Abyssal Awakening

Luke gritted his teeth.

He deployed his chessboard and activated his second Resonance.

His eyes shifted as The Visionary took effect. His vision split into two. Predictions based on possible moves in his right, real time events on his left.

Creating a pawn, he threw it above the serpentine beast, transforming it into a rook.

Castling!

However, upon the beast's back, multiple eyes have already opened and locked him in sight.

Luke gritted his teeth and summoned a pawn. The piece began to disassemble itself, transforming into two before taking their final shape.

Bishop and a Queen piece!

Casting and Multiplication!

Silhouettes of Alice appeared beside him as they each fired a Void Flux at the beast!

Sparks of energy erupted, streaks of destruction slashing against the walls of this cavern.

Swapping himself with another piece, Luke slammed his hand against the ground.

The chessboard manifesting as dark chains burst out, injecting themselves into the beast's body.

Debuffs!

Attack Reduction, Speed and Defence Reduction, Overall power reduction!

Luke's debuffs were the direct opposite of his chess pieces. But in order to activate them, the requirements had to be met.

Yet even with this defence debuff, Luke saw the Void Fluxes bounce off the serpent's armour.

The old attack lacked the power while he lacked the body to sustain Alice's new attack.

Facing the barrage of attacks, the beast snapped its eyes towards Luke. Clearly annoyed, clearly losing patience.

Rearing its head back, a pulse of energy exploded out, slamming into Luke's body and throwing him back.

The silhouettes disappeared, the attacks stopped and the beast's outline began to twitch and writhe.

With a single stomp of its legs, the chessboard shattered apart. Its ribs, snapping open from the back as glowing red mounds burst open, unveiling a set of obsidian wings.

Barbed spikes burst out from its tail and body like thorns, just the act of attacking it was a risk.

Crimson lightning and fire crowned its head and spine.

Luke wiped the blood from his lips and stared at the beast that towered over him.

Indeed… What could he do?

When faced with such a situation, one couldn't help but wonder.

He wondered about the possibility.

If he had been infused with the powers of the Eclipse. If he had something special for himself.

But such a thought was unfair for the torment Ria had to go through.

Luke clenched his jaw.

'Are you going to keep being like this?' He asked himself.

It's easy to cling onto something else when faced with tribulations.

'Think Luke. Keep thinking. There's only one thing an average guy like yourself can do to keep up. Don't stop thinking of the possibilities.'

Applying the rook piece to himself, Luke buffed his speed and dodged the beast's tail slam.

*RUMBLE!!!

Upon impact, countless thorns began to burst out of the ground. Each had a crimson vein in the centre of their structure as Luke had a bad feeling about it. The fact that they remained rather than disappearing gave him some hints.

'A bomb? He's reducing the space I have to work with.'

Crushing several pieces together, Luke activated his resonance.

Promotion – Paladin!

*BANG!!!

An armoured figure dropped down from above, slamming its sword into the beast's neck yet it didn't budge!

"F*ck! What is wrong with your defence?!" Luke cursed, clasping his hands together and summoning two Bishops.

Void Fluxes fired into the beast's eyes, disorientating it. Its large body stumbled back, slamming into the cavern walls.

But… It wasn't enough.

Just blinding it for a moment wasn't enough against a beast of this calibre.

It wasn't enough against a Lord.

Wasn't enough against a God who would hold him hostage against Ria.

He needed more.

Luke contemplated on whether or not he should force himself to use Void Axis.

A power that Alice demonstrated that his body had no chance of sustaining.

Even with eight pawns boosting his casting along with the King and Queen pieces, he still fell short. And even when he fell short, his body broke apart and misfired.

That kind of obscene power… If he was able to sustain it then he'll be able to carry his own weight!

If only he had that kind of power.

Power!

". . ." Luke froze.

He didn't know what kind of expression he was showing right now but he knew one thing.

This was not the mindset he should have.

A never ending hunger for power only leads to dead ends.

Tunnel visioning himself into such lust…

Unacceptable.

Luke jumped back, avoiding the beast's next strike.

