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Chapter 199: The Thirteen Zodiac Knights Gather, Wiped Out at Once? Or Replaced?
"Pumpkin head, take us to see Phantom," Suyan demanded, gently squeezing Snow White's trembling hand to calm her nerves before looking up at Halloween.
"Huh?" Halloween's pumpkin head suddenly enlarged, zooming in until he was mere inches from Suyan's face. He dragged out his words maliciously, "I've been meaning to ask you... who the hell are you, exactly?"
"You aren't wearing a Chess Piece mask, nor are you wearing an earring denoting your rank. You aren't one of us, are you? So why are you mingling with our people?"
"I don't have to answer to you. I said, take us to Phantom!" Suyan glared coldly at the grotesque Knight, his tone razor-sharp. "Or do you want me to rip that pumpkin clean off your shoulders, take your Dimension ÄRM, and go find him myself?"
"You little brat!" Halloween's carved smile instantly twisted into a furious scowl. "Are you actually serious right now?"
Hearing the threat, Snow White's anxiety flared again. She instinctively hid behind Suyan's back, giving his fingers a worried squeeze.
During the last War Game, Halloween had fought Alan to a mutual standstill. Among the Thirteen Zodiac Knights of the Chess Pieces, his power easily ranked within the top three. Even ignoring his sheer combat strength, the sight of a man with a pumpkin for a head strapped to a giant wooden cross was more than enough to terrify a teenage girl like Snow White.
A tense second passed.
"Hahahahaha!" Halloween suddenly burst into manic laughter, his hostility vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. He looked at Suyan with genuine appreciation. "I like your attitude, kid!"
"I bet Phantom is going to love your fiery temper too! Though, I wonder if you actually have the strength to survive his 'affection'?"
Without giving Suyan a chance to respond, a brilliant, dazzling light erupted from Halloween's hand, slowly engulfing everyone present.
Even though Halloween hadn't called out the ÄRM's name, Suyan could clearly see the spiral-shaped ring on his finger. If he wasn't mistaken, it was a high-tier Dimension ÄRM called the Ring of Return. Alongside the Training Gate, it was one of the two most versatile and coveted Dimension ÄRMs in existence. It allowed the user to mark any location they had visited and instantly teleport themselves and their allies back there at will.
Suyan offered no resistance as the teleportation magic wrapped around him. He simply counted down in his head.
One, two, three!
Exactly three seconds later, a fleeting sensation of weightlessness washed over him. The blue light of the Ring of Return faded, and their surroundings completely shifted.
Because they had been teleported directly into the interior of a massive building, Suyan couldn't get a bird's-eye view of the structure. But given that this magical world was essentially a patchwork of every fairy tale trope ever conceived, there was certainly no shortage of ominous castles.
"Loco, Ian, you two are dismissed," Halloween ordered as soon as they arrived. He then turned his pumpkin head toward Suyan. "You wanted to see Phantom, kid? Follow me!"
Without waiting for an answer, Halloween floated deeper into the fortress halls.
Suyan rubbed his chin, watching the cross-bearing Knight glide away. He had always wondered how Halloween managed to walk while strapped to a giant wooden crucifix. Now he had his answer: he literally just floated.
Suyan glanced back at Loco, who was preparing to leave. "Wait for my good news, Little Loco—"
Loco didn't reply; she simply rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what "good news" he was referring to. He was obviously planning to challenge one of the Zodiac Knights and usurp their position.
Give me a break! Loco picked up her pace, storming off without looking back.
Suyan chuckled, taking Snow White's hand and asking softly, "Snow White, we're about to meet the Thirteen Zodiac Knights of the Chess Pieces. Are you scared?"
Snow White's eyelashes fluttered, a deep unease twisting in her chest. But feeling the steady, reassuring warmth emanating from his palm, the anxiety slowly ebbed away.
She looked up, her eyes fierce and resolute. "I'm not scared!"
"Then let's go, my Princess," Suyan smiled.
"Mhm," she hummed in agreement.
Together, they followed Halloween into a massive, cavernous grand hall.
