Solar Blood Masters (170)

Chapter 170 - North Druid Chessboard

Raphael reached the top of the purple web stairway. He looked back at the sticky strands that had an unsettling iridescence.

“Damn, those were some crude steps.”

Before him stood an ominous torii gateway. Its dark wood was weathered and had strange symbols that seemed to writhe and shift as he observed them.

With Lu Jade coiled around his horns, Raphael cautiously approached the gateway.

“This place… It feels ancient. Like a forgotten tomb.”

“It gives me the creeps, Big Brother. Look!”

Lu Jade pointed towards a line of statues flanking the pathway leading further into Rabbit Ear Mountain. Their stone forms were cracked; eroded by time and neglect. Some were broken, with limbs scattered and their heads missing.

“Those spiders… They resemble the ones we saw earlier. But larger. More… menacing.” Raphael observed the statues.

“And those webs… They’re everywhere. Be careful where you step, Big Brother. They might be laced with venom.”

Lu Jade warned Raphael as they traversed the path. A few dead Amethyst Spiders lay scattered about, as if a recent battle had taken place.

“This place… It's like a graveyard. Do you think there are… traps here, Little Lu?” Raphael asked.

“It’s possible, Big Brother. Those spiders are cunning. We shouldn’t underestimate them.”

They reached the end of the pathway. Raphael’s gaze settled upon a small group of Amethyst Spiders. They were huddled together, resting against stone slabs, looking battered and bruised.

A healer spider moved amongst them. Green Circular Spell Diagrams spiraled above the injured spiders, and began mending their wounds.

Raphael approached cautiously. “What happened here?”

The spiders looked up, startled by his sudden appearance.

“You… You’re the bull…!”

“What happened here?” Raphael repeated his question.

“We were ambushed… by those statues,” another spider explained, gesturing towards the broken figures lining the pathway. “They came to life… Each one possessed the cultivation level of a peak Nightmare Calamity! If it weren’t for Emperor Pi Muram… we would all be dead… like our fallen comrades.”

A chill went down Raphael’s spine. Peak Nightmare Calamity statues? He glanced back at the broken figures, now seeing them in a new light. Those statues… they were guardians of this sacred space.

“Where is Pi Muram now?” Raphael asked, eager to fulfill his mission to retrieve the scriptures.

The spider pointed towards a large, circular pathway leading to the edge of the mountain. “He’s gone below… to challenge the North Druid Chessboard.”

Raphael followed the path. He observed the sheer vertical wall of darkness before him. The mountain’s heart was hollowed out, a vast, cylindrical space obscured by an intricate net of Phantom Webs. The webs were as thin as silk, yet strong enough to slice even the toughest scales.

“To get to the North Druid Chessboard… I have to get past those webs. Hmmm…”

He walked to the edge of the pathway and peered down into the darkness. The webs obscured his vision. It seemed bottomless and the webs radiated a sinister aura.

He turned to the spiders.

“Has anyone else gone down there?”

One of the spiders replied, “Only Pi Muram. He entered over an hour ago. The rest of us… we tried. But even we couldn’t get past those Phantom Webs. It seems… only Emperor Calamities can pass through.”

“Emperor Calamities?” Raphael was baffled. “But… those webs…?”

“Big Brother, surely there is a way your intelligence can get us through?” Lu Jade’s suggestion had a desperate yearning he’d never known.

Raphael doubted himself. These webs weren’t like some intricate puzzle. If he touched them, they would simply cut him apart.

‘Maybe I can teleport through?’

He closed his eyes, focusing his Solar Essence. He visualized the space below, the bottom of the chasm, and with a burst of shadow energy… attempted to teleport.

But…

WHOOSH! CRACK!

The teleportation failed!

He was yanked back violently!

A searing pain shot through his right wing. It felt as if a thousand razor blades had sliced into it.

“ARGH!”

He stumbled, barely managing to catch himself before falling into the abyss.

Those Shadow Bats within his wing screamed in pain.

“Master! What was that?!”

“It’s those webs! They blocked my teleportation!” Raphael said through gritted teeth while clutching his injured wing.

‘So, even my teleportation is useless. Damn!’ He turned to the spiders. “How did Pi Muram get down there?”

“He simply crawled onto the Phantom Webs and lowered himself down,” one of the spiders replied.

