Chapter 1571 - 1056: The Competition Begins
Looking at the tactical board in front of her, Liliath was also tense.
Cyan was her good friend, so she knew the situation on her side as well. Like Liliath, Cyan hadn’t gathered all fifteen pieces. Currently, she only had a Queen, a Castle, a Knight, two Archbishops, and two Soldiers. Including Cyan herself as the King, she only had eight people.
Of course, Liliath’s situation wasn’t much better. Her subordinates were [Queen] Akeno Ushima, [Knight] Kiba Hiroto, [Castle] Tower City Kitten, and the temporary contract [Soldiers] Mary, Naruse Mio, Frieren, Banriya, and Duanmu Huai.
Since Duanmu Huai was clearly slacking off, the current situation was eight against eight.
Liliath was well aware of the strengths of Akeno Ushima, Kiba Hiroto, and Tower City Kitten. As for Naruse Mio, she had watched her grow day by day. But Mary and Frieren were different; they rarely took action, so Liliath didn’t know their true strength. Clearly, they weren’t going to reveal it easily either.
Generally speaking, temporary contracts weren’t seen in official matches, for simple reasons. On one hand, temporary contract Soldiers can’t be promoted; on the other, it’s to avoid veterans using it as an excuse to bully newcomers. Liliath was prepared for the possibility that the officials wouldn’t let Duanmu Huai participate, but surprisingly, although he was forbidden from damaging the field, he was allowed to play.
Of course, Liliath could guess a bit of the reason. The Devil World wanted to maintain good relations with the Tribunal, so reputation was important. The most watched match in the Devil World was the ranking match. If the Tribunal performed well in this aspect, they would gain high recognition in the Devil World, which would help in promoting her brother’s plans.
Strictly speaking, Duanmu Huai participating didn’t mean invincibility. The reason was simple: the most important thing in a ranking match was defeating the King. Just like in chess, only by capturing the King can you claim victory. Obviously, Duanmu Huai couldn’t be the King unless he stayed beside Liliath, who was the "King." Otherwise, the opposite side just needed to find an opportunity to take Liliath out, and they would lose no matter how hard Duanmu Huai fought afterward.
Of course, conversely, if Duanmu Huai managed to take down their King, Liliath’s side would win. For Duanmu Huai, this was probably as easy as eating or drinking water.