The conclusion of the Spain vs Denmark match

As Iori headed out with Mimoko, she noticed there was a line to get out. Following the cheating scandal, players were naturally being scanned once more to ensure they didn't have any devices on them.

"They must suck at their jobs if they couldn't catch her coming in with the device," Iori grumbled.

"I doubt it's that simple. She might have hidden it inside before the event, or perhaps the scandal goes deeper than we thought," Mimoko sighed.

"Maybe, they do have metal detectors so those should have caught her if they didn't check her hair. But maybe that device is able to avoid metal detectors. It did look pretty thin and built more like a WWCF card."

"Perhaps."

As the line inched forward, it became more apparent who was being targeted for more thorough inspection; any who had one or more of their eyes obscured by either hair or apparel. As the two reached the front, Mimoko was simply allowed to pass through after proving she had nothing hidden in her breasts, while Iori was subject to a more thorough check due to the volume of her hair.

Once that was done, Iori began to head out, but stopped as she took notice of a woman staring down Prokrutka. The woman was muscular and was clad in combat attire, with her right eye obscured by her short green hair. She also appeared to be an executive board member based on the fact that she had just displayed a purple WWCF card with a rating of 2960 displayed on it.

"So you all are playing as well," Prokrutka scowled.

"If maestros can play, why can't we play and represent our countries?" the woman coldly snarled.

What drew Iori to the woman wasn't the fact that she was an executive board member, but rather the look in her exposed eye. It was a lifeless and cold look, as if she had truly been through a lot, but Iori could see deeper; this woman had killed far more people than she had.

The woman sheathed her WWCF card before Iori could get a glance at her name, but the woman certainly took notice of Iori and shot her cold disgusted glare.

For the first time in her life, Iori was actually a bit floored by someone else's murderous intent. Red Reaper thus far was the only one Iori had encountered who had killed more than her and actually spooked her a bit. Though her fear of Red Reaper was more rooted in the fact that she couldn't kill him. This woman was different. Iori had never seen such a lifeless glare before.

Perhaps if it was a run of the mill lifeless glare, Iori wouldn't have been floored, but the woman's cold lifeless glare had something behind it. A drive that Iori was unable to comprehend, and that's why she began to tremble. This woman would kill without hesitation, and was capable of doing the deed a thousand times over. Iori couldn't help but let loose a sadistic smile as she trembled in place. The woman also seemed to be a tad weary of Iori, but more so in an instinctive sort of way. As she was cleared to leave, she kept her eye slowly focused on Iori, who in turn was laser focused on her.

If the two were to clash, mutual destruction was highly probable, though the woman might have the slight edge. However, she wasn't the type to provoke a fight, though if necessary, she'd become a manslaying monster for her goal. Though she knew of Iori's infamy and realized that thanks to this encounter, the two's fates would be bound.

Once the woman had gone, Mimoko took notice of Iori's trembling state. "Iori-chan? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah... Let's gorge, I deserve a feast for bringing some cheaters down."

Even though Iori tried to hide it behind a veil of her usual gusto, Mimoko could tell she was terrified.

"Iori-chan... Just who was that woman?"

As the two walked away, Wendy reached the front of the line and scowled as an arbiter forced her to pull back the hair concealing her eye. She had just finished her game and hadn't been in the vicinity when the cheating revelation came to light, so all this was a surprise.

"Huh? Clearly you saw me take my eye-patch off during my match, so why are you stopping me?" Diederich snarled as he stared down an arbiter.

"You're more of a different case. I'm to inform you that your behavior was causing too much of a disturbance. Do it again and suspension is on the table."

Diederich shot the arbiter a death glare before storming out. As soon as he left, Wendy was told she had passed, and could leave as well. Curious, she asked about the nature of the check to which the arbiter simply answered by directing her to check the news.

Once outside, Wendy was able to look up the article regarding the cheating scandal. "Two scandals, but the Italian one's the bigger one. Though funny that Japan was the opponent of both teams. I wonder what the boys will think."

While many games had already concluded, some were still going on including some decisive ones. Notably in the match between Spain and Denmark. The score was currently tied at 1.5-1.5 with the game at board 3 between Esperanza and Jane still being played. With Anne and Vovô had sitting the match out, Julia had drawn her game against Paulina on board 2, while Wendy had managed to score an upset victory over Marta on board 4. However, Sophia had successfully beaten Leyla at board 1, evening the score. Now it would all come down to the game at board 3.

