Infinite Horror: The Strongest Zhongzhou Team

Click!

The locking tongue is pried open.

"Harry, come inside!"

Hearing Ron's howl beneath him, Harry charged down with a swarm of deadly tails following him.

Hermione saw this and pulled Ron inside.

The moment Harry flew in on his broomstick, Hermione, who was standing at the door, slammed the door shut.

The old, tattered flying broom lost its levitation ability the moment it entered the room for some unknown reason.

Fortunately, Ron reacted quickly and caught Harry as he fell from the sky, and the two tumbled to the ground.

It kept crashing into a stone pillar on the other side before finally stopping.

Then, a series of clanging sounds rang out from the tightly closed door.

It's obvious that the keys didn't have time to slow down and crashed into it.

The two who had rolled to the ground saw this and scrambled over to help Hermione hold the door shut.

At this moment.

All three of them began to take deep breaths.

Harry, in particular, felt weak all over.

After resting for a few more minutes, I finally regained some energy.

Harry and his two friends finally had time to observe their surroundings.

"What is this?!"

Hearing Hermione's puzzled voice.

Ron and Harry stood up, clutching their heads.

When the two looked closely, they realized that they had not bumped into a stone pillar.

It is a broken stone statue.

Moreover, for some reason, the two of them found the stone statue somewhat familiar.

It wasn't until their eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness that they realized it.

Behind the door was a huge, dimly lit space with a depressing atmosphere.

Here, broken stone statues are everywhere.

There were horses, people, guards, and even stone swords.

They were all piled up at the entrance of the room.

In front of this pile of broken stone statues, there is a clearly defined white line.

The area within the white line is complete and extraordinary.

Let's look further ahead.

Huge black stone slabs covered the ground, with towering stone statues on both sides.

The most eye-catching feature is the huge chessboard that occupies a large area in the center of the room.

This is a complete Wizard's Chessboard.

Each of the chess pieces on it is taller than Ron and Harry combined.

They stood motionless, exuding a cold, metallic feel and an indescribable sense of oppressive authority.

The king, queen, bishop, knight, and soldier are depicted in black and white.

The dark eye sockets of these stone statues seemed to be looking down at the three tiny figures who had intruded.

"The black and white stone statues and grids, this is a pawn, this is a minister, this is a guard, and this is the queen in the middle!"

"My God, Harry. This is an enlarged version of wizard chess!!!"

Ron reacted the fastest, being the first to excitedly shout it out.

Harry did the same, but he quickly recovered and shook his head.

“Ron. I feel like this is more than just wizard chess. Look at this!”

Harry pointed to a corner not far away.

It was a slightly more complete stone statue, and it was shaped like a guard, but the guard had a stone sword from the queen's hand stuck in his chest.

The two men, who knew how to play wizard chess, nervously swallowed as they thought about the shattered stone statues all around them.

"I don't like it here, not at all!"

"This place reminds me of the cemetery in the park."

Hermione walked up behind the two of them.

"So, this is a cemetery?"

Ron crossed the white line and stepped onto the black and white floor tiles.

The magical flames on both sides of the room began to gather one by one, appearing automatically and then illuminating the entire room.

"No, this space should be a chessboard!"

"A magic chessboard."

As Ron uttered those words...

All darkness was banished by the flames, revealing everything in the room to the three of them.

Brightness is a completely different feeling from darkness.

What appeared before them was a vast space with a oppressive atmosphere.

The ground was covered with black and white stone slabs, and towering stone statues stood on both sides.

Just like what the two of them just said.

This is a complete Wizard's Chessboard.

One in front and one behind on the chessboard.

Two rows of majestic stone statues stand prominently on it.

At the other end of the chessboard lies the next door, tightly shut.

The three people who witnessed this scene felt inexplicably panicked.

"The door's over there! Let's go!"

"Don't touch anything anymore, be careful."

The three little ones, stepping onto the chessboard, felt a strange sense of unease as they looked at the even more imposing stone statue up close.

Fortunately, nothing happened even though we were just passing by.

