By Zephyria 
I turned to Herman, meaning to ask if he had any objections.
He chuckled with a sigh and replied.
“Okay. If it’s that kind of game, as you say… let’s go. Anyway, nothing will be solved by just standing here.”
If he understood, that was enough. I started moving first, following the trail left by the black rook piece towards the white camp. Herman was following behind me. He looked around at the strangely quiet forest and spoke.
“Earlier… you said there was Magic on this forest, right? Is it a kind of hallucination? Or is ‘this forest itself’ a space created by someone… a Cycle Shackling Space Magic?”
I gave a hint to the ignorant servant.
“If it were a hallucination affecting the mind, the Magic should have been dispelled the moment we recognized the ‘heterogeneous’ part of this space. Or the strangeness would have expanded further.”
From the moment you think it might be a hallucination, you start to doubt and see everything, so your brain, which had been asleep, wakes up and the surroundings start to twist.
“I see.”
“Yeah. But we haven’t seen that kind of phenomenon yet. So at least it’s not Magic that affects the mind.”
Then curses, brainwashing, hallucinations, and other types of Magic are naturally excluded. Herman nodded as if he understood. But he had a troubled look on his face. I soon found out the reason why.
“…I just realized. You really know a lot about Magic.”
“So are you ‘again’ dissatisfied?”
I glared back at him.
I didn’t mean to speak in such a prickly tone, but in fact, his eyes didn’t have as much distrust as before. He was just looking at me as if trying to read my mind. Soon, Herman let out a sigh-like laugh and said.
“I apologized for doubting you back then, and I’m not going to doubt you again now. I don’t want to.”
“…….”
“That wasn’t because I was dissatisfied, but because I was really curious. I’ve never heard of amnesia… giving someone vast knowledge, and I’ve never seen anyone like that. Your amnesia seems to be different from the usual cases.”
I didn’t answer. I turned my head and suddenly noticed a rook piece stopped in the direction we were heading, so I stopped walking. Herman also came up beside me and quietly exclaimed in admiration as he looked up at the huge piece.
I checked the ground where the black rook piece was stopped and the surrounding area. The fact that the rook piece had stopped midway meant that there was an obstacle, but strangely, I couldn’t find any broken debris.
‘Could it be that it just stopped while going? Then why?’
Just as that question arose.
A sudden tremor began to be heard.
“……!”
It was a similar tremor to when the rook piece had advanced earlier. Herman and I quickly scanned the surroundings and realized that the source of the tremor was coming from the diagonal direction ahead. And approaching diagonally from there, rushing towards the rook piece, was a pure white piece shaped like a bishop’s hat… a Bishop.
“Is it trying to collide?”
Herman muttered as he watched the situation.
I thought the same.
The bishop piece was trying to capture the rook piece.
Soon, the pure white bishop piece, which had been advancing without stopping, finally collided with the black rook piece. The black rook piece, tilted by the impact, was shattered into pieces.
Koo-oong!
The shattered rook piece soon turned into dust and scattered into the air, disappearing without a trace. Then, a hazy cloud of smoke that had come out of the rook piece quickly flew to the camp that was the same color as itself.
Having watched all this, I realized something.
‘The rook piece didn’t stop for no reason.’
In other words, the rook piece had already collided with and destroyed some piece from the opposing camp, and that piece had disappeared without a trace like just now, which was why I hadn’t found any debris.
And going a little further with my speculation… the cloud of smoke that had just flown away was probably a kind of ‘soul’.
When destroyed, it flies to its own camp and is reborn there. If this battle had been going on for ‘a long time’ as the shady woman had hinted, there should be almost no pieces left on the chessboard.
Even if there were any left, it would only be the Queen and King.
However, the question was that if they were repeatedly dying and being reborn, it would be difficult for the pieces to move because the pawns were blocking the way, and the arrangement shouldn’t change much. I didn’t know if the pawns were intentionally not placed or if there was another reason… I would probably find out when I went to the camp.
“Let’s go.”
