Chapter 298: Dark Demon’s Divine Move (4k)
“Here they come!”
Wit Gold clung to Robert’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.
He could keenly sense that something was off from the moment the game began.
Robert now represented not just himself but the entire first-year male student body of the Knight Academy!
For a long time, the first-year students of the Noble Academy had been pressing down on the Knight Academy due to the presence of Dark Demon! And in the recent Novice Tournament, they had suffered a significant defeat.
Many students might not have spoken their thoughts aloud, but they all remembered it in their hearts.
The students of the Knight Academy were known for their bravery and competitiveness. Even if something seemed impossible, they would still try. Especially when victory was within sight!
Robert’s proficiency in Mana Chess was among the best in the first year.
Facing a newcomer like Dark Demon, who was akin to a one-off phenomenon, it was inconceivable that he could lose, especially considering how sixth-year students often dominated first-years.
Mana Chess strategies were diverse, and relying solely on a powerful third-level piece couldn’t dominate the battlefield.
If Robert maintained his advantage, he had a huge chance of winning!
…
Robert, who was expected to perform well, suddenly widened his eyes. When he saw Dark Demon leading a large group of Noble Academy boys into the classroom, he knew that Dark Demon was facing similar challenges.
He blinked, hoping to find some common ground with Dark Demon’s eyes.
But he failed.
Because Dark Demon was delighted by so many people following him.
To spread the name of “Vlad the Vampire.”
Not only did he want to win,
But he wanted to win decisively!
With “Vlad the Vampire” as the core, he aimed to win decisively!
…
Dark Demon didn’t show any signs of weakness upon seeing the gathering of students from the Knight Academy.
He walked straight towards the crowd, pushing aside the students blocking Robert, and said to Robert, “I’m here! When do we start?”
Robert’s mixed thoughts suddenly cleared up when he heard this. His eyes brightened as he replied, “Now.”
Dark Demon waved and said, “Good, I’m in a hurry.”
Indeed, he was in a hurry.
He planned to complete the content of the Arithmetic textbook today.
But to others, it sounded like a challenge.
Robert himself didn’t take it too seriously, but the students behind him erupted in an instant!
Of course, given Dark Demon’s growing prestige among the first-year students, they didn’t direct their anger at him, but instead focused on the students from the Noble Academy behind him.
The boys from both academies, who had clashed countless times before, glared at each other with fire in their eyes, and the atmosphere grew tense, as if they were ready to fight at any moment!
Dark Demon moved a chair to one end of the desk and opened the chess box, taking out the folded chessboard inside.
Robert, who also brought a chessboard, immediately gave up on bringing it out when he saw Dark Demon’s chessboard.
The price difference between their boards was at least two times.
Although Robert paid nearly five hundred credits for the entire set of Mana Chess, it was naturally incomparable to the Mana Chessboards used by the professors.
At the start,
He lost a point in terms of aura.
…
Dark asked, “According to the rules you mentioned in the challenge letter, is it a best-of-three?”
Robert replied solemnly, “Yes.”
In any competition, new players often had an inexplicable good luck.
He was determined to win this match and, not wanting to fail, he increased the number of rounds to improve his chances.
“Alright.” Dark nodded. “No悔 after placing a piece.”
Robert: “No悔 after placing a piece!”
Then both sides set up their formations. Without any further words, they started their battle!
…
At the same time.
Tudor behind Dark and Wit behind Robert also locked eyes.
If the atmosphere wasn’t so serious, they would have surely started a match right there!
…
“Rumble!”
As the Mana Chessboard was activated with mana, a small cloud of lightning appeared above it, turning the middle part of the board into a zone where pieces couldn’t normally pass through.
Two bridges emerged from the board, piercing through the lightning zone and connecting both sides.
On the board, various terrains appeared in sequence, and the castles of both sides rose accordingly. Initially, they were simple level-1 castles.
As the game progressed, and specific rules were met, the castles would automatically upgrade, becoming more magnificent.
Dark, using a beginner’s technique, took out three level-1 pieces and placed them around the castle.
This time, he started with “Light Elemental.”
The three level-1 “Light Elementals” were all priests, each with a unique healing ultimate skill.
When they were all on the field, they received a “Life Sharing” buff!
The three pieces could share damage, and unless all three were defeated, they wouldn’t be killed individually.
Once their health dropped to a certain level, Dark could use each “Light Elemental’s” healing ultimate skill to raise their health back up.
These three level-1 pieces, obtained from Professor Shylph, were virtually indestructible, making them rare in the level-1 domain.
Just these three level-1 pieces alone made others envious.
The students from the Noble Academy were seeing Dark use this combination for the first time.
“They’re even stronger than those three level-1 goblins…”
Tudor couldn’t help but twitch his lips.
He suddenly realized why Dark was so calm; it must be due to his confidence in his overwhelming wealth.
Damn rich players!
The students from the Knight Academy immediately realized the problem.
Dark Demon had a huge advantage over them: he had a massive amount of credits!
The gap in credit amounts led to a disparity in the quality of the pieces.
Once this quality gap crossed a certain threshold, even a god couldn’t intervene.
They couldn’t help but look worriedly at Robert—Robert wasn’t a credit powerhouse!
…
Little did they know, Dark was actually a freebie player…
And Robert, looking at Dark’s three “Light Elementals,” couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
He wanted to curse!
If it weren’t for so many people watching, he would have done so.
This was too unfair!
Whoever said that only Dark’s “Vlad the Vampire” was overpowered?
Could these “Light Elementals” also be pirated like “Vlad the Vampire”?
