Chapter 31: Vol.2 – Episode 6
The power of the four kingdoms was balanced. But since the three knights were gone, the Kingdom of Sevrantina had lost a number of high-level heroes. It looked like a three-against-one fight, but it was a five-on-one fight, in reality.
She was feeling hopeless and fainted, but a strong hand held her up.
“There’s another way.”
Sungjin helped Ereka to stand up and smiled.
“What is that?”
“Winning the three-to-one fight.”
“Ha. Do you think that is possible?”
Eustasia thought it was ridiculous that Sungjin was still full of confidence even after she revealed the biggest threat.
“Of course.”
“Huh? With your intelligence that couldn’t defeat me in chess?”
“I was about to.”
“How?”
Eustasia’s attack became more intense. Sungjin’s pieces started to lose their formation.
Ah...
Cheering on Sungjin, Ereka was on edge. It was clear that Eustasia had the upper hand.
And this didn’t mean a simple defeat in a chess game.
They were facing a joint attack from the three kingdoms, and Eustasia would use this game as propaganda to show Sungjin’s limit. That would end up agitating the heroes in Ereka’s kingdom, and they’d be defeated even before the fight began.
What should we do...?
“Listen to me. I’m not saying you should give up everything. I rather think you are excellent. Although you are just an extra, with your abilities, you are a real talent.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Sure. But the world is different. So compromise to find the best way. Give up the schools and keep the hospitals. Let the heroes tax, use, and punish the extras even if it is only on paper. If you define the limit, you can still protect your people. And finally...”
She moved her queen forward. It was a move to finish the game.
“Give up your crown to keep your queen. People say the king is the strongest, but the queen is the strongest piece, isn’t it?”
“Do I look like a drag queen?”
Sungjin’s joke made Eustasia smile.
“Not the gender. Let Ereka rule in front of everyone and support her from behind. But I really think highly of your intelligence. Your plans will help us a lot because foreign countries are trying to attack the alliance of the four kingdoms. I will reward you handsomely.”
She was a realist.
But she was not a realist who tried to give up on reality. She had a clear understanding of the situation and the circumstances to find out what to do and what not to do.
An incompetent, free-wheeling king, incompetent and corrupt aristocrats, and strong, threatening foreign countries—she was the general who was keeping the country from becoming a mess.
She was not just a great general of the battlefield, she was also a great general of politics. She believed an idea had meaning when she could make it happen.
She pointed out the recklessness of Ereka’s pursuit but also provided a realistic solution to convince her to follow it.
“That is a realistic solution. I appreciate your offer,” answered Sungjin.
Sungjin...
Ereka had tears in her eyes.
Sungjin was a real hero compared to anyone else, but his victory had to be taken away only because he was a level 0.
She was a part of the heroes, but she didn’t agree with the other abusive heroes.
When we had to fight the Blood Ruler, they looked away, saying it was just an internal rebellion. And now they’ve gotten together to fight against Sungjin. This is unfair.
It was unfair, but she couldn’t stop them.
Even Sungjin said that the offer was reasonable.
“But I refuse to take the offer.”
“Huh?”
“The first reason: my dream to become an Arc Master.”
This was his ambition as a man who loved to fight.
“The second reason: I promised Ereka to make a world where no one is abused by anyone.”
He was a man of his word.
“I have no plans to go sideways in my journey.”
“The dream of an extra is not a concern for them. One man can’t fight against the whole world.”
“If it was just a normal man. But I’m not. I will become an Arc Master.”
Then Sungjin moved his knight into formation.
Eustasia’s face stiffened while trying to make a counter move.
What...? Is this...?
The position of his knight was interesting. It was as if he was breaking his formation on purpose and waited for this moment. It was an ambush to cut off the rear supply route of an army that was certain of its victory.
Her queen had to find a way to retreat, but that was not the only thing that stopped her. The strangest thing was...
What is this? I thought I blocked the bishop’s position, but he revived it in an important spot of the game.
She had to look at the board again and again, but it was clear that Sungjin turned the tables with one move.
His retreating, scattered pieces were suddenly connected to these two to siege her pieces.
She played out her next move a few dozen times in her head, but the answer was the same. She was defeated.
“No way. The move you made has defeated any of my counter moves.”
“The rules, the book, common sense, traditions, and stereotypes. Haha. If I played by those rules, I would have been defeated. If I had played by the book, you would have beaten me slowly.”
“So the moves you wasted... you were planning to use them all at this moment?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never seen this kind of move before.”
“To understand this, you should think outside of the box and open all possibilities,” Sungjin answered calmly.
Common sense said that one man couldn’t fight against allied, privileged heroes. But he was here to break that rule.
He wasn’t someone who would settle with such common sense about “reality.”
“Haha... You want to overcome reality to make your dreams come true...? You are reckless.”
“I will become an Arc Master. The allied, privileged heroes of the three kingdoms are just some mid-stage bosses. I won’t step back.”
“Sungjin....”
Ereka’s eyes started to shine again.
Yes. You fought the Blood Ruler with your confidence.
And he saved her and her country.
Sungjin would stop them even if the three kingdoms attacked her kingdom.
If you say that you can, I will trust you and fight with you.
Eustasia had to look at Sungjin again.
This guy’s ambition... this is tiring.
“If that is your answer, I will have to cut your throat. Don’t count on my friendship with Ereka. I came here because stopping this war would benefit my country, but if I can’t stop it. I will destroy you and bring victory to my king.”
“Do your best. But I will beat you.”
“Okay. I get it. You defeated the Blood Ruler... and me in this game.”
Eustasia started to get rid of chess pieces.
“But...”
She started to set the board again. This time, the black and white pieces were not parallel.
