Chapter 232

Chapter 232: A Giant Chessboard

A Giant Chessboard
Chapter 232. A Giant Chessboard

Ferda observed Jed’s reaction once again.
No matter how much he looked at it, it was not the reaction of someone affected by Trauma.

— Are you alright?
— Huh? Ah, those eyeballs seem to be pulling at something, is that why?

Ferda nodded, and Jed scratched his head as he answered.

— More than being alright, I’ve just grown used to the feeling. Being the son of the leader of the Red Eyes Tribe is not an easy life.
— Is that so?
— If you let your guard down, you die; that’s daily life. They cast illusion magic on me at all hours, trying to get me to commit suicide in the worst case. Well, I suppose they did it because it’s that dangerous of a floor…

He smiled as if he couldn’t entirely hate it, despite his bitter expression.

— Ugh…

Shortly after, Arwen, who had been dazed, caught his breath while breaking into a cold sweat.

— Just now… what happened? I felt as if I had entered a tremendous nightmare…

Arwen came to his senses.
It was a strange thing.
He hadn’t even touched the eyeballs yet, so how could he escape that terrible illusion magic?
The only variable in this situation right now is Jed.
Which means,

— Jed.
— Yes?
— Look at one of those eyeballs you are seeing right now. If I lose my mind upon seeing that eye, can you stab it and destroy it?
— Understood for now.

He didn’t know the details, but thinking he would eventually figure them out, he nodded.
Ferda raised his head. He made eye contact with one of the purple lumps clinging to the wall.
Surprisingly, nothing happened.
For the first time, he properly faced its form.

— Ferda-nim?

Ruri called his name cautiously.

— I’m fine.

Seeing that Ferda was fine, Ruri also raised her head and looked at that lump.
This was also the first time Ruri had properly seen its form.

— It seems you destroyed what was inside that eye with that eye.
— It is not at the level of destruction. It is only temporarily neutralized.
— Can you destroy it?
— Of course.
— Then try to break it.

Jed’s eyes glowed an intense red, and he met the gaze of all the eyes.

— Kiiiiii!

Then something surprising happened.
They trembled and began to leak fluid from inside.
It was as if they were shedding tears upon encountering what they feared most.

“So the gaze of the Red Eyes Tribe makes them crumble…”

It meant those eyes were a massive collection of spell formulas.
Jed shattered the spell formulas with his red eyes, and the form collapsed as a result.

“A truly terrifying power.”

I had underestimated him a bit since he was doing trivial things like the Barnie Swallows.
Now I’m thinking it’s a relief that was all he was doing.

— You would have been in big trouble without me, huh?

While Jed swaggered, Ferda nodded silently.

— More useful than I thought.
— Is that a compliment?

Ruri chimed in.

— Even a slug has its talent for rolling, they say.
— Indeed.

With even Arwen and Ruri saying that, it made him reflect on how he had been treated.
Regardless, they were able to safely enter the interior of the cathedral in that manner.
Where the emblem of Alte should have been, there was a giant eye, and beneath it stood a skeleton totem built from bones.
And the residents of the city were looking at it and letting out laughter.

— Hehe…
— Ehehe…

It was a chilling scene.
They were practically skin and bones, their breathing labored, yet their faces were smiling.

— Is that eyeball turning them like this?
— Most likely.
— Vicious bastards…

It was a place that bred hatred toward demons.
Chewing on that hatred, he returned to reality.

— What will you do with the citizens here?
— …

Ferda examined the faces of the citizens once more.
The eyeballs had already been neutralized by Jed’s eyes.
However, the people’s eyes remained fixed on that eerie eyeball, their appearance drenched in a twisted joy not fading in the least.
They were no longer different from undead spirits who had lost their humanity.

— They need to rest.
— Understood.

Arwen and Jed drew their swords.

— No.

Ferda stopped them.

— I will do this myself. Everyone, step outside.
— Yes.

Killing defenseless commoners is no easy task.
The one who must bear that burden is Ferda.
The staff Lucy Philias gave him, Jibul, floats in the air.
Ferda raises both hands around Jibul, manifesting a magic circle.
The complex magic circle was drawn in an instant, condensing and gathering at the tip of Ferda’s staff.
The blue mana turned red, and red lightning buzzed over Jibul.
Repelling the approaching air like waves, it barely contains the condensed power.
Ferda grasps the staff with both hands and raises it.
5th Circle Release Magic.

