Sky City was a city where only magic mattered.
Here, magic was everything. Anyone who couldn't use magic had no voice, not even basic human rights. Naturally, even the right to reproduce had been taken away.
On top of that, Sky City continuously drew outstanding wizarding individuals from the surface to marry into its population, replenishing its gene pool.
After several hundred years, the genes of Sky City's residents had been altered to completely adapt to magic.
No Muggles or Squibs would ever be born here again.
Every child born here naturally possessed magical talent.
Judging from this phenomenon alone, the residents of Sky City truly were "people of the heavens."
Their improved genes gave them magical talent far beyond that of people on the surface, and it also became the main source of their sense of superiority.
As a member of Sky City's ruling family, Iyeta was only a collateral branch that was frequently excluded and bullied.
But without question, her talent for magic was still outstanding.
If she had been in the lower world, she would at least have been the kind of absolute student leader that Fleur or Krum was.
Unfortunately, compared to unprecedented geniuses like Link and Dumbledore, she was still far behind.
Because of that, her rate of absorbing the King's Blood was frighteningly slow.
It took her a full two days before she completely absorbed the King's Blood from No. 1.
Moreover, because the amount of King's Blood she absorbed at once was too great, almost beyond the limit of what she could endure, Iyeta's originally fair, silky skin, white as milk, had now completely turned blood red, becoming as rough as rock.
Of course, Iyeta didn't care much about that.
Because she had gained power, the pure personal power she had dreamed of.
She raised her blood-red arm high and admired it with complete fascination.
As she moved, the enormous magical power inside her poured out without restraint, forming clusters of deadly magical vortices around her.
This was obviously because her magic had increased too much, leaving her unable to control it.
But Iyeta had no intention of controlling it.
Instead, she let those magical vortices overflowing from her body continue destroying the Elder Hall.
No. 1 quietly watched the overjoyed Iyeta.
He had bestowed almost all of the King's Blood in his body upon her.
Losing so much King's Blood had left him looking much weaker than he had two days ago. Even the skin exposed to the air had begun to turn faintly transparent.
Iyeta naturally noticed this as well.
After venting her excitement, she turned around, locking her gaze firmly onto No. 1. Murderous intent and greed flickered openly in her eyes.
At this moment, she felt stronger than she ever had before.
The overwhelming power filled her body, making her feel as if she had become invincible.
Even No. 1, who had kept her living in fear over the past few days, no longer seemed all that powerful in her eyes.
Iyeta swallowed and stepped forward.
Her hands repeatedly clenched and relaxed, clenched and relaxed, looking eager to try.
She truly wanted to challenge No. 1.
The blood No. 1 had given her earlier had been too wonderful.
Iyeta wanted to know whether, if she killed No. 1 now, she could squeeze even more "blood" out of him.
The moment that thought appeared in her mind, she saw No. 1, who was sitting in the high-backed chair looking so weak that he seemed on the verge of death, suddenly smile.
That smile was so strange.
It made Iyeta's heart skip a beat as an ominous feeling surged through her. A sharp pain also shot through the center of her forehead.
She instinctively wanted to run.
But to her horror, she discovered she couldn't even move a single finger.
The immense power inside her, the very thing that had given her confidence and security, had completely replaced her and become the master of her body.
Under that power's forced control, Iyeta respectfully knelt down and repeatedly slammed her forehead against the floor.
Only after the filthy blood flowing from the center of her forehead stained half the floor tiles in front of her red did that power finally release her.
Struggling, Iyeta raised her head, only to meet No. 1's half-smiling gaze.
Terrified, she ignored the pain, immediately slammed her head back to the floor, and clenched her teeth to stop herself from crying out.
No. 1 waved his hand and said,
"Get up. Your punishment is over."
Without any hesitation, Iyeta immediately got to her feet and stood off to one side.
After experiencing that punishment, she already understood her fate.
No. 1's commands would become absolute law to her.
"Your personal strength has now probably reached the very peak of the mid-stage Legendary Wizard level. You're only one step away from the high-stage Legendary Wizard, who is said to rival gods," No. 1 said leisurely. "Of course, you'll never cross that final step in this lifetime, because this power was never yours to begin with. Even I can't."
Iyeta remained silent.
She stood there like a statue, completely motionless. Even her expression was hidden beneath the drastic changes in her skin and the blood flowing down from her forehead.
But No. 1 still saw through her unwillingness and smiled.
"If we're talking about who in this world still has hope of reaching the high-stage Legendary level, then that person can only be Link Flamel. His talent is unmatched in all my life, and more importantly, throughout his journey, he has almost never taken a wrong turn in developing his strength.
"That is incredibly rare.
"The truth is, people like me, Dumbledore, and even Grindelwald all once had the possibility of reaching the high-stage Legendary level.
"We simply took the wrong path.
"Dumbledore and Grindelwald were burdened by too many worldly affairs, causing them to miss the best period for cultivation.
"As for me, I became obsessed with external things and strayed onto the wrong road."
"Ah..."
No. 1 let out a long sigh before continuing,
"Enough of that. Iyeta, I granted you power. And now I'm also handing the entire International Confederation of Wizards over to you.
"I'll let you truly become the master of Sky City and fulfill your wish.
"But at the same time, I need you to do something for me."
Iyeta finally couldn't hold back anymore. She licked her lips and said,
"Please tell me. I'll definitely do it."
No. 1 shook his head.
"I want you to keep Sky City wandering through the sky according to its established pattern, while continuing to attack the areas where each country's Ministry of Magic is located."
"But if we do that..." Iyeta hesitated. "Sky City's movement pattern will be discovered, and its location will be exposed."
"That's exactly what I want."
No. 1 answered decisively.
"When that happens, Link will lead his army to attack you.
