Chapter 145: Sword Debate Check
Even a third-rate man shows courage in his own clan
-English Proverb-
“How could you commit such shameless acts…! You kidnapped the Queen’s Pawn and took it to the Heretical League? If you want to rescue them, let the Sword Queen run in alone?! I will never tolerate such an outrage…!”
“Whether Her Majesty tolerates it or not, the incense is burning away. Please make your decision quickly.”
“Ugh, to think you’d play a trick more devious than your master.”
“To say the pupil surpasses the teacher—such praise is too much.”
Her Majesty bit her lip and swallowed her anger.
She seemed to realize that getting angry at me in this situation would solve nothing.
It seems she’s not sufficiently provoked yet. I’ll have to try harder.
“Your thinking time is steadily running out. If this continues, the endgame will have to be played as a blitz. Of course, I intend to play it leisurely.” “You haven’t even entered the middlegame yet and already you’re arrogant. I’ll see how long you can keep smiling.”
Middlegame, huh—how disappointing to hear that.
I could not agree with Her Majesty at all.
For me, this very moment was the endgame that would decide victory or defeat.
Kidnapping the Queen’s Pawn was a move to hasten the final End Game waiting in the distance.
The positional Sword Debate Chess strategy of accumulating small gains until delivering a Sword Debate Checkmate is not confined to a single match.
My goal is to defeat Her Majesty in this match and use that as a cornerstone to quickly secure a majority of wins over twenty matches.
‘If I don’t remove the restriction that I must move pieces by directly pushing them or using Poltergeist, defeat is inevitable.’
Being in Her Majesty’s palace gives me the advantage of being able to use tactics so dirty they’d be banned in tournaments, but at the same time it’s my greatest hindrance.
I’ve already expended a great deal of internal energy moving heavy pieces several times.
A little while ago I even pushed my knight off the Sword Debate Chessboard and moved the White Side’s Queen’s Pawn into my camp.
I’m not out of energy—I have enough left—but repeatedly using Poltergeist to move Sword Debate Chess pieces filled with heavy iron puts a considerable strain on my meridians.
Lifting objects of that weight with Poltergeist corresponds to the one-rep max of martial artists who have just reached the Transcendent Realm.
Repeating such a feat dozens of times is tantamount to voluntarily declaring you’ll split your seven meridians.
The reason I can endure now is only because I gleaned the One For All, All For One insight from the Avatamsaka Sutra and William Blake’s formulas, allowing me to use Poltergeist more efficiently than others—not because my internal energy is infinite.
Having partially grasped the true secret of the 1200 Inch Punch, which renders the concepts of near and far meaningless, I can move pieces using relatively little energy.
‘Unless I can take breaks by staging sword debates intermittently, there’s no answer in this state.’
Her Majesty wouldn’t leave me alone even during the sword debate so I could rest peacefully.
Just now, in the duel between the Merry Men and Gibraltar Temple, Her Majesty, sensing the situation turning bleak, chose to lose quickly in a dozen moves rather than drag things out.
In fact, it was the logical decision.
The longer the duel, the more rest time I’d gain, and the shorter her remaining incense path would become, disadvantaging her.
For that reason, while it might appear from the side that I held the advantage, the reality was different.
There’s no way I can complete twenty matches like this.
Of course, I have a countermeasure in mind.
The problem is that the plan I’ve prepared can only be used if I win this match.
“Watching you move now, it seems you’ll just keep playing it out. Are you really sure the games you’ve played with the other masters were bloody even?”
“W-what…?”
To make the plan succeed, I must keep unsettling Her Majesty’s mind.
The mind of a martial artist in the Unrestrained Realm’s is like an unbreakable diamond and does not shatter easily.
To attack that, I must constantly wield my tongue.
“This detective doubts whether those matches were merely a courtesy Sword Debate Chess. If permitted, I will personally capture those Sword Debate Chess masters who committed the crime of serious insult against Her Majesty.”
“Little Heavenly Demon, you have quite the knack for trash-talking. But Her Majesty’s heart is not so fragile as to be swayed by your three-inch tongue.”
