Go To Your Mother's Chess Piece!

A soundless roar echoed within Rovi's heart, reverberating with the longing he had always carried.

Born in splendor, die in glory.

Like a hero—not a clown—

"Damn it... you mongrel... bastard!" Gilgamesh gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Rovi..." Enkidu's delicate face also flushed with a strained red.

They both pulled with all their might, yet it was useless. They could only watch as the awe-inspiring momentum that bit into heaven and earth pressed down inch by inch upon Rovi at the center.

The gods overlooking the mortal world no longer understood—was Rovi not afraid of death?

How could he be so resolute?

And it was precisely in that infinitely approaching instant that an intangible tremor echoed forth.

Humming... a violent ringing emerged, and a streak of light burst from Rovi's body.

Like a kettle cracking open under immense pressure, thread after thread seeped out from every pore of his skin beneath his black uniform robes.

In the end, it coalesced into a golden, gleaming 'key'.

[Key of Heaven].

The shadow cast outward of the divine gift that had always been hidden within him.

Rovi froze, and the gods were stunned at the same moment.

This thing... had this function too?

Over these seven days, Rovi had studied this divine object capable of opening the Boundary between Heaven and Man inside and out, thoroughly and meticulously.

But he had never discovered... that it also had a defensive function!

Yet Rovi quickly realized that this key indeed had no defensive ability.

The emergence of that flowing light only caused Rovi's entire body to suddenly relax, no longer suppressed by the incoming pressure.

It could adapt to any environment.

Move freely in any environment without being suppressed.

Exactly as Rovi had thoroughly researched the Key of Heaven's ability—but it only allowed him to adapt, not to block the impact of real damage.

Damn it, he would still die.

He subconsciously let out a breath of relief.

And then he noticed that a black mark had appeared on the 'key'.

Dirty?

No, that wasn't right—the Key of Heaven was a supreme treasure jointly created by the gods; a divine object was flawless and could not be tainted.

Was that... a crack?

The Key of Heaven had shattered.

Inside Rovi's body, cracks had appeared.

First a speck, then a line, and from that line split countless cracks like black silk threads. Mottled and interlaced, the projection of the golden key directly scattered into flying dust in the air.

Before Rovi could form a conclusion, at that same moment, a strange power suddenly surged within his body.

Like pushing extremely high-concentration fuel into an engine.

He instinctively reached out his hand, pressed down with his feet, and followed this inexplicable sensation.

Above and below—he had blocked them.

As if returning to the primordial, like a god creating the world, one hand propping up the sky, one foot pressing down on the earth.

The golden, shining power of Royal Authority falling from above was stopped by Rovi's palm within a hair's breadth.

The verdant, earth-born sharpness surging from below was also pressed down heavily by his feet, unable to rise again.

With his own strength, his own body, he blocked the ultimate battlefield that divided heaven and earth.

Every move he made was as if splitting heaven and earth.

"This howling mongrel actually has such immense power inside him?" Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, a smile unconsciously curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Rovi. I knew it... you must be the strongest!" Enkidu was also visibly excited.

The subtle exchanges of the gods then fell into the ears of 'the sacrifice' Rovi.

'So that's it.'

'He used the collision of the Lock of Heaven and the Keystone of Heaven to shatter the [Key of Heaven] within his body, and then...'

'Truly turned the power contained within it into his own!'

'The Key of Heaven is a divine object of the same rank as the Lock of Heaven and the Keystone of Heaven. Only this method could achieve it.'

'No wonder he was so fearless of death.'

'This wisdom, this courage...'

"We gods did not misjudge... this is indeed a perfect 'chess piece'!"

"A chess piece that can perfectly restrain the Keystone of Heaven!"

No, you misjudged.

Rovi's expression was blank. He truly had not expected this situation to arise.

Forget it... it seemed he could only count himself unlucky this time.

He shook his head, helpless, but still quickly accepted reality.

The power of the shattered Key of Heaven surged within him. He knew that even if he did nothing, the strength of the Lock of Heaven and the Keystone of Heaven could no longer harm him, let alone kill him.

Just like Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

Having 'fused' with the power of the Key of Heaven, Rovi could henceforth be called the 'Key of Heaven' itself.

Not its holder.

Even the gods could no longer reclaim it.

The ability it granted him was no longer adaptation.

But 'open' and 'close'.

Treating all things as doors.

Once closed, it could form an extremely strong barrier, blocking most attacks below the Key of Heaven's specifications, or even those on par with it.

Now it was automatically open.

Rovi still couldn't master its use, nor could he close it.

Then—

"Regret is useless, and remorse is pointless."

Rovi spread his arms.

He knew he couldn't die now, but sooner or later, he would die anyway.

Since he couldn't settle accounts later.

He might as well make an attempt now.

Try... to make a 'grand death'!

He released the surging power within him completely.

Radiant ripples shimmered like glistening waves, finally coalescing into a silvery white hue.

It pulled at the power of the Lock of Heaven and the Keystone of Heaven.

Calling for their aid.

From Rovi's earlier act of stopping their fight, both Enkidu and Gilgamesh understood it was a misunderstanding—they were not enemies.

And now, they naturally would not refuse this call for help.

"Rovi, whatever you intend to do, I will follow closely." Enkidu lowered her gaze, and at the same time, following that pull, she unleashed her inner power to its fullest!

She didn't know what Rovi planned.

But the initial warmth, over these seven days of companionship, had long turned into absolute trust.

"Ho? Interesting!" Gilgamesh paused.

Standing atop the Star Vessel, Royal Authority looked down at the faint light emerging from Rovi.

He sensed a strange resonance within it.

Same origin, same essence.

The connection between the Keystone of Heaven and the Key of Heaven.

Though he couldn't deduce cause and effect from the action, at this moment, Gilgamesh, possessing the highest Clairvoyance, vaguely glimpsed Rovi's intent.

So he burst into laughter: "Hmph, hahaha... so a howling mongrel can have such resolve? Interesting, too interesting!"

"Then, this king shall, for the sake of this ambition, answer your plea—" As he spoke, he too spread his arms, just like Rovi.

"Look up to the heavens, break through the limits!"

"Of course."

Rovi closed his eyes, then opened them.

His pupils transformed into the shape of keys. A terrifying torrent swept across his entire body. The power of the Keystone of Heaven and the Lock of Heaven converged upon him, bursting forth like a triple helix, sweeping everything away.

'What is he doing?'

'...The three chess pieces have united?'

'This power is indeed formidable—no wonder they are tools we crafted... If we could still use them, our dominion over human faith could extend for ages!'

The gods still watched.

At this moment, they did not yet know that, as Gilgamesh had said, Rovi's purpose was actually very simple.

He would take the Keystone of Heaven as his path, the Lock of Heaven as his guide, and this body as the 'key' to merge the three into one, achieving power that transcends all bounds.

With this, he would roar toward the heavens, shaking the high skies where the watching gods dwell...

This time, not because he wished to die.

But because those gods and celestials regarded them as tools to rule the mortal world.

Calling them pawns, one after another.

And now, he would answer their malice in kind.

Tell them...

Go fuck your pawns!

We are people, Living, breathing people!

If you can't find the book title, try searching by the author—maybe it's just been renamed!