The thick fog created a deathly silence.
All five of them bent over, pressed their hands down, and moved their feet very lightly, carefully listening to the sounds around them.
But the entire space was eerily quiet; the thick fog acted like a sound-absorbing layer, not only obscuring their senses but also swallowing up all sound.
Like an abyss.
"We've come to the border we saw last time. Watch your step, everyone." Xie Mulang stopped and said in a low voice to the four people behind him.
Before me lay those sharp, straight, endless scratches, the other end of which was pitch black.
The smooth, black floor resembled a solemn and heavy altar, giving off an ominous feeling.
The expressions on everyone's faces became even more solemn.
Sure enough, the moment Richard, at the very end of the line, stepped onto the black ground, the thick fog suddenly dissipated, and the entire space became clear amidst the distorted vibrations of the scene.
A transparent energy barrier rose from the scratches behind them, its surface crackling with static, blocking their retreat.
At the top of the sky, the distant, bright light source, resembling a white sun, suddenly shone brightly, so dazzling that everyone had to close their eyes.
Once the light softened again, everyone realized that the spatial magic had been activated silently once more.
When Yun Wei opened his eyes again, he suddenly realized that he was on top of a towering black stone tower. The ground beneath his feet was sloping and smooth as a mirror, and his toes were currently touching the edge of the tower.
From his vantage point, he could see the ground about fifty meters away.
Even though Yun Wei doesn't have a fear of heights, his legs were trembling uncontrollably at this moment.
Hey! Cloud!
An anxious shout came from afar—it was Isaac!
Yun Wei looked up and saw that the other person was standing on another lower platform to his left. Isaac had plunged the blade of his greatsword into the surface of the building beneath him and was now leaning on the hilt, beckoning to him.
Yun Wei noticed that the top of the tower beneath Isaac's feet was even worse than the tower he was in; it was a smooth, spherical arch.
His peripheral vision also swept over the black cylinders of varying heights and the black and white squares on the ground.
Yun Wei suddenly realized where they were—
checkerboard.
This is clearly a chessboard.
Unfortunately, he only knew how to play Chinese chess, and even that was only a rough understanding.
For example, the horse moves in an "sun" shape, and the elephant moves in a "field" shape.
As for games, his undefeated record stems from zero games played to date. He has absolutely no experience playing any board games.
He noticed that Isaac was still staring at him nervously in the distance, so he quickly gave him an OK sign to indicate that he shouldn't worry.
Then, he steadily bent down slightly to lower his center of gravity. Yun Wei slowly looked behind him and saw a square cross with four arms of equal length standing at the top of the tower.
The bottom of the cross is about ten meters away from you, and to reach the horizontal arm, you need to climb another five meters.
Yun Wei roughly calculated the distance in his mind.
He might need to first cast a "Prison of Bones" on the spot to prevent himself from accidentally falling off the top of the tower, and then use "Shape Mimicry" to create a simple ladder on the smooth ground.
The mage's weak physical strength made it difficult for him to carve the bone dagger into the black rock like Isaac had. He could only rely on a more secure method: first, he had to climb onto the relatively flat cross and stand firmly.
A wind even picked up high in the sky.
A gust of wind blew from his side, causing Yun Wei to sway slightly.
He quickly placed his palms on the smooth surface of the tower behind him.
A cold, damp sensation spread across his back, causing him to flinch. Only then did Yun Wei realize that his robes were completely soaked with cold sweat.
After regaining his footing, he forced himself to calm down and quickly scanned his surroundings, spotting the other teammates.
On his other side is Vivian, whose piece is relatively low, with a top that resembles a medieval stone tower, surrounded by a parapet around the flat top. The situation seems fairly optimistic.
At that moment, the blonde girl was waving her arms and gesturing hurriedly to Xie Mulang, who was not far away. Yun Wei guessed that she was urgently explaining the rules of chess.
At Xie Mulang's feet is a clear horse head symbol, which should represent the "horse" in Chinese chess.
Fortunately, Xie Mulang, who was agile, was assigned to the 'horse' that was so difficult to stand on. If it had been Vivian or Yun Wei, they would have definitely slipped off and been smashed to pieces.
As for Richard, he stood at the farthest spire of a tower, and the chess piece at his feet was an oval-shaped arch that Yun Wei did not recognize.
At this moment, the usually witty and humorous Lord Silver Dragon was completely silent, staring intently at the other end of the chessboard.
Yun Wei was somewhat curious.
He followed the other person's gaze, and his pupils instantly contracted.
On the other side of the chessboard, countless white pieces, like an army, were charging towards them menacingly.
As the white pieces approached, the surface of the chessboard trembled violently. For Yun Wei, the experience was no less than that of being in a dangerous high place during an earthquake.
To put it in perspective, the tower he was standing on was about fifty meters above the ground, roughly equivalent to a twenty-story building in modern times. Even the slightest tremor would cause an astonishingly violent shaking for someone at the top of the tower.
