The courtyard of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had become a battlefield. Surviving teachers and students were trapped together on the grounds, surrounded by Voldemort's followers. Fear hung heavily in the air as everyone watched the strange alliance standing on the raised platform above them.
A bald ambush demon with an oddly shaped body stood like a statue at the front. Coiled at its feet was a massive python, its scales glinting as it slowly shifted its enormous body. Beside the creature stood Voldemort, pale and cold, while Loki waited at his left wearing a tailored suit and perfectly styled hair. Behind them stood a silent row of mutated superheroes, their bodies twisted by infection but still frighteningly powerful.
Loki glanced down at the boy standing among the trapped students and curled his lip in contempt. Harry Potter looked slightly chubby, clutching his wand with both hands as if it were the only thing keeping him steady.
"That's Harry?" Loki said dismissively. His tone carried pure mockery as he looked at Voldemort. "You wasted years worrying about a kid like this?"
Voldemort didn't look amused. His red eyes shifted toward Loki, and his voice came out low and cold.
"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots," he said. "In the future, Harry Potter will become my greatest enemy. He might even be the one who kills me. I will not allow that future to happen."
Loki shrugged impatiently and waved a hand. "Fine, I get it. Since you're so worried about him, just kill him now so we can leave."
At that moment, the giant python suddenly raised its head and opened its blood-red mouth wide. Its massive body straightened as if preparing to swallow Loki whole.
Voldemort's voice turned icy. "Loki, we reached an agreement. That does not make me your subordinate. You have no right to order me around."
Loki stared at the enormous snake, completely unimpressed. His expression hardened as he muttered flatly, "I suddenly feel like eating snake soup."
The python instantly recoiled, shrinking back as if terrified by his gaze. Voldemort's eyelids twitched slightly in irritation.
Loki simply reached into his coat and pulled out a dark ancient book. With a sly smile, he handed it toward Voldemort.
"You're right," Loki said casually. "We made a deal. I'm not rushing you at all." His grin widened as he continued. "Just a friendly reminder. Once you leave with me, this Dark Book—something dark sorcerers worship like a holy relic—will belong to you."
Voldemort appeared calm, but the moment his eyes fell on the Dark Book, his heart stirred violently.
At that exact moment, Harry Potter suddenly raised his wand and tried to ambush him.
Voldemort reacted faster. With a flick of magic, Harry's wand was knocked out of his hand before the spell could even form. The giant python immediately began sliding toward Harry, its massive body dragging across the stone as its forked tongue flicked through the air.
Just as Harry was about to disappear into the monster's mouth, a blazing fireball suddenly fell from the sky.
Boom.
The explosion smashed directly into the python. In an instant the enormous creature turned into roasted snake jerky, its massive body collapsing in smoking chunks.
Loki tilted his head up toward the sky and smiled. "Now this is interesting."
A three-headed dragon was descending from the clouds.
Enraged by the death of his serpent, Voldemort immediately pointed his wand at the dragon and fired a powerful spell.
Boom!
The dragon was struck and lost its balance, crashing headfirst into the ground with a thunderous impact.
A figure leaped down from the dragon's back. The black cat landed lightly beside him, but the Joker, the Scarecrow, and Bane tumbled down far less gracefully, hitting the ground in a cloud of dust.
The Scarecrow spat dirt out of his mouth and cursed loudly. "This thing is unstable. I swear I'll never ride one again."
The trapped students began shouting excitedly.
"Look! It's Professor McGonagall!"
"She brought reinforcements!"
"We're saved!"
"Harry, we're saved!"
The courtyard erupted with cheers as hope returned to their faces.
The Joker casually kicked the Scarecrow and pointed forward. The Scarecrow followed his gaze and froze when he saw the row of mutated superheroes standing behind Loki.
"My God," the Scarecrow muttered. "There are so many of them."
He glanced sideways at Bane. "Can we even win?"
Bane looked at the cheering teachers and students behind them before answering calmly. "In terms of numbers, we have quite a few people too."
He paused before adding thoughtfully, "But numbers don't decide victory."
"That's true," the Scarecrow admitted. His eyes shifted toward the man floating in the air above them, and his confidence returned instantly.
On the high platform, Loki watched everything with an amused smile.