The game had started off interesting with Jane moving her pawn to c3, choosing to go with the Saragossa opening. From there, knight f6, knight f3, knight a6, d4, b6, b-knight d2, rook g8, e4, c5, e5, and knight g4 had been played.

Jane then moved her queen to c2,while Esperanza moved her bishop to b7.

"Nancy, you just see that?" Danny asked as he turned to Nancy.

"Yep, and so did Jane. Queen captures h7 has been played, meaning that rook is toast," Nancy huffed.

Esperanza then sat motionless for a good half hour until finally deciding to move her knight to b8. Jane gleefully captured the rook at g8 with her queen as Esperanza decided to move her queen out to c7. Next came bishop d3, d6, e6, and knight d7.

"Check. Seems I'm getting payback for last night," Jane huffed as she captured the pawn at f7 with her queen, forcing the king to d8.

She then captured the knight at d7 with her e-pawn, prompting Esperanza to capture said pawn with her queen. Next came knight g5, and a long thinking period from Esperanza. During that wait, the cheating scandal had unfolded, which only further put Esperanza on edge. As she walked around to clear her mind, she had noticed some of the extensive checks the arbiters were given to those that had an eye covered with either hair or apparel. She didn't want that done to her, so she quickly retreated to the approved restroom area in order to do her hair.

When she returned, her left eye was now uncovered and she only had a couple minutes left on her clock. It didn't really matter though as her position was bad from the start. Her move of king to c7 didn't do her any favors, as it allowed Jane to play knight e6. That was the moment Esperanza blundered into mate by moving her king to c6.

Sophia, who had been standing around watching anxiously began to grit her teeth in anger. "Idiot. I won my match! Yet you're going to blow it all! What was Marta thinking when she had her added to the team!? She's terrible!" she thought as Jane moved her pawn to d5.

Esperanza had no choice but to capture the pawn at d5 with her king. Jane moving her queen to f3 also didn't leave her with much choice, but she ultimately chose to capture the knight at e6 with her king.

"Dammit. Sophia's been here the whole time. She might be more troublesome to deal with than the arbiters," Esperanza thought.

"And that's checkmate. Now you'll all apologize to Leyla-sama for last night," Jane huffed as she moved her queen to f5, winning the game.

Denmark had now pulled off an upset victory and won 2.5-1.5. Sophia winning her match against Leyla only worsened her mood.

"And with that, we've won, so I expect a formal apology for what you subjected me to," Leyla huffed.

"Um, I won. I won our match, so you're my slave!" Sophia fumed.

"Denmark won the match, though. Why should I be punished for my team winning?"

"Because YOU lost!"

"This is a team event, not an individual one. Though maybe I'll shave and dye my hair. Sound good?"

Sophia looked ready to start s=throwing hands, but Raymond's presence stopped her.

"Damn you. DAMN YOU! Remeber this; your team might have won, but you were the only one that lost," Sophia fumed as she stormed away.

Esperanza let out a sigh, as now she didn't need to worry about Sophia. She quickly apologized to Jane and Leyla, in order to not have to worry about doing it later, and hurried off.

"Well that was unexpected. I thought she'd be more of a challenge, though I guess the challenge was more of a test of patience," Jane shrugged.

"Yeah..."

"Leyla-sama, about your hair-"

"Oh that was a bluff. Though I might try it out eventually."

"I'll match you then!"

"Always wanting to be by my side. But since we won today, I see no reason to punish myself with an extreme style."

Jane nodded and the two headed off to dinner.

The full game:

White: Jane Fantasi (2384) Black: Esperanza Malo (2098)

1. c3 Nf6

2. Nf3 Na6

3. d4 b6

4. Nbd2 Rg8

5. e4 c5

6. e5 Ng4

7. Qc2 Bb7

8. Qxh7 Nb8

9. Qxg8 Qc7

10. Bd3 d6

11. e6 Nd7

12. Qxf7+ Kd8

13. exd7 Qxd7

14. Ng5 Kc7

15. Ne6+ Kc6

16. d5+ Kxd5

17. Qf3+ Kxe6

18. Qf5#

Match score:

Denmark: 2.5 Spain: 1.5

Denmark wins 2.5-1.5