My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 232. The Giant Chessboard

Ferda watched Zed’s reaction and observed him once more.

No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t the reaction of someone who had been traumatized.

"Are you all right?"

"Pardon? Ah, those eyeballs seem to have been up to something. Is that what you’re asking about?"

Ferda nodded, and Zed scratched his head before answering.

"It’s not that I’m completely unaffected. I’ve developed a certain resistance to things like this. Living as the son of the leader of the Red-Eyed Clan isn’t exactly easy."

"Is that so?"

"Since letting your guard down means death is an everyday occurrence, they used illusion magic on me whenever they got the chance. At worst, they even tried to make me kill myself. Well... I suppose that’s how dangerous that world was."

Although his expression was bitter, he smiled as though he couldn’t bring himself to completely hate them.

"Ugh..."

A short while later, Arwen, who had been dazed, took a deep breath while sweating cold.

"What... just happened? It felt as though I had entered some terrible nightmare..."

Arwen came back to his senses.

It was strange.

They hadn’t even touched the eyeballs yet, so how had he managed to escape that horrendous illusion?

The only variable in this situation was Zed.

Which meant...

"Zed."

"Yes?"

"I’m going to look at one of the eyeballs you’re seeing right now. If I lose consciousness after looking at it, can you pierce and destroy that eye?"

"I understand."

He had no idea why Ferda was asking, but he figured he would understand eventually, so he nodded.

Ferda raised his head and met the gaze of one of the purple masses embedded in the wall.

Surprisingly, nothing happened.

For the first time, he was able to properly see what that thing actually looked like.

"Lord Ferda?"

Luri cautiously called his name.

"I’m fine."

Seeing that Ferda was all right, Luri also raised her head and looked at the mass.

It was the first time she had properly seen its form as well.

"Looks like you destroyed what was inside that eye with those eyes of yours."

"I wouldn’t call it destruction. I only temporarily nullified it."

"Can you destroy it?"

"Of course."

"Then destroy it."

Zed’s eyes glowed bright red, and he looked directly at all the eyes.

—Kiiiiiiieee!

Then something astonishing happened.

They began trembling violently, and liquid started pouring out from within them.

It was as though they were shedding tears upon encountering something they feared above all else.

’If they collapse simply from coming into contact with the eyes of the Red-Eyed Clan...’

That meant those eyes were a massive collection of spellcraft.

Zed had broken the spellcraft with his red eyes, causing the entire structure to collapse.

’What a frightening power.’

Ferda had found it somewhat irritating that Zed was only good for trivial things like the Swallow Mercenary Company.

Now, he was simply glad that was all he had been good for.

"If I hadn’t been here, you would’ve been in some serious trouble, wouldn’t you?"

Zed spoke smugly, and Ferda quietly nodded.

"You’re more useful than I expected."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Luri joined in.

"They say even a grub has a trick for rolling around."

"Exactly."

With both Arwen and Luri saying things like that, Zed began to reflect on how poorly everyone seemed to regard him.

Regardless, they were able to safely enter the cathedral.

Where the emblem of the Alte Religion should have been, there was a gigantic eye.

Beneath it stood a skeletal totem constructed from piles of bones.

And the citizens of the city were looking up at it, letting out laughter.

"Heh heh..."

"Uhehehe..."

It was a horrifying sight.

They were almost nothing but bones, barely able to breathe, yet their faces were smiling.

"Is that eyeball doing this to them?"

"Probably."

"What wretched creatures..."

This was a place where hatred toward the Demon Race continued to accumulate.

With that hatred weighing heavily on his mind, Ferda returned his attention to reality.

"What are you going to do with the citizens here?"

"..."

Ferda once again examined the faces of the citizens.

The eyeballs had already been nullified by Zed’s eyes.

And yet the people’s eyes were still fixed on those disgusting eyes, and their twisted expressions of joy had not disappeared in the slightest.

They were already like the dead rather than human beings.

"They need to be given rest."

"Understood."

Arwen and Zed drew their swords.

"No."

Ferda stopped them.

"I’ll do this myself. Everyone, go outside."

"Yes."

Killing helpless civilians was not an easy thing to do.

Ferda would be the one to bear that burden.

The staff Lucy Phyliaz had given him, Jibeol, floated into the air.

Ferda raised both hands around Jibeol and materialized a Magic Circle.

The complex Magic Circle was drawn in an instant, then condensed and gathered into Ferda’s staff.

The blue Mana was dyed red, while red electrical currents buzzed around Jibeol.

Pushing away the incoming air as waves, he barely maintained the condensed power.