At the far end of the room sat a silver-haired man on an imposing throne, exuding a heavy aura of melancholy. To his left stood a slender, sinister-looking man who gave off the distinct vibe of a vampire. To his right stood a stunningly beautiful, mature woman whose outfit, while not overtly revealing, radiated lethal sex appeal.
Excluding Halloween, who had just entered, the others were lined up methodically on either side of the throne. Including Phantom, there were exactly twelve people present. With Halloween's arrival, the Thirteen Zodiac Knights of the Chess Pieces were fully assembled.
Suyan's gaze swept across the Knights, recognizing the familiar cast of characters instantly.
The silver-haired man on the throne needed no introduction: Phantom, the public leader of the Chess Pieces and the strongest Knight among them. Like Queen Diana, Phantom was originally a resident of Caldia. In fact, Phantom was the catalyst for the entire catastrophe.
As a child, he had accidentally wandered into the forbidden sector of Caldia and was tricked into unsealing the Orb. For breaking the ultimate taboo, Caldia's laws mandated that his parents execute him with their own hands. Unable to kill their son, they shared one final dinner with him before committing suicide instead. Driven to madness, the unsealed Orb then brainwashed Dorothy's sister, Diana, into stealing 798 rare ÄRMs—including Babbo—and fleeing Caldia to secretly found the Chess Pieces and plunge the magical world into endless war.
As a prominent villain, Phantom's character design was incredibly successful. Hidden beneath the bandages wrapping his left arm were over a dozen brutally powerful ÄRMs. His most infamous weapon was a Cursed ÄRM that trapped victims inside a mirror, degrading them into flat, two-dimensional reflections. When the glass shattered, the victim died instantly—leaving no corpse behind. It was a terrifying, high-tier execution method. In the entire series, only Ginta managed to survive it, utilizing his transmigrator willpower to shatter the curse from the inside, much like Nanashi had against Loco.
Aside from his bizarrely intimate, borderline-romantic undertones with the side character Alviss and his devoted subordinate Rolan, Phantom definitely deserves a solid top-tier rating as an antagonist. As a final boss, he was infinitely better than the Orb, who would later possess Ginta's father's body, fail to ambush Ginta, and resort to using his host's body as a hostage.
The sinister man standing beside Phantom was Peta, the tactician of the Chess Pieces and Phantom's closest friend. In the original timeline, Peta had invaded Nanashi's bandit headquarters while he was away, using a vile Blood ÄRM to drain every single one of Nanashi's comrades completely dry.
The seductive woman on the other side was Candice, a notorious sadomasochist. She was a former mercenary captain who had challenged Phantom prior to the First War Game. After being utterly defeated, she swore absolute loyalty to him. Despite her outfit resembling a leather bunny-girl suit, it was actually fairly conservative, only exposing her shoulders and thighs encased in sheer black pantyhose. Hidden beneath her right eyepatch was a magic stone granting spatial manipulation abilities, similar to Sasuke's Amenotejikara, allowing her to swap positions with her enemies instantly.
Candice was a formidable Earth user wielding a Guardian ÄRM far more terrifying than most Darkness ÄRMs: a Gorgon that turned enemies to stone. Because it wasn't a Darkness ÄRM, even Holy ÄRMs couldn't reverse the petrification; the only cure was destroying the ÄRM itself. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a sneak attack from Jack in the original story, a tragic waste of a brilliant weapon.
Moving down the line was Vize, an old man with a sapling sprouting from his head who shared Jack's dream of growing a plant that reached the heavens.
Then came Galian, the former boss of the Luberia bandits who sported a hairstyle suspiciously similar to Madara Uchiha. He had found an amnesiac Nanashi, handed the leadership over to him, and joined the Chess Pieces purely to seek greater power.
Next was Rolan, a polite gentleman who hero-worshipped Phantom so intensely that he willingly accepted the Zombie Tattoo just to become the same kind of undead monster as his idol.
Beside him was Ash, a Knight wearing a skull mask with a constantly protruding tongue. He joined the Chess Pieces solely to protect children and held zero empathy for adults.
