Chapter 203 - The Game Of Kings

The Dark Silhouette walked slowly toward Ayla. The monster decided that she would be his first target. 

Of course, Keya had teamed up with Ayla, and they were ready to take the hit together, but the others had pulled away from them.

Wain retreated to the left side of the hall while Finch and Dia stood to the left. They watched the fight intently, like spectators in a coliseum. 

Wain was curious to see what the Elves would do in a critical situation. They would have to use their most powerful skills to survive.

"Miss Ayla, I think we should use our Beyonds." Keya suggested, and blue energy enveloped her arms.

"Yes, I think so too, but there is no need to hurry. First, we must find out what our opponent is capable of."

Ayla's eyes flashed, and an energy bow and three arrows appeared in her hands. She used all the arrows simultaneously, drew the bowstring, and fired a powerful shot.

Each of the arrows had to hit a specific point. One in the head, one in the neck, and one in the chest. However, the dark silhouette simply swung his sword and knocked the arrows away.

"Damn." Ayla bit her lip, "My attacks can't do anything to him. He's got great equipment..."

Keya attacked next. She folded her arms together and then spread them apart. Above her appeared five spheres, which would turn into magical arrows that collapsed on the dark silhouette.

Whooooosh.

However, the monster decided to use one of its skills, and electrical discharges appeared on its body. The silhouette turned into blue lightning and swung its sword sharply.

The weapon's blade plunged into Keya's flesh and left a deep cut on her chest. She cried out in pain and struggled to step aside. 

Blood wouldn't stop flowing from her wound, but the girl was calm. Such wounds posed no threat to her.

She pulled a vial of red liquid from her pocket and drained it quickly. Her wound began to regenerate quickly. It was even faster than Purple Pilgrim's when he activated his Beyond.

"Guess it can't be helped. I'll have to use the most powerful thing I have. Keya, save your strength." Said Ayla, and the air around her rippled.

She decided to use Beyond, as it was the best option in this situation. Keya had healed her wound and was ready for battle, but she had to conserve her strength for the emergency.

Ayla realized that she would have less than 10% of her total energy left after she used her Beyond. In that case, if Finch, Wain, and Dia decided to attack her, she wouldn't be able to stand up to them.

So she decided to deal with the monster independently, so Keya could save her in that case.

Tremble.

A large amount of energy accumulated around Ayla, and she used Beyond. The next moment, as if from a vortex, an azure tiara appeared on her head, as well as a long, blue staff in her hand.

Unlike all the previous Beyonds Wain had seen, this one was very different. No silhouette appeared above Ayla as above Luar or Ria, the power concentrated on her.

'Hmm, it looks like my Beyond, the crown that appears on my head is just as material, but the energy on my arms is not. It looks like Beyonds divided into several types. It's interesting...' Thought Wain and decided to smoke.

He blew out a puff of smoke, and it turned into a ripped doll. Wain had long been trying to figure out if there was any meaning to what the blue smoke was turning into or if it was all an accident. 

He liked that kind of mystery with no obvious answer.

The Dark Silhouette didn't wait any longer and turned back into blue lightning, but Ayla wasn't about to dodge anymore. 

She pointed the staff forward, and a large amount of energy gathered on its tip.

When Ayla was ready to attack, the tiara on her head glowed brightly, and the energy sphere split into dozens of small arrows. They were fast and strong, capable of piercing anything. 

However, the dark silhouette had no intention of retreating. Instead, it raised its sword above its head and used the same skill.

"What...!?" Ayla muttered in disbelief.

She couldn't believe that the dark silhouette knew the same skill, but she wasn't going to stop because of that. 

Ayla knew that no one could help her. Others watched her like ravenous hyenas and kites waiting to wound and crush her.

Whooooooosh.

Ayla waved her staff, and an energy cloud appeared over the monster. A hail of arrows rained down on the dark silhouette the next moment. The monster tried to block each of the arrows, but it didn't succeed.

Moreover, Ayla was about to continue her attack. She struck the ground with her staff, and the silhouette of an angry, gigantic wolf appeared, running toward the monster like a hound from hell.

The Dark Silhouette was unable to resist this attack. 

He was simultaneously attacked by energy arrows and the wolf, each bite of which tore the monster's flesh apart. 

Ayla realized that she was almost victorious and decided to make a final strike.

She snapped the staff in two and from there ripped out pure, white energy, which turned into a lotus. 

The flower flew toward the monster, and then each of the petals glowed brightly. At that moment, Wain, Finch, and Dia became alert and ran as far away as possible.

Booooooooom!

There was a deafening explosion, a dark silhouette torn apart. A purple soul flew toward Ayla, and she smiled contentedly.

'What? Why did the soul head toward her on its own? Could it be another flaw of humans? Wain pondered.

Crackle.

The tiara on the girl's head broke into pieces, and she vomited a mouthful of blood. Though she had won and gained a valuable soul, she was seriously exhausted.

"Ayla!" Shouted Keya and ran up to her.

Keya immediately gave to Ayla a potion and two pills, one to stop her internal bleeding and the other to increase her strength reserve. 

