"Theoretically, it won't work," Voldemort scoffed, flipping through the documents plundered from the Department of Mysteries.
He had initially considered throwing the ring Horcrux thousands or tens of thousands of years into the future using Time Magic, just in case he failed and had a chance to rise again.
But after reviewing the Department of Mysteries' research on Time Magic, he realized he had been overthinking things.
From beginning to end, there was no magic that could travel to the future. If anything, a magic called 'Time Amber' was the closest.
This was a magic developed collaboratively by the Department of Temporal Exploration's Time Hall and the Planetary Hall, which was responsible for cosmic exploration.
It could semi-solidify the time of the target being cast upon until the magic expired.
The reason it was called semi-solidification was that after the magic was released, all the elapsed time would manifest on the target within a single day.
For example, a 10-year-old child who had their time frozen for sixty years would rapidly age from 10 to 70 on the first day after the magic was lifted.
A useless piece of magic.
This was Voldemort's judgment upon seeing the Time Amber.
He figured it was only useful for immortal beings to use for hibernation during space travel, a truly useless item.
Horcruxes weren't afraid of the passage of time, but after being cast upon, the Horcruxes wouldn't disappear from the current timeline. If, during that period, they encountered someone who could undo the curse...
"What's next, what are you going to do?" While Voldemort was looking through the files, Grindelwald was idly playing with a Time-Turner.
Although Grindelwald had seen Voldemort's future, Voldemort's future wasn't limited to just one path. Before Voldemort made his choice, even Grindelwald didn't know which direction this chaotic future would turn.
Voldemort glanced at Grindelwald. He actually wanted to gather his former subordinates again.
But now was not the time.
In terms of both reputation and power, Grindelwald currently surpassed him.
If he were to rally his forces, it was uncertain how many of those Death Eaters, who valued profit over loyalty, would remain loyal to him.
He estimated that apart from the core members who worshipped him intensely, there was a possibility of them switching allegiances.
Voldemort had no interest in paving the way for others.
Voldemort and Grindelwald were similar on the surface.
Both gathered a small number of elite wizards to purge wizards who favored Muggles, aiming to establish a new world order where wizards were supreme and Muggles were subordinate.
However, their underlying spirits were completely different!
Voldemort's core ideology was extreme self-interest. He simply wanted to be the king of the world but disdained Muggles. Later, he discovered that wizard civilization's power, at that time, had less development potential than Muggle civilization.
Wizard civilization had seen no new breakthroughs in thousands of years, while Muggle civilization was advancing by leaps and bounds.
After his own magical path hit an invisible barrier, just like many talented wizards of the past, with no possibility of further progress, he decided to risk it all in despair.
Unwilling to captain a ship destined to sink, Voldemort abandoned his readily available promising future as Minister of Magic and instead transformed into the Dark Lord.
Grindelwald, on the other hand, didn't care if he was the ultimate ruler. He simply believed that only he could lead wizard civilization forward, that everyone else was incompetent, and that he couldn't possibly advance wizardry with these squabbling insects. Thus, he gathered followers to undertake great deeds.
Like the saying, "For the greater good," when Grindelwald genuinely believed a more suitable person appeared, he would step back.
Voldemort might be swayed by Roger's words about Muggles and have the thought of "if you can't beat them, join them," falling into internal struggle because of it.
But such a thing would never happen to Grindelwald; he stood firm on the wizard's side.
Both Grindelwald and Voldemort were well aware of their differences.
But Voldemort's "henchmen" didn't care about ideological differences. Most of them were there to gain more benefits, accumulate more power, and obtain more strength during the process of undertaking great deeds.
Unsatisfied with the current order, they only wanted to shatter the old order and establish a new one from which they could profit more. As for who the leader was, or what the leader's dream was... frankly, many of them didn't care that much.
Opportunistic sycophants, scheming families, profit-seeking dark wizards – Voldemort's Death Eaters naturally lacked a sense of cohesion. If he dared to summon them, the Death Eaters would dare to defect to Grindelwald's banner!
Of course, Grindelwald's side wasn't a trash can; he didn't accept everyone. He only wanted the most elite.
The rest would not be accepted.
But this would make Voldemort feel even worse.
'Wouldn't that make me a beggar, eating what others discarded?'
After a long, silent gaze with Grindelwald, Voldemort finally spoke, "Find a secluded place. I need to reorganize my magical path."
After experiencing numerous setbacks, Voldemort had profoundly realized one truth.