Ferda gripped the staff with both hands and raised it overhead.

A Fifth-Tier Release Spell.

"Electric Wave."

He slammed the staff into the ground, and red electrical currents spread outward from it.

BOOOOM!

The powerful current burned everything away.

The purple flesh clinging to the walls.

Gamigin’s Black Magic, constructed from the skeletons.

And even the innocent people who did nothing but smile, unaware of what was happening.

Everything touched by the electrical current was stripped away layer by layer and disappeared.

The densely packed commoners were reduced to pure white ashes.

With that, the totem blocking the path into the inner castle collapsed.

A short while later, the city began to shake.

Something had changed in Legion’s magic.

"What is happening?"

"It seems the barrier surrounding the inner castle has collapsed."

Following his words, Ferda turned his gaze toward it.

The thick black protective barrier was gradually becoming thinner.

It seemed the totem Ferda had destroyed had been the final one.

With the barrier preventing access to the inner castle weakened, now was the time to launch an all-out attack.

This was where everything truly began.

Ferda’s objective was to prevent Gamigin’s Black Magic Grimoire from falling into the eyes of the kings.

"Let’s move to the inner castle."

"Yes."

They began moving.

But they did not get far.

What appeared before them was an unpleasant rift.

The being that emerged from it was a man whose colors looked utterly out of place against the black and gray surroundings.

His pure white skin immediately put them on guard.

Luri was overcome with hatred when she saw the painful weakness he had exposed.

It was the man once known as one of the Seven Calamities.

Curved Demon.

"Good work, Mr. Ferda."

"...."

"This was a new and improved version of Trauma that I developed. It’s a shame I didn’t get to try it on you and Miss Luri. Who could have imagined that the power of the Red-Eyed Clan would be the solution to breaking Trauma’s spellcraft?"

"Like you almost died after being stabbed by a kitchen knife?"

Ferda touched Curved Demon’s sore spot, and he smiled.

"Exactly. That’s the world of magic. There is no absolute superiority. A spellcraft that activates when you meet someone’s gaze can be destroyed by eyes, and someone called one of the Seven Calamities can be brought down by a kitchen knife wielded by a little brat."

Curved Demon gestured toward Ferda.

Space distorted around Ferda’s shoulder.

Ferda already knew what kind of magic this was.

It was Point Distortion—a spell that twisted space to its limit and then caused an explosion through the resulting backlash.

"Lord Ferda!"

Luri, with her razor-sharp senses and reaction speed, grabbed Ferda and pulled him out of the affected area.

BANG!

The Distortion Magic aimed at his shoulder exploded in midair.

The resulting explosion sent a chill down the spines of Zed and Arwen, who were witnessing it for the first time.

"Lord Ferda, I’ll handle this."

Luri gripped her enormous axe and released Killing Intent toward Curved Demon.

She was Dragon Spawn, yet she was a woman capable of unleashing Dragon Fear.

But even when she displayed her full determination, Curved Demon did not waver in the slightest.

"I’m sorry, but I’m not free enough to fight you. I have something I need to do."

Something appeared atop Curved Demon’s pure white hand.

It was a Black Magic Grimoire.

It was identical to the object that had manifested when King Heinkel fought Duke Yurei.

’Then that means he’s going to use Gamigin’s magic...’

What useful spells did Gamigin have at his disposal right now?

Ferda quickly went through the list of spells in his mind.

The most likely one was Exile.

After exiling Luri, who could become the greatest obstacle, Curved Demon would face Ferda directly.

Considering Luri’s speed, even if she were gone only for a very brief moment, it would be enough for him to exploit the opening and kill Ferda.

"You must be thinking about Exile, aren’t you?"

"!"

Curved Demon was a master manipulator himself, so he had already seen through Ferda’s thoughts.

"But what if I did the opposite?"

Curved Demon’s fingertip pointed toward Ferda.

Rather than using Exile to send away a troublesome guest who would eventually return...

"I’m going to invite you into the castle."

He would simply choose his guest and invite him in.

Once Ferda stepped into his domain, he would have no choice.

***

Five Minutes Before Ferda’s Abduction

Throne Room of the Inner Castle, Heinkel Kingdom

King Heinkel was watching everything from his throne.

The cockroach-like intruders entering the capital city.

The sight of them mercilessly slaughtering his citizens.

"Ah..."

Every time it happened, King Heinkel felt as though one of the threads connecting themselves to his body had been severed.

Gamigin’s Legion was a magic that governed the territory by converting the lives of its people into Mana, so it was connected to every single one of them.

