Chapter 146: Last Surprise
A victory won by deceiving the enemy with trickery and stratagems deserves praise just as much as a victory earned by an honorable life-or-death duel.
-Niccolò Machiavelli-
“If the White Sword Queen does not move to d7 this turn, we will consider the life-or-death duel avoided. The initiative for the duel goes to the Black Side.”
Maxwell, who had been watching the Sword Debate Chess match between Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes and Victoria, could not hide his inner disappointment.
Although he had given a ruling favorable to Little Heavenly Demon according to the rules, the last few moves frankly ran counter to Maxwell’s aesthetic.
In fact, Sherlock Holmes’s argument about the Black Bishop was not bad.
No. It even increased Maxwell’s admiration for his exceptional strategy and intellect.
Being a devout Christian who followed the Scottish Presbyterian doctrine, Maxwell also showed deep insight into matters of faith.
With an inherently kind heart, he had sympathy for heretics led astray by false beliefs.
From the blood cult exiled far away to never set foot in Europe again to various sects across the martial world, each pursued different ideologies; among them were groups whose doctrine carried a certain chivalric spirit. They performed strange rites far from social norms, practiced bizarre Kung-Fu treated as Unorthodox sorcery, or followed their leader’s orders into dangerous deeds.
Though classified as those who walked the black path for various reasons, Maxwell knew that they only had the wrong direction and still possessed good hearts.
In other words, it was perfectly plausible that a heretical cult’s guardian bishop might briefly fraternize with other black-path groups, witness the Merry Men’s despicable hostage play, and then break away.
Clearly, Little Heavenly Demon’s Sword Debate Chess style that made such a narrative plausible was excellent.
The problem, in Maxwell’s view, was that Little Heavenly Demon’s attitude toward Sword Debate Chess was painfully shallow.
‘In the end, he gambled.’
Having lost his sister and mother as a child, Maxwell had spent his life abhorring the disorder and chaos surrounding humans.
Phenomena expressed as luck or misfortune due to increasing entropy were, to him, nothing but an incorporeal enemy he wanted to vanquish even by borrowing demonic power.
A major reason Maxwell respected his best friend Michael Faraday was that he had overcome adversities brought by randomness and proven his worth.
In that sense, Maxwell could not tolerate that Little Heavenly Demon had relied on luck in a match where he held the advantage.
Maxwell had always treated others with gentlemanly manners, but his respect was reserved for those who believed in human potential and relentlessly challenged limits.
Sherlock Holmes’s action — allowing chance into the match’s flow merely because rules requiring moving pieces through the use of Poltergeist or by hand were burdensome — was something Maxwell could never accept.
‘Rushing into a decisive battle just for comfort. Foolish.’
That he reached the Peak Realm at only twenty-eight, and could endure extreme Sword Debate Chess matches moving heavy pieces by Poltergeist that would overwhelm other Peak Realm martial artists, were all commendable.
But that temperament was something Maxwell could not view favorably no matter how he looked at it.
‘I had hoped since Sir Newton looked pleased, but his depths have been exposed.’
He had thought a peer possessing the trinity of righteousness, energy, and spirit might have appeared.
But the vessel he actually faced did not meet Maxwell’s expectations.
He could award marks for righteousness and energy, but the crucial spirit was the problem.
The easy way leads to hell.
Even Little Heavenly Demon, who had seemed deep-minded, was drawn by human laziness and walked into the trap of his own accord.
Had Little Heavenly Demon’s mind been a bit more mature, the flow of this match would have been different.
It felt like Faraday’s face — lamenting that recent prodigies of the future generation might have sufficient internal power but lacked endurance and couldn’t withstand even minor hardship — flashed before him.
‘In the end, what held him back was the heart.’
Maxwell replayed the match’s flow in his head.
What if he had been sitting in Little Heavenly Demon’s seat instead of the Sword Debate Judge’s designated chair?
He would have surely endured the fatigue building in the blood-path and pressed Victoria more steadily to secure a decisive victory.
At the very least, he would not have played the perilous move of deciding the match by a life-or-death duel between two Sword Queens like Little Heavenly Demon did.
In Sword Debate chess, where victory is achieved through strategy and tactics without relying on luck, one who makes complacent judgments is nothing but a novice.
‘To gain a tactical advantage and still fail to use it properly…’
Little Heavenly Demon was at best a Peak martial artist.
By contrast, Queen Victoria is a master of the Unrestrained Realm.
Her designating her Sword Queen to a clan was, literally, calling her own avatar onto the Sword Debate Chessboard.
Even though the Sword Queen is the only piece that cannot receive a rank adjustment from entering enemy lines, it would be impossible for Little Heavenly Demon to engage in a one-on-one duel with the Black Sword Queen.
Currently, the White Sword Queen is within reach of the Black King.
In other words, it’s a duel-chess check situation.
If Little Heavenly Demon, who took the initiative, loses the next duel, Victoria will attack the Black King, the Heretical League Leader on her turn.
Unless it’s checkmate, both the White King and the Black King can duel, but the distinction between the Unrestrained Realm and the Peak Realm isn’t decided merely by accumulated skill points.
That might be different if it were a 4 unit versus 3.5 unit match seen earlier.
Given differences in group understanding and depth of internalized enlightenment, even if pieces of the same 9 unit category faced each other, Little Heavenly Demon could never defeat the White Sword Queen in a duel.
Little Heavenly Demon would taste defeat in this match due to foolishness, arrogance, and sloth.
May this talented latecomer learn a lesson and grow from this opportunity.
Maxwell prayed so as he watched the White Sword Queen stride proudly toward the Black King’s stronghold.
“Little Heavenly Demon, declare the affiliated force of the Black Sword Queen.”
At last, the black and white Sword Queens faced each other.
