The woman gave off pressure that very nearly forced me to my knees. She smiled pleasantly, though beneath it was a hidden bloodlust I could barely sense. At least she had killing intent. The statues gave off none, so sensing them was far more difficult. Noticeably, my soul energy had been replenished and was no longer being drained– the conditions of this trial were different. Then again, she said she’d explain the rules, meaning there were things I didn’t know.

Her hair was purple and flowed down her shoulders, meeting her waist elegantly, pushed behind her ears, which were revealed to have pointed tips. Her eyes were a stark blue colour, contrasting to her tanned skin. Dressed in a rather elegant black dress with various symbols adorning it, particularly one of a moon on a golden belt hat wrapped around her waist. The sleeves of the dress were detached, leaving her shoulders and upper arm open to view, but I didn’t linger too long on her appearance, as I could feel her watching me.

Taking a few steps back, I retreated to the edge of what looked to be a large chess board. In the darkness, I couldn't make out any other figures other than her, but there was a menacing aura filling the room that I simply couldn't shake, an aura that sent shivers down my spine, more than Jasper ever had. Attempting to gauge her strength was simply impossible, as her core was on such a high level I couldn't even sense the soul energy she was emitting.

As she began to make her way over to me, I instinctively took on a fighting stance. Yet, she waved an arm as though to say that there was no need for it. I didn't relax, not fully. There were far too many variables I didn't know of to assume the second trial didn't involve fighting the woman in front of me. Her voice rang loud and clear, and carried throughout the entire room.

“I am Jing Yao, master of the second trial, the Trial of Intuition. This trial serves to test your tactical intelligence, much as the last trial served to test your insurance and quick thinking.”

With a snap of her fingers, flames lit in every corner of the room. So she was definitely a flame elemental sage at least… I took a mental note of that, just in case I needed to use my knowledge in the future of this trial.

“As you can see, you are standing on a large chess board. Your goal in this trial is to beat me in a chess match. However, because there is one missing piece on each side, you and I must play as well.” I noticed that on both sides, the king pieces were missing. Clicking my tongue, I let out a sigh. Nothing could ever be easy in this place.

“Of course, because these pieces are life-sized and animated, and this is no ordinary chess game, if you are struck down, you will die. By playing this game, you agree to obey all the rules of chess–”

Her words faltered, watching Diana. Blue eyes completely trained on my feline companion, she scoffed slightly and covered her mouth with a splayed hand, through which I could see a very sinister smirk. If it hadn't been for my Kismet passively enhancing my hearing, I wouldn't have been able to hear the words she proceeded to mutter.

“So… the defective rat has decided to crawl back to its master after all…”

I pretended not to hear, but my head twisted to face Diana as I pondered on what Yao had said about her. It caused my gut to writhe, and also my anger to flare as I barely reigned in my own murderous intent due to what she had said about my companion. Defective– I refused to believe it. Diana had saved my life and my sanity multiple times over in this dungeon and this woman had the gall to call her defective.

Now I had one more reason to finish this trial in one go.

“My companion, Diana,” I said, referring to her by name almost as an act of defiance against what the woman had said, “will be joining me in this trial. Of course, only if you have no objections, Miss Jing.”

Yao let out a bated breath. I knew she had to, for she didn't see Diana as anything more than scum and a lesser being.

“Very well then. Your… pet can join you in this trial.”

“Perfect!” I said happily, enough to mask my prior displeasure at her words which I hoped she hadn't noticed.

Dropping Requiem off to one side, I instead chose one of the blades I had taken off of the body of a titan. It was long and sturdy, perhaps a little too heavy for my tastes, but it would have to do. I didn't wish to show her the blade if possible.

As we stepped into the square on which the king should have stood, I took a look at my pieces. So I was on the white side. My eyes turned down to Diana, who looked back up at me with the same amount of determination.

“You’re right. Let’s show that witch who’s boss.”

—

A familiar feminine voice that I hadn't heard in a while rang out loud and clear through my head, not nearly as jarring as the first time I'd heard it. Now, I could hear her somewhat without being forced to my knees. And that alone wasn't much. Just how strong was she?

“So, I see you've become stronger in the time I wasn't looking– well done,” Isabella voiced inside of my mind, her tone seemingly pleasantly surprised, though it was hard to gauge as I couldn't see nor interact with her. “However, that is not the point of my message. That woman– ‘Jing Yao’– as she said her name was– has an uncanny amount of killing intent directed towards your companion. It would be best to watch her, for she may take the opportunity to attempt to kill her using the rules of this trial as an excuse.”

