337 Chapter 59, Guidelines

The surrounding air solidified in an instant, wrapping him tightly, and then pushing him forward. Both time and movement became extremely slow. He watched in horror as the man slammed into his chest. Nothing can slow the force of the impact. His ribs creaked, as if hit by a sledgehammer.

He moaned, but the man who suppressed him couldn't allow him to dodge halfway, and pushed him forward with all his strength. Hitting the wall of the maze tree, the branch pierced his skin, his body seemed to be ripped apart, and the pain ran through his body, making him feel as if he had crashed into a meat grinder.

After a few seconds, the two of them emerged from the hedge.

Hoffa touched the wound on his chest with trembling fingers. When he raised his fingertips and saw the blood dripping from them, his golden pupils were full of disbelief.

"Miller?"

Passing through the dense vines and branches, Hoffa, who was stuck on the wall of the maze, looked at the man under the weight and screamed.

Although he has the same appearance as Alastor Moody, this menacing presence, as well as the flying skills in the air, are by no means what Alastor Moody can possess. There is no doubt that he was protecting himself before Miller left.

It's just that at this moment his one eye is almost completely covered by the white of the eye, the pupil has shrunk to a small spot, and the surroundings of the eye are all burnt black, which looks very cruel.

"Miller, what did Grindelwald do to you?"

Seeing him like this, Hoffa was very anxious.

The man in front of him didn't answer, he couldn't help but lift Hoffa up, his arms were surrounded by a ball of flames, the flames burned all over Hoffa's body in the blink of an eye, and the high temperature engulfed him.

Seeing the appearance of his former friend who was about to eat people, Hoffa didn't dare to take it seriously, and immediately entered the ghost walk, and he disappeared from Miller's hands.

Miller took an empty shot, retracted the raging flames, and turned it into a fire bird, constantly flying around his arms. And his other arm produced dozens of pieces of ice, constantly flying around his arm.

He counted vigilantly and coldly: "Ten, nine, eight, seven"

Ten seconds passed.

Hoffa left the ghost walk, stood looking at Miller from a distance, and shouted: "Wake up, it's me, you see clearly, I am your good friend!"

"You don't have any good friends." Miller's voice was cold and piercing.

can talk

Hoffa crossed his arms, and his heart sank. Miller was originally a part of Grindelwald's spirit, but it has changed a lot after so many years of subtle influence in Miranda's body, but no one knows what happened after he met Grindelwald. What, if he re-blackens and wants to kill himself, with his current ability, he is definitely not his opponent.

"You abandoned your former friend with your own hands."

Miller pointed with one hand.

The ice sheet in his hand turned into a huge snowstorm in an instant, and the blizzard swept across Hoffa, making him almost unable to stand still. The ice edge turned into a meat grinder, almost tearing him apart. The blood mist dyed the white blizzard red.

In the blizzard, Hoffa folded his palms together.

boom! !

The stones on the ground towered high, forming stone cages one after another, binding Miller in it. Then, Hoffa grasped his fists with both hands, the stone turned into steel, and Miller was wrapped in a completely solid steel cube.

However, in less than two seconds, the steel cube turned blazing yellow.

boom! !

The cube was burnt whole into molten iron, and Miller strode out of the molten iron, reaching out for another hand, and Blizzard turned into an ice giant behind Hoffa and grabbed him.

"Do you want to trap me in the same way that my sister was restrained, Bach, this old routine will not work after fifty years."

After speaking, a blue flame burned on the body of the ice giant, and the flame burned directly into Hoffa's bone marrow, almost destroying him.

"Miranda!?"

Hoffa, who was wrapped in flames, suddenly looked behind Miller with an ecstatic expression, "Why are you here?"

The fierce Miller was taken aback for a moment, and couldn't help but look back.

At the moment of distraction, Hoffa broke the ice giant's fingers with both feet, broke free from its control, and quickly distanced himself from Miller, and the ghost walk disappeared from his sight.

Realizing that he had been deceived, Miller left and turned his head. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The ice giant and the fire bird disappeared at the same time, and a thick gray mist spread around him.

Hoffa ran fast, trying to distance himself from the mist. He didn't dare to touch the mist. Years of magic experience told him that it was definitely Miller's detection magic. As long as he touched the mist, he would definitely fall into it. The flying insects in the spider web were also sensed by Miller.

