This time, she took a solid fall. Before she could even get up, several spells came flying toward her.
Aries dodged them in a very disheveled manner. After getting to her feet, she realized she had been transported into a library. A bushy-haired girl and a handsome black-haired boy were attacking her.
What the hell? A sense of absurdity flashed through Aries's mind. Since when had domain users become as common as cabbages?
With just a glance, she understood that she had been pulled into someone's domain. Unless she could break through it, there was no way for her to escape.
At that moment, Daphne and Astoria were dragged in as well.
The two were startled at first, but quickly realized what had happened—Hermione had made her move. She had also earned enough money for a World Cup final ticket by doing odd jobs for Professor White, so she was present at the stadium today.
Sure enough, as they looked around, they spotted Hermione and Cedric.
"Didn't expect to run into you here," Daphne said with a smile.
"Save the small talk until after we deal with her," Cedric interrupted. He made it clear that their priority was to subdue this person who was causing chaos alongside Voldemort.
Aries let out a cold snort, deciding to get serious and show these young ones what a true domain was.
"Come on!" She clapped her hands together and shouted, "Even within your domain, I can still beat all of you little brats into submission!"
The five of them immediately engaged in battle within Hermione's domain.
Aries truly lived up to her status as an elite of the secret society. With the sheer power of her divine relic, she fought four opponents at once without falling behind. With every movement, she triggered bursts of compressed air within the library, shattering all of Daphne and the others' attack spells.
The already cramped library grew increasingly spacious as the fight continued. The tables, chairs, and bookshelves that got in the way were all reduced to splintered wood under the aftershocks of the battle.
Aries grew more confident as the fight went on. With a couple of feigned slashes, she triggered two violent explosions in front of her, throwing Daphne and Cedric into disarray. Seeing this, she shouted happily, "This is the power of a domain!"
"Let me out, and I'll spare you. How about it?"
What the self-assured Aries failed to notice was that deep within the library, a black-haired boy stood watching coldly.
This boy was Rhys's projection. If he joined the battle, Aries would likely stop laughing, but Hermione deliberately had him remain on standby.
She wanted to take this opportunity to train her own combat ability. After all, the battlefield was within her domain. With her control over the domain, she could handle any sudden situation.
"Heh!" Aries was completely unaware of Hermione's thoughts. She was immersed in boundless exhilaration.
…
While the fierce battle raged within the library, the top of the stadium had already been dyed in red and black.
"All the nuisances have moved away—aren't you going to withdraw these burdens of yours?" Beneath Rhys's feet, a sea of blood churned, and the stench of blood around him was suffocating.
Within that sea of blood, the reanimated corpses summoned by Voldemort were locked in battle with the Ministry's puppets.
With Rhys's support, the puppets held an overwhelming advantage over the corpses. His domain would interfere with their movements from time to time. In such high-intensity combat, even a brief moment of stiffness was enough for the puppets' spells to tear the corpses to pieces.
Although the corpses could be revived again and again under the influence of Voldemort's death domain, each revival consumed his power, putting him at a disadvantage in his clash against Rhys's domain.
Voldemort let out a cold snort and did not reply.
Of course he knew that repeatedly reviving the corpses would drain his strength, but he had no choice. At the very least, they could keep the puppets occupied and prevent them from interfering in his battle.
However, Voldemort did not take this matter to heart. Even now, he still believed victory was firmly within his grasp.
If not for the fact that the undead were being heavily countered by this mysterious opponent, consuming too much of his domain's power, he would have already secured the upper hand and devoured the opponent's domain.
"You've earned my recognition. Come, tell me your name!" Voldemort controlled his death domain while firing spells from his wand at Rhys, attempting to disrupt him.
"Mysterious powerhouse, submit to me. I can grant you rewards beyond your wildest dreams!" Voldemort spoke sincerely. He truly hoped this mysterious figure, who did not belong to the secret society, would join him. That way, in his future struggle against Polaris, he would gain another powerful card.
Even making him the second-highest-ranking Death Eater would not be a problem.
Rhys: "…"
It seemed that creating too many Horcruxes really did damage one's mind. Rhys felt he had gathered valuable experimental data.
"Since you want to know my name, I might as well tell you—I am Salazar Slytherin."
Upon hearing that name, Voldemort fell silent for a second, then flew into a rage.
In his eyes, this mysterious man was deliberately taking advantage of him. He had openly declared himself a descendant of Slytherin, yet this person claimed to be Slytherin himself. Didn't that make him Voldemort's ancestor?!
Enraged, Voldemort abruptly intensified his assault. For a moment, the death domain surged with overwhelming force, and dark spells poured out from him as if they required no magical energy at all.
To an outsider, it appeared that Voldemort had gained a complete advantage.
But Rhys only found it amusing. He could now confirm that Voldemort had only just awakened his domain and had no real understanding of it. Otherwise, he wouldn't be making such amateur mistakes.
Rhys manipulated the sea of blood, swallowing all the spells Voldemort cast, secretly converting their magical energy into power for his own domain.
"You seem very angry?" After maintaining this "stalemate" with Voldemort for a long time, Rhys even felt a trace of drowsiness. This was the most boring domain clash he had ever experienced, so he began chatting with him.
"Is it because I said I'm Slytherin?"
Voldemort did not respond.
Rhys shrugged. What a world—telling the truth, yet no one believes it.
"You think Slytherin is your ancestor?"
This time, Voldemort answered.
"The blood of the great Slytherin flows through my veins—"
"Stop, stop! Slytherin didn't have descendants like you. Don't tell me you're basing it on the Gaunt family? Their ancestor was nothing more than an abandoned child Slytherin picked up by the roadside—no proper lineage to speak of…"
Voldemort's rage reached its peak. He felt an unprecedented humiliation.
"Enough!" he roared, suddenly retracting his domain and condensing its immense power at his side. He decided to use this very move—one he had comprehended himself—to end the battle.
"Let this strike decide the outcome!" Voldemort hurled the highly condensed, almost tangible domain toward Rhys.
"Now that's interesting," Rhys remarked. At last, things were no longer so dull.
If this was Voldemort's strongest attack, then Rhys had already gauged his strength.
There was no need for him to hold back any longer.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI