A ripple spread across the ground, and in an instant, the cramped little shack expanded to the size of a football field.
Even the ceiling stretched upwards by over ten meters...
"Oh... impressive. Seeing it in person is far more detailed than the descriptions in your book," Grindelwald remarked, admiring the shifting environment.
Clearly, he really had read Victor Wick's work...
*Crack!*
Victor Wick responded to Grindelwald with a bolt of lightning as thick as a barrel!
It plummeted from above, hurtling toward Grindelwald's head like a divine punishment.
Grindelwald looked up at the descending thunderbolt. At some point, a long, obsidian wand had appeared in his hand.
He gave his wand a gentle flick upward, and the powerful-looking lightning vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
Grindelwald's magic had struck the precise weak point of the spell, as light and effortless as a dragonfly skimming the water.
Complete nonchalance...
Grindelwald's smile didn't even flicker.
Though the bolt was merely a probe, Grindelwald's composure revealed a truth.
He might be old, and his magic might have waned after years of imprisonment, but his mastery of advanced magical techniques was undoubtedly far greater than in his youth.
With the probing over, Victor had a general sense of Grindelwald's strength and decided to stop holding back.
Floor, ceiling, distant walls... glowing ancient runes surged from every corner, colliding and restructuring in mid-air as countless spells took shape in an instant.
Yet these spells didn't launch immediately. They remained locked onto Grindelwald, a hair-trigger threat held in check.
Grindelwald's relaxed expression stiffened almost imperceptibly, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes...
*What a terrifying young man...*
In a wizarding duel, the spell already cast isn't the threat; it's the spell that could be unleashed at any moment from any direction.
Faced with such a threat, Grindelwald had to maintain a constant defensive charm to guard against any sudden strike.
This didn't just split his focus; it divided the magic he could mobilize...
It was essentially starting the fight by inflicting a debuff on Grindelwald, weakening him indirectly.
It was psychological warfare—keeping the opponent in a state of constant, uncertain dread.
The effect was far more potent than simply letting the spells fall.
Consequently, Grindelwald's best option was passive defense, waiting for the first move.
Grindelwald marveled inwardly. Anyone else would have launched the barrage immediately to support their offensive. Only Victor Wick could remain so patient, refusing to play all his cards at once.
Silently setting up such a checkmate...
One doesn't develop such combat instincts without extensive experience.
Yet, Grindelwald felt a flicker of doubt. It seemed illogical that someone with such vast experience had rarely been seen in action before.
The thought vanished as quickly as it had come.
Because Victor Wick was attacking. He seemed to have calculated that Grindelwald wouldn't dare strike first, as his next spell actually had a slight delay!
Usually, a spell with a wind-up is useless in a duel, but here, the timing was perfect.
And if a wizard of Victor's caliber had even a slight delay, it only proved the spell's devastating power.
Victor's wand traced an elegant arc through the air.
A crimson fire dragon, constructed from countless runes, materialized out of thin air!
The spell was indeed formidable; the dragon's roar alone carried a soul-shaking magical resonance.
An ordinary wizard would have collapsed instantly upon hearing that roar.
"Intriguing... that roar shares the properties of a Mandrake's scream," Grindelwald noted with admiration, raising his hand to summon a scarlet barrier that encased him completely.
The shriek that could easily incapacitate a hundred adult wizards was held firmly at bay by his shield.
Seeing this, Victor remained impassive.
How could a wizard like Grindelwald be brought down so easily?
With a flick of his wand, the fire dragon's claws seemed to tear through time and space, arriving before Grindelwald in the blink of an eye.
*Boom!*
The claws collided with Grindelwald's Shield Charm, producing a massive, dull thud.
Grindelwald sighed softly. "Exquisite... who would have thought to apply Apparition to a spell?"
Before he could finish, the fire dragon unhinged its jaws and unleashed a searing blast of breath.
"Ha... Fiendfyre as dragon breath..." Grindelwald was running out of ways to express his appreciation.
A single spell that combined Herbology, Magizoology, and the Dark Arts...
He had never seen anything like it.
Yet, as the killing stroke of Fiendfyre washed over Grindelwald's barrier, the shield only showed a few cracks with no sign of shattering.
In fact, as the Fiendfyre continued to burn, the barrier didn't collapse; it grew brighter, and the cracks even began to mend themselves.
*What a pity...* Victor thought. If he could find a living Basilisk, he could incorporate the magical properties of its gaze into the dragon spell.
However, something was wrong with Grindelwald's defense.
Victor looked at the barrier with a hint of surprise.
A Shield Charm? Unlikely.
A standard Shield Charm couldn't possibly withstand such a powerful Dark Arts assault.
Unless the charm wasn't cast by one person, but by a crowd.
But... Grindelwald was clearly alone.
Victor peered closely at the barrier. Once he discerned the runic sequence upon it, everything became clear.
It wasn't a simple Shield Charm. It was a combination of Protego, Finite Incantatem, and an unknown third spell.
Although the unknown spell was new to him, he could clearly see it functioning—absorbing the magic from his own attacks and converting it into energy to sustain the combination.
So while his spell seemed to be blocked, in reality, over half its power was being quietly neutralized by the counter-spell components, while the dissipating magic was re-absorbed to reinforce the shield.
In terms of complexity, this defensive magic was every bit as advanced as his fire dragon spell.
In terms of utility, it was arguably superior.
It required absolutely no charge-up time!
"Truly magnificent! If I didn't happen to know a little trick or two, I might not have survived to return to Nurmengard today," Grindelwald praised sincerely.
Grindelwald admitted that he had initially treated Victor as a promising youth.
But now, it was clear that this young man's understanding of magic allowed him to stand on equal footing with the greatest.
It was no wonder both Dumbledore and Voldemort had been so invested in him...
Victor realized then that with such a defense, Grindelwald hadn't been worried about the charging spells at all!
In other words, his psychological debuff hadn't fully landed.
So why hadn't he attacked while Victor was distracted?
"I see. You truly are a wizard on par with Dumbledore... You saw through the bait of my fire dragon's wind-up and knew it was a trap, so you chose not to attack." A hint of respect flashed in Victor's eyes.
However, Victor's casual remark caught Grindelwald off guard.
*So that slight delay in your casting was a trap all along? No wonder something felt off, and I instinctively decided to wait and see...*
By now, the fire dragon spell had dissipated.
Seeing Victor lost in thought, Grindelwald allowed a small smile to form. He raised his wand, unleashing a torrent of searing, spectral blue Fiendfyre!
Grindelwald's signature blue flames transformed into thousands of hideous little bats, swarming toward Victor like a deluge of fire.
Victor looked up and tapped his wand lightly in the air before him.
Dozens of ancient runes appeared, colliding and restructuring!
In an instant, a modified Shield Charm—identical to Grindelwald's—encased Victor.
*Phut! Phut! Phut!*
The powerful Fiendfyre, capable of incinerating a person with a single touch, vanished into nothingness the moment it struck the modified shield.
Victor could clearly see the spell's magic being converted into energy for his own shield.
Grindelwald realized then that Victor had learned his defensive magic after seeing it just once.
Amidst his shock, a glint of amusement flickered in the depths of Grindelwald's eyes.
"Heh..." Grindelwald looked at Victor with a sudden touch of cunning. "Excellent. It seems you have mastered the defensive magic I taught you. I can rest easy now."
Victor's brow furrowed. He hadn't expected the old man to start playing dirty.
If Dumbledore heard that, there would be no explaining it away...
Dumbledore really would get the wrong idea!