BOOM! BOOM—BOOM—BOOM— BOOM—BOOM! Beyond the capital, beyond the sleeping countryside surrounding the city, beyond Brighton and even Southampton, the sounds of violent thundercracks reached endlessly through the night, echoing like the wrath of gods descending upon the world. Hardly anyone was still asleep. News had spread far faster than even Maverick had anticipated, first through televisions, then radios and telephones, heck, some people were even seen running through the streets shouting to come outside and look at the sky. Even in distant countryside villages untouched by the constant noise of modern cities, homes were flickering awake one after another. Drawn by the booming echoes rolling across the night, confused residents stepped outside and turned their eyes toward the distant horizon. Some were terrified, others were curious, while a few even joked that it looked like some gigantic disco party taking place... honestly, with the booming echoes rolling alongside the endless sharp flashes of different colors pulsing through the clouds, one could hardly blame them. The strangest thing they saw, however, was none of that, but the gigantic beams of light that every so often streaked across the sky. They resembled some sort of lasers, only countless times brighter, so bright that whenever they collided, the resulting flash became so blindingly intense that night itself would briefly turn into day. --- Farther south from the heart of the capital. The colossal manifestation of Grindelwald’s magic vanished only a few exchanges after appearing — facing two opponents of equal standing, he naturally abandoned the idea of remaining flashy, the drain on his magic proving far greater than he had originally realized. Maverick and Dumbledore also made the same choice just moments later. Although they could offset the same disadvantage by supporting one another, their main priority was getting the battle away from the city as quickly as possible. But it was easier said than done. Grindelwald was not Voldemort, someone Maverick could simply slap with a portal and throw wherever he pleased. The only option, therefore, was to gradually force him toward the direction they wanted, and fortunately, with two against one, it would only be a matter of time. Moreover, Merlin’s magic was still in effect, so spatial movement of the magical system was not an option for either party. One must know, under normal circumstances, duels between powerful wizards tended to become very chaotic very quickly, filled with sudden disappearances, spatial feints, and attacks arriving from impossible directions. Tonight, however, none of that was happening. Even after abandoning their magical constructs, the battle remained a relentless chase through the skies, fast, yes, but only straightforward. Of course, the old Dark Lord had also become aware of it, only a little too late, for the simple reason that he had not attempted any space magic earlier. As for detecting it beforehand, that was obviously out of the question. The enchantment had been cast by Merlin himself, after all. --- Grindelwald admitted inwardly that he may have miscalculated a few things tonight. At first, he believed he would take the world by storm as the first wizard in modern history to break through to the rank of Warlock. So what if he was a convicted criminal? Who could possibly stop him? Then it turned out there were indeed people who could, and one of them was his old friend who had already achieved the very same breakthrough he did. And not only that, as absurd as Grindelwald wanted to believe it was, there was also a second party involved, younger, far younger than himself, who had somehow stepped into that same realm as well. Still, that didn't mean they were enough of a threat to bring down the current him. Even if they stood at the same rank, Grindelwald remained confident that if he truly wished to escape, neither of them would be able to stop him. So he decided to say hello, at the very least to his old friend, and in doing so, announce his return to the world as well. He had arrived while Maverick was still in the middle of playing with Voldemort, and saw it as the perfect opportunity to make his appearance. There were cameras everywhere. The perfect stage had already been prepared for him. He waited for the right moment, and the instant Maverick seemed finished humoring whatever game he had been playing, Grindelwald finally made his move. What happened afterward was straightforward. In fact, Grindelwald had never truly intended to win against two opponents in the first place, and merely wanted to make a statement, to announce that he had returned, hence the overly flashy display of magic at the beginning. It was only then, after dissolving his magical manifestation that he realized he could not use any form of space magic. And from that point onward, he had been locked in a relentless chase, pinned from both sides, constantly dodging, blocking, and dodging again and again, leaving him with barely a moment to breathe.