Yun Wei barely managed to steady himself. He almost forgot about revealing his identity as a necromancer and released the "Prison of Dry Bones" to bind himself to the spot.
It was a close call, but no real danger.
At this moment, he felt dizzy, weak in the knees and hands, and his heart was pounding in his chest.
"Yun! You must hold on!"
Yun Wei wanted to take a break, but then he heard Isaac shouting at him.
He opened his eyes and looked down at Isaac.
The opponent was standing on the shortest and most inconspicuous black piece in the entire game, ignoring the white pieces that were already approaching behind him, and was still anxiously giving him instructions.
"You are the 'King'!"
"As long as you're alive, we won't lose!"
It turns out that the piece at the top of Yunwei's position is a cross, which is the black side's "King". If the white side captures Yunwei's black tower, it will be a "checkmate", resulting in an immediate loss.
Seeing that the white knight opposite had already crossed the center line, Isaac had no choice but to turn around and fight. He channeled his power into the arch at the top of the tower, maneuvering his piece to move forward two spaces.
Looking at the other person's resolute figure, Yun Wei suddenly understood the other person's role.
It is "soldier".
They are soldiers who march forward without hesitation and never turn back.
Before he could even feel sentimental, he saw Richard on the other side begin his move. The latter's piece moved diagonally, just managing to collide with the white fortress that was charging forward from the opposite side.
The white fortress crumbled and shattered into countless white stones in an instant under the onslaught of the black pieces.
The stones fell downwards and were sucked into the ground, which emitted a faint glow.
Yun Wei then noticed that the ground surfaces, whether black or white, emitted a faint glow, like an insatiable black hole that would absorb any object that approached.
Unless it is a complete chess piece.
The black light was eerie and extremely strange.
Despite having won, Richard's black piece had developed an exceptionally clear crack in the middle of the tower, which was even visible to Yun Wei, who was quite far away.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
As the two sides moved, clashed, and collided, another strong shockwave came from the ground.
The mountains shook and the earth trembled.
Yun Wei once again managed to regain his footing, albeit in a disheveled state.
He withdrew his gaze, forcing himself not to look at the battle beneath his feet, and instead channeled the magic within his body, slowly opening his mouth to begin chanting.
"The dew is clear, the water is plentiful, and the clouds drifting atop the mountains, answering my call, descend upon me."
This is a level three water-based spell called "Cloud Mist Technique," which Yun Wei is not yet very proficient at.
With other people present, he had to block their view to avoid revealing his identity as a necromancer.
As the azure magic circle shone brightly in the void, the ethereal Yunwei enveloped a radius of about twenty meters around Yunwei.
Then, under the cover of the clouds, Yun Wei quickly released the necromantic power within his body.
He set up a "prison of bones" at the edge of the tower beneath him, and then placed his palms on the smooth surface of the tower to begin constructing a sturdy and reliable bone ladder.
The violent shaking below continued, and from outside the clouds came the constant sounds of chess pieces moving forward with friction, the rumbling of mountains colliding, and the whistling of wind.
With swords and spears, they charged through enemy lines.
Inside the clouds, Yun Wei's hands were already soaked with sweat as he slowly climbed towards the cross at the top of the tower, amidst the violent, erratic shaking.
He stared intently at the tower's summit, which was getting closer and closer, forcing himself not to look back.
Three meters.
Two meters.
One meter.
When Yun Wei finally stood on the arm of the cross and embraced the top of the cross in front of him, tears welled up and fell uncontrollably.
These are purely physiological tears.
The cantilever beneath his feet was just the same width as the sole of his shoe. Yun Wei felt like a drunken sailor who, half-asleep, found himself standing high on the mast.
A gust of wind blew in from the side, making him shiver and instinctively hug the pillar in front of him tighter. But as he exerted his strength, he realized that his legs and hands were trembling uncontrollably.
But he immediately dispelled the bone prison and bone ladder he had created, and then dispelled the clouds and mist that enveloped him.
The battlefield that reappeared before him was silent.
There were only two pieces left nearby, one black and one white.
Yun Wei was momentarily stunned.
"Claude! Get out of the way!"
Yun Wei heard a sharp female voice coming from below.
He looked down and saw Vivian waving her hands at him from the dilapidated black fortress.
Before Yun Wei could figure out what was going on, he saw the white chess piece begin to rush aggressively towards him along the diagonal line.
Yun Wei didn't recognize the chess piece, but he instinctively sensed a threat.
"General!"
A cold notification sound suddenly rang in my mind.
Yun Wei snapped out of his daze. In his anxiety, he subconsciously tried to channel his magic into the cross in front of him, but it was like trying to find a socket in the dark with a plug in his hand. The more anxious he became, the less he could get in.
Just as the white pieces were about to reach him, Vivian, piloting the dilapidated black tower, blocked Yun Wei and the white pieces along the horizontal line.
White's advance was halted.
"Watch out, this is the 'Empress'!"
"You can't be in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line with her!"
Vivian stood on the low city wall and shouted at the top of her lungs, racing against time to convey the most crucial information to Yun Wei.