Next was Chimera, an androgynous Knight with a tragic past. After the First War Game, she saved a wounded Chess Piece soldier, fell in love, and married him. But when the local villagers discovered his identity, they tortured them and executed her husband, driving her to insanity and pushing her to officially join the Chess Pieces for revenge.
Then there was Magical Roe, the clown. Terrified of Diana, he obeyed her every command, even kidnapping Snow White during the War Game. He was later defeated and redeemed by Ginta, ultimately sacrificing his life to protect his childhood friend, Snow White.
Beside him stood Pinocchio, a literal wooden puppet whose nose grew when he lied. Originally one of Dorothy's childhood toys, Diana had modified him into a sentient weapon akin to Babbo.
Next was Rapunzel, whose name derived from the fairy tale, but whose appearance and personality were that of a vicious, bloodthirsty hag. Using her hair as a deadly weapon, she slaughtered nearly every Chess Piece member who lost to Ginta's team during a specific round of the War Games. Disgusted by her unauthorized executions and her subsequent loss to Dorothy, Phantom ordered Ian—fresh out of the Training Gate—to execute her, allowing Ian to usurp her Knight status.
And finally, there was the massive brute, Garon. Suyan had virtually no memory of him from the series. Just by sensing his aura, Suyan could tell his magic capacity was even lower than Loco's. He was clearly just making up the numbers.
These twelve, along with the pumpkin-headed Halloween, made up the dreaded Thirteen Zodiac Knights that terrorized the magical world.
"Hey, Halloween, didn't Lord Phantom order you to bring back Princess Snow White?" Garon barked, evidently annoyed that Suyan was ignoring him. "Why did you drag some irrelevant nobody back with you?"
"Oh, it's quite amusing, actually," Halloween cackled. "This kid told me he wanted to see Phantom. Said if I didn't bring him, he'd rip my head off, take my Dimension ÄRM, and find his way here himself."
The moment the words left his mouth, the collective gaze of every Knight in the room snapped onto Suyan.
Snow White shrank back, thoroughly intimidated by the sheer bloodlust in the room, inching closer to Suyan's side.
"Heh. How interesting," Peta chuckled, adjusting his glasses. "It seems someone out there is underestimating you, Halloween."
"I really couldn't care less," Halloween shrugged dismissively.
Garon, however, aimed his hostility directly at Suyan. "What the hell are you looking at, brat?!"
Suyan rubbed his temples, letting out a heavy, exaggerated sigh. "Originally, I was just looking to see which one of you annoyed me the most so I could kill you and take your spot as a Knight."
"But then I remembered... the War Game is about to start. If I leave you alive and you end up getting yourselves killed and breaking the ÄRMs that rightfully belong to me, that would be incredibly frustrating."
"So, I'm trying to decide: Should I stick to the original plan and just replace one of you to play along with the game? Or should I just wipe all of you out right here, right now, and harvest your ÄRMs?"
It is a universal truth that whenever a group is provoked, two types of people are always the first to step forward.
The first is the most impulsive, hot-headed member.
The second is the weakest member, desperate to prove their worth to the rest of the group.
Unsurprisingly, Garon—whom Suyan had already deduced was weaker than Loco—fit both categories perfectly. Add in the fact that Garon possessed a hideous, deformed face and viciously envied any man better-looking than him, and his reaction was guaranteed.
"You cocky little sh*t!!" Garon roared.
Without another word, the massive brute charged at Suyan like an enraged bull.
None of the other Knights intervened. Some wanted to watch the show, while others actively wanted to use their weakest member as a probing tool to gauge Suyan's true strength. They simply stood their ground, watching the farce unfold.
Suyan smiled. This was exactly what he wanted.
Normally, he wasn't the type to show off unnecessarily. But from the moment they arrived, he could feel Snow White's paralyzing anxiety. Rather than telling her a thousand times that she was safe, it was far more effective to simply prove his overwhelming power through action. This loudmouth idiot was the perfect sacrificial lamb to make his point.
"Dimension ÄRM, Sky: Infinity Castle!"
Suyan raised his right hand, pointing his Sky Vongola Ring directly at the charging brute.
Suddenly, the distinct twang of a biwa echoed through the air.
