Chapter 1155: A Deal With Devils - An Unexpected End!

In the ruins of Nurmengard Castle, four figures apparated with loud CRACKS.

The cold wind held its breath.

The burned and broken pieces of ancient stones quietened.

The snow that surrounded the castle from all sides paled, losing a touch of its afternoon shine.

Lord Black Phoenix.

Lord Yellow Warlock.

Lord of Azkaban, Ekrizdis.

And the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

As the four stood in a circle, opposite each other, it felt like all the world’s magic had gathered at Nurmengard Castle.

Then, making the meeting even more momentous, the Timeline arrived.

Dumbledore, Ekrizdis, and Voldemort felt a queer heaviness upon their shoulders, the hair on the back of their necks standing up.

This was not a sensation they were accustomed to.

In fact, before today, none of the three had ever come face to face with this presence.

A presence that not only made them feel like it could squash them like insects, but also, contrastingly, felt... motherly.

Dumbledore stared at Voldemort, the Despair he wore as black robes pulsating blacker than ever.

The Dark Lord, in return, grinned, as if daring the Hogwarts Headmaster to make a move.

Ekrizdis chewed on the worms as they slithered from his eyes to his mouth, cackling like a skeleton.

"Once we have dealt with Pillar Tribulation," Yellow Warlock said, "then we all will be free to come at each other’s throats. For now, let’s begin this meeting. With Her Highness, Timeline, keeping an eye on us, we had better behave ourselves."

[Her Highness?] Timeline scoffed in Nyarlathotep’s ears. [If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you were trying to coax me.]

[You would be surprised, but I have always had a thing for older women,] Kai quipped. [With time, the definition of older women is broadening as well.]

[...]

Kai smiled under his hood as Timeline ground Her teeth at his insinuations.

Meanwhile, his words had the exact effect on the three Storyline Characters that he had intended.

With a wave of Kai’s hand, four chairs sprouted from the ground.

"Please," he gestured.

...

Meanwhile, begrudgingly taking a seat, Dumbledore was trying to speak to Timeline himself.

All he wanted to ask was why She would tolerate the existence of an Outsider when he was so bent on killing Her children.

Why would She not smite Yellow Warlock to death right here and now and be done with it?

Sure, the situation might worsen, with the Pillars waging a War upon the world, but...

Dumbledore had full confidence that he could fill the gap created by the loss of Yellow Warlock, even if it meant taking extreme measures and sacrificing himself.

"I thank Lord Yellow Warlock for arranging this meeting..." he said instead, masking his desire.

"Why should I, the Dark Lord, help you, Dumbledore?" Voldemort hissed, interjecting. "Yellow Warlock has described the situation to me. This is your doing. This is your mistake. If people die... they will die because of you and your decisions. Haha... Why must I not stand on the side and watch it happen... watch you cry over the corpses of your... friends?"

Dumbledore’s lips flattened into a thin line.

He had thought that Yellow Warlock had been scheming when he had cast Voldemort out of the Dark Alliance.

But it was obvious from the Lord of Azkaban’s presence that the Dark Alliance was willing to work with the Order of Black Phoenix against the Pillars.

For Voldemort to even say those words, especially in Timeline’s presence...

Am I mistaken? Dumbledore asked himself. Did Yellow Warlock truly have nothing to do with what happened to Voldemort that night?

"Why?" Ekrizdis hissed, the hollow sockets of his rotting skull glowing green. "Because you will have nothing to rule if you don’t act. Or... can you not even understand that simple consequence, Half-Blood?"

Silence.

A piercing, bloody glow escaped from the protrusion in the middle of Voldemort’s chest.

Others might have tried to hide such a mutation under their robes, but his old student was too proud not to display it like a trophy, Dumbledore knew.

As the bloody glow intensified, Voldemort’s facial expression, as much as he could display, contorted, fury spilling out from his slitted eyes.

"There is no need to beat around the bush, Voldemort," Yellow Warlock intervened. "You very well know that the Pillars will not accept any bargain from your side, even if you were to go to them with a promise of betrayal."

The Dark Lord’s slitted eyes dilated.

Which meant... he truly was intending to make a deal with the Pillars.

Dumbledore clenched his fingers into fists but held his tongue, letting Yellow Warlock guide the meeting instead.

"The choice in front of us is simple," the leader of the Dark Alliance continued. "Work together, as much as we would hate it, and kill the Pillars. Yes, kill, because they will stop at nothing less. Also, with their Dumbledore out of the picture, even if they turn out to be stronger than us, we can easily counter their strength by working together. Not to mention, they don’t have Lord Ekrizdis and me among their ranks."

Dumbledore looked between the three Dark Wizards.

And he hated... he loathed... himself to find that he agreed with Yellow Warlock.

Perhaps... Perhaps I am a Dark Wizard, too, now... Dumbledore thought, losing a part of his soul right there and then. Perhaps, in making a deal with the devils, I have begun walking the path of the devil as well.

Voldemort nodded, carrying a scowl on his face.

"One question," the Dark Lord asked. "You said the Order asked the Outsider to create a distraction so that the Pillars could invade our world. Then... why haven’t they already begun their attack? Why lose the element of surprise and let us gather for a..."

Even as Voldemort was saying this, Dumbledore’s heart skipped a beat.

He was not the only one; he could see all three — the Dark Lord, Yellow Warlock, and Ekrizdis — shoot off their seats, realizing the same.

Then, they heard Her voice.

Not Her voice, but pure rage becoming sound.

[HOW DARE YOU?!] Timeline’s words rocked their Source. [I WILL...]

Before the four Dark Wizards could hear more, something cut them off from Timeline’s presence...

... trapping all of them at Nurmengard Castle!

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