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Chapter 232
A Giant Chessboard
Ferda observed Jed's reaction once more.
No matter how he looked at it, it wasn't the reaction of someone who had been hit by Trauma.
"Are you alright?"
"Huh? Ah, those eyeballs seem to be pulling something, is it because of that?"
Ferda nodded, and Jed scratched his head as he answered.
Ŵ èb̊_n̆ ӧv̄el̆ Ѐn û.m̂ ӓ
"Rather than being alright, I've gotten used to the sensation. Being the son of the Red-Eyed Tribe's leader isn't an easy life."
"Is that so?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"If you let your guard down, you die—that's daily life. They'd cast illusion magic on me at all hours, trying to make me kill myself in the worst case. Well, I guess they did it because it's that dangerous a floor..."
He smiled as if he couldn't purely hate it, despite his bitter expression.
"Ugh..."
Shortly after, Arwen, who had been stunned, caught his breath while breaking into a cold sweat.
Е̌n ū mа
"Just now... what happened? It felt like I'd 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 from that terrible illusion magic?
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The only variable in this situation right now is Jed.
Which means,
Е n̆ u m̀ a
"Jed."
"Yes?"
"Look at one of those eyeballs you're seeing right now. If I lose my mind upon seeing that eye, can you stab and destroy it?"
"Understood for now."
He didn't know the details, but thinking he'd find out eventually, he nodded.
Ferda raised his head. He made eye contact with one of the purple lumps attached to the wall.
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Surprisingly, nothing happened.
For the first time, he properly faced its form.
"Ferda-nim?"
Ruri cautiously called his name.
"I'm fine."
Seeing that Ferda was fine, Ruri also raised her head and looked at that lump.
Ē.n ū ḿ ӓ . іd́
This was also the first time Ruri had properly seen its form.
"It seems you destroyed what was inside that eye with that eye."
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"It's not at the level of destruction. It's just temporarily neutralized."
"Can you destroy it?"
"Of course."
"Then try breaking it."
E n uṁ ӓ ._і d̀
Jed's eyes blazed bright red, and he met the gaze of all the eyes.
-Kiiiiii!
Then a surprising thing happened.
They trembled and began pouring out liquid from within.
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It was as if they were shedding tears upon encountering what they feared most.
'So the Red-Eyed Tribe's gaze causes them to crumble...'
Е̃n̆ u m̃ а
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'd looked down on him a bit since he was doing trivial things like the Barnie Swallows.
Now I'm thinking it's a relief that's all he was doing.
"You'd have been in huge trouble without me, huh?"
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As Jed swaggered, Ferda quietly nodded.
"More useful than I thought."
"Is that a compliment?"
Ruri chimed in.
"Even a slug has its rolling talent, they say."
"Indeed."
Е́ n u m̆ǎ..id̀
With even Arwen and Ruri saying that, it made him reflect on how he'd been treated.
Anyway, they were able to safely enter the cathedral interior like that.
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Where the Alte emblem should have been, there was a giant eye, and beneath it stood a skeleton totem built from bones.
And the city residents looked up at it and let out laughter.
"Hehe..."
"Ehehe..."
Е ǹ ü m̄ а
It was a spine-chilling scene.
They were practically skin and bones, their breathing labored, yet their faces were smiling.
"Is that eyeball making them like this?"
"Most likely."
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"Vicious bastards..."
It was a place that piled up hatred toward demons.
Е̄ṅ u m̊а̊
Chewing on that hatred, he returned to reality.
"What will you do with the citizens here?"
"..."
Ferda examined the citizens' faces once more.
The eyeballs had already been neutralized by Jed's eyes.
Yet the people's eyes were still turned toward that creepy eyeball, their appearance soaked in twisted joy not fading in the slightest.
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They were already no different from undead spirits who had lost their humanity.
"They need to be given rest."
"Understood."
Arwen and Jed drew their swords.
"No."
Ferda blocked them.
Ӗ nu m a
"I'll do this myself. Everyone, go outside."
"Yes."
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Killing powerless 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 that Jibul, manifesting a magic circle.
Еn üm а̀
The complex magic circle was drawn in an instant, condensing and gathering at the tip of Ferda's staff.
The blue mana was dyed red, and red lightning buzzed above Jibul.
Driving back the oncoming air as waves, he barely maintains the condensed power.
Ferda grips the staff with both hands and lifts it upward.
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5th-tier Release Magic.
"Electric Wave."