“Is that so. Indeed, the sovereign of Great Britain is not easily dealt with.”
As Her Majesty said.
The only way to deliver the decisive blow to a shaken heart is to win the duel.
The strongest piece that embodies Her Majesty’s pride.
In other words, there is no true way to break Her Majesty’s spirit except to topple the White Sword Queen who shares the same affiliation and epithet as her and the Gibraltar Temple — in short, to make the Chosen One bite the dust.
‘…How will she respond now?’
What’s important here is Her Majesty’s next move.
It would be nice if she moved according to my calculations, but I didn’t think she’d fall into the trap so easily.
“Have you not yet sorted out your thoughts?”
“You seem short on leisure. Do not rush me.”
♜♞♝♛♚♝♜♟♟♙♟↑♟♟♟↑♟♞龍♙↑脈♘↑♘♙♙↑♙♙♙♙♖♗♕♔♗♖
The c-file is wide open.
Nothing blocks the path between the Black Side and White Side Sword Queens.
It’s a formation that clears a path for the White Side Sword Queen and tempts her to enter at any time.
There are two reasons I kidnapped the Queen’s Pawn to c7 and left the pawn from d7 as a watcher.
One is to open the road so the White Sword Queen can rush to the Heretical Leage’s stronghold to save the pawn at any time, and the other is….
A secret.
Anyway, in the current situation Her Majesty the Queen’s choices are greatly limited.
Sword Debate Chess, a condensed form of the World War, is a battle of wits that must weave a plausible narrative within the rules.
Therefore, Her Majesty must choose the action that the Sword Queen, whose pawn is held hostage, would take.
If the judges’ immersion is broken, the match will be forfeited due to a serious plausibility error and the duel will end automatically—surely she is agonizing over that now.
‘Considering the typical mindset of White Side martial artists, there are two plausible actions here.’
One is to abandon the pawn and continue the World War.
In that case, the Merry Men’s hostage stunt would be voided and the pawn dragged to c7 would be executed.
There are clear gains Her Majesty would obtain by choosing this option.
In exchange for swapping pawns, the White Sword Queen would gain a powerful revenge-state boost.
Is that all?
Compared to my only advancing two pieces, Her Majesty could forego rescuing the disciple and advance four pieces in total by moving others, steering the match in her favor.
However, if the Sword Queen sacrifices her disciple for the greater good, all White Side pieces would suffer a morale-drop penalty.
If you add the morale drop from the public execution, it becomes a total two-step morale penalty.
No matter how many pieces have advanced, falling one unit behind in duel advantage makes victory difficult.
Then what if, as the Black Side demands, the Sword Queen alone rushes to the stronghold of the Heretical League?
The Sword Queen’s affiliation has already been assigned to Gibraltar Temple, but there’s no information about the Black Sword Queen.
Even if you wanted to attack the Black Queen’s Pawn to extract their affiliation, that piece has already moved to c7 and is watching the White Queen’s Pawn.
From Her Majesty’s perspective, accepting a Sword Queen versus Sword Queen life-or-death duel at the Merry Men’s demand would be deeply unappealing.
If she loses the duel, the same two-step morale drop occurs as if she had abandoned rescuing the pawn.
Moreover, as she said, losing a queen before even entering the middlegame directly leads to a Sword Debate Checkmate.
A dead end with no good options.
Since both choices carry huge risks, Her Majesty will seek another path.
Either postpone the choice, or find some way to rescue the direct disciple.
Or try to find out information about the Black Sword Queen.
“…Little Heavenly Demon, report.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How long do we have to answer the Merry Men’s ultimatum?”
The question I expected came flying.
“By the rules, there are two turns’ grace until the direct disciple’s execution.”
“Is that so.”
“However, if a White piece crosses the river at the center of the Sword Debate Chessboard before those two turns pass, the immediate execution will proceed.”
The Queen nodded and finally moved a piece.
