Checkmate
by Afuhfuihgs
Roel moved. The God of Chaos, who had been expecting the beast that was crouching to rise, soon felt as if a blank space had formed in his consciousness. In an instant, with a movement that the eye could never follow, Roel was already swinging the Holy Sword in front of him.
“…!”
Kwaaaang―――!
He couldn’t react, but he was able to block Roel’s surprise attack. The authority of a god is that unreasonable. However, the God of Chaos felt as if his consciousness had completely frozen.
Why did he use his authority against Roel? An impossible thing had happened. The God of Chaos couldn’t keep up with Roel’s movements at all. Until now, facing Roel was like looking down from a very high place at an ant working hard, but… now they were on the same level. No, the current Roel made him feel an indescribable unpleasantness, as if he had become a stronger being than himself.
“How dare you―――!”
The God of Chaos, who was about to unleash the true power of chaos to punish the insignificant being who had committed such rude and presumptuous acts against him, momentarily missed Roel’s movements again.
Kwaaaang――――!
This time, the authority was activated from behind. The God of Chaos couldn’t understand it. How was that possible? It’s impossible for a human to surpass a god. They can expend everything they have to reach the realm of God for a brief moment, but… the current Roel was far from burning everything he had for a single strike.
The continuous massive explosions around the God of Chaos were proof. Roel was wielding the Holy Sword without any problems, even while using power that surpassed God. He hasn’t become a god. But instinctively, he could tell. That he wasn’t even human anymore. Yes, the expression that he had become something resembling a god was correct.
Kung―――!
The God of Chaos, who had created a powerful shockwave that pressed down on the space around him, narrowed his brow and spat out his anger.
“Plausibility, do you think your actions can handle plausibility right now!”
Roel, with the Holy Sword emitting light slung over his shoulder, looked straight at the God of Chaos and said.
“There’s enough plausibility.”
“How arrogant, even I can’t completely ignore the plausibility that is the foundation of the world.”
Reading the flow of plausibility was something even the God of Chaos was cautious about. For a mere human to confidently say that there was enough plausibility was no different from a frog saying that it had fully understood the world of the well.
However, the God of Chaos couldn’t find any arrogance or presumptuousness on Roel’s face. Rather, he was genuinely smiling. Looking at him with an expression as if to say, ‘Do you still not understand?’
“Still, you… haven’t realized our connection?”
“…What?”
“Because you only liked twisting the flow, you seem to lack the ability to read it.”
The God of Chaos, well aware that the other party wasn’t making empty boasts, checked his own body. He couldn’t feel anything strange. Except for the synchronization rate, a secret trap, there were no secrets in this Ross’s body…?!
“This is…!”
The God of Chaos, borrowing the power of chaos to check himself from a third-person perspective, finally realized the connection Roel had spoken of. There was a very faint line, thinner than a strand of hair, pointing towards the sky from the crown of the body he had possessed. The line that endlessly rose towards the sky was connected to Roel. There was also a line connected to the crown of his head. The two were literally connected.
“Since when!!!”
He hurriedly tried to cut the line using the power of chaos, but… even chaos, which could cut anything, flowed smoothly past it, and the line wouldn’t break no matter what he did. Roel quietly said to the God of Chaos, who realized that he could only sever the connection by using divine authority.
“Ross was someone you should never have possessed.”
At those words, the God of Chaos looked at Roel with his true face, which had no expression. Why? When he possessed Ross, who had become a cult leader, there were no problems. They were the same soul, the same body… why was there such a difference? Roel told him the answer.
“Haven’t you ever thought it was strange? That in all those worlds, you’ve never possessed the ‘Ross’ of that world even once?”
At Roel’s point, the God of Chaos thought. It was true. All this time, Roel’s inferior younger brother, Ross, had either sold his soul to the Demon King, been killed by Roel, or been killed by the cult leader… He had only killed him directly in front of Roel. He had never used him as a material for possession. Ross, who had become a cult leader, had possessed him after crossing over from another world to the first world.
“It was all planned. For this moment.”
Roel smiled and continued.
“Ross, who became a cult leader, is a Ross from another world. Another who can’t become the real Ross, a fake. An uninvited guest who interfered with the story under the guise of being an ambiguous existence.”
“What does that matter?”
Roel answered immediately without waiting.
“Ross can become a cult leader, but a cult leader can never become Ross. Because their roles are different in this world.”
Ross becoming a cult leader is not something that goes against the flow of plausibility. Because there is a possibility that it could happen. But the opposite is different. A cult leader can never become Ross. Ross is an extra with a role predetermined from the beginning as a ‘inferiority complex consumable’. If a Ross from another world steals that role, the negation of the world is inevitable.
“You intruded into the story using plausibility, with the cult leader using the excuse of being ambiguous, and you using the excuse of a setting error in the story…”
In an instant, Roel’s posture lowered, and his voice was heard right in front of him. He used his authority again to block Roel’s attack, but Roel didn’t retrieve the Holy Sword and instead tried to push back [Chaos] with force. That foolishness impossibly began to actually push back Chaos.
“…!”
Roel, who had made the impossible possible, said with a matter-of-fact expression.
“Ross is a being who feels a strong sense of inferiority towards me, the hero. Plausibility created a terrible setting where no matter what Ross does, he is always caught up to by me and can never win, gaining an inferiority complex. With that setting, Ross and I are connected, and I can feel and obtain everything from Ross.”
The Holy Sword got closer to the God of Chaos.
“The reason I only watched as the people I love died… was because I needed time to digest everything about you. Knowing that, everyone bought time for me. Thanks to their sacrifices, I have finally become a being who can defeat you.”
The God of Chaos, face to face with Roel, suddenly burst into laughter. It was a dangerous but enjoyable variable worth waiting for.
“…Puk hahahaha!!! So, that was another trap! You sly bastard! Now I understand. That was the reason I allowed you to possess Ross!”
It was definitely a decent trap. A trap that Roel and God had prepared for a very long time, losing countless worlds. One of the reasons Roel directly killed Ross in countless worlds was definitely to prevent him from noticing such a setting. The God of Chaos felt so happy that Roel had slyly deceived him that he gave a sincere smile.
“But you know. If you had truly reached the realm of God, you would have realized. That God can never――― be defeated.”
The God of Chaos raised his hand and created the purest chaos. It was a wonderful and enjoyable variable, but it was a variable that the God of Chaos’s ability could control.
“Someone taught me for a very long time how to not lose against an opponent stronger than myself…”
Roel had already moved on to the next world, achieving a draw against him, who he could never defeat. He had directly shown him the ‘clue’ to escape this trap.
No matter how much Roel absorbed everything about him… he could avoid death by using the authority of God. If he endlessly postponed defeat and continued the endless fight, the world would eventually be destroyed.
If that happens, the winner will ultimately be… himself, as always. A hero who fails to prevent the world from being destroyed cannot win, even if he defeats the villain late.
“You, who trapped me, actually helped me escape the trap. Puh heuheuheuhue…!!!”
The God of Chaos, who burst into arrogant laughter, looked at Roel, anticipating what kind of expression he would make. Would it be an expression revealing self-reproach? Or an expression full of despair for not anticipating his response?
However, the expression that the God of Chaos had expected could not be found anywhere. Without any emotion, Roel said with a dry face without even a smile.
“No, it’s already checkmate.”
Roel swung the Holy Sword.
And this time….
[Authority] couldn’t block Roel’s Holy Sword.
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