The air grew hotter and hotter, becoming almost unbearable. The suffocating feeling brought on by the increasingly thin air made Eda feel as though her lungs and heart were about to explode.
Gradually, the thought of letting go arose in Eda's mind. Let go. Just let go and everything would be fine. If she let go, the flames would stop, and she would be able to breathe in more air.
But Eda did not dare let go. Instead, she tightened her grip on her wand even more.
Because Eda knew that if she chose to let go at this moment, she would probably be buried in the sea of flames the very next second, without even a trace of ashes left behind.
In midair, the blue Chimera and the black Fiendfyre serpent no longer collided with each other. Instead, they became entangled, yet remained clearly distinct. The two unyielding flames continuously radiated waves of scorching heat.
Flames soared into the sky, magic intertwined. The scene before them was no different from two people engaging in close combat.
Whoever let go first risked having the flames they had cast assimilated by the opponent, giving the other side an opportunity to strangle them.
Even if her own magical flames were not assimilated, uncontrolled Fiendfyre would become even more troublesome, many times more troublesome than it was now.
Voldemort's heart was filled with fury. The fact that the duel had reached this point was half due to his own arrogance and conceit.
In his mind, Voldemort had already placed Eda as high as he possibly could, but now he realized that he had still underestimated the girl's strength.
The two of them had only met once, and Eda's performance in the Triwizard Tournament had also been relayed to him by Barty.
Voldemort knew far too little about Eda. The lack of information had caused him to make two misjudgments in succession.
Even Voldemort himself, when he had been Eda's age, had not reached the height that Eda had reached. In Voldemort's eyes, such a thing was simply impossible.
The only reason Voldemort was able to continue maintaining the stalemate was because he held the advantage in skill.
If Eda were replaced by Dumbledore, just those two mistakes would have been enough for the headmaster to beat him senseless.
Of course, if Eda really were replaced by Dumbledore, Voldemort would not have underestimated his opponent in the first place, and those two mistakes would never have happened.
While continuously channeling magic to keep the black Fiendfyre burning, Voldemort pondered his options.
After a while, having thought of something, Voldemort silently lifted the restriction on Apparition.
With the restriction lifted, Voldemort could leave at any time. He had great confidence in his own Apparition.
However, Voldemort still wanted to end Eda's life tonight. He had already thought of a way to kill her, but he was still somewhat hesitant because one of the consequences of this method was something he was unwilling to endure.
Voldemort had only just regained a body tonight. Although he was not particularly satisfied with this new vessel, he still did not want to risk losing it by attempting such a method.
Whatever that shameless bastard Voldemort was thinking about, Eda had no idea. She had her own calculations, even though the thin air was making her thoughts move somewhat slowly.
Her wand was becoming increasingly hot to the touch, constantly scorching her palms. She needed to come up with a solution as quickly as possible and break the stalemate before her.
Unlike Voldemort, who was filled with murderous intent, Eda was already very satisfied with having fought the powerful Dark Lord to this extent. Therefore, her thoughts were different from Voldemort's. All she wanted was to find a way to escape safely.
Eda turned her attention to the blood-red gemstone hidden inside her ring. This gemstone could heal serious injuries, and perhaps it could keep her alive in this sea of flames.
With that thought, Eda narrowed her eyes and estimated the extent of the sea of flames, planning her escape route.
The blazing flames caused visual distortions that made it difficult to judge distances accurately. This error made Eda's plan difficult to execute. She wanted to cast Blink at the instant she let go, using Blink to carry her out of danger.
But the problem was that Blink had a limited range. Eda needed to minimize the margin of error as much as possible, so that she could escape the sea of flames, or at least leave its central area.
The moment she let go and stopped pouring magic into the blue flames, the enormous sea of flames would certainly expand once again.
If she failed to escape the dangerous area, then no matter how many blood-red gemstones she had, their healing and recovery speed would never keep up with the speed at which she was being burned to ashes.
When two brave warriors meet on a narrow road, the braver one wins. Yet the two people locked in this stalemate had, without realizing it, both become cowards.
What they had in common was that neither wanted to perish together with the other. Both felt that trading their own life for the other's was simply not worth it.
The difference was that Voldemort was determined to kill Eda first and then leave this place, though he was still somewhat hesitant.
Eda's thoughts were comparatively simple. She only wanted to escape, and she was just a little more willing to admit defeat.