‘Crawled? So, it’s a bloodline thing? Only those with ancestral ties to the Amethyst Spider Clan can pass through unharmed?’

He pondered his options. Pi Muram, although an Emperor Calamity, could still perish down there. And if that happened, the Amethyst Silk Scriptures would be lost. He had to go down there, to assess the situation.

"Big Brother…” Lu Jade whispered in his ear. “What if… what if you erase it? Like you did that formation back there?”

“Oh! That’s a genius idea, Little Lu!”

“Yes, thanks for your praises, Big Brother.” Lu Jade blushed.

Raphael’s eyes narrowed. “That just might work. I have to try.”

He glanced back at the spiders. They were watching him intently, their eight eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Conceal me.”

Raphael activated his 'Electric Scale Prison'. A translucent sphere of bronze scales enveloped him. It flickered, then turned opaque, hiding him from view.

He then materialized ‘Lucid Dream’ and the World Canvas. With the paintbrush gripped tightly in his hand, he began to paint.

He dipped ‘Lucid Dream’ into the bowl of white ink that had materialized beside the canvas, and with a swift, decisive stroke, he drew a line across the Phantom Webs depicted on his canvas.

A portion of the webs vanished.

But… they rematerialized almost instantly.

“Damn! It’s reforming too quickly! I’ll have to be faster. I’ll have to coat myself in ‘Electro Speed’ before making my descent.”

He unleashed another ‘Nihilistic Stroke’ on his canvas, erasing a larger section of the webs.

Then, he coated his massive form in yellow lightning.

“Electro Speed!”

And as the webs vanished, he dashed downwards with a blinding speed.

The Electric Scale Prison vanished.

The spiders stared in shock.

"That bull… where’d he go?”

“Could he have gone… below?”

“How is that possible?! He’s only a 2nd Layer Nightmare Calamity! Even we couldn’t get through! How did he…?” They exchanged baffled glances.

…

THUD!

Raphael landed roughly on a stone platform with a jarring thud that had his hooves sinking slightly into the soft dirt. He grunted and swayed precariously.

“Oof! Damn, that was rough! I never expected the gravity here to be so intense.”

“Big Brother, this gravity shouldn’t bother you that much, should it? I mean, your ‘Gold Press’…” Lu Jade’s question had Raphael pausing.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, Little Lu, I’ve never actually used ‘Gold Press’ on myself before. Hmm, when we get out of here, I have to start doing some gravity resistance training.” He stretched his legs, testing their strength. “I can still move, but… there’s definitely some resistance.”

He struggled to stand up straight. His massive frame, usually so agile and powerful, felt sluggish, burdened. He took a deep breath, channeling his Solar Essence, pushing back against the oppressive weight. Finally, with a grunt, he straightened.

He looked around.

“This place… It’s huge!”

He and Lu Jade were standing on a raised platform, beside a massive, purple crystal pillar. The platform overlooked a vast, circular chamber. Twelve such pillars were positioned at regular intervals around the chamber’s perimeter.

And at the chamber’s center… was a gigantic chessboard. But unlike any Raphael, or even Lu Jade, had ever seen.

It was made of greystone, the edges curved instead of squared. Twelve spiraling rows narrowed inwards towards the board’s heart, each row comprised of varying square patterns. These were the tiles where the pieces were to be placed.

And the pieces themselves…

Colossal statues, each representing something unique, were positioned across the board. The most prominent among these were the king and queen pieces.

The king was a large, muscular man-whale entity wielding a trident. And the queen, a female whale with alluring curves, holding a large shield. Both were golden, while the remaining pieces were mostly amethyst.

“This… This is the North Druid Chessboard?” Raphael spoke with a mix of awe and apprehension.

“Over there, Big Brother!” Lu Jade suddenly pointed his tail towards a distant corner of the board where pieces were moving.

Raphael zoomed in with his Lingshi Eye and saw Pi Muram’s battered form struggling beneath a colossal statue piece.

“He’s about to be crushed!”

“Stay here, Little Lu.”

Raphael didn’t hesitate. He channeled golden lightning through his body. “Electro Speed!”

And in a flash, he vanished.

He materialized beside Pi Muram, who was desperately trying to lift the statue off him.

“GRAAH!”

With a powerful heave, Raphael lifted the statue and tossed it aside. It landed with a thunderous thud, sending tremors across the chessboard.