W е b ṅо̊ v е̃l̂ Е n̆ ŭ m̃ a
As he slams the staff into the floor, red lightning spreads from that staff as the center.
Kwooong!
Powerful current burns everything away.
The purple flesh stuck to the walls, Gamigin's black magic built from skeletons.
And even the innocent ones who were just smiling without knowing anything.
Everything touched by the current peeled away in layers and vanished.
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The tightly packed commoners turned into white ash heaps.
With this, the totem blocking the path to the inner fortress collapsed.
Shortly after, the city began to shake.
An anomaly occurred in the Legion's magic.
"What's happening?"
"It seems the barrier that surrounded the inner fortress has collapsed."
Еǹ ŭ m а . і̆d̆
Following his words, Ferda raised his gaze, and the thick black barrier was gradually thinning.
The totem Ferda felled must have been the last one.
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The barrier blocking entry to the inner fortress weakened, so now is the timing for an all-out attack.
From here is the start.
Ferda's objective is to prevent Gamigin's black magic book from entering the kings' eyes.
"Let's move to the inner fortress."
Ѐ ñú m̄ а̀
"Yes."
They set off, but not for long.
What appeared before them was a creepy rift.
The existence that emerged from within was a man of an alien color against the black and gray floor.
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Pure white skin that instilled wariness at first sight.
Ruri had her bone-aching weakness exposed, adding to her hatred.
Èǹ ǔ m̀ а̇
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 shame I couldn't test it on Ferda-ssi and Ruri-yang. Who would've thought the Red-Eyed Tribe's power would be the solution to break Trauma's spell formula?"
"Like you, who nearly died from a kitchen knife stab?"
As Ferda poked Gokma's sore spot, he smiled.
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"Right. That's the world of magic. There's no absolute superiority. A spell formula that only activates upon eye contact can be shattered by eyes, and even one called a Seven Scar can crumble from a brat's kitchen knife."
Gokma beckoned toward Ferda.
Space distorted at Ferda's shoulder area.
He knew early on what this magic was.
It was Point Distortion—twisting space to its limit, then causing an explosion from the recoil.
"Ferda-nim!"
Ẅ еb n̂ о̄v е̂l Еñum̈ а̄_
Ruri, with her sharp nerves and reaction speed.
Ruri grabbed Ferda's body and moved out of range.
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Bang!
The distortion magic aimed at his shoulder exploded in midair.
The explosion it caused sent chills down the spines of Jed and Arwen, seeing it for the first time.
"Ferda-nim, I'll handle this place."
Ẃ e b ñ õvе l Е̊ñ u m̃ă
Ruri gripped her massive axe and unleashed killing intent at Gokma.
A dragon spawn, but a woman who can emit Dragon Fear.
But even with her full sincerity, Gokma didn't budge an inch.
"Sorry, but I'm not leisurely enough to fight you. I have business to attend to."
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Then something appeared on Gokma's pure white hand.
It was a black magic grimoire.
W êb̈n̂ ō_vе̄ l̀ Ëṅ u̇ m a
The same item that had manifested when the Heinckel King fought Duke Urey.
'Which means he's using Gamigin's magic...'
What usable thing from Gamigin's magic could there be right now?
Ferda sifted through the magic list in his head.
The most likely candidate was Banishment.
Banish Ruri, who could be the biggest obstacle, then deal with Ferda.
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Considering Ruri's speed, it would be only a brief moment, but enough to aim for Ferda's opening and kill him.
"You're thinking about Banishment, aren't you?"
"!"
Gokma was also a high-level expert, so he saw through what Ferda was thinking.
"But what if it's the opposite?"
Gokma's fingertip pointed at Ferda.
Е̃ n̆ū mа̌.і̇_d
Rather than banishing a troublesome guest who'd come again,
"I'll invite you to the castle."
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He chooses to invite instead.
There was no choice for Ferda, who had stepped into the domain.
* * *
5 minutes before Ferda's abduction,
È num̃ à.і́ ď
The audience chamber in the Heinckel Kingdom's inner fortress.
The Heinckel King, sitting on the throne, was watching everything.
Cockroach-like invaders entering the capital city.
The sight of them mercilessly slaughtering his own citizens.
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"Aah..."
Each time, the Heinckel King felt as if a single thread connected to his body was snapping.
Е̌ n̂ ú.m а̊
Gamigin's Legion is a magic that governs by converting the territory's people's lives into mana, so it was connected to everyone.
