The assembled girls exchanged helpless uncertain glances. How were they supposed to accurately predict the outcome?
"Most likely it will succeed," Fleur mused thoughtfully, her analytical eyes carefully tracking the chaotic energy display. "The defensive formation, while devastatingly powerful, shouldn't be completely unsolvable—not if Erwin deliberately left tactical instructions. And considering the Eastern practitioners' demonstrated expertise in complex ward-breaking methodology... there genuinely shouldn't be any insurmountable hurdles."
"So Durmstrang spent all that preparation time on a trump card that's already rendered useless?"
"Exactly," Fleur nodded with certainty. "That's the most plausible outcome."
The girls turned their collective gazes toward the Durmstrang group with genuine pity. Honestly, the Bulgarian delegation was experiencing an absolutely terribly rough day. They genuinely wouldn't wish such catastrophic string of bad luck on anyone.
On the active field, Sunny Finch absolutely wasted no time. She tore the golden parchment in her hands to complete shreds with decisive force.
The precise instant the enchanted paper disintegrated completely, concentrated bursts of purple flame erupted dramatically from the scattered fragments.
Then, a faint but unmistakably familiar voice resonated powerfully from the dissipating magical residue.
"Fiendfyre clears the way!"
Everyone present recognized the distinctive voice immediately with absolute certainty. It was Erwin's.
Charlotte's heart skipped an excited beat. Our master actually cast this spell personally?
As the resonating voice finally faded, the purple flames condensed with frightening rapidity. Moments later, a massive roaring violet fire dragon manifested dramatically in the air above them.
It charged straight toward the formation barrier with unstoppable momentum, trailing an absolutely inferno of searing heat.
"Retreat immediately!" Charlotte shouted urgently, signaling the Hogwarts group to fall back from the blast radius.
The Kunlun delegation didn't require verbal telling twice. They scrambled backward desperately, vacating the immediate impact zone the precise moment they witnessed the dragon's full manifestation.
The purple fire dragon slammed violently into the barrier with catastrophic force.
The formation array, sensing the imminent existential threat, instinctively reacted with its full defensive capability. The scattered sword energies that had been roaming throughout the arena instantly vanished, condensing at the precise point of impact into one massive, shimmering azure qi-sword.
Concentrated aura swirled violently around the manifested blade as it met the charging fire dragon in direct confrontation.
Azure clashed with purple. The two opposing forces locked in absolutely violent stalemate.
The qi-sword trembled with accumulated strain, and the purple fire dragon roared with primal fury, its flames flaring progressively higher with released energy.
The assembled spectators collectively held their breath, fists clenched unconsciously, hearts pounding with tension.
With a absolutely deafening boom that shook the ground, the world seemed to temporarily shift colors entirely, dominated by the swirling vortex of blue and violet energies.
When the accumulated dust and residual energy finally settled enough for observation, both the dragon and the sword had completely vanished.
Absolute silence.
The confused crowd remained utterly baffled. What happened? Who won?
Then, a sharp distinctive crack shattered the oppressive quiet. It sounded precisely like a fuse igniting.
A second later, rapid succession of cracking noises echoed repeatedly. Before everyone's shocked eyes, the barrier of the formation began systematically crumbling inch by inch until the entire structure shattered with a deafening roar.
Durmstrang's side froze in absolute horrified shock. Krum gritted his teeth with visible anguish, his face turning deathly pale.
"Why?" he hissed desperately, stumbling backward two unsteady steps until he leaned heavily against a large supporting tree. "Why did this happen?"
Their carefully prepared trump card had been exposed and neutralized before they could even properly utilize it.
Krum slumped against the rough bark with complete defeat. He knew, with absolute sinking certainty in his heart, that Durmstrang's journey through the second stage was definitively over.
In the viewing stands, Headmaster Karkaroff released a heavy sigh, leaning back exhaustedly in his chair. "It's all cruel fate," he murmured with resignation.
Hogwarts and Kunlun hadn't targeted Durmstrang intentionally through coordinated conspiracy. Yet somehow, everything they did seemed to accidentally crush the Bulgarian school regardless.
They were simply that catastrophically unlucky.
