As soon as the chessboard unfolded, Keleradra vanished from where she stood.
Yu Tianheng's pupils contracted sharply at the sight.
"Where is she?"
He looked all around, but couldn't see a thing.
Shi Mo stared at the chessboard, eyes wide.
"Captain, something's moving on the board."
Yu Tianheng turned to look.
Many blue chess pieces were moving rapidly across the board. Some moved horizontally, others leaped diagonally—their paths were completely unpredictable.
Dugu Yan immediately waved her hand, sending three streams of Jade Phosphorus Snake Venom toward the pieces.
But the venom passed right through their illusory forms, hitting nothing.
She gritted her teeth.
"I can't hit them! They're intangible!"
Yu Feng swooped down from the air, trying to break through the area covered by the chessboard.
But halfway there, a blue rook suddenly rose out of nowhere, blocking his path.
Yu Feng slammed on the brakes, nearly crashing into it.
Just as he tried to go around, another piece appeared at his side.
He was trapped in midair, unable to advance or retreat.
Seeing this, everyone sobered up and abandoned their earlier disdain. The Shi Brothers exchanged a glance, raised their shields in unison, and charged toward the center of the chessboard.
But the blue pieces kept shifting positions in front of them, now left, now right.
Even the board began moving up and down, now solid, now insubstantial.
Shi Mo's foot landed on empty air. His balance nearly gave way, and he stumbled twice before steadying himself.
Shi Mo fared a little better, but even he had to slow down.
"This thing's deliberately tripping us up."
Osler darted along the flank, trying to find Keleradra's real body.
But after circling three times, he still found nothing.
"I can't find her. It's like she really vanished."
"Impossible. She must still be here. This is all just a trick of the eye."
Dugu Yan immediately objected.
Ye Lingling stood at the rear, the light of the Nine Heart Begonia already shining.
She was about to grant healing and support to her teammates up front.
Suddenly, a blue chess piece darted out and interrupted her.
Ye Lingling was forced to take a step back.
Seeing everyone toyed with as if they were puppets, Dugu Yan's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
"Everyone, she's splitting us up! We can't regroup!"
Yu Tianheng raised his hand and unleashed a Thunder Claw at the row of pieces before him.
Lightning exploded, shattering several pieces into specks of light.
But the specks paused for only a moment before gathering and taking shape again.
"Wc, these damn things still won't break?"
Yu Tianheng felt a flicker of frustration.
If that was the case, how could they possibly win?
Shi Mo swept his shield across, smashing two pieces, but the shattered lights immediately gathered elsewhere.
"Same here. How are we supposed to fight this?"
Nobody had the slightest idea how to break the deadlock. They were all being toyed with by Keleradra.
In the shadows, Keleradra watched them, a mocking smile on her face.
"Beasts at bay."
Yu Tianheng jerked his head up.
He'd heard her!
He'd heard Keleradra's voice.
But when he sent a Thunder Dragon strike toward the source of the sound, he hit nothing but empty air.
So he decided to gather everyone together.
But once they regrouped, they quickly realized that one of their seven was missing—someone important.
"Where's Ye Lingling?"
The realization that Ye Lingling might have been eliminated made everyone's faces change.
Without her, they had no hope of turning things around!
Just as Yu Tianheng was pondering how to break the deadlock,
all the pieces on the chessboard suddenly lit up at once.
Then blue light surged toward the center like a rising tide.
Seeing this, Yu Tianheng had no time to think. He shouted at the others beside him:
"Defend! Defend!"
The Shi Brothers immediately raised their shields, while the others quickly retreated behind them.
The light rapidly converged. Soon, the chessboard burst apart, and a blue wave of energy exploded outward.
Keleradra's voice rang out once more:
"You have lost the entire game!"
As her words fell, everyone was hurled into the air at once. They crashed off the stage together and fell unconscious.
Only Yu Tianheng remained, kneeling halfway on the ground. From below the stage, he lifted his head and looked up at it.
The chessboard had vanished, and Keleradra's figure had reappeared.
She was still seated, not even a wrinkle in her clothes.
The outcome left him despairing. At last, he could hold on no longer and passed out.
The whole arena fell silent at Keleradra's performance.
Some people had already seen her in action before.
But this time was different. This time, she had faced seven people.
She'd taken on seven and won—and she was a support, of all things? Who could believe it?
"Caesar is awesome! Amphoreus is awesome!"
Some outgoing soul suddenly shouted. A thousand voices answered, and the whole arena erupted in cheers for Keleradra.
The referee also came back to his senses and raised a hand to announce:
"The match is over! The winner is Omphalos Academy, Caesar!"
"Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
Faced with the spectators' fervent cheers, Keleradra merely gave a slight, expressionless wave before standing and walking away.
In the rest area, Qin Ming watched as the others were carried back. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, all that came out was a sigh.
He knew they hadn't lost unfairly. Their opponent had truly been ridiculously strong.
But he still couldn't help feeling humiliated.
"Forget it. Let's go find the dean first."
In the VIP seats, Phainon leaned back in his chair and slowly let out a breath.
Wang Sheng's voice was nearly hoarse by now.
"Caesar is awesome!"
Bai Chenxiang covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
"Dummy, stop shouting. If you keep going, everyone will know you started it."
At her words, Wang Sheng hurriedly fell silent and scratched his head sheepishly.
Anaxa closed his notebook and looked at Keleradra, who had already returned to the other side. A glint appeared in his eyes.
"One person controlling seven, without giving the opposing side a single chance from beginning to end. Such control over the flow of battle is truly terrifying. If I calculated everything correctly, perhaps I could do it too..."
Ye Qiong leaned back in his VIP seat, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
There was no need to say more about Caesar's ability to control a situation. How else could she have become the empress of Amphoreus?
But now that the match was over, the system reward should have arrived, right?
Sure enough, when he opened the system, the mission was complete.
[Mission complete. 3,000 Star Jade have been issued as a reward. The academy has advanced to district-level qualification, earning an additional 20% reward, for a total of 3,600 Star Jade.]
Ye Qiong put away the panel, deciding to check it again after they returned. He stood and said to the others:
"Let's go. We're heading back."
At the Shrek rest area,
Flender sat on a chair, both hands braced on his knees, his whole body bent forward.
Everyone sat in silence.
They had watched the match between the Imperial Fighting Team and Amphoreus, too.
Amphoreus really was terrifying.
One person had utterly crushed the Imperial Fighting Team.
So what did that make them, after losing to the Imperial Fighting Team?
The losers among losers?
Clearly, the result had left them all feeling humiliated.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Flender hurried over and opened it. Seeing who stood outside, he paused in surprise.
"Qin Ming?"
Before you continue