She set out only a king, a bishop, a knight and three pawns on Sungjin’s side and set everything on her side. It was nearly a 3:1 ratio.
“Can you still win?”
“This is not a fair chess game at all,” Ereka complained on behalf of Sungjin.
“Life is unfair.”
Eustasia cut off Ereka’s complaint.
“I’ve already told you that it is an alliance of the three kingdoms. That’s not just it. Your heroes pretend to be obedient, but they actually blame you for taking away their privileges. Can you still win this game?”
It was not a game that anyone could win with just a plan.
Sungjin showed a grin while looking at the chessboard.
“I accept your challenge.”
He took his knight and removed Eustasia’s king.
“A knight can’t move like that.”
“A genius doesn’t follow the rules. That’s reality.”
“You are saying you are a genius?”
“I need to be even more extraordinary to become an Arc Master.”
Their eyes met fiercely.
Eustasia’s silver eyes looked at him like a sharp blade, but Sungjin’s eyes were calm and generous.
She sighed.
“Haha. Okay. So let’s say you found a crazy military plan to defeat the three-on-one battle. But you are an extra. Social class is what gives you the right and power of ruling.”
Even though some were unhappy with Ereka’s rulership, nobody would deny her legitimacy. But Sungjin was just an “extra.”
“The privileged will never give up their privileges. They will fight back even harder when you corner them. They will think of their stakes even if they have to break the rules. When that happens...”
She picked up a piece from another board.
“What if the Holy Pope or the Golden Wise king attacks you?”
The intrusion of the third and fourth forces.
“The Holy Nation Rupellion is stronger than the alliance of the four kingdoms. And Eldorado of the Golden Wise king is even stronger than Rupellion. We kept our independence because we kept the balance between those two.”
The Holy Pope and the Golden Wise king—they had their awakening long before the Blood Ruler. Even the Blood Ruler was just an infant when compared to them.
Moreover, they had numerous artifacts. They were on another level when compared to Riad, who was still strengthening one magical sword.
The alliance of the four kingdoms was there only because they held each other in check and kept the balance. But if the four kingdoms became even weaker, the balance would be broken.
“Those two have no mercy on their people compared to the alliance of the four kingdoms. If your pursuit of the ideal world brings calamity to the people, will you use your good intentions as an excuse?”
Eustasia protected the new king she put on the board with her Heroic Power. Even a knight would be pushed back.
“In politics and in the military, you need to face reality. To pursue an ideal world, you need to have a clear look at reality to plan every step. If not, you will destroy not only yourself but everyone around you.”
She looked at Ereka as well.
“Let me ask you. If you really think of him, don’t you think you should stop him? You know what is going on these days?”
Ereka held her hands and smiled gently to answer Eustasia’s sharp questioning.
“Sungjin saved my life and my country. We will follow his dream until the end wherever that end will be.”
Life or death, rise or fall, those were the results to come. She would be his shield to protect and pursue his dreams.
“Ha. That is so you.”
“Hmm.”
Sungjin was grateful and felt a bit awkward at the same time. He continued his answer to change the air in the room.
“I told you. My dream is to become an Arc Master. The Holy Nation or the Golden King’s land, they are just preliminary rounds.”
To move on to the next round and step into “the center,” he had to unify his continent or at least had to get vows of obedience from the other countries.
And then he had to unify that center to stand above the Kaiser in order to challenge the “God” in the sacred territory.
“They wouldn’t accept an extra? I will make them.”
He picked up his teacup and threw the tea on the board
“Here’s a flood.”
All the other pieces except a king washed away.
“A flood in a chess game. This is your answer.”
Eustasia nodded slowly.
It was an obvious foul play. But this level 0 had been winning his battles whereas the heroes competed for their skills.
And he just declared that he would not only defeat the alliance of the four kingdoms but also Rupellion and Eldorado with his own “abilities” to prove himself.
A game changer.
A guy who had a lot of nerve.
Hmm. He is more than what they said.
She almost had a crush on him. If only he was not her enemy.
I want to make him mine. If I can tame this wild beast...
But if we clash, he is just an enemy of her king.
Eustasia put away the chessboard.
“Let’s play not on this small board but for real.”
She drew her sword.
* * *
Chapter 3
Her sharp sword cut a marble table like a pie.
“I get that you have defeated the Blood Ruler. But intelligence sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Unlike a stable level.”
“Even your level can be defeated by flexible plans.”
“Hmph. Enough talking. I challenge you to a duel.”
“A duel.”
“If you are really a man who will become an Arc Master, beat me.”
Eustasia pursed her lips and positioned her hand above her chest to provoke Sungjin.
“A duel can be fun. What’s in it for me, though?”
Sungjin’s eyes became sharp.
“If you lose, you’ll be mine.”
When Ereka heard that, she shouted with surprise.
“What... what are you talking about?”
She would make Sungjin... her man?
“As I told you before, become a ruler’s hand behind the scenes and be my right-hand man. I think you can be useful for our defense.”
Eustasia scanned Sungjin’s body like a wine connoisseur who found a valuable bottle of exquisite wine. Sungjin also looked at her with the eyes of a conqueror who had found a precious jewel.
Ereka felt the spark between them and held Sungjin’s arm to stop it.
“Sungjin. You don’t have to accept this. A duel. Your specialty is to command your army in a battle. Don’t react to her provocation.”
“Thank you for your concern. But it’s okay.”
Sungjin smiled and thought that this sounded fun. He looked like a lion that was watching and waiting to attack a deer.
“What if I win? Will you be mine?”
“I’ve already made an oath to my king. But you still need a reward. Okay. What about my virginity?”
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