Chapter 1072: Kundara (5)

Immediately after Lennok spoke to the two boys playing Obaekro in Kundara’s manor.

The red-robed boy, a vein throbbing in his forehead, slammed the black stone he held onto the board.

BANG!!

The boy in the red robe snarled, glaring as if he would tear Lennok to shreds.

“What stray cur dares intrude on a place where elders play?”

“…….”

“And to offer unsolicited advice during a match? Youngsters these days seem to lack proper manners.”

“Hmm.”

“What are you staring at, huh? Shall I sew your mouth shut right now?”

The red-robed boy twitched, looking as though he might drop the stone and lunge at Lennok any moment.

Despite his seemingly neat appearance, he possessed a considerable temper.

The boy in the black robe, sitting opposite, even stepped in to restrain the red-robed boy.

“Angron, calm yourself. Aren’t you too agitated?”

The black-robed boy, who had calmly restrained the one called Angron, glanced at Lennok.

Unlike the red-robed boy, he didn’t seem entirely angry.

Indeed, the emotions visible on his face were extremely faint.

“I don’t know why you’re trying to bother old folks like us, but it would be best if we each went our own way.”

The black-robed boy said, stroking his sleeve.

“A perfectly healthy young man causing a ruckus in such a manor would only make onlookers frown.”

“My apologies.”

Lennok apologized with a smile.

“The level of the game you two are playing is so high that I found myself immersed without realizing it, and I simply couldn’t hold back.”

“……Hmm.”

Upon hearing a few flattering compliments, Angron’s earlier rage, which had been boiling over, subtly subsided.

He even seemed slightly pleased, clearing his throat and glancing at the board.

However, the black-robed boy, upon hearing Lennok’s words, hardened his expression.

“You’re not just a madman picking fights with strangers. So, why did you interfere with our game?”

Perhaps it was because he realized Lennok had observed their game and intervened with a provocation at a crucial moment.

The black-robed boy seemed to grow more wary of Lennok, in contrast to Angron.

“As you saw, Angron and I were engaged in a very important match. It was a critical situation where a conclusion would likely be reached within a few more moves.”

“…….”

“I believe even Angron here would agree that the young man’s intention to intervene and break the flow in this situation is highly malicious.”

“Th-that’s right.”

Angron, who had been listening to the black-robed young man, finally came to his senses and bared his teeth again.

“Hey, you brat. I don’t know who you are, but we elders were playing Obaekro over a very important matter.”

“…….”

“Frimon and I had been deliberating for a long time, and we were just about to decide the match, yet you dare interrupt me? Do you want to die?”

The black-robed boy named Frimon, with just a few words, reignited Angron’s anger, whom Lennok had just calmed.

But Lennok remained calm even after hearing the black-robed boy’s skillful rhetoric.

“However, if it hadn’t stopped at that point, your match would have lost its meaning.”

“What did you say?”

“It seems you two have been playing the same match over fifty times already. It would be a pity if it ended without a conclusion again.”

Lennok slightly bowed his head toward the two boys.

“That’s why I took the liberty of speaking up. If I caused offense, I apologize.”

“…….”

Silence fell.

Because as soon as Lennok finished speaking, both boys fell silent almost simultaneously.

“……You.”

Angron exhaled a hot breath and asked.

“How did you know we’ve been repeating the same match?”

“…….”

“We haven’t even started five matches in this manor yet. What did you see?”

Frimon no longer restrained Angron. With an unexpressive face, he simply waited for Lennok’s answer.

Lennok calmly took a breath, observing the two boys’ reactions.

The two boys playing Obaekro in the manor were undoubtedly Long-lived Beings who had reached a high rank.

The level of the game they were playing was, by far, the highest among all games in this manor.

Since he had successfully captured the two boys’ attention, he now needed to choose his words carefully.

And Lennok had decided how to open the conversation the moment he saw them playing the game.