I didn't respond, but I had acknowledged her words, so she faded back into the realm of our shared Mind’s Eye. I would have to be careful, immensely so. Not for my own safety, but for Diana's– and I wondered where such immense hatred, that even Isabella pointed it out, could have come from.

Just who was Diana?

It wasn’t a question I needed answers to just yet, but it lingered in the back of my mind, haunting me like a ghost with every movement I made. She wasn’t normal, I had learned that much. But to have a servant of the Guardian of Huagong Forest know who she was? That was beyond any expectations I could’ve had.

“Keep yourself focused, boy,” I heard Yao taunt from the opposite end of the room. “We wouldn’t want to make this too quick, after all.” So, she was cocky. I could use that to my advantage. If there was one thing I did well, it was learning quickly.

Since I was playing with white pieces, it was my move first. Gesturing to a pawn, I moved it forward two spaces from c2 to c4. Yao followed, moving her piece from d7 to d6. It shouldn’t have been able to hit my piece, however, the tall black figure raised a hand and shot out a blazing fireball from it’s hand and struck my pawn, blowing it to pieces.

“Hey,” I let out a yell, “that’s not fair! You can’t attack my pawn from there!” In response to my anger, Diana let out a hiss at our cheating opponent as well, who simply shrugged in response, a sadistic grin on her face from watching the pawn’s remains be scattered across the room. If I was unlucky, that would be me.

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“My game, my rules.” She responded with her tongue out, pulling down on her bottom eyelid to mock me and Diana.

“Liar,” I spat, “You said that the game would be following the normal rules of chess. You agreed–”

“Actually, you agreed to it. I said ‘By playing this game, you agree to obey all the rules of chess’, did I not? I never said I would.”

My teeth gritted and my fists balled with pure rage, because she was right. I had fallen for such a simple, petty trick. A play on words that had I been focusing, I would have easily spotted the holes within her words. And now, because of it, I had roped both Diana and I into an unfair death game. To win against someone not playing by the rules by playing by the rules was by all accounts, impossible. Especially considering that if I disobeyed them, there was no doubt in mind she could kill me instantaneously.

If I used the ability granted by my Kismet, I could survive– but that would take everything out of me, and I had no idea what the final trial had in store for me, so using up my last resort now wasn’t even close to an option.

“What, are you giving up?” Yao mocked, but I ignored her.

I took in a deep breath, calming my heart and my nerves and pushing my sleeves up. If I were to panic, it wouldn’t reflect well on Diana. And as such, I could do nothing but try my damnedest to win.

“Nah. I want to punch your face in even more, now.”

—

The chess match continued with Yao’s blatant cheating, but there wasn’t anything I could do to stop her. As king, both our movement’s were limited, yet I used this to my advantage. The strongest piece on the board had a limited range of movement as well as spaces to attack, which I could tell was frustrating her because even with the way she was playing, she was unable to kill me.

Making sure to stay out of harm’s way so she couldn’t disintegrate Diana the first chance she got, I subtly began to knock her pieces out and surround her in an ironclad curtain. Slowly, she began to become more and more agitated with the fact things weren’t going no way no matter how many of my pieces she blew to bits, or shattered, or electrocuted to death.

And soon, it came down to the final turn. I– we had her surrounded, and completely in check. Drawing the blade from my back, I held it in two hands, struggling slightly to keep it aloft due to the weight difference between it and Requiem. It certainly wasn’t a good fit for my small body, considering it was taller than I was. Yet I held it steady by my side, eyes trained on Yao.

I had become the predator.

“Yield.” I hissed. “Yield, and I’ll spare your life.”

That only served to make her more angry, and she released a blast of flames in every direction. I slammed the blade into the floor, creating a blast of wind that dispersed the flames, which licked at the edges of my attire but didn’t burn me. All of our pieces– both hers and mine, had been destroyed, and I had been pushed back a considerable distance.

She stood over Diana, picking up the beast by the scruff of her pelt, flames igniting her hand.

My head reeled as scenes of what had happened between Jasper and Hua returned to my mind. Yao’s figure overlapped with his as the two scenes merged to become one within the halls of my fearstruck, guilt-ridden mind.

