However, the chessboard was no different from a battlefield, and sympathy had no place here. On top of that, Sim was very much looking forward to beating Erwin to see what his reaction to the loss was going to be.

With Sim seeing through Erwin's final roll of the dice, the game was completely hopeless for Erwin.

Everyone thought that the rest of the game would just be a one-sided slaughter from Sim, but to their surprise, Erwin was able to put up admirable resistance. Even though he only had a magician and a missionary left, he was still trying to fight for a draw.

Only after around a dozen more turns of intense battle did Erwin finally lose.

It had truly been a breathtaking game to behold.

Everyone was left feeling a little bit dazed in the wake of that game, as if they had just awakened from a dream.

Erwin was staring blankly at the chessboard before him, seemingly still yet to register his own loss. He couldn't even remember the last time he had lost a game of battle chess. Back in Sarus, it was extremely rare that he encountered anyone who even dared to play against him.

"Well played." Erwin put on a nonchalant facade, praising Sim with a smile before getting up to...