Dudley's expression tensed, his spiritual power already mobilized, ready to release Beyonder abilities or spells at any moment.
"Who's there?" Dudley called out actively.
No one responded to his inquiry. The surroundings were empty, and his voice dispersed without receiving any feedback. It was like throwing a stone into a deep well and never hearing any sound return.
After pondering for a moment, Dudley gathered his spiritual power into his eyes and carefully examined the mist around him. This mist was obviously not naturally occurring but came from magic. His spiritual vision could see through the mist to a certain extent, though not very far.
Light and shadows intertwined around him. After carefully distinguishing for a while, Dudley quickly discovered that in one direction, the light was slightly brighter, with a hint of dark red glow flickering within. He walked in that direction.
"There should be fairly advanced spatial magic here, but I can't see through it," Dudley thought to himself.
He walked forward for a while when suddenly the mist churned violently, and a stone statue rushed out, wielding a spear and thrusting it toward him.
"Reducto!" Dudley almost reflexively chanted the spell.
Bang.
A loud crash echoed as the charging stone statue exploded into fragments halfway and disappeared into the mist. Immediately after, Dudley felt abrupt auras appearing from all directions, speeding toward him.
"Incendio." Dudley waved his right hand, and the moment he spoke, a circle of massive flames appeared around him, illuminating everything nearby while blocking the charging stone statues outside.
"Afraid of flames? It seems their strength isn't that high." Seeing this, Dudley had already judged the power of these stone statues—ordinary wizards could handle them.
"Reducto!" "Diffindo!" Dudley began chanting spells, destroying these stone statues one by one. He encountered no other obstacles during the process, and everything went surprisingly smoothly.
After dealing with these strange stone statues, Dudley determined his direction and continued walking toward the previously identified location. The appearance of these stone statues largely indicated that he was heading in the right direction.
"Sigh..." Suddenly, a strange sigh came from the depths of the mist, making Dudley's expression immediately change.
It wasn't because he was startled by the sudden appearance of the voice, but because this voice was far too familiar. It was his own voice.
"Go back now, there's still time," the voice said.
Dudley's eye twitched slightly. Hearing his own voice talking to himself felt extremely discordant.
"Who are you?" Dudley asked softly.
"I am you," the voice said calmly.
Dudley smiled. If this were that world, such an answer would indeed startle him, but in this magical world, it wasn't that concerning.
"I'm here to take the Philosopher's Stone. Once I get it, I'll leave," Dudley said in a calm voice.
Actually, he had originally just wanted to see what the defensive measures here were like. He never expected to make it here so smoothly. But now that he was here, he couldn't return empty-handed.
"What do you want the Philosopher's Stone for?" the voice asked.
"Someone wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone," Dudley said.
"..." The voice fell into a long silence, as if stunned by his answer.
"So?" After a long while, the voice spoke again.
"So, if I steal the Philosopher's Stone first, that person won't be able to steal it," Dudley said seriously.
"..." This time, the voice was truly completely silent.
Obviously, whoever set up this magic never expected such an answer. The reason for stealing the Philosopher's Stone was actually to prevent others from stealing it. This was simply logical genius.
"Go back. The Philosopher's Stone is very safe here. No one can steal it," the voice said.
"Really? Very safe? Are you sure?" Dudley wanted to laugh. "Even a first-year student like me can easily walk here. That person can definitely do it easily too. So I still prefer to keep my fate in my own hands. Don't worry, once the Philosopher's Stone is in my hands, I guarantee there won't be any problems."
"How can you guarantee that?" the voice asked.
"Once it's in my hands, I'll naturally be responsible for it. I have ways to ensure that person can never get the Philosopher's Stone," Dudley continued.
"You still haven't answered how you'll safeguard the Philosopher's Stone. And if I need the Philosopher's Stone, how will you return it? It is my property, after all," the voice said.
"Then it seems there's nothing to discuss." Dudley's patience was exhausted.
"Go back. The Philosopher's Stone is very safe here," the voice continued.
This time, Dudley no longer paid attention to the voice and continued walking forward. He knew the voice was just an obstacle Dumbledore had set up here, but such an obstacle seemed too childish. If a criminal could be persuaded to turn back by such words, that would be truly laughable.
"Sigh, why won't you listen to reason?" the voice sighed.
"Your persuasion is useless to me. Save your energy," Dudley replied while continuing to walk forward.
Just then, the mist in the distance churned violently, and Dudley stopped. A figure vaguely appeared over there.
Dudley looked through his spiritual vision and could only see a blurry outline, unable to see the full appearance. However, from the perspective of spiritual vision, this outline wasn't a real human but just a phantom with physical form.
At the same time, Dudley also discovered that this figure looked very familiar. It was himself.
"Since you've appeared, come out," Dudley stopped walking.
The figure seemed to hesitate for a moment, then slowly walked out of the mist.
"I'll warn you one last time. It's still not too late to withdraw now. Otherwise, I'll really have to take action," the voice said.
"I'm looking forward to it," Dudley replied.
The figure said nothing more and slowly walked out of the mist, soon appearing before Dudley. Golden hair, blue eyes, well-defined facial features, a strong build—everything was identical to Dudley standing on the other side.
Dudley looked at the other version of himself, feeling like he was looking in a mirror.
"Oh, I almost forgot." The other 'Dudley' suddenly spoke, then pulled out a monocle from his pocket and placed it over his right eye.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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