Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Link floated in the air, applauding.
The hands wrapped in mist armor collided, producing a dull, muffled sound.
"No matter how many times I see it, this scene is always so beautiful and spectacular," Link praised.
"As expected of you, Professor Dumbledore! In this world, you're probably the only one who can use the Vanishing Spell with such terrifying destructive power, right?"
Dumbledore's lips twitched slightly.
For some reason, he felt like there was a strange, sarcastic undertone in Link's words.
But he had no proof.
Shaking his head, he continued maintaining the pillar of light, keeping it locked onto the bird monster.
This kind of legendary-level Transfiguration was enough to destructively break down any substance and turn it into the tiniest particles.
Even the murky magical flames burning on the bird monster were no exception.
However, faced with the intense pain of its body gradually collapsing, the bird monster actually stopped struggling.
It curled its body as much as it could, gathering all the murky magical flames at the center, carefully protecting Liro beneath it.
This scene moved Dumbledore.
Because he knew clearly that the bird monster in front of him was not a puppet controlled by Liro.
It had its own consciousness.
That meant this bird monster, or rather this little boy, was enduring the pain and protecting his Professor Liro.
No, not just this little boy.
The blood-red spear and blood-red mist formed from that pair of teenagers also appeared on the surface of the monster bird at this moment.
They were helping the little boy resist the erosion of the light pillar.
Even if it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
"Ah, what a group of good children."
At the center of the deep pit, Liro, who was firmly protected by the monster bird, sighed.
Around him, the murky magical flames were slowly becoming thinner.
Liro himself slowly raised his hands, clasped them in front of his chest, and gradually tightened them, forming a posture of prayer.
In the next moment, a dim glimmer of light lit up in his hands.
Under the influence of this faint light, the three forces protecting Liro also began to transform, turning into pure streams of magical power that wrapped around him.
Their appearance made the light in Liro's hands grow a bit brighter.
Seeing this, Dumbledore, floating in the sky, frowned tightly, and a sense of crisis suddenly surged in his heart.
Without hesitation, he swung the Elder Wand in his hand again.
The terrifying Vanishing Spell pillar below instantly expanded several times and smashed fiercely toward Liro.
However, this time, the result Dumbledore expected did not appear.
The light in Liro's hands was still dim, yet it carried a kind of power neither Dumbledore nor Link had ever seen before.
With the help of that power, the terrifying light pillar, like divine punishment, was actually firmly blocked outside the light, unable to advance even an inch.
"Ah! It's Professor Liro! Professor Liro is fighting the invaders!"
"Go help Professor Liro!"
"Hurry, hurry!"
———
A series of crisp shouts suddenly rang out from the direction of Beauxbatons.
Everyone instinctively turned to look, only to see countless students in Beauxbatons uniforms rushing over under the leadership of Maxime.
The torches in their hands formed a continuous line.
Winding through the darkness like a fire dragon.
At the very front of the long line, some students had already begun casting spells toward Link and Dumbledore in the sky.
Their spellcasting level wasn't high.
The power was insufficient, and their aim was terribly poor.
Link and Dumbledore didn't even need to dodge. The distance between the ground and the sky was enough to make most of the attacks vanish into nothing.
However, this scene made both Link and Dumbledore pause for a moment.
If one day someone invaded Hogwarts, then the teachers and students there would probably also raise their wands like this to defend their home, right?
Link and Dumbledore couldn't help but think so.
"This is the power of love.", Liro spoke calmly.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of both Link and Dumbledore.
"The power of love has no upper limit. The power of wishes is the same."
Liro's face was full of sorrow. As he spoke, he devoutly closed his eyes.
"Some wishes can wipe away pain, bring a chance of victory, and awaken hope.
Some wishes, even if the one who holds them dies, their soul returning to the heavens, still remain as they were when they were born, sincere and burning hot.
Until eternity!"
As Liro chanted, the streams of magical power wrapped around him began to surge wildly.
They twisted, danced, and finally returned to calm, turning into three silver-white phantoms.
The three phantoms slowly floated to Liro's side.
They reached out their hands.
And tightly grasped Liro's hands.
BOOM!
The originally dim light in Liro's hands suddenly exploded.
The light shone, but it wasn't blinding, and it contained endless power.
The blazing radiance instantly illuminated the entire Beauxbatons island, dispelled Dumbledore's Vanishing Spell, and ignited hope in the hearts of everyone present.
Within the sea of fire, the crowd that had been fleeing in all directions suddenly stopped.
They widened their eyes, staring at the light slowly rising from the tidal flats.
Then they clenched their teeth, raised their wands, turned around, and while chanting the Water-Making Spell, rushed into the sea of fire…
On the battlefield, Maxime and the others who were already fighting became even more frenzied.
They ignored the muddy ground and the overwhelming strength of Link and Dumbledore.
Under the call of the light, they charged toward them with all their might.
They wanted to protect Beauxbatons.
"Hiss!"
Looking at all this, Link took a deep breath and said, "Why does this feel like we're the villains instead?"
He shifted his gaze and looked into the distance.
