Chapter 377: Go All Out

Bang.

John was flung back again, slamming into the broken wall as rubble clattered down.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood.

In the distance, Voldemort sauntered toward him, each step exuding the calm composure of a cat toying with a mouse.

"Oh, John, you're tougher than I imagined."

Voldemort's voice held a hint of amused praise.

John wiped the blood from his mouth, leaning on his wand as he slowly rose.

Seeing Voldemort's nonchalant attitude, John felt puzzled.

It wasn't clear whether he was doing this out of overconfidence or had some other motive.

Several times, it had seemed like he was giving himself a chance to catch his breath.

John said, panting, his eyes locked on Voldemort's scarlet ones, "What are you waiting for?"

Voldemort stopped, tilted his head, and curled his lips into a meaningful smile.

"You're perceptive, John." He slowly raised the Elder Wand and gestured around.

"This place isn't completely sealed."

"I left a trail for someone to find you." Voldemort's voice was low and pleased. "Who do you think will find this place first?"

John gritted his teeth and spoke.

"You're waiting for Dumbledore..."

"Heh, yeah, if you died, he'd be harder to find."

Voldemort chuckled, his relaxed smile still on his face.

"So you plan to use me as bait." John's voice was hoarse, yet laced with mockery. "Aren't you afraid that when he arrives, we'll join forces and defeat you?"

"Join forces?" Voldemort scoffed as if hearing a joke. "Do you think you still have the ability to team up with him?"

No sooner had he spoken than another spell came shooting at him.

John quickly raised the Iron Armor Spell to block the attack, then flicked his wand in a backhand motion.

A sheet of earth spikes burst from under Voldemort's feet, but his Mercury Shield easily deflected them.

"You still have strength to fight back."

"Looks like I still have some entertainment time before Dumbledore arrives."

Voldemort waved his hand; the ground beneath John surged upward, and in the next instant a pillar of fire erupted, engulfing him entirely in flames.

John barely held on with the Iron Armor Spell, but the blast still flung him away.

Mid‑air, John flicked his wand, an invisible Pulling Spell locking onto Voldemort as countless stones rained down on him like a storm.

Voldemort lightly waved his wand, and the rubble turned to dust in mid‑air, drifting away like gray mist.

Before he could even land, another surge of earth rose beneath him, immediately followed by a gush of flame.

Fortunately, John adjusted his posture in time, narrowly avoiding the fire's burn, tumbled to the ground, and quickly got up.

Voldemort's purpose was clear: he wanted to use John to lure Dumbledore.

If his guess was right, there were surely traps laid here for Dumbledore.

We must destroy this place before Dumbledore arrives.

John took a deep breath and decided to go all out.

A speck of Golden Flame ignited at the tip of his wand.

Seeing this, Voldemort thought John was gathering power for a big move and raised his hand to interrupt.

But this speck of Golden Flame did not condense as usual.

Instead, it poured out from the wand tip like a flood, forming a sheet of golden fire that surged forward.

Voldemort frowned slightly. "What new trick is this?"

However, this wasn't a new technique—it was simply releasing the usual charged‑up big move without any restraint or reservation.

The advantage is that it's instantaneous.

The downside is that, unleashed without limits, it can also engulf the caster, making escape difficult.

The golden flames washed over the battlefield like a tide, even the air warping in the heat.

Voldemort had no choice but to swing his wand; a stone wall splitting the battlefield shot up, blocking the spread of the sea of fire.

In an instant, the battlefield displayed two starkly different scenes.

One side was a roiling inferno of Golden Flame; the other, behind Voldemort, was a calm stretch of ruined walls.

Seeing John's form dissipate in the sea of fire, Voldemort narrowed his eyes.

He raised his wand high; the ruined walls behind him trembled violently, sending countless debris flying.

Then he hurled them straight at the spot where John had been.

Boom after boom.

The area of fire was briefly suppressed, but was immediately swallowed again by the Golden Flame.

John wasn't there.

Seeing this, Voldemort finally wiped the smirk from his face and swept his wand sideways.

The ground behind him surged like waves, forming a massive earthen wave that pressed toward the sea of fire.

The golden sea of fire was gradually suppressed, yet John's figure still did not appear.

Just as Voldemort thought John had been burned to death by his own spell,

in the remaining sliver of Golden Flame, a golden fireball rose.

Seeing this, Voldemort instantly realized what was happening and shot a Killing Curse in that direction.

But that Killing Curse had just flown halfway—

Blinding white daylight exploded before his eyes.

Dumbledore's sudden figure appeared in a dense forest.

He glanced around, then looked again at John's clothing in his hand; the Tracking Spell that had just pointed east now pointed northeast.

Dumbledore, relying on the Tracking Spell's indication, confirmed John's exact position by repeatedly shifting his location.

Having arrived here, he looked toward the northeast.

If I'm not mistaken, that should be Xiao Hange Dun's location.

Having figured it out, Dumbledore hesitated no longer and Apparated.

When he reappeared, he was already standing on the hill outside Xiao Hange Dun village.

His gaze locked onto the distant, dilapidated Riddle Manor.

The manor stood there just as before, silent and unmoving, showing no sign of anyone having come.

Yet the Tracking Spell in his hand pointed straight there.

Dumbledore took a deep breath, drew his wand, and realized that the true scene was concealed by magic.

He was about to break through directly by force.

But the next second.

The ground suddenly shuddered.

Dumbledore startled, steadied his stance, and fixed his gaze on the direction of Riddle Manor.

The tremor came from that direction.

Before he could make a judgment.

With a crack.

The air around Riddle Manor suddenly split open, like a shattered mirror.

That was the Sealing Spell enveloping the area, cutting off the outside world.

Countless blinding golden rays burst from the fissure, like a sun about to break its shell.

Dumbledore instinctively raised his hand to shield himself, and the next second—

Boom!!!

Blinding golden light exploded from within Riddle Manor.

The entire manor turned to dust in the explosion, with rubble and dirt pushed by the shockwave into a spreading ring.

Dumbledore was shaken back several steps by the shockwave; after steadying himself, he looked toward Riddle Manor again.

There was no trace of its former state; the true scene concealed by magic was revealed.

A huge crater appeared on the ground, its bottom scorched black, with wisps of green smoke rising.

And lying in the crater was a charred humanoid body.

Dumbledore's pupils contracted sharply.

Although the charred body was beyond recognition and its clothing completely burned, he still recognized it from the remaining outline and fragments of the wand.

That was John.