“Well, the match you two are currently playing is……”

He paused slightly, took a breath, then slowly spoke, as if emphasizing his words.

Lennok, with his hands behind his back, slightly raised his head and said.

“Because if the match had proceeded normally, such a game would never have occurred in the first place.”

“…….”

“If you review the match you’ve played, there would have been at least thirty turning points where victory or defeat could have been decided.”

Lennok continued, addressing the now quiet boys.

“The fact that the match has continued despite multiple situations where a clear winner could have emerged is proof that you two have intentionally ignored those turning points.”

“…….”

“It means that you two weren’t purely testing each other’s skills, but were continuing this match because you desired something.”

Lennok glanced at the board and said.

“I haven’t seen your previous matches directly, so I can’t say for sure, but I suspect you’ve been repeating the same situation around move 565, just like now.”

“You, how……”

“It seems you’ve created a specific scenario where Lord Angron takes the offensive, and Lord Frimon counters, repeating that sequence……”

While Angron was surprised by Lennok’s words, which, just by looking at the board for a moment, correctly identified the number of times the game had been repeated and the number of stones each had played.

Lennok stroked his chin and tilted his head.

“Practicing a fixed pattern repeatedly like this, it almost looks like you’re solving a problem. Are you preparing for some kind of test?”

“…….”

Silence fell.

Angron’s mouth slightly opened, and Frimon remained silent.

It was as if they hadn’t expected such words from Lennok, a reaction of being caught off guard by an utterly unforeseen opponent.

“Remarkable.”

The sound of the black-robed boy, Frimon, placing the white stone he held was heard.

The boy slowly turned his body towards Lennok, gazing at him with a strange expression.

“I didn’t think there would be a player in Kundara’s Fifth Tribulation capable of discerning the meaning of this game.”

“…….”

“And you even pierced through its essence without knowing the full circumstances. Therefore, your insightful opinion seems all the more valuable.”

“Thank you.”

“There is no falsehood in your words, young man. We are indeed repeating the same match countless times, engaged in a wager.”

The black-robed boy, turning towards a smiling Lennok, pointed at the board with an unreadable expression.

“Whether Angron can break through my defensive position in this scenario. Depending on the outcome, Angron must concede to me the ‘qualification’ to solve the problem.”

“I accepted the wager in exchange for cooperating with his task, but it had been dragging on without a conclusion, wasting time.”

A strange smile seemed to flicker across Frimon’s face as he looked at Lennok.

“It’s rare to see such a talented young man, so I’ll overlook your rudeness today. Now then, please—”

“Ah, if it was a wager, that makes sense.”

Lennok interrupted Frimon and asked.

“So, were you deceiving Lord Angron’s stones, intentionally making the situation unfavorable?”

“…….”

“What?”

Frimon fell silent, and Angron’s eyes widened.

“What nonsense is that, you rascal? How is Frimon deceiving me on this board—”

“If you look at the arrangement of stones Lord Frimon has played, both ‘gates of life’ and ‘gates of death’ are chaotically mixed.”

Lennok interrupted Angron and said nonchalantly.

“This is a characteristic of illusion-type spellcraft, intentionally disrupting and distorting the archetype and form of spellcraft, proving that Lord Frimon is an exceptionally skilled illusionist.”

“…….”

“Through that, while playing the game, like this—”

The moment Lennok picked up a white stone from the board, it instantly turned black.

Lennok held out the stone, which had turned black the moment he lifted it from the board, and feigned ignorance.

“I thought you were using illusion magic to change the color of the stones one by one. Was I mistaken?”

“……Huh.”

Angron stared blankly at the black stone in Lennok’s hand and the spot where it had been, then shouted as if realizing something.

“No, wait!! That’s the stone I played at move 560!! You deceived me?”

“…….”

Obaekro is a complex game where black and white stones not only capture each other but also change colors.

Naturally, it’s rare for the number of black and white stones to remain equal throughout a match.

