At Hogwarts, the story begins with deconstructing Avada Kedavra.

Chapter 91 The Cracks in the World

"absurd."

"Who are you?"

Albus Dumbledore spoke first in the deathly silence.

His blue eyes, which always held a hint of gentleness and tolerance, were now completely filled with rage.

He had never seen such a blasphemous attitude toward life. Even Voldemort, when taking a life, did so out of pure malice and fear of death. Yet Elias Ashford was calling the dismemberment of a twelve-year-old boy "asset recovery."

"I don't care about any family or any elders' council." Dumbledore slowly raised the Elder Wand in his hand, and the surrounding air began to distort violently. "On the Hogwarts register, his name is Lucian Ashford, and he is my student."

As long as I have a breath left, no one can take him away as an object.

Elias narrowed his eyes, which were shimmering with dark blue runes.

"Emotions are a burden on lower beings," Elias coldly remarked.

"Since this is the beginning, then you may know my name, Elias Ashford."

He didn't lower his raised right hand; the icosahedron suspended at his fingertip began to spin rapidly.

"Since you refuse to back down, then bury your entire magical system along with it."

"Buzz—"

There was no dazzling light, nor any chanting.

The icosahedron suddenly disappeared.

Dumbledore's honed combat instincts sounded an alarm at that moment.

Instead of trying to track the other's movements, he pointed the Elder Wand downwards to the ground.

"All protected! Super-strong armor to shield you!"

Golden magic burst forth from the Elder Wand.

The magic materialized into a solid, hemispherical golden dome, protecting him and Lucian within it.

This barrier is strong enough to withstand a volley of hundreds of spells.

However, a chilling scene unfolded.

Elias's attack was not a conventional tactic at all.

In front of the golden barrier, space collapsed, creating a gap.

It wasn't shattered, but rather "erased".

The moment the golden barrier touched the gap, its internal magical structure seemed to be forcibly altered; the golden light quickly dimmed, turning into primal, free magic that dissipated into the air.

"He's revising the concept of this area."

Lucian stood behind Dumbledore, stating the logic that "traditional Ironclad Charms use magic to create a barrier, while he directly negates this kind of obstruction."

This is probably the relationship of restraint between arcane and magic: wizards generally have wild and imaginative ideas, while arcane sorcerers carefully seek to verify them.

Rigorous, systematic spellcasting often possesses the ability to assimilate the wizard's spellcasting.

"Then let them see my logic!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his hair and beard bristling.

With a flick of his wrist, the Elder Wand traced an extremely complex trajectory.

On the street, the raindrops that had been still suddenly came to life.

They did not turn into ice arrows or water snakes, but instead transformed into clusters of burning silver flames.

This is the paradox of water and fire, the ultimate manifestation of magical miracles.

Silver flames coalesced into a gigantic phoenix, emitting a silent cry, and swooped down on Elias.

"Attribute conflict. Logical error. Attempt to forcibly override reality with paradox."

Elias watched the silver firebird rushing towards him and rapidly formed hand seals in front of his chest.

"reverse!"

He uttered a few syllables softly.

The silver firebird suddenly stopped less than three feet from Elias.

The intense heat emanating from it, enough to melt steel, vanished instantly. Then, the enormous firebird dissipated like a punctured soap bubble, disintegrating into a cloud of steam.

Dumbledore once again experienced firsthand the oppressive feeling emanating from the grey-cloaked man in the Forbidden Forest.

The other party's "fight" with him was to use minimal force to exploit the loopholes in his interpretation of the law, thus achieving maximum effect with minimal effort.

Magic, in the face of its opponent, requires only an eraser to wipe everything away.

"Subject 7, can you see this?"

Elias didn't even glance at Dumbledore, but instead gazed at Lucian through the mist. "This is the limit of magic in the old days. They relied on the world's tolerance, while we control the world's truth."

Now, come here.

The tall attendant standing behind Elias moved.

He placed the box covered in sealing runes on the ground and pressed the latch.

"Click".

