Odin truly lived up to his name as the strongest Eternal Wizard. This old monster who had carried the title of God-King for thousands of years really did have the ability to match.
He was the only one who had ever killed an Eternal Wizard, and that record alone was proof enough of his strength.
Unfortunately, no matter how powerful he was, he was still alone.
Once, he had possessed the mighty servants of Valhalla, and most of the Einherjar there had strength close to that of an Eternal Wizard.
But they had all been blown away. Perhaps they would revive after some time, but by then it would already be too late.
This battle was practically one-sided.
Odin's ancient magic was famed for its lethality. In terms of destructive power, it left modern-magic Eternal Wizards like Grindelwald far behind. With a casual gesture, he could tear the newly grown Voldemorts into scraps too ruined to revive.
Part of that was because these grown Voldemorts had comparatively fragile bodies.
But even more importantly, the instant they were torn apart, they blew themselves up.
They had inherited Leonard's upgrades from the system. They possessed every ability the system had given him.
Each explosion was a self-destruction at the level of a weaker Eternal Wizard, and those explosions were the strongest attack these Voldemorts had.
Odin's ancient magic could punch through their magic absorption, but it could not stop their self-detonation.
So in the end, it was like Voldemort rain falling from the sky. Chunks of Voldemort flesh were everywhere, and wherever they landed, they took root. Soon, new Voldemorts grew up to fill the battlefield again.
Before long, the sky was packed with Voldemorts. The magic gathered by them all seemed capable of turning the whole world into a realm of death.
In the end, Odin died.
There was no reversal, no final outburst.
Crushed beneath absolute numbers, Odin was finally stripped of his life and fell to the ground as a dried-up corpse.
A great mass of vines surged up and devoured Odin's body. In the future, the main body would need that corpse if it wanted to break through to the Eternal Wizard level.
The battle was over. The sky was filled with ghostlike Voldemort figures floating everywhere. Their eyes were empty, their bodies covered in tender green shoots, as they quietly waited for Leonard's orders.
The dark clouds scattered, and the gray-white mist vanished with them. The ghosts awakened by Death God's power wailed as they retreated to their own world.
The Dementors in the sky lingered unwilling to disperse, but it was not long before great numbers of Voldemorts surrounded them and used Death God's magic to throw these imitators of death into the world of the dead.
The only ones left at the scene were the Death Eaters who had not long ago escaped from Azkaban.
They looked around blankly. The sunlight overhead made them uneasy, and the swarm of fly-like Voldemorts in the distance left them completely at a loss.
But they did not need to worry for long.
The plants still around thoughtfully bundled those Death Eaters up, then threw them over to the Aurors who had remained at Hogwarts.
Those Aurors had originally come to Hogwarts to maintain order and, incidentally, protect Barty Crouch Sr. Because of their duty, they had not left immediately, and instead had stayed at Dumbledore's side with Barty Crouch Sr. the whole time.
When Barty Crouch Sr. saw a pile of Death Eaters tied up by a giant tree-man and dumped in front of him, he froze for a moment, then was immediately overjoyed.
This was a major accomplishment.
Never mind how those Death Eaters had been captured. They were now in his hands, and that meant he was about to earn enormous credit.
And...
Barty Crouch Sr.'s eyes shifted slightly as he looked at those Death Eaters.
He knew them well. Quite a few of them had been sent to Azkaban by his own hand back in the day. By all rights, they should still have been in Azkaban, and yet no news had ever reached them of any problem there.
That could only mean Azkaban had already been breached.
That was a catastrophic dereliction of duty, the kind of blame no one could ever wash clean.
Cornelius Fudge was finished.
And he, Barty Crouch, a senior figure in the Ministry who had just earned a great merit, was very likely to become the next Minister for Magic.
He could practically see the position he had once missed because of his son's scandal reaching out to him again.
Barty Crouch Sr. was suddenly impatient. He turned to Dumbledore and said, "Albus, it looks like things here have been settled. I'll be heading back first."
He needed to get back immediately, lock down the matter concerning Cornelius Fudge, and drive him out for good.
Settled?
Dumbledore looked at Barty Crouch Sr. expressionlessly, very nearly wanting to grab him by the collar and force him to look at the sky full of floating Voldemorts, then ask him to repeat what exactly he meant by settled.
This was even more horrifying than when it had first begun.
Still, Dumbledore truly had no reason to keep Barty Crouch Sr. and the Aurors there. After all, those Voldemorts raising his blood pressure to terrifying heights looked perfectly quiet and showed no intent to attack.
"I understand. I'll handle what comes next. Also, you'll need to inform Cornelius about what happened here," Dumbledore said.
"Inform Cornelius... ah, no, I mean, no problem." Barty Crouch Sr. gave a dry cough. "I'll pass it on."