"Voldemort," he said casually, "I don't know whether Harry will grow strong enough to kill you someday."
His grin widened.
"But I do know that if you can't survive today, you'll die right here."
Voldemort looked at him coldly. "Is he that powerful?"
Loki shook his head slowly. "Not powerful. Terrifyingly powerful."
Voldemort stretched out his hand and spoke calmly. "Give me the Dark Book. I'll kill him for you."
"Deal."
Loki didn't hesitate. He pulled out the Dark Book again and placed it directly into Voldemort's hand. Then he looked up toward the floating figure in the sky and smiled deliberately.
It was obvious he was doing it on purpose—pushing Voldemort forward so the attention would shift away from him.
Voldemort frowned slightly as he accepted the book. Only then did he realize he had been pushed into a trap.
But he didn't care.
He slid the Dark Book into his robes and slowly lifted into the air. His body floated upward until he hovered at the same height as Li Jie.
Among all the wizards present, Voldemort was the only one capable of flying like this. He clearly intended it as a display of power.
Li Jie barely glanced at him. His focus remained entirely on the mutated superheroes lined up behind Loki.
Each of them alone was manageable. Together they were dangerous.
It was obvious what the best strategy was—take down the leader first.
Li Jie raised his hand and released the Cloak of Levitation.
Whoosh.
The cloak flew forward and wrapped tightly around Loki's body.
Loki didn't even struggle. He simply shouted toward Voldemort with clear annoyance.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Start already!"
Voldemort glared at him furiously. In his mind he snarled, I am not your subordinate. Stop shouting at me.
"Careful!" Loki suddenly warned.
But it was already too late.
The moment Voldemort began creating a magical clone, Li Jie moved.
His speed surpassed even the flying cloak.
Smack.
Li Jie's fist slammed directly into Voldemort's face.
The dark wizard didn't even have time to react. His body shot downward like a meteor before crashing into the ground with a thunderous boom that kicked up a massive cloud of dust.
Loki sighed in disappointment. "You're really useless."
The entire courtyard fell silent.
McGonagall, the teachers, and every student stared in stunned disbelief.
That was it?
The most feared dark wizard in the world… defeated with a single punch?
Voldemort was indeed powerful, but all wizards shared a fatal weakness. Casting magic required incantations and sometimes hand movements. The more powerful the spell, the longer the preparation.
For Li Jie, physical combat was the simplest solution.
He was faster and stronger. Voldemort never stood a chance.
Before the dark wizard could stand up, Li Jie used telekinesis to grab Voldemort's wand from a distance. The yew wand with its phoenix feather core flew straight into his hand.
With a casual squeeze, it shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
Without his wand, Voldemort could no longer cast his dark magic.
Panic flashed across his face as he quickly pulled the Dark Book from his robe, hoping to rely on its power.
Loki watched helplessly and sighed.
"Seriously?" he said. "Do you think that thing still matters now?"
Even if preparation could help during a fight, there was one problem.
Li Jie would never give him time to flip through a spellbook during combat.
Li Jie lifted his hand again. Telekinesis seized Voldemort's body and dragged him into the air.
Crack.
Voldemort's neck snapped instantly.
His body went limp as life left him.
Li Jie frowned slightly.
He had not gained any ability.
Voldemort's corpse dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Li Jie slowly descended beside it, staring at the body with confusion.
Voldemort was clearly dead.
So why didn't the system grant any reward?
Had the ability stopped working?
Professor McGonagall stepped forward and examined the body carefully before speaking calmly.
"It's a Horcrux."
She explained that Voldemort had split his soul into multiple fragments and hidden them in different objects.
"As long as even one Horcrux remains intact," she continued, "he cannot truly die."
Li Jie understood instantly.
So this body only contained part of Voldemort's soul.
That explained why no reward appeared.
"That man is far more cunning than I expected," Li Jie muttered.
McGonagall looked down at the Dark Book lying nearby, her expression serious.
"What do you plan to do with it?"
In her eyes, the Dark Book was far more dangerous than Voldemort himself.
"I'll handle it."
Li Jie picked up the book and placed it directly into his inventory without even opening it.
First, he had never seen the real Dark Book before, so examining it would prove nothing. Second, its evil energy was extremely dangerous.
Anyone who opened it would become obsessed with its contents.
The addiction was worse than any drug.
