on the edge of the World Cup stadium's hundred-meter-high canopy. The night wind ruffled his tattered black robe and white hair, lending him an air of desolation.
"This is better," Grindelwald said, shaking the metallic cage on his head. Standing at the edge, he gazed at the wizards reveling below and remarked, "Such peaceful prosperity, Hoffa. In our time, ten thousand wizards gathered together would only end in bloodshed. How could such harmony be real? It feels so surreal."
Hoffa stared at him silently.
Grindelwald continued, "You being here today forces me to stop. But if you can delay me once, how many more times can you?"
He raised his hand, and countless silver orbs of light floated upward from the ground, swirling around him—souls lost in the earlier explosion.
"What's your goal this time?" Hoffa asked, suppressing his hatred and keeping his distance.
"To kill everyone," Grindelwald said bluntly, tilting his head. The blue eyes behind the cage were calm as they fixed on Hoffa. "Including you and me."
Hoffa's jaw dropped in shock, but within a second, he erupted in anger. "You're a lunatic! Completely insane!"
Grindelwald shook his head with a smile. "You don't understand, and I don't blame you. But I look forward to seeing you in the world after its awakening, Hoffa. Then, we'll settle this once and for all."
With that, he leaped from the stadium canopy.
Hoffa scrambled to his feet and dashed to the edge.
Grindelwald plummeted swiftly. Behind him, two massive red triangular eyes swirled open.
A frigid wind howled through the eyes as Grindelwald descended, the silver orbs trailing him. They all vanished into the pupils of the triangular eyes, which spun shut and disappeared without a trace.
Hoffa slowly sat down at the edge, staring at the spot where Grindelwald vanished, biting his lip.
Even without the Elder Wand, his old foe remained as formidable as ever. Hoffa couldn't fathom what had transformed Grindelwald over fifty years from a symbol of chaos into an outright harbinger of annihilation.
Below, in the Quidditch stadium's camp, coins, flowers, and women turned to ash. Thousands of revelers vanished like bubbles.
Only then did the remaining people realize something was wrong. Many had inexplicably disappeared.
Within seconds, fear and confusion spread. People shouted for one another, ran in panic, and trampled others. Firepits toppled, igniting fierce blazes that roared through the tents.
Order dissolved into chaos.
Children wailed. Adults argued. Frantic cries echoed in the cold night. Strange explosions and crude curses rang from the woods as tensions escalated into violence.
Before long, a green light shot skyward. Like a signal flare, it passed Hoffa and exploded into a massive green skull in the sky.
The skull, made of countless emerald stars, had a serpent slithering out of its mouth like a tongue.
It rose higher, glowing vividly against the dark sky like a new constellation.
The Dark Mark hung above Hoffa, mocking his every effort.
A wave of frustration surged through his chest.
"Damn it."
He clenched his fists, shut his eyes, and suddenly slapped himself hard.
Then again. And again.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
At that moment, an old man crawled out of the hole in the stadium canopy. Spotting the boy furiously slapping himself at the edge, the man scrambled toward him.
"Hoffa! Hoffa! Stop this! Please!"
(End of Chapter)
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