"And what you need to do then is deal with Link Flamel."
Iyeta suddenly flinched.
She genuinely felt that something might have gone wrong with No. 1's mind.
Just moments ago, No. 1 had praised Link to the skies.
Yet now, he wanted her to fight Link Flamel?
Wasn't he just sending her to her death?
"No, of course I'm not sending you to your death."
No. 1 almost instantly read Iyeta's thoughts.
"You can think of this as a test.
"If you defeat Link Flamel, then you'll be allowed to keep this power and authority forever.
"If you fail... then go die."
Iyeta fell silent.
Her body trembled slightly, as though she were terrified by No. 1's horrifying words.
But in truth, there was nothing for her to struggle over.
This had never been a choice.
Under No. 1's absolute authority, she had no right to choose.
Besides, after experiencing such tremendous power and authority, she clearly realized that she would never be able to leave either of them behind for the rest of her life.
If she lost that power and authority, she would rather die.
A flush appeared on Iyeta's face, though it was difficult to see beneath her current skin color.
No. 1 smiled even more happily.
He stepped forward, embraced Iyeta, and said,
"Good child. It seems you've made the best choice.
"Then I'll leave everything else to you."
With that, No. 1 slowly walked out of the Elder Hall.
Wherever he passed, the corpses that had been piled across the ground like mountains suddenly moved.
Struggling and roaring, they climbed to their feet and used every ounce of strength to follow behind No. 1.
Watching No. 1 gradually disappear into the distance, panic suddenly rose inside Iyeta.
With a hoarse, distorted voice, she hurriedly shouted,
"Sir, where are you going?!"
No. 1 didn't answer.
He simply waved without turning around.
The next moment, he and the countless corpses vanished directly from Sky City.
...
France, Beauxbatons Island.
Large numbers of Beauxbatons students, now dressed in ordinary clothes, were gradually leaving Beauxbatons under the escort of Aurors.
The Aurors on escort duty remained silent. Even when students deliberately slowed their pace and dragged their feet, they didn't urge them on. They simply held their wands and quietly but vigilantly watched the line before them.
Most of the students in the procession also remained silent, their faces drained of color.
Aside from footsteps and the occasional sound of sobbing, the entire evacuation site was deathly quiet.
"This scene really breaks my heart. I'd bet many of those students are devastated!"
Not far away, inside a tower, Krell sighed as he watched everything unfold.
"Students from the first through third years will be split up and assigned to Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Ilvermorny, and other magical schools to continue their studies. They will remain under strict surveillance and undergo regular ideological evaluations for five years. The older students will be sent to the French Ministry of Magic, where a special school will be established to house them. They will first undergo thorough memory modification to erase everything related to Norton and the Shadow Men. Then, through long-term labor reform and ideological education, their thinking will be purified. As for the very small number who remain stubborn, they will have their wands snapped and be stripped of the right to cast magic."
Dumbledore recited the plan in an indifferent tone, though traces of grief and anger were mixed into it.
"After more than a dozen meetings over the past two days, this is already the best plan I could secure.
"I never expected that you, Mr. Krell, would have such compassion for children.
"But... sigh! I'm sorry. I've already done everything I could. This was the unanimous decision of the New International Magical Alliance. I no longer have the authority to..."
"No, no, no..."
Krell repeatedly waved his hands and interrupted.
"I think you've misunderstood me, Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore looked at Krell in surprise.
Krell grinned, revealing a savage smile.
"What I mean is, all these children still have Beauxbatons in their hearts! I'd bet they hate us 'invaders' to the bone. Professor Dumbledore, do you know what the first thing a young lion king does after defeating the old lion king and taking over its territory is?"
"It bites every one of the old lion king's cubs to death!"
"That's the best way to cut the weeds and pull out the roots! If you ask me, we should learn from lions and kill every one of these children!"
"It just so happens that the young master seems to have become interested in lions recently. Earlier I saw the beast's shadow appear behind him. It really looked cool..."
Before Krell could finish speaking, Dumbledore looked at him as if he were staring at a pile of dog filth, then turned and walked away in disgust.
He felt there had to be something wrong with his own thinking lately.
To actually believe that a butcher like Krell possessed any compassion.
What a complete joke!
"I'm not joking with you! If you'd let me attend the meetings, that's exactly what I would've proposed!"
Apparently enraged by Dumbledore's expression, Krell turned to the people behind him and said,
"If you don't believe me, then just watch that little brat named Wendel! According to the intelligence I gathered, he was Norton's most valued student before he died. You all saw the way he looked at us after we removed the Imperius Curse from him, didn't you?
"That was the look of a wolf cub! I'm telling you, if we carry out this placement plan, it won't be long before he starts gathering the other students and preparing to overthrow us!"
"He won't."
Without even raising his head, Link spoke.
His voice was gentle, yet carried unquestionable certainty.
"Young Master, what makes you so sure?" Krell continued. "Forgive my bluntness, but you simply don't have enough experience in this area yet. Your kindness will be taken advantage of!"
As he spoke, Krell shot Dumbledore a fierce glare.
It was obvious that the person he believed would take advantage of Link's kindness was Dumbledore.
Dumbledore shook his head helplessly, while Link smiled and said, "Because Wendel is a smart man. And a smart man should know that, unless something unexpected happens, he'll never have a chance to oppose me for the rest of his life. That's determined by absolute strength. I'm sure Norton warned them about that while he was alive."
"So he will indeed find a way to unite the former Beauxbatons forces."
"But not to overthrow me."
"It will be to rebuild Beauxbatons."
"But..."
Krell still looked deeply worried.
Seeing that, Link smiled and said decisively, "Then let's do this. Krell, I'll leave them to you."
"If they really start heading in the wrong direction, then you can step in and put the fire out before it spreads."
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