"The 'Queen' piece?" Upon seeing this chess piece, the blue-haired youth's pupils shrank abruptly. He reacted immediately, and his gaze then became extremely vigilant. "What, finally willing to take out this piece?"
According to the rules of chess, the 'Queen' piece is the most powerful piece on the chessboard, bar none.
The moment the piece fell, the blue-haired youth's expression suddenly turned somewhat ugly.
"What's going on?" He felt his Water Element Superpower, and an inexplicable sense of sluggishness came from his surroundings. The water currents that he usually commanded like his own arms suddenly became very unfamiliar. "Why are the water currents around me starting to break free from my control?!"
But before he could think deeply, an extremely intense sense of crisis suddenly exploded from the bottom of the blue-haired youth's heart, and a freezing chill instantly shot up his spine.
Immediately after, a blurry human silhouette appeared before him without any warning like a phantom, its speed so fast that it even surpassed his visual tracking ability!
Before he could see clearly, a fierce eerie blue blade light slashed upwards from below.
The youth's pupils shrank violently. His combat instinct made him immediately drive his Superpower, wanting to transfer his body by transforming into a water current.
However, he was horrified to discover that the Water Element around his body had become unusually "heavy." The liquefaction transfer that could normally be completed with a mere thought now felt like struggling while trapped in a quagmire!
Pfft—
The dull sound of a sharp blade tearing through flesh and blood clearly reached his ears.
Subsequently, a tearing, intense pain came from his chest. A massive blade wound extended all the way from his abdomen to his collarbone. Blood spurted out from it, instantly dyeing his clothes and the accumulated water under his feet red.
"Pfft—"
The intense pain directly caused a mouthful of blood to spew from his mouth. He then endured the severe pain and retreated to distance himself from this silhouette.
But soon, that silhouette moved again. Two eerie blue blade lights swiftly struck towards the blue-haired youth's vitals.
"Damn it!"
Enveloped in the shadow of death, a hint of pained reluctance flashed through the youth's eyes. Then, a crystal-clear purple gemstone instantly appeared in his hand, and he crushed it fiercely without hesitation!
Whoosh—
A burst of spatial energy emerged from the gemstone, instantly wrapping around him.
The blue-haired youth's figure vanished abruptly, and those two lethal attacks missed their mark.
"Hiss... Just what is this 'Queen' piece? It can actually suppress my Superpower?!"
Immediately after, the youth staggered into appearance over a dozen meters away. Clutching his continuously bleeding abdomen, he spoke with some disbelief.
Then, he abruptly raised his head, staring fixedly in the direction of the attacker.
It was a girl with long jet-black hair, wearing a light blue headpiece and draped in a black-to-purple gradient gauze dress.
What attracted the blue-haired youth's gaze the most was her abdomen.
The girl's abdomen was semi-transparent. Through the skin, one could clearly see that inside were not flesh and organs, but seawater rippling with profound light.
At this moment, he also saw clearly what weapon this girl had just used to slash him.
It was a slender one-handed sword that looked somewhat like a violin bow.
"Have you seen enough?"
At this time, Hysilens slowly raised her eyes, her cold voice asking the youth.
The youth snapped back to reality, his voice suppressing pain and shock: "Are you Imperator's strongest trump card, the 'Queen' piece?"
But Hysilens didn't answer. Instead, she turned slightly, looking towards Cerydra on the throne.
And Cerydra merely looked indifferently at the blue-haired youth and the armored warriors before her, saying flatly:
"Dux Gladiorum, clear the area."
"As you command—"
Hysilens nodded slightly.
She turned back around, her profound blue eyes tainted with cold killing intent, locking onto the youth.
Then, the bow-sword in her hand emitted an eerie blue light, and her figure charged forward rapidly once again like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
Seeing this scene, the youth's pupils shrank violently. His desire to survive made him disregard his injuries and forcefully mobilize his suppressed Superpower.
The water vapor in the air gathered with difficulty. Several shrunken and unstable water arrows formed hastily, shooting crookedly towards Hysilens.
