Do You Know The Rules Of Chess?

“To become a god.”

“…Huh?”

“I no longer have need for the throne of a single nation—I will become a god who creates a new world.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“Admittedly, my brain was burned out once――about twenty years ago.”

Sobra made an immortal-joke and gave orders to the goat-headed Shadow waiting on the side opposite Ruru.

Then, directly in front of Sobra—a thick book bound in a grotesque blood-colored cover appeared.

Is it an ability to store matter in another dimension like Vanargand’s?

Or an ability to transfer matter from a distant place?

“This is one of the S-Rank Dungeon Bosses, the same tier as the two Five Great Demon Lords Sid possesses—it is called Akasha.”

“An S-Rank Dungeon Boss…!?”

The blood-colored book opened on its own without being touched—its pages fluttered through.

That book… is an S-Rank Dungeon Boss counted alongside Ekarraat and Vanargand?

“Akasha, the Divine Brain who presides over ‘Wisdom’, has every bit of knowledge in this world recorded within. And I learned—how to become a god.”

‘…The Five Great Demon Lords, huh. I never thought I’d hear that name from a human.’

Ekarraat murmured nostalgically.

“(Ekarraat—what are the Five Great Demon Lords?)”

‘They call me, Vanargand, and the other S-Rank Dungeon Bosses by that name as a group.’

“(So it’s the collective name for the top five strongest monsters in this world.)”

“Sid――you are the existence closest to a god after me. Therefore, I will tell you.”

Sobra spoke ――about this method of becoming a god.

He said――in this world there are five S-Rank Dungeons, and five S-Rank Bosses.

One is the Vampire Princess who grants eternal life by sharing her blood—the Immortal Ekarraat, who presides over ‘Eternity’.

One is the beast that contains an otherworldly space equal in volume to the current world within its body—Vanargand who swallows, who presides over ‘Perpetuity’.

One is the tome that records without omission the knowledge of the gods—Akasha, Divine Brain, who presides over ‘Wisdom’.

One is the Great Serpent that can produce all manner of matter—Kukulkan who births, who presides over ‘Creation’.

One is the Evil Dragon that burns and destroys all the world and brings about the end――Lucifer of the End, who presides over ‘Destruction’.

“I possess two of them――Akasha and Kukulkan.”

“Sure, they’re all incredibly powerful monsters. But even if you got all of them under your control, isn’t calling yourself a god a bit presumptuous?”

“Is that so? Think carefully—possessing eternal life, owning vast space, holding omniscience, creating beings from nothing, and the power to destroy everything—that is nothing other than the power to generate a new world. By absorbing all the authorities of the Five Great Demon Lords into one’s body, a person can ascend into an upper-dimensional being.”

“……”

“Just as a god of another dimension did, the god of our dimension split its powers into five parts. For the next god.”

An absurdly far-fetched dream tale. A lunatic tale. Nonsense.

It’s easy to dismiss it as a convenient fantasy.

But――what if it’s true?

“(Ekarraat… are his words true?)”

‘I do not know.’

“(Not knowing means it’s a lie?)”

‘No—even if the Five Great Demon Lords, myself included, are the parts into which the Creator God’s authority was divided, the severed limbs have no will. Even if I am one of the god’s severed arms, that arm cannot know the god-master’s intentions. Therefore—I do not know.’

“So, I want you to hand over Ekarraat and Vanargand that Sid possesses. With the authorities of four of the Five Great Demon Lords, it would be easy to bring the last and strongest of the Five Great Demon Lords—Ryushifile of the End—into my grasp.”

“Whether it’s true or delusion, the answer is no.”

Even if his words are true, Ekarraat and Vanargand are my precious comrades.

And—if the creation myth he tells is a lie, he’ll actually gain the fighting power to destroy the world.

There’s no way I’m going to let someone like him rule the world.

Whether lie or truth――the answer is the same.

“Too bad—the alliance failed, then. In that case—only war remains, right?”

“…!?!”

Sobra spread his own shadow wide with a whoosh.

That was the Shadow Necromancer skill of expanding one’s own shadow to strengthen Shadows――Shadow Domain (Shadow Field)!?

“Tch!”

A step late――I also deployed my Shadow Domain (Shadow Field).

The two shadows collided as if pushing against a boundary line.

Just before we were about to summon Shadows—

“No, calling it a war is too much. I’ll call it a game instead.”

――Sobra retracted his deployed Shadow Domain (Shadow Field).

“Huh?”

“It’s pointless for Shadow Necromancers to fight one another. It rarely reaches a conclusion.”

Shadow Necromancers summon armies of Shadows and, by consuming MP, can resurrect them infinitely.

And the caster themself is Undead, to top it off.

There’s a distinct possibility the fight could go on for three days and nights without resolution.

“So—let’s play a game. We’ll wager our Five Great Demon Lords against each other.”

Sobra snapped his fingers and raised one finger.

The madman who dreams of a creator god proposed.

“Do you know the rules of chess?”