Chapter 16 : Chess

After boring class, Sasae went to the Student Council room with Ranko and Nari. Yesterday he accepted a Challenge from Sona.

"Are you really going to play chess against Sona-kaichou?." Ranko said.

"Of course, she was the first to speak, after all." Sasae said.

"Haizzz… I was really shocked when I heard Sona-Kaichou talk about the ordeal between her and Onii-san." Nari said.

"Did she tell you? ."

"Yes, yesterday afternoon Sona-kaichou told me about this. I almost talked about you being better at chess than I am. Fortunately, I was able to correct my words and make Sona-kaichou confident again." Nari replied with a sigh. She almost accidentally told Sona about Sasae's chess skills. Fortunately, she was able to correct it and told Sona that Sasae is very smart and good at playing Shogi. Otherwise, she would have become a traitor.

Sasae entered the room without announcing his presence by knocking on the door, he found most of the Student Council members present in the room, in addition, there were Rias and Akeno sitting on the chairs as they sip their tea.

"Welcome, you're just in time." Sona greeted Sasae with a bright smile on her face.

"YES." Sasae replied faintly and entered the room, he saw two empty chairs for one person with a small table opposite and it was estimated that it was the players' chair in the match, so he did not hesitate to sit down chair. Sasae turned her gaze to Sona and said.

"Shall we start the match with mock matches now?" Sasae reminded Sona of the details of her agreement. Sona nodded and answered.

"I know very well, in order not to waste time, let's quickly end this."

[Let's get started, partner.]

'Destroy her spirit, Kraken.'

The chessboard was soon set up by Tsubaki and Sona also took the position opposite Sasae.

Nearby, Rias looks like she's at odds with herself. She wasn't sure whether to cheer for Sona or cheer for Sasae. If Sona wins, Sasae will become a mage who signs a pact with Sona. That makes Rias very jealous, she also wants to sign a pact with Sasae. However, if Sasae wins, Sona will have to marry him. This made Rias even more jealous.

"Good luck" Sona said with a blank expression as she looked at her opponent.

"Um… Good luck." Sasae replied and showed that he didn't dare look Sona in the eye, showing that he was at the bottom compared to Sona.

The first mock match started when Sona made the first move and Sasae had already started her work before this point. Sasae or more accurately, Kraken right now. Because this was just a mock battle, he didn't hesitate to give the match to Sona.

Sona's side is different, she doesn't want to be defeated in any kind of Brain Chess match. She just wanted to quickly put an end to the three mock battles so that it would be over quickly so she could sign a pact with Sasae.

The mock match ended after nearly 40 minutes and Sona won.

"Good game. Nari-san said that you are smart and very good at playing Shogi. Who would have thought that you would be so talented at playing chess." Sona said and took a deep breath in celebration of her victory, her shoulders were stiff after a long fight and she believes Sasae is one of the strongest challengers she has ever faced.

In the chess game. Sasae ceded the position of the match to Sona. He is the type of person who likes to defend and wait for the opponent to make a mistake.

"Thanks for the compliment ." Sasae smiled and leaned forward while sitting with the help of her arms supported by her knees.

"Now let's start the second mock match."

'It can't be..' Sona, who was leaning back while repeatedly massaging her forehead, was dumbfounded when she realized the truth about today's challenge.

' The game we play is just a mock Battle. ' Sona was stunned when she remembered this. This was only the first match, now she still has two mock matches and one real match against Sasae.

"Go on" Sona reluctantly blurted out the words.

After two hours had passed, the third mock match was finally over. Sona sighed in satisfaction as it was the first time she had experienced this feeling. In these mock chess matches, although Sona was the winner, Sasae was always the one to overpower her.

However, what makes Sona find Sasae so terrifying is his ability to adapt to any situation. In the three matches, Sasae used all three different tactics.

Sasae used classic defensive tactics for the first mock chess match. Tactics to beat fast to win quickly, attack massively for the second fake chess match. And in the last match, he used a slow attack strategy.

"Is this really your first time playing chess?" Sona said.

"That's right, I spent last night watching chess strategies from the internet." Sasae said in a cheerful voice, different from Sona's tired state. The who felt humiliated when Sasae used tactics on the internet to play chess with her.

"Sona-kaichou… Now let's move on to today's main match." Sasae said as he glanced at Ranko, who was sleeping soundly because she had no knowledge of chess.

*****

The Official Chess Match between Sona and Sasae has begun, and everyone in the room is silently but eagerly watching the moves being made on the Chess Board with all their attention on it.

Both sides are under equal pressure as their future depends on every step taken in this single game.

Sona is playing cautiously and trying to keep her pieces as much as possible even if it's just a pawn.

Meanwhile, most of Sasae's important pieces are free to move on the board, putting more pressure on Sona, especially Sasae's black queen, leaving no room for Sona to attack.

Sona felt bothered by Sasae's Queen because it was everywhere on the board, as if that single Black had total control of the board right now, 'Damn this Queen, I have to eliminate This piece out of the game as soon as possible. the better.. 'Sona thought because the Queen was always there to support the assaulting force of Sasae's army and slowly, gradually, Sona lost her troops one by one.

Sweat trickled down Sona's forehead as her every move was predicted by Sasae even before she could initiate it, as if Sasae's eyes were looking into her mind and reading her plan.

Meanwhile, it was impossible for her to predict Sasae's moves because he was combining all three types of tactics he had shown from three mock matches.

In the Mock Battle, although Sasae lost, it was not a complete defeat. What Sasae did was, he captured the opponent's moves, or so to speak, her way of thinking, Sona's personality clearly influenced her playstyle.

'The chairman is losing his pieces..' Saji thought, I don't understand how chess works for a pro but I can clearly see that my King is on the losing side at the moment.

The other girls from Sona's Peerage also fervently prayed for the President's victory, which was the best they could do... even if it gave them a headache.

Akeno doesn't care what happens now because she cares that it won't change anything in the outcome, it all depends on the people taking part in the game.

Rias nervously bit her nails as all her senses were focused on the board, being a Chess player herself, she knew very well how difficult Sona was. Every time one of Sona's pieces was defeated by Sasae, the prospect of Sona wearing a wedding dress and accompanying Sasae to the altar appeared before Rias' eyes. At this point, Rias can only hope that Sona will overcome this predicament.

On Sasae's turn, Sona flashed a bright smile in her mind, 'Finally the Black Queen is in my hands..'

"Checkmate"

"Huh?" Sona was dumbfounded at Sasae's words, she focused her eyes on the chessboard and saw that her King was surrounded by Statues, Rooks and Queens .

Sona's vision gradually blurred and she leaned back from the tension.

"Chairman!" Sona's Peerage exclaimed nervously and Tsubaki immediately splashed some water on Sona's face.

"Wake up Sona!" she cried nervously, she had never seen her King in this state before.

Sona opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling with a blank expression, not because of the terms of the contract, but because she lost a game of chess.

"I… lost."

*****

Author : What do you want MC to do in Phenex arc? 1 is that he will have a rating game with Riser and kick Riser's ass. 2 is that the MC will ruin the wedding ceremony and kick Riser's ass. Although the common point of the two above is that the MC has Rias, but both options are still a bit different because of the butterfly effect.