When Li Jie floated in front of him, Loki immediately forced a bright smile.
"Hey," he said politely. "We can talk this out."
He gestured toward the ground where Voldemort's body lay.
"Look, Voldemort is dead. The Dark Book is in your hands now."
His smile widened nervously.
"So how about you let me go?"
Li Jie snorted coldly.
"You're the most cunning creature in the universe," he said. "Even looking you in the eye could be a trap."
His voice turned deadly calm.
"The safest solution is to kill you."
The Cloak of Levitation tightened around Loki's body. His smile slowly twisted into something darker.
"That's unfortunate," Loki said softly. "We could have ruled the world together."
He paused, his voice turning cold.
"Or even the entire universe."
"Unfortunately… you chose to become my enemy."
Whoosh.
A shield suddenly flew toward Li Jie.
He caught it instantly.
At the same moment, Loki disappeared.
He didn't escape.
He simply vanished, like a projection suddenly switched off.
Li Jie's eyes narrowed.
The figure standing here earlier might never have been Loki's real body.
With a flick of his arm, Li Jie hurled the shield back. It smashed directly into Captain America's chest and sent him flying backward.
"They really know how to cause trouble," Li Jie muttered.
As Captain America flew away, the other mutated superheroes scattered and fled in every direction.
"Chase them!"
Li Jie shouted toward the Joker, Scarecrow, and Bane before launching forward himself. His target was Quicksilver.
Among all the mutated heroes, that man was the fastest.
If they captured him, none of the others would escape.
Li Jie's speed matched Quicksilver's easily. In seconds the two had crossed more than twenty miles.
Just as Li Jie reached out to grab him, Quicksilver's body dissolved like sand and slipped through his fingers.
Another illusion.
Li Jie frowned and returned to Hogwarts immediately.
But when he arrived, Captain America and the shield were gone.
He looked toward McGonagall.
"Where did they go?"
She looked just as confused.
"I don't know," she admitted. "He simply vanished."
She paused before continuing thoughtfully.
"I suspect this was a powerful illusion."
Li Jie shook his head slightly.
"Even if it's an illusion, the real ones must be nearby."
"I'll find them."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body disappeared like a phantom. He searched the entire school first, suspecting Loki and the others might be hiding inside one of the rooms.
When that search produced nothing, he expanded the area and examined the surrounding lands.
No trace remained.
Even though he suspected Loki had already escaped, Li Jie continued searching until night fell before finally stopping.
The Joker, Scarecrow, and Bane experienced similar results. Every time they caught up to one of the mutated superheroes, the enemy vanished like smoke.
However, the three of them didn't return to the school immediately.
Since they had traveled all the way to the magical world, they figured it would be a waste not to explore.
Under the excuse of searching for enemies, the three criminals happily wandered through the magical world looking for valuable treasures.
Li Jie quietly approved of their behavior.
If he wanted these three to keep working for him, he needed to reward them somehow.
He didn't even ask what treasures they found.
To the teachers and students of Hogwarts, Voldemort had died in front of their eyes. Li Jie had also demonstrated overwhelming power.
To them, he was now a hero.
With Professor McGonagall's approval, the entire school held a celebration to thank Li Jie and his companions with the highest honors Hogwarts could offer.
The celebration lasted all night.
When dawn arrived, Li Jie finally returned to the room prepared for him.
Despite the long night, he wasn't sleepy.
The disappearance of Loki and the mutated superheroes made him question the authenticity of the Dark Book once again.
He placed the book on the table and stared at it silently for a long moment.
Eventually he abandoned the idea of opening it.
What if it was real?
If it truly contained the power of darkness, opening it could turn him into a puppet.
Li Jie finally put the Dark Book away and took out the Eye of Agamotto.
He activated it and peered into possible futures.
This time the vision revealed Loki and Voldemort working together again. But they were no longer in the magical world, and Voldemort's power had grown far beyond what he had shown earlier.
Beside them stood the mutated superheroes.
The sky turned black.
Demons descended from the heavens onto Earth.
Li Jie withdrew his mind from the vision and spoke quietly with a grim expression.
"Steppenwolf."
"The Parademon army."
He frowned deeply.
"Did Loki become Steppenwolf's subordinate?"
"That shouldn't be possible."
....
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