But his speed was really not fast after being watched by the septic blood potion, and the road in this maze was very weird, sometimes he still ran forward, but if he turned a few more turns, he would run backward.

While the huge maze confused Miller's direction, it also confused his own direction. After a while, the surging gray fog behind him followed him.

Ten minutes later, he was getting closer and closer to the fog controlled by Miller.

Seeing that he was about to be touched by it, the situation became more and more critical.

Sudden.

Something suddenly protruding from the maze hedges grabbed his arm and held him immobile. He looked down, and what grabbed his arm turned out to be a huge lion claw growing from the wall of the maze.

What?

Hoffa didn't wait for a second to be puzzled.

Bark!

The sharp claw pulled him and pulled him heavily towards the hedge, and then the plants that made up the maze opened to both sides, and he was dragged into the maze entirely.

Just as he was dragged into the tree, a thick mist swept over where he had just stood.

Dense and sharp branches, leaves and vines slid across his face, and he had to close his eyes tightly to prevent being blinded by something.

Bark!

Coming in as quickly as coming out, he came through the hedges of the maze.

Bah bah bah!

Hoffa spat out the leaf and finger stuck in his mouth, and after making sure that there were no branches that might poke his eyes out, he opened his eyes.

He actually appeared in an open space in the maze. This open space is circular, which is different from the square maze outside. The moonlight shines down from the sky, making this place look quite open.

What's even more strange is that there is a strange-looking creature sitting in the middle of this circular open space.

Its body is like a frighteningly large lion, but it has a woman's head with a high nose and long almond eyes. From the perspective of human aesthetics, she is quite an exotic beauty.

But only on the upper body.

Its lower body is completely like a lion, but its lower body has huge claws. The sharp lion claws on the claws glisten in the moonlight, making it intimidating. It has a long yellow tail with a tuft of hair at the tip, which keeps swinging.

It turned out to be a Sphinx.

Hoffa recognized the creature, Harry had also met it in the original books, and was asked a riddle by the guy. But he didn't expect that he would be rescued by a sphinx. What does it want to do, let him guess the riddle?

"Oh hi, hello."

Like a resting lioness, the Sphinx asked in a strange, ethereal voice, sprawled on the ground, "How does it feel?"

“It hurts a bit”

Hoffa muttered and patted the branch on his arm: "Where is this?"

"Of course it's in the maze." The sphinx replied, and it shrugged: "Ask the question knowingly."

"Who put you in there?"

Hoffa couldn't help asking it, the creature's appearance was so strange.

"Who put me in there?"

Sphinx asked back.

"Yes, is it Grindelwald? Or other wizards?"

"Oh~ you mean my master?"

The Sphinx shook his head: "There are many monsters in the maze, man-made, natural, foreign, and native, but I am not the only one. I am free."

"you are not?"

Hoffa looked at the Sphinx. Indeed, its expression was very leisurely.

"Of course not. I am a monster in the maze. My relationship with the maze is like a pond and fish. As long as there is a maze, there will be me. It doesn't matter whether it is a man-made maze or a natural maze. I like mazes. , here allows me to find the value of existence.”

The Sphinx said: "But of course, ordinary people don't have the opportunity to meet me, they are too stupid, and meeting them will lower my intelligence.

But once in a while, one or two smart guys come in, and I'll chat with the person who entered the maze, ask them some questions, and if that person doesn't answer to my satisfaction, I'll eat them. "

After finishing speaking, the maze wall made of vegetation next to him rustled again, and another person broke in. He was tall, wearing a hairy brown cloak, with an aquiline nose, dark eyes, and his hands hanging over his knees.

It was Viktor Krum.

Another contender in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Hey, who are you?"

Viktor Krum stumbled up and shouted at Hoffa in half-baked English: "Is this the monster you raised?"

The Sphinx looked at Hoffa. "Do you know him?"

Hoffa nodded slowly.

"But he doesn't seem to know you."

Sphinx said with a smile: "Do you think he is very wise and stupid, or is he well-developed and simple-minded?"

Hoffa didn't answer this question. Although he probably knew the answer, Krum over there had already drawn out his wand, looking very vigilant.

The Sphinx turned his head and looked at Viktor Krum: "Hey, young man from the north, tell me - what is always smiling, what is never sleeping, what is wearing a borrowed Clothes accompany half of your life."

Viktor Krum pointed at the Sphinx with his wand, and said loudly: "Is it possible to pass here only by defeating you? Is the trophy right behind you?"

