Chapter 74: chessboard realm
A truly rich and detailed story. Here is an edited version with added inner thoughts to give more depth to the characters.
With the press of a button, a man and Xerxez vanished, plunging into another multiverse. Xerxez felt a jolt of shock. Such incredible energy... but it’s just teleportation. He knew his physical body was back in his own world, drunk, asleep, and sprawled among bottles. But as he looked down, he saw nothing. His physical form was gone from the mortal realm, and now he was here, in this man’s dimension, traversing a new multiverse.
The man wasn’t stepping on a checkered marble floor; instead, with every step, a golden, silver-like halo would appear. It was his path. Xerxez’s gaze widened as he realized the floor beneath him was alive. It wasn’t a solid surface; it was a series of shifting, luminescent plates. Terror seized him, and he stumbled to his knees, his hand gripping a floating plate for stability. What kind of realm is this? Am I even safe? He couldn’t shake the feeling that everything here was a trick.
—Chessrealm—
"Orion’s statue? Is Orion dead?"
Next Chapter
In a flash, they were transported to a world of monsters. The air was thick with the stench of decay, like rotting blood from a festering wound. The clouds were misty, with sudden, blinding flashes of lightning. Xerxez could hear the sounds of growls in the distance, not from earthly beasts, but from something ancient and savage.
"Where are we?" he asked, slowly finding his footing on the floating plate, trying to find his balance. But a creature suddenly lunged from the shadows, its massive mouth dripping with venomous saliva.
Roar!!!
"A monster!!!" Xerxez shrieked. He expected the man to panic, but he just stood there, his movements calm and calculated. He’s not afraid at all... he’s faced this before. With a swift motion, the man’s right hand erupted with a blue light, which solidified into a long, sharp spear. He thrust it directly into the monster’s mouth, and it passed through its head like a needle, causing its skull to instantly explode into nothingness.
"Whew!!" the man sighed, as if what he did was effortless. The creatures—with their reddish, black, white, and yellow-spotted skin like that of reptilian devil-lizards—scattered and hid. They had multiple fins along their jaws and backs, and their claws were as sharp as an eagle’s talons.
"Listen carefully," the man began. "It has been a long time since I closed this dimension to prevent it from harming mortal people... but I had to use a large portion of my power to do it." He effortlessly wiped the blood and saliva from his armor with a simple flick of his hand. "They call me Orion. The great hunter. The entity of the hunt."
"You are Orion?" Xerxez’s eyes widened in disbelief. The Orion? The one from the legends? He’s not just a myth after all. He’s real, and he’s standing right in front of me.
"Yes, I am that Orion, but I have my own name. It doesn’t matter, though... if you call me Orion, that’s fine."
"Tell me, why did you abandon Thallerion?"
Orion laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "Abandoned?" he scoffed. "I never abandoned the people I made a promise to... the truth is..." He took a deep breath, as if pulling the weight of centuries from his chest. "I was doing everything I could to balance my duty to humanity with my duty here. But I couldn’t. This multiverse trapped me. So, I created twelve weapons, each containing a part of my power, to protect them in my absence."
"So, it’s true, that dagger came from you," Xerxez said. "I have no doubt now. I saw it on one of the statues back in your checkered realm."
"Hehe, your eyesight is sharp. But aren’t you wondering why I never stopped calling to you?" Orion asked.
"The covenant," said Xerxez. "But how did we have a covenant? I don’t remember any such thing."
"I’ll clarify this for you," Orion said. "Whoever holds and possesses one of my weapons can be called an Orion’s warrior. But because you blessed that dagger with your blood, that’s why I was able to return to my kingdom, and why I can now return to your world through you. I admit to you now that we have a strong covenant. The truth is, I never chose a warrior to appoint; instead, I let the destiny of men find their own fate to be chosen by me.
"You should not hate me for what your ancestors thought—that I abandoned Thallerion. The reason I say I didn’t abandon the people I promised is because I left them my weapons, which are a part of my power. I gave them my weapons to use against the invaders. But what they did was throw away the value of those weapons, burying and forgetting them."
They sat on the halo plate, steering toward the core of the abyss. The growls of the monsters grew louder; in the center, there was a large hole like the mouth of a volcano, wide and smoking inside, shrouded in darkness.
"I believed when you were a child that you would pick up my dagger, but I was amused by your hunting for birds’ nests. I could only see you through the dagger; even when it was submerged in water, I could clearly see you as a happy and lively child... but you changed when your parents died."
