The air around him condensed in a split second, wrapping him tightly and pushing him forward. Time and movement become extremely slow. He watched in horror as the man slammed into his chest. Nothing could slow down the force of the impact. His ribs creaked as if he had been hit by a sledgehammer.

He groaned, but the man who suppressed him couldn't allow him to dodge for half a minute, and pushed him forward with all his might. Crashing into the labyrinth tree wall, the branches piercing his skin, his body seemed to be torn 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 men cut through the hedge.

Hoffa touched the wound on his chest with trembling fingers, and when he lifted his fingertips and saw the blood dripping from his head, his golden eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Miller...?"

Through the dense vines and branches, Hoffa, who was stuck in the wall of the labyrinth, looked at the man who was under heavy pressure and exclaimed.

Although he has the same appearance as Alastor Moody, this menacing momentum and this aerial flying skill are by no means Alastor Moody's possession, and there is no doubt that he is the same Miller who protected himself from leaving.

It's just that at this moment, his single eye is almost completely covered by the whites of his eyes, his pupils have shrunk into a small dot, and the circles around his eyes are all burnt black, which looks very ruthless.

"Miller, what did Grindelwald do to you?"

Seeing him like this, Hoffa was anxious.

The man in front of him didn't answer, he couldn't help but lift Hoffa up, and his arm was surrounded by a flame, which burned all over Hoffa's body in the blink of an eye, and the heat consumed him.

Looking at his former friend's appearance of being about to eat people, Hoffa did not dare to hold it up, and immediately entered a ghost walk, and he disappeared from Miller's hands.

Miller grabbed the air, retracted the flame, and turned it into a firebird, flying around his arm. And his other arm conjured dozens of ice chips, flying around his arm.

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

Ten seconds passed.

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

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

Can talk...

Hoffa crossed his arms and his heart sank, Miller was originally part of Grindelwald's spirit, but he had been imperceptibly in Miranda's body for so many years, and he had changed a lot, but no one knew what happened after he met Grindelwald, if he re-blackened and wanted to kill himself, with his current ability, he would definitely not be his opponent.

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

Miller pointed with one hand.

The ice chips in his hand turned into a huge blizzard that swept through Hoffa, making him almost unsteady on his feet. Ice Ridge turned into a meat grinder, almost tearing him apart. The blood mist stains the white blizzard red.

In the midst of the blizzard, Hoffa clasped his palms together.

Rumble!!

The stones on the ground rose high, forming one stone cage after another, binding Miller inside. Then, Hoffa doubled his fist, the stone turned to steel, and Miller was encased in a completely solid steel cube.

However, within two seconds, the steel cube turned blazing.

Bang!!

The cube was burned to molten iron, and Miller strode out of the molten iron, reaching out for another, and the blizzard turned into an ice crystal giant behind Hoffa and grabbed him.

"Do you want to trap me the way you bound my sister in the first place, Bach, this old routine is not good after fifty years. ”

After saying that, the ice giant's body actually burned with blue flames, and the flames burned directly into Hoffa's bone marrow, almost destroying his godly form.

"Miranda!?"

Hofa, who was wrapped in flames, suddenly looked behind Miller and showed an expression of ecstasy, "Why are you here?"

Miller, whose face was full of fierceness, was stunned and couldn't help but look back.

In a moment of distraction, Hoffa kicked off the Ice Giant's fingers with both feet, broke free of its control, and quickly distanced himself from Miller, and the ghost wander disappeared from his sight.

Realizing that he had been deceived, Miller turned his head away, and with a crisp snap of his fingers, the Ice Giant and the Firebird disappeared at the same time, and a thick gray mist spread around him.

Hoffa ran as fast as he could, trying to distance himself from the mist, he didn't dare to touch the mist, years of magical experience told him that it was definitely Miller's detection magic, as long as he touched the mist, he would definitely be perceived by Miller like a flying insect falling into a spider's web.

But he was not fast when he was stared at the septic potion, and the path of this maze was very strange, and sometimes he still ran forward, but if he made a few more turns, he would run backwards.

The huge labyrinth confused Miller's direction as well as his own, and in a short time, the raging gray mist behind him tracked him.

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

Seeing that it is about to be touched, the situation is becoming more and more critical.

Suddenly.

Something suddenly reached out from between the hedges of the labyrinth and grabbed his arm, immobilizing him. He looked down and saw that what was grabbing his arm was a huge lion's claw growing out of the walls of the labyrinth.

What the?

He didn't wait for Hoffa to wonder for a second.

Whoa!

The sharp claws pulled him towards the hedge, and then the plants that formed the labyrinth spread out to both sides, and he was dragged into the labyrinth entirely.

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

Dense, sharp foliage and vines streaked across his face, and he had to keep his eyes closed to avoid being blinded by something.

Whoa!

He went in as fast as he came out, and he made his way through the hedges of the labyrinth.

Phew!

Hoffa spat out the leaves and finger strips stuck in his mouth, and after making sure that no branches might blind him, he opened them.

He appeared in a clearing in the labyrinth, which was circular and different from the labyrinth outside, and the moonlight shone down from the sky, making the place look quite open.

