Harry couldn't really understand what Sirius meant.
What did he mean Dumbledore did come, but he wasn't sure whether he would join the fight?
If Dumbledore wasn't going to fight, then what was he here for?
Harry wanted to ask more, but Sirius had already rushed into the battle against Voldemort together with Moody and the others.
The situation on the field completely changed because of the arrival of the Auror forces and the Order of the Phoenix.
Voldemort, who had been using his overwhelming magical flames to suppress Link and the hunters, could no longer keep control of the fight.
Not only did the range of his spreading flames begin to shrink, but several dragon hunting crossbow bolts and Killing Curses fired by the Aurors even broke through the blockade of the blood colored flames and actually hit Voldemort himself.
Although those attacks were almost instantly scattered or deflected by Voldemort and could not create the strong effect they were supposed to, the wild magic turbulence still cut several wounds across Voldemort's body.
To everyone watching, this was like a miracle.
Voldemort was indeed powerful.
The fear he created had made the entire British Ministry of Magic tremble.
Terrified people had pushed him onto the throne of a Dark Lord.
But was Voldemort truly invincible?
The answer was no.
In this extraordinary world, the high development of personal power had indeed reduced some of the gap between individuals and collective strength.
But that gap had not disappeared.
It might sound ridiculous to say that many ants can bite an elephant to death, but what if each of those ants was as big as a hyena?
Grindelwald had once been captured alive by the Aurors of the American Ministry of Magic.
How could Voldemort avoid the same fate?
Especially since the force Link gathered this time to kill Voldemort was far larger than what the American Ministry had back then.
The Hunter Group, the Auror forces, the Order of the Phoenix, and the D.A. Army.
Altogether, these groups made up nearly two hundred top level wizards.
At first glance that number might not seem like much, but in reality, if this group were sent out, they would be enough to launch a war that could destroy a weaker wizarding government.
Facing such overwhelming power, even Voldemort felt the pressure.
But that didn't mean Voldemort had no way to fight back.
As the blood colored flames kept shrinking under the bombardment of dragon hunting crossbows and all kinds of spells, Voldemort quickly changed his strategy.
Countless blood lightning bolts burst out again. The blinding light almost made Voldemort look like he was made entirely of blood red energy.
In the next moment, the blood flames condensed under the infection of the lightning into a thick, strange black red "thundercloud."
Carrying countless pure blood lightning bolts, it suddenly exploded, forming a giant lightning storm with a radius of more than twenty meters centered on Voldemort.
Endless blood lightning surged inside it, sweeping back and forth, cutting through everything, whether solid or intangible.
The corresponding "flame thundercloud" was even more terrifying. Stirred by the blood lightning, it rolled and expanded, forming a powerful suction force.
Countless flames became like whips, lashing continuously at the people outside the lightning storm.
Anyone hit by those "whips" turned into charred remains almost instantly, without even having time to scream.
For a moment, the allied camp fell into chaos.
Voldemort's area attack dealt a heavy blow to them.
Nearly thirty people were either roasted into charcoal by the flames or completely broken down by the dense electric net formed by the blood lightning, leaving not even a trace behind.
The survivors stared at the scene in horror.
The smell of burning mixed with the strange scent of water vapor being split by electricity filled the air, making many people gag.
Watching all this from a distance, Scrimgeour nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
The ones who had just died at Voldemort's hands were all Aurors under his command.
From outside the battlefield, he had seen clearly that the Flamel family hunters had already slowly retreated to a safe distance under Link's command two minutes before Voldemort launched his counterattack.
But his Aurors had not noticed the danger at all.
Worse, those fools even thought the hunters' retreat gave them a chance to take most of the credit, and happily filled the positions the hunters had left.
It was obvious that Link Flamel had noticed something strange about Voldemort and deliberately set up the Auror forces.
But in this situation, what could he even say?
Link Flamel was the commander of the Flamel family hunters. He had neither the responsibility nor the authority to command the Auror forces.
The one truly responsible for those Aurors' deaths was Scrimgeour himself.
Taking two deep breaths, Scrimgeour finally suppressed the urge to order the Aurors to turn around and attack the hunters, or to withdraw and let others take the cannon fodder position. Instead, he personally led several staff members into the battle.
His thinking was simple.
The reason he hadn't noticed Voldemort's abnormal change earlier was because he had been too far away.
Commanding from a godlike viewpoint gave a broader picture, but it also caused him to miss details.
So to prevent the same thing from happening again, Scrimgeour decided to fight personally.
On the other side of the battlefield, watching Scrimgeour gather a group of Aurors and push toward Voldemort, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Link's mouth.
"Ah, our Head of the Auror Office has finally taken the bait."
Percy said with a cruel smile.
Old Barty and the others nearby nodded in agreement.
An old man like Scrimgeour, who had formed his own faction and controlled military power, had to die.
This was something Link and the others had decided long ago.
Otherwise, Link would not be able to fully control the entire Ministry of Magic.
And he wouldn't be able to carry out the next stage of his plan.
Before, Scrimgeour had stayed in a safe position, and Link had no good way to deal with him.
But now Scrimgeour had arrogantly thrown himself into the war against Voldemort.
That made things much easier.
After all, war was full of uncertainty.
Once you stepped onto the battlefield, who could guarantee they would survive?
If a stray spell happened to fly the wrong way and kill a commander or two, wasn't that completely normal?
"Lord Flamel, let me deal with Scrimgeour. I promise I'll make it flawless!"
Percy immediately knelt on one knee before Link and requested.