"Answer my question, young man."

Sphinx said lazily.

"Smash everything!"

Viktor Krum waved his wand, and a spell surged out of his wand, but disappeared without a trace after touching Sphinx's body.

The Sphinx flicked his fingers calmly, and then turned from stillness, like a lioness preying on a gazelle, and instantly pounced on it. The fast Hoffa didn't even react, and waved his wand, Wickerdo. In the blink of an eye, Krum was completely lifted upside down. His wand was flung away, and grunted to Hoffa's feet.

"Answer to the question."

The Sphinx shook the Legendary Seeker's thigh, put his cheek against his cheek, and said irresistibly.

"Do you know the answer to the riddle?"

"monster"

Krum was hanging upside down, staring at the Sphinx angrily, eyes that seemed to breathe fire.

"It seems that I don't know anymore, and you don't seem like a person who likes to use his brain."

It sniffed Vickerd Krum's thigh, as if sniffing some extremely delicious food: "You are so strong, you must be delicious"

After all, it opened its mouth, and the lips that were originally as delicate as a young woman opened wider and wider, revealing the sharp and unusually sharp teeth behind it, just like a real lion, and finally it was big enough to crush Victor Crewe. The extent to which Tom's head fits in.

This time, Viktor Krum's face turned pale with fright, his teeth chattered slightly, and he didn't speak.

"moon."

A voice came from below, interrupting the Sphinx's cannibalism. It was taken aback, and lowered its head in displeasure.

Hoffa looked at Viktor Krum worriedly. He took a step forward and said again: "The moon."

"That's an accurate answer, but that's not your question."

Sphinx picked up the boy and said coldly: "I will eat those who answer the riddles incorrectly and disappear into the maze. This is the rule."

"Then you have to pay attention to a first-come, first-come, I come first." Hoffa said: "Why don't you respect me, you have to ask him questions first."

The Sphinx was taken aback for a moment, and the look in Hoffa's eyes became strange. One person and one beast looked at each other for a while, and finally, Sphinx took the lead in relying on the eyes, and its mouth returned to its original state.

"It seems not right now. You are right, now I have more important guests."

It lifted the huge lion claws under its body, and threw Vickerd Krum out of the circular maze, just like throwing garbage.

Then, the Sphinx straightened its paws and stood up solemnly, just like its famous sculpture in Egypt, its voice changed from an ethereal female voice to a rumbling roar:

"The years go by, as servants,

From Hera who first met Mount Ida,

Wander the labyrinth of Zagreos.

Bearing her dark and vicious curse,

Finished her bloody red feast,

Hold high the flame of wisdom and knowledge,

I'm free at last,

Named after the priestly sphinx who held the code in his hand,

I see through villains and hypocrites,

The impotent and the virtuous are hidden from my eyes,

If someone can solve my riddle,

Then I'll give him a little help,

However, only true heroes are qualified to answer my questions. "

It flicked its sharp lion claws, gently stroked Hoffa's chin to his heart with the scimitar-like claw tip, and licked his lips: "Are you?"

"What are you going to ask me?"

Hoffa took a step back, avoiding the sharp claws of the Sphinx, and asked slightly ironically, "Four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

"Hahahahahahaha~"

Sphinx laughed happily, and his voice was very melodious:

"As you all know, I asked Oedipus this question, but that's just one of my thousands of questions. In fact, everyone's question will be different. If you are not Oedipus, I will not ask you. Same problem as him."

"Then come on."

Hoffa shrugged confidently: "I am Ravenclaw, and there is no riddle in the world that can stop me."

"Naturally, I know the rules of your academy."

There was a mischievous gleam in Sphinx's eyes: "So I'm not going to put you off with a simple riddle like I did with Oedipus or anyone else."

"Oh?" Hoffa raised his eyebrows unexpectedly: "Then what do you want to ask me?"

The Sphinx moved slowly, and it circled Hoffa gracefully, looking him up and down:

"I want to ask you, why do people make things like mazes? Guess."

"Why build a maze, of course, is to trap people in it." Hoffa said as a matter of course.

"Why trap people in a maze."

Sphinx asked again: "If you want to trap people, why not just make a cage?"