The three continued forward.

But just after they crossed the center line and moved another square...

The entire row of black stone pawns opposite them suddenly moved over in unison.

The soldiers drew their stone knives, the backs of the blades crossed, and held them in front of the three men.

Harry and his two companions dared not move, staring at the enormous stone knife that was only forty or fifty centimeters away from them.

In the end, Hermione pulled the two of them back.

Once it was back on the edge, the stone statue returned to its original appearance.

It's as if what just happened was all an illusion.

The three of them looked at each other.

This time they didn't step onto the chessboard; instead, they moved to the outer edge, trying to go around it.

After all, although the chessboard is large, it does not completely occupy the entire space; there are still gaps on both sides for people to pass through.

Moreover, this time all three of them were even more careful, making no sound under their feet.

But just as they had circled halfway around and crossed the center line...

The black knight closest to them on the chessboard suddenly stood up from his half-crouching position.

Then the head beneath the armor turned towards the direction where the three were.

Upon seeing this, the three immediately stopped.

Ron swallowed hard, his body trembling, and whispered:

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I have a feeling that if we move any further, he will step off the chessboard and kill us."

Harry and Hermione remained silent because they shared the same thought, and the three of them stepped back again.

I pressed myself tightly against the door once again.

Harry looked at the two of them and whispered, "What do we do now?"

Ron pulled the two of them tightly with his hands, clearly nervous, but still managed to speak:

"it's actually really easy."

"I need to play chess."

If I'm not mistaken, you need to completely remove the light from both rows of stone statues opposite before you can get to the other side of the house.

Harry looked at what was in front of him, puzzled, and asked, "But what should I do?"

"This chessboard is as big as the stone statue, how should we begin?"

"How about we try the other side? Maybe we can get around there."

As soon as he finished speaking, it seemed to be in response to them.

The three huge black soldier pieces near the entrance suddenly moved one step to the side and forward in unison.

The heavy base rubbed against the stone slab, making a dull "rubbing" sound, which blocked the way around it on both sides.

Then, it was as if the chessboard had come to life.

A large white knight piece slightly raised its horse's head, turned towards Ron, and emitted a deep and clear hum, as if to declare something.

Harry felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing this: "They...they seem to be alive!" Just as Harry finished speaking, cracks began to appear on the knight on horseback, and then the horse exploded.

Before the three of them could react, there was another loud bang.

The three of them looked up.

Then, another stone statue suddenly split open, shattered, and was swept away by a force.

One spot has become available.

But the changes are not over yet.

The stone statue representing the queen in the center of the chessboard cracked again.

A moment later, the three of them looked at the three empty seats and understood what was going on.

Three of them.

Three spaces are now empty for the white pieces on our side.

The meaning is quite obvious.

The three looked at each other, and finally Hermione and Harry's gazes fell on Ron.

Ron looked conflicted, and after taking a deep breath, he understood the situation.

“It’s not ‘seems,’ Harry, they are alive.”

This is a game of Wizards Chess.

To get to the other side of the door, we must... we must personally take the stage as pieces in this game.

and………"

Ron pointed to the road that the black soldiers had just blocked.

"The game has begun, and we must follow the rules to continue playing, otherwise..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but all three understood that these enormous stone sculptures and metal weapons could easily crush them for not following the rules.

Harry nodded:

"Ron, among us, your wizard chess is the best."

“So, let’s get started!”

No matter how panicked and helpless Ron was, he understood that compared to Harry and Hermione...

Wizard Chess is all alone now.

Ron stepped onto the chessboard again and touched the huge white chess piece beside him.

"Harry, go to your seat!"

"Hermione, you are the Queen."

Hermione nodded: "And what about you?"

Ron looked at the empty horse's back:

"I am that knight now."

"If I'm not mistaken, this position should be the chessboard."

After the two took their positions.

Ron also mounted the stone horse.

Then the entire chessboard shook.

Harry and Ron, who had played wizard chess before, knew that this was a sign that the game had begun.

It was at this moment that Hermione, standing in the Queen's position, looked around and suddenly thought of something.

