All of us appeared in the Absolute Spirit's realm with a different outfit from usual. Unlike his usual long coat outfit code, Raizel wore a long red jacket over his coat. As for Aizis, his outfit didn't really reveal any different appearance from Raizel apart from the change of jacket color to a fusion of blue and white. While Elesia wore her usual long gown and an extra layer of dark cloth that seemed like some brand new outfit to appear in. As for me, it was my usual dark long gown and auburn jacket over it, and a clip to tie my long hair.
Yes, not quite an impressive taste of dress code, but surely something good enough for a deadly battle. It was a battle of gamble where our destiny became nothing but a tool of the very gamble. But for some certainly strange reason, it wasn't visible in our expression. Our smile, confident eyes, and gaze told a whole different story where our victory is obvious; nothing could ever compete with us.
While on the other hand, Arfanez and Marco appeared in their regular outfits. Arfanez was holding his usual gentle and confident smile on his face. And Marco, he was smiling, like he used to do in the past with us. But at that moment, I felt like it's not really the exact Marco I know. It's a Marco with much more confidence and a fresh appearance. It's a Marco who destroyed the cage that bound him with intrusive doubts and kept bothering him with a question that can't be answered, but can only be decided by the one with the very question, like a choice in a gamble.
"Welcome, you guys." Arfanez said with a smile in his usual loud voice. He lifted his right hand toward us like a hawk sign and added, "I hope you guys are ready to die by my hand for now, and forever."
"The war field is like a gameboard, you said, right?" I replied as I stepped forward in my usual style, a casual smile shining on my face.
"So do you mind playing another round of the game, another piece of twist in the story?" I added as my smile changed to a narrow smirk lurking on my lips with some mystery trying to sneak in within it.
"Another round, you say? That's really interesting. But the question is, how many troops can you truly destroy while facing me on a chessboard, Blessed fragment of the story?" Arfanez replied indifferently, without showing any trace of change in his expression.
Raizel drew a magic circle on the ground and brought out a crimson red magic sword from the circle as the sword was shining with chaotic crimson flames covering it entirely. He smiled at Arfanez like a fearless warrior and challenged loudly, "The answer will be known across the story soon, as a result of the incoming chaos."
"Very well, I would love to be the very one to stand along with the answer, like a warrior who claimed his victory after a thousand years." Arfanez replied as the shape of his smile slightly changed.
"Everyone, execute the command." Marco shouted immediately.
A piece of shadow appeared in the middle of the desert. In an instant, the shadow scattered throughout several thousand meters surrounding the area. "Come out", this command coming from Marco's voice instantly woke up countless retainers from the depth of the huge shadow.
Every single one of them had pretty much the same outfit, wearing black army attire that covered them entirely along with a mask covering their face as well.
It wasn't the poor number of retainers belonging to the city of retainers; it's the retainers coming from every city and realm belonging to the world.
"You….knew them?" Arfanez asked Marco, appearing a little surprised.
Marco smiled and nodded as a reply. "Yes, I'm aware of every single existing retainer in the world." Marco said with a smile.
"Impressive, exceeding my expectation." Arfanez replied with a smile.
"There is a question yet, something you have to figure out now." Marco said right then, his voice appearing much cleaner than earlier as the presence of little hesitation left his voice.
After saying that, Marco began to float upward to the sky and stopped himself after climbing half a hundred meters above the ground.
"You told me something when we met for the first time during the ritual." Marco spoke casually, his voice appearing slightly deeper than usual.
"The world is like a chessboard. Those who can keep striking with their new tactics can survive in this world; it's about you and your use over the chess pieces."
"So then, I don't mind playing a little game here." Marco concluded. While he was speaking, the retainers were bringing out their own magic swords from their very magic circles.
Marco casually dropped a breath and smiled widely by removing his expressionless face from earlier. Then he shouted, "If you want to play a chessboard game, then I will be the first one to strike. Is it really a bad idea for you, Arfanez?"
As he shouted, every single retainer present there instantly pointed their magic sword at Arfanez. As for Marco, he was keeping his wide smile on his face while pointing his right hand's index finger at Arfanez.
While everything was happening in front of our eyes, we kept witnessing all this without trying to interfere. As if it was a battle between Marco and Arfanez and we're the witnesses here. After the retainers pointed their swords at Arfanez, it wasn't tough for us to understand what was going on. A narrow piece of smile appeared on our faces, revealing our satisfaction.
For a few seconds, Raizel's face was blank and expressionless. However, it didn't take much longer for him to reveal a slight smile on his face.
"I told you, surely we can play another round of the game." I said with smile.
Arfanez kept himself silent for some countable moments. Then he looked upward at the floating Marco and said with a smile, "Wasn't that predictable, Marco?"
"Interesting. Come to think of it, you still have something up your sleeve." Marco replied casually, indifferent.
"Come here, my only trustworthy fellow warrior, Reiji." Arfanez spoke unusually loudly. His voice was carrying some trace of strange yet effective strength.
A figure instantly appeared at his left side with a kind of speed that can't be traced by some mere retainers' eyes. It was nearly impossible for me to track his presence when he appeared.
His black haired appearance was rather pretty much more impressive. He wasn't really much different from the retainers. A figure with a similar outfit to the army and a long coat over his outfit as a sign of his uniqueness from the army. However, it's his glowing blue eyes that truly amazed me, the great magic power covering him wasn't bad either.
As he appeared in front of us and the retainers, surprising us, he smiled at us fearlessly.
"I feel like my luck truly favored me a lot. If not for my hiding, the false faceless could possibly have manipulated me the way he manipulated the rest of the retainers during the last few weeks." Reiji spoke casually. His voice was pretty effective and powerful, similar to his appearance. His commanding voice reflected his role as a true commander of the army, like the way he was before Marco's interference.