The next moment, the black fortress crumbled under the impact of the white pieces, and the blonde girl lost her last foothold, falling helplessly to the ground.
Like a kite with a broken string, or a butterfly with broken wings.
Poignant and helpless, tragic and magnificent.
Yun Wei had excellent eyesight. He climbed to the top of the cross and could clearly see the wet tear tracks on Vivian's face, as if she had been crying.
He remembered Xie Mulang and Richard, who had disappeared without a trace, and suddenly understood, his eyes filled with even deeper sorrow.
But there was nothing he could do.
At this moment, he could only force himself to widen his eyes, which were brimming with tears, and remember what the other person looked like.
He saw Weiwei close her eyes peacefully and serenely, a sweet smile playing on her lips as always. Her cherry-pink lips parted slightly, the shape of her mouth seemingly conveying a silent blessing to him—
"Go for it, Claude!"
Then, the girl's delicate, butterfly-like figure disappeared into the white light beneath the earth along with the broken rocks.
Yun Wei stared at the scene before him in despair. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
He had long been accustomed to life and death, but he was afraid of betraying the trust of others.
On the battlefield at this moment, only the "King" of Yun Wei and the "Queen" who had become arrogant after capturing another piece remained, facing each other across a diagonal line.
Yun Wei had no time to grieve.
He pinched the inside of his arm hard, the pain temporarily bringing him back to his senses.
He took a deep breath, poured his magic back into the cross in front of him, and manipulated the black 'King' to move aside.
He must avoid the Queen's next move and find his way off her path.
May the Lord of Light protect you!
This time, he finally succeeded.
The black tower swayed violently and moved to the side of the chessboard, narrowly avoiding the path that the "Queen" was taking.
The pieces begin to move, and the amplitude of the shaking caused by the active movement is much greater than the amplitude when they were passively subjected to the vibration of the chessboard.
Yun Wei was teetering on the brink of collapse at a height of nearly seventy meters when he suddenly noticed that countless small rock fragments on the side of the tower were breaking apart and falling downwards, unable to withstand the force of the movement.
However, the White Queen's piece remains as smooth and sturdy as ever, and will not break apart when moved.
This is not a fair game.
Yun Wei clung tightly to the cross in front of him, carefully observing the path the 'Empress' was taking as she pressed closer.
According to Vivian's account, the other party followed a "rice" pattern, with three movement methods: horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, and could choose to move any number of squares.
His "King" position, although it also moves in a "rice" shape, can only move one space at a time.
At this moment, the white "Queen" seemed to know that Yun Wei was doomed, and it suddenly had a playful idea. It stayed close to Yun Wei's piece, but always kept an empty space between them, teasing him like a cat playing with a mouse.
It can devour the "King" where Yunwei is located at any time, while Yunwei, due to its short reach, is completely powerless against it.
The black tower beneath him swayed precariously. While manipulating the 'King' to avoid the relentlessly pursuing 'Queen', Yun Wei unleashed the necromantic power within his body, creating countless thorns to firmly bind the tower's increasingly vulnerable body as it moved violently.
Circles of white thorns extended out and quickly covered the black tower.
He transformed his withered bones into thorns, which bloomed wildly in the silent space.
He erected a pale throne atop the ruins of the crumbling black tower.
Yun Wei didn't know how much longer he could hold on; perhaps everything he was doing at this moment was meaningless.
In such an unfair contest, judging rationally, his defeat was already inevitable.
But he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
He is the 'King'.
He thought of Isaac, he thought of Vivian, he thought of every member of the puzzle-solving team who trusted him.
As long as he is alive, they have not lost.
...
He fled, it chased.
After an unknown amount of time, the Time Branches within Yun Wei's body dimmed completely, and all remaining magic power was exhausted.
Even as it frantically drew magic from the air, the energy gathered in its palms was insufficient to support the Black Tower's next movement.
The endless game of chess is about to come to an end.
Yun Wei's once bright eyes had long since lost their sparkle.
His ears seemed to be ringing from the exhaustion of his magic, or perhaps the loud noise from the constantly moving stone tower had damaged his hearing. Yun Wei felt as if there were huge rocks rumbling incessantly in his ears.
Getting closer and closer.
Is it the white 'Queen'?
Suddenly, the whole world fell silent.
All that remained were his chaotic heartbeat and heavy breathing amidst the howling wind.
"White has lost all its pieces and cannot achieve checkmate, so it is judged as a loss, and Black wins this game."
"Congratulations to the six challengers for successfully completing the second trial, 'The Queen of Black and White'. The third trial, 'Holy Night: Chapter One', will begin in three days. Please prepare yourself."
In my mind, the familiar mechanical voice reappeared, cold, stiff, and devoid of emotion.
How is that possible?
They won? Is he dreaming...?
Yun Wei looked up in a daze, only to see another black "Queen" appear in the game, facing him across a square of the board.
At the very top of that crown stood Isaac, just as drenched in sweat as he was at that moment.
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