What's even more peculiar is that in the middle of this circular clearing sits a strange-looking creature.

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

But it's also limited to the upper body.

Its lower body is completely like a lion, but the lower half of its body has huge claws, the sharp claws on which glisten in the moonlight, intimidating, long yellow tail, with a tuft of hair at the tip of the tail, constantly flicking.

It turned out to be a Sphinx.

Hoffa recognized the creature, and Harry had met it in the books, and was asked a riddle by the creature. But he didn't think that he would be saved by a sphinx, what did he want to do, did he have to make himself guess?

"Oh hi, hello. ”

The Sphinx lay on the ground and asked in a strange and ethereal voice like a resting lioness, "How do you feel?"

"It hurts a little bit..."

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

"In the labyrinth, of course. The Sphinx replied, shrugging, "Knowingly." ”

"Who put you in?"

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

"Who put me in?"

The Sphinx asked rhetorically.

"yes, is it Grindelwald? or some other wizard?"

"Oh~ you said my master?"

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

"You're not?"

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

"Of course not, I'm a monster in the labyrinth, and my relationship with the labyrinth is like a pond and a fish. As long as there is a labyrinth, there will be my existence, it doesn't matter whether it is a man-made labyrinth or a naturally formed labyrinth, I like labyrinths, here I can find the value of existence. ”

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

But once in a while, one or two smart guys would come in, and I'd talk to the person who had gone into the maze, ask them some questions, and if that person couldn't answer me satisfactorily, I'd eat them. ”

With that, the walls of the labyrinth of vegetation next to him rattled again, and another man entered, a tall man, wearing a hairy brown cloak, with a hooked nose, gloomy eyes, and hands hanging above his knees.

It's Victor Krum.

Another participant in the Triwizard Tournament.

"Hey, who are you?"

Wickeldo Krum stumbled to his feet 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. ”

The Sphinx laughed: "Do you think he is wise and foolish, or is he well-developed and simple-minded?"

Hoffa didn't answer the question, and though he probably knew the answer, Krum over there had already drawn his wand, looking wary.

The Sphinx turned his head and looked at Wickeldo Krum: "Hey, young man from the north, tell me - something that is always laughing, something that never sleeps, something that wears borrowed clothes, and accompanies you for half of your life." ”

Wickeldo Krum pointed his wand at the Sphinx and exclaimed, "Can you only pass here if you defeat you, is the trophy behind you?"

"Answer my question, young man. ”

The Sphinx said lazily.

"Smash them all!"

Wickeldo Krum waved his wand, and a spell poured out of his wand, only to disappear as it touched the Sphinx's body.

The Sphinx flicked his fingers silently, and then turned from the static, like a lioness preying on a gazelle, and pounced in an instant, and the fast Hoffa didn't react, waving his wand Wickeldo Krum was completely lifted to his feet in the blink of an eye. His wand was flung away, and he rolled to Hoffa's footsteps with a grunt.

"The answer is not what you asked. ”

The Sphinx shook the legendary Seeker's thigh, face to face, and said irresistibly.

"Do you know the mystery?"

"Monster..."

Krum hung upside down, staring angrily at the Sphinx, his eyes as if they could breathe fire.

"It seems that you don't know, and you don't seem to be a person who likes to use your brain. ”

It sniffed Wickeldo Krum's thighs as if it were sniffing something extremely tasty: "It's so strong, you must be delicious..."

With that, it opened its mouth, and the lips, which had been as delicate as a young woman, opened wider and wider, revealing the sharp teeth behind it, like a real lion, until finally large enough to shove Wickeldo Klum's head into it.

At this moment, Victor Krum's face turned white with fright, his teeth chattered slightly, and he did not speak.

"The moon. ”

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

Hofa looked at Wickeldo Krum worriedly, stepped forward, and said again, "Moon." ”

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

The Sphinx carried the young man and said coldly: "Those who answer the riddle incorrectly will be eaten by me and will disappear into the maze, this is the rule." ”

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

The Sphinx was stunned for a moment, and the look in Hofa's eyes became strange. The man and the beast looked at each other for a long time, and finally, the Sphinx took the lead in relying on the eyes, and its mouth returned to its original state.

"It doesn't look like that's going to work right now... You're right, now I have more important guests..."

It lifted its massive lion's claws and threw Wickeldo Krum out of the Ring Labyrinth like garbage.

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

"As the years go by, as a servant,

From Hera, who first got to know Mount Ida,

Wander through the labyrinth of Zagreos.

Endure her dark and vicious curse,

Finished her feast of bleeding red,

Lift up the flame of wisdom and knowledge,

I'm finally free,

Named after the Sphinx, the priest who holds the Codex in his hand,

Villains and hypocrites, I can see through at a glance,

The incompetent and the unvirtuous have nothing to hide under my eyes,

If anyone can solve my puzzle,

Then I'll give him a little help.

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

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

"What are you going to ask me?"

