Guild Ranking Ceremony; Trial Two, Checkmate

Many giant chessboards decorated the interior of the expansive arena. At each were two opposing guilds engaging in a game of magic chess.

There was The Golden Chariot Vs Kin of Bestia.

Draconum Familia Vs Azure Ursine.

And finally, the match that worried me the most after what Master Frost told us.

 Specialty Maid Vs Lunastray.

Winning the ceremony was important to me, as I truly wanted to find out what caused the rapid influx of monsters.

But at the moment the Smilers were the dominant thought in my mind, I had to study them closely if I wanted to be able to help Draconum Familia take them down.

Upon the floating chessboard in the ocean biome of the arena, where Lunastray and Specialty Maid were matched, there was a bulky man at least three hundred pounds of pure muscle at least six feet and two inches tall.

Every step he took shook the whole chessboard, tipping it into the waters.

The man maid was truly terrifying, with his black and white dress, a dark garter belt holding up his stocking socks. To top it all of he was wearing a giant bonnet to truly bring in the terror.

"Woe to any who would harm the heart of our Mistress Cena." The maid said in a deep voice that I nearly felt from the stands. "My name is Benedict Courd, I am a Beta of Specialty Maid and a Mage. And I will crush you for the sleepless nights our mistress has endured because of you."

Meanwhile his Lunastray foe simply sported a wicked smile as he licked his lips.

"So, you just want to fight then? Sure, I'm down." 

The two dashed to one another with enough and a giant dust cloud created by one of them obscured my view.

"Damn it! Can't see anything now." I said as I gritted my teeth together in frustration. 

"Looks like Lunastray and Specialty maid are going straight for the jugular as Benedict Courd and Crok Striker engage in a vicious battle completely forgoing the other chess pieces! Meanwhile The Golden Chariot's swordswomen Lyn Farum has claimed victory over Kin of Bestia's feisty kitten Neko Neko! And in an absolutely beautiful display of sportsmanship, the two have requested to be teleported to a nearby StarBills for some quality coffee! Finally, we have Draconum Familia's Robius Frost against Azure Ursine's, Arach Nei, it looks like Robius has him on the ropes, all he has left are two rooks. Meanwhile Robius has barely lost anything!"

The audience roared in anticipation, as they watched Robius' match with the tactician.

"Can he actually win?" Aceil spoke out. "I know we should be focusing on Lunastray, but I can't stop watching this match."

"Indeed, but I must add, I doubt Robius will win. Arach is toying with him, he wants to know what he's worth." Shade said matter of factly. "Every time Robius makes a move it's exactly where Arach anticipated you can tell by his facial expressions. Either Arach is a sadistic bastard who enjoys playing with his prey. Or he wants something from Robius and once he gets it, the match won't be pretty."

Kukiri watched the match with keen eyes, it truly looked like Robius had him, but at the same time she knew that Shade was hardly ever wrong.

"Come on Robius, just put him down." She whimpered as she wrapped around Nosora's neck like a scarf.

********

I never recalled being this good at chess, but I was seriously owning this bespeckled chump.

Yet his face was completely void of all emotion, it was as though he didn't fear losing.

He lifted his spectacles from the tip of his nose as his long luxurious locks drifted in the gentle breeze.

"From what you've said, I gather she's truly happy with you guys?" Arach asked me regarding Kenki, he'd been doing so for the entire match, which was probably why he was performing so poorly.

"Yeah, I think she is. But she won't ever get over you guys. I don't get it. Why are you acting like you care so much? You're the ones who kicked her out, she would've been perfectly happy to stay in your guild. Instead, you disowned her, you abandoned her. Guilds are families, they stick together no matter what." I argued, my curiosity piqued like a certain red-haired girl I knew.

The breeze stopped as leaving nothing but the distant audience which we could barely hear, as the sole source of noise.

"Nobody knows that better than Azure Ursine, trust me. We simply had to let her go, it wasn't an easy decision. We knew that she couldn't take down the Jorogumo alone, but we knew she'd be safe as long as a member of Draconum Familia was also on the job. She had to go, not for our sake, but for her's. She is more important to us then you may ever know." Arach said as a tear fell from his cheek.