There, a faint red light was slowly rising into the sky, then exploded into the shape of a sea monster.
That was the signal that Emily had successfully evacuated.
Seeing this, Link nodded, and a savage grin rose on his lips.
"Villains it is, then. But since we're already the villains, I think we should act like proper villains. What do you say, Professor Dumbledore?"
As soon as the words fell, before Dumbledore could respond, countless translucent Fiendfyre flames had already surged out from Link's body.
They seemed to have lives of their own.
With Link's nearly endless supply of magic, they kept expanding and twisting, eventually forming a gigantic bird-shaped creature over a hundred meters long beneath him.
"Talking about the power of love and wishes, heh, trash like you dares to claim that!? Watch closely, this is the real phoenix!"
Link roared as he slammed his wand downward.
The flaming giant bird beneath him let out a long cry toward the sky.
Under the impact of the massive sound wave, the originally translucent Fiendfyre suddenly changed color.
All kinds of vivid colors appeared, like a layer of brilliant clothing draped over the Fiendfyre bird.
Turning it from something ugly into a true phoenix.
"Link!"
Dumbledore shouted anxiously as he witnessed all this.
He understood that without the concern of Emily, Link was about to start a massacre.
"Professor Dumbledore, please don't try to stop me. You should understand that we have to do this. Otherwise, one day, what's happening now will fall upon Hogwarts."
Standing atop the fire phoenix like a divine general, wrapped in mist armor, Link spoke calmly.
Hearing this, Dumbledore swallowed the rest of his words.
Of course he understood what Link meant.
After all, although the dark magic Liro used was unclear in principle, its power was extremely terrifying.
Today, he had only sacrificed three children and already gained such strength.
What if he sacrificed more?
There were plenty of people like those three children who were deeply attached to Beauxbatons.
Thinking this, Dumbledore's expression returned to cold indifference.
He looked down at Liro, who was wrapped in light and radiating a sacred aura, and slowly raised the Elder Wand.
Dumbledore's aura suddenly changed.
All his previous compassion and kindness disappeared, replaced by endless indifference.
With the halo behind him, he seemed like a god above the heavens, gazing down at all living beings without emotion.
"Cry!"
The fire phoenix let out another long call.
Then, dragging its colorful flaming tail, it suddenly charged toward Liro.
Dumbledore also swung his wand.
The terrifying Vanishing Spells from before were now cast as if they cost nothing, poured down like water.
Seeing this, a trace of surprise finally appeared on Liro's sacred-looking face.
To make Dumbledore hesitate, he had deliberately adjusted his position.
Behind him now was the Beauxbatons building complex.
Yet Dumbledore continued attacking without any concern?
Why?
Didn't Dumbledore also pursue the power of love?
Then where had his love gone now?
With these doubts, Liro flickered through the air at an almost eerie speed.
Several Vanishing Spell pillars that came later but arrived first brushed past his body.
This made his expression even more complicated. He looked up at Dumbledore, who seemed like a god in the sky, opened his mouth slightly as if to say something.
But before he could speak, the Vanishing Spell pillar that had already missed him and was flying toward Beauxbatons suddenly changed direction and slammed into his back.
The powerful light of wishes blocked the disintegration effect of the Vanishing Spell.
But the terrifying impact still blasted him away, directly knocking him out of the Beauxbatons building area.
And in the very next moment, Link arrived.
BOOM!
The two collided.
More precisely, it was Liro colliding with the Fiendfyre phoenix beneath Link.
The Fiendfyre phoenix instantly folded its wings, and countless flames wrapped around Liro's body, continuously eroding the faint light around him.
This faint light was called the power of wishes, but in essence, it was still within the scope of magic.
And as long as it was magic, it could be devoured by Fiendfyre.
As the outer layer of light was gradually eroded, Liro's expression suddenly changed.
Meanwhile, a slight smile appeared on Link's lips as he thrust downward with the massive mist sword, formed around his ebony wand as its core.
Thud!
When the mist sword collided with the light layer, it didn't produce the expected metallic clash, but a dull sound.
The outer layer of light, already weakened by the erosion of Fiendfyre and the Vanishing Spell, shattered instantly under the thrust.
The mist sword drove straight in, stopping only when its tip reached right in front of Liro, blocked by the remaining light.
This made Liro visibly let out a breath of relief.
He turned his gaze and looked at Link with a hint of provocation.
What he saw was a face carrying a faint, savage smile.
Ah…
A bad feeling suddenly rose in Liro's heart.
He looked again at the mist sword right in front of him, only to see a large amount of material within the blade surging toward its tip.
It was like Link, the "nurse," was using the mist sword as a "needle" to inject something into him, the "patient."
"Not good!"
Liro's face changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to block.
But in the next moment, he heard Link shout with a savage grin, "Explode!"
BOOM!
Another muffled roar like thunder among clouds.
The high-temperature steam, heated by Fiendfyre, erupted with unimaginable force.
The light layer around Liro completely exploded, and even the Fiendfyre phoenix wings wrapped around him collapsed entirely.