If such desire was acceptable, Ria would've accepted the Eclipse's blessings.

If such desire was acceptable, Alice would've stolen the souls of everyone she met.

If he was to fall for such desires, what right does he have to look at them in the eyes without guilt?

Brushing his hair back, he took a deep breath and calmed his mind.

This state of emotion was unbefitting of one who plays chess.

His powers have already paved the way for him. But seeing the tyrannical power wielded by Alice and Ria was the fuel for the envy in his heart.

Jealousy, what an ugly emotion.

Such vile jealousy that he even forgot why he took on this version of his power to begin with.

What is a master of chess but a master of control?

And if he could control the battlefield, the chessboard, then he could avoid any traps or plans that the enemy might have.

Lusting for power to that degree would only turn him into a mindless pawn that only knows how to move forward without any thought. Waiting for someone else to take control of his life.

By that point, he had stepped down from a player and become a piece on a game he couldn't control.

Allura always talked about the mindset. Through his ignorance, he presumed such mindset to be the kind where people are willing to throw away everything for the chance of victory.

But he was wrong.

The mindset that Allura referred to, was the mindset of making use of every possibility to their maximum effects. A mind that can comprehend and plan, a will that won't break. And the determination to carry everything out.

The mindset of one who trusts in their own capabilities, experiences and refuses to back down without a fight. One where they refuse to cling onto outside help such as Gods and hope that the other will resolve everything.

Right here right now, it was Luke against the beast.

There was no praying for help, no Ria to cover for his weakness. No Alice to end the fight in an instant.

No teacher to guide his moves.

In this moment, he needed to believe in everything he had learned up till now.

Luke stomped down with his foot, the chessboard reestablishing itself beneath the two of them.

*Badum…

He felt his heart beat. Not fast, not slow. Not angry, not happy.

Calm, collected and looking forward to the next move.

One step at a time.

While his body took things slowly, his mind simulated the battle ahead. The different variables, the different possibilities. Moves at his disposal, chess pieces that he could use.

As a chess player, his goal was never to hope that his queen piece can just barge through everything and take the enemy king. That's how the queen is killed.

Instead, it's countless little moves leading to a final check mate.

He was never suited for ending a fight in one go.

What he was suited for, what he had aimed for, was removing the enemy options one by one until they were left with nothing but a single king piece waiting for slaughter!

Paladin!

Luke snapped his fingers, summoning two Paladins that slammed their shields against the beast's tail.

Bishop!

Summoning two silhouettes of Alice, Luke had them fire Void Fluxes into the beast's eyes once more.

This time, flames began to burst out from the beast's body in an attempt to purge the pest around him.

Flicking his finger down, Luke applied the Queen piece debuff!

If the buff was to multiply, the debuff would be to reduce how effective their attack was!

The flames instantly died down as Luke applied the knight piece to himself.

Knight, Rook, Queen and King!

Four pieces stacked on top of each other as he aimed for the base of the wings where its flesh was still weak!

Queen + King debuff!

Chains burst out from around the beast, locking it in place while the opening on its back began to fester.

What he applied was a weakness debuff that allowed his next attack to be amplified!

En passant!

Twisting his body, he slashed at the base of the wings. Even with his shallow cut, when amplified by the debuffs, this shallow cut became a slash capable of severing the wings of this behemoth!

Landing on the ground, Luke didn't stop.

He could see the prediction of his Visionary buff.

A field of thorns around him.

Castling!

Swapping positions with a piece he threw out, Luke stacked both Knight and Queen pieces together!

Multiplied attack buff!

He could feel the power coursing through his veins.

Just as he was about to attack, he frowned and held back.

The beast was baiting him.

Dispelling the buff, he instead swapped it for Rook and Queen.

Multiplied Speed and Defence!

He shouldn't be hasty. Right now, he's the one in control of this chessboard. He dictated the pace of this battle and the beast has no choice but to follow.

For the beast was not a player.

No, it was simply a piece on the board, one of many, that can only watch as Luke surrounded it for a check mate.

This was how Luke fights. To strip away the enemy's option until only one move remains.

The move where he claims their head!