He and Pi Muram tumbled to the center of the board.

Pi Muram looked up, stunned.

“You… When did you get here?”

“Just now. What happened? How come that statue almost crushed you? With your immense strength…?” Raphael paused, his Lingshi Eye scanning Pi Muram’s form, and his jaw dropped.

“Your cultivation… 5th Layer Buddhist Pill Stage?! How…?!” He couldn’t comprehend. An Emperor Calamity reduced to such a low level?

Pi Muram hurriedly explained, “It’s this North Druid Chessboard, bull. Within its confines, it can even toy with an Emperor Calamity. As you bear witness to, my strength has drastically declined… due to a mishap earlier. You shouldn’t have entered the board, Raphael. Now… you will suffer the same fate.”

“Suffer? What do you mean, suffer?” Raphael frowned, his monstrous gut churned with unease.

“My last move was… unfavorable. And the punishment it issued… it was abruptly interrupted by your arrival. Meaning… a double punishment will now be delivered. And do not even think about leaving. I’ve tried. Once you’ve entered this board, there is NO escape… until the game is over.”

“So… it’s either we win this thing… or we perish?”

“Yes… But winning isn't so simple…” Pi Muram’s gaze shifted towards a piece starting to move. A colossal statue, wielding a battle axe, lumbered into position. Beside it, another statue, holding an hourglass, stood ominously.

“Raphael, be careful… Its eyes…”

Before Pi Muram could finish his warning, two beams of light shot from the statue’s eyes towards Raphael!

He dodged.

“That’s nothing. I’m way faster.” Raphael grinned at Pi Muram.

“What’s with that long face? I dodged it. Look. Not even a scratch.”

“You shouldn’t have evaded those beams, bull. Now… you will regress… just like I did.”

“Regress? What does that mean?”

BOOM!

Suddenly, a blinding light fell upon Raphael.

He felt a strange sensation. As if time itself was rewinding. Memories from his human existence, those he thought he'd buried deep within Shao Jin’s bull form, came flashing before him. Butler Long, Tajmani, Ewa Nier… faces from his past.

He gasped.

And when his vision cleared…

He stared at Pi Muram, who stood before him. But something was off. Pi Muram’s form was now colossal, towering above him like a mountain. Even the statues surrounding them seemed larger, more menacing.

“What the…?! Everything has gotten so… big?!”

“Big Brother… You…”

Suddenly, Raphael heard Lu Jade’s voice. He looked up towards the platform where Lu Jade perched. Even his little friend looked larger.

‘Even Little Lu has gotten bigger? What the hell is going on? Am I hallucinating?’

He rubbed his eyes. And in doing so, he discovered something… shocking. His hands… they were no longer massive, nor golden. They were small, human hands.

‘Huh? This…’

He looked down at his body. He was wearing his old, black servant garments. His purple hair was ruffled. His physique… It was human.

He was back in his former human body, the one devoured by Shao Jin.

‘No wonder everything seems so big… It’s because… I’ve become human again! But… HOW is this possible?’

Pi Muram observed Raphael’s transformation. "It’s the regression symptom, bull. It has the power to rewind the wheels of time, to revert you back to your early stages. This is why my power is now at the Buddhist Pill Stage… And why my leg… the one you tore off… has regenerated.”

He gestured towards his fully restored limb.

“However… your regression is… bizarre. You’ve transformed into… a human? And a Bloodthorne no less. I can smell it… in your blood. This is no mere illusion. What secrets are you hiding, Raphael?”

Pi Muram’s multiple eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“I… ah…” Raphael was about to speak when the pieces on the board began to move again.

Two colossal statues, one holding a battle axe, the other an hourglass, lumbered into position.

“I… I can’t explain how I transformed… Not yet. Tell me, what’s happening with those pieces?”

“That, Raphael, is a penalty move. We’re about to be transported… to the Dark Druid Palace. The axe piece signifies that violence awaits, and the hourglass? Well, there’s no set time within that realm. Sometimes a few hours within this board’s game, sometimes it’s several years.”

Pi Muram’s words were barely spoken when the statue with the hourglass turned it over, and the sands within began draining away. Then, the statue with the axe slammed it onto the board.

BOOM!

A blinding light engulfed them.

They vanished.

On the balcony, Lu Jade watched them disappear.

“Big Brother…!” He shouted worryingly.