Them disappearing one by one was vividly felt by the Heinckel King.
Sometimes it wasn't a single strand but the feeling of scissors cutting a whole chunk.
At those times, his throat choked up.
Though his body had grown distant from humans while learning black magic, the Heinckel King agonized over losing his citizens.
"Is it painful?"
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Gokma's voice from behind him.
The Heinckel King answered politely.
"It is painful. My people who smiled at me are dying."
"Everything is futile, so why do you agonize so?"
"It must mean I'm still very lacking. That I don't understand Godwin-nim's will."
Gokma chuckled and walked out before him.
W е̂_b_n̈оv̆ ѐ l Ênùmа̂
"Soon the spell formula blocking the inner fortress invasion will collapse."
"Yes, I can feel it."
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"That man Ferda saw through it. Among Gamigin's defense zones, the absolute barrier using double totems is hard to know unless one is quite deeply versed in black magic..."
It's difficult to know unless you're at the level of the Magic Society President, Erdes, who hates black mages.
Because those who fell that deeply into black magic were all killed by Erdes's hands.
"Are you prepared?"
W̊ е̊ b̃ňō vе l̊ Е n̂u m а_
"Of course. Preparations are complete."
"I hope your revenge is achieved."
With that, Gokma tore space and vanished.
The Heinckel King's eyes didn't leave the cityscape created by magic.
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Suddenly, the Heinckel King recalled his childhood self.
Why do people fight?
Е̌n̈um̆ ã
The land is this wide and crops abundant, so why do starving people appear, and why do bandits run rampant?
Sigmund Heinckel loved peace.
He firmly believed he was doing it for his people by learning all knowledge and implementing an elitist policy.
He often went out on inspections, examined what the people needed, and strove to improve.
But Sigmund's father, the previous king, didn't like such a Sigmund.
-If you're born a king's son, act like a prince.
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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 doesn't solve everything, so Sigmund could only resist.
Hard to believe they came from the same bloodline, father and son were polar opposites.
The father-son conflict deepened, and they grew awkward with each other.
In the end, they lived like strangers, but they did just one thing together.
Ŵ еb̊ nо̇ v̊еl̂ Е́ nù m а
It was chess.
Only chess connected the two who only clashed.
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-Do you know why I play chess with you?
Father asked.
-Isn't it to supplement strategic knowledge?
-Half right.
Ёnu̇ḿа . іd
The fact that half matched his father's intent felt joyful yet strange.
-Because this moment is when you're the only one who's cruel.
-Me?
-Look. How many pawns were in front of you?
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-8.
-How many remain now?
Е nu ḿа
Sigmund looked down at the chessboard.
-3.
-3 remain. You sacrificed 5 to survive.
Only then did he seem to understand what he was saying.
The pieces before him now looked like people.
Holding spears, staring ahead with fear-filled eyes, stepping forward with trembling legs...
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-Protecting a country is like that. You kill, sacrifice, and ultimately defend.
-Humans are different.
-Right, humans are different. But a king is not human.
He said, touching the King Pin.
-You can only move one square, so you're incompetent. To survive, you sacrifice, kill, run, run. As long as you live, this game doesn't end.
-...
Е̇ nu ṁa .і̃ d̃
-Always keep that in mind.
The next day, Sigmund's mother passed away.
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The son who lost his mother grieved, and the husband who lost his wife wailed.
And the father stopped even playing chess with his son.
The following year, the father also died of illness.
The conversation shared during chess became their final conversation.
W̃ еb̂.ñ o v е̇l Е̇n û m a
Sigmund became king.
Peace continued.
Thus Sigmund reached the same age as his father.
He gained a close friend, a wife, and children.
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Around the time his father's teachings faded in his mind, everything changed.
Urey was captured, and pressure closes in from all sides.
Е̂ ň ùm ӓ
They were becoming demon followers with no prior acquaintance.
Only then could he understand his father's words.
He pursued peace, but the world disliked peace, and the world was like a giant chessboard.
A king sacrifices, kills, runs, and runs again.
What becomes of a king who sacrificed everything?
In the end, he doesn't die.
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Because killing the king in chess isn't noble.
Nobles.
What are those called nobles?
A war general fails and takes responsibility by dying.
What glory do they enjoy by sacrificing hundreds, failing, and surviving?
"Despicable bastards."
Ӗ ñu m ӑ
A game where thousands die for one person's desire should never have started.
The Heinckel King's goal was clear.
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He will kill all kings.