The contest continued. The flames grew fiercer, and the area covered by the sea of fire continued to expand, making Eda's plan increasingly impractical.
They say when gods fight, ordinary people suffer. The rolling flames and scorching waves of heat not only destroyed the cemetery completely, but nearly burned Crabbe and Goyle, who remained in the cemetery, to death.
Fortunately, Crabbe and Goyle had been running around and keeping away from the center of the flames ever since the barbecue party began.
Fortunately, they still had their wands in their hands, allowing them to block the flames that occasionally splashed toward them. Otherwise, they might have ended up like Fowley, without even their corpses remaining.
But if Eda and Voldemort continued their stalemate, Crabbe and Goyle would not be able to remain lucky for much longer. There was gradually nowhere left to stand in the cemetery.
The two burly men were now standing back-to-back, jointly resisting the assault of the two-colored flames. This was true solidarity in life and death.
Besides resisting the flames, Crabbe and Goyle were also constantly attempting to Apparate. They placed their hopes in their master, hoping the Dark Lord would show mercy and lift the restrictions around the cemetery.
Crabbe and Goyle really were lucky enough not to die. Voldemort actually lifted the restrictions around the cemetery. The two did not even have time to thank the Dark Lord for his mercy before hurriedly Apparating away from the cemetery. Who knew where they had run off to?
Voldemort naturally saw this scene. He was so furious that he nearly ground his back teeth to pieces, cursing the idiots in his heart. Voldemort had lifted the restrictions around the cemetery for no reason of mercy, of course. He had only done so to make it easier for himself to move around.
Although he did not know why Eda had been able to ignore the anti-Apparition restrictions, Voldemort had always been guarding against her, in case she used the same trick to sneak up on him as she had with Fowley.
Rather than constantly guarding against others, it was better to take the initiative. That was the purpose behind Voldemort lifting the restrictions.
He wanted to use Eda's own method to kill her.
The reason he had not acted immediately was that his plan was not yet complete, and there were still aspects that made Voldemort uneasy.
Apparating behind Eda to kill her, then Apparating away after the kill. The plan was not complicated.
What Voldemort was worried about was the interval in between. He was concerned that something unexpected might happen while killing Eda, causing his body to come into contact with the blue flames.
Voldemort was afraid of death, and he did not want all his efforts to come to nothing.
If he accidentally lost his body again this time, Merlin only knew how long Voldemort would have to wait before he could rise again.
So Voldemort hesitated. He did not immediately attempt it, instead trying to perfect his plan in his mind and reduce the uncontrollable factors involved.
This hesitation would not have mattered, except that Crabbe and Goyle took off running. Their escape did not matter in itself. After all, the two of them were useless anyway. But their departure caused Voldemort's carefully conceived plan to fall apart.
Although sneak attacks were dishonorable, the method was genuinely effective, and Eda had repeatedly found success with it.
The most important thing about a sneak attack was catching the opponent off guard. Appear in a place they never expected, use a method they could never anticipate, and strike their weakest point with all your strength, killing them in one blow.
At this moment, Crabbe and Goyle fleeing by Apparition inadvertently reminded Eda that Apparition was now possible. It was practically telling her, "You can Apparate now, so be careful of someone attacking you from behind!"
What useless allies. They had not helped at all and had only made things worse. Calling them useless allies was practically an insult to pigs.
Eda naturally received Crabbe and Goyle's "kind" reminder. How could she possibly miss such a generous gift?
For Eda, who had been driven into a dead end, this gave her a glimpse of hope.
Eda had already been pushed almost to the point of exhaustion. Remaining in a stalemate was inherently disadvantageous for her.
The area covered by the sea of flames continued to expand, and Blink could no longer carry Eda to a safe location. It seemed that only a dead end awaited her.
Just when Eda was at a loss for what to do, she heard two loud bangs resembling the backfire of a car. The sound was distinctly different from an explosion, immediately catching Eda's attention. She knew that it was the sound produced when Apparition was performed.
This kind of noise usually only appeared when someone was inexperienced or a beginner at Apparition. Eda did not know which category Crabbe and Goyle belonged to.
Perhaps they had simply been careless, or perhaps they were too eager to escape and had failed to control their magic properly.
Regardless, Eda, who had been driven into a dead end, had suddenly found a way out.
Blink might not be enough to get her out of here, but Apparition definitely could!
...
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