…
From the beginning of the match, the originally confident Knight Academy students felt a sense of foreboding.
Meanwhile, the Noble Academy students who secretly worried about Dark’s chess skills slightly raised their chests.
What if he was a rich player?
The credits used for spending in the academy were all accumulated by the students themselves.
That was the result of their hard work and a display of their strength!
They came from pure-blood noble families with deep backgrounds. Many of them were wealthy and skilled at using money to pressure others.
That wealth was a gift from their family heritage, and using it in such competitions would be despised.
But the “wealth” in the academy was different from outside.
In the academy, having wealth was a sign of virtue.
…
They still didn’t know that Dark was a freebie player.
…
In the subsequent match.
Using “Ultimate Skill: Last-Minute Study,” Dark no longer made frequent low-level mistakes like a complete novice.
Though he lacked sophisticated tactics, his steady and solid style, combined with powerful pieces, began to suppress Robert early on!
This was completely different from when he faced Tudor.
The first-year students from the Noble Academy who had seen him play against Tudor couldn’t help feeling surprised.
Tudor himself felt like a squirrel with a chestnut stuck in its throat, realizing that his revenge dream might once again be dashed.
Was this human progress?
Dark hadn’t played anyone in the meantime, right?
Did he spend all his time in the dorm, generating electricity with Little Left and Little Right?
But no matter how surprised they were, Dark’s chess skills were clearly beyond that of a novice.
In fact, there was a certain overlap between Mana Chess tactics and Mana Duels.
Just like the Thirty-Six Stratagems could apply to many fields beyond warfare.
Extensive knowledge and broad experience helped Dark quickly grasp the rules of Mana Chess.
Now, he was almost a different person compared to a few days ago.
…
When Dark’s pieces occupied the “Mana Crystal Mine” on the board and stayed for three turns, his “castle” suddenly expanded, upgrading from a simple level-1 castle to a relatively luxurious level-2 castle!
This meant he could start deploying level-2 pieces.
Robert was already at a disadvantage on the board.
This was something Robert hadn’t anticipated at the start.
However, his high cultivation in Mana Chess kept him composed, not shaken by the temporary disadvantage.
Immediately after, Robert maneuvered his pieces to jump into the lightning zone, reaching the required damage threshold, and his castle thus upgraded passively!
This decisive “self-harm” move caused the young magi to discuss fervently.
Robert’s high level in Mana Chess began to reveal itself gradually.
He compensated for the inferiority of his pieces through positioning and strategic use of the board terrain.
In the confrontation of level-2 pieces,
Although Dark’s pieces still had an advantage in terms of strength, the overall situation gradually turned against him until it was reversed!
Robert’s gameplay was not the typical aggressive type but rather a meticulous style, gradually eroding the opponent through careful management.
Avoidance…
Counterplay…
Capitalizing on momentum…
Weakening the strong.
Only those who had played against him knew how high his level truly was.
A first-year student achieving such a level in Mana Chess required not just effort and passion but also talent above a certain threshold.
If he could divert some of his dedication from Mana Chess to his studies, he wouldn’t have struggled so much last semester.
Further still,
If he could apply his understanding and techniques of Mana Chess to real-world situations instead of just theoretical knowledge, he might transform from a “foolish” role to a “wise strategist”!
Dark felt surprised.
As the board局势 gradually came under his control, this feeling became more pronounced.
This best-of-three match might completely overturn his subjective impression of Robert!
Robert had a brain.
…
As the match progressed,
Dark also began to strategize.
He continuously used shield-type Mana Chess pieces to block Robert’s pieces, thereby accumulating “damage taken.”
Although there was a rule that allowed the castle to upgrade from level 2 to level 3 based on total damage taken, it was not easy to achieve.
At the same time, the opponent could also upgrade their castle from level 2 to level 3 based on total damage dealt.
However, before that happened,
Robert had already upgraded his castle from level 2 to level 3 by simultaneously occupying three “Mana Crystal Mines” for three consecutive turns!
He began to deploy level-3 pieces first.
At this point, Robert encountered resistance.
Based on his calculations, to avoid cheating pieces like “Vlad the Vampire,” he needed to occupy and destroy Dark’s castle before it reached level 3.
So he had to avoid attacking Dark’s pieces unnecessarily to prevent them from accumulating enough damage.
However, Dark showed extremely high tactical prowess in his deployment—something unusual for a student his age—which hindered Robert’s progress.
Setting aside well-known military strategies, Dark was an enthusiast of chess and military strategy games, already possessing considerable skills that he was now applying to Mana Chess.
Simply relying on piece strength had its limitations.
Only by quickly improving his chess skills could he overcome this.
As Dark’s total damage taken gradually accumulated, Robert couldn’t always remain passive.
Finally, after a prolonged stalemate,
Robert managed to kill some of Dark’s pieces and broke through to Dark’s castle.
But if he attacked, the damage to the castle would still count toward “total damage taken,” and Dark’s total damage taken was just short of another upgrade!
“Should I strike or not?”
Robert looked at the “Wolf Axe Warrior” holding a large blade standing in front of the castle, unable to give the order!
The young magi rushing to watch the excitement couldn’t help but hold their breaths.
The classroom fell silent except for Robert’s slightly hurried breathing,
“Strike!”
A Knight Academy student couldn’t help but shout.
“Strike!”
Robert’s innate courage caused a reversal.
The “Wolf Axe Warrior” raised the large blade and struck down with a single command!
One slash and the castle was half destroyed!
But Dark smiled.
“Vlad the Vampire, enter!”
…
In that instant, a hint of blood surged in Robert’s eyes.
