"Master? Master?" a Dark Wizard asked hesitantly, nudging the Dark Lord where he lay on the ground.
After all, this was a chaotic battlefield, and strange bombs were still falling from the sky from time to time. At first, they had not really noticed what was happening here.
The Dark Lord had already penetrated deep into Hogwarts' formation. Never mind that pack of fierce professors and Order of the Phoenix members, they could not even break past the terrifying Grindelwald.
For some reason, however, Dumbledore had suddenly called back Grindelwald, who had been on the verge of cutting through them entirely, and had him protect Harry Potter, who had also fallen to the ground, leaving the Dark Lord alone to them.
Wait. Judging by how far the battle line had advanced, did that mean they had pushed all the way to the castle gates?
The Dark Wizard looked at the positions of both sides in delight.
Sure enough, although they had lost a lot of people, they had also run a long way.
Voldemort rubbed his head in pain, rarely in the mood to care what his subordinate was thinking.
The loss of his soul had already left his will in an extremely unstable state. Now that his final Horcrux had been destroyed by his own hand, his already impoverished soul had only suffered further damage.
Yes. After being unconscious for a while, his mind had forced itself awake, and he had realized something.
Although he did not understand why he had lost to Harry Potter in a clash on the level of the soul, he had indeed lost.
Before deciding to face Harry one-on-one, Voldemort had actually anticipated this possibility.
After all, once he had cut away the final piece of his soul, his only remaining hopes were Marvolio and Harry.
That was why he had planned to torture Harry first. Once Harry's will collapsed, he would absorb both souls together.
With that replenishment, he could then find a way to have his subordinates hold Dumbledore back while he used the divided battlefield to seek out Marvolio.
He had not expected that a plan so flawless would be disrupted by the sudden appearance of a Malfoy.
The more Voldemort thought about it, the angrier he became. He shot an annoyed glance at the subordinate beside him.
He had been awake for a while now, yet this person had not helped him up. Instead, he was standing there smiling foolishly.
Was his miserable state really so funny?
The Dark Wizard shuddered for no reason and turned his head curiously, only to see the Dark Lord's sinister face.
"Master, you're awake!" he said in surprise and delight.
"...What happened after I lost consciousness? Why is it so quiet?"
Voldemort narrowed his eyes, looking across at the Hogwarts side, who were protecting Harry with tense expressions.
"Good news, Master!" the Dark Wizard said excitedly.
"Dumbledore was frightened by your collapse and retreated. Our line has already pushed all the way to the castle gates!"
"..."
Voldemort took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the anger surging into his head.
It was bad enough that his own strength had been weakened again and again. Now even his subordinates were too stupid to understand the situation.
Was that cowardice? No. They were watching his condition and waiting for a chance to counterattack.
Fortunately, he had not placed much hope in these thug-like Dark Wizards. He had been preserving the strength of his most elite Death Eaters as much as possible.
And now, it was time for them to show their value.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Voldemort's mouth, and the Dark Wizard finally realized that his shiver had not been an illusion.
The Dark Lord seemed to be growing even more insane.
Voldemort ignored him. After staggering to his feet, he frowned slightly as he looked at his followers.
After the brief clash, most of their losses had come from the Weasley twins' occasional shot of Blasting, and from Grindelwald's furious attacks.
The former had caused the most casualties. More than half of those lying on the ground and howling had been struck by many strange and bizarre spells.
As for the latter, well, the ones on the ground who could not even cry out were Grindelwald's handiwork.
By contrast, the other side had their anti-curse sets to thank. Ugly as they were, their combat effectiveness was real.
And since most of Hogwarts' side had focused on protecting themselves and the students, those foolish Dark Wizards charging forward had not been able to cause much real damage.
To put it bluntly, the greatest achievement on Voldemort's side was that Voldemort had destroyed his own soul.
So when Voldemort saw the miserable state of his subordinates, his frown deepened.
Although the overall number of people taken down was not especially high, in terms of morale, they had fallen far behind.
Especially those Death Eaters who should have been his elite. They were actually looking at him with hesitation instead of concern for his condition.
That strange atmosphere sent a trace of unease through Voldemort's heart.
He tried his best to maintain his authority and walked toward them step by step.
"My Lord, it truly is wonderful to see you unharmed!" Augustus Rookwood said respectfully, forcing out a smile.
But Voldemort could not sense a shred of sincerity.
He frowned and swept his gaze over them one by one. Aside from Bella, almost everyone avoided his probing stare.
Of course, under normal circumstances, few Death Eaters dared to look directly into his eyes.
But in the past, they had lowered their heads respectfully, not turned away in disgust as if they were looking at a lowly Werewolf.
"I did encounter a small problem, but at the same time, the dawn of our victory has also appeared. As long as..."
"Spare them your act, Voldemort. You've deceived them long enough."
Marvolio, who had been hiding all this time, could no longer hold back. He strode forward and faced Voldemort directly.
"During the First War, they carried out the most numerous and most dangerous tasks for you.
After your first defeat, they still chose to believe in you without wavering. They would rather endure the Dementors' torment in Azkaban, while still hoping in their hearts for your return."
"But what about you? From beginning to end, you never cared about them. You only treated them as disposable tools, things to be used up to satisfy your violent desires."
By the end, Marvolio was truly angry.
His arrogance toward muggles back then had indeed been wrong, but that did not mean he had been equally arrogant toward his own subordinates.
In truth, the first Death Eaters who followed him, although most of them did not meet good ends, had truly gathered around him because of their beliefs.
In a sense, the person he had been back then was like a version of Tver with the wrong target and far more ruthless methods.
But the Voldemort of now had been completely overwhelmed by his own brutality. He did not care at all about these subordinates who had once risked their lives for him.
In the past, these Death Eaters would naturally have been willing to sacrifice their lives for Voldemort.
But now, if all they received in return was the Dark Lord's indifference, then that sacrifice was no longer worth it to them.
So the moment "Dusko" stepped forward, the Death Eaters remained silent, but their feet unconsciously began to gather toward him.
Their choice was obvious.
The moment Voldemort saw Marvolio's familiar face, he laughed in fury.
"Ha. So it was you. So it was always you people causing trouble behind my back!"
"So what?"
Looking at the deranged Voldemort, Marvolio instead felt a calm pity for him.
In the end, it was time for this to end.
"Without me, could you change that cold, ruthless mind of yours? Could you make them believe you never intended to drive them to their deaths?"
"Gah..."
Voldemort's smile froze on his face. Together with his fury at being exposed, it made him look even more twisted than the Dementors flying through the sky.