Delaine didn't hear the spell Vid recited. Suddenly, he only felt as if an invisible current ran through his body, his nerves trembling in unison, and a strange sensation climbing up his spine.
At that moment, time seemed to turn into thick honey, flowing at an extremely slow pace. His pupils dilated instantly, as if he could see every speck of dust floating and spinning in the light.
He saw a red light suddenly appear at the tip of Vid's wand.
The red grew brighter, and the beam flew out no more than five inches before turning bright yellow.
A moment later, the beam seemed to change to blue-white.
In an instant, the blue faded to the point of disappearing.
This transformation process was extremely rapid, yet in his eyes, it seemed perfectly clear, as if time itself had been stretched.
Delaine slowly blinked, feeling as though some invisible force twisted the air, silently licking the ground.
He knew something extremely dangerous was present, but his eyes saw nothing, a sensation that was nearly maddening.
Luckily, this moment was very brief; before even a single blink ended, the scene ahead changed dramatically.
The towering trees charging towards them turned into ash-gray dust in an instant, billowing in the heat wave like suddenly exploding clouds.
The forest's birds and beasts had already fled due to the trees' abnormal changes, but an unfortunate bird flew past them, its wings retained their flying posture while carbonizing instantly, and moments later, it turned into a cluster of drifting ashes.
Even the rocks showed web-like cracks, with the gray-black ground flickering with eerie glow, quickly turning into blackened debris. Moments later, all anomalies were covered by gently falling ashes, as if snow had fallen.
This destruction was utterly silent, as if the voices of all present were completely swallowed. Everything before their eyes had no room even for struggle and was obliterated in an instant.
Delaine's pupils shrank to a pinpoint, his Adam's apple moved unconsciously, cold sweat slid down his temple, the muscles near his cheeks twitching violently.
Antoine hadn't seen so many details; when Vid released the magic, he was secretly observing Grindelwald's expression. Turning his head, he only saw the entire fan-shaped area ahead—the giant trees, animals, regular trees, flowers—all vanished from the ground.
Only the clusters of ash first surged upwards, then slowly drifted down, as if plucking the clouds and snow from the sky.
Antoine blinked, not quite comprehending, looking at the dazed brown-haired witch beside him, he asked, "What happened?"
The witch stiffly, inch by inch, turned her head to look at him, unable to speak for a long moment.
In that instant, everyone lost their voice, even Grindelwald slightly squinted his eyes, and after quite a while, gently chuckled.
...
When Vid lowered the magic wand, it was uncertain whether from overexertion or emotional shock, his arm still trembled slightly, only the rushing roar of blood audible in his ears.
The destructive power of this magic spell was precisely contained, with no flames spreading beyond the fan-shaped area.
The awakened giant oak tree was at the edge—two-thirds of its trunk disappeared instantly, leaving just a small part. The bark burst and fell off, revealing the pitch-black, dry trunk and branches after the moisture turned to vapor.
"Bang" – the remaining part of the oak tree also toppled.
At this moment, only the large trees outside the fan-shaped area, those enchanted ones, were still able to move, yet they seemed frozen as if someone had pressed a pause button.
These trees dramatically twisted their trunks, their crowns bending fiercely in the opposite direction of the destroyed forest. Despite lacking facial features, they gave an impression of being "stunned."
"Whew—"
Suddenly, a gust of wind rose from nowhere, rustling the leaves and scattering the dense ash on the ground.
The animated trees had no independent souls, seemingly lacking concepts of fear or escape, only overflowing with anger and killing intent.
After pausing for a moment, these big guys swiftly charged towards the wizards again, some of whom were so close they almost collided with the protective barrier.
Compared to the earlier terrifying might, the current trees appeared somewhat lonely, with a large gap in the middle of their formation.
Vid's arm continued to tremble in a spasm, he did not cast a second spell, but a red light suddenly shot out from beside him.
The firebird spread its wings, like a released arrow, swooping forward. The trees ignited upon its light touch, ashwinders sprayed forth, heatwaves rising. A giant tree struggled amidst the flames but did not cease its advance.
The firebird's body expanded ever larger, and suddenly, various fiery beasts flew from it—giant serpents, fire dragons, chimera beasts, hippogriffs...
The fiendfyre monsters collided with the charging giant trees, sparks flying, claws ripping the roots apart, and golden-red flames entwined the trunks, roasting sap until it seeped from the cracks.
Yet the giant trees seemed unaware of pain, they rumbled forward, heads high with flames, as long as their roots persisted, they wouldn't stop.
"Boom—"
The foremost giant tree already collided with the barrier, with its whole existence engulfed in flames. The massive tree continued to bash against it, its thick branches thumping the barrier, emitting rumbling sounds.
"Hold on! Hold on!" someone shouted loudly, "They can't withstand the fiendfyre, they'll be burned out soon, we must hold on!"
"Braun has destroyed most of the giant trees, can we not withstand just this small portion?"
Between the barrier and the wizards' magic wands, slender silver beams connected, their hands gripping their wands, arms still trembling as if it was extremely hard to sustain, yet not a single one fled.
The stern, silent members of the Witch Pure Party seemed to suddenly become passionate, Vid turned to look at this scene, finding it somewhat surreal.
The area in front was already swept clean, and at this moment, the surroundings were empty, tranquil to a point of oddity.
Vid was about to do something when Grindelwald stopped him.
"You've withstood the most dangerous part, leave the rest to them." Grindelwald asked with a smile, "How does it feel to possess power, Vid?"
"I don't understand." Vid looked at Grindelwald, curiously asking, "You mastered magic to such a level, yet why did you lose to Dumbledore back then?"
The smile on Grindelwald's face vanished instantly.