"Oh my, it seems Lady Selena is going to lose."

"Well, of course, Lady Nina is an expert who even defeated the Third Ranker of our Country."

"But isn't this too pitiful, Lady Selena barely has any pieces left."

"Humph...!! Who told her to mock Lady Nina then? She deserves it."

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions, Chess is a game where loss is only counted when the King is checkmated and--- Ah?! Lady Selena lost another piece..."

Random chatter could be heard around Selena as the game of Chess progressed between her and Lady Nina.

However, Selena was extremely tired at the moment due to assimilating around a thousand books inside her head. So, even though she was present among them, her groggy mind chose to ignore the chatter and her environment. The only time she would be active within the environment was when Soul told her which move to make and she would make it accordingly. She was currently so out of it, that she did not even know the status of the game.

The game continued for another 15 minutes...

"Ah...!! It seems this game is definitely Lady Nina's victory."

"Of Course, what could she do with just a---"

"Checkmate...!!!"

"Oh my...!! It seems Lady Nina went straight for the kill."

"I was feeling angry at Lady Selena before, but now, I can't help but feel pity for her."

"She does have a way out but it is meaningless since---"

"Oh...!! Lady Selena made that move."

"Well, it is just a pointless struggle, and--- eh?"

"She took out one of Lady Nina's Bishops. That... was a good move."

"Whatever... All I see is a delayed defeat. She should feel shame for---- Eh?"

"S-She captured another piece... this time, a Rook?"

"That was some clever positioning and--- Ehhh?!"

"A-Another one...?"

"This... What's going on?"

The Chatter around Selena which was full of pity for Selena and compliments for Nina suddenly went quiet. But Selena did not notice this anomaly and continued playing under Soul's instructions.

*Another 15 minutes later*

"Okay, the game is pretty much at a stalemate at this point. Talk to Lady Nina and see if she agrees to a draw." Soul woke Selena up from her Half-Slumber state and informed her.

Selena stretched her body as she yawned a little. Her eyes were still a little unfocused at the moment when she looked at Lady Nina.

"Lady Nina, it seems there is no point in continuing. Checkmate is no longer possible for both sides so I suggest we end the game here and call it a draw." Selena spoke in a respectful tone. She hoped that this game was enough to appease the lady. If she still wanted another duel, then Selena would have no idea on what to do.

But as if fate was playing with her, Lady Nina's angry voice sounded out, although it was a little shrill.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-You...!!!"

'Damn it...' Selena thought to herself, she rubbed her tired eyes and said, "If you wish to challenge me to another game of chess, may I suggest we do it tomorrow? I was already tired a lot before we played today and I promise you I will be in my best condition to challenge you. Maybe I will even win." Selena suggested as she finished rubbing her eyes.

Opening her eyes after that, she realized her eyes were finally focused and she then turned to look at Lady Nina.

Selena "..."

Selena" Um... What?"

In front of Selena, was the prideful Lady Nina. However, unlike before, Nina's expressions weren't haughty or prideful. Rather, her expressions were a combination of horror, pain, sadness, anger, etc. It was a cocktail of negative emotions. But most importantly, her eyes were teary and she looked as if she would cry with the smallest provocation.

"This..." Selena was confused. 'Was it really this hard for Nina to accept a tie? I am glad I told Soul to either tie or let her win.'

Selena lifted her gaze to look at the other ladies behind Nina. They all had taken a step back and had a horrified expression on their faces. One of them was even shivering in fear. They looked as if they were seeing a huge monster in front of them.

'Wow, these ladies surely take Chess seriously. It's just a game, right? Do they need to be so competitive?' Selena thought as she finally looked at the board.

What she saw choked the next words that were supposed to come out of her mouth.

On the Chessboard, only the Kings were left. Nina's King was cornered on one side and Selena's King was two steps away from Nina's King diagonally.

'This... this is possible?' Selena was shocked at the result. She had never seen only the Kings remaining on a chessboard before. But it seems Soul accomplished the goal of a draw since you can't checkmate someone with just one pawn, especially since the only pawn on the board was a King.