-Thud
♜♞♝♛♚♝♜♟♟♙♟♟♟♟♟♞龍♙脈♗4♘↗♘♙♙↗♙♙♙♙♖↗♕♔♗f♖
Bf4.
The Bishop moved three squares and stopped in the middle of the duel-chessboard, right before the river that divides the Black and White Side.
The intent behind that move was as plain as day.
“You intend to rescue the Queen’s Pawn, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about. The White Bishop decided to step out into the martial world in the name of God, risking martyrdom to propose peace.”
“Hmm…”
As long as she doesn’t step into the fifth rank, the White Queen’s Pawn will not be executed.
It seemed Her Majesty’s plan was to attack the Black Queen’s Pawn who was watching the hostage and snatch the hostage away.
‘…That’s not all.’
By entering enemy lines, the Bishop can gain a multiplicative-state buff at 3.5 units, a rank where the numbers differ per piece.
Meaning there is no chance of it losing against the Black Queen’s Pawn.
If I don’t respond here, Her Majesty could free the hostage and gain a morale boost.
Not only that, by Sword Debating the Black Queen’s Pawn she could indirectly learn the Black Sword Queen’s affiliation.
Even if she loses, she could find out what techniques the Black Sword Queen uses without sacrificing the White Sword Queen, making it a much less risky choice.
Then I have no choice but to respond like this.
♜♞♝♛♚↙♜♟♟♙♟↙♟♟♟♝♟♞6龍♙脈♗♘♘♙♙♙♙♙♙♖
♕d♔♗
♖
Bd6.
Here too, I can simply move my Bishop to block the white piece’s rescue attempt.
“…Surely it was supposed to be a one-on-one life-or-death duel between Sword Queens. Why is some heretical Bishop blocking the path to the Heretical League’s stronghold?”
Her Majesty raised her hand with a triumphant expression.
“I object to the Sword Debate Judge.”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“The Black Side proposed a life-or-death duel between Sword Queens but then blocked the path themselves. Shouldn’t we impose a penalty on Little Heavenly Demon?”
“…I acknowledge that. We’ll hear Little Heavenly Demon’s defense and then proceed with judgment.”
Sir Maxwell, staring at me silently, looked quite pleased.
He seemed to feel the one-sided match had become more interesting now that Her Majesty’s wit had equalized it.
However, this too fell within my calculations.
I slowly opened my mouth and began persuading the judges.
“…The Black Bishop did not block the Sword Queen’s path.”
“What?!”
“Although the Black Bishop belongs to a heretical sect, he lived his life with pure passion for the common people. Tiring of the White Side’s hypocrisy, he briefly allied with the Heretical League, but he recoiled at the brutal act of taking the Sword Queen’s Pawn.”
“…?”
Sir Newton looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I continued regardless.
“That’s right. The Black Bishop on the f-file grew tired of both Black and White. Having abandoned a god whose existence is even in doubt, he intends to watch a single life-or-death duel that will decide the fate of the martial world before leaving the Heretical League.”
“W-what on earth does that mean?”
“To conclude, the Bishop who has turned neutral will not forgive the White Bishop’s intrusion that seeks to disrupt this life-or-death duel. However, even if the White Sword Queen accepts the Merry Men’s invitation and passes through, he will not engage in battle.”
“….”
“….”
After a long silence, Sir Maxwell spoke.
“A valid narrative. I accept it.”
“I accept it.”
“Miss Louise too…! Accept!”
“If the White Side Sword Queen does not move to d7 this turn, we’ll consider the life-or-death duel avoided. The initiative for the duel goes to the Black Side.”
“This…!!!”
Her Majesty, about to protest, closed her mouth and moved a piece.
-Thud!
♜♞♝♛♚♜♟♟♙♟♕♟♟♟♝♟♞龍♙脈♗♘♘♙♙♙♙♙♙♖♔♗♖
To face the final life-or-death duel, the Sword Queen finally proceeded to the stronghold of the Heretical League.
“…I will activate the Execution Formation!”
“Isn’t that different from what was promised?!”
To believe the Black Side’s promise.
How foolish.