— Electric Wave.

As he slams the staff against the ground, red lightning spreads out from that staff as the center.

Kwooong!

A powerful current burns everything.
The purple flesh stuck to the walls, Gamigin’s black magic built of skeletons.
And even the innocent who only smiled without knowing anything.
Everything touched by the current peeled away in layers and vanished.
The huddled commoners turned into piles of white ash.
With this, the totem blocking the path to the inner fortress collapsed.
Shortly after, the city began to tremble.
An anomaly occurred in the Legion’s magic.

— What is happening?
— It seems the barrier surrounding the inner fortress has collapsed.

Following his words, Ferda looked up, and the thick black barrier was gradually thinning.
The totem Ferda brought down must have been the last one.
The barrier blocking the entrance to the inner fortress weakened, so now is the time for an all-out assault.
From here is the beginning.
Ferda’s objective is to prevent Gamigin’s black magic book from falling into the eyes of the kings.

— Let’s head to the inner fortress.
— Yes.

They set off, but not for long.
What appeared before them was an eerie rift.
The entity that emerged from within was a man of an alien color against the black and gray ground.
Pure white skin that instilled suspicion at first glance.
Ruri had her weakness that hurt to the bone exposed, which heightened her hatred.
Once called one of the Seven Scars, it was Gokma.

— You’ve worked hard, Ferda-ssi.
— …
— This was an improved Trauma I made this time, but it’s a pity I couldn’t test it on Ferda-ssi and Ruri-chan. Who would have thought the power of the Red Eyes Tribe would be the solution to break the Trauma spell formula?
— Like you, who almost died from a kitchen knife stab?

As Ferda touched Gokma’s sore spot, the latter smiled.

— True. That is the world of magic. There is no absolute superiority. A spell formula activated solely by eye contact can be shattered by eyes, and even someone called one of the Seven Scars can fall apart from a brat’s kitchen knife.

Gokma gestured toward Ferda.
Space distorted in the area around Ferda’s shoulder.
He knew from the beginning what that magic was.
It was Point Distortion—twisting space to its limit, only to cause an explosion from the recoil.

— Ferda-nim!

Ruri, with her sharp nerves and reaction speed.
Ruri grabbed Ferda’s body and moved out of range.

Bang!

The distortion magic aimed at his shoulder exploded in the air.
The explosion it caused sent chills down the spines of Jed and Arwen, who were seeing it for the first time.

— Ferda-nim, I will handle this place.

Ruri wielded her massive axe and unleashed killing intent toward Gokma.
A dragon spawn, but a woman capable of emitting Dragon Fear.
Yet even with all her intent, Gokma did not flinch in the slightest.

— I’m sorry, but I don’t have the free time to fight you. I have business to attend to.

Then something appeared in Gokma’s pure white hand.
It was a grimoire of black magic.
The same object that had manifested when the King of Heinckel fought Duke Urey.

«Which means he is using Gamigin’s magic…»

What usable element of Gamigin’s magic could there be at this moment?
Ferda reviewed the list of magic in his mind.
The most likely candidate was Banishment.
Banish Ruri, who could be the greatest obstacle, and then deal with Ferda.
Considering Ruri’s speed, it would only be a brief instant, but enough to target Ferda’s opening and kill him.

— You’re thinking of Banishment, aren’t you?
— !

Gokma was also a high-level expert, so he deciphered what Ferda was thinking.

— But what if it’s the opposite?

Gokma’s fingertip pointed at Ferda.
Instead of banishing a troublesome guest who would just reappear,

— I will invite you to the castle.

He chooses to invite instead.
There was no choice for Ferda, who had entered the domain.

5 minutes before Ferda’s kidnapping,
The audience hall in the inner fortress of the Kingdom of Heinckel.
The King of Heinckel, seated on the throne, watched everything.
Cockroach-like invaders entering the capital.
The sight of them mercilessly slaughtering his own citizens.

