Seeing that the crisis had finally passed, Riddle, drenched in sweat, finally breathed out a sigh of relief.
He collapsed into the mud, gasping heavily.
The broken ropes slowly fell from his body. Yet even though he had regained the ability to cast spells, he did not immediately flee. Instead, after regaining his senses, he crawled over to Malfoy's trousers.
Discarding his own tattered ones, he put on the pair that didn't belong to him. Immediately after, his face twisted in fury, he turned on the remaining pigs and vented all of his rage upon them.
Of course, he did so with slaughter by spell.
Green light flared.
Wherever it passed, pigs dropped dead. He was even able to cast wandless spells, something that should have been considered a dazzling feat of genius. Yet his chosen targets were, admittedly, unworthy opponents.
Soon, the ground was littered with dead pigs.
Even the pink piglets were not spared by the Dark Lord.
It was sheer cruelty.
"Enough."
Ian finally couldn't hold it in anymore, watching Riddle, who was still intent on desecrating the corpses. It wasn't that Ian had only just regained his senses; he had been using his mental force to probe the surroundings earlier.
"Looks like the quality of ancient magical items isn't all that great after all." Ian glanced at the shattered magical ropes with faint disdain before turning his gaze back to the still-seething Riddle.
"I have never suffered such humiliation in my life!"
Riddle's face remained twisted with rage, but after Ian spoke, he stopped his hand. Though his magical power had returned, under Ian's stare, he didn't even dare to meet his eyes.
Only after experiencing it firsthand could one understand just how terrifying this guy already was.
Forget raising a hand against him, Riddle didn't even dare entertain thoughts of scheming against Ian in his heart.
After returning from death, he had utterly lost his courage.
"Don't panic in all things. Stay calm," Ian said, attempting to display the composure befitting a Legendary Wizard. However, upon realizing this was no longer Hogwarts' era, even he struggled to maintain his façade.
Though it looked like he was speaking to Riddle, in truth, he was simply comforting himself.
"..."
Hearing Ian's words, Riddle was stunned into numbness. He very much wanted to retort, who could possibly stay calm after nearly being violated like that?! But he didn't dare voice his defiance against the little monster before him.
This made the young Dark Lord's face flush red.
"The good news is that we got out of Pompeii. The bad news is that we overturned halfway through." Ian wasn't sure if he could still encounter a second time reception from Hogwarts.
That was why he was a little panicked.
"Let me guess… are we in the sixth century or the seventh? Maybe even earlier?" Riddle looked outside, but all he could see were the blurred outlines of buildings under the night sky.
However, that wasn't how he was judging the year.
"I don't know."
Ian had probed the surroundings. All he knew was that he was still stuck in ancient times, but as for the exact year, he couldn't glean much useful information from the environment.
They were at a secluded pig farm with dozens of pigsties, located in the middle of nowhere.
"It can't be that far off…" Riddle let out a pained sigh as he spoke.
"What do you mean?" Ian's curiosity flared. Although he was far more powerful than Riddle, he had only studied for just over a year before stepping into the realm of a Legendary Wizard.
This wasn't him bragging.
It was simply the truth of the matter.
His foundation was shaky.
If this were a Xianxia world, that's exactly how it would be described. Of course, wizards didn't actually have issues of "foundation," but a lack of basic knowledge was still a problem that only time could solve.
"In time travel, life carries weight. Dumbledore and that old alchemist probably only thought you might have chased me back into the past."
"At most, they would have prepared the energy to retrieve two people. But now… there are three of us." Riddle said weakly, giving his assessment.
"This isn't a matter of simple addition. So, in a span of 2,000 years, we may have only crossed a third of that distance, or even less." He clearly had ample research on time travel. Whether he already knew this or had specifically studied it while hiding inside Malfoy to prepare an escape was hard to tell.
"Don't tell me it's really that ridiculous…" Ian grimaced, his tone full of regret as he looked at Riddle. "If I'd known, I should have killed you back then. As expected, people should never have morals."
His words made Riddle's heart skip a beat. The young Dark Lord's eyes widened in terror as he quickly blurted out: "Even if you killed me, it wouldn't guarantee your return. You're no longer just an ordinary wizard, you're a Legendary being." Whether there was truth or falsehood in those words, Riddle himself wasn't sure.
But he was absolutely terrified Ian might kill him on the spot.
"Legendary being? What, are you slipping in a jab? Insulting me in secret?" Ian immediately pulled out a broken wand and shoved it up Riddle's nostril.
It was Malfoy's wand.
He could repair it, but there was no need, after all, it wasn't his. Simply taping it back together for Malfoy already showed great classmate solidarity.
"No, I was just stating facts!" Riddle looked utterly aggrieved as he spoke.
From the bottom of his heart, he really believed Ian wasn't a wizard at all.
"Then why didn't you warn me earlier?" Ian ignored the emotions radiating from him. Malfoy's wand in his hand had already poked Riddle's nose until it bled.
"I didn't realize it at the time either." This time, Riddle was telling the truth.
Since his resurrection, he had been drowning in decadent self-reflection.
But seeing the dangerous gleam in the young wizard's eyes, "Wait! The ancient Time Turner! You'll definitely be able to find one in this era! It can definitely send us back to the right time!" Riddle hurriedly shouted out a remedy.
"True enough." Ian nodded thoughtfully.
He felt that what the Dark Lord said wasn't wrong at all.
When it came to alchemy, he was far stronger than the Dark Lord in his youth. As long as he could get his hands on an ancient Time-Turner, he even had ways to communicate with Professor Nicolas Flamel from who-knows-how-many years in the future.
"This place isn't that dangerous. You could even bring some antiques back. I can help you appraise the valuable ones," Riddle quickly put forward his worth.
He knew Ian was someone who loved money.
Sure enough, Ian's eyes immediately lit up.
"You make a good point."
Ian had no doubts about Riddle's expertise. This was someone who had worked in Knockturn Alley. Forget just appraising the value of things, he probably had forgery down to an art as well.
(To Be Continued…)
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