Ashley

  I purse my lips as I read the mission details of the third Domain. The Order Domain.

  Court of Order

  You have entered the System Tower’s third Domain. The following objectives have been unlocked.

  Complete objective 1 or all of the objectives to conquer the third Domain.

  Complete 1 or more objective to leave the third Domain.

  All objectives will give an unspecified number of points towards your final System Tower score.

  Floors of the System Tower will vary depending on your total point score when arriving at them.

  Objective 1: Kill the Judge.

  Objective 2: Kill all monsters within the Court.

  Objective 3: Kill all Jury Enforcers within the Court.

  Objective 4: Find the Jewel of Order.

  Objective 5: Survive for 12 hours within the Court of Order.

  It’s pretty much the same as the last two, but with Order instead. So I’m guessing most of these Domains are all going to be the same.

  As for the text? It’s white.

  Which I guess makes sense for Order. The balance scale of the universe in a sense.

  As for the Domain itself?

  I can’t help but look around. Because the Domain is in the form of a strange pitch black realm full of random floating square platforms. With numerous monsters in the form of chess pieces. Except ones with feet.

  What’s even stranger is that the chess pieces are literally set up like chess pieces on a chessboard. With the platforms being chessboards.

  And there are hundreds of boards just from what I can see.

  Although the platform I’m on isn’t a chess board. It’s just a simple platform.

  Also, there is a bridge between the platform I’m on and the first platform with chess pieces. And there’s some sort of raised dais at the center of each chess board.

  I begin to walk across the bridge, only to pause when a System Notification appears in my vision. One that’s incredibly surprising to me.

  Huh? That’s… not what I was expecting.

  Not that I was really expecting anything.

  The Empress of Twilight? A new Class B Unique Monster…

  Is it… normal for Unique Monsters to be born this frequently?

  Chaos doesn’t respond, which reminds me about the whole ‘Primordials can’t talk in some of the other Primordial’s Domains in the System Tower ‘ thing. With the Order Domain being one of those ones that he can’t speak to me in.

  All because Justicar is extremely strict about most things.

  Which makes sense for the Primordial of Order.

  I wonder if the Primordial of Order was like that before becoming the Primordial of Order?

  That’s an interesting question, but whatever. It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.

  Although I’m kind of curious about whether Chaos knew Justicar before he became the Primordial of Order or not.

  Maybe I can ask Chaos about it later.

  For now, I focus on the chessboard platform in front of me as I walk across the bridge.

  None of the monsters are moving at all. But I can tell they’re monsters just from their life force and magical energies alone. And there are white monsters and black monsters.

  White ones on my side of the board and black monsters on the other side of the board.

  Something tells me the Domain wants me to play chess.

  And that assumption is confirmed when I step onto the chessboard and the monsters all begin moving. With each one making poses like they’re beginning to ready themselves for a game. Only to freeze into a ready position, returning to not moving again.

  I turn my gaze towards the raised dais at the center of the board again when it begins to glow. Almost like trying to tell me to step onto it.

  A few seconds pass as the thing glows before it starts pulsing with light. Then I shrug and step onto the thing out of curiosity.

  Following which the raised dais rises into the air and starts slowly spinning around the chessboard. And a control panel appears in front of me with the different board pieces and different spaces on the board are shown to me.

  My eyes narrow a little at the panel before I remember that chess games start from the white player’s side. Meanwhile the pieces the control panel looks like it controls for me are the white pieces.

  So out of curiosity, I begin the chess game.

  Honestly, I kind of like chess. So I don’t mind wasting time here playing.

  With that in mind, I play one move after another, finding the game to not actually be that difficult.

  In fact, it’s actually incredibly easy. So easy that it doesn’t take long before I win.

  And when I do win, all of the pieces on the board just blow up. Which makes me feel rather awkward since I didn’t have Assimilate activated.

  Meaning I don’t get any skills for killing them.

  That’s annoying, but I can always just use the skill when killing the next board’s monsters.

  With that in mind, I turn my attention to the next board as the platform I’m on gradually goes to land back on the chessboard. Meanwhile a bridge appears between this board and the next.

  Hmm…

  After looking between them, I give a shrug before walking across the bridge to the next board. Then I try to kill the black pieces with my Gaze of Destruction.

  And it works.

  Sort of.

  It destroys the piece when I try, but that very piece just returns again without a scratch on it. And I don’t get any sort of message about the kill.

  Does this mean the only way to permanently kill them is through beating them in chess?

  I would just skip past them, but that means I wouldn’t be able to one hundred percent this Domain. Which is not something I’m okay with.

  So I guess I’m playing chess.

  First though, I’ll try a few different ways to win without playing. Because this is way too many games.

  I glance at the hundreds of chessboards visible in the distance.

  Waaaay too many…

  A slight chill runs down my spine at having to play that many games.

  After all, while I do kind of like chess, I don’t like it this much. Not enough to play it hundreds of times in a row.

  I let out a sigh at that before destroying the chessboard with my Gaze of Destruction. Only for said board to regenerate at about the same speed as I destroy it.

  So I try to destroy the monsters with my physical strength instead of Gaze of Destruction. But the things don’t take any damage at all.

  The only thing that even lays so much as a scratch on the monsters is Gaze of Destruction. Which just leaves them reforming again afterwards.

  I grit my teeth before eventually just giving up.

  It looks like I’ll be playing chess…

  A lot.

  Although before I start playing, I jump off the platform and start flying to test if it’s possible. And I quickly find that it is, indeed, possible.

  For me, at least.

  Not for others. Considering the clear effect of Unchained activating when chains begin to shoot up from the platform to grapple onto me.

  It doesn’t really matter much in the end though. Not when I’m stuck playing every chess game regardless.

  With that thought in mind, I begin playing the next game. With Assimilate activated this time.

  And just like the first round, it doesn’t take long for me to win the second game of chess. Which makes me wonder if it really will take a long time to win all these chess games after all.

  Unless the chess games get harder and harder as time goes on?

  Or as I clear more of them, that is.

  I can see that being possible.

  Anyway, I look at the messages after winning the match.

  {You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Order Piece} x32

  {You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Resolution of Order, is now unlocked for your usage.}

  That’s an unusual skill name.

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