Endless Evolution: Last Star

"I'm sorry. I just got lucky." Louis waved his hand nonchalantly, a sly smile on his face.

Hazel narrowed her eyes as she tapped something on her NEP. At the same moment, a message came through on Louis's phone with some credits forwarded.

"Nice doing business with you." Louis narrowed his eyes.

Hazel waved her hand, "I don't like to lose, but it can't be helped. By the way, do you know where Alexia is right now? I wanted to talk to her."

Louis nodded.

"Sure. Go to the north end of the fairgrounds. You'll see everything there."

Hazel's eyes went wide.

"Wait... You don't mean to say that..."

Before Hazel could finish, the show host interrupted her, walking in front of her holding a wooden playing board.

Louis just waved his hand, showing that he would not tell her anything more about Alexia. Although Hazel was not familiar with Alexia, almost every captain of a sufficiently large squad knew about one of the strongest K1-Phantoms.

Hazel had to hurry up and recruit Alexia for at least a few missions before Alexia moved to K2. Then, they would no longer be able to work together, only rare joint missions and promotion to K2, as well.

The final game of the three was chess!

Unlike card games, chess had no room for luck, it was pure strategy with the need to think dozens of moves ahead to ensure victory.

"Oh, I'm afraid explaining the rules of chess won't be easy..." Jena muttered, turning to Adam.

"You don't have to. I know about chess. My father is quite good at it." Adam said seriously, "It's probably the only board game I'm familiar with, though. However... what is it...?"

Adam was a little puzzled since the set of pieces was not exactly standard. Each player had one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, and two bishops. However, there were seven pawns instead of eight.

Thus, instead of a pawn that should stand in front of the king, there was a piece unknown to Adam - a dragon.

The dragon had two wide wings, a long tail, and a wide open mouth as if it was ready to unleash its fiery breath.

"I see that some of you are puzzled!" The man vigorously exclaimed, "These are the special pieces, usually used at fairs and other entertainment events. The only change is the new Dragon figure!"

The man continued, pointing at the dragon:

"Once per game. A player may destroy his dragon to remove three enemy figures that were next to the dragon! There are no exceptions, this way, the dragon can even beat the king!"

Adam smirked. A piece like the Dragon didn't fit the strict rules of chess, but for the fair, it was a fitting solution.

Louis and Silvana nodded as Louis made the first move since he was playing for white. He took the dragon and stepped two squares forward, the maximum distance this piece could travel in one move.

"Hey, who are you gonna cheer for?" Adam asked, turning to Trici.

Trici tilted her head, she looked at Louis, then at Silvana. It wasn't hard for her to make a choice.

"Silvana! Go for it! You will win!" Trici exclaimed, not at all afraid to draw attention to herself.

Silvana tried not to be distracted by Adam and Trici during the games, even though she had noticed them for quite some time now.

However, after that, even she couldn't hide a happy smile before quickly returning her serious look.

Louis had seen enough to make a decision, however he still had many moves to make before a winner was clear.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Silvana and Louis were making moves quickly. It looked like they were heading for a draw, because, so far, they had taken the same number of pieces from each other. Well, no one had used the dragon yet, and it was the strongest piece of all that could turn the game around in one move.

"Damn, it's been a long time since I've had to think things through so meticulously..." Louis muttered, touching his forehead with his fingertips before taking the dragon by the head.

The figure slowly swayed from side to side before ending up in front of Silvana's rook and two pawns.

Louis removed the dragon from the board as well as Silvana's three pieces.

Silvana frowned, for she could not respond in kind. At most, she could expect to destroy two pieces with her dragon since Louis had taken care to place his pieces safely.

However, after a little thought, she noticed that Louis's king was in a vulnerable position.

Tap.

Silvana destroyed only one piece with her dragon, then it didn't matter what Louis' move was because, on the next move, Silvana would set an easy checkmate with her queen.

"Agh... I give up." Louis sighed heavily, knocking over his king, "I was only a little short. If you hadn't made that move, I would have won."

Silvana looked at him intently and only held out her hand:

"That was a good game." Silvana uttered.

Louis responded to the handshake.

Adam and Jena looked over at each other. They were both pretty good at chess, enough to realize that Louis had given in on purpose. Obviously, Silvana saw it as well, but she had no choice but to accept victory, for Louis had only given her one chance, after which she would lose.

"We have a winner!" The show host exclaimed, "Winner, please choose one of the two awards!"

The man pointed to the stands behind him where there was a dragon statuette, a piece enlarged several times, and a special chess set with exclusive black and red coloring and pieces.

Many in Silvana's place would have chosen the unique chess set, however... when Silvana saw Trici's shining eyes, her decision changed.

Trici was looking at the huge dragon with incredible desire, and Silvana just couldn't resist the sincere childish joy. However, one could hardly blame her.

"A dragon? I didn't expect such a stern-looking lady to choose a statuette, but it's your decision! Once again, congratulate the winner of our little game!" The show host exclaimed.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Applause spread throughout the crowd, making Silvana feel slightly proud.

Louis, just leaned back in his chair, watching Silvana, who with a dragon statuette approached Trici.

"Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Silvana smiled.

"Yes. It's so good to see you!" Trici jumped up happily.

Silvana nodded, handing her the dragon statuette.

"Here. This is for you. Consider it my gift to you for your long absence."

Trici's eyes went wide as she jumped at Silvana, ready to explode with happiness.

A wave of emotion went through the entire area, leaving no one indifferent. Silvana, Ama, Jena, and the people in the crowd were genuinely smiling. Someone even decided to clap to appreciate Silvana's act.

"Unbelievable! I didn't even expect such sacrifice from our winner!" The show host exclaimed, handing Silvana a chess set as a bonus award.

"Here. This is the best I can offer. Moreover, whoever wants to buy interesting board games, figurines, and costumes, come into my store! I'm sure everyone will find something suitable!"

The crowd, with radiant smiles, streamed toward the entrance.

The only one who wasn't smiling was Louis, but not because he was resentful of defeat. He was staring intently at the two silhouettes in the distance that didn't notice him, though they were gazing at Adam.