In midair, the two giant beasts covered in flames were no longer evenly matched as they had been at the beginning.
They gradually began to show a clear difference in strength.
Through one collision and impact after another, the black serpent firmly gained the upper hand.
Compared with Voldemort, Eda was ultimately still a step behind. The difference between them had already determined the direction of this battle from the very beginning.
Eda knew she could not drag this out any longer. If this continued, forget about Apparating. No one would be able to save her.
When the overwhelming black Fiendfyre came pouring down, there would truly be nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.
Eda tightened her grip on the wand in her hand, and the magic throughout her body circulated rapidly. With her magic empowering it, the blue Chimera once again displayed its might, desperately forcing the disadvantageous situation back into a temporary balance.
It appeared to be another evenly matched confrontation, but in reality, this was merely an illusion Eda had deliberately created. Eda wanted to confuse Voldemort this way, making him believe that she had no intention of running and instead planned to fight him to the bitter end.
As for whether Voldemort would fall for it, that was another matter entirely. It was none of Eda's concern.
After all, regardless of whether Voldemort fell for her arrangement, Eda was going to run the moment she finished setting everything up.
The blue flames burned fiercely, and the repeated explosions sounded like the unwilling roars of the Chimera. The wand in Eda's hand grew even hotter and continued trembling uncontrollably, making it difficult to keep holding on to it.
At the moment the Chimera briefly suppressed the black serpent, Eda decisively severed the connection between her wand and the blue flames.
Having lost the infusion of magic, the Chimera immediately fell back into a disadvantageous position and was swallowed and assimilated by the black Fiendfyre within seconds.
The incorporation of the blue flames made the black Fiendfyre difficult to control. The flames became even more violent, no longer distinguishing friend from foe, seemingly wanting to devour everything in existence.
Just before the flames reached her robes, Eda successfully Apparated and left this sea of fire that had become a living hell.
To the left of the cemetery was a hillside, with an old house standing on top of it. It was known as the Riddle House, and from there, the entire village of Little Hangleton could be overlooked.
The Riddle House had originally been a beautiful mansion, the largest and most magnificent building for miles around. Now, however, it had become damp and desolate, having stood uninhabited for many years.
"Haah... hahh.... huff..."
Eda Apparated onto this hillside. At this moment, she was standing at the entrance of the old house, greedily breathing in the air. Although the air here had also become hot, it was still much better than the cemetery below.
After brushing shoulders with death several times in one night, even Eda could not help feeling nervous. She supported herself with both hands on her knees and dry-heaved twice.
When she had just left the cemetery, Eda had noticed Voldemort, wand in hand, suddenly appearing behind her. She could even hear the heavy breathing caused by his anger.
Eda straightened up and looked over the old house before her. Several windows had been boarded up, the tiles on the roof were broken and incomplete, and ivy had climbed all over the entire house, its vines spreading wildly.
Eda did not even know why she had chosen to Apparate to this particular place. She felt that this was not the time to think about that. The most urgent thing was to find a container that could be used to hold water.
Just two or three minutes ago, Eda had been in the middle of a blazing fire. Even though she was a witch, after being roasted by such intense heat and flames for so long, her body inevitably became dehydrated.
Nothing was more important than replenishing her water right now. Her throat felt as though it were smoking, as if she had just swallowed an entire string of firecrackers. After this fight, Eda felt that she might have lost several pounds tonight.
Pushing open the door of the old house, Eda entered the dilapidated building amid a series of creaking sounds.
The moment Eda entered, an unpleasant smell hit her nose, almost making her fall backward. She turned into a spacious kitchen and found a filthy cup inside a broken cabinet.
Despite being desperately thirsty, Eda still cleaned the cup before using Aguamenti to conjure a cup of fresh water and quench her thirst.
Just as Eda was about to drink a second cup of water, a fishy stench mixed into the unpleasant smell lingering throughout the old house. Danger quietly descended upon her.
"Huff..." Eda raised the cup filled with fresh water. Before she could even bring it to her lips, she suddenly felt a gust of foul-smelling air behind her head.
