Chapter 128: When Love Has Become a Thing of the Past

With the personal endorsement of one candidate, the yellow fireworks overwhelmingly dominated the scene.

In the end, Grindelwald’s followers were unable to overcome the combined efforts of the supporters of the two candidates, and Wiesencia Santos claimed the final victory in the election.

Upon seeing the results, Santos smiled faintly, then swiftly turned to the audience and announced her first political decree.

“Gellert Grindelwald is hereby placed on the international wanted list for multiple acts of terror in the magical world, intent to violate the International Confederation of Wizards’ Secrecy Statute, and for the attempted murder of the rare magical creature, the Qilin, among numerous other crimes. Immediate enforcement is to commence!” Santos declared solemnly.

At her words, Grindelwald instantly fell from the position of a candidate nearly destined to become the head of the Confederation to a pariah shunned by the Ancient Magic Authority.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere between Grindelwald’s followers and other voters grew tense and hostile.

“In that case, it no longer matters,” Grindelwald murmured, waving his hand dismissively while gently caressing his elder wand, adorned with seven distinct knobby nodes.

In an instant, he forcefully swung his wand, unleashing a chilling green beam toward Aurelius, who stood beside the elevated platform.

But Dumbledore had anticipated such a move. Together with his brother Aberforth, they simultaneously cast protective spells to shield Aurelius.

Three spells of different hues collided fiercely.

At the moment Dumbledore’s spell met Grindelwald’s deadly curse, time seemed to freeze—

The blood-red glow flickered ceaselessly within the diamond-shaped pendant on Dumbledore’s wrist. The chain attached to it writhed as if attempting to bind his right hand, only to suddenly slacken, snapping like an overstrained string, segment by segment.

Shortly after, the blood pact’s diamond pendant emitted dazzling beams of bright white light, cascading downward from Dumbledore’s wrist.

Both Dumbledore and Grindelwald stared in disbelief at their respective blood pacts, their expressions clouded with confusion and complexity.

Grindelwald’s face revealed a mix of panic, shock, and pain, while Dumbledore’s bore traces of bewilderment, reluctance, and a sense of release.

The brilliant beams enveloped the once inseparable pair, drawing them into a mental realm where a final plea for reconciliation was silently attempted.

They exchanged complicated gazes, speechless.

Without warning, they simultaneously launched their attacks!

The grand, ever-shifting spells filled the silver-white space instantaneously.

Their faces remained etched with resentment as they fiercely assaulted each other, unleashing powerful magic to vent emotions too profound for words. Spell after spell flew in a deadly exchange.

Eventually, the two became entangled, wands pressed against each other’s chests, panting as they locked eyes.

Having vented much of their pent-up frustration, their hostile stares gradually softened. Neither dared to cast the final spell against the other.

The glow at their wand tips faded, and they relaxed their grip on the left hands that had pressed over each other’s hearts, falling into a silent, wordless moment.

“Aberforth, you betrayed me—you betrayed the ideals we once shared!” Grindelwald pursed his lips and spoke first. “You promised that all we did was for a greater good!”

“I believe our last meeting made everything clear enough, Gellert,” Dumbledore lowered his head, gently rubbing the indentation left by the blood pact’s chain on his wrist. “I never sought to rule the world. Whatever I said or did was only to be by your side.”

“Let me ask again—are you truly going to oppose me for those beast-like creatures?” Grindelwald took a deep breath, his voice growing colder.

Dumbledore merely shook his head and walked toward the place where the blood pact pendant was falling.

Though time here moved agonizingly slow, the cracked diamond pendant was inevitably about to hit the ground—its residual magic nearly spent.

The silver-white space began to tear open, revealing a rift to the outside world. Sunlight from the Himalayas streamed through, its pale yellow rays blending with the dazzling white light, the scene blurring like a dream.

Grindelwald watched Dumbledore’s retreating figure, mouth opening several times as if to speak, before finally uttering a line he should never have voiced:

“Who still loves you now, Dumbledore?”

The pendant shattered on the ground, breaking cleanly in two.

At the same moment, the silver-white space vanished completely, revealing the Bhutanese temple and the majestic Himalayas beyond.

“I would rather live and die alone,” Dumbledore said softly.

...

Outside, no one yet knew what had transpired between Grindelwald and Dumbledore. They only knew that Grindelwald had cast the Killing Curse at the long-haired young wizard, and that Dumbledore and his brother Aberforth had jointly blocked it.

Newt sensed something deeper. At the moment the blood pact shattered, he noticed a ripple of extradimensional energy enveloping both Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

The space existed for barely a second before vanishing abruptly as the pendant hit the ground.

Yet there was no time for further reflection. Wiesencia Santos, the newly appointed head of the International Confederation of Wizards, now led the crowd in pressing toward Grindelwald.

“You have already lost, Grindelwald. Surrender now, and we may consider leniency!” Santos warned sternly.

Grindelwald seemed not to hear her words, shaking his head with a nervous, derisive laugh.

“Heh, alone till the end,” he scoffed.

Santos wasted no time and was the first to cast a spell at Grindelwald.

Many behind her swiftly joined the offensive.

Amid the dense barrage of spells, Grindelwald suddenly raised his head and summoned a shield of blue-black flames that absorbed every incoming curse.

More than that, the flames devoured the spells, growing stronger and rising up to form a towering, fiery mountain.

“Be careful, everyone! That’s Grindelwald’s fire shield—it consumes all matter around it to feed itself!” Newt urgently warned the crowd upon seeing the blue-black flames.

These flames were all too familiar to Theseus—his fiancée had perished ten years ago engulfed in this very fire.

“Grindelwald!” he roared, charging forward recklessly.

“Calm down, Theseus!” Dumbledore stopped him and entrusted the agitated Theseus to Newt’s care.

Then, stepping to the forefront, Dumbledore pointed his wand at the fiery mountain and uttered a reinforced universal counter-curse.

“Fiem!”

Under the overwhelming force of Dumbledore’s magic, the blue-black flames gradually died out.

Yet behind the fire stood only the ancient gates of the Authority of Ancient Magic, unchanged and silent.

Grindelwald had vanished without a trace...

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