Amid the phoenix's cry, Liro, with his light completely gone, suddenly fell under the entanglement of the remaining Fiendfyre, leaving behind a trailing streak of flame in the air.
"Professor Liro!"
The Beauxbatons students below were horrified at the sight.
They shouted as they chased after Liro, who fell like a meteor.
In the end, Liro crashed into the ruins at the edge of Beauxbatons Island.
The students, holding torches, arrived in an instant and quickly surrounded Liro, whose body was charred black, wrapped in Fiendfyre, looking like a corpse.
"Professor Liro! Don't die! Please!"
Lola, who had once competed with Gabrielle for reception duties and had met Link and the others before, rushed toward Liro crying, ignoring the intense heat emitted by the Fiendfyre.
And she wasn't the only one.
There were countless students like her.
"Ch…children… for Be…Beauxbatons!"
Liro struggled to raise a charcoal-like arm. His voice, as if also burned, came out hoarse and rough.
But a trace of faint light lit up in his hand.
That faint light was extremely dim, yet it seemed to contain endless power.
Lola could no longer hold back.
"For Beauxbatons!"
Her eyes burned with fanaticism as she shouted and rushed forward, grabbing Liro's hand that was entangled with Fiendfyre.
BOOM!
The greedy Fiendfyre wrapped around her body.
Drawing nutrients from her flesh and blood.
This was the instinct of Fiendfyre.
Normally, under the full burn of Fiendfyre at Link's level, ordinary people like Lola wouldn't last even a second before turning to ashes.
But now, under Link's command, the main target of the Fiendfyre was still Liro on the ground.
And that led to a horrifying result.
The Fiendfyre clinging to Lola's body was like a child who had gotten a precious candy, slowly licking and sucking away her life bit by bit.
"Ah!"
A shrill scream burst from Lola's mouth, then abruptly stopped, as the Fiendfyre entered her throat through her mouth.
This intense, prolonged pain nearly drove her mind to collapse.
Yet even so, Lola still tightly held Liro's hand.
"No! What are you doing!" Maxime roared. "Stop! Liro! They're all students! Stop!"
At this point, Maxime had clearly realized something was wrong.
The Liro she had regarded as her right hand could not possibly possess such overwhelming strength.
More importantly, the targets of those two invaders' attacks were not Beauxbatons, but Liro himself.
And Liro was not fighting to protect Beauxbatons.
On the contrary, to survive, he was now using the entire Beauxbatons and its students as fuel.
As Maxime roared, she rushed forward, pulling at the surrounding students.
Trying to stop all of this.
But it was already too late.
"For... Beauxbatons!"
The loud chant rang out again.
Even with Lola's example and Maxime's obstruction, the frenzied students still rushed toward Liro like moths to a flame.
One young life after another threw itself into the sea of fire.
As these lives were sacrificed, the faint light in Liro's hand began to grow brighter again.
The Fiendfyre that had been entangling Liro was gradually extinguished under the suppression of the light.
From the outside, it looked as if the students' desperate charges had put out the Fiendfyre.
Liro finally stood up again.
At this moment, he was nothing more than a charred corpse, barely resembling anything human.
The faint light could grant him the power to extinguish Fiendfyre and restore his combat ability.
But it could not heal the injuries left on his body by Fiendfyre.
He looked at Maxime, who had finally regained her senses, at the corpses scattered across the ground, at her face twisted with fury, her eyes wide as if they would split.
In a hoarse voice, he said calmly, "Headmistress Maxime, do you also wish to be my enemy?"
Maxime had nearly lost her sanity.
She held out her hands, wailing among the corpses, gathering the charred bodies into her arms one by one.
But these corpses, drained of all life, were as fragile as sugarcane squeezed dry.
Often, as she picked up another, the one in her arms would already crumble.
"My children… my good children…"
"What a pity," Liro sighed. "You clearly have the strongest wish in all of Beauxbatons."
Liro slowly raised his head.
In the sky, the previously scattered Fiendfyre phoenix had already reformed.
And Link, standing on its back, had clasped his hands together, taking the stance of an air cannon.
At the same time, higher above, dazzling light gathered at the tip of Dumbledore's wand.
"Again, is it?"
Liro smiled and raised his hand, the faint light rippling within it.
BOOM!
The air cannon and the Vanishing Spell fell one after another.
At that moment, the faint light in Liro's hand also shone.
Countless soul phantoms emerged from the light, roaring as they tried to rise into the sky, once again blocking the combined attack of Link and Dumbledore for Liro.
This was the most intense clash since the three had begun fighting.
It was also the strongest strike from three veteran legendary wizards.
It was foreseeable that such a terrifying attack, even its aftershock, would be enough to destroy all of Beauxbatons.
And at that very moment, Maxime suddenly flashed in front of Liro.
Facing the overwhelming air cannon and Vanishing Spell like heavenly might, two lines of blood tears flowed from Maxime's eyes.
"I won't let you harm… Beauxbatons!"
Maxime roared, and an indescribable surge of magic burst from her body.
"Ha!"
A trace of astonishment appeared on Liro's face.
He stared at Maxime's back and said with some emotion, "Maxime, you are a qualified good headmistress."