Sir Newton asked Little Heavenly Demon with a face full of expectation.
Had age dimmed his eyes?
The thought that Little Heavenly Demon wasn’t the perfect talent his senior imagined rose to his throat, but Maxwell held back.
In the current martial world, achieving that level at twenty-eight could be considered quite excellent.
…He decided to think so.
But.
“The Black Sword Queen’s affiliated force is Gurkha.”
“Gurkha? Do you mean the Gurkha warrior tribe of Nepal?!”
Maxwell’s eyes widened at the unexpected designation of the Black Sword Queen’s faction.
“The Gurkhas… the invincible mercenaries the East India Company once boasted of… I see, leaving a Black Queen’s Pawn with the hostage and giving way to the white side was all for this…?!”
Maxwell realized.
The reason for why Little Heavenly Demon had hidden information about the Black Sword Queen by any means.
The Gurkha tribe, whose name means ‘guardian of the ox,’ are hardy warriors living in mountainous regions rich in natural energy.
They use the forward-curving kukri short knife and the kukri long blade modified after the spread of Kung-Fu on the Central Plains. They developed a unique Kung-Fu system emphasizing slashes over thrusts.
After contracting with the East India Company, they entered mercenary work and became a force that did not discriminate among employers so long as they were paid.
Few indeed are those who possess knowledge of the Gurkhas’ secret technique, the Gurkha Dull Blade — the heavy kukri longblade whose overwhelming might, though seemingly slow at a glance, inexorably robs the foe of space and closes the distance. The reason is simple: scarcely any man has crossed blades with a Gurkha mercenary and lived to tell the tale.
And in Sword Debate Chess, a dull sword is
defined by the official swordsmanship matchup chart as the natural counter to the fast blade.
In short, it’s one of the few Kung-Fu techniques that can swallow the sword art of the famed Gibraltar Temple, the strongest fast blade clan in the martial world.
“…So this was your last move prepared, Little Heavenly Demon.”
“You’ll never see it coming.”
“What?”
“I declare a move. I will target the White Sword Queen’s Baihui point with the Gurkha Dull Blade’s first form, Ear Cut.”
Little Heavenly Demon immediately declared the move.
Sir Newton, the only judge who had faced Gurkha mercenaries, recognized the form and began the ruling.
“A vertical slash aimed at the crown. Against the fast blade, the dull blade’s matchup bonus must apply. The surrounding space is confined so evasion is impossible, and with the black side holding initiative the Sword Queen must receive it with a defensive form.”
“Then I will block with the Thousand Hand Virgin Mary’s Great Mercy Sword’s eighth form, Thousand-Eyes Offering Sword Shield!!”
“The Gibraltar Temple’s special move… However, owing to the attribute correction of the Dull Blade, it shall be judged but an incomplete defense. As the stance has collapsed, I hereby declare a hold up by reason of attribute supremacy. So it is decreed.”
It was a clean ruling even Maxwell could not dispute.
Queen Victoria clenched her teeth.
The White Sword Queen succumbed to a debilitating condition that delayed her next move.
Since she could not properly display the extreme fast blade the Gibraltar Temple prides itself on, the Queen’s plan was drastically disrupted.
“Even so, it only delays a move’s declaration by ten moments. The next move can cut her off.”
But considering the gap in ranks between the players, Queen Victoria still had the capacity to steer the duel to her advantage.
Maxwell thought so as well.
“Do you think I only caused the hold up to merely slow Her Majesty’s declaration?”
That was until Maxwell saw the mocking smile on Little Heavenly Demon’s lips.
“What are you plotting?”
“When a hold up occurs and certain conditions are met, there’s a special rule that allows you to ignore the Sword Debate process and claim victory over an opponent’s piece. You seem to have forgotten.”
“Surely—”
“I declare the moves of all pieces that can attack the White Sword Queen.”
“…?!”
Only then did Maxwell recall.
The special movement rule in the Sword Debate Chess regulations that was hardly ever used in tournaments.
Among them, the existence of one particularly notorious clause.
It’s the ultimate move that can only be activated when the defending piece that parried a matchup-striking form is in a hold up.
In this match, all the pieces that could attack the White Sword Queen.
That is, an all-out assault led by two Knights, a Bishop, and the Black King.
“I will activate the Combined Formation!”
A finishing blow was declared that, by summing the rank modifiers of five pieces, ignores the Sword Debate process and crushes the opponent.
“Isn’t this different from what was promised?!”
“You believed that? Combined Formation!!”
“Why are you saying it twice! Judges! I object!”
“It was a promise made without the Merry Men’s oath or a third-party guarantee from the start, so I dismiss the objection.”
“Gyaaah!!!!!”
-Scratch scratch
<The White Sword Queen, struck down by the Black King’s Combined Formation, dies in the line of duty.>
The Queen screamed, but the court lady sitting beside Maxwell silently recorded the game score.
With the Sword Queen lost and a two-stage morale penalty from the Sword Debate defeat, there was no master who could possibly win.
All the more so if the subsequent hostage execution elevated the morale penalty to three stages.
“Your Majesty? Are you alright?”
“……”
Perhaps she was too distraught; Maxwell’s words received no reply from the Queen.
Incense continued to burn, but she did not move, her face hidden in her hands.
“At this rate there won’t be time left on the clock—what do you intend to do…?”
After a long while, Victoria lifted her head, having accepted reality.
“I will forfeit.”
Her voice was flat, perhaps because the piece like her double had been broken.
The usual sharpness was gone from her eyes.
“…Understood.”
The three judges rose and raised an arm to point at Little Heavenly Demon.
0-1.
“Official match result. Black-side victory.”
Thus, the first Sword Debate Chess match concluded with Little Heavenly Demon’s victory.