The flames blazed, and I had been helpless to save her as he held Hua over the edge of the cliff, burning away at her skin. I couldn’t let it happen again. Not to Diana. Not to her. Please. I had gained so much strength, and for what? It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough to protect those close to me, to protect one Elsyian Beast, the only companion I held close enough to show my true feelings.

‘KILL HER. KILL HER. KILL HER. KILL HER. KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER KILLHERKILLHERKILLHERKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL’

The voices in my head screamed, only amplifying my own thoughts. Fury had already set in, and she realised this, dropping Diana who ran away, hiding in the corner. Her body turned to me, ridden with fear, shaking as I stared at her down.

Every step seemed to carry the weight of thousands with it. My gaze carried bloodlust that only one who had murdered thousands could obtain, until the very count itself became meaningless, like dust in the wind. Even if I didn’t realise it then. She shrunk down, and my fists balled.

“You would dare to lay your hands on my companion?” My voice reverberated against the walls of the room, loud and clear, and she spluttered, unable to respond, barely forming a few words.

“She is a defective product, and this is none of your business. You have no right to get involved. I am the servant of the Guardian of Hua–”

“I don’t care who you are.” I interrupted, her foul words ceasing on her lips, and she raised a hand against me, charging up a blast of flame that would surely end my life. If only it had hit.

[Chronosphere]

The ability I had been granted from Isabella’s Kismet activated. All the soul energy in the surrounding atmosphere, and the physical structures that had taken shape because of it, moulding to surround it, completely froze and took upon a monotone black-and-white in my vision.

I didn’t have time to waste, time to talk to her. Yet I couldn’t help but smirk as she glanced around, looking at the frozen time. The flames dispersed, as they could not exist within this place.

“What have you done to me?” She snapped, confused, and angry.

“Nothing yet,” I replied coolly. “Since you clearly don’t know what’s going on here, and I’m going to kill you anyway, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

She charged at me clumsily, and I simply sidestepped, sticking out my foot and watching her gracelessly tumble to the ground in a pathetic and bruised heap.

“This is the first ability of my Kismet. Chronosphere creates a space separate from chronological time, similar to splicing a VHS ta– oh wait, you guys don’t have those here.” I had gotten so used to the memories of my old life as Xeno, I had forgotten this world hadn’t had that amount of technological enhancements.

“Anyway, within Chronosphere, we are completely separate. Chronosphere cannot alter the past, for the past is set in stone. Yet, from Chronosphere, there are an infinite number of futures that can take place. But because of my limited stamina, no matter how much I train, I can only see one future. I can place myself forward in that future.”

I watched as she pushed herself to her feet, raising her hands in a fighting stance. I clicked my tongue, and sighed. She really never gave up. If it wasn’t for this small body, unaccustomed to fighting with my own style, and far too physically weak, I’d have ended this before it had to come to this point.

I took one step forward, and she flinched. The guilt of what I was about to do to do was almost palpable — almost. My vision narrowed, the world around me turning to an unnecessary emptiness, my mind focusing on one thing: Yao.

[Blink]

Time remained detached. The symphony of ringing in my ears was occasionally accompanied by the gut wrenching celery snaps of her bones. She fell to the floor, the once towering woman reduced to a broken, deplorable heap. Bone jarringly jutted out of her skin at her unnaturally bent knees and elbows. Blood seeped from her wounds, pooling beneath where she sat. Inhuman cries were wretched from her throat. Her head twisted towards me, tears streaming down her cheeks and mixing with the blood pooling beneath her.

“A servant of a Guardian?” I scoffed, twisting my head back to face her, eyes cold and completely devoid of any form of compassion or sympathy for her pathetic state. My hands dripped with blood, her blood.

“I told you before. I don’t care who you are.”

“P-please–” She begged, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Know. Your. Place.”

The world slowly started to come back to me as the adrenaline started to wear off. I left her there. She was nothing more than a puny ant destined to fall victim to the time's merciless boot, stamped from existence.

I collapsed to my knees, not even bothering to spare Yao a glance as my body felt heavy, like lead, and my vision began to become swamped. I had to get up. I had to make sure Diana was okay. But I had overused Chronosphere, gone over my limit, and used Blink as well. Diana padded over, licking my face, attempting to keep me awake. I simply stroked her head, smiling softly.

“Ah… you’re okay. That’s good. I’ll just…take a quick rest. Then we can… move onto… the last trial….”

My vision went black, and the void of sleep and dreams devoured me.