“Bets! Come up with something! I will buy you all some time!” Kon yelled out.

Bets was like a leaf in a whirlpool of emotion and confusion. "What do you mean by that?!"

Kon didn’t answer and instead picked up the sword he had thrown on the ground. Then he put the blade with the white handle on his hip.

"You have a calm inner energy," the demon growled, staring at Kon and intensifying the pressure so much that it was hard to breathe. "I am the great Guardian of the Lake, Aajl. It's been a while since I've tasted exorcist flesh. But I like my meat cooked!"

As the beast opened its mouth, it once more gathered an obscene amount of energy in its mouth. The ball of electricity crackled, and the giant beast threw it as if it was nothing.

Gem tried gathering his shadows to create some sort of defense. But the shadows were too slow and would disintegrate as soon as they clashed with the electricity’s light. The only one who didn't seem panicked was Kon.

Maybe he was already in shock, Bets thought.

Kon stared at the incoming ball of lightning moving faster than sound and threw the unsheathed sword to the ground.

Bzzzzzt!... There was a crackling sound. The lightning had halted in front of Kon as if an invisible wall had stopped it.

It wasn't a barrier. But in the middle of the lightning ball was a spinning sword. It stopped the lightning from moving any further.

Electricity was a lazy energy that would follow the fastest path to travel. The electricity didn't move toward Kon and shot down on the water's surface.

Though he hadn't seen it, Bets knew what had happened. Kon had thrown the sword in the way of the lightning.

He understood the theory behind the defense. But Bets knew no one would do something like that! Even one wrong move slightly to the side, and everything would be over!

The lightning would have blasted his head! How could he be so confident?!

'No! I mustn't concentrate on that. My job is to find some way to deal with this situation!' Bets didn't want to betray Kon's trust, and he tried to think of anything that could help.

Then Kon used his other sword, which he hadn’t unsheathed, and jumped. He hit the sword rotating with electricity like a baseball.

The hit was precise; despite the sword rotating, he had hit its handle and sent blade-first at the eel demon. The blade went into the eel’s forehead, in the middle of the yin-yang tattoo.

The attack didn’t have enough momentum behind it and plunged deep enough for only the tip of the blade to penetrate. Yet that was enough to charge the electricity through the demon’s body.

Even with lightning running through its blood, the demon only stared at Kon. “That was impressive, Exorcist. However, I can feel the coldness in your aura. I don’t think you can even hear me. But sadly for you, I’m resistant to my electricity.”

Immediately Bets tried to think of something, but the only thing he could hear was his heartbeat.

What could he use here? What could they do?

Gem’s ability was shadow control, where he could turn it into beasts. The shadow beasts became stronger the more Ord he put into the technique.

He had been promoted to Queen; his Ord was quite plentiful. But the shadow beast, at best, only had the strength of a mid-class demon. It was incomparable to a high class.

Agon could punch hard. That was his special ability. It was surprising he could stop a high class demon’s attacks. “Agon! How many times can you use your ability? Can you make it stronger?”

Kon had put the sword in the forehead of the demon eel; if Agon could punch that, then maybe…

“Sorry. I can only use my ability three times a day with the Ord I have. I have already used it twice, and only have one left. Since it’s the last one, it will be the weakest of my attacks. I will probably fall unconscious and become dead weight after I use it.” Agon apologized. He had a crooked smile as if trying to reassure everyone that it would be okay.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

His words brought Bets’ hopes crashing down.

Kon’s ability was unknown. It seemed like he was already using it. To Bets, the ability looked like something like Probability Manipulation. He had done feats that even someone who had practiced those moves for years would have difficulty doing on the spur of the moment.

‘Though it seems like one of the conditions of his ability is that he can’t speak.’ Bets didn’t spend more time analyzing Kon’s ability. Because when he asked Bets for help, Kon likely knew that his ability wouldn’t be able to win the fight.

Bets believed that Kon was smarter than him. His teammate was always at least two steps ahead than he could ever think. In this mission, Kon had shown it too.

