298 HOW TO REACH THE KING?
Talhasse's eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal did he strike with such a demon, I wonder?"
Nahum gave no reply, his attention fixed on the unfolding battle.
Suddenly, the white pieces advanced. Their movements were deliberate, and yet, on the black side, panic gripped Ramses. The solitary white pawn managed to eliminate all the black pawns and the knights leaving the board relatively empty.
Ramses considered his options.
But he wasn't the real chess player even if he controlled this board. His mother, Zorana was the real strategist. "What should we do now, mother?" he asked.
But Zorana was hibernated. She couldn't help him now.
"This white pawn is too strange. All pieces, surround me!" Ramses ordered. His instinct was to protect himself first.
Instead of attacking, his strongest pieces converged around the King piece, forming a protective barrier. As the white pieces clashed with the black defenders, the battlefield erupted into chaos.
"You will never defeat me in my chess domain!" Ramses declared with a gloating grin.
His words carried truth.
Within his domain, the black chess pieces, his generals and soldiers, were imbued with unparalleled strength. Their power, amplified by the domain, was far beyond their natural abilities.
"I can't believe this! Tokin is only at the peak of Svad, yet his strength rivals a Man-tier battlemage!" Gubana exclaimed, struggling against General Tokin's blows.
"The strength of the black pieces are amplified by the chessboard," a woman's voice murmured to the cloaked figure.
"Yun-Yun, how do we break the empowerment?" the cloaked figure asked, his voice cold and steady.
"Summon your domain now to counter it," the voice of Yun-Yun replied.
The sky darkened abruptly.
The cloaked man, the solitary white pawn, the demon practitioner, the once called 'Black Cock' replied.
"Yes, it's about time to try this."
A vast field of crimson roses blossomed across the battlefield, their thorned vines writhing like serpents.
"What is this?" Ramses asked in shock at the growing vines.
"It's my domain", Leo replied to him.
Yes, Leo was the solitary white pawn.
Leo entered the chessboard last to occupy the solitary spot for pawns. When the armies from the black side moved, they were naturally attracted towards him first who occupied the closest spot to their army.
Using his Aura of Immobility, Leo slowed the advancing units until eventually they gathered around him. When he released the immobility aura, the enemy rushed into his spot for battle.
Then he clicked on the button in his view- the button with the Black Cock figure, his 'Sacrifice' spell. Soon, his battlefield was ruled by dark figures from hell who came to take the lives of his enemies.
Once the advance units of Ramses were lost to Leo's trick, he began defensive. His units retreated around him, creating an impenetrable shield.
"You'll never breach my defense formation with these cheap tricks! My pieces are effectively Man-tier battlemages!" Ramses roared defiantly.
But even as he spoke, the rose vines surged upward, entwining the apparitions on the black chess pieces in the air. Their grip severed the flow of magic empowering the black pieces. The generals within felt their enhanced strength wane, their power reduced to its natural state.
"The bastard's strength is fading! What did you do to them?" Bara shouted to Leo, her voice tinged with astonishment.
Leo summoned his domain and its beginning to compete with Ramses' chessboard for control.
"The vines are breaking the chess pieces," Rabama added.
"I saw channels of energy flowing from the apparition of the chess pieces into the general'sr bodies," Leo replied, his tone calm and calculating. "Breaking those channels stripped them of their cheating power. Weakening the boards buff to them."
Leo used the Rose Garden's magic to sever the links of Ramses' chessboard to his units, unraveling the black side's main advantage.
"No! This is impossible! How did you weaken the effects of my chessboard?" Ramses screamed, his composure crumbling.
His main advantage in summoning his chessboard was lost.
Then Leo's voice rose, filled with menace. "Now it's your turn to die, Ramses."
Ramses' defiance flared once more. "You may have stopped my chessboard's enhancement, but you'll still have to fight through my guards! And they are not weak."
He wasn't wrong.
Even without their amplified strength, the mages surrounding Ramses were formidable. The battle ahead would be anything but easy.
-----
Leo maneuvered deftly, positioning himself near the left flank of the Black King piece, only to be blocked by the stalwart defenses of the Rooks and Bishops.
The white pieces engaged them in battle.
"This fella is too strong", Gubana complained as he fought to a standstill with General Tokin.
"Don't underestimate us, traitors", General Tokin replied.
"This damn bastard is unbreakable.. fuck", Bara said.
"Yes, this stupid mage is a real pest too", Rabama added.
Bara, Rabama and Sodom's generals engaged the black side's units but both side's strength is equally matched. The battle between the pieces wouldn't end anytime soon.
But the objective of the game wasn't to kill all the enemies' units. Taking the enemy's 'King' was enough. But that has become an insurmountable task.
"We can't breach their defense formations to reach the King, unless we can win our spot decisively," Gubana admitted grimly, wiping blood from his face.
"I'm not doing well here, I might actually lose to this bastard," Bara cried with a call for help.
The battle wasn't going well for Leo. Ramses' generals were tough. They were all at the peak of Svad and besides Gubana, no one on Leo's side could defeat them convincingly if the battle was prolonged.
"We must act fast", Yun-Yun cried from outside the board.
Leo's gaze swept the chessboard.
There was no way their pieces could win the game by reaching Ramses while his units are placed in defensive formations around him. Until those battles are resolved, nobody could reach Ramses.
Leo thought for a while.
"Is there a way to reach the King without going through his chess pieces blocking the fucking board?" he asked.