He exclaimed in surprise:
"Oh my god, I remember now, I know where I am!"

Hermione, seeing Harry and Ron looking over, continued:

"The history of Hogwarts school records that for a time Wizarding Chess was an elective course."

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the wizard chess classroom from back then!"

Upon hearing this, Ron on horseback looked puzzled:
"It's a good thing that this elective course is no longer available, otherwise my exam results certainly wouldn't have been so bad."

Hermione's expression was strange:
"Wait, shouldn't you be asking why wizard chess is such an absurd elective course?"

Ron and Harry exchanged a glance and said at the same time, "Is that outrageous?"

Ron said, "I heard from my brother that wizard chess is the most popular activity among several magic academies."

"So, okay, why was it allowed to become an elective course in the first place?"

Hermione explained:
"The reason is actually quite simple: the principal at the time liked wizard chess."

"That's why it was chosen as a course."

Ron nodded, both amused and exasperated.
"It's absurd, but it's also reasonable, because if I were the headmaster of Hogwarts, I might do the same."

Hermione laughed and said, "Then you're a terrible headmaster."

"But...is this the beginning?"

It was at this time.

One of the stone statues on the opposite side started to move.

With the vibrations of the black and white floor and a loud scraping sound, the black piece moved forward one square.

Ron nodded: "It seems the rules are the same, Black goes first, and it's our turn next!"

"Wait! Wait for Ron!"

"I just remembered something. We've now replaced the stone statues, so we're also chess pieces. Will we move around in a bit?"

Ron nodded: "Of course."

Harry was shocked:

"I wouldn't pick up a two- or three-meter-long sword and smash someone, and I'm not even as high as a stone statue when I jump."

Ron nodded in thought for a moment, then pointed to a pawn and shouted in a loud voice:
"You, take D5."

The white pawn closest to the black piece moves forward one step and comes next to the black piece.

The moment the statue froze.

The black pawn that had gained the right to execute the order came to life. The piece straightened its back, gripped the stone knife with both hands, and slashed forward.

With a single stroke, the white stone statue was cleaved into pieces.

After being swept away, the black soldier moved again after completing the attack, taking over the position that the white soldier had just occupied.

Although they had considered this possibility when they entered and saw the remains of those stone statues.

But seeing this scene with my own eyes was still somewhat unbelievable.

Ron said dryly:

"Okay, now it looks like it's real Wizard Chess."

Harry said, "Now I know why that elective was canceled."

"If this were a classroom, it would indeed be a bit dangerous."

Ron looked at the two beneath him: "So, Harry, Hermione, do you want to continue?"

Ron turned his head to look at the gate they had come from, and then at the various weapons among the two rows of stone statues opposite.

Stone sword, meteor hammer, battle axe, shield.

Then he asked the two of them.

"Or should we go back?"

Hermione looked at Harry.

Both spoke at the same time: "Continue, Ron!"

"We believe you."

In the time that followed.

Each time the chessboard trembles, a stone statue awakens and launches an attack in front of it.

It was fine at first, but as the pieces continued to move forward...

An inevitable series of clashes began to occur around the three of them.

"Car, move to D3!"

"Xiang, move to E6!"

"P. Moved to C3!"

Standing in the center, Harry looked at the two stone statues that had perished together in front of him and instinctively crouched down.

There was nothing he could do; the weapons they were carrying were bigger than his, not to mention their size.

However, once the dust settled and the remains of the stone statue were swept away, the situation changed.

Harry then belatedly realized that only three of the two rows of stone statues that had been blocking his way remained.

On their side, there were also three left.

It was the three of us!

Hermione, who had been moving forward in the corner the whole time but had never encountered a statue before, also noticed the problem.

Although she didn't understand wizard chess.

But he knew that they were now faced with an unavoidable choice.

Hermione looked at Harry in the center and couldn't help but ask, "Harry, what is Ron doing?"

"Can we win like this?"

Harry stared blankly around and said:

"Wait, no, this won't win!" (End of Chapter)