However, it would take at least a few hours for Ayla to regain at least a third of her strength, even with the medication she took.

Finch smiled and was about to attack the wounded Elf, but suddenly a dark vortex and mask appeared in the air.

"Congratulations, you made it through the second challenge. I think it's time to move on to the finale. Ah yes, the winner should get his well-deserved reward." Smiling wickedly, a mask said.

"Fuck you..." Ayla muttered, realizing that the mask was mocking her.

Whooooooosh.

The dark vortex headed toward Wain and stopped in front of him. The energy gradually turned into a small, hand-sized vial with a red liquid inside. 

The vial was beautiful and exquisite, with a unique glass stopper and an engraving of a drop of blood and a vine on it.

When the others saw it, their eyes widened in surprise, but Wain didn't yet realize how valuable a thing he had received. 

He did not know why they looked at him as if he had received the most beneficial treasure of all.

[Vial of Pure Blood Essence (First Chronicle, Heroic Rating)

This is a special vial filled with an extremely rare liquid. Such a thing can cost several fortunes of famous families, and it will be a reasonable price.

If you drink the entire contents of this vial, your blood purity will increase by 10%, but the higher your purity, the weaker the effect will be. 

At blood purity above 50%, the effectiveness of the vial drops to 5%, and at blood purity above 70%, the effectiveness drops to 3%.

It is impossible to increase blood purity above 90%].

'Hmm, Black Rabbit once mentioned blood purity and cited Elves and Vampires as examples. I guess I underestimated the importance of blood purity. They're looking at me like they're willing to sell me their souls to give me this thing.' Thought Wain and shoved the vial under his cloak.

"Hey, boy, don't you want to give that thing to me?" With a sly smile on his face, Finch said.

"What do you think? What's the point of me giving such a valuable thing to someone like you?" Wain replied with a smirk.

He knew Finch would fight to get the vial, but it didn't bother him. Wain was sure he would beat every one of them.

"I don't think you understand the situation you're in. Either you give me the vial, or in ten seconds, your charred, severed head will be lying on the floor. The choice is yours." Finch uttered, and his sword glowed brightly in white flame.

Next to him stood Dia, who also wanted the vial. Even if they didn't use it themselves, they could sell it for a great profit and get many other valuable items.

"Damn... Life really isn't fair..." Ayla muttered. Her tone was sad, and her eyes unhappy.

Her decision turned out to be the worst. She had to fight for others, to expend all her energy and get hurt because of her use of Beyond. 

Moreover, the reward would not go to her but to someone who hadn't even participated in the fight. When she thought about it, she was filled with anger.

"Fine, have it your way." Said Wain, and his aura began to intensify.

[You used the Title - Mentor Inquisitor.]

A silhouette of death with a bloody scythe appeared above Wain and a large amount of energy accumulated around him. He would use one of the forms and kill everyone without exception.

Wain believed this was a good moment for a duel that would decide which of them would pass on. 

He didn't need any competition and could easily get rid of them right now.

"Ayla, we need to get out of here. After they kill him, they will switch to us." Said Keya helping her friend to her feet.

"No." Ayla shook her head, "I doubt that will happen."

Saying that, she looked at the mask that had finally decided to participate in the conflict.

Whoooosh.

Dark chains appeared on Wain, Finch, and Dia, preventing them from moving and blocking their abilities. There was nothing they could do about it.

"Please, no fighting outside the trials. Something exciting is waiting for you, and I don't want you to kill each other now. You must wait a little while before you can tear each other apart." Suddenly, a tall, spiral staircase descended from the ceiling, said the mask.

Then the mask disappeared, as it had on previous occasions. Wain, Finch, and Dia were set free.

"How infuriating!" Shouted Finch and hit the floor with all his might.

"Come on. We'll still have time to fight him. Here, there's no way he can get away from us. First, we have to deal with that pesky mask." Said Dia and touched her mate's shoulder, and headed for the stairs.

Finch took a deep breath and followed her. The others did the same, including Ayla. She wasn't going to give up despite the difficult situation.

...

It took them an abnormally long time to get to the top. It took them an hour. They had walked up more than ten thousand stairs and were already mentally exhausted. 

Only they could see were dark stone walls lit by a few torches. The atmosphere was oppressive and intimidating.

No one liked it but Ayla. She had regained some strength during this time and could fight back if necessary. For her, the boring and long climb up was the best option.

Step.

Dia stepped forward and climbed to the top. She froze in place, her eyes wide with surprise. She was shocked by what she saw. 

The others didn't understand what was happening and quickly climbed to the top.

Wain looked around and could not say a word. There was a beautiful garden all around them, and above it was a blue sky with clouds floating on it. 

He didn't know how it was possible since they had been in some aristocrat's ancient mansion before.

It was an incredible sight. The sun's rays and the flowers growing harmoniously in the garden relieved all his fatigue in an instant, but there was something even more special here.

In the center of the garden was a huge chessboard, the size of a field.. On it was chess pieces as tall as the trees.