"Thanks."
Arthur thanked Harry before turning to the others.
"Now everything is finally settled."
"If there's nothing else, everyone can head home."
With that, Arthur departed first, taking Hermione and Melina with him.
The four remaining wizards exchanged glances.
No one spoke.
During the battle, they hadn't noticed it.
But now that everything was over, exhaustion crashed into them all at once.
Unlike Arthur's absurdly overpowered household, they were still ordinary flesh-and-blood humans.
After a battle of that scale, physical and mental fatigue was unavoidable.
Among them, only Snape appeared relatively unaffected.
Ever since his soul had been transformed into Primal Glintstone, the condition of his physical body had become far less important.
In the end, Dumbledore departed with Harry.
Meanwhile, Lucius followed Snape back to Spinner's End.
Thinking about it now, Lucius found the situation almost surreal.
He had fully expected to spend months hiding at Snape's home with Narcissa and Draco while avoiding Voldemort's pursuit.
Instead—
less than forty-eight hours later—
Arthur had simply led them to Voldemort and killed him.
Even the final Horcrux would soon be eliminated.
At last, Lucius could safely return to Malfoy Manor.
Meanwhile...
After returning home, Arthur found Ranni reading quietly within the Zen Garden.
When she saw him, she closed her book.
"My Lord."
"You have returned."
"Was the matter resolved?"
Arthur nodded.
Then shook his head.
"It's resolved."
"But a new problem has appeared."
"I need to borrow the Fingerslayer Blade."
Ranni immediately became curious.
The Fingerslayer Blade was no ordinary weapon.
It was specifically forged to wound the Greater Will and its divine servants.
What kind of enemy would require its use?
Could this world possess something comparable to the Greater Will?
Ranni asked,
"Who is the enemy this time?"
Arthur answered,
"The god of death."
"The one responsible for Voldemort's resurrection."
He briefly explained everything that had happened.
After listening, Ranni felt slightly disappointed.
Had she accompanied Arthur this time, she would have witnessed the appearance of a true deity from another world.
Still—
there would be another opportunity.
Arthur clearly intended to seek revenge against Death.
Ranni had no intention of missing that.
"My Lord," she said.
"When will you act?"
"And may I accompany you?"
Arthur considered the question.
After some thought, he realized there wasn't really any reason to refuse.
According to the system's description, the Fingerslayer Blade possessed a peculiar restriction:
Those without the proper fate could not wield its power.
Arthur had no idea what exactly constituted the necessary fate.
Nor did he know whether he himself qualified.
Originally, he considered finding one of the Greater Will's servants to test the blade.
Then he remembered—
there had once been a Two Fingers inside Roundtable Hold.
For a moment, the idea seemed feasible.
Ultimately, however, he abandoned it.
First, the Two Fingers were probably already dead.
The last time Arthur visited Roundtable Hold, most of the structure had already burned.
The Two Fingers had been barely alive even then.
By now...
they were probably roasted.
Second—
Arthur had thought of a much better solution.
He looked at Ranni.
"Of course you can come."
"As soon as Harry sends over the Invisibility Cloak, we'll move."
"By then, I'll need you to do something specific..."
That night.
Inside an isolated region of the Zen Garden.
A shallow depression stretched across the landscape.
At its center stood a damaged stone archway.
A translucent veil hung beneath the arch.
Despite the absence of wind, the veil continuously shifted and fluttered.
This was the Death Altar Arthur had taken from the Department of Mysteries.
The gateway to the Underworld.
Tonight—
Arthur and Ranni intended to use it to visit Thanatos personally.
Standing before the archway, Arthur held a black wolfhound in one hand.
Ranni looked at him uncertainly.
"My Lord."
"Are you absolutely certain this will work?"
Arthur shrugged.
"Only one way to find out."
Without hesitation, he tossed the wolfhound toward the archway.
Since it was called a Death Altar—
a sacrifice was naturally required.
The wolfhound was Arthur's chosen offering.
Historical records from the wizarding world stated that sacrifices to Death must be:
Black.
Alive.
And animal.
Arthur remembered what had happened during the battle in the Department of Mysteries.
When Sirius Black fought Bellatrix Lestrange, he had been struck by a Stunning Spell.
His body had fallen backward—
through the Veil.
And vanished forever.
Arthur suspected Sirius had actually entered the Underworld through this very gateway.
After all...
The surname Black literally meant black.
Sirius had still been alive when he passed through.
And his Animagus form happened to be a black dog.
He perfectly satisfied every requirement of Death's sacrifice.
That was why Arthur had chosen a black wolfhound for his experiment.
The unconscious animal passed through the veil and disappeared.
Immediately afterward—
the translucent curtain began darkening.
Gray became black.
Then black became an endless abyss.
A distinct spatial fluctuation emerged from the gateway.
Arthur smiled.
His theory had been correct.
Ranni, meanwhile, looked completely speechless.
The entrance to the domain of a god of death...
could actually be opened in such a childish manner?
She genuinely didn't know where to begin criticizing this.
Arthur glanced toward her.
"Looks like the gate's open."
"Let's go."
Ranni set aside her disbelief and nodded.
Then she draped Harry's Invisibility Cloak over herself.
Arthur raised his left hand.
Death energy flowed from his fingertips.
As it brushed across the cloak, the legendary artifact fully awakened.
The concealment instantly deepened.
After finishing the preparations, Arthur stepped before the gateway.
Without turning his head, he asked,
"Ready?"
A voice immediately answered from beside him.
"My Lord."
"I'm over here."
Arthur froze.
Then awkwardly coughed twice.
Apparently—
he had just been talking to empty air.
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