The box was opened, revealing traces of a spatial expansion spell, but the casting of the spell was very meticulous.

Immediately afterwards, eight chains made of arcane runes shot out from the box, bypassing Dumbledore like eight venomous snakes and heading straight for Lucian.

Avada—

"6

Dumbledore was prepared to use the Unforgivable Curse because he discovered that only the will to destroy could counteract this alteration.

But someone was faster than him.

"Headmaster, you shouldn't try to understand arcane magic using the mindset of magic."

Lucian's voice rang in Dumbledore's ears.

Faced with the eight arcane chains that shot towards him, Lucian did not retreat an inch, nor did he even draw his wand.

He simply raised his right hand slowly, and in his palm, the Philosopher's Stone emitted a chilling light.

"Ilias, you've made a fatal mistake," Lucian said, looking at his nominal relative. "You think I'm half-finished? You're too arrogant."

He gripped the magic stone tightly and pointed forward.

The eight menacing chains suddenly trembled violently when they were an inch in front of Lucien.

The attendant let out a muffled groan as he tried to retract the chains, but it was too late.

"This is impossible!" For the first time, a look of shock appeared on Elias's usually calm face.

The eight blue chains instantly turned scarlet.

The light flowed upstream along the chains, entered the leather trunk, and spread to the attendant.

"ah--!"

The attendant let out inhuman screams.

Under Dumbledore's astonished gaze, his body began to collapse in a horrific manner.

It wasn't bleeding, nor burning; it was broken into countless fragments.

In just three seconds, a living person, along with the box, was completely reduced to dust.

Dumbledore's hand holding the Elder Wand trembled slightly.

He turned his head and looked at the twelve-year-old boy beside him.

Lucian's face showed neither the fear of killing nor the joy of victory.

He was as cold and indifferent as if he had just stepped on an ant blocking his way, making one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

"You—" Dumbledore's throat went dry.

"He's not human, Principal."

He was merely a living alchemical doll.

Lucian lowered his hand, and the light from the Philosopher's Stone gradually faded.

Elias stared at the Philosopher's Stone in Lucian's hand, his deep blue eyes flashing with fanaticism and greed.

"The material carrier of the miracle —"

No wonder you were able to exceed my authority.

Elias's breathing quickened. "Perfect, so perfect."

The Elders underestimated your rate of evolution.

Number 7, you are already the greatest work of art in the family's history of hundreds of years!

"artwork?"

Lucian sneered, "That's just the wishful thinking of the Creator by you stagnant fools."

"I am not your test subject, I am your terminator."

"Arrogant."

Elias abandoned his initial disdain.

He clasped his hands together, bowed his head, and lowered his brows, as if in meditation.

"He's going to ignite the souls of the Muggles around him!"

Lucian's eyes narrowed. "If we succeed, all the Muggles within three blocks, along with the buildings, will be shredded to pieces!"

Dumbledore's heart sank.

This is typical of the Ashford family's style of doing things.

In order to achieve their goals, they don't care about any consequences.

"Absolutely not."

Dumbledore raised the Elder Wand.

At that moment, the centenarian unleashed a terrifying magical power far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

His originally somewhat hunched body straightened up, like a towering god.

Countless beams of white light emanated from the Elder Wand, enveloping the newcomer and preventing Elias from casting his spell.

"Stupid manual labor."

Elias looked at Dumbledore, who was struggling to hold on, and said, "Your magic is immense, but how long can your soul sustain this spell?"

One minute? Or two minutes?

Elias decided to unleash his full power, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the restrained Dumbledore.

"He doesn't need to hold on for long."

Lucian's voice rang out.

Elias looked up abruptly.

Unbeknownst to them, Lucien had already silently appeared above their heads.

Lucian's silence condensed into a long sword.

He aimed and stabbed at Elias.

His defenses seemed to have failed, and the longsword pierced his left shoulder.

"Well!"

Elias let out a painful groan.

His left shoulder resembled a poorly received television screen, flickering and displaying gibberish.

He was horrified to discover that Lucian's sword strike had destroyed his arcane system, causing his magic to go out of control.

