With a thought, Kai arrived in a world that lingered on the boundary between existence and doom.
This place was also a cemetery with a dark sky and cold fog lingering low on the earth.
However, unlike Kai's last visit, it had lost its… magical charm and strength.
Fissures, dark and terrible, were running across not only the earth but also the sky, multicolored sparks of magic exploding out of them like geysers.
Flashes of lightning bolts were originating from nowhere in particular, their rumble deafening the ears.
Kai, as an Ad Infinitum's Echo, stronger than all Echoes combined as demanded by the nature of this place and the task he was about to accomplish, walked slowly through the cemetery. His yellow cloak flapped mightily as gusts of wind, carrying death cries, lashed at him.
Soon, Kai found himself standing in the middle of the mindscape, staring right at the horrible scene that lay ahead.
On the earth, surrounded by bloody filth, was a creature.
It almost looked like a mutated snakelet, born only moments ago, and destined to perish because, perhaps, the world abhorred its ugliness.
Tiny arms lifted from the snakelet's body, a pair of slitted eyes finally reflecting Kai's yellow-cloaked figure.
"… you…" Voldemort hissed, his hiss carrying a bite of betrayal. "It was you… You did all this…"
Kai grabbed the hood of his robe and… lifted it.
Short, white spiky hair. Slitted, hazel eyes, donning evil, purple rings. Flattened lips.
In the next moment, the yellow cloak disappeared, replaced by a magnificent golden armor, oozing regal authority.
"Fortune begets misfortune," the Emperor said. "Misfortune begets fortune. Do you understand… Voldemort?"
The mutated creature stirred.
It seemed to look around, panting, growling, and moaning.
Then, slipping on the filth surrounding it, it fell and… looked at itself.
"Do not play the game of words with me!" Voldemort hissed in anger, which only came out as a whimper. "You… cannot kill me."
The corner of Kai's lips arched up slightly.
"Insanity is losing the wits to tell disasters apart from opportunities," he said, stepping forward, his armor rattling. "Dumbledore is already searching for your Horcruxes. The Order will not share that knowledge with him for fear of Karmic Backlash, but he is getting stronger. Much stronger. If I wanted to kill you, all I had to do was just… let you be."
Even if Voldemort's Homunculus Ritual had failed, it wasn't enough to kill him.
All it had done was make him helpless, incapable of even casting a single spell.
Now, the likes of Dumbledore just needed to find Voldemort's Horcruxes and destroy them, like collecting treasure chests in an adventure game on easy mode.
Then, it would be all over.
Dumbledore would achieve what he wanted — crippling a great part of the Dark Alliance and landing a decisive blow.
Combined with Herpo the Foul and the Order of the Immortal Lotus, it would just be a matter of time for them to annihilate Yellow Warlock and Ekrizdis.
The Timeline wouldn't put even a finger in between to prevent it from happening, either.
In one way or another, it would lead to more Chaos, advancing Her status even closer to the Pillar.
Kai would still survive as Death's Scion.
Also, the Timeline would still need him to carry out the Karmic Dissolution in the end.
Still, if things ended in Dumbledore's favor, then all his plans would come to naught, all his schemes becoming the grandest joke.
On the other hand, Voldemort was a storyline character.
Until his part in the story ended, destiny would always be on his side.
So, the best way to put up a strong front against Dumbledore and the Order was not to bang his head like a brute with them, Kai believed.
It was to use pawns against pawns; pieces against pieces.
Only then, in the end, when the enemy would be so engrossed in delivering a checkmate, could Kai rip off the chessboard, having the last laugh because… he was neither a pawn nor a piece. Hell, he was not even a player.
Kai was a Contestant; a member of the audience with… grand ambitions.
Voldemort, though in no state of having a rational thought, suddenly and sporadically came to the same conclusion intuitively.
The creature lifted its face, which looked like a horrible product of mating between a man and a serpent, and hissed, "… Who are you?"
The smile on Kai's face broadened.
He ignored the Notification warning him of instant annihilation upon mentioning anything related to the Systems and the Primordial Tower and brought out his authorities instead.
"I… am Walking Chaos," Nyarlathotep declared, his mere presence overwhelming the mindscape, bringing it to a standstill. "I am the destruction, the end to all beginnings, and the ripper of the worlds. I am what lies beyond perception… beyond death."
Voldemort's entire body stirred.
For a moment, the Dark Lord forgot about his failures, his dying ramblings, and his apprehensions.
All that remained was the absoluteness of the man in front of him, his words echoing throughout the entire mindscape.
Beyond death…
Yes. That was all this was about.
To surpass the limits of flesh and blood… To exist for eternity…
"How…" Voldemort hissed. "How did you do it… How did you reach there…"
Kai's broad smile became an evil grin. "Accept the opportunity, Voldemort…" he said, standing up, turning around, and walking away. "Latch onto it… like your life depends upon it. Haha!"
…
Outside, in the cemetery, Harry and Daphne surrounded the bloody pool, their faces twisted in disgust.
Even though the Pokemon had destroyed the Cauldron, a drop of Harry's blood had fallen into the potion.
Now, deformed hands, legs, and an ugly face kept protruding out of the filth like a failed experiment trying incredibly hard to change its fate.
Into the distance, Bellatrix lay, whimpering in pain as she held her caved chest.
Ron had already brought down Barty Crouch Jr with Sirius and Draco's help, Hermione and Black restricting Lupin-Werewolf in the background.
It was over.
They had successfully foiled Voldemort's most heinous plan!
And then, as if that thought itself was cursed, the entire sky lit up with a green hue.
As heads snapped up, they saw an immense green skull, an even larger snake slithering out of its mouth.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Harry's scar itched with an even fiercer intensity.
Before Daphne or anyone else could react to Harry's cry, a mass of black fog came shooting out of the green skull like a missile.
It didn't strike the earth like a missile, though.
On the contrary, in the most elegant way possible, the mass of black fog landed right over the bloody filth, taking the shape of the dreaded enemy — Lord Voldemort!
In the very next moment, all the mutated pool of blood, representing the failed Homunculus ritual, was soaked up by this new Voldemort's black robes, and black-red veins began slithered over his pale, white skin.
The Dark Lord took a deep breath, cracking his neck, before letting out a hiss…
"I see it now…" Voldemort hissed, looking at his hands, feeling the heartbeat, and… the power. "I see it."
And then, with a mere thought, a burst of magical force exploded out of him…
… and sent everyone flying in all directions… like the bugs they were.
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AN: Original Image of Lord Voldemort undergoing Blood Magic fusion is available