Outside the palace, the noise was like thunder.
Inside the palace, the placing of pieces was silent.
The game had just reached the stage of bloody, close-quarters combat. Komugi opened her sightless eyes, focusing intently as she "stared" at the board.
Countless winning moves surged like a tide in her mind, projected like slides onto the dark curtain before her eyes.
Her world held only the game before her, leaving no room for anything else. Naturally, she couldn't hear the earth-shaking sounds of battle outside the palace.
Across the board, the King slowly raised his gaze, looking at Komugi, whose body shimmered with a rainbow-like luster.
She's only now... starting to get stronger.
The King's eyes reflected Komugi's form, but it was soon replaced by the situation on the board.
Strength comes in many forms...
The King stared at the board.
The battle had entered the close-quarters combat phase; every move from here on was critical.
He concentrated, deep in thought, able to clearly see several openings in Komugi's army formation.
But days of consecutive matches had taught him that whenever he thought he had seized an opening and launched a swift attack, Komugi would always counter with a move that left him no room for retreat.
Seemingly full of holes, yet actually flawless.
"8-2-2, Drawing Bow."
Instead of shying away, the King met the challenge head-on, picking up the Bow piece with imposing momentum and placing it on a key node that directly targeted the openings.
With this move, the Drawing Bow intended to form a four-square area attack, allowing him to successively exploit multiple openings revealed in Komugi's moves.
—--
Three Shooting Stars rose into the air, their fluorescent green light instantly illuminating the entire courtyard.
Just after Shaiapouf had taken a Deceptive Shooting Star head-on with his body, Morrow acted without hesitation.
Following his intent to reduce the opponent's cell count, he released three Shooting Stars in one go.
One thing was clear.
As long as Shaiapouf didn't use his Beelzebub ability, Deceptive Shooting Star would find it difficult to pose a substantial threat to him.
Shaiapouf had clearly realized this too, which was why, while tanking the Shooting Star attack with his body, he gradually came to understand the importance of leveraging his "physical advantage."
However, Morrow knew how to directly target Shaiapouf's weak points.
He only needed to launch area attacks.
「Shooting Star: Triangulum」
Morrow tilted his head back slightly, his eyes reflecting the fluorescent green light as he silently recited the name of the technique.
Shaiapouf's figure emerged from the aftermath of the explosion, his gaze snapping towards the three Shooting Stars hovering in the air.
I'm already locked on by his "guidance ability"... So, if I can restrict the coins he uses to control the attack direction, I can compress his defensive space. In other words...
The thought flashed through his mind in an instant. Shaiapouf's pupils abruptly contracted, and without hesitation, he beat his wings and dove straight down towards Morrow below.
In his view, being locked on had become an opportunity.
So, if he could close the distance and suppress Morrow, even if the Nen bullets tracked him, he wouldn't need to worry about them affecting the King inside the palace or the soldiers about to mature in the Meat Orchard.
More importantly, at close range, he could use his absolute advantage in aura intensity to ensure Morrow had no spare capacity to control the Nen bullets' trajectories by tossing coins.
That's right... No need for overly profound or complex strategies.
Relying on his own advantage in aura intensity alone, he could completely seal this human's means of attack!
Shaiapouf's tactical thinking solidified in that moment.
However, the moment the Shooting Stars stopped hovering, two of them abruptly shot towards the Meat Orchard behind Shaiapouf.
Huh!?
Seeing this through the vision of his other clones, Shaiapouf's expression changed involuntarily.
There was clearly no coin-throwing motion, so why could the Nen bullet still change direction under the influence of its mechanism?
Could it be... There was a guidance coin he had dropped in the Meat Orchard?
Shaiapouf's mind flashed back to when Morrow had first landed in the Meat Orchard, gathering aura while retreating.
His attention had been on the gathered mass of aura at the time; it was entirely possible he had overlooked a coin quietly dropped.
Should I use 「Beelzebub」 to intercept...? No, the other Shooting Star is homing in on me. There's still time! If I rashly use a clone to intercept, I might lose another portion of cells.
With the support of multi-directional vision, Shaiapouf concluded his thoughts and made a decision in an extremely short time.
He came to an abrupt halt mid-air, using a sudden burst of aura to propel himself towards the descent path of the two Deceptive Shooting Stars.
But something unexpected happened.
Under his intense gaze, one of the Deceptive Shooting Stars falling towards the Meat Orchard like a meteor actually split apart... It enveloped the Meat Orchard below like a rain of arrows.