He and the Aurors escorted the Death Eaters away.
At the same time, Leonard's figure in the air slowly faded, and the group of Voldemorts in the sky vanished with him.
Leonard's true body had never been here from the start. Ever since he acquired Living Wood Vine as a material for making doubles, the number of Leonard's clones had become impossible to estimate.
After all, to the World Tree, making that sort of thing was not difficult.
So where exactly was Leonard's real body?
...
At the entrance to the British Ministry of Magic.
The lift disguised as a telephone box descended at high speed. Barty Crouch Sr. strode out full of pride and confidence, leading his Aurors as they escorted a group of Death Eaters out of the lift.
He looked like a victorious general returning from war, his momentum at its absolute peak.
He would strike while the iron was hot, force Fudge down, and then take the position himself as a matter of course.
That was what Barty Crouch Sr. was thinking.
Then suddenly he realized something was wrong.
The Ministry atrium, which should have been bustling, was packed with people. Their expressions were varied, but what they all had in common was silence. Not a single person was speaking. They were all staring at him with strange looks.
He even spotted Cornelius Fudge among the crowd.
Fudge's expression was stranger still, the face of a man who clearly wanted to cry, but was being forced to smile.
All the hair on Barty Crouch's body stood on end. One of the more timid Aurors behind him even loosened his grip and dropped a tightly bound Death Eater onto the floor.
Just as they stood there at a loss, an unfamiliar voice rang out.
"Let's welcome Mr. Barty Crouch back. Though he didn't actually do anything, he was at least a very competent delivery man."
The moment the voice fell silent, the atrium of the Ministry erupted into warm applause, so much so that for an instant it felt like some leader had come down for an inspection.
Wait.
Who had just spoken?
And what was that tone of soothing subordinates? Who exactly did she think she was?
Barty Crouch Sr. lifted his head and quickly found the speaker.
There was no helping it. She was simply too conspicuous. At nearly two meters tall, she stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens.
More importantly, standing beside her was a group of werewolves whose bodies were wrapped in plants.
He remembered now.
That was Midgard Greyback, the she-wolf who had taken control of Knockturn Alley.
Since when could werewolves stand in the Ministry of Magic in full werewolf form so openly?
Wait.
That boy beside her looked a little familiar...
The very sharp-minded Barty Crouch promptly shut his mouth, because he suddenly saw several very familiar figures.
Voldemort.
Not one, but several.
All of them were Voldemorts with plants growing all over their bodies.
Barty Crouch had seen them before. That boy had appeared in the final battle at Hogwarts, fought the terrifying wizard calling himself Odin, and summoned countless Voldemorts that could not be killed off.
This was a terrifying fellow.
But what were they doing in the Ministry of Magic?
A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Barty Crouch's heart.
"All right, enough about the Death Eaters," Midgard said in a deep voice. "In accordance with everyone's wishes, I will become the next Minister for Magic of Britain. Who's in favor, and who's against?"
The moment the words fell, several Voldemorts stepped forward, and a terrifying pressure blanketed the whole atrium.
A mouthful of blood nearly lodged in Barty Crouch's throat.
So they were here to seize the post of Minister for Magic.
But this method was way too wild.
"Agreed!"
"We support it!"
"That's right, you're the one everyone wants!"
"Whoever dares object, I'll be the first to deal with them!"
All kinds of approving voices rang out through the Ministry atrium. Even Cornelius Fudge looked like he wanted to jump up and vote yes with both hands and both feet.
In a scene like this, she was probably the Minister with the highest approval rating since the Ministry was founded.
A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Barty Crouch's mouth. Then he decisively joined in the shouting together with the Aurors behind him.
To hell with dignity. At a time like this, just go with the flow.
...
Before the Triwizard Tournament even began, Midgard had already seized the Ministry of Magic under Leonard's instructions.
The Ministry's defenses had been completely useless, especially once a pack of fierce werewolves in full werewolf form charged in. Everyone obediently cowered like quails.
No one wanted to become a cursed monster like a werewolf.
But it was useless. Midgard had her werewolves bite every single person in the Ministry.
At first, everyone in the Ministry had been in despair. Some of them had even wanted to take Midgard down with them.
But once Midgard showed them the newest version of Wolfsbane Potion, most of those thoughts disappeared.
No effect on future generations. Full control over transformation. Stronger survival ability. Greater magical power. And with no real drawback, one could become a Werewolf Animagus, the Ministry's new term for it.
Most importantly, lifespan increased dramatically.
Such an enormous benefit only required getting scratched by a werewolf and drinking one potion.
The potion was distributed for free. All they had to do was acknowledge the status of werewolves.