As the Minister's assistant in name, he and Scrimgeour had long been rivals.
They had argued many times over funding issues and had even more unpleasant conflicts.
So Percy very much hoped to personally send Scrimgeour to hell.
Unfortunately, Link shook his head.
Percy was stunned and was about to say more when Link tilted his head and said, "Sander, I'll leave this to you. Go kill Scrimgeour."
"Yes, Lord Flamel!"
Sander replied without hesitation.
He even gave a salute used within the Auror forces.
Then he cast a Disillusionment Charm. His figure gradually blurred and drifted toward Scrimgeour like a ghost.
Seeing this, Emily, Cedric, and the others looked confused. Percy's face turned extremely ugly.
He couldn't help asking again, "You trust him that much? He only joined us less than half an hour ago. His loyalty hasn't even been tested. What if he tells Scrimgeour about this…"
"What if he does?" Link interrupted with a smile.
Percy froze.
Yes, even if Scrimgeour knew, what could he do?
Would that mean he wouldn't die?
The power Link currently held far exceeded the Auror forces. On top of that, Link controlled the entire Ministry's funding and legal authority.
With just one order from Link, the Auror forces would fall into internal conflict. Scrimgeour had no chance of turning things around.
The reason for assassinating Scrimgeour was only to fully take over the Auror forces and reduce unnecessary losses.
That didn't mean Link actually feared him.
And letting Sander assassinate Scrimgeour might even create better results.
Percy vaguely felt that he understood Link's thinking. The dissatisfaction on his face disappeared, replaced with respect.
"It's time to end this war. Too many Auror casualties wouldn't be good. After all, they're still our people."
Link said expressionlessly as he slowly walked toward Voldemort, wrapped in gray mist.
As he walked, he glanced toward the Order of the Phoenix.
The Order was actually the best example of people who showed up but didn't really try.
They kept saying they wanted to defeat Voldemort, but in reality, their fighting range had never gone beyond fifty meters around the D.A. Army.
In other words, their real goal wasn't to kill Voldemort.
It was to protect the students of the D.A.
That was fine. Link didn't want those untrained young talents in the D.A. to die either.
But the question was, since the Order was here, why hadn't Dumbledore appeared?
If Dumbledore had joined the fight, Voldemort would probably already have turned into a burned corpse like those unlucky Aurors earlier.
Still, the problem wasn't big.
Even if Dumbledore didn't act, the strength gathered in the Hall of Prophecy was enough to kill Voldemort.
With that thought, Link withdrew his gaze and smiled coldly.
Vast magic began pouring out from his body.
The gray mist wrapped around him started to surge and expand, raising his figure much taller.
Black purple lightning flowed wildly within the clouds, and semi transparent highly compressed Fiendfyre slowly appeared.
At first, these three energies rolled against each other like oil and water.
But soon, under Link's control, they merged together, carving dense and complex cloud patterns across the pale gray mist covering him.
As soon as the patterns formed, the once loose gray white mist tightened around Link's body, becoming more condensed and solid, like a complete suit of cloud armor.
At the same time, terrifying heat and overwhelming killing intent spread outward.
The Aurors and hunters around Link were the first to react.
Under the invasion of that intense killing aura, they almost lost all ability to move. They could only stand there, staring up at Link, their eyes filled with shock.
Next were the members of the Order of the Phoenix nearby.
Sirius stared at Link, who had transformed into a giant covered in cloud armor. His lips trembled as he said in disbelief, "This is… this is Link Flamel?"
"Yes, that's right," Moody said with a serious expression. "I never expected that kid we once looked down on would grow to this level. This is simply…"
"A monster!"
Sirius concluded firmly. "Link Flamel is nothing but a monster! The speed at which his strength is growing makes no sense at all. Even someone like Dumbledore or Voldemort didn't have such terrifying power at his age!"
"Dumbledore should start being cautious."
"If Link Flamel continues to grow, he may become a disaster!"
"A disaster even more terrifying than Voldemort!"
After saying that, Sirius let out a deep sigh.
Because he knew that although he firmly believed his own reasoning, he had no way to convince Dumbledore.
Dumbledore had always held a special feeling toward Link Flamel.
If Sirius didn't know the Dumbledore family and Dumbledore himself so well, he might even suspect that Link carried Dumbledore blood in him.
While Sirius was lost in his thoughts, Voldemort's gaze finally met Link's.
Voldemort had sensed Link gathering power from the very beginning.
At first he didn't care.
But when the cloud armor on Link fully formed, the relaxed look on Voldemort's face finally disappeared.
To be honest, Voldemort didn't think Link's current form was that strong.
It hadn't even reached the level of a true legendary wizard. At most, it had just touched the edge of near legendary.
Under normal circumstances, Voldemort was confident he could fight ten Links like this by himself.
But the current situation was very different.
The siege of nearly two hundred top level wizards was no joke.
If someone like Link acted as the sharp tip of the spear in that siege, then Voldemort truly could be eliminated in a short time.
The solution was simple.
Strike first.
BOOM!
With a loud explosion, Voldemort, who had been at the center of the terrifying storm, suddenly rose into the air and swung his wand violently at Link.
In the next moment, a thick blood red lightning dragon formed and roared as it dived down.
The hunters and Aurors around Link were completely stunned.
They didn't know whether Link would be in danger, but even the aftermath of such an attack would be enough to kill them countless times.
Just when everyone was about to fall into despair, Link showed no fear. He stepped forward two steps, gripped his wand tightly, bent his body like a bow, and gathered strength.