"Why is he... why is Grindelwald here...?"
Dumbledore frowned as he stared at the man who had somehow appeared atop the roof of Hogwarts. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩
In other words, this particular acquaintance of his had somehow left Nurmengard, regained his wand, and made his way to Hogwarts—all without Dumbledore knowing a single thing about it.
Meanwhile, inside the Alchemy Office, Kasenhis wasn't bogged down by all that internal drama. He was sprinting toward the Elemental Synthesizer as fast as he could. At this very moment, the Magic Seed had been completely crafted.
And the moment it was in his hand, the timeline of General Kasenhis was forcibly reconnected. The time laws of this world finally noticed this "time ghost" that didn't belong.
"Destroy it!" General Kasenhis abruptly regained his clarity. But immediately after, he felt the immense pull of the time stream trying to reclaim him. Understanding what was happening, he shouted urgently toward Kasenhis.
"No... it can't be destroyed…" Grindelwald, standing atop the roof of Hogwarts, subtly shook his head.
And in the next second, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking him directly.
It was the last spell General Kasenhis managed to cast—right before he was caught by the chains of time that had silently crept up behind him.
"No!! NOOO! Destroy it!! You will kill billions!!—Aah.."
They wrapped around him and began dragging him back into the timeline to which he belonged.
The moment General Kasenhis vanished from this timeline, the Magic Seed in Kasenhis' hand ignited with pixel flames, and an End Crystal shot toward the Elemental Synthesizer.
The Magic Seed was instantly obliterated by the pixel fire.
The End Crystal flying toward the synthesizer, however, was blocked by a lean figure that appeared in its path.
"What are you afraid of?" Grindelwald asked calmly.
"Step aside, sir. That thing behind you is not something you want to be messing with." A wand appeared in Kasenhis' hand.
"Are you afraid of sacrifice?" Grindelwald continued.
"What sacrifice, Gellert?" Dumbledore appeared at the floor-to-ceiling window. He knew Grindelwald was a seer, but this talk of sacrifice left him utterly confused.
"A greater cause, Albus. The Magic Seed… a world where everyone becomes a wielder of magic," Grindelwald answered plainly.
"I'm sorry, but you're not taking that thing with you today. Honestly, I went through hell fixing that so-called mistake…" Kasenhis gripped his wand with one hand, while the other slipped into his pocket, pulling out a remote made of redstone.
At the same time, the orbital dragon-slaying cannon hanging from the office ceiling lit up with an ominous purple glow. One End Crystal after another stacked themselves into the pool below.
And a single explosive arrow had long since been loaded—ready to fire the moment negotiations failed and destroy the entire machine as fast as possible.
Not that the machine itself even mattered. As long as the enchanted book inside was obliterated, mission accomplished.
"You fear sacrifice… Professor Kasenhis… may I call you that?" Grindelwald asked.
"You fear sacrifice. You fear that future of sacrifice. But strictly speaking, that future wasn't even your fault. And the pros far outweigh the cons. Compared to lighting the fire of magic in every soul across the world… what's the loss of a mere billion lives? Even thirty billion wouldn't be an unacceptable price."
Grindelwald tucked his wand back into his pocket and spread his arms like he was embracing the sky.
"That kind of sacrifice, with no bottom line, will wipe out humanity sooner or later..."
"It's not a sacrifice without limits. The source of that future wasn't some ambitious tyrant or even you. It was simply the absence of someone who could unite the newly awakened magical rabble—a leader to bring them together, and then bring them together again!"
"You want to be that person? Or do you think Dumbledore could be that person?"
"I think... you could be," Grindelwald said.
"I know exactly what I'm worth. I've read a lot of books. You can't scam me." Kasenhis' grip on the redstone remote in his pocket tightened.
"So... there's nothing left to discuss? Dumbledore?" Grindelwald turned to the man between them, a little helplessly. "This is a greater future! We could be together again!"
"...Gellert... we're already old."
"But he's not old!" Grindelwald pointed toward Kasenhis. "He's still young! He has such astounding talent—and what is he doing with it? Playing the role of a lowly professor at Hogwarts? Wasting time with you and your so-called 'Savior of the Wizarding World' in this childish game on school grounds?"
"...Albus... this is the last time... I beg you, stand with me once more," Grindelwald said, wearing a pitiful expression.
Dumbledore was silent for a while, then began to move.
He walked toward Grindelwald. The latter's lips curled into a smile as he saw him approach.
Just as he believed victory was in his grasp, that the world would finally become greater—Dumbledore came to a halt, standing face-to-face with him. Eye to eye.
"Gellert. Leave this place."
Grindelwald's expression instantly fell.
"Is that truly what you think?"
"Leave here. Stay far away from Hogwarts. Stay far away from my professor. And far away from that machine," Dumbledore said firmly.
"...Dumbledore... you really have become hopeless," Grindelwald sighed, shaking his head. The next moment, a pale purple spell shot straight at Dumbledore's face.
"Is that all you've got left in your bag of tricks?" Dumbledore said coldly.
"Heh~ Of course not."
In the next instant, a surge of blazing blue fire erupted around Grindelwald, forcing Dumbledore—who was closest to him—back in a flash. He raised his wand to cast a spell, attempting to shrink the element synthesis machine and take it with him.
Kasenhis, who had been standing on the sidelines waiting for negotiations to break down, finally saw his moment. He slammed the redstone remote control in his pocket.
With the End Crystals detonating, a massive shockwave propelled a single explosive arrow straight into the shrinking element synthesis machine almost instantly.
Grindelwald was sent flying by the explosion.
Kasenhis quickly rushed over and picked up the enchanted book of the magic seed from the ground. With a snap of his fingers, flames engulfed it, reducing it to ashes.
"Heh.. heheheh.. Bahahah~~~… after all these years… I've really never seen someone install a massive cannon on their office ceiling and pass it off as a chandelier."
"I'm something of a hopeless case myself," Kasenhis said with a frown.
"Haah.. That Dumbledore actually made you a professor… guess his tastes haven't changed much in all these years," Grindelwald muttered, clutching his knee as he struggled to his feet.
"Yeah, don't need you to tell me. The old man's always had a soft spot for the crazy rebellious types," Kasenhis replied, waving his hand as three Wither Skeleton skulls began charging behind him.