Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 1042

The ballroom door was open, and Jenkins could hear the conversation from the hallway. He held his breath, and sure enough, he recognized his friend's voice from within.

"...Impossible. It chose me, not the other way around. Do you see this chess piece? It has destined me to become the ruler of this kingdom. I am the true heir of the Stuarts."

"Oh, my dear sister, what era is this? Does anyone still believe in such things? Even if you've gained the approval of our ancestor's chess piece, you're going to die here tonight. Look at that pretty face... what a shame no one will be able to admire it anymore."

The last sentence came from a woman's voice, mature in tone. Jenkins guessed she must be over twenty. The only ones who fit that description were the kingdom's first and second princesses. Jenkins hadn't expected a "player" of her standing to step onto the board personally.

By now, Jenkins had reached the doorway, pressing himself flat against the wall, ready to rush in at any moment. The ballroom doors were wide open, revealing a scene of chaos. Stones, silver platters, and splinters of furniture lay strewn across the carpet. Amidst the debris, the most brilliant object was, of course, the chess piece made of ice.

The Enchanters inside were all third-level. While not a direct threat to Jenkins, he still needed to be cautious.

"Dolores, your talent is truly exceptional. How many generations has it been since our family last saw a Benefactor? But you shouldn't rely so heavily on the power of this chess piece. Since the Stuart family has a way to master it, we naturally have a way to force it to abandon its owner."

"Yes, my dear sister. I put something in your pumpkin juice. Why else do you think I would dare to appear before you? Mr. Dutt, as we agreed, the chess piece is yours."

The lights in the hallway had been shattered, but the crystal chandelier inside the ballroom was still lit. As a result, the shadow of a man walking toward the doorway was cast in sharp relief on the wall opposite the entrance.

He was a short, slightly overweight man, half-bald on top. The group inside the room watched as he hurried toward the door. Just as the man bent down to pick up the chess piece from the carpet, a foot shot out from the surrounding darkness, the stomp accompanied by the distinct crack of breaking bone.

Amidst the half-bald man's agonized scream, the young man emerged completely from the shadows. He placed a hand on the man's head, and in an instant, a terrifying flame engulfed him.

The man thrashed wildly on the carpet, yet the flames neither spread to his surroundings nor could they be extinguished. This bizarre scene made everyone in the room recoil, and none of them recognized the ruthless stranger. Follow current novels on N0velFire.ɴet

Everyone in the ballroom stared in shock at the newcomer. Or rather, it was Jenkins who stood at the entrance, calmly observing everyone inside. Dolores had been forced into a corner, and though her expression was strained, she didn't seem particularly panicked.

Even without the Ice Archer Piece, she still had a way to escape her current predicament. Jenkins saw that his own Cup of Hidden Fear was hidden within the thick folds of her dress.

The woman, likely Dolores's second sister, demanded. Her voice was loud, but tinged with fear. She was quite beautiful, and her gown and jewelry were of the finest quality, but her makeup was so heavy that it made her otherwise delicate features look vulgar.

Jenkins repeated the question, kicking the charred corpse aside. The flowing flames slithered across the floor like snakes, crawling up his trousers and dyeing his entire body a fiery red.

The lone remaining Enchanter beside the woman shielded her, while men in identical black cloaks raised their guns and aimed at Jenkins. They carried the distinct air of soldiers, and the way they held their firearms all but confirmed their military background.

Even though they were dressed in plain clothes and looked like a band of thugs, Jenkins could tell they were elite soldiers.

Unafraid of the guns or the shimmering spiritual light protecting the remaining Enchanter, he bent down under everyone's watchful eyes and picked up the ice chess piece from the carpet.

The moment it touched Jenkins's skin, a transparent current seemed to swirl within the piece, making the already art-like object even more magnificent.

Of course, only Jenkins noticed this.

"Whatever Dolores offered you, I can double it!"

As he spoke, the sound of gunshots and roaring flames erupted simultaneously. The dancing fire, like pythons, precisely melted the bullets. The lone Enchanter, however, didn't attack Jenkins. Instead, he darted over and seized Dolores by the throat, a transparent barrier of swirling runes appearing before him to separate them from Jenkins.

"Let me go, and I promise no one will be harmed!"

The woman shrieked, because the Enchanter clearly hadn't included her behind the protective barrier.

Shaking his head slightly to signal Dolores not to risk resisting, Jenkins tossed the ice-blue chess piece in his hand. After the piece fell from the air for the third time, it didn't land in his palm as expected. Instead, it transformed into a streak of light and shot directly into the center of his forehead.

Everyone present was struck speechless. Most of them understood the rules by which the chess piece chose its master. Immediately following the piece's disappearance, a pale blue figure materialized behind Jenkins.

The figure seemed to step directly out of Jenkins's back. Aside from its body of ice, it was identical to a human.

Dolores had used the piece just moments before, but the Ice Archer she summoned had possessed neither such exquisitely crafted features nor the ice-blue armor now composed of intricate runes.

Its upper body was clad in a half-cuirass, a brilliant golden amulet protecting the heart on its breastplate like a sun. The shoulders and chest piece were connected by a network of fine, brass-colored gears. This gearwork extended from the shoulders down both arms, making them resemble complex steam-powered machinery, imbued with both a strange mechanical beauty and a surreal sense of power.

The lower body wore a simple tasset, predominantly pale blue, interwoven with chains of green and black runes. The three colors blended together with unusual harmony. Unlike the metallic-looking half-cuirass, the tasset seemed to be a fusion of wood and bone plates.

A white longsword hung at the archer's side, its hilt resembling a skull, or perhaps twisted vines. In its right hand, it held a golden longbow whose body was formed from runic gears. In the gaps between the gears, vine-like tendrils clung like tentacles, converging at the center of the bow to guard a green gem that emitted a faint, fluorescent glow. On its back, a bone quiver was filled with ice-blue energy arrows. At the tip of each arrow, an inky-black death spirit swirled, almost dyeing the entire shaft black.