Bets was confused why Kon chose him to plan a way to escape this. Why him? If Kon couldn’t come up with something, then Bets was sure he wouldn’t be able to either.

‘No, I mustn't think about such things while in such a dire situation! I must only think of how to save us all!’

As Bets was brainstorming, the only ability he hadn't taken into account was his own.

But what could his chess ability do? Suddenly he got an idea, took out a Rook chess piece, and threw it at Agon. "Use this piece! If you accept it, then it will give you a power boost."

Agon nodded and didn't question things. He grabbed the chess piece with his uninjured arm. "I accept!"

Immediately the chess piece started getting absorbed into Agon's skin.

'Yes! This should increase his power!' Bets thought. But suddenly, a malicious Ord gathered around Agon's palm and pushed the Rook piece out.

"Huh?" Even Agon seemed confused. But realization drew in his eyes, and he winced. "Sorry, it seems like the thing inside of me won't allow it."

Bets didn't say anything and took the Rook piece that Agon threw back. He couldn't use the piece on himself, and Kon didn't seem in a state where he could accept it.

What now?

The beast was charging another lightning blast, and there was no way to stop it. This attack seemed at least twice as strong as the last one.

It hadn't even been a minute since the beast had revealed itself. Yet the battle felt like an eternity.

Bets felt useless! His King piece was useless! Just like how real Kings were useless too! They just use unfair taxes on the poor!

Wait, taxes…

A revelation hit Bets. He wasn't just a chess piece. He closed his eyes and sensed the pawn piece inside Gem, which had been temporarily promoted into a queen piece.

Concentrating even more, he could sense the Ord inside the piece and Gem himself. Though Gem’s ability was strong, it would still dissipate as his shadow approached the bright lightning. So all that Ord was useless against this kind of opponent.

"Gem, I'm going to try something. So be prepared!" Bets warned, and he tried to touch the Ord inside Gem's body with his senses.

"{King's Unfair Tax}"

Immediately, all of the Ord inside Gem's body and the queen piece flew through an invisible link. Bets felt more powerful than ever, as his Ord was overflowing. He had absorbed Gem's Ord.

'Yes! It worked! So this was the drawback for someone who accepts my pieces. I can absorb their Ord, and they can use the permanent boost the chess piece gives them.'

But while Kings were unfair, they also gave generous gifts to their friends. While Gem was breathing heavily, Bets ran and put his hand on Agon’s back.

He tried to do the opposite of what he did with Gem.

"{King's Gracious Gift}"

He didn't just give Agon the Ord he had gotten from Gem, but also all of his own Ord. "Agon, your punch gets stronger the more Ord it has, right? Go and punch that bastard to death."

Bets gave him all of his Ord, everything started getting hazy, and Bets realized he was about to pass out.

Should he save some Ord for himself? No, better give it all to Agon. Even a 0.1% increase in their chances was better.

"Now, it's all up to you, Agon," Bets felt darkness consume him, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

***

Agon stared at his teammate, that fell to the ground.

Ever since he came to the Exorcist Academy, he had faced many hurdles. Due to his lacking talent, no one trusted him to be able to do anything.

Well, there was one person who trusted him.

A memory of a girl dying came to his mind. She had been the only person who had believed in him. But in the end, she died. "There's no way I will ever let a friend die again!"

Agon felt energized with the Ord Bets had given him. He felt stronger than ever.

"P -Punch the sword," Gem told him between his heavy gasps.

Kon stood between the lightning attack coming toward them, with a sword in his grasp that he seemed ready to unsheathe.

'I will never let anyone die in front of me!'

He rushed, running faster than ever, using Ord to strengthen his body. His Warrior affinity showed its powers, as the lightning ball no longer seemed so fast.

As he approached the shore, Agon jumped toward the incoming lightning ball. He imbued all that power into his fist, and it shined so bright that even the sun seemed dim in comparison.

This was the power he and his friends had gathered! He couldn’t let their efforts go to waste!

Agon’s punch clashed with the lightning ball.

"{SUPER IMPACT!!!}"