The pyramid was collapsing rapidly, the Sands of Time surging close behind.
John rode the basilisk, speeding through the maze-like passages that branched in every direction.
Before long, he reached the exit to the upper level.
The moment he emerged, cracks spread across the surrounding pillars.
Then, the Sands of Time burst forth, gathering into a massive face.
"LEAVE MY THINGS BEHIND!!."
It was magic left behind by Herpo. Wherever the Sands of Time passed, space twisted, and fleeting silhouettes flickered endlessly through the flow of time.
Relentless, the pursuing sands sought to swallow John whole.
Suddenly, the passage ahead vanished, and the basilisk's massive body dropped sharply.
John drew his wand. With a loud crack, he and the basilisk reappeared where they had just been.
"Even Apparition is distorted."
Turning around, John traced a Möbius loop in the air.
As the Sands of Time approached, they were forced back to their previous position. Sweat beaded on John's forehead as he gave the basilisk a command. "Keep moving out."
The basilisk shifted direction and rushed toward another path.
The Möbius loop grew brighter and brighter, until it suddenly snapped apart.
A massive surge of Sands of Time flooded toward John, while the path ahead of the basilisk collapsed, completely blocking the way.
John's wand burst with light, a brilliant white glow forming an arc of electricity that shattered the obstacles in front of him.
"Go up!"
The basilisk plunged into another passage, its massive body surging upward.
John lowered himself, pressing tightly against the basilisk's back.
Since they were climbing, the Sands of Time slowed considerably.
Seeing the sands still pursuing them, John gathered power and cast a Blasting Curse. It struck the Sands of Time, which sank into a mire of time itself, suspended in midair.
"Time really is impossible to deal with."
John switched tactics, attacking the passage and causing it to collapse, blocking the Sands of Time.
In the next instant, the shattered tunnel reversed itself, returning to normal.
The basilisk burst out of the passage and entered an upper corridor. Even its enormous body seemed to sense the danger, and it sped up.
At the edge of the corridor, John saw the massive face formed by the Sands of Time completely devour the passage, advancing like an unstoppable catastrophe.
"Herpo, you're truly extravagant."
Even John couldn't help but feel envious of such an abundance of Sands of Time.
Within the chaotic distortion of space-time, a Swooping Evil flew out. It was likely some magical creature caught in the distortion.
The Swooping Evil flew straight toward John.
"Severing Charm."
Invisible blades cut down the approaching Swooping Evil. At the same time, John saw bottles and jars within the corridor shatter.
The dead creatures inside began to regrow flesh and lunged at him.
His Death Gaze dropped the charging Graphorn, and John drew ever closer to the apex of the pyramid.
"If this continues, it'll still end in a dead end."
The basilisk's tail was touched by the Sands of Time, its flesh rapidly stripping away.
This basilisk, which had been starving since the moment it appeared, quickly turned into bare white bones.
Using the basilisk's head as a foothold, John leapt into the air.
Wings sprouted from his back as he accelerated into flight.
The Sands of Time sped up as well.
The entire pyramid was collapsing, a horrifying vision of the end of the world.
John burst into a burial chamber and traced a Möbius loop at the entrance.
Then he reversed his grip on the wand and drove it forcefully into the ground.
"εтεяиɑl gяσυи∂!"
Golden light spread across the floor, and a massive Möbius loop sealed the place shut.
John had no way left to retreat.
Outside, the Sands of Time gradually encircled the burial chamber.
The corrosive power of time caused the surrounding structures to weather and decay at a rapid pace.
Rumble.
Time itself shattered the corridor connected to the chamber, sending it collapsing.
It began to fall swiftly.
From the bottom of the pyramid, the entire burial chamber plummeted downward.
The Sands of Time pursued John just as quickly, descending alongside him.
After crashing through more than a dozen passageways, the impact made John cough up blood.
Bracing himself, he gripped the wand embedded in the ground and cast a Levitation Charm.
The rapidly falling chamber came to an abrupt halt.
In the next instant, the Sands of Time closed in.
John was completely surrounded.
Some of the sands seeped through the gaps, slipping inside.
"With this much Sands of Time, it's either you die or I do."
John's expression darkened as he made up his mind.
Lifting the soul lamp, he muttered, "I was planning to save this for later… looks like I have no choice but to use it now."
He set the soul lamp in place.
John placed his left hand on the wand and his right hand on the soul lamp.
His eyes turned into vertical pupils, and from his right hand, countless strands of black threads burrowed into the lamp.
One soul after another was extracted. He took out a vial of soul potion and poured it into his mouth.
Clapping his hands together, he instantly liquefied a Runic Serpent egg.
He swallowed it in one gulp, and his brain's processing speed surged.
Magic power flooded into the wand, cracks appearing along the surface of the linden wood.
"Time combined with soul… immense magic, and the Soul-Devouring Curse."