Hoffa took a step back, dodged the sharp claws of the Sphinx, and asked with a slight sarcasm, "Four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

"Hahahahaha~"

The Sphinx laughed happily, and his voice was very pleasant:

"As you know, I asked Oedipus this question, but that's just one of my millions. In fact, everyone will have different problems, you are not Oedipus, and I naturally will not ask you the same questions as him. ”

"Come on, then. ”

Hoffa shrugged with confidence: "I'm Ravenclaw, and there are no riddles in the world that can stop me." ”

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

The Sphinx's eyes shone with a mischievous glint: "So I'm not going to prevaricate you with a simple riddle like I did with Oedipus or anyone else. ”

"Oh?" Hoffa raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Then what do you want to ask me?"

The Sphinx moved slowly, and it circled around Hoffa with great grace, looking him up and down:

"I want to ask you, why do people make such things as labyrinths? Guess what. ”

"Why build a labyrinth, of course, to trap people inside. Hoffa said as a matter of course.

"Why trap people in a labyrinth. ”

The Sphinx asked, "If you want to trap people, why don't you just make a cage?"

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

"It's so straightforward, and... If it's a cage, people outside can see it. If you are in the labyrinth, you can't see it from the outside. Or rather, it's hard to see. ”

"So what. ”

The Sphinx lay on the ground, smiling at him.

"Therefore, what is locked in the labyrinth is something that cannot be seen by outsiders, and it is something that cannot be seen. It can neither be seen by those outside, nor let what is inside go out. ”

Hoffa said slowly, his tone becoming more and more solemn.

"Quite an accurate summary. ”

The Sphinx licked his paws, "But what is something unseemly? There is nothing new under the sun, and it seems not strange that anything is happening in this world." ”

"Commit a crime. ”

Hoffa thought for a moment and replied, "Society generally uses prisons and cages to isolate criminals.

But if the perpetrator wants to hide his crime, he will build a labyrinth instead of simply building a cage. Because they don't want their sins to be seen by others. ”

When he got closer, the Sphinx immediately asked, "But what is a crime?"

"In the time of my birth, my mother was Ekadena, and my father was her son, the two-headed dog Otesius, and they did this, which seemed normal to the people of the time.

But today, it's almost the act of a madman. ”

After a pause, the Sphinx said: "Five thousand years ago, a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, and violence against violence were the norm, and murderers would be honored, but now killing people is forbidden.

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 the norm for women all over the world to marry at the age of fifteen, but now, if you take a fifteen-year-old person, it is a crime.

So I would like to ask this clever Ravenclaw what is a crime and what is an unsightly thing. ”

The question became more and more acute, and the Sphinx pressed forward step by step, and a trace of sweat oozed from Hoffa's forehead, and he frowned in deep thought for a long time, and replied:

"Different times have different rules, which are the product of times and circumstances, and you can't apply the past time to the present, which in itself violates the law of time, which is too one-sided. ”

"Aren't the rules a lie?"

The Sphinx chuckled softly, his expression teasing.

Click!

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

The words of the Sphinx lifted the fig leaf of his mind, and for a moment countless shattered images flashed in front of him, it was the moon on the Black Lake fifty years ago, it was the Void Dragon and Grindelwald's madness, it was reckless self-destruction.

But in the blink of an eye, he thought of Aglaia and Chloe, of the god of nightmares, of the mystery of death, and of what he had promised others.

He looked at the almond-like eyes of the Sphinx, and a certain realization appeared in his heart, and finally shook his head: "No, the rules are not lies. ”

"Oh? ”

The Sphinx looked curious.

Hoffa took a few steps on the ground and raised his head: "No matter when and where, rules will exist, the moment the old rules are destroyed, new rules will be born, even in the most barbaric era, there are the law of the jungle, even in the most primitive time and space, there is death and new life, even the most chaotic universe, there are beginnings and ends, what is driving the planet, what is controlling the light and fire, what is controlling birth, old age, sickness and death, those are rules."

If you want me to say, rules are not lies, rules are rules, and rules are the most powerful force in this world. ”

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

"But isn't it very free to have no rules, and it's not very pleasant to break the rules?"

"But the consequences will create a lot of monsters. ”

Hoffa looked at the Sphinx, "Just like you." ”

The Sphinx snorted, "So you're going to uphold the rules now?"

"I've been blinded by nothingness, but yes, I will. He said categorically.

"I'm satisfied, hum hum~"

In the darkness of the night, the Sphinx laughed in a very strange voice, and it propped itself up, and the huge lion's claws rested on Hoffa's body.

Huge magic flows, and the wind blows, blowing the bushes in the labyrinth and dancing the leaves.

Tiny dots of light seeped out of Hoffa's body, and they were tiny mist, the septic potion that Nicol Lemay had injected into his body.

Under the moonlight, the wounds on Hoffa's body healed quickly, and a huge and sharp momentum climbed in the labyrinth, and under the effect of that aura, the moonlight was dyed a touch of bright red, becoming a veritable blood moon.

After helping Hoffa remove the septic potion from his body, the Sphinx made way for him, bowed his head and said, "You are a true warrior, go and find the secret of the labyrinth." ”