As the match progresses, the changes intensify, making it difficult even for a skilled player to keep track of all the color transformations.

Frimon had been using that fact to cast illusions on the board, changing Angron’s black stones into white ones.

“This bastard, I wondered why he suddenly started talking to that young punk, wasting time……”

It seemed the very act of Frimon detaining Lennok, whom he was trying to chase away, and engaging him in conversation was to buy time to cast illusions on the stones.

Realizing this, Angron began to glare at Frimon with a reddened, furious face.

“That unlucky crow-bastard! He cheats while I’m scolding this punk?!!”

“……Tch, young man.”

Frimon subtly frowned and glanced away.

“If you had stayed silent, I would have helped you avoid his anger, but you keep adding unnecessary comments.”

“Is that so?”

As Lennok maintained his smiling expression, the black-robed boy frowned slightly in annoyance.

“I apologize for the illusion, but Angron wouldn’t have found the answer anyway.”

Frimon, looking down at the disrupted board, slowly crossed his arms and said.

“It wasn’t a problem that could be solved this way in the first place. I was merely trying to help Angron not dwell on an impossible task for too long.”

“What? This bastard……”

“So, how do you intend to take responsibility for ruining today’s wager, young man?”

Ignoring the fuming Angron, Frimon looked up at Lennok.

“Surely, you don’t intend to ruin the leisure of old men like us and then simply run away as if nothing happened?”

“The wager you two were engaged in was a life-and-death problem, determining which stones live or die in a specific Obaekro scenario.”

Lennok answered calmly.

“Then, how about I help you two solve the problem you’re working on?”

“Solving the problem, you say.”

For a moment, a mocking smile played on Frimon’s lips as he looked at Lennok.

As if relieved only upon hearing those words, the black-robed boy leaned back leisurely and spoke.

“I understand that you are a skilled player, young man, capable of discerning our spellcraft and lineage just by observing the game for a moment.”

“…….”

“Indeed, Angron was born a Fire Salamander and mastered fire-attribute spellcraft, and I am a Dark Crow who mastered illusion magic. There can be no doubt about your insight.”

Frimon looked at Lennok with an indifferent gaze.

“However, I have never heard of a player with your talent anywhere in Kundara. You are aware of that, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“Very well. I permit you to join the board.”

The black-robed boy tilted his head askew.

“If you are so confident, go ahead and offer Angron your advice as you wish. But if your impertinence merely amounts to disrupting the game……”

Frimon’s eyes flickered with a sudden, chilling glint.

“Then you shall have to offer up all of your precious, meager lifespan.”

“…….”

“Frimon, are you insane? Why should I listen to this guy’s advice?”

Angron, with an angry expression, yelled at Lennok and pointed a finger.

“I don’t need any advice—”

“I’m not offering advice.”

Lennok said with a smile.

“If it weren’t for Lord Angron’s fiery and intense temperament, like a raging fire, I would never have been able to discern the true value of this match.”

“…….”

The red-robed boy, unexpectedly praised, blinked his eyes.

Lennok didn’t miss the opportunity and swiftly continued speaking…

“Even while taking the offensive in every situation, your judgment at each moment is indescribably fierce. Given your extremely profound aptitude for fire-attribute spellcraft, you are like the incarnation of a fire dragon.”

“I-is that so?”

“Judging by the depth of your game, it seems you have practiced and cultivated fire-attribute spellcraft for over 80 years; the profundity of that time is something a common man like me could barely fathom.”

“H-hmm… Actually, I’ve only practiced fire-attribute spellcraft for 70 years.”

Angron cleared his throat and shrugged.

Perhaps Lennok’s compliment about his Obaekro skills was quite pleasing to him.

He tried hard to maintain a calm expression, but the corners of his mouth were twitching uncontrollably.

“It seems even you see my spellcraft lineage as far deeper than it truly is. That’s proof of the profundity of my cultivation, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

Angron puffing out his chest, and Lennok skillfully playing along beside him.