Yet before I could follow up, I noticed that not only was it my turn, but that I was cornered with the two rooks and Arach himself.

"Checkmate Robius. Good game, if everyone in Draconum Familia is as determined as you are, I'm glad Kenki joined your guild." Arach said. 

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Takono! Hoji! Did you guys see that!" The announcer shouted in disbelief.

"Indeed, what a splendid match, something tells me it was always gonna end like this though." Exorcist Hoji said.

"I agree, chess is all about control, and Arach had that in abundance, still, that was a hell of a performance. And we shouldn't just step over Robius, he was inexperienced, but he still managed to entertain everyone, I must admit I'm excited to see what else Draconum Familia has up their sleeves." Takono said in bewilderment as he clapped his hands.

"After a match like that the two combatants must be exhausted and will now be teleported to the stands with the rest of their respective guilds, unless they have other plans?" Cion asked to which me and Arach answered the same by shaking our heads which he somehow saw from his great distance. "And finally let's see-"

Interrupting Cion was the dust from the Lunastray and Specialty Maid settling and revealing a proud Benedict standing over a defeated Lunastray member.

"Stick to the shadows assassin, you won't last long in the light." The towering maid said in an intimidating voice. 

"Man, that guy may be an affront to all things maid, but he must be pretty tough to take down a Smiler so easily." Jex said with mixed emotions as he stared at the behemoth maid. "Those guys are no joke; you know from what Master Frost says at least."

"Trial two of The Guild Ranking Ceremony has concluded! The scores are as follows.

The Golden Chariot; First place, four points.

Azure Ursine; Second place, three points.

Draconum Familia and Specialty Maid; both at third place with two points.

Kin of Bestia; fourth place, one point.

And in last place is Lunastray with zero points. 

Please come back tomorrow for another riveting trial! And an update on Sieg's wellbeing. G'bye!"

********

Meanwhile in the halls belonging to the number two guild, two figures discussed a sinister plan.

"Things aren't looking very good for the ceremony Master." The tall figure of Lunastray spoke through the door leading to the room where his master dwelled.

"The ceremony is a means to an end. The whole reason we're even here is to kill Takono, if not for the Azure Ursine we would have done so long ago, we wouldn't have even needed to form Lunastray. We will use the ceremony to take out The Golden Chariot's strongest, then we will strike down Azure Ursine, then finally we can kill our target, and perhaps even the long-lost princess." The master spoke. "Besides, we have to throw a match here and there, we don't want to win after all, that would draw too much attention."

"Yes master, I have grown quite tired of this place. I'm excited to see what Thrix has to offer. A nation that wealthy is bound to have somebody hey want dead."

"Indeed, but for now, we have to eliminate Azure Ursine. I already sowed the seeds of panic in them. They are no doubt playing right into my hand as we speak."

********

As tensions rose between the guild leaders of The Orochi Isles and the Smilers, a lone figure kicks in the doors to Draconum Familia.

"Alright ya sons of bitches! Who's up first!" The figure shouted only to find his guild devoid of all members save a gentlemanly butler.

"Toan, it is nice to see you, I'm afraid everyone else is occupied. If it makes you feel better, you just missed Konchu Torrikkusatu. He was bummed that you weren't here and left with another quest." Bastion said as he polished a glass.

"Figures. Asura still out too?" Toan asked only for Bastion to reply with an affirmative nod. "And the rest?"

Bastion gestured Toan to sit at the bar as he explained everything to him.

"A new member!? And they're at Drasil competing in the Guild Ranking Ceremony!?" Toan exclaims as he slams his tenth drink. "I've gotta go! Like yesterday! Hey, I should be able to afford a dart! I completed ten quests!"

"And I would absolutely love to compensate you for doing so. Unfortunately, you seem to have lost your crest and therefore I cannot pay you." Bastion said regretfully. "Rules are rules I'm afraid."

"Ah screw it, I'll walk. I should get there by tomorrow if I remain uninterrupted."