71 Auto-Chess

There was a question that was lingering in the crowd ever since Fred Palpatine declared before the challenges began that he wanted to challenge Kael to a game of Auto-Chess.

What was Auto-Chess exactly?

Kael proffered a smile. "Young Master Fred Palpatine, I do thank you for representing your city to participate in the production of hybrid cores and to eliminate any potential threats of a demonic beast horde in the Myriad Lower Region. However, is there a need to play Auto-Chess with you now that we have already come to an agreement, no?"

"So you do know what Auto-Chess is about. I've been itching enough for a fight. The people in my city are inept at strategies. However, I think you are different. Your battle merits in the recent beast horde tide and your display of abilities here show that. Take it that I owe you a personal favor if you play against me. Fret not, even if you lose, the agreement to assist in the production of the hybrid cores still stand. How about that?" From the looks of it, Fred Palpatine was really eager to play Auto-Chess against Kael.

Kael sighed. "Alright, I will play only one round with you." Since Hailford City was offering their assistance, there was no reason for him to turn down the request from Fred Palpatine.

"Great." Fred Palpatine took out a chess board from within his item bag. He then placed it on the table and signaled for Kael to sit down right opposite him.

Kael sat down and observed the chess board briefly. He then spoke. "This is a watered down version of the real Auto-Chess, which involves nine players from the start. We can only play in a one versus one situation here. May I know if you have the chess pieces?"

"Really? I got this as a gift from my father the City Lord whom obtained this treasure from the Myriad Middle Region. I do have the chess pieces." Fred Palpatine took out a pouch from the item bag. He then poured out the chess pieces onto the table.

By this time, everyone other than Darth Wilkes and the representative from Cloverleigh City attending to him was surrounding the table. They were curious to know what was Auto-Chess about.

Kael observed the chess pieces. "Species, Class, Abilities. These chess pieces have the details on it. Looks like it is really Auto-Chess. Mm. We can play it. Young Master Fred Palpatine, you can go first."

Fred Palpatine nodded. He injected spiritual energy into the chess board. Next, luminous displays started projecting from the crystals embedded into the board in front of Kael and Fred Palpatine.

On the displays, there was an indication of wealth. Each player was given a set amount of gold to spend. Besides that, there was also a row of chess pieces which indicated their selling price.

"Look at the display. I'm guessing the gold is supposed to be used to buy these chess pieces to place on the board."

"Mm, that should be the case. Let's continue observing."

Next, Fred Palpatine began touching the display, using his gold to spend on several chess pieces.

"Shadowfiend, Demon species and Warlock class. Lina, Human species and Mage class. Timbersaw, Goblin species and Mech class. " Kael muttered out these enigmatic names and descriptions as Fred Palpatine began placing them on the chess board.

"Now, it's my turn." Kael began touching his display and spending gold to buy the chess pieces.

"Witch Doctor, Troll species, Warlock class. Necrophos, Undead species, Warlock class. Death Prophet, Undead species, Warlock class. Why are you gathering all the Warlock class characters together?" Fred Palpatine was bewildered.

As Kael placed the chess pieces on the chess board, he said, "You'll find out. Now let's fight."

Fred Palpatine nodded and injected spiritual energy into the board once again.

Next, holographic projections started to come alive and was projected from the chess pieces. The crowd drew in a deep breath of air. It was their first time seeing those characters in their whole lives.

The Shadowfiend looked like a demon from hell, while the Timbersaw was clearly a small goblin placed in a big machine. Lina looked like a human mage, so it was acceptable to them.

The Witch Doctor looked like a troll, while both the Necrophos and Death Prophet looked like they were raised from the dead and revived as undead nemesis.

The crowd was slightly uncomfortable. Where did all these characters come from? Could they really be replicated from real life beings? If that was the case, then life outside the Myriad Domain was certainly a sight to behold.

Kael nodded his head in assent. Next, it was his turn to inject spiritual energy into the chess board.

Upon the spiritual activation, the holographic projections then started fighting against each other.

It was a spectacular sight to behold. Spirit Arts and Magic Arts of all sorts were fired from characters against the opponents. In particular, the Shadowfiend was able to fire off an omni-directional attack that encompassed the whole chess board.

"Wow! Look at that attack. It has to be the legendary Magic Art!"

"It looked even more powerful that an ordinary Magic Art.."

"I agree. What's up with these characters? Though it is just holographic projections, their attacks look fearsome indeed."

However, Kael was undeterred. His own characters began a strong counter-offensive against the enemy by firing off their own Spirit Arts and Magic Arts. In particular, their attacks had a lifesteal effect!

On the display were the health and mana (spiritual energy reserves) of the characters. When Kael's units were attacking Fred Palpatine's units, a portion of health was recovered for each attack that was reflected on the display.

Fred Palpatine frowned. Soon, even though the attacks of his units looked powerful, they were taken down by the persistence of Kael's units, which relied largely on the lifesteal effect to survive.

The defeated units disappeared into thin air, while Kael's chess pieces posed triumphantly.

Kael had won this round of Auto-Chess. However, Fred Palpatine wasn't just going to let him go just yet. "How did you win? I obviously picked the best chess pieces to fight against you."

"It's not just about the individual strength of the characters. In Auto-Chess, the species and class categorizations are important. I merely chose the characters with a common Warlock class to have a lifesteal effect for my characters. That's how I managed to win over your units."