Frimon’s usually emotionless face held a rarely seen look of exasperation.

This was likely because he realized Lennok knew how long Angron had practiced his spellcraft but was deliberately flattering him.

But Angron, oblivious to such reactions, tapped the board with a thoroughly pleased expression.

“Very well. For a player with your discernment, I permit you to offer advice on my match. Go on, try it!”

“Thank you for permitting me. Then—”

Lennok’s smiling expression suddenly turned cold.

“Could you please replay the match from the beginning, until you reach that specific situation?”

“What?”

“After all, solving the problem is Lord Angron’s task, and I am merely here to assist.”

Lennok said.

“To provide assistance in a way that is suitable for Lord Angron, not for me, I believe I need to observe the match from the very beginning.”

“Th-that’s right… Hey, Frimon. You cooperate quickly too.”

Angron, with a reluctant expression, picked up a black stone and glared at Frimon, who sat opposite him.

“Until I give up on this wager, you must help solve the problem as promised. You understand, don’t you?”

“I clearly told you it would be futile……”

Frimon shrugged but obediently began to place stones according to Angron’s words.

Since it was a wager between Long-lived Beings, the black-robed boy couldn’t simply back out on his own.

Click, click.

Perhaps because it was a game they had played countless times, the two boys filled the board with incredible speed.

The black and white stones swiftly flipped and changed colors on the board.

The moment the stones on the board surpassed 500 moves, Lennok’s eyes deepened.

‘Indeed, it wasn’t just a simple wager or a life-and-death problem.’

The entire situation was thoroughly testing whether Angron’s black stones could break through and resolve it.

It was as if the scenario had been deliberately crafted and refined to test Angron’s capabilities.

In the first place, if two Long-lived Beings were playing a match to solve a problem within a specific scenario, who had set that problem?

And why was Frimon trying to acquire the ‘qualification’ to solve the problem, even by deceiving Angron?

Not a single aspect of the match the two Long-lived Beings were playing—the scenario, the situation, their attitudes—was free of suspicion.

But, precisely because of that—

“You punk. As you said, we replayed the match from the beginning and reached this point.”

While Lennok was deep in thought, Angron had already stopped playing and was looking at him.

“Move 565. From here, the situation is blocked, and I can’t advance any further.”

“…….”

“To the sides are ‘Long Gates’, behind are ‘Palace Locks’, diagonally ‘Tiger’s Maw’, and directly ahead ‘Empty Box’. Wherever I place a stone, it will only be captured.”

Angron said with a grimace.

“It feels like I’ve hit a decisive wall and lost my way. If I could just get a small clue, my thoughts might clear……”

“You haven’t hit a wall and lost your way.”

Lennok replied without turning from the board.

“It’s simply that Lord Angron hasn’t properly looked into the essence of fire-attribute spellcraft yet.”

“What did you say?”

“Based on my observation from the beginning, the fact that this match reached move 565 was due to Lord Angron’s own will.”

Lennok turned his gaze towards Angron.

“It was the result of expressing the aptitude for fire-attribute spellcraft that Lord Angron has cultivated through Obaekro, without clinging to momentary calculations.”

As Water God Dragon King Alohan did, the way Long-lived Beings in Kundara play Obaekro doesn’t heavily rely on calculating moves.

They merely project a style onto the board that transcends mere tactical calculations, based on the spellcraft they’ve mastered and their principles of spell formation.

Therefore, the advice Lennok needed to give Angron wasn’t about the precise placement of individual stones, but about direction.

“It doesn’t matter where. Continue playing.”

“Didn’t I tell you? Wherever I place a stone, it will either be captured and turn white, or be captured and become empty—”

“The core of fire-attribute spellcraft isn’t that.”

Lennok interrupted Angron and glanced back at the boy.

“Its essence lies in the persistence of preheating by burning oneself as fuel, constantly seeking new sparks.”