Since the situation seemed to have settled down and become quiet, I quickened my pace again. Before long, perhaps because we were getting closer to the location of the King, I also discovered the scene of a pure white rook piece destroying a black knight piece shaped like a horse, and the scene of a queen piece with a pointed crown coming forward.
Certainly, the area around the King was more chaotic than before because the pieces were gathered close to him. As such, the danger was greater because we had to be careful of the pieces that might suddenly appear and move from anywhere.
“Ray! Look over there.”
While searching the vicinity to find the King, Herman pointed ahead.
I shifted my gaze and was able to find the broken pawns that had remained without being annihilated. At the same time, I witnessed in real-time the cloud of smoke that seemed to have been annihilated and returned, changing into the form of a pure white rook piece.
My guess was correct.
‘The pawns are no longer able to regenerate.’
Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing.
The King piece was a little further behind.
After exchanging a glance with Herman, I started running towards the King piece. I had a hunch that if I approached the King, the nearby pieces would react, so I was trying to capture the King as quickly as possible.
That prediction was not wrong.
The queen piece, which had been waiting and moving forward a little, suddenly turned around, or rather, turned its head towards us, who were heading towards the King.
Koo-geu-geu-geung!
Then the shape wriggled and changed. The queen piece had changed into the form of a pure white woman wearing a pointed crown and holding a long spear in one hand.
“The queen piece’s form…!”
Herman exclaimed in shock. I was just as flustered. According to the chess rules, I thought there would be a gap until the queen’s next move after she had just moved, but the queen ignored those rules and charged at us.
“……!”
To make matters worse, it was moving at a speed that couldn’t be compared to the other pieces I had seen so far. Because it was approaching at such a speed and raising its spear as if to strike down, we had no choice but to dodge.
“Tch!”
I stopped running, grabbed Herman by the collar, and pulled him sharply to the side. Immediately after, at a close timing, the sharp tip of the spear struck the floor where we had been standing until just now.
Koo-oong!
The spear tip was deeply embedded in the floor, and a heavy roar echoed. I released Herman’s collar and started running again, and Herman cast Magic to attack the queen in reverse.
A lightning bolt that fell from the sky struck one of the queen piece’s arms, causing it to crack. Perhaps because of that, it was struggling to pull out the spear that was stuck in the floor. If it was a minor damage, it could be repaired on the spot and was gradually being fixed, but it was enough to buy time, which was the original purpose.
“Hang on to the King!”
At my words, Herman jumped and grabbed the King piece. I also jumped up onto the head of the King piece and watched the situation. The queen, who had been pulling out the spear and approaching again, slowly stopped moving when we were attached to the King. It would be difficult to make delicate movements with that huge spear, and it couldn’t destroy the King to attack us.
‘Good.’
Whether it had given up on us or the primary condition had been cleared by grabbing the King, the queen piece turned around and returned to its original position. As if it had nothing more to do with us.
“Will it attack again if we fall off the King?”
“…I don’t know.”
If you’re curious, you can experiment directly.
“I’ll fall off first.”
I went down again and distanced myself from the King. The queen was still not interested in us. But when Herman also got off the King, the queen looked back at us again. Herman, who was startled, grabbed the King again, and the queen piece ignored us again. It seemed that if one of the two people was holding on, they could avoid the attack.
“What should we do now?”
Herman, who was holding on to the King, turned to me and asked.
I was lost in thought for a moment.
Grabbing the King was the rule of chess, but if I destroyed the King here, I didn’t know what the queen piece would do, so it was dangerous to destroy it rashly.
The queen stopped attacking not by ‘destroying the King’ but by ‘grabbing’ him, so it seemed like I had already guessed the answer.
Of course, even if there was a problem with destroying the King, I could avoid the attack well enough… but the problem was that the human servant wouldn’t be able to. But I couldn’t just let him die in front of me.
“Stay there for a moment. I’ll look around. ”
Herman nodded at my words. It was fortunate that he listened well.
I walked around the King piece, looking for anything noticeable. Since I had come this far, if this was really a kind of test, there must be a clue to the next stage. It was during that time.
‘Hmm?’
There was a round, protruding part like a switch on the back of the King piece, which was only looking forward.
It looked like it was telling me to press it.