MWM Chapter 197

The current situation was somewhat beyond Grindelwald’s expectations, deviating slightly from his original plan.

However, there wasn’t any significant issue, as dealing with this wizard in front of him, who seemed to possess some special bloodline, wasn’t too difficult a task and wouldn’t take more than a few seconds. 

Could his opponent run faster than Grindelwald could Apparate?

It was actually an opportunity to further showcase his strength and undermine the confidence of the International Confederation of Wizards.

“Let’s begin, then!”

Leo narrowed his eyes and immediately opened the Sixth Gate, the Gate of View, in the Eight Gates Release Formation. His body flashed and almost appeared to teleport behind Grindelwald, where he pointed his wand at Grindelwald’s back and cast an Exploding Curse.

In truth, stabbing the opponent in the back of the head with his wand would be faster than casting a spell. 

But he wasn’t really trying to kill Grindelwald, and it wouldn’t make sense in a wizard’s duel to rely solely on physical attacks without using magic.

Seeing Leo disappear, Grindelwald’s pupils contracted, and he vanished from his spot using Apparition at top speed.

“Whoosh!”

A blue light shot out from Leo’s wand, passed through the empty air, and hit the ground, blasting a large crater into it.

“What happened?”

Most of the wizards present, whose abilities were lacking, couldn’t help but rub their eyes. How, in the blink of an eye, had the two exchanged places, and a crater appeared on the ground?

“Your speed has improved a lot since last time!”

Grindelwald squinted at Leo, his expression unusually serious.

If, during their previous encounter at the MACUSA building, Leo’s speed was like that of an agile monkey, still within a comprehensible range, then what he just displayed had completely exceeded normal limits.

Because relying on naked eye alone, it was already difficult to track the movement of Leo’s body.

If it hadn’t been for the swiftness of his Apparition, Grindelwald might have been hit by the spell just now.

“Your Apparition is faster than mine.”

Leo looked at Grindelwald, who had evaded his preemptive strike, and thought to himself that this was indeed another master of Apparition, just like Dumbledore.

Fortunately, the dueling arena was small; he could barely manage to cope with Grindelwald’s Apparition speed using his physical agility. If they were in a more open space, the fight would be much harder.

If he couldn’t use his ninjutsu and had to rely solely on magic and physical strength, Grindelwald could easily keep his distance and wear him down, leaving Leo in a defensive position.

This was one of the reasons he wanted to duel Grindelwald before everyone left.

He intended to use Grindelwald’s followers to trap him in this confined area of a few square meters for the duel, where he would have the advantage.

“I thought so too. Crucio!”

As soon as Leo finished speaking, Grindelwald appeared behind him, pressing his wand against the back of Leo’s head.

Grindelwald didn’t know what magic Leo had used to boost his speed to such inhuman levels, but even so, his speed still fell short of Grindelwald’s masterful Apparition.

“Not that easy!”

Though his speed wasn’t as great as Grindelwald’s, Leo had his own strengths. His reaction time was incredibly fast. The moment he noticed Grindelwald disappear and heard the sound behind him, he stomped his right foot hard on the ground.

“Boom!”

With a loud crash, the hard floor shattered under his foot, causing cracks to spread across the ground. This sudden disruption made Grindelwald lose his balance momentarily, and his Cruciatus Curse veered off course.

Using the force of his stomp, Leo’s body disappeared from the ground and reappeared in mid-air. Pointing his wand at Grindelwald, he cast another Exploding Curse.

Grindelwald disappeared once again using Apparition, dodging Leo’s Exploding Curse, which left yet another crater on the ground.

Back and forth, as fast as lightning, evenly matched.

This was the most direct impression in the minds of all the wizards watching.

To them, it looked as if Leo and Grindelwald were constantly flickering within the confined space of a few square meters in the middle of the arena. One could barely see a blur, while the other left no trace at all.

But the constant explosions and flashes of dark magic made it clear how dangerous the battle between them was.

They knew very well that stepping into such a terrifying battle would mean instant death for any of them, as they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the combat rhythm of either combatant.

Even Theseus, who was considered a top-tier wizard and a war hero, was breaking into a cold sweat as he watched.

Without facing it directly, one could never truly understand the extent of the power wielded by wizards of Grindelwald’s caliber.

To be honest, he now felt that even if none of the Aurors had betrayed them, without Leo, their chances of capturing Grindelwald were slim.

And Grindelwald’s followers had stopped mocking Leo for his overconfidence, recognizing the strength he displayed—he was truly powerful, like a monster.

They could understand Grindelwald’s power, given his masterful Apparition and formidable dark magic.

But what was the nature of the terrifying physical strength and speed Leo was showing? They could see special energy or magical fluctuations on his body’s surface. Was it some form of self-created magic?

“It seems you didn’t use your full strength that day at the Congress.”

After dodging another Exploding Curse, Grindelwald’s patience visibly wore thin.

Although their fight had lasted less than a minute, and his opponent couldn’t harm him, failing to decisively deal with the challenger in front of so many followers could shake their faith.

So he decided not to hold back any longer. Initially, he had considered defeating Leo and then recruiting him. Now, he just wanted to kill this challenger as quickly as possible.

With a wave of his wand, a fire dragon engulfed in blue flames emerged from his wand, circling around him before charging straight at Leo.

It was a modified version of the Fiendfyre Curse by Grindelwald, capable of destroying Horcruxes, reducing wizards to ashes upon contact, discerning ill intent, and fully under Grindelwald’s control, and now it was heading straight for Leo.

“With my current magical abilities, I doubt I can block this!”

Leo knew his limitations well. If it came to magic alone, his abilities were only slightly better than those of an average Auror, not even on par with top-tier wizards like Newt, Tina, or Theseus.

If he tried to defend with the Protego charm, it probably wouldn’t last even a second.

His physical body was indeed incredibly strong, perhaps not instantly turning to ash like a normal wizard would, but he had no desire to test if he could withstand it.

The main problem was the size of the Fiendfyre dragon—it was massive, and there was no room to dodge with just his body.

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