But the result, combined with the various expressions of the ladies gave Selena a bad premonition.

"Soul... What... did... you... do?" Selena asked Soul in a dangerous tone.

"I played Chess..." Soul replied nonchalantly, or at least, he tried to sound like it.

"You know what I mean..." Selena threatened Soul as she proceeded to wear the ring from the Church, "Now tell me before I shut you out."

"Ugh... Well..." Soul stuttered as if he was trying to scratch his head...

"It's like this..." Soul gave up and started explaining.

"To begin with, remember when I told you that I was a Computer Programmer? Well, the 'Computer' in question is a machine capable of doing complex Arithmetic and Statistics equations within milliseconds... To compare, it would take a human couple of weeks to do the same."

Selena was shocked. She didn't think this Computer thing was capable of so much. But what did it have to do with the Chess Game?

"Well, when I began playing, I started thinking of a way to determine her next move, and somehow, my thoughts were being translated into code, which is a language a computer understands. To my shock, it seems I, or at least a part of me acts like a Computer. The Code is fed into the computer and it creates an independent program that functions without any need for input from me. To put it in simple words, it is similar to how our inside body parts like Heart, Lungs, etc automatically functions without needing an order from a person's brain."

"So, you can have a part of your conscious calculate Nina's next move and play accordingly?" Selena asked. She still didn't completely understand how a program works but she understood it enough to know it was like a Mini-version of Soul dedicating itself to work on a specific goal.

"Yes, it's a very awesome power. Now, I can simply create a program to scan books automatically and feed it to you. From now on, any book you come across whenever I am not shutout will be automatically recorded in my database. After this, if you have a couple of minutes, just roam around the remaining floors of this library and the books will be recorded in my memory automatically without having you sit down."

"That Fast?" Selena was stunned. Soul was already formidable enough as it is, now this program thingy meant that she now has an army of mini-souls who could dedicate themselves to certain mind droning but important tasks, such as keeping an eye out for danger or even finding traces of magic items similar to the Azure Book, and the cherry on top was that all of this did not have any delay or downtime and they work without Selena having to put any extra effort.

"So wait, so basically, you created a program to tie with Nina? How does it work and why did it get me the reaction of fear from the ladies?" Selena asked.

"Well, about that..." Soul replied sheepishly.

"The program basically thought of every move Nina could make per turn. It then calculated all of Nina's future moves with those and basically... it now knew every move of Nina and it even gave a way to counteract them."

"B-But... that's almost a thousand... no a million moves...!!" Selena gasped.

"Actually, it is above trillions, but I am not surprised, A computer's basic job is calculation and Chess happens to be the very game that it aligns perfectly with it. Even the Grand Masters of Chess from my world lost to Computers."

"Okay..." Selena calmed herself before continuing, "...but you still did not explain why Nina and the others are reacting this way."

"Well... I think it is better if I showed it to you..." After saying that Soul showed Selena a video recording.

The Video started at the beginning of the game. The game started as normal and proceeded to be so for another couple of minutes.

But shortly afterward, Nina's pawn captured Selena's Queen.

"Ah, it seems she got first kill." Selena thought.

However, as the game progressed, Selena lost another piece... and then another one... and then another one...

"Why does it looks like I am losing badly...?" Selena asked with a frown.

"Just... keep watching." Soul answered.

As the game progressed, Selena kept losing more and more pieces until eventually... only the King remained.

"What the hell?!" Selena was shocked. The Current board shows that only their Kings remain, but in the recording, it showed that Selena's Bare King was completely surrounded. 'Did I slapped off Nina's pieces in a fit of anger? If so, why don't I remember it?'

But suddenly, something happened. Something that was beyond Selena's expectations.

A haughty female electronic voice suddenly came from inside Selena's head.

"Wah ha ha...!! You fools...!! You think you have me surrounded, but that was my plan all along...!!"

"Eh? What the...? Who?" Selena jolted at the unfamiliar sound.

"That's... the Chess program I created." Soul replied with a lowered voice.