John suddenly lifted the soul lamp and pulled out his wand.
Without the support of the Möbius loop, the burial chamber was instantly eroded by the Sands of Time.
The swirling sand dispersed, leaving John completely exposed within the encroaching Sands of Time.
Without hesitation, he hurled the soul lamp into the sands.
The ghostly blue flame within the lamp flared violently.
From inside came a wail—it was Herpo's scream.
John aimed his wand at the soul lamp.
His magic surged forth, transforming into a torrent of violet lightning that collided with it.
Cracks spread across the soul lamp, and in the next moment, an immense surge of soul power poured out from within, expanding into a domain.
John let out a low roar, increasing the output of his magic.
The Sands of Time, the soul lamp, and his magic... the three forces collided. John raised his right hand, and a black curse surged forth, enveloping the three clashing powers.
The collision of the four forces created a vacuum.
Black mist drifted from his eyes, and centered on John, a vortex of magic formed.
The vortex expanded, transforming into a black hole that devoured everything.
The massive pyramid was rapidly pulled, compressed, and shattered, drawn into the black hole.
Soon, everything within the pyramid was swallowed.
The Sands of Time surrounded John, burrowing toward his left hand.
Fine grains of sand drilled into his flesh, and John endured the searing pain.
The Sands of Time traveled up his arm, invading every part of his body.
They passed through his blood vessels, entering his organs—his liver turned golden.
John could feel his body changing under the influence of the Sands of Time. New colors appeared in his vision, and scenes that did not belong to this era flickered before his eyes.
Muggle warfare. Wizarding conflicts.
In his vision, a group of Aurors appeared at Hogwarts.
He saw it again—the black veil rising over the skies of Paris.
A deafening explosion followed, and a blue fire dragon soared into the air.
He saw his aged teacher, and then a plump Muggle.
"Stop!"
John roared, and the visions in his eyes abruptly ceased.
He pushed his magic output even further, not leaving a single drop of his Level Six magic unused.
He broke through his own limitations, turning all his emotions into pure magical power.
The violet lightning of his magic thickened, crashing toward the soul lamp.
The cracks on the lamp grew wider and wider.
Herpo's soul let out a terrified scream.
"NO, YOU MADMAN—WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!"
"THIS WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING—YOU'LL DIE AS WELL, YOU FOOL!"
Well-travelled and knowledgeable, Herpo could see that what John was doing—using magic and soul to collide with time—was sheer madness.
The effects of this forbidden collision slipped beyond Herpo's control.
The Sands of Time gathered into a mountain of gold, and the soul lamp shattered apart.
"AAAAAHH.."
The souls extracted from the Dementors poured out at this moment. In less than a single breath, Herpo's consciousness was erased by the clash of forces from all sides.
The Sands of Time transformed into golden radiance, merging with silver, black, and violet—four colors gathering before John.
"Without a magic crystal, my magic can't maintain the balance of the four-way collision."
The skin on John's arm peeled away, exposing the flesh beneath.
The flesh regrew, only to be stripped away again.
The cycle repeated, like being flayed alive.
John turned the pain into a source of power, channeling his emotions to drive his magic into eruption.
Cracks spread further across his wand, glowing red like heated metal.
He bit open another Runespoor egg in his mouth.
Unrefined, the egg carried a hallucinogenic toxin capable of plunging a person into sleep.
The liquid from the shattered egg flowed into John's stomach.
In an instant, his mind entered an extraordinarily lucid state, and the surrounding space began to distort.
"Break!"
John roared.
His body hovered in midair as his magic surged outward, finally shattering the soul lamp completely.
The four forces reached equilibrium, colliding and grinding against one another, generating a power of temporal leap.
Wrapped in that force, John's body vanished into the air.
The residual power rapidly contracted, shrinking into a point of light no larger than an egg.
Where the pyramid had once stood, only a bronze serpent remained.
After an unknown length of time, the bronze serpent twitched.
That single movement shattered the balance of power.
In the next instant, the point of light expanded infinitely.
A force capable of destroying everything surged outward, bursting past the ancient tree and devouring everything nearby.
A perfectly smooth, massive crater appeared on the land of Egypt.
And the one who had caused it all had already vanished without a trace.
…
Having fled Godric's Hollow, Gael distanced himself from that country.
He found work in a wand shop.
The owner of the shop was very fond of this employee.
"Well done, Gellert. You may have the talent to become a wandmaker one day—of course, that will take a long time."
"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Gregorovitch. A friend of mine is a wandmaker; I've merely picked up a few things from being around him."
Wearing a perfectly measured smile that inspired neither dislike nor suspicion, Gellert Grindelwald let his gaze fall upon a display cabinet where Gregorovitch kept his prized collection.
Inside lay a wand unlike any other.
"Yorl… it seems I've found the Elder Wand first."
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