Godric Gryffindor's expression shifted rapidly, from surprise to ecstasy to excitement.
He laughed heartily, grabbing Dana's hand: "Emrys! Fight me!"
Slytherin turned his head away, Ravenclaw was expressionless, and Hufflepuff giggled behind her hand—unlike the kindly, slightly plump middle-aged lady in the portraits, the current Hufflepuff had large eyes and plenty of collagen on her face; although she was already in her twenties, she still had a very girlish appearance.
Dana nodded; he had originally intended to ask Gryffindor for duel tips, and a sparring match would naturally be ideal.
So he casually opened a Spandim Gate: "Come on."
The five of them passed through the portal. This was a grassy area, a lawn situated on a coastal cliff. Ravenclaw scanned the surroundings with her Eagle Eye and discovered it was an isolated island with no signs of human habitation.
She nodded to everyone: "No one is here."
Godric Gryffindor could no longer restrain himself; he laughed heartily and drew the sword from his back—
"Come on, Emrys, I really want to know how strong you truly are!"
Dana walked to the open space and pulled out his wand.
"Mr. Gryffindor, you are the senior; please go first."
Gryffindor was not polite; he waved his sword, pointing it at Dana—
Immediately, a red beam of light shot from the sword tip. Dana gathered the Shield Charm in his palm and, with a seemingly casual wave of his hand, deflected the spell.
Gryffindor didn't expect a single strike to succeed; this was merely a means of probing and distracting. At this moment, he had already rapidly approached Dana, his sword blade crackling with lightning as it slashed towards Dana.
However, this kind of frontal assault was the easiest attack for Dana to handle. He extended his left hand, calmly and unhurriedly flicking his index, middle, and ring fingers in succession. Three light pillars, each as thick as a bowl, shot out one after another, forcing Gryffindor to retreat and dodge.
The three light pillars struck the nearby grass, causing a thunderous explosion. The seemingly ordinary blasting spell, in Dana's hands, produced power comparable to War Magic.
Seeing Gryffindor create distance, Dana directly scattered a handful of seeds. As the Natural Magic runes inscribed on his left forearm began to flash, the seeds took root upon landing and grew rapidly, instantly transforming into a large patch of thick Devil's Snare.
Hufflepuff clapped her hands and exclaimed, "What powerful Natural Magic!"
The tentacles of the Devil's Snare obeyed Dana's will, sweeping towards Gryffindor, who twisted and dodged, only severing one or two tentacles with his sword when he had no other option.
His current situation was not good, because the lightning runes inscribed on Dana's right arm were flashing with a heart-pounding light. As soon as Gryffindor got tangled by a tentacle, lightning would instantly strike him.
Gryffindor was not flustered. Spells continuously shot from his sword tip, causing large amounts of white smoke to erupt from the surrounding grass, hoping to obscure Dana's vision.
Although Dana could not see, he still locked onto Gryffindor's position through his perception of magic. The Devil's Snare continued to attack Gryffindor with clear intent—
In his perception, Gryffindor was rapidly swinging his sword, but the next moment, Gryffindor vanished.
Dana was startled, but his keen senses caught a faint tearing sound of space behind his head. Before he could turn around, his left arm grew Dragon scales, and combined with a Shield Charm, he turned to block—
"Clang!"
Gryffindor indeed appeared behind Dana. His sword and the black Dragon arm collided, erupting in a shower of sparks.
Gryffindor looked shocked; he had never seen this kind of Transfiguration where a part of the body transformed into a Dragon. The scales on this arm were exactly like real Dragon scales, offering astonishing defense;
Dana was equally surprised, because behind Gryffindor, a spatial rift was slowly closing—so, had Gryffindor just used a slashing attack to create a spatial rift, and then apparated behind him through the rift?
Apparition did not yet exist in this era. To be able to do this, it could only be said that he was worthy of being Gryffindor.
Dana swung his wand fiercely with his right hand, and a powerful gust of wind swept towards Gryffindor, instantly blowing him away.
Dana's intuition told him that being close to Gryffindor would be very dangerous—he had not practiced swordsmanship, and if Gryffindor got close and launched a rapid attack, he would surely fall into a very disadvantageous situation.
Gryffindor, in mid-air, saw Dana throw a few more spells at him and laughed heartily, performing a somersault. His sword, taking advantage of the momentum, once again sliced open a spatial rift in the air, and he himself vanished into the rift.
Dana's attack instantly missed its target.
The next moment, around Dana, one spatial rift after another appeared, dozens of them—if he had no way to counter, then Gryffindor would launch surprise attacks from these rifts. This kind of all-around spatial encirclement would be difficult to deal with; he might even be hit by an attack from a blind spot.
However, as Merlin's successor, how could Dana be stumped by such a trick? He clapped his hands together, and with a crisp sound, the space within a hundred-meter radius centered on him was suddenly confined. The spatial rifts disappeared one by one, and then Gryffindor's frantic voice was heard:
"Oh no, I'm going to be squeezed to death!"
As he leaped out of the last spatial rift, all the fissures were smoothed over by Dana.
Dana smiled, looking at Gryffindor: "If you only have these tricks, then you won't win…"
Dana frowned and suddenly flew into the sky, only to see the ground where he had just stood suddenly transform into a gaping abyss—if he hadn't flown up, he would probably have been swallowed by the maw.
Heh heh, fighting a dueling master like Gryffindor truly means not being able to relax for a single moment.
Dana flew in the air, feeling that something was off—why was Godric Gryffindor, such a boisterous and magnanimous person, using such sneaky and underhanded tricks?
Little did he know, Gryffindor also had his reasons.
Did he truly not wish to fight honorably?
Just a brief exchange of blows in the beginning, Gryffindor had already determined that Dana could not be defeated by him head-on with magic. His only chance of victory lay in his swordsmanship and sneaky little tricks.
Yes, even if Dana's magic was dozens of times stronger than Gryffindor's, in Gryffindor's view, he still had a chance to win—
This was the nature of Wizarding World combat. Strong combat power did not necessarily mean invincibility. Wizards were, after all, flesh and blood, and even the most powerful Wizard could be taken down by a single spell or beheaded by a sword.
Dana slowly ascended, looking down at Gryffindor.
Gryffindor's only means of flight was a broom. His Animagus transformation was a lion, and as everyone knew, lions could not fly.
And now that space was confined by Dana, Gryffindor couldn't even engage in aerial combat with Dana using spatial magic.
Gryffindor took off his hat and tossed it into the air.
The future Sorting Hat spun, casting out a barrier, while Gryffindor immediately lowered his head and began drawing on the ground with his sword.
Dana naturally would not allow Gryffindor to complete the inscription of the magic circle. He waved his wand with his right hand, and one thick bolt of lightning after another fell, striking the barrier constructed by the Sorting Hat.
"Crack!"
With just three bolts of lightning, the barrier shattered, and the Sorting Hat floated to the ground. At this moment, Gryffindor had already raised his head, smiling—
At his feet, a strangely shaped magic circle emitted magical light. In an instant, countless magical arrows shot out from the void, forming an arrow rain that flew towards Dana—
War Magic: Light Arrow Array.
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