"The World!"
As Ethan's roar echoed through the air, a torrent of darkness erupted from the card. Like a sudden, midnight shroud, it instantly swallowed everyone and everything. It devoured the shattered floor and the glinting shards of glass, transforming the surroundings into a space of pure, absolute black.
Around them, there was only a chilling, dead silence.
It was as if someone had slammed their fist onto a cosmic pause button. Bellatrix's hideous, snarling face—captured mid-lung—was frozen in the air. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius... and every member of the Enlightenment Society stood like statues, their faces locked in expressions of frantic excitement and raw tension.
Only Ethan moved. He slowly raised his hand.
Golden flames wreathed his arm as his pupils contracted, shifting into the vertical slits of a predatory beast. Pitch-black scales, hard as suit armor, crawled up his neck and across his cheekbones. He opened his mouth in this silent, frozen void, unleashing a high-speed incantation that finally condensed into a single, devastating word:
[BREAK].
BOOM!!!
A pillar of golden dragon fire erupted like the maw of a giant, surging upward and completely engulfing Bellatrix's massive, mutated body.
Only then did time begin to flow again.
Bellatrix's face, previously filled with bloodthirsty rage, instantly twisted into a mask of agonizing pain. A shrill, piercing shriek tore from her throat!
["AAAAAAGH!!!"]
The flames consumed her. Her hair and scalp vanished in the blaze; countless crimson tentacles lashed out weakly, only to be charred to ash. Across her winding, hardened insectoid carapace, the fire left behind a landscape of blackened, pitted craters.
"What just happened?!" Sirius shouted in shock, his bloodshot eyes reflecting the brilliant golden light. It was like watching a moth catch fire, turning into a lighthouse in the dark—luminous at first glance, but smelling of burnt wreckage as you drew closer.
["You... what did you do to me?!"] Bellatrix howled. She glared at Ethan in sheer horror, desperately pushing her magic to extinguish the terrifying flames.
"Nothing much," Ethan said, making a 'just a little bit' gesture with his fingers. His tone was as casual as if he were asking for a glass of water. "Didn't you say you wanted a fight to the death? To make sure we can both perform at our absolute best, I went ahead and opened up a private arena just for us."
He smiled, a dark, handsome glint in his eyes. "Now, nobody gets to run away."
Item Statistics: "The World"
AttributeDetailsName"The World"GradeTier 4 · Golden Legend!TypeRule-Based PaintingDescription"I'm at an all-time high right now!"EffectA one-time magic item that creates an Absolute Domain. It prevents all forms of teleportation and escape magic (including the caster's). Upon activation, the caster gains up to 5 seconds of Time Stop, depending on their magical proficiency.EvaluationA Super-Tier painting forcibly elevated using the remains of a Shinigami! This is a cage, a colosseum; only one shall leave alive.
The Duel in the Dark
The golden flames gradually flickered out amidst a crimson mist. However, Bellatrix's current state was a world apart from her previous form.
Her head was scorched bald, and half of her face had caved in, blackened and craggy like a cooling lava field. Only a single blood-red eye, overflowing with pure hatred, remained to glare at Ethan. A third of her body had been incinerated, taking most of her limbs with it. At the stumps, crimson flesh-tendrils writhed and sprouted, desperately trying to knit new appendages.
Bellatrix panted heavily, her mind throbbing with agony and a surging sense of shock.
In just a few weeks, how has this boy gained so many bizarre, twisted spells? It's like he's a growing supernova, expanding at a terrifying speed and emitting a light that burns.
If she allowed him to keep growing, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"I have to kill you here..." Bellatrix muttered, a fanatical light dawning in her eye. "I won't let you... stand in the way of my Master's grand design!!"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The words had barely left her lips when her remaining torso lunged forward, closing the distance to Ethan in a heartbeat. Countless tiny crimson hands shot out like a rain of needles!
Ethan leaped backward. The red needles slammed into the ground one after another, creating a rhythmic thud-thud-thud against the dark floor.
Bellatrix sneered, ["Ha! Don't think you can hid—GACK!"]
A heavy boot suddenly connected with the side of her face. The force of the kick sent ripples through her smug expression like a stone hitting water.
THUD!
She was sent flying horizontally, crashing heavily into the ground and spitting out a mouthful of gore. Ethan stood tall, glancing at the twitching Bellatrix. He tilted his head and asked with genuine curiosity:
"Are you an idiot? I told you, I created this space so I could move better."
He looked at her with a mockingly pained expression. "Running face-first into a beating... what are you, a masochist?"
Bellatrix: ["..."]
"Cough... Wheeze!" Her fury reached a boiling point, causing her to hack up another spray of blood—mostly out of sheer indignation. Watching Bellatrix in such a pathetic state, Harry suddenly felt a strange sense of catharsis.
So, watching Ethan torment someone else is actually quite refreshing... as long as he isn't doing it to me.
The Master's Power
["YOU WILL DIE!!"]
Bellatrix let out a primal roar and forced herself upright. Countless crimson hands clasped together in the air, condensing into a massive, finger-shaped "club" of raw energy.
VROOOOM—
At the tip of the club, crimson magic swirled like a compressed vortex, instantly radiating a pressure so heavy it made the heart skip a beat. Bellatrix's cheeks grew sunken and sallow, as if her very life force was being siphoned away. Yet, she erupted into a triumphant, manic laugh.
["This is the supreme power granted to me by my Master! A mere savage giant could never hope to stop this!"]
She pointed the surging energy toward the group. ["Accept your fate and die along with your foolish companions, Ethan Vincent!"]
The next second...
BOOM—!!!
A pillar of crimson light erupted like a flood, illuminating the dark space with a blinding glare. For a moment, the world went silent.
The students looked up, staring dumbfounded at the overwhelming red light. It was as if they were watching a scorching sun shatter and explode right before their eyes. In the face of such a tide, they felt like nothing more than insignificant specks of dust.
Merlin... this isn't the kind of power that should exist in the wizarding world. Even Dark Arts shouldn't be able to reach this level...
What kind of entity are we fighting? I shouldn't have come here...
Why is it so easy for the villains to find power? Mom, Dad... I don't want to be helpless anymore...
Doubt, fear, and intrusive thoughts swirled through the students' minds. Standing beside Sirius, they finally realized how difficult it truly was to save a single person. It was like trying to tow an iceberg with a rowboat.
However.
The light of the "Lamp" shone in their minds, brighter than the crimson pillar! Their wills acted like silken threads, pulling their trembling arms into position. If their wands were being blown away by the violent air pressure, they held out their palms, using their fingers as circuits to channel the magic!
"PROTEGO!!"
The crimson beam, carrying the wails of a thousand vengeful spirits, slammed into the guarding giant like a flash flood hitting a reef. The massive body was completely swallowed by the red glare.
["Ahahaha!"] Bellatrix spread her arms, screaming in ecstasy. ["Kill them! Dissolve them! Only my supreme Master can be the ruler of this world!"]
The red light reflected off her withered face. Bellatrix actually began to cry—tears of sheer devotion. In her mind, she could already see it: the Master taking his throne, and her by his side as his most loyal, most pious lieutenant.
After several seconds, the red light began to recede. The pillar shrank and eventually vanished, leaving behind massive clouds of thick, swirling smoke.
["They must be nothing but ash now,"] Bellatrix grinned, looking down at the smoke. ["A pity. I didn't get to torture that brat with my own hands..."]
She let out a raspy chuckle. ["Heh. It seems there was no need for the Prophecy Orb after all. Ethan's destiny ends right here."]
Despite her words, she struggled to drag her weakened body toward the smoke, praying that the specially made Prophecy Orb hadn't been vaporized by the blast.
But then.
"Cough... Cough, cough!"
A faint sound drifted out from the thick of the smoke.
Bellatrix froze instantly. Her eyes bulged as if she had just heard the one sound in the universe that was absolutely impossible.
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze