Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Waving the sharp blades in his hands, Kaecilius rushed toward Voldemort, intent on striking a lethal blow.
Seeing Kaecilius charging at him, Voldemort's eyes reflected a strange light as he pushed forward with his right hand. Instantly, a thick gray barrier materialized before him, attempting to block the opponent's attack. To be honest, he wasn't accustomed to this type of melee combat from a mage. After all, how could proper wizards engage in something as vulgar as physical combat?
Kaecilius didn't slow down—on the contrary, he accelerated. In a split second, a circular portal appeared before him. It took only a moment for the red flame-colored portal to fully form. Kaecilius rushed directly into it with practiced ease, raising the sharp blade in his hand and thrusting forward.
Space transformed, and with lightning speed, Kaecilius appeared behind Voldemort.
Buzz!
The sharp blade slid smoothly, piercing directly through Voldemort's heart from behind. However, what confused Kaecilius was his opponent's reaction—or lack thereof. The blade had clearly penetrated the body, and Kaecilius could feel the slight resistance of flesh and blood. But according to his experience, at the very least, the other party's body should have tensed reflexively. After all, the pain of being pierced through was enough to make anyone lose control momentarily. What's more, he had targeted the heart.
However, his opponent didn't seem injured at all.
Voldemort looked down at the blade protruding from his chest expressionlessly, his face revealing neither pain nor anger. Not being familiar with his opponent's fighting style had cost him this time. Fortunately... his body had been transformed!
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Just as Kaecilius was puzzling over this, a buzzing sound suddenly filled the air, and his expression changed dramatically. He watched as Voldemort's body began to cover the sharp blade with red, thread-like structures at a speed visible to the naked eye. These threads gave him a deeply unsettling feeling, and alarm bells rang in his mind. He quickly released his grip and took several steps backward.
In just a second or two, the blood-colored threads had completely enveloped the blade.
Then...
Under Kaecilius's horrified gaze, the blade transformed into blood-colored molten metal and merged into Voldemort's body as if being swallowed.
Tread! Tread! Tread!
Voldemort turned around and stared at Kaecilius, who wore Grindelwald's face.
"Interesting. Very interesting!" Voldemort uttered coldly.
The next moment, his entire form rapidly transformed into blood-colored mist and flew toward Kaecilius. He wanted to engulf him—to consume all his magical power, his flesh and blood, his soul, and his memories.
Kaecilius's expression changed dramatically when he saw the strange, bloody mist flying toward him. Although the blade he had wielded was condensed from magic and possessed both magical power and a hardness that would make it nearly indestructible to ordinary means, it had been consumed with frightening ease.
Now, his opponent's transformed body was rushing toward him. It was easy to imagine that after being touched by this bloody mist, escape from death would be nearly impossible. He cursed inwardly, thinking that Lockhart's world was truly full of monsters. At the same time, he retreated quickly, waving the ring on his hand to construct a barrier of red flames before himself, attempting to block the bloody mist.
In this situation, engaging the opponent in close combat would be suicidal.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
When the bloody mist encountered the first red flame barrier, it seemed momentarily halted, as if encountering this kind of energy for the first time. But soon, the barrier was consumed entirely. When the mist reached the second barrier, it flowed through it like water through paper, devouring it completely.
Fully utilizing the characteristics of what appeared to be Blood Abyss Insects, Voldemort broke through five or six barriers in rapid succession.
This caused Kaecilius's face to contort with dread. He cursed inwardly at encountering such a monster. The energy barriers had bought him only a little time, and now he could clearly see that this writhing weapon was composed of countless tiny insects—a naked monstrosity. No wonder his attack had no effect—it hadn't struck any vital area at all.
His mind racing, Kaecilius waved his hand, and a portal appeared behind him. Just as he was about to escape through it...
Suddenly...
BOOM!
The entire portal seemed to be strongly suppressed by some outside force, and it shattered with a deafening bang. Red, flame-colored sparks scattered everywhere.
Kaecilius bit his lip, realizing that his opponent had restricted his means of escape. Looking at the approaching bloody mist, he stretched his left hand forward and spread his fingers. Simultaneously, a green halo suddenly appeared around his left wrist. A powerful temporal force emanated from it, condensing into a green, roulette-like disc before his hand.
Kaecilius stared at the green roulette wheel imbued with the power of time, and a wry smile flashed across his face. He had originally thought he wouldn't need to use this at all, but less than a week later, here he was, using his trump card for self-preservation.
His right hand controlled the ring, slowly rotating it counterclockwise. The roulette wheel also began to reverse. In an instant, everything—the broken barriers, the approaching bloody mist, the destroyed tables and chairs—began to move backward.
Like rewinding a movie, everything began to reverse step by step, returning to its original position.
Time was reversing!
The bloody mist receded and then condensed back into human form, transforming into the appearance of Tom Riddle once more. Time stopped at this moment—everything was frozen in place.
Kaecilius took a long, hard look at Voldemort, committing his face to memory. Without hesitation, he opened a teleportation gate and departed directly, heading toward the location from which the encrypted message had been sent.
This time, without Voldemort's interference, the portal opened as expected.
The moment the portal closed, time resumed its normal flow.
Voldemort, who had been about to transform into his blood weapon form, stood motionless. He had been affected by the time manipulation and had no way to control it. But with his strength, he could still maintain his spiritual consciousness and soul in a normal state.
Therefore, after witnessing what had just transpired, he chose neither to take immediate action nor to follow Kaecilius.
America, New York, nighttime.
Call! Call! Call!
Even the most prosperous city had its desolate areas. For example, the Blanc District in New York was a notorious blighted area. The Wizard's Federal Empire wasn't particularly friendly to Black people, especially since the upper class were predominantly from England. Although there were many Black wizards, most remained at the lowest levels of society.
At this moment, Kaecilius was walking through the Blanc District, looking at the sparsely populated streets, and couldn't help but shake his head. He had known that Hell's Kitchen was never a good neighborhood, but he hadn't expected that in this alternate world, Hell's Kitchen—or its equivalent—wouldn't be much better.
Darkness could never be entirely extinguished!
But he didn't dwell on this; his focus was on reaching the meeting place. He wanted to ask Ian what had happened here, as everything was very different from the information that had been originally provided.