Meanwhile, Beauxbatons watched the developing situation with absolutely keen tactical interest.
The assembled group of girls had observed the spectacular display from their concealed hiding spot with rapt attention.
As the formation barrier finally vanished completely, the audience naturally expected either sustained chaos erupting or perhaps tactical discussion.
But prolonged silence unexpectedly fell over both liberated groups.
Their collective attention suddenly snapped to the display. Specifically, to Charlotte and Sunny Finch.
The two tactical leaders had planned this coordinated response absolutely perfectly.
The precise moment the purple light barrier disappeared and the protective charm shattered from sustained damage, they turned on each other essentially simultaneously.
Behind them, students from Hogwarts and Kunlun immediately found their designated targets, and the arena erupted into immediate renewed combat.
The spectators gasped collectively with genuine shock. Wait, why is the battle starting NOW?
In the chaotic arena, Sunny Finch and Charlotte's initial projectile items collided violently in mid-air, mutually annihilating each other in a dissipating puff of colorful smoke.
They locked eyes across the small distance, faint smiles tugging at both their lips simultaneously.
"Charlotte," Sunny laughed somewhat breathlessly, "you really can't wait even a moment!"
Charlotte grinned back with obvious appreciation. "Aren't you exactly the same? We're thinking completely alike, so there's absolutely no point in pretending otherwise. Aren't you being slightly hypocritical?"
"Perhaps," Sunny conceded readily. "But Erwin really should stop teaching you traditional idioms—you've absorbed all the essential ones. However, Durmstrang is still watching us like hawks. Are you certain we want to initiate a full-blown battle right now? It wouldn't prove strategically beneficial if someone else steals the accumulated glory."
Charlotte glanced meaningfully at the observing Durmstrang group positioned nearby. "Looks like we've thought of that tactical consideration again simultaneously, haven't we?"
Sunny laughed with genuine appreciation. "Then let's see who accumulates the most elimination points?"
Charlotte nodded decisive agreement and raised her hand with clear signal.
The Hogwarts team and the other Kunlun contestants tacitly stopped fighting each other completely.
In perfect unison, they turned their combined attacks directly onto the shocked Durmstrang team.
A depressingly familiar scene. A brutally familiar formula.
It was precisely like the first match: two delegations ganging up ruthlessly on one.
The Durmstrang students' faces darkened with resigned fury, but there existed absolutely nothing they could do to change circumstances.
Facing the overwhelming combined onslaught of items and concentrated spells from two coordinated fronts simultaneously, they were rapidly overwhelmed.
Their desperately deployed defensive items depleted with frightening rapidity.
As the first Durmstrang student was successfully knocked unconscious by a concentrated spell from Cedric Diggory, it triggered an immediate chain reaction throughout their formation.
The other contestants followed suit in rapid succession. Soon, virtually all the Durmstrang students lay completely unconscious across the forest floor.
Only Viktor Krum remained standing, surrounded completely.
He offered a bitter, defeated smile with obvious resignation. As expected, Durmstrang was the first to be eliminated. Again.
He felt unwilling, but what good did that emotional resistance accomplish? Fate was destiny.
Charlotte and Sunny Finch attacked in perfect simultaneous coordination. Their concentrated items struck Krum, who had already become powerless to mount effective resistance.
He was sent flying backward violently, hitting the hard ground with a decisive thud that signaled the absolute end of Durmstrang's competitive run—identical to the first round's humiliating outcome.
After successfully neutralizing the Durmstrang group, Charlotte and Sunny didn't immediately turn aggressive attention on each other as expected.
Instead, they both deliberately looked toward the Forbidden Forest's shadowed edge with obvious knowing intent.
Charlotte called out clearly, her voice echoing through the trees with authority. "Fleur, aren't you coming out? Are you genuinely planning to wait until the very end to reap the benefits of our mutual exhaustion?"
Sunny smiled, showing absolutely no surprise whatsoever at the observation.
Inside the concealing tree line, Fleur released a resigned sigh.
"Let's go, everyone," she said to the Beauxbatons group with acceptance. "Let's head out into the open. I should have known better. How could we possibly hide from Charlotte and Sunny Finch? Fine, we'll fight openly and directly. This time, it's not about individual raw strength."