However, when these water arrows approached within one meter of her, it was as if subjects meeting their monarch; they instantly lost all kinetic energy and directly turned into docile water streams circling around her. Not only did they not harm her in the slightest, but they also added a beautiful band of water around her body.
And at this moment, the youth finally understood why his Superpower had almost completely failed.
This girl was also a powerhouse who manipulated water currents, and her control, affinity, and priority were far above his. This was simply absolute suppression in terms of rank!
"How is this possible?! Doesn't Imperator play with fire? How could she summon a powerhouse with such terrifying water-type abilities?!"
The blue-haired youth's heart was filled with absolute terror. Seeing Hysilens closing in again, he gritted his teeth in extreme unwillingness and pulled out another purple spatial gemstone, then crushed it without hesitation!
Whoosh—
His figure vanished again, narrowly avoiding the life-claiming blade edge.
When he reappeared, his figure had pulled even further away from Hysilens, but his face had become extremely pale due to massive blood loss.
Seeing this, Hysilens didn't pursue again.
She turned her body and began cleaning up those remaining armored warriors.
Upon seeing Hysilens attacking towards them, these armored warriors went all out to activate their energy shields, attempting to block Hysilens's attacks.
However, all defenses were as fragile as paper before that bizarre bow-sword.
Wherever the blade edge passed, both energy shields and alloy armors were smoothly cleaved open by Hysilens!
Screams and the sounds of armor tearing echoed continuously within the church.
Soon, their will to resist collapsed rapidly. The warriors went from holding their formation to resist to fleeing in despair in all directions. But under the blockade of Cerydra's chessboard, these armored warriors couldn't escape the church's premises at all.
At this moment, they had become prisoners trapped on the chessboard. They could only watch helplessly as that elegant black-and-purple figure shuttled back and forth among them. Every time the eerie blue blade light flashed, it definitely took a life.
Warriors fell one after another. Fresh blood dyed the magnificent carpet red, mixing with the rainwater pouring in from the entrance into a turbid pool of blood.
After the last warrior had his throat pierced by a sword amidst a despairing roar and fell powerlessly, only the blue-haired youth remained standing as an enemy in the empty, messy hall.
The heavy stench of blood permeated the air, forming an eerie contrast with the fresh water vapor of the torrential rain outside the window.
"Why? Why can't even the spatial gemstone let me escape?! Is even the space here isolated?!"
The youth now had his back to the throne, vainly beating against the invisible barrier at the entrance. He looked in disbelief at the shattered gemstone powder all over the ground under his feet. The terror in his eyes finally spread uncontrollably, completely swallowing his previous arrogance and composure.
"I said before." On the throne, Cerydra spoke flatly. Her voice pierced through the sound of the rain, echoing clearly in the dead-silent hall. "The chess game has begun, and the pieces have fallen. And you—as a piece within the game, how can you be allowed to leave without permission before the match is over?"
Hearing Cerydra's words, the youth's body trembled violently, and he slowly turned around.
His face was completely devoid of color. Rainwater and sweat mixed with bloodstains clung to his body, making him look extremely wretched.
"Thud—"
Despair filled his entire body. The youth knelt in the cold, bloody water, kowtowing frantically towards Cerydra's direction. His forehead hit the ground with muffled thuds as he wailed incoherently and begged for mercy:
"I'm sorry! Lady Imperator! It's my fault! I had eyes but failed to see! I beg you to let me off this once! My strength is very high, and my control over the Water Element is very useful! I can become your sharpest blade! I'll do anything for you! I only beg you to spare—"
Swish—
An eerie blue blade light slashed across, and the begging came to an abrupt halt.
The youth's head instantly separated from his body. With a frozen expression of despair and begging on its face, it rolled onto the ground, spun a few times, and then stopped in a pool of blood.
The headless corpse stiffened for a moment before planting face-forward heavily onto the ground.
And Hysilens stood quietly beside the corpse, a bead of blood slowly sliding down the blade edge of the bow-sword.
Then, she tilted her head slightly, looking towards Cerydra on the throne, silently reporting the perfect execution of an order.