95- Speed Running!?


    Behind the door was a pitch-ck room. As the three of them stepped inside, the room suddenly lit up, revealing a breathtaking scene.


    They stood at the edge of a giant chessboard, with towering ck stone chess pieces in front of them.


    On the opposite side of the room were simrly sized white chess pieces. None of the pieces had carved faces, and they stood tall, exuding an intimidating presence.


    Ron tried to take a step forward, and the soldiers among the white pieces immediately moved.


    "Bloody hell!"


    They drew their weapons and blocked Ron''s path, forming a "chess" wall.


    "It looks like we have to y a game of chess against the other side and win to pass through. And, unsurprisingly, we probably have to act as the pieces, recing three of the ck pieces," Ron spected.


    He asked a ck knight for confirmation and received a positive answer.


    This made Ron sigh; he knew that being a chess piece was far riskier than being a yer. Pieces could be sacrificed; yers could not. If possible, he would have preferred to be the yer, but that wasn''t an option.


    Ron invited three ck pieces to leave the board, then he, Harry, and Daphne took their ces.


    "I''ll do themanding. Not to brag, but my wizard chess skills are among the best at Hogwarts," Ron said, trying to takemand before the game started.


    "Oh?" Harry, who was often beaten by Ron in wizard chess, didn''t mind, but Daphne, who had never yed against Ron, raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat unconvinced.


    Given Ron''s previous performance, she found it hard to trust this freckled Weasley boy.


    "Alright, how about we bothmand together?"


    Seeing Daphne''s change in demeanor, Ron''s confidence deted like a balloon, and he decided topromise, suggesting they comand.


    However, this unintentionallymitted a major chess blunder: multiplemanders.


    ying chess with twoanders can often be less effective than ying alone, as not every yer can follow their partner''s strategy, and sometimes they might even hinder their teammate.


    This was the case with Ron and Daphne.


    Both were skilled at wizard chess, but whenbined, they had a peculiar negative impact on each other''s performance.


    The white pieces charged aggressively on the board, putting the ck pieces at a severe disadvantage.


    One ck piece after another was ruthlessly shattered into lifeless fragments and swept off the board to pile up against the wall. Despite Ron and Daphne''s formidable skills, theirbined efforts were unable to stop the white pieces'' relentless assault.


    The ck pieces'' defeat was only a matter of time.


    "Move the bishop three squares to the left!"


    "Daphne, no! That will make us lose!"


    "No!" A ruthless determination shed across Daphne''s face. "Who says the oue has to be decided on the board? Let''s just try to eliminate as many white pieces as possible next!"


    Ron and Harry were stunned.


    Before Ron and Harry could react, Daphnemanded the remaining ck pieces tounch a suicidal attack on the white pieces.


    She sessfully shattered several white pieces, but in doing so, she caused the ck pieces'' already precarious situation to copsepletely.


    Daphne seemed entirely unfazed, her moves appearing as though she had bet on her own loss, sometimes even sacrificing ck pieces senselessly.


    Ron had given up onmanding, quietly observing Daphne''s actions.


    He didn''t quite understand why Daphne was doing this—perhaps it was to start another game with herself in sole control<em>?</em>


    Finally, the white bishop advanced to the ck king, who then removed his crown and threw it at the bishop''s feet, signifying the ck pieces'' defeat.


    Although there weren''t many white pieces left on the board, they still managed to checkmate the ck king, didn''t they?


    Now it was time for some off-the-board tactics.


    Just as the white pieces were slowly returning to their positions to reset the board, a spell struck the white king''s neck with precision...


    <strong><em>Swoosh!</em></strong>—decapitating it.


    The king''s head fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, with the crown rolling far away.


    Harry and Ron: "!!"


    The other pieces were stunned, as if they couldn''t believe what had just happened.


    "Just as I thought! Wind de—" Daphne eximed in delight. She continued to swing her wand, sending out one-foot-long wind des one after another, shattering the remaining white pieces into dust.


    When the chess pieces were engaged inbat, Daphne noticed that they were made of a rather brittle type of marble—so fragile that even a slight bump could cause cracks, let alone her wind des.


    Almost every wind de she cast left a one-foot-long gash on the pieces, spreading numerous cracks. Striking a piece in a weak spot, such as the neck or limbs, would break it instantly. Even for thicker areas, an additional strike would suffice.


    Daphne''s attack caught the pieces off guard. By the time they reacted and began to attack her, most of the white pieces had already been destroyed.


    At this moment, Harry finally understood what Daphne meant by saying, "The oue doesn''t necessarily have to be decided on the board."


    "That was cunning—Ah!?"


    As Harry pondered this, Ron suddenly tackled him, knocking him to the ground.


    It turned out that the ck pieces had started attacking them—when Daphne decided to break the rules, the ck pieces no longer considered them allies but enemies instead.


    Thanks to Ron''s quick action, Harry avoided the ck king''s attack, but Ron wasn''t as lucky. He took a heavy blow to the thigh, screaming in pain.


    Before the ck king could strike again, a wind de severed its head.


    Daphne had floated into the air by this point, unleashing a barrage of wind des like raindrops, clearing the remaining pieces from the board in a matter of seconds.


    After thest chess piece fell with a crash, Daphnended beside Ron, pursing her lips as she examined his injury. She regretted not coordinating with Harry and Ron beforehand; otherwise, they could have achieved a wless victory.


    "It''s broken. Smell this quickly," Daphne said, opening a vial of sleeping potion just enough to let Ron catch a whiff. He promptly passed out.


    With a sigh, Daphne remarked that they would have to leave Ron there temporarily.


    Without any pieces in their way, the two of them easily crossed the second door. Beyond the third door was a giant troll, which Daphne defeated effortlessly—thanks to her previous experience, she dispatched the troll in an instant.


    In the room beyond the troll, there was a table with seven bottles of various shapes.


    Daphne picked up the note left on the table.


    For her, the puzzle on the note was not difficult to solve.


    The problem arose when she picked up the inconspicuous little bottle and found that the potion inside had already been consumed.


    Daphne and Harry fell silent.


    ________


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