Eda's body instinctively reacted. She immediately crouched down, then rolled across the floor, rolling all the way to the kitchen wall. Using the enormous fire blazing outside the window for light, she saw the thing that had just attacked her.
It was a ridiculously large snake, at least twelve feet long.
A snake made of flames, the snake-faced socket-man who had regained his body, and now a giant snake hiding inside an old house. Eda had spent the entire night dealing with snakes.
The giant snake raised its head and flicked its tongue. Its body coiled up, ready to strike, preparing for its next attack.
Eda pressed herself tightly against the wall, holding her wand in her right hand and the empty cup in her left. The water in the cup had already been spilled completely when she rolled across the floor earlier.
One person and one snake silently confronted each other. After what felt like an extraordinarily long few seconds, the giant snake attacked again. Its foul-smelling mouth swiftly lunged toward Eda's neck.
There was no time to worry about elegance or posture. Eda rolled across the floor again, and during the roll, her wand fired a Blasting Curse.
Boom!
Although the snake was huge, it was not at all clumsy. On the contrary, it was extremely agile. The giant snake's body made an unnatural movement in midair, narrowly avoiding Eda's Blasting Curse. Once again, the human and the snake began confronting each other.
Eda's brain started working again. She had no idea how many brain cells she had exhausted tonight.
Eda knew she could not continue this standoff. The black flames in the cemetery below had also gone out of control, and it would not be long before they burned their way to the old house. She needed to leave as quickly as possible.
Besides, the giant snake in front of her was so strange, and it had appeared so close to the cemetery. It might even be Voldemort's pet. Slytherin had played around with Basilisks, so it was perfectly normal for Voldemort, as one of their descendants, to keep a snake.
The giant snake coiled itself up for the third time, making a rustling sound. It was preparing to attack again.
Taking advantage of this moment, Eda did three things at once. She hurled the cup in her left hand at the giant snake's coiled body, while her right hand fired another Blasting Curse toward the snake's flat head, making it impossible for the giant snake to deal with both ends of itself at once.
At the same time, Eda activated Blink once again, leaving the kitchen and appearing outside the old house.
But before Eda could even catch her breath, a streak of green light attacked from behind her. Eda spun around rapidly, her left hand instantly rising as a shield appeared. The spell struck the shield with a muffled thud.
It was Voldemort! Voldemort had also Apparated onto this hillside!
Fuck...
"You must have already met Nagini?" Voldemort said. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. This house belongs to my foolish, filthy Muggle father. Riddle House."
Down the hillside, the black Fiendfyre that had already gone out of control was burning everything in its path, like the end of the world. At this moment, the Fiendfyre was advancing toward Little Hangleton.
The firelight illuminated the side of Voldemort's face, making him look even more terrifying.
The giant snake called Nagini slithered out of Riddle House, leaving a broad, winding trail across the ground.
Voldemort and Nagini, one man and one snake, formed a pincer attack against Eda.
"You are a good opponent. Unfortunately, you are too foolish to actually dare oppose me!" Voldemort continued. "Let me hear your last words. I hope you will not cry for your mother. I would be disappointed in you if you did!"
Faced with Voldemort's threat, Eda smiled instead.
"Hah.. haha.. You probably won't have the chance to kill me today. If you don't believe me.. look for yourself."
Following the direction Eda pointed, Voldemort's gaze focused once again on the hillside below. A bright barrier had surrounded the raging Fiendfyre, and the towering black flames were being driven back toward the cemetery.
"Albus Dumbledore!" Voldemort said. He saw Dumbledore's figure below the hillside.
"Let me teach you something! Next time you make a move, you'd better stop talking so much nonsense," Eda said. Then she suddenly thrust her wand forward. "Avada Kedavra!"
The green light had appeared countless times tonight, but it had failed every time. This time was no different. Voldemort twisted his body to the side, dodging Eda's sneak attack.
"Esmeralda Twist, I will remember your name. We will meet again," Voldemort said coldly. "Luck will not favor you forever."
Then Voldemort swept his broad sleeve, and he and the giant snake called Nagini disappeared at the same time.
...
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