Seeing this, Shaiapouf's expression changed again.
Yet, Morrow's offensive didn't end there.
Ting.
Just before that Shooting Star split, a faint, almost inaudible crisp sound came from the soil in a corner of the Meat Orchard.
At the source of the sound, a miniature stellar cross suddenly appeared from the ground.
It was Morrow's Insidious Shooting Star.
A tiny shooting star shot out from the center of the stellar cross, flicking a Star-Marked coin buried in the soil up into the air.
The coin tumbled rapidly upwards, instantly pulling the other Deceptive Shooting Star into a sharp turn.
It headed straight for the palace where the King was!
The area offensive woven by the three Shooting Stars thus bared its fangs.
One remained locked onto Shaiapouf, one split apart to cover the numerous flesh eggs in the Meat Orchard, and one, guided by the flicked coin, directly assaulted the King's palace.
This was also what the Emission type excelled at.
But ultimately, it was because Deceptive Shooting Star possessed a power enhancement mechanism, allowing it to maintain considerable lethality even when "splitting its forces."
Make your choice amidst the chaos, but... your choice will always be the same.
Morrow watched Shaiapouf's figure flying at high speed with calm eyes.
In the air, Shaiapouf faced the chaotic situation Morrow had specially prepared for him.
Himself, the Meat Orchard, the King.
He had to make a choice among these three chaotic paths!
King!
Shaiapouf, flying at high speed, made his choice without the slightest hesitation.
It was a choice that required no thought at all.
Shaiapouf's face twisted slightly as he violently tore off one of his own arms.
He, who usually preferred and was more enthusiastic about using wisdom to resolve matters and fights, in this moment only wished for his body to respond to his resolve.
A vast amount of aura instantly enveloped the severed arm spraying blue blood.
In the next instant, Shaiapouf hurled the severed arm like a javelin towards the palace.
Mid-flight, under the effect of his body restructuring ability, the arm rapidly transformed into a clone.
This was the only way to intercept the Nen bullet heading straight for the palace.
However... He had just decided on the tactical approach of using his "complete form" to seal Morrow's means of attack, but now he was forced to use his cell-depleting clone ability again.
In a daze, Shaiapouf felt a sense of being 'corralled.'
Like an ant trapped in a circle drawn with an oil pen, no matter which direction it tried to break out, it would eventually hit an invisible barrier.
In the end, going round and round, it could only retreat back to the center of the circle.
The clone formed from the severed arm, relying on its subsequent flight burst capability, managed to intercept the Deceptive Shooting Star at the last moment.
Again, it tanked the hit with its body.
Simultaneously, Shaiapouf's main body also had to face the incoming Deceptive Shooting Star.
As for the Nen bullet attack falling like a meteor shower towards the Meat Orchard, he simply lacked the capacity to deal with it.
Perhaps he could use Beelzebub's super-standard clone ability to block most of the light arrows.
But in making choices, he would always lean towards the King.
BOOM...!
Another explosion resounded through the courtyard.
Morrow had succeeded once again in depleting Shaiapouf's cell count.
In terms of difficulty against opponents, the Royal Guards Neferpitou and Youpi were powerful existences where, no matter how you attacked, it was difficult to reveal their "health bars."
Only Shaiapouf was different.
The source of his power resided within his cells.
Whether it was the level of his aura output or the nature of his Nen ability... In other words, destroying those cells not only weakened Shaiapouf's aura output level but was also equivalent to depleting his health bar.
Right now... Morrow had taken down at least one-fifth of Shaiapouf's health bar.
Moreover, with his current Lv.90 potential aura capacity specifications, combined with Deceptive Shooting Star's power enhancement mechanism, he could completely empty Shaiapouf's health bar before exhausting his own potential aura.
—--
Tap.
A piece was placed.
The King expressionlessly withdrew his hand and said, "4-4-6, Flying Ninja."
Using the area attack strategy of "Drawing Bow" to directly target multiple openings in Komugi's army formation was originally intended to force Komugi to respond.
This way, he could seize the opportunity to find a winning path.
But Komugi didn't respond. Instead, with minimal sacrifice, she cleverly preemptively blocked all his offensive moves.
Completely seen through. All the moves I envisioned...
The King's gaze fell on the Flying Ninja piece he had just placed.
The Ninja can leap over obstacles in its path, going all out straight for the General Piece.