“…….”

“If Lord Angron intended to manifest the essence of that spellcraft through Obaekro, you must maintain that principle until the very end.”

Lennok said so, pointing to an empty spot for a stone.

Angron, who had been listening blankly to Lennok’s words, began to place black stones in the empty spots as if entranced.

Frimon, sitting opposite, immediately placed a white stone, capturing Angron’s black stone and turning it white.

But Lennok didn’t stop, continuously urging Angron to allow his stones to be captured.

“Burn, be consumed, burn again, and be consumed again.”

“…….”

“The essence of fire-attribute spellcraft lies in its destructiveness, burning even oneself. If Lord Angron can maintain that principle until the very end—”

The black stones, continually captured by Frimon’s white stones, began to fill the board again.

Like black stones surviving among white ones, burning their surroundings and dyeing them pitch black, they rapidly covered the board.

With each stone played, dozens of lives and deaths passed over the board, and colors changed, spinning in a dizzying display.

He wasn’t calculating each move individually, but rather expressing an aptitude that transcended calculation, aligning with the profound principles of spellcraft.

“One can, in fact, achieve results on the board that are far beyond what mere calculation could accomplish.”

The true essence of the game that Jindun pursued when he created Obaekro.

The core of fire magic, which only Lennok, having already reached a higher realm in his identity as Cheonbeon, could convey.

At that moment, as Angron, as if possessed, moved stones and sacrificed his own, burning them away.

“Th-this is……”

The board between the two boys was, by now, completely filled with black stones.

A strange sight: on a board capable of holding over 800 stones at once, all the placed stones had turned a pitch-black color.

“This is quite interesting.”

Angron’s hands trembled, and Lennok, observing from behind, stroked his chin as if seeing something marvelous.

“No matter how perfect a match one plays, it’s almost unheard of for one side’s stones to completely fill the entire board.”

“…….”

“Since this wasn’t the outcome I intended, I suspect the match you two were playing was, from the beginning, designed to lead to such a result.”

“Th-this can’t be……”

“Where in the world was this problem set from, that you were trying to solve—”

Angron mumbled blankly, not even listening to Lennok’s words.

“Th-the trial of the Eight Tribulations… so easily……”

“The trial of the Eight Tribulations?”

Lennok’s expression also turned somewhat reluctant.

“So the match you two were playing was a practice to pass the trial of the Eight Tribulations?”

With that one sentence, Lennok also realized why these boys were so obsessed with this match.

Surely, the reason Kundara’s Long-lived Beings were so engrossed and obsessed with the game of Obaekro wasn’t merely for amusement, but—

“M-master!!”

Angron, who had sprung to his feet, immediately dropped to his knees.

Frimon, who had been sitting opposite with a sour expression, belatedly showed a slight look of surprise upon seeing Angron.

Even others playing Obaekro nearby turned to look, startled.

But Angron paid no mind to the gazes around him and bowed his head.

“I will serve you as my master. Master!!”

“…….”

“Hmm… I wonder if I am truly skilled enough to teach anyone……”

Perhaps Lennok’s feigned hesitation made him anxious, for the red-robed boy immediately placed both hands on the ground.

Angron, with both hands on the ground and his head deeply bowed, shouted, exhaling a hot breath.

“I, Angron of the Fire Salamander clan, will obey anything you say, Master!!”

“…….”

“I want to pass the trial of the Eight Tribulations, no matter what. So please, teach me…!!”

Angron, with his head deeply bowed, and his shout was excessively loud.

Other Long-lived Beings in the manor, who had been ignoring passersby and focusing on their games, were now also looking in their direction.

“It can’t be helped, then.”

Lennok, letting out a small sigh, slowly turned towards Angron.

Lennok, looking down at the deeply bowed Angron, said with a strange smile.

“Then, may I first ascertain what kind of sincerity one can show a master in Kundara?”