"You actually— severed my connection with arcane magic—"

Elias glared at Lucien through gritted teeth, fear finally showing in his eyes.

"Take your arrogance and go back to the New World, and tell those old guys."

Lucian leaned close to Elias's ear and said, "Their 'god' is me."

Lucian drew his longsword and kicked Elias in the chest.

Elias fell like a kite with a broken string.

He was frozen in mid-air, clutching his crumbling left shoulder, staring intently at Lucien and Dumbledore below.

Elias knew that he could not achieve his goal today.

Then, an object resembling a star chart shattered automatically.

With a flash of blue light, Elias's figure vanished from the spot.

Without Elias's intervention, the Muggle threat disappeared.

As the battle ended, colors, sounds, and smells flooded back into the senses.

"Tick-tock".

Rainwater fell again on the stone path.

At the intersection not far away, a red double-decker bus sped past, honking its horn blaring.

The Muggles, carrying umbrellas, hurried along, none of them noticing that just seconds before, they had narrowly escaped death.

Dumbledore swayed slightly, and the Elder Wand dropped.

He turned his head and looked at Lucien a few steps away.

The boy's clothes weren't even wet from the rain.

He was leisurely putting the Philosopher's Stone back into his trench coat pocket, as if the thrilling battle he had just fought was merely a pastime after dinner.

"You used me, Lucian."

Dumbledore's voice sounded bitter in the rain, "You knew from the beginning that they would come."

You used me as a shield to hold off Ilias for you.

Lucian turned around and looked at the man hailed as the greatest white wizard of his time.

"You flatter me, Principal."

Lucian's tone remained impeccably polite and aloof: "I did not force you to take action; you chose to stand before me yourself."

Dumbledore took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.

Lucian looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes and said, enunciating each word clearly, "And, Professor, you should know what they've done."

"They want to analyze the source of magic."

They want to dismantle the mystical foundation upon which magic operates.

If they succeed, all spells at Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and even the Ministry of Magic will become meaningless.

Wizards will become a thing of the past.

Looking at the student in front of me.

He remembered Fudge's smug face on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, the absurd educational laws issued by the Ministry of Magic in its quest for power, and Harry Potter's smug satisfaction at defeating Voldemort's remnant.

He felt lonely.

"So, you stole the Philosopher's Stone to fight against them?" Dumbledore tried to find a glimmer of humanity in Lucian.

"No."

Lucian's answer ruthlessly shattered Dumbledore's last illusions.

"I took the magic stone because I also wanted to analyze that source."

However, I don't like being disturbed while I'm doing my research.

Lucian pushed the trolley full of luggage.

"Headmaster, your war with Voldemort was a bloody battle over whose sandcastle was higher."

Lucian stopped and turned his head as he passed Dumbledore.

"But now, a tsunami is coming."

And I will use this stone to build a ship that can sail through tsunamis.

"Have a great summer vacation, Albus."

Lucian ignored Dumbledore, who was frozen in place, and pushed his luggage cart, his figure gradually blending into the gray rain and the torrent of Muggles on the streets of London.

Dumbledore stood alone in the cold rain, holding his long-handled black umbrella.

His gaze pierced through the heavy rain, and he seemed to see the magnificent golden dome of the Ministry of Magic and the ancient towers of Hogwarts.

The chessboard has been completely overturned.

He once thought he was the chess player who could control the whole game, and that even Voldemort was just a whetstone for him to hone his savior.

But today, Lucian and that man named Elias told him in the most brutal way:

This world is not in your control.

Dumbledore slowly closed his eyes, and raindrops dripped down the ribs of the umbrella, like tears falling from the earth.

"Fox".

""

He called out silently in his heart.

A faint light shone in the rain, enveloping the lonely old man who bore the weight of the entire magical world.

When the firelight faded, only a streetlamp, its reflection shimmering in a puddle, remained on the deserted street.

The storm is no longer "coming soon".

In this frenzy called power, it has already silently torn open the first crack in the world.