You must be strong yourself to forge steel; without sufficient hard power, don't harbor the delusional dream of becoming the king of the world.
In this era of emerging talents, he was too weak right now!
In his youth, no one around him could compare to him.
But if one extended the timeline, when facing the strong individuals who had appeared throughout history and those who would appear in the future, he was merely a mortal.
Horcruxes were not his creation; he was merely standing on the shoulders of giants, making minor innovations to carry on the legacy.
Now, I can still use the 'agreement' to borrow Grindelwald's power.
But what about the future? Even if everything went perfectly, and he could truly push Grindelwald to the forefront to contend with Roger, letting the two fight while he watched from the sidelines.
But the struggle between the two would eventually have a victor.
Whether Roger won or Grindelwald won, the remaining one would become a major obstacle on his path to becoming the king of the world.
What do we do then? Find another reclusive expert from some remote mountain village? Don't be ridiculous.
Reaching into his robes, Voldemort's fingers lightly caressed the first Horcrux of his life.
The ambition to conquer the world, the fear of 'I am not I,' the craving for power, the internal struggle, and the despair of facing countless powerful individuals far superior to himself, the overwhelming tide of the era.
Innumerable complex emotions swirled together, but in the end, ambition triumphed! If I cannot be great, what is the meaning of my existence? At this moment, Voldemort finally made up his mind.
He would fuse the diary Horcrux.
No, that's not enough.
It's far from enough!
Even if his mind returned to youth, so what?
His younger self was no match for the two Seers of that era.
I must become stronger, surpass my peak! Since he had already shattered the illusion of 'I am not I,' Voldemort decided to go all in and completely lose his mind.
"You're..." Gellert Grindelwald looked at Voldemort, who had also picked up a Time-Turner and held it in his hand, his brow furrowed slightly.
"There are many taboos in time travel," Voldemort's gaze deepened.
"One of them is not to meet your past self."
He softly recited the rules summarized by the Department of Mysteries' Department of Time.
"Because terrible things will happen."
As he spoke, Voldemort's mind flashed with the cases he had just seen in the archives.
Those wizards who had killed their 'past' and 'future' selves.
Were those who survived truly in the 'present'?
Who knew.
"Grindelwald, last year, I witnessed what a true magical prodigy is."
"Even at my peak, my talent was far inferior to his."
"I don't know how I can possibly defeat that kind of unreasonable monster."
"Grindelwald, mortals cannot defeat monsters," Voldemort said to Grindelwald.
But Gellert Grindelwald felt as if he were talking to himself: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Only monsters can defeat monsters!" A hint of madness flashed in Voldemort's eyes.
"I want to become an existence that transcends common sense!"
The next moment, he activated the Time-Turner.
One Voldemort appeared, then two, three, five, ten, twenty...
As one of the most powerful dark wizards in the world, Voldemort's knowledge was vast.
Especially in the realm of Dark Magic.
He had heard that in the distant East, there was a very sinister Dark Magic called 'Gu Technique.'
Those who practiced this art would collect a large number of venomous creatures, force them to kill each other, and under a magical ritual, the last surviving individual would carry some of the strengths of the other creatures it had consumed and killed, becoming a more terrifying dark magic creature.
Why should this be limited to venomous insects and the like? Time-Turners, combined with Horcruxes.
Voldemort believed he could cultivate a stronger, more perfect, and more terrifying... self! "The young people nowadays are getting crazier and crazier..." Grindelwald couldn't help but sigh as he watched the frenzied scene before him.
...
Just as Voldemort had the thought, Roger had already foreseen the future.
"Interesting." Roger hadn't expected this to be Voldemort's final answer.
The path to immortality that Roger sought was to dismantle the id, which symbolized instinct, and deconstruct the superego, using the former as nourishment for the ego.
Voldemort, however, was on a path of conquering instinctual fear, defeating the id, abandoning the ego, and sacrificing everything to the superego.
Advance, engrave, advance, engrave.
Eternal self-renewal.
Roger had witnessed Voldemort's 'path to immortality' ascend to a new level! For Voldemort, from this point on, the world would be vastly different! "You really can't underestimate the old timers in the wizarding world; you can't let your guard down at all."
Since the preliminary framework of the Three-Dimensional Theory was established, Roger had slightly slowed his pace.
Now, it seemed, some things needed to be pushed forward as soon as possible.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I have a new idea. What do you think?"
Dumbledore, who was troubled by the external turmoil, turned to look at Roger as he entered the room.
Roger was holding a book in his hand, titled...
"Second Reality"
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