“Haaah!” He bellowed sharply, tanking another one of Maverick’s attacks with a solid shield. He had only just twisted his body to evade Dumbledore’s spell and was left with no choice but to block, an opportunity Maverick did not waste. Booom— He streaked backward like a bullet, though within moments he forcibly yanked his body sideways once more. Maverick and Dumbledore’s plan was obviously working. However small, it was still progress. Time was short, but the speed was there. Unbeknownst to Grindelwald, amidst the relentless barrage, he had gradually been pushed farther and farther away, now nearing the city’s perimeter. BOOM—BOOM—BOOM— Dumbledore and Maverick’s offensive only intensified, remaining in constant telepathic communication, the coordination between the two gradually became seamless. The sky, on the other hand, had become a sea of chaotic light, with jets of crimson, gold, blue, and green energy streaking from every direction. The lack of space magic hardly made the battle any slower, even the two Archmagi, Edward and Olympe, could barely keep up, relying mostly on their magical sense just to follow. Maverick and Dumbledore’s attacks came from opposite directions every time, one driving forward while the other cutting off a path in a certain direction. What appeared to be pure chaos was, in reality, a carefully controlled assault. Every spell forced Grindelwald exactly where they wanted him to go, and before long, the city beneath them gradually began to thin out. Towering buildings slowly gave way to smaller streets, scattered lights, dark fields, forests, and distant hills. Still, Grindelwald had yet to notice, or perhaps he had and simply did not have the chance to react, the relentless offensive leaving him with barely a moment to think. More than anger, more than fear, he was honestly beginning to feel embarrassed, to be pushed to this point, trapped in an endless cycle of dodging, blocking, and being forced backward again and again, was nothing short of humiliating.BOOM— Until finally, after barely managing to raise a shield of magical energy and once again repeating the same routine of being blasted into the distance so fast that even his sharpened senses felt the world blur for a brief moment, something changed. BAM— Cough— Well, it wasn’t exactly the change he wished for, but it was something different nonetheless. He first felt something slam violently into his back, so hard that his eyes bulged for a brief second and saliva burst from his mouth, before darkness suddenly filled his vision. It was not that he had fainted. Knocking a mage of his rank unconscious would require far more than that. Rather, for a split second, he simply failed to register what had happened. Only when his palm scraped against rough earth did realization finally dawn on him. The nonstop barrage had disoriented him so badly that he had lost all sense of up or down before slamming directly into the ground. “Alb... bus...” Cough— He, a dignified mage at the rank of Warlock. He, Gellert Grindelwald. He, who was supposed to gloriously announce his return to the world... How... had he ended up like this? Rage... humiliation... and beneath it all, pure fury from the very bottom of his heart fueled the infant magical core inside him, and his magic answered his emotions in return. Rumble... His eyes glowed brilliantly through the darkness as the surrounding soil began trembling violently— “ALBAAAAAASSSS!” He shouted the only name he respected, yet at this moment hated the most, magic amplifying the sound so greatly that it tore through rock and soil before echoing across the land like a great bell for miles in every direction. RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—BOOOOOOM! Shortly afterward, the hill exploded apart like a volcanic eruption, and from the destruction emerged not a man, but a monstrous claw formed entirely from brilliant blue flames. Each talon was absurdly massive, larger than a bus, the mere act of it grabbing onto the earth split the land apart. Then came the second. The ground continued collapsing and tearing apart as the monstrous creature slowly pulled itself free from beneath the earth, until at last a colossal dragon head emerged from below, accompanied by a roar so terrifying that the shockwave sweeping across the land was like a tsunami, uprooting trees and sweeping away anything in its path. ————————— Author’s Note: Okay... this was probably one of the hardest chapters I’ve written so far, and honestly, I’m still not fully happy with it. I kept running into plot holes while writing, and every time I tried fixing one, I somehow ended up creating two more in the process. Sigh... I'm sorry... I’ll do my best to make the next chapter smoother and better paced. Still, I hope you enjoyed the chaos and the fight despite all that.