Since everyone was a werewolf now, what was there to hesitate about?
Support it.
They had to support it.
...
"Your method really is pretty good..." After settling matters at the Ministry, Midgard leaned against the desk and watched Leonard, who was sitting in the Minister for Magic's chair with Claudia in his arms, fiddling with the ornaments on the desk.
Now that he had a whole flock of Voldemorts under him and the werewolves had taken control of the Ministry, Leonard no longer cared about showing himself in public, and that put Midgard in a very good mood.
"It's all right. Most of the credit goes to the Wolfsbane Potion. Without the repeatedly improved Wolfsbane Potion, making those pure-bloods behave would never have been this easy," Leonard said casually.
Midgard laughed, and she laughed happily. She remembered the little radish-head from years ago, the way he had said he wanted to change the situation for werewolves.
Back then, she had treated it as a child's joke.
She had never expected that in just a few short years, the joke would become reality.
"So what are you planning to do next?" Midgard asked. "We may control the British Ministry of Magic now, but the fact that we took it by force is still going to have consequences, right? The International Confederation of Wizards, for example?"
"Relax. They won't have time to come bother us," Leonard said with a grin. "Leave it to me."
He gently stroked Claudia's hair. By now, Claudia's hair had turned completely into a shining silver, smooth and radiant.
That was the color of ancient magic.
Back then, Tiamat had tried to lay claim to Odin's ancient magic and had created the unicorn race because of it. That had also led to a grudge between two powerful Eternal Wizards.
That was why Claudia could use ancient magic. Her race had originally been aimed at ancient magic in the first place.
And Professor Flitwick too. His goblin bloodline was probably another one of Tiamat's attempts.
Leonard absentmindedly stroked Claudia's little head. Seeing that, Midgard showed a soft smile.
"Looks like you've arranged everything already," she said with a sly smile. "But what are you planning to do about your own affairs?"
"What do you mean, my own affairs?" Leonard started playing dumb.
"Me, Claudia, and if I remember right, that half-Veela girl too." Midgard clicked her tongue in admiration. "Not bad. Looks like you're not that little brat anymore, the one who used to blush just from seeing a body."
"Ahem..." Leonard coughed awkwardly. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
"I know." Claudia raised her hand happily. "Sister Midgard means who you're planning to spend your life with, and who you want to have children with..."
Before Claudia could finish, Leonard hurriedly covered her mouth. He gave an awkward smile, then scratched his head as he glanced at Midgard's heated gaze.
"Well... let's wait a little longer. I'm still not an adult yet!" Leonard said with a sheepish grin as he stood up.
"How long are you planning to drag it out?" Midgard sat on top of the desk and stretched, showing off her overbearing figure.
"Until the whole world is under my control," Leonard said slowly, looking out the window.
"And when will that be? You're not just trying to dodge the issue, are you?" Midgard rolled her eyes.
"How could I be?" Leonard stood up and slung an arm around Midgard's shoulder. "Fewer children, more trees. It won't be long before the whole world is mine."
"And I'll turn the whole world into a wizarding world. Everyone will become wizards."
At Hogwarts, Dumbledore looked at the castle, which was slowly repairing itself, then glanced at the letter in his hand.
The contents of the letter were very simple. It was about the werewolves taking over the Ministry of Magic. The letter mentioned Leonard. He was standing right beside the werewolf leader.
"Ah... the times are changing," Dumbledore sighed.
"What, are you thinking of stopping it? Let's be clear, don't drag me into it. I'm not interested in dying yet." Grindelwald leaned against the window and looked toward the new World Tree in the distance, the raven perched on it, and the Voldemorts.
"The trend is already set. Let it be," Dumbledore said, shaking his head.
As if he actually wanted to go looking for death.
Meanwhile, at the original site of the Shrieking Shack, Harris Raymons landed on a treetop and looked at Nicolas Flamel's body, which had been transformed by vines.
Leonard had said that after the ancient magic was extracted from that body, the corpse would be handed over to him for burial.
Suddenly, the vines around Nicolas Flamel's body burst apart and spat the corpse out. Then, right where it had lain, a World Tree glowing with silver light shot toward the sky.
Very quickly, it grew many seeds, and one of them landed on Harris Raymons.
"Ancient magic?" He froze slightly, then looked at the countless seeds in the sky. "No... this is magical talent containing ancient magic?"
A gust of wind blew, and the seeds, each one glowing with magical light, scattered in the wind and drifted off into the distance.
"What a grand gesture," Harris Raymons sighed. "Is everyone in the world going to become a wizard? Looks like the world is really going to change because of this."
On the main trunk of the World Tree, the Voldemorts flew away carrying seed after seed. They were going to plant them across the entire world.
This would be the beginning of changing the world.
The End.