The moment Draco disapparated with Harry and the others, saving Villanelle after being forced to leave Sirius, Lilith also returned to Darcie.
From Mount Greylock to Sahara, where Black had been waiting for Darth Kars along with Cash, and then back to Mount Greylock's misty surroundings, the Lethifold had taken only a few seconds.
But by that time, Darcie had gained herself a visitor.
As Lilith lunged for Darcie, a reddish-white globe of light appeared around it, imprisoning it within.
CRACKS rang within that magical globe one after another as she tried to Apparate to Darcie, bypassing the translucent, spherical boundary.
However, something — a powerful magic — linked Lilith's destination to her origin, despite failing to prevent her from using the magic.
"Marvelous, aren't they?" Voldemort hissed, appearing behind Darcie like black mist condensing into a hideous form. "Spirit Companions… A Lethifold at that. And here I thought you were an anomaly, Miss Malfoy. Yet, here you are… nothing but just another sad child, carrying buried traumas."
Darcie slowly turned around.
Cracks began deafening her ears as the Pillars surrounded her, the mist slithering away to give them a good look at her appearance.
For a moment, Pillar Harry and others expressed shock, looking between Darcie and the imprisoned Lethifold.
Some realized what had just happened, disapparating right away. Harry, Hermione, Snape, and McGonagall were among them. It didn't take them long to return, either, but instead of shock, they carried fury on their faces, finding Mirror Villanelle missing.
Some still didn't realize the significance of what had just happened.
"… Darcie is Yellow Warlock?!" the middle-aged Ron Weasley asked, attracting questionable glances from others, including his wife's.
"Not so different, are you?" Darcie said humorously, standing straight to meet Voldemort's eyes. "Pillar or Mirror, you are still the Voldemort I know."
She then turned around and looked from Harry to Hermione to Ron to… Draco and others.
"You can't play saint while working for a Murderer," she scoffed. "You can't play innocent after murdering hundreds… hundreds of innocents!"
The older Harry's fingers clenched into fists.
"We can say the same about you!" Hermione snapped uncharacteristically, instantly realizing that she was facing a little girl, not an adult.
Darcie merely grinned at that. "I never claimed myself a saint."
"Enough," Voldemort hissed, sensing something amiss. The girl was just too calm to be surrounded by enemies, with no hint of having any chance of running away. He didn't like it. "Kill her!"
Harry's group snapped their heads toward Voldemort.
They had just lost one of the key prisoners of this War — Mirror Madam Villanelle.
However, their anger against that act, toward the loss of lives due to the Great Hall's explosion, or toward the girl being a Mirror, hadn't turned them into simpletons.
There was no Darice Malfoy in the Pillar timeline.
It had never bothered them, though.
The Mirror lacked many Characters unique to the Pillar timeline as well.
But Darcie… she was different. They had been particularly warned against harming her; not only by Madam Villanelle, but also by the Timeline Himself.
Not many of the Pillars knew of the Order of Immortal Lotus' existence.
Those who did — almost all the Major Characters — knew it must be the Six behind the Timeline's words, as it had been the Order who made this invasion possible.
For Voldemort to give the kill order…
Unlike a few select groups of wizards and witches who hesitated, many didn't dare to hesitate while carrying out Voldemort's order.
So, as Darcie tightened her grip around her Wands, the Pillar Death Eaters whipped their hands, casting the Killing Curses.
The light of the Curse never left their Wands, though.
Because, along with their Wands, the hands had also crumbled to dust.
Screams of agony echoed among the people surrounding Darcie, a hint of panic settling inside the ones who hadn't attacked her.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Voldemort hissed.
Parting the crowd with loud thuds, the Pillar Madam Villanelle glided forward, the four surviving Ultramarines, in full armor, flanking her.
Her left hand had regenerated.
Her left leg had regenerated.
But she still carried her charcoal-like, burnt skin on half her body… in an ironic fusion of shame and pride.
"I dare anyone to lay hand on her," Villanelle hissed back, "and not lose their heads."
Voldemort scoffed. "Almant!" he called out to a Death Eater. "Kill the girl!"
Almant — a tall, fat man — standing closest to Darcie among the other Death Eaters, shuddered.
Voldemort's eyes narrowed.
Almant instantly raised his Wand, clearly showing that he hadn't done so previously, and whirled…
There was a blue blur.
A faint, harsh sound.
The next moment, Almant's head rolled downhill, his headless corpse falling next to Sergeant Cassian's feet.
Silence.
"I…" Voldemort turned around to face Villanelle. "… am the Lord of Pillars."
Madam Villanelle held back the twitch at the corners of her lips, but did a poor job. "And I wish you luck in standing up to that title, Dark Lord," she said. "But, under the agreement between you-know-who and Timeline, the girl remains untouchable."
Voldemort didn't miss the sarcasm in Villanelle's words when she mentioned the Order.
But he had already confirmed that the blue giants answered her, despite her no longer remaining the leader of Pillars.
That… was concerning.
Meanwhile, Villanelle approached Darcie, her eyes fixed on the two Wands the girl carried.
"You cannot keep testing our patience like this, child," the older witch said.
Darcie, standing taller than Villanelle, met the burnt witch's gaze. "Do not talk to me of patience… bitch."
Silence.
For the first time, even Voldemort couldn't help but express shock, his jaw dropping toward Darcie.
Wasn't she the most promising and prodigious witch across several generations in this timeline?
The best of the best?
The one who everyone followed and looked up to?
And, even if some of the Pillars questioned decisions made by Villanelle, they didn't dare to use such language against her.
That went for Voldemort and his goons as well.
Contrary to all of the Pillars, the reincarnated biblical witch herself merely grinned at Darcie for calling her a bitch.
"Come with me," Madam Villanelle said. "They are waiting for you."