Chapter 141 - Chess

"...Guy..." Rudra barely uttered as he lifted his gaze from the floor. "This place is a mess.."

His eyes darted around the ice castle, a hint of nostalgia. Though, his gaze noticed the broken walls, large gaps in the ceiling, and the uneven floors due to the cracks and craters.

He couldn't even muster a sarcastic remark about how pathetic he must look, lying there, barely clinging to life. He hated the way his friend and rival was staring at him now.

"Rudra," Guy's voice remained emotionless, but he moved closer, gently placing Rudra's arm over his shoulder to lift him.

"Hehehe..." Rudra chuckled weakly, reminiscing about the times when they'd be too exhausted to move after their usual battles, often challenged by Rudra himself.

"How nostalgic..."

Guy materialized a chair for him to sit in. As he eased Rudra into the seat, his breath caught, his eyes drawn to the cracks in Rudra's exposed skin.

"You're dying."

Rudra met Guy's gaze, his friend's pained expression a sharp thorn in his chest. He hated it.

"Thanks... I didn't notice, idiot."

Even his words came out in strained gasps and shallow coughs.

"Hey, Guy... let's fight."

"You really are an idiot," Guy couldn't suppress the rising frustration as he saw his friend in such a state, still speaking such nonsense. "Do you think you can even beat me like this? I don't even have to move, and I'll win."

Rudra took a shallow breath, feeling his body slowly failing him. His feet had long ceased to feel like his own, and his limbs no longer had the strength to hold him up. He had abandoned all hope of standing.

"Please..." Rudra's voice was barely a whisper, his vision blurred as the darkness crept in. He could feel his senses slipping away, and soon, everything would fade.

Guy clenched his fist, pacing around the room as Rudra's words seemed like nothing more than ramblings. He covered his face with his hand, desperate for any solution that could stop this. His frustration boiled over, and he kicked through a nearby wall, the structure crumbling in his wake.

"Fuck!"

Guy created a seat for himself, sitting across from Rudra with a defeated slump in his posture.

"...Chess."

Rudra, who had been waiting for Guy to finish throwing his tantrum, looked up to see a strange expression on his face, one of concession and resignation.

"...Chess, is it?"

Seeing Rudra consider the idea, Guy snapped his fingers, and a small chessboard materialized between them. The pieces were set, with white on Rudra's side and black on Guy's.

Rudra let out a hollow chuckle. It was as if their entire history had been reduced to this small board. Two thousand years of conflict and struggle, now simplified into a game. It made him question everything he'd built, an empire, all of it when it could have been settled so simply.

Guy crossed his arms, tapping his fingers on his bicep. "Just think about your move; the pieces will move on their own."

"How... convenient..." Rudra's lips twitched into a bitter smile at the effort Guy was putting into this moment. And just as he imagined one of the pawns moving two squares forward, it shifted on its own, just like the primordial demon had said.

Guy exhaled deeply, uncrossing his arms as he picked up one of the knights. "We're really doing this..."

Rudra could hear the despondency in Guy's voice. Moving another pawn, he let the thought of their lives slip into his mind.

"...You suggested it... I would have... preferred swords..."

"You don't have to speak so much." Guy moved a pawn, his eyes flickering to Rudra's body, watching it break and crack, his limbs crumbling. Guy's gaze darkened as he realized how long Rudra's soul had been unraveling all through their battles, he hadn't seen it.

"Worried about me, Demon Lord?"

"Can't have you die on me so soon, Hero."

Rudra's vision fluttered, his eyes scanning the room. It was a place he knew all too well. The one where he'd awoken after naming Guy Crimson. The same place where he'd collapsed in exhaustion, unable to keep going.

His sister, Velgrynd, and even Rimuru had chastised him for his idiocy.

"Rimuru... huh..." His bishop's movement faltered before continuing to the spot it had intended.

The Primordial Silver, Argent, his second mentor and a former friend. He still held resentment over Veldanava and his sister's deaths. His attempts to protect them with a city of saint-level citizens had ultimately been meaningless.

His anger was justified, but now, looking back, he realized that Rimuru too had been in pain, unable to keep the promise of protecting them.

His pain might not have been the same as what Rudra felt, watching his sister and her husband fall, but Rimuru had lost a friend and couldn't do anything about it.

"How... is Milim?" Rudra asked quietly, his voice almost a whisper.

For the first time since the deaths of Veldanava and Lucia, maybe ever, he asked about his niece. Something he had never considered before.

He didn't know why. Logically, he should have been the one to protect her, to guide her as she grew. Instead, he had sent her away to a distant place, surrounded by servants who cared nothing for her, as if she were nothing more than a distant obligation.

Guy raised an eyebrow. "She should be with Rimuru or in her territory right now."

"I see..." Rudra could barely remember what Milim looked like. The last time he saw her, she was a newborn. Now, two thousand years had passed. He hadn't seen her since, and the thought made him groan in disgust at himself.

"Seriously, everything was going fine, and then you and Rimuru had to ruin everything." Guy sighed, holding a white bishop in his hand. "If you hadn't taken Michael within you, if Rimuru hadn't messed with the timeline... my life would've been so much easier."

"Heh..." Rudra's pawn took the black knight, accepting the bait Guy had laid out. "It's all... Rimuru's fault..."

Guy shrugged, but his gaze never strayed from Rudra's broken body. He could feel it too, and Rudra likely knew as well, the fallen hero's right leg had no foot, and his left was gone below the knee.