King Heinkel could clearly feel them disappearing one after another.

Sometimes it wasn’t merely a single thread being severed.

It felt as though an entire bundle was being cut apart with scissors.

At those moments, his neck was severed.

Although his body had become distant from humanity after learning Black Magic, King Heinkel still suffered from losing his citizens.

"Does it pain you?"

Curved Demon’s voice came from behind him.

King Heinkel answered politely.

"It does. My people, who used to smile at me, are dying."

"Everything is meaningless. Why, then, do you suffer so much?"

"Perhaps it means that I am still lacking in many ways. I still do not understand Lord Godwin’s will."

Curved Demon chuckled and walked in front of him.

"The spellcraft preventing intruders from entering the inner castle will collapse soon."

"Yes. I can feel it."

"That man named Ferda figured it out. Among Gamigin’s defensive domains, the absolute barrier using the dual totems is impossible to recognize unless one is deeply versed in Black Magic..."

Only someone on the level of Erdes, the head of the Magic Association and a man who hated Black Mages, would be able to recognize it.

That was because anyone who became so deeply immersed in Black Magic had already been killed by Erdes.

"Are you prepared?"

"Of course. Everything is ready."

"I hope your revenge is fulfilled."

With those words, Curved Demon tore open space and disappeared.

King Heinkel’s eyes remained fixed on the cityscape created by magic.

Suddenly, King Heinkel remembered himself as a child.

Why do people fight?

The land is so vast, and the harvests are so plentiful. So why are there people starving, and why do bandits run rampant?

Sigmund Heinkel loved peace.

He firmly believed that by learning all kinds of knowledge and implementing policies for the chosen people, he was working for the sake of his citizens.

He would often go outside and conduct inspections, examining what his people needed and striving to make improvements.

But Sigmund’s father, the previous king, disliked Sigmund’s behavior.

—If you were born the son of a king, behave like a prince.

He only wanted Sigmund to master martial arts and the techniques of hunting.

He even attended those lessons himself to ensure that young Sigmund would not stray onto another path, and sometimes he taught him personally.

He said that violence did not solve everything.

Sigmund simply resisted.

The father and son were so completely opposite that it was difficult to believe they shared the same blood.

Their conflict deepened with each passing day, and they gradually became estranged.

Eventually, they lived like complete strangers.

Yet there was one thing they did together.

Chess.

Only chess connected the two who seemed destined to clash over everything else.

—Do you know why I play chess with you?

His father had asked.

—Isn’t it to supplement my strategic knowledge?

—You’re half right.

The realization that he had understood half of his father’s intentions made Sigmund feel strangely pleased.

—This is the only moment when you become cruel.

—Me?

—Look. How many pawns were there in front of you?

—Eight.

—And how many are left now?

Sigmund looked down at the chessboard.

—Three.

—Three remain. That means you sacrificed five to survive.

Only then did Sigmund think he understood what his father was trying to say.

The pieces before him began to look like people.

They held spears in their hands.

Their terrified eyes stared straight ahead.

Their trembling legs struggled to move forward...

—That is what it means to protect a country. You kill, you sacrifice, and in the end, you protect it.

—Humans are different.

—Yes. Humans are different. But a king is not human.

He said this while touching the King piece.

—You are incompetent because you can move only one square. You sacrifice, kill, flee, and keep fleeing to survive. As long as you remain alive, this game does not end.

—....

—Always keep that in mind.

The next day, Sigmund’s mother died.

The son mourned the loss of his mother, and the husband wept over the loss of his wife.

And his father stopped even playing chess with his son.

The following year, his father also died from illness.

The conversation they had shared while playing chess became their final conversation.

Sigmund became king.

Peace continued.

Eventually, Sigmund reached the same age his father had been.

He gained friends.

He gained a wife.

He had children.

Just as his father’s teachings were beginning to fade from his mind, everything changed.

Yurei was captured, and pressure came from all directions.

They were becoming followers of the Demon Race, despite having never even known one another.

Only then did he understand his father’s words.

He had pursued peace, but the world hated peace.

The world was like a giant chessboard.

A king was someone who sacrificed, killed, fled, and fled again.

What happens to a king who sacrifices everything?

He does not die in the end.

Because killing the king in chess is not noble.

Nobility.

What were these people called nobles?

A general in a war took responsibility for everything and died when he failed.

What glory could there possibly be in sacrificing hundreds, failing, and still surviving?

"Disgusting."

A game in which thousands die because of the desires of a single person should never have begun.

King Heinkel’s goal was clear.

He would kill every king.

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