Black's eyes narrowed.
"What?!" Alex, the first-year from Ilvermorny, nervously tightened her grip on her wand. "Did you see something?"
The old man, pressed between the wizard and the witch, looked around as well.
"I can't see properly…" he told them. "Poor eyesight."
Black rolled his eyes.
He needed to be careful. Very careful.
Not only was Dumbledore personally keeping an eye on the entire Forbidden Forest, but the Contestants were blatantly using Perception as well.
The Seductress had already gained more than she had bargained for by convincing Lord Black Phoenix to let them act as Muggles during the first stage. Along with getting a Side Mission from a Character holding the Supreme Providence of the current timeline, she had also gone as far as to touch Darcie, devouring a portion of her luck.
It wasn't easy to pick up on such a subtle phenomenon.
But, being a lucky individual himself, Kai could.
It meant that, unlike Mang Jian and Darth Kars, the Seductress was fully utilizing the gifts bestowed upon her by the 15th Floor Contestants to take him down.
Lucky Intuitions told Black that this couldn't be the first time she had stolen the luck of a Storyline Character, either, given how proficiently and with uncanny familiarity she had stolen Darcie's luck.
And the only other Character who would let the Seductress do that was none other than Lord Black Phoenix.
The only redeeming fact in all this was that Characters like Dumbledore and Darcie possessed an unnaturally large amount of luck to begin with.
Things only went against them either because of their fate or because they chose for them to go wrong.
It was nothing but Dumbledore's immense luck that had worked for him, letting him get past the trauma related to his sister. The only reason he succumbed to the Gaunt Ring's corruption was that he chose for it to happen.
So, yeah.
Black needed to be careful.
Things were already taking a delicate turn as the end approached.
The last thing he needed now was a full-blown battle between him, Dumbledore, and the two 12th Floor Contestants.
The Death Star wouldn't even need to fire its beam at the planet to destroy it, then.
For now, Black decided, it was best to complete the first stage.
Like it or not, he was getting more interested in the Black Phoenix Broom and its unnatural ability to rattle one of his mysteries — Calm.
An item that could affect a mystery with its mere presence…?
Black licked his lips at the thought of studying it.
"No…" he answered Alex, keeping his eyes narrowed. "I think it was just wind…"
It happened, then.
It happened without making a noise.
A click — a bullet, stronger than a rubber bullet but not as life-threatening as a real one, came for Black's head, cutting through the air with almost the actual speed of a bullet.
The space between the point of firing and Black's head wasn't even worth noting down.
The moment the bullet left the muzzle, it reached the target, promising Black the same fate as Percy's moments ago—a fate unknown to him.
A distinct tink rang out as the bullet made contact, exploding into blue motes of light.
Black's head jerked, and he fell, slamming right into the tree next to him.
"BLACK!" Alex shouted, running toward him.
"I will check on him…" the old man said suddenly, putting his hand in front of the girl. "Don't you think you should be ready for another attack?"
"…"
Alex's heart shuddered.
She looked at the fallen boy.
Then, slowly, her head turned toward the darkness from which something must have attacked Black.
Yes.
The Muggle was right.
Tightening her grip on her wand, Alex nodded toward the old man and took a dueling stance, facing the darkness.
Sadly, she didn't know that she couldn't defend against the attack just because she knew where it would come from.
As silently as before, the bullet left the darkness, aimed at Alex's chest.
This time, when the blue motes of light exploded, it happened way before the bullet could reach the target.
It was a rune—a rune of Ancient Magical Script.
It appeared out of nowhere and exploded into tiny, magical sparks when the bullet struck it.
Alex, gasping at the strange sight, stumbled back.
Before she could fall, a hand landed on her back—a hand that felt too strong to belong to an old Muggle.
Alex looked over her shoulder and found Black, now standing tall, with a strange, transparent, blue armor blurring around his face. On his head, near his left temple, there was a reddish bruise that was becoming blacker by fractions of a second.
"… What…" Alex hissed. "What's going on?!"
Black pushed her back toward the surprised old man and stepped forward.
Another bullet.
Another rune appeared.
Another explosion of blue motes of light.
The next bullet came from a completely different side, going not for Black or Alex, but for the old man's legs.
Two runes appeared in its path, though, exploding with a brighter flash.
"Is the gimmick over or what?" Black asked, touching the blackened spot on his head. "You are not going past it, you know. I have seen too many movies… Also, Professor Dumbledore's going nuts these days. So… was kinda expecting something like this…"
Behind him, Alex and the old man listened to Black, both confused.
Suddenly, the old man's eyes lit up. "Oh…" he hummed, looking around. "They told me it was all magic here… So, I didn't even think they would be here…"
Before Alex could scream to demand an explanation, she heard a rustle—a rustle that couldn't be because of the wind.
From the darkness in front of Black, a figure walked out, carrying a rifle.
It wasn't alone, though.
When the first appeared, the second appeared to its right, coming out of the bushes, almost impossible to tell apart. The third appeared from above, silently sliding down a rope and landing between the first two soldiers.
Then, together, the three soldiers faced Black.
"Arlen Black of Hogwarts' Junior Group," the first soldier said, his eyes and mouth hidden behind a mask. "You… have passed the first stage."