"Yeah, Rimuru really spoiled our game." Guy continued, his voice shaky as he forced a steady tone. He couldn't let Rudra see any pity or concern. Not now.

"He took the primordials..." Rudra took the last black knight off the board, placing it beside the others.

"Yeah, well, some of your subjects were close to him too." Guy moved his rook, capturing Rudra's bishop. "Damrada, wasn't he your prime minister?"

As the pieces were slowly taken, their conversation turned into a litany of complaints about the anomaly that was the Silver Primordial.

"Honestly..." Guy scratched his head, holding the white queen. "If Rimuru wasn't around, Velgrynd would've probably been your partner."

"Velgrynd..." Rudra thought of the long-haired blue dragon and shook his head. "Someone like that... probably not..."

Guy glanced at the board. Their pieces now numbered fewer than ten combined. Neither side had a queen. Rudra only had his king and four pawns left, while Guy had his king and two bishops.

"Honestly..." Rudra sneered at the board. Even in this game, Guy had the upper hand. "Even in chess, you have the advantage."

"You say that, but one of your pawns is just one step away from becoming a queen." Guy jested, eyeing the board. The taunt was childish, but it was clear his bishop would capture the pawn before it could turn.

"Isn't this exactly how it went...?" Rudra's body shifted as his strength failed him. His right elbow propped him up on the armrest as his left arm began to crack and turn to dust, falling to the ground. "So close... but I never... saw it coming... I was just being played into their hands."

"What about now?"

Rudra looked up at Guy, and for the first time, he didn't try to hide his expression. His vision blurred, the edges of everything growing darker, and he could barely make out the shape of Guy's face. It seemed as though there were streaks of tears on his friend's face, but with his sight failing, Rudra couldn't trust it.

It's probably just an illusion, he thought. My senses are betraying me now.

"This is... the most fun fight... we've ever had." Rudra moved his pawn, positioning it beside the one nearing promotion, a gesture of support, though he could barely tell if the pieces were even in the right place anymore.

Guy found Rudra's attempt to sacrifice a pawn to gain back his queen and chose to ignore it, moving his king.

"Fun, huh... Is this really fun to you?"

Guy bit his lip as Rudra's eyes turned fully hollow. He could only imagine what Rudra could still see, maybe vague light, or the blurry silhouette of the board.

Rudra could no longer see the pieces. But he didn't need to. He knew Guy too well, his pity, his restraint, his mercy.

Just like their two-thousand-year war, Guy had never truly made a move to destroy the East. It had always been Rudra who took the first step. The only one fighting.

"I wonder... if we could've changed anything..."

With the chessboard vaguely memorized, Rudra moved his pawn to the final row. It transformed into a white queen.

"We're both stubborn. I doubt we would've changed our ideals back then." Guy moved his other bishop to target the white king, now only protected by a single pawn. "Check."

"Targeting me directly, is it?" Rudra joked. His body leaned heavier into the chair, the crack reaching his left cheek. "Yeah... I doubt we could change... but maybe..."

Rudra moved his king one step forward. The simplicity of the move resonated deeply.

Guy took a deep breath and moved his other bishop, targeting the pawn next to the queen. Rudra let out a breath that might've been a laugh.

"That's... smart."

Guy was setting it up so that if the second pawn advanced to give Rudra another queen, he could still eliminate the original one, diminishing Rudra's strength.

"Your move."

Rudra gave a weak smile, at least, he thought he did. He could no longer feel the muscles in his face. He moved his pawn, sacrificing his queen. Guy took it immediately, only to lose his bishop in return.

"One bishop, and the king... your move, Guy."

Rudra's head tilted sideways. He didn't notice. The sensory connection had long been lost.

Guy never once looked up. He didn't need to. The sound of cracking, the growing stillness, demons like him understood souls intimately. Rudra's soul was flickering, barely a spark.

"Rudra, I'll find a way to bring you back." He moved his bishop beside his king. "It might take years, or centuries, but—"

"ThA nOugh uy..." Rudra's words, half-formed, slurred from his lips. "I... ine... ired too..."

Guy continued the game, even as something inside him began to tremble. His chest felt tight. He didn't breathe, but the pressure weighed down on him as if he did.

His hand moved on instinct, dragging the game forward, until he found himself cornered.

"Look at this, Rudra. Just one more move and you win."

"..."

"Seriously, why are you prolonging the tension? We already know the winner of this match. Just move your piece, and we can finally end this two-thousand-year game."

"..."

"Fine. Just a declaration from you. Just say 'checkmate.' We both know the move you'll make."

"..."

"Please... just say any word. Even a small grunt or groan will suffice."

"..."

"...Rudra..."

With a heavy hand, Guy leaned forward and slowly picked up Rudra's white queen, moving it into position before his black king.

"Checkmate."

"..."

"I did it for you, there."

Still, no reply from the First Hero.

"..."

Guy finally looked up, after all this time, after refusing to acknowledge what he already knew.

The sight before him could only be described as...

Empty.

A chair, opposite his own.

A chair that had once held his greatest rival.

A chair that had belonged to the First Hero.

A chair...

For his oldest friend.

And nothing else...

A/N: ...Yeah

Did I cut the onions right?

This chapter is inspired by this picture. It is one of the many reasons I started writing this fic and finally managed to recreate the scene in my mind. It only took two years to get to lol.

So sad...