It was a risky move.
If the risk succeeded, he could directly take the General Piece.
If the placement failed, he would lose immediately.
This kind of sharp, aggressive approach suited the King's taste the most.
Since he began learning various board games, he had always been decisive in killing, honing his playing style into a sharp, unstoppable sword.
But this current risky move, so strongly offensive in nature... wasn't actually led by him.
Komugi had forced him to make this move.
When placing the piece, the King vaguely understood that this move did indeed show a chance of survival, even the possibility of turning disadvantage into advantage.
But his opponent was Komugi.
She wouldn't give him the opportunity.
And that was indeed the case.
Tap.
Komugi placed a piece and said softly, "6-1-2, Drawing Bow."
She countered using the very Drawing Bow area attack strategy the King had employed at the critical moment.
Now, with her tit-for-tat response, she had truly achieved the meaning of "opening a path."
And this move completely exposed the vital point of the King's General Piece.
If the King didn't want to let Komugi drive straight in, he would have to mobilize other pieces to build a defense.
But being forced into defense also meant that Flying Ninja would be isolated and without support.
And the Flying Ninja, unable to receive help from other pieces, had no possibility of directly taking Komugi's General Piece in its risky move.
Its fate could only be to be captured.
I've lost.
The King reached out, grabbed a handful of pieces from the board, then slowly opened his hand, letting the pieces fall onto the board one by one, producing a series of crisp sounds.
Her strength... is far above mine.
The King's gaze shifted from the scattering pieces to Komugi, who had already closed her eyes.
How can I defend against her always unexpected moves? Just fierce attacks alone... are meaningless. I can only find an opening, a real opening. But the possibility of her making a 'mistake' simply doesn't exist.
The King threw down the last piece and said, "Again."
The feeling of being utterly crushed wasn't pleasant, but he found himself actually enjoying it.
Komugi, however, spoke hesitantly: "Could you allow me... to rest for a moment?"
"What's wrong with you?"
The King stared intently at Komugi's face; this was the first time she had actively requested a break.
Komugi said softly, "I want to go back to my room and draw all the moves I just thought of."
"..."
Hearing this, the King instinctively looked at Komugi's tightly closed eyes.
To the side, Neferpitou, who had remained silent all along, glanced at the Shaiapouf clone nearby, which was only the size of a baby's fist.
Initially, Shaiapouf had wanted to use the clone to report the situation outside to the King.
However, the King's mind was completely on the game and only gave the reply, "You handle it fully."
Since then, Shaiapouf's clone hadn't said another word, merely staying here to constantly confirm the situation.
And Neferpitou had noticed the gravity on Shaiapouf's clone's face, as well as changes in expression like gritting teeth.
He was clearly in a tough battle.
Neferpitou was a bit curious about this.
But treating the King's arm was more important, and she couldn't disturb the King's enjoyment of the game either, so she didn't ask the Shaiapouf clone about the situation.
Neferpitou withdrew her gaze and turned to look at the King and Komugi.
From start to finish, Komugi seemed completely immersed in the world of Gungi, utterly unaware of the fierce fight outside the palace, and thus showed no sense of crisis.
And the King probably considered the assailant outside the palace far less important than this game.
So, as long as the battle noise didn't affect Komugi's game state, the King simply didn't care.
Now that the game was over, he should pay a little attention to the intruder outside, right?
Facing Komugi's request, the King didn't respond immediately.
Komugi asked somewhat cautiously, "I-Is it okay?"
Just as her words fell, a deafening explosion suddenly sounded outside the palace.
"Eek!"
Komugi was startled by the sudden loud noise, nearly dropping her cane.
—--
Above the courtyard, a ferocious look revealed itself in Shaiapouf's expression.
The multiple visible injuries on his body were rapidly healing, returning to their original state at a visible rate, filled by cellular energy.
I'm such a failure...!
He clearly possessed greater power, yet from beginning to end, he was suppressed by Morrow, even continuously losing cells, resulting in the loss of nearly one-third of his strength.
Why was this happening?
It was all because the abilities he thought were so impressive were utterly useless!
I need an ability with killing power...!
Bloodshot veins spread across Shaiapouf's eyes.
But... The King had finished the game.
So Shaiapouf believed he had no time left.
No time to redeem his failure.
That's right.
He failed in his duty, failed, failed!
Shaiapouf's expression grew increasingly ferocious and crazed.