"You dare challenge me at Chess...!! If not for my Master's command telling me to bring this game to a tie, I would have utterly obliterated you...!!"

"My Lady...!! Move the King one step back...!!"

Suddenly, the King began to make its move. Since Selena was drowsy back then, she did not pay attention to the movements she made.

The King was eerily lively. With a couple of seemingly random moves, it suddenly attacked Nina's Bishop and captured it.

"First Blood...!!! Wah ha ha ha...!!" The little electronic voice laughed haughtily.

"Why does the freaking thing talk?!" Selena panicked at the voice. It was already annoying as it is with Soul's presence, but now, it seems he had a companion.

"Don't worry... Unlike me, it is a program. So I can shut it down when its task is complete."

While they were talking, the King claimed another piece. The Rook.

Selena had a bad premonition now and as the video continued, and soon her premonition became reality.

The King kept avoiding Checkmate and it beautifully continued capturing Nina's pieces.

It soon dawned on Nina on what was happening and she tried to contain the situation and tried to checkmate Selena's King too. But to her horror, the King was more slippery than an eel and stung like a Scorpion whenever it attacked.

"N-No... This is not real, right?" Nina was terrified and looked at Selena. The latter still had a sleepy expression on her face and continued to play nonchalantly.

'No No...!! It can't be...!! Has she been in control this whole time? T-T-This... there's no way that she is THAT good.' Nina almost had a heart attack. To think, she was just a puppet who was simply being played by Selena from the beginning of the game.

"You're dead... and so are you... and you... and you too, did you think I forgot about you?" The Chess Program continued to massacre Nina's pieces without mercy.

And finally...

Boom...!! The Queen, the strongest chess piece of Nina and the only other piece she had other than the King was slain like the rest.

Somehow, during the game, Nina's King was cornered and Selena's King replaced Nina's Queen and stood where the current board showed.

...

Utter Silence...

In the silence, the little electronic voice was screaming in joy...

"Wah ha ha...!! I am your God...!! Kneel before my might...!!"

-The recording ended-

Selena "..."

Soul "You okay..."

"I... don't get it. Nina had several chances to kill my King, especially during that last move. My King was practically next to her Queen, why didn't she attack?" Selena was confused. It was impossible for the game to turn out like this.

"Well, I think trauma played a huge role in the end."

"Trauma?"

"Yep, Nina was so panicked by the end of the game, that she kept making amateur mistakes. Yes, her Queen did have a chance to defeat you, and so did many pieces, but the sheer force of the King had terrified her beyond words and she only started thinking of defense. So, when she had the chance to kill your King, she was too locked in defense to even realize it. I am pretty sure she is going to evaluate her life choices after today." Soul explained.

Selena slowly lifted her head and looked at the tearful Nina.

She remembered what she said to Nina back when Soul woke her up.

"Lady Nina, it seems there is no point in continuing. Checkmate is no longer possible for both sides so I suggest we end the game here and call it a draw."

"If you wish to challenge me to another game of chess, may I suggest we do it tomorrow? I was already tired a lot before we played today and I promise you I will be in my best condition to challenge you. Maybe I will even win."

Selena "..."

She felt like crying too.

'Sister, would you believe me if I told you this was truly not my intention. I really did not want to make you think that I was cornered and then proceeded to massacre your entire bloodline. I also did not intend to mock you by saying that I wanted a draw and if you wished to challenge me again, do it tomorrow because I was already tired before this match. You understand, right?' Selena thought to herself in distress.

"I..." but before Selena could speak, the dam holding Nina's tears finally broke...

"WAAAAAHHHHH.....!!!" Nina started crying like a little girl. It was so loud that everyone in the library turned their attention to them.

Amongst the noise and the panic setting in nicely, the little Chess Program spoke to Selena.

"Master...!! Did I do good? Praise me...!! Praise me...!!" the little cheerful electronic female voice chirped.

Selena "..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liking the story so far? Support VasantJ on Patreon,

https://www.patreon.com/geminigamer