— Aaah…

Each time, the King of Heinckel felt as though a single thread connected to his body snapped.
Gamigin’s Legion is a magic that governs by converting the lives of the territory’s people into mana, so it was connected to everyone.
Their disappearance one by one was vividly felt by the King of Heinckel.
Sometimes it was not a single thread, but the sensation of shears cutting away an entire chunk.
In those moments, a lump formed in his throat.
Although his body had distanced itself from humanity while learning black magic, the King of Heinckel agonized over the loss of his citizens.

— Is it painful?

Gokma’s voice came from behind him.
The King of Heinckel answered politely.

— It is painful. My people who smiled at me are dying.
— Everything is futile, why agonize so much?
— It must mean that I still lack much. That I do not understand Godwin-nim’s will.

Gokma chuckled and walked in front of him.

— Soon the spell formula blocking the invasion of the inner fortress will collapse.
— Yes, I can feel it.
— That man, Ferda, figured it out. Among Gamigin’s defense zones, the absolute barrier using twin totems is difficult to know unless one is quite versed in black magic…

It is difficult to know unless one is at the level of the President of the Magic Society, Erdes, who hates black magicians.
Because those who fell so deeply into black magic were all killed by Erdes’ hands.

— Are you prepared?
— Of course. Preparations are complete.
— I hope your vengeance comes to fruition.

With that, Gokma tore through space and vanished.
The King of Heinckel’s eyes did not deviate from the urban landscape created by magic.
Suddenly, the King of Heinckel remembered his childhood self.
Why do people fight?
The land is so vast and the crops plentiful, why do starving people appear and bandits run rampant?
Sigmund Heinckel loved peace.
He firmly believed he was doing it for his people by acquiring all knowledge and implementing elitist policies.
He often went out for inspections, examined what the people needed, and strived to improve.
However, Sigmund’s father, the previous king, did not favor such a Sigmund.

— If you are born the son of a king, act like a prince.

He only wanted him to master martial arts and hunting techniques.
He even attended those lessons to prevent young Sigmund from straying, and sometimes guided him himself.
He said violence does not solve everything, so Sigmund could only resist.
Hard to believe they came from the same bloodline, father and son were polar opposites.
The conflict between father and son deepened, and they grew awkward with each other.
In the end, they lived like strangers, but they did one single thing together.
It was chess.
Only chess connected the two who only clashed.

— Do you know why I play chess with you?

The father asked.

— Isn’t it to supplement strategic knowledge?
— Halfway.

The fact that half aligned with his father’s intention felt cheerful and yet strange to him.

— Because this moment is when you are the only cruel one.
— Me?
— Look. How many pawns did you have in front of you?
— Eight.
— How many are left now?

Sigmund looked at the chessboard.

— Three.
— Three remain. You sacrificed five to survive.

Only then did he seem to understand what he was saying.
The pieces before him now looked like people.
Holding spears, looking ahead with eyes full of fear, advancing on trembling legs…

— Protecting a country is like this. You kill, you sacrifice, and ultimately, you defend.
— Humans are different.
— True, humans are different. But a king is not human.

He said, touching the King piece.

— You can only move one square, so you are incompetent. To survive, you sacrifice, you kill, you run, you run. As long as you live, this game does not end.
— …
— Always keep that in mind.

The next day, Sigmund’s mother passed away.
The son who lost his mother grieved, and the husband who lost his wife groaned.
And the father even stopped playing chess with his son.
The following year, the father also died of illness.
The conversation shared during chess became their last conversation.
Sigmund became king.
Peace continued.
Thus, Sigmund reached the same age as his father.
He gained a close friend, a wife, and children.
Around the time his father’s teachings were fading from his mind, everything changed.
Urey was captured, and pressure was closing in from all sides.
They were becoming demon followers without prior knowledge.
Only then could he understand his father’s words.
He pursued peace, but the world did not like peace, and the world was like a giant chessboard.
A king sacrifices, kills, runs, and runs again.
What happens to a king who sacrificed everything?
In the end, he does not die.
Because killing the king in chess is not noble.
Nobles.
What are those so-called nobles?
A war general fails and takes responsibility by dying.
What glory do they enjoy by sacrificing hundreds, failing, and surviving?

— Despicable bastards.

A game where thousands die for the desire of one person should never have begun.
The King of Heinckel’s goal was clear.
He will kill all the kings.