The question became more difficult, Hoffa frowned, touched his chin in front of the Sphinx and turned around a few times, pondered for a long time, he stopped, and said slowly:

"It's too straightforward, and if it's a cage, people outside can see it. If it's a maze, people outside can't see it. Or rather, it's hard to see."

"so what."

Sphinx lay on the ground, looking at him with a smile.

"So what is locked in the labyrinth is something that cannot be seen by outsiders. It is something that is not visible to people. It cannot be seen by outsiders, nor can the things inside go out."

Hoffa said slowly, his tone becoming more dignified.

"Pretty accurate summary."

Sphinx licked his paw, "But, what exactly is something shady? There is nothing new under the sun. In this world, it doesn't seem strange that anything happens."

"Crime."

Hoffa thought for a moment, then replied: "The society generally isolates criminals with prisons and cages.

But if the criminal wants to hide his crime, he will build a maze instead of simply building a cage. Because they don't want their crimes to be seen by others. "

"Very close, the Sphinx immediately asked again: "But what is crime? "

It smiled and said: "In the era when I was born, my mother was Echidna, and my father was her son, the two-headed dog Otto Hughes. They did this. In the eyes of the people at that time, Seems normal.

But today, it is almost the behavior of a lunatic. "

After a pause, the Sphinx continued: "Five thousand years ago, an eye for an eye, an eye for an eye, and violence against violence were the norm, and murderers would be respected, but now killing is prohibited.

Five hundred years ago, under the control of the church, it was a crime to drink alcohol in this land, but now, alcohol can be bought everywhere.

A hundred years ago, it was normal for women all over the world to marry at the age of fifteen, but now, it is a crime to marry someone at the age of fifteen.

So ask this wise Ravenclaw, what is a crime and what is a shameful thing. "

The question became more and more acute, and the Sphinx pressed on step by step. A trace of sweat leaked from Hoffa's forehead. He frowned and pondered for a long time, and replied:

"Different eras have different rules, which are the product of the era and environment. You cannot apply the past to the present. This in itself violates the law of time and is too one-sided."

"Aren't rules a lie?"

Sphinx laughed softly, with a teasing expression on his face.

Click!

Hoffa's eyes widened suddenly, and he took a step back as if struck by lightning.

The words of the Sphinx opened up the fig leaf of his mind, and countless broken pictures flashed in front of him for a while, that was the moon on the black lake fifty years ago, that was the madness of the dragon of nothingness and Grindelwald, that was Reckless self-destruction.

But in a blink of an eye, he thought of Aglaia and Chloe, the God of Nightmare, the Death Mystery Realm, and what he promised others.

He looked at the almond-shaped eyes of the Sphinx, and some kind of understanding appeared in his heart, and finally shook his head: "No, the rules are not lies."

"Oh? I would like to hear more about it."

The Sphinx looked curious.

Hoffa took a few steps on the ground with his hands behind his back, and raised his head: "No matter when and where, rules will exist. The moment the old rules are broken, new rules will definitely be born. Even in the most barbaric era, there are jungles, Even in the most primitive time and space, there is death and rebirth. Even the most chaotic universe has a beginning and an end. What drives the planets to revolve, what controls the lightning, what controls birth, old age, sickness and death, those are the rules.

Let me say that rules are not lies, rules are rules, and rules are the most powerful force in this world. "

The Sphinx lay down, propping up his head with his claws:

"But wouldn't it be free to have no rules, and wouldn't it be fun to break the rules?"

"But the aftermath creates a lot of monsters."

Hoffa looked at the Sphinx. "Like you, or, like me."

Sphinx snorted: "So you will uphold the rules now?"

"I've been blinded by nothingness and chaos, but yes, I will," he said firmly.

"I'm satisfied, hehehehe~"

In the night, the Sphinx laughed in a very strange voice. It propped up its body, and its huge lion claws rested on Hoffa.

The huge magic power flowed, and the strong wind blew, rustling the shrubs in the maze, and the leaves danced wildly.

Tiny dots of light seeped out of Hoffa's body one after another. Those were tiny water mist, the blood-septic medicine injected into his body by Nicole Flamel.

Under the moonlight, the wound on Hoffa's body healed quickly, and a huge and sharp aura rose steadily in the maze. Under the influence of that aura, the moonlight was dyed bright red, becoming a veritable blood moon.

After helping Hoffa clear the blood-septic potion in his body, the Sphinx made way for him, bowed his head and said, "You are a real warrior, go and find the ulterior secret in the maze."