Before Garon could even register the sound, a sliding paper door materialized directly beneath his feet. The doors slammed open, and Garon plummeted instantly into the chaotic, multi-dimensional expanse of the Infinity Castle.
Clack.
The doors snapped shut and vanished into thin air. Garon was swallowed whole by the void, leaving absolutely no trace behind.
As the elite combatants of the Chess Pieces, the Knights had seen their fair share of magic. Recognizing the technique as a Dimension ÄRM similar to the Training Gate, they didn't immediately jump to conclusions. Whether Garon had actually lost depended entirely on whether he could break out of the spatial prison.
And so, the Knights waited in silence. Even Phantom rested his chin on his knuckles, watching the spot where the portal had vanished with genuine intrigue.
A moment later, the distinct sound of sliding doors echoed again.
The Knights tensed, preparing for combat.
However, it wasn't Garon who emerged from the portal. Instead, a single, bloody object was violently ejected into the air: the rook-shaped earring Garon had worn to denote his status as a Knight.
"So, holding onto this means I can replace him as the new Zodiac Knight, correct?" Suyan asked, catching the earring smoothly. His cold, clear voice echoed through the silent hall.
It was true that the Infinity Castle inherently lacked offensive capabilities; it was merely a spatial prison. But Suyan had possessed the Infinity Castle and Lady Tamayo for over half a year now. They hadn't exactly been idle.
The Infinity Castle was currently crawling with vicious, bloodthirsty demons that Tamayo had extensively genetically modified. Suyan essentially used the dimension as a massive Gu-poison jar, letting the demons cannibalize and evolve. Combined with the spatial buffs provided by the castle itself, every single demon inside possessed strength rivaling at least a Lower Rank member of the Twelve Kizuki. Garon hadn't stood a chance.
"Indeed," Phantom nodded slowly, his eyes gleaming with approval. "The Chess Pieces care nothing for your origins or your past. As long as you possess the strength and the willingness to join, you are one of us."
"Since you have defeated Garon, you are our newest Knight."
"Even if I still plan on stealing your ÄRMs?" Suyan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Phantom chuckled softly. "If you have the power to do so."
"Fascinating. I've changed my mind," Suyan said, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "I'll let you hold onto my ÄRMs for a little while longer."
"But if any of you lose during the upcoming War Game, I won't hesitate to take your ÄRMs by force."
"So make sure you protect yourselves in the arena. Because if you accidentally break my ÄRMs... even if you survive the match, I might just kill you myself."
Suyan's gaze swept across the room, lingering on every single Knight before finally locking onto the man on the throne. His voice dropped to a chilling octave. "And that includes you, Phantom."
"Is that so?" Phantom smiled, completely unfazed. "How wonderfully exciting. I look forward to it."
"Now then, let us welcome our newest comrade to the fold."
At Phantom's command, Peta politely began to clap. Seeing the tactician initiate, the rest of the Knights followed suit, filling the hall with a hollow, eerie round of applause.
After a few moments, Phantom raised a hand, silencing the room instantly. "That concludes the welcoming ceremony."
"The War Game will commence shortly. Those who wish to participate, please register with Peta."
"If possible, I would prefer it if all of you participated. After all, a game is only entertaining when there are enough players on the board."
"But I will not force you. The choice is entirely yours."
With Phantom's announcement concluded, the silent Knights finally began to voice their excitement.
"Kekeke, it's finally starting?! The War Game?!"
"Something this fun? There's no way I'm missing out."
"This time... I'm going to kill so many more people."
"If it is your wish, Lord Phantom, I will participate."
"I wonder how much the world will change this time? I simply can't wait."
"Magical Roe." Phantom ignored the chaotic chatter, turning his gaze toward the clown. "Take Princess Snow White to the Queen as requested."
"Yes, my Lord!" Magical Roe nodded.
He walked over to Snow White, his heart aching with complex emotions. "Princess, please come with me. Your mother has been waiting for you for a very long time."
Hearing this, Snow White gripped Suyan's hand tightly, looking up at him with desperate, pleading eyes.
Suyan smiled warmly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. He then looked at the clown. "Do you mind if I tag along to meet this Queen of yours, Magical Roe?"
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