Xerxez’s gaze fell, his mind replaying the images from his youth. The happy, lively boy, the loving parents... gone. A deep sadness welled up inside him. Why did it have to be them? Why did they have to suffer?
"I can feel your anger toward the entities that destroyed the perfect family you once had," Orion said softly. "But remember, not all Entities aim to destroy the lives of others."
"Enough," Xerxez said, taking a heavy breath. "It’s enough for me to hear the reason for your disappearance."
"Answer me," Xerxez said, his voice firmer. "You say you didn’t abandon Thallerion, so why did Thallerion suffer and perish?"
They entered the very heart of the abyss, their halo plate turning invisible as Orion pressed a button on a virtual interface.
"Don’t be afraid, they can’t see us anymore, as long as you stay on this halo plate." A red rhino-lizard beast with six eyes—some large, some small—passed by them without notice. "If I answer your question, I will also ask you this: even though we already have a covenant, are you truly ready to accept the responsibility of being an Orion’s hunter?"
A large pavilion lay at the bottom of the abyssal heart, and on each side, a dozen weapons floated, with different colors. The fire-colored bow was the first thing Xerxez noticed, but what caught his attention even more was the glowing blue sword.
"My answer will not change," Xerxez said. "I promised myself to serve the race of Thallerion. The world is hard without an entity to rely on, for we are only human. You? Can you put others first, before yourself?"
Orion stepped forward and took a deep breath. He gazed far away, his eyes like an eagle’s, piercing through the thick regrets of the past. "When our great cosmic bodies were still alive, I didn’t think of anything else but being great. I wanted to be admired by other entities, but a point came when I thought... life is pointless if you only think of yourself... I thought of myself, and I managed to defeat the enemy of all... I didn’t listen to Cruz’s command, I faced the enemy alone, but like others, I was just devoured by the monster, just as I showed you in the dream."
"So that was real... I thought I died in the stomach of the monster that became a part of it?"
"Mortal life had not yet emerged when the entire celestial realm’s fear came true. Every life on every planet was devoured and sucked away, leaving them dark and lifeless, and eventually drying up as the stars died. Until now, the lights in the cosmos are gradually disappearing.
"This planet is the only one left with life. We, on the other hand, are the messengers of our god who created the powerful entities on the face of the cosmos. Each of us has our own unique ability to manipulate the flow of the cosmos.
"But the story of people back then was that the entities were part of the creation of mortal life. But my answer is no. Every mortal in this world is part of this world. You are made of dust, while we are made of the energy and essence of the cosmos. The human body is only a vessel that souls reside in, and in time, the human body will return to dust, and the soul will be left to wander in the air. I am saying your souls are simple Entities with no power, but if we possess a mortal body, the course of the world will change. The Earth is alive; it will not stop creating vessels and normal souls.
"But remember, Xerxez. The blue sky you see is just an illusion... because the truth is, the Earth is already surrounded by a parasitic Entity, now called death. And if it is destroyed, surely no life will remain in this world."
"A parasitic Entity? Is that what I saw in the dream?" Xerxez asked, a shudder of recognition running through him.
"Yes, but the time is near. I think my return is just in time... Because I feel the Triangulum entity is planning something for the human world. Return to Thallerion and find people to become Orion’s warriors, but your son Pyramus cannot be chosen because he has the phoenix entity.
"I really don’t understand mortals; you don’t need to kill yourselves just because of failure, sadness, or hardship. Remember, Xerxez, many vessels die quickly because of illnesses and accidents, but you are fortunate because you have a good body that is fit to be a warrior.
"Emotions. Do you know that an overflowing of emotions is not good for a warrior? With a slight twist of fate, they mourn and immediately give up. If they had only trained and planned what to do, they would never suffer repeatedly. The misfortune of one is enough to learn from."
"I was just carried away by my emotions," Xerxez admitted. "I didn’t think I still had a son, and because of my drunkenness, my mind wasn’t clear earlier."
"Enough of that. You mortals, why do you turn to alcohol for sadness? Isn’t it meant for celebration and joy? But never mind..." Orion’s voice softened, the scolding replaced by a hint of empathy. He’s not just an entity, he’s a being who understands loss, too. He just deals with it differently. "From today onward, I am the entity who will be with you. But you must first strengthen your body to call upon my powers. Sharpness of mind, courage, and the welfare of others are already within you... but your belief is still weak. Are you still angry at me?"