Yet, faced with a terrifying assault that could crush any flesh-and-blood body into pulp in an instant, Lucian Thornwick didn't even glance at them.
He continued walking forward with the same calm, unhurried pace—like someone strolling through a garden.
Just before the first massive stone axe could split his head—
Lucian spoke calmly.
"Outside the Chessboard."
Buzz—
An invisible ripple spread outward from his body.
It couldn't be seen.
It couldn't be felt.
Yet it carried the weight of something that seemed like a supreme law.
The wave passed across the entire chessboard like ripples on water.
And in that instant—
Time froze.
The battlefield that had been filled with murderous intent suddenly stopped.
Every charging obsidian piece froze in place.
A rook held its giant axe high in the air, frozen mid-strike.
A knight leaped forward, suspended in the air with its stone hooves still raised.
Ranks of soldiers remained locked in their defensive formations.
The entire war-torn battlefield had turned into something absurd—
A giant sculpture park.
And Lucian simply walked through it.
Calmly.
Casually.
As if strolling through statues in a museum.
He even brushed aside a stray spiderweb that blocked his path.
Behind him—
Harry and Hermione had already fallen into their now-familiar state of stunned silence.
Their minds were blank.
But Ron Weasley…
His hand—the one he had dramatically raised to command the chess army—was still awkwardly hanging in midair.
The heroic determination on his face slowly collapsed.
The sense of sacred sacrifice he had built up deflated like a punctured balloon.
In its place was a strange, almost ridiculous thought:
What… was I just doing?
Watching Lucian casually stroll through the frozen enemy army, Ron felt something he had always been proud of begin to waver slightly.
His wizard chess genius suddenly seemed… a bit less impressive.
After crossing the bizarre battlefield of frozen stone statues, the four entered the next room.
It was a small circular chamber.
Compared to the previous trials, it felt strangely… calm.
At both the entrance and exit stood doors blocked by magical flames.
The fire at the entrance burned purple, eerie and unsettling.
The fire guarding the exit was deep black, like a curtain capable of devouring everything.
At the center of the room stood a simple wooden table.
On it were seven small bottles, each different in shape, size, and color.
Beside them lay a rolled-up parchment filled with writing.
No monsters.
No traps.
Only a cold, pure challenge of logic and intelligence.
Snape's style.
Harry and Ron looked at the strange bottles with immediate dread.
But when Hermione Granger saw the scene, her brown eyes suddenly lit up.
All the frustration she had felt during the previous trials vanished instantly.
Confidence returned to her face.
Logic.
Riddles.
This was her domain.
Her battlefield.
She rushed forward without hesitation, grabbed the parchment, cleared her throat, and began reading aloud with the confident tone of someone answering a difficult question in class.
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind.
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find…"
She read quickly.
Her brain raced through possibilities.
She was already immersed in the pure joy of solving the puzzle.
But just as she finished reading the last line and prepared to begin her brilliant deduction—
"Uh… Hermione?"
Ron's hesitant voice came from behind her.
"I think… maybe we don't need to make this so complicated?"
"What?"
Hermione turned back, slightly annoyed at the interruption.
Harry stepped forward too, scratching his messy black hair.
"Well… it's potions, right?" he said, pointing at the bottles.
"And Lucian is here."
He paused, then added awkwardly:
"You remember Potions class… even Professor Snape…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Hermione froze.
Her brain, which had been racing seconds ago, suddenly cooled as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over it.
How could she forget?
A few months ago, someone in this very group had overturned a century of potion theory in a single class.
Right in front of Snape himself.
Shattering the Potion Master's understanding.
And she had just tried—
To show off her logic puzzle skills…
In front of someone who was practically a god of potions.
Playing Snape's little logic game in front of Lucian Thornwick suddenly felt… absurd.
The excitement that had been burning in Hermione vanished instantly.
Pop.
Like a balloon losing air.
Her confident expression turned into one of awkward realization.
She slowly lowered the parchment.
Then, just like Harry and Ron, she turned toward Lucian.
All three of them stared at him with the same expression—
Pure expectation.
And a little curiosity.
Because from the beginning until now, Lucian Thornwick had simply stood there quietly… watching everything unfold.
—------------------------------
Pat reon Advance Chapters: patreon.com/DevilWarden