Chapter 20: Screw Your Chess Piece!
A silent roar exploded in Rowe's chest, loud enough to drown out everything else he had ever wanted.
Live brilliantly. Die heroically.
Like a hero, not a clown.
"Damn it, mongrel, bastard!" Gilgamesh ground his teeth so hard the veins on his forehead stood out.
"Rowe…" A strained flush rose on Enkidu's delicate face.
Both of them pulled back with everything they had, trying to halt their own ultimate strikes. It was useless. Heaven and earth were already locked together. The crushing momentum kept closing, inch by inch, on the man hanging in the middle.
The gods watching from above still could not understand it.
Was Rowe not afraid of death? How could a human be so resolute?
Then the air shivered.
Buzz. A violent hum burst out from Rowe's body.
Light seeped out in thin streams from every pore beneath his black uniform, like steam escaping a kettle pushed past its limit. The radiance gathered, twisted, and finally formed a golden projection in front of him.
A key.
The Key of Heaven.
Rowe froze.
So did the gods.
This artifact had a function like this?
For seven days he had studied it from every angle, and yet he had never realized it could respond this way. For a heartbeat, he thought it was some hidden defense.
Then he understood.
The Key of Heaven was not blocking anything.
Its light only relaxed his body, stripping away the suppression that came from the clash of godlike power. It let him move freely in any environment, no matter how hostile.
But it did not stop real damage.
What should kill him would still kill him.
Rowe let out a breath he did not know he was holding.
And then he saw it.
A black line crawling over the golden projection.
Not dirt. A divine artifact could not be stained.
A crack.
The Key of Heaven shattered.
First a point, then a line, then a web of dark fractures spreading through the shining key until the entire projection collapsed into drifting sand and vanished.
Before Rowe could even process it, something surged inside him.
A mysterious force, dense and violent, poured through his limbs like pure fuel slammed into an engine.
His instincts moved faster than thought.
He threw out his hands and planted his feet.
Boom.
Above him, Gilgamesh's descending golden torrent stopped within an inch of Rowe's palm.
Below him, Enkidu's rising emerald sharpness was pinned under his soles, unable to climb any higher.
It was as if he had returned to the dawn of creation, one hand holding up the sky and one foot pressing down the earth.
With his body alone, he forced heaven and earth apart on the final battlefield.
Every breath felt like he was cleaving the world open.
"Inside this barking mongrel, there is power like this?" Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes. A smile crept onto his lips before he could stop it.
"Rowe. I knew it. You are definitely the strongest!" Enkidu's voice trembled with excitement.
Then the gods' whispers drifted down again, sharp and smug.
"So that is how it is."
"He used the collision of the Chains of Heaven and the Heavenly Wedge to shatter the Key of Heaven within his body."
"And then he made the power inside it his own."
"The Key of Heaven is an artifact of the same class as those two. Only this method could awaken it."
"No wonder he was fearless of death."
"This wisdom, this courage…"
"We were not mistaken. He is a perfect pawn."
"A pawn that can restrain the Heavenly Wedge."
No.
You are completely mistaken.
Rowe's face stayed blank. He truly had not predicted any of this. If anything, he felt like fate had just tripped him again for sport.
He shook his head, resigned, and accepted the reality in the only way he knew how.
The broken Key of Heaven was no longer an artifact inside him.
It had become him.
The surge within his body stabilized into a new authority. Not mere adaptation anymore, but opening and closing.
Everything could be treated as a door. Everything could be shut.
If he closed it, an absolute barrier would form, strong enough to block attacks below or even equal to his own class.
Right now it was open by default. He could not control it yet, much less close it.
So.
"Worry is useless. Regret is useless too."
Rowe spread his hands.
He could not die here anymore. Fine. He would die someday anyway. Fate always left a receipt.
But if those gods wanted to call him a pawn, then he might as well cash in the rage first.
He fully released the power inside him.
Silver white ripples rolled outward like tides.
He drew on both sides.
Called for the Chains of Heaven and the Heavenly Wedge to answer him.
After seeing Rowe risk himself to stop their fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu both understood it had been a misunderstanding. They were not true enemies.
Now neither of them refused his pull.
"Rowe, no matter what you want to do, I will follow you," Enkidu said softly, eyes lowering in trust. She pushed her power to its limit without hesitation.
She did not know what he intended.
But seven days of companionship had turned familiarity into absolute faith.
"Hoh? Interesting." Gilgamesh looked down from the Vimana, startled by the glow rising on Rowe's body.
He felt it.
A resonance, same origin, same essence.
The Key of Heaven and the Heavenly Wedge were linked.
He did not understand the full cause, but Clairvoyance gave him a glimpse of Rowe's intent, enough to make his blood sing.
"Hmph hahaha. Even a barking mongrel can have resolve like this? Interesting. Too interesting."
"Then for the sake of that ambition, this King will answer your plea."
He spread his hands as well.
"Look up to the sky and break through the boundaries."
"That is natural."
Rowe closed his eyes, then opened them.
The pupils in his eyes twisted into the shape of a key.
A terrifying torrent erupted from his body. The power of the Heavenly Wedge and the Chains of Heaven converged on him, spiraling in three layered surges that shook the forest, the mountains, and the air itself.
The gods above kept watching, still blind to the truth.
"What is he doing?"
"The three pawns united?"
"This power is immense. Worthy of the tools we made."
"If used well, our rule over mankind's faith could last far longer."
They kept whispering.
They still did not realize that Rowe's goal was painfully simple.
He would use the Heavenly Wedge as a path, the Chains of Heaven as a guide, and his own body as the living Key of Heaven.
Unite the three.
Reach beyond any boundary.
Then roar back at the firmament where those divine eyes hovered.
Not because he wanted to die.
But because they dared to call people tools.
To call heroes pawns.
So now he would answer their malice the way a human should.
To hell with your pawns.
We are people.
Living, breathing people.
<><><><><>
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]