The terrain of 'Virtual Divine Beast Chess' was quite simple...
In this virtual game world, there was only one type of terrain... 'mountain forests'.
Within this mountain forest terrain, there were also rivers and canyons, but for the Divine Beasts, these were all negligible.
Yes, they were only negligible for the Divine Beasts. For someone like Haruya, a human, they posed significant challenges.
Moreover, in a situation where Divine Beasts were attacking each other, it was impossible to ally with them. Haruya and Plum had to advance on their own.
"Whoa! Ah! Damn it! Plum!!"
Haruya dodged the continuous barrage of attacks from Sora and Shiro's Divine Beasts with some bizarre movements, but he looked quite disheveled in the process.
Since Plum was also a central figure in this plan, Haruya had to protect him while enduring the relentless attacks.
"Haru-kun, getting close to Sora and Shiro's baseline is practically impossible, isn't it?!"
"True, but we're about to succeed!" Haruya grabbed Plum and jumped to the side, rolling into a stone pit together.
The impact-like energy wave swept across the ground, causing Haruya's Knight to collapse, creating another shockwave.
When this round of attacks finally ended, it was Haruya's turn again.
To save time and speed things up, Haruya had the King move forward continuously, with the other pieces following behind. In the middle was the Pawn.
This Pawn was represented by a flame phoenix, its burning flames quite striking.
"Are you trying to promote that Pawn? Even if you succeed, it won't do any good." Sora stood on a hill not far away, his clothes fluttering in the wind from the explosions around him.
"Whether it's useful or not, we'll only know after trying!"
"Haru-kun! Haru-kun! The attack is coming!"
"Whoa!"
Haruya and Plum started running toward the other side, dodging attacks while trying to catch up with the main force of advancing Divine Beasts.
While Haruya was entangled with Sora and Shiro, the Shrine Priestess and Izuna also made their move.
Their goal had been simple from the start, and so was their method of winning.
Though simple, it was backed by overwhelming power, which was why they believed their chances of winning were high.
Undoubtedly, their thinking wasn't wrong.
When everyone's physical stats were the same, the two of them with their 'Blood Break' were even stronger than Jibril, the Flügel.
"Izuna, I'll have the Queen launch an attack, and you defend against their counterattacks." Miko instructed.
"Understood, desu." The loli Werebeast nodded.
It was through such coordinated tactics that, up to this point, the Werebeasts had lost the fewest pieces among the three factions.
They locked onto their target, Sora and Shiro's Knight.
First, the Shrine Priestess moved the Queen three steps forward. Once it reached a certain distance, the attack began.
The Queen Divine Beast used its tail as a weapon for mid-range strikes, while the Shrine Priestess stood on the tail to add impact.
*Boom!*
The massive tail clashed violently with Sora and Shiro's Knight, causing the ground to crack, smoke to billow, and rocks to fly everywhere.
"Counterattack, Shiro!"
"Nii-san… don't get too excited…"
"That's right, Master. After all, we have the advantage in combat power. Like in the Great War, no matter what tricks the enemy used, a single Heavenly Smite could blow everything away. Boom, boom, boom~"
Jibril casually mentioned the 'Heavenly Smite', a move capable of destroying an entire country.
When it was their turn, Sora and Shiro, who had previously attacked Haruya, now targeted the Shrine Priestess on the front lines.
"Little turtle… use Ice Beam…" Shiro commanded.
"Shiro, that's Squirtle's move."
As Sora made a sarcastic remark, the giant turtle beneath them shot an... Ice Beam from its mouth...
""It's shooting!!!!"" Haruya and Sora shouted simultaneously.
Facing the attack heading toward their pieces, Izuna and her Divine Beast ran toward the attack's trajectory, "Don't think you'll succeed, desu!"
The Divine Beast blocked the initial impact, and then Izuna used a massive rock she lifted from the ground to smash into the so-called 'Ice Beam'.
The rock was instantly frozen, falling to the ground as a mixture of stone and ice fragments.
"Haru-kun, let's sneak over while they're fighting."
"If it's sneaking, don't say it out loud." Haruya deadpanned.
".…"
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"You said not to talk."
"…."
Haruya ignored Plum's subsequent questions.
After Sora and Shiro made their move, the two of them continued to advance their army.
For the Divine Beasts, the chessboard wasn't actually that big…
"So, how do you plan to defeat Master? Don't think you'll succeed." Ahead of them stood Jibril, the Flügel who had once slain gods, "I'll interfere along with the Divine Beasts!"
With that, Jibril grabbed two massive tree trunks with her hands.
Then, she hurled them at the two.
"I thought you couldn't attack people?!"
"Oops, my bad. I missed." Jibril snickered.
"Plum! Move!"
Haruya first kicked Plum away, then followed suit, barely escaping the area before the tree trunks came crashing down, causing massive destruction.
"Hehe." Jibril stuck out her tongue, and Haruya waved his right hand.
"Charge forward! King!"
With majesty, the King charged into the enemy formation..
By sacrificing pieces, Haruya's Pawn was about to reach the baseline.
The only remaining piece was the Pawn.
"Haru-kun, what now?"
"Promotion, of course. Just like we planned."
As the two talked, they were surrounded by Sora and Shiro's pieces, as well as the Shrine Priestess and Izuna's pieces.
...
"""We're in a dire situation!"""
Outside the game, the audience from the two races other than the Sirens cheered.
It was indeed a dire situation for the Sirens... There was no doubt about it.
But…
...
"Your goal isn't just promotion, is it…" Sora seemed to have realized something.
He looked around, then at Haruya and Plum.
"Not sure, desu…" Izuna stood beside the Shrine Priestess, looking confused.
Haruya's plan was simple.
From the very beginning, he hadn't intended to gain an advantage through chess, but rather through another approach.
Thus, Haruya raised his hand, "Promotion... to Queen!"
The flame phoenix representing the Pawn was enveloped in light.
The light, a mix of gold and red, was dazzling.
The clouds above were dispersed, the grass and trees on the ground began to shake, and a bird's cry pierced the sky.
Massive burning wings emerged, followed by a body radiating a faint glow.
The surrounding Divine Beasts stopped their roars.
"Plum!" Haruya signaled.
"Got it!" Using all his energy, Plum activated his magic.
Complex patterns appeared in Plum's eyes,
and irregular red lines, like blood vessels, began to spread to his right hand.
That hand moved slowly but intricately...
"[Love Magic] activate! Target locked, all Divine Beasts in this area!"
A warm light spread out from Plum, enveloping all the Divine Beasts in the vicinity.
In the next moment, the once-threatening Divine Beasts lowered their heads toward the Queen Divine Beast behind Haruya, the flame Phoenix.
That gesture perhaps symbolized offering loyalty to their most beloved Divine Beast...
"What's going on?!" The shocked Miko cried out.
"It's simple." Haruya answered the Shrine Priestess's question, "We utilized Plum's Love Magic initially. When everyone gathered here, we activated it. So, these Divine Beasts..."
Haruya scanned the area, then continued, "... Have all been conquered by us! With love!!!!"
The winner of the game was now evident…