HP: Embrace the Darkness

In an instant, another soul quietly but forcefully suppressed Cedric's original soul and took over his body.

At the same time, the cries of pain from the other wizards also faded. Cedric behaved just like them, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. He took a while to sit up.

"I'm fine, Arces."

Cedric smiled and pulled his hand away, politely declining Ases's inspection.

But I don't know what's wrong with this sentence. Cedric's soul suddenly struggled wildly.

Caught off guard, Voldemort lost control of his body.

Unfortunately, Cedric's soul could not be compared with Voldemort's soul, which had been cut many times, was violent and tenacious, and he lost consciousness completely soon.

In the eyes of outsiders, it seemed that Cedric just didn't stand steadily when he stood up, and staggered for a moment. He supported himself on his knees to relax for a moment before steadying himself. He wiped the sweat from his cheeks and looked up with an apologetic smile.

The whole process happened so quickly that no one suspected Voldemort. Even Dumbledore just stared at Cedric and other cursed wizards with suspicion.

Cedric stood up calmly. The red marks on his body had faded. The same was true for the other wizards. They were worried that Voldemort might have some other tricks up his sleeve, so they were checking each other's bodies, and Cedric was left alone.

Professor Sprout was worried about her favorite student, so she raised her wand and examined Cedric herself.

The results of the examination were unexpectedly good, and the cursed wizards calmed down. One of them even sneered at Voldemort: "It's a useless struggle before death."

He didn't see Cedric's eyes suddenly flash, but he quickly covered it up.

Seeing Cedric lowering his head, everyone mistakenly thought that he was still afraid, and came forward to comfort him. Cedric responded one by one, as gentle and patient as usual.

After all, Cedric was just a recent graduate, and it was inevitable that he would feel fear when he met a crazy lunatic like Voldemort.

Dumbledore's suspicion faded a little, but did not disappear completely. He continued to observe the wizard who had just been tricked calmly.

Ases was absolutely certain that the person in front of him was not Cedric.

Because he saw it.

The pair of red eyes belonging to Voldemort hidden in Cedric's flesh narrowed at him provocatively, as if he was sure that he couldn't see and couldn't do anything to him.

Aces lowered his eyes, not wanting to pay attention to Voldemort's provocation.

Voldemort looked crazy today, and his words were full of resentment. He always felt that he and Voldemort were being pushed forward by an invisible hand. However, for some reason, there was always a missing link in his memory, which made him temporarily unable to see the ultimate purpose of Voldemort's actions. But he knew that he could not get entangled.

Ases twisted the dust on his fingers, feeling a little uneasy. He winked at the wizard behind him. The wizard was from the Cavendish family. Seeing this, he immediately dodged behind Cedric and raised his wand.

"Avadaso——"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Cedric reflexively chanted the spell in a more fierce voice, but found that the person behind him had dodged it with foresight.

There was silence.

Voldemort was stunned when he stripped off the vest he had just put on with his own hands. He stared at his palms in a daze, unable to react for a while.

The others reacted and a large space was cleared with Voldemort as the center. The Death Eaters who were trying to sneak away when Grindelwald and Dumbledore were distracted froze in place in an instant, as if they had lost their parents.

No one spoke.

There was a hint of awkwardness in the silence.

Draco poked Aces' waist and asked in a self-righteous whisper, "Brother, if this is Voldemort, then what about Cedric?"

"……I am also not certain."

Athis gave Draco a look, walked up to Cedric, and used magic as he wished, tying up Voldemort before he could react. Then, ignoring the gradually deepening pain in his soul, he attached soul power to his palm, quickly cut the Gordian knot and grabbed Cedric's wrist. He raised his arm slightly and forcibly pulled out an illusory soul.

Voldemort's soul was stunned. It didn't expect that it would be pulled out like this.

Suddenly, he remembered that Aces had used this trick to pull out his soul before. At that time, Aces deliberately chose the time when his mind was lost, and it was just a coincidence that he succeeded. He didn't expect that in such a short period of time, Aces's use of the soul had become even stronger.

Athis completely ignored the astonishment on Voldemort's snake face, raised his hand calmly, took out a round and smooth pearl, and made a motion of stuffing it inconspicuously, stuffing Voldemort in and sealing it up at the same time.

Other wizards might not be able to extract a soul with bare hands, but he and Voldemort were exceptions. After all, practice makes perfect. When it comes to the cognition and research of the soul, the two of them do have insights and attainments that far exceed those of ordinary wizards.

Due to the disparity in the nature of magic, except for Dumbledore who had a vague feeling, no one else could understand what Athis was doing. After all, in their eyes, Athis just went over and pulled Cedric, then took out a bead to play with.

Without the support of Voldemort's soul, Cedric closed his eyes again and fell to the side.

Draco came out to catch him in time, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Athis.

Although his brother's move was not cool, it was very elegant, and it was simply... simply in line with his style.

"The soul in his body..." Dumbledore stopped talking after checking it, and sighed heavily, "The vitality in his body is dissipating."

"Cedric?" Draco's expression suddenly changed. He reached out and touched Cedric's carotid artery. He felt the pulse weakening and panicked. "Brother, what should we do now?"

Aces was uneasy. When Draco called him, his heart beat faster, almost struggling out of his chest, as if telling him something, but...

Aces raised his hand blankly to cover his heart, but wasn't he prepared? Why was it still so painful?

"Brother, what's wrong with you?" Draco's slightly frightened voice brought Aces back to his senses.

Athis turned his head, and the terrible grief in his eyes stunned Draco.

Draco's tongue was tied and he almost bit himself. He didn't dare to urge him anymore and asked cautiously, "Brother, are you feeling unwell?"

Ases raised his lips habitually, his voice calm and without any ripples, "I'm fine."

After a pause, he squatted down, clasped Cedric's arm, used magic to check his condition, and silently let go of his hand. His fingertips seemed to accidentally brush across his wrist, and a ray of light blended into it, which was not noticed by others.

"Most of his soul is gone... He's almost like a vegetable now."

"How is that possible? Al can't be wrong--" Athis looked up, Grindelwald met his eyes, and his voice stopped abruptly.