My Avatar is Becoming the Ultimate BOSS-Chapter 735 - 389: Xia Pingzhou vs Gu Qiye

"Shadow Demon."

Xia Pingzhou ordered expressionlessly. In an instant, the King's Statue was pulled into the shadow by the shadow monster at his feet.

"What?"

Gu Qiye frowned, his figure suddenly lunged into empty air. He quickly stomped on the ground, putting distance between himself and the shadow. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As he leapt back, Gu Qiye raised his index finger, shooting a surge of lightning toward the chessboard, piercing the shadow.

But it was useless. Shadows cannot be destroyed by humans. The shadow still perfectly shrouded the chessboard. The Shadow Demon grinned menacingly, sneering at Gu Qiye with a "cackle cackle cackle".

Gu Qiye clutched his injured shoulder and looked up in surprise.

The barrier enveloping Xia Pingzhou still existed, which meant as long as the Shadow Demon protected the King, he couldn't harm Xia Pingzhou at all.

"How exaggerated..." Gu Qiye couldn't help but tug at the corner of his mouth, speaking as if in complaint but also in admiration, "This is definitely the most exhausting fight I've ever had."

The Shadow Demon's presence would only last for five seconds, after which the King's Statue would escape the shadow and return to the top of the chessboard.

"Origami, you go wait outside first," Xia Pingzhou suddenly said.

He spoke, then without waiting for the kimono-clad girl's permission, he touched her wrist with his hand.

Immediately, her figure disappeared from the chessboard. In that last second, Ayase Origami's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't have time to say anything.

"Sending your companion away first..." Gu Qiye muttered, "As a robber, you have quite the loyalty. It's impressive enough to have injured me; there's no need to struggle, I can give you a swift end."

Xia Pingzhou quietly watched him, remaining silent.

As soon as the Shadow Demon disappeared, the Queen's Statue shot out like an arrow, positioning her hand above the King's Statue.

Simultaneously, Gu Qiye's figure flashed, transforming into roaring thunder as he approached. His right fist, wrapped in electric currents, slammed out, a huge electric fist shadow pounding toward the Queen and King!

"Nihilization," Xia Pingzhou murmured.

The forms of the Queen and King both turned transparent, Gu Qiye's fist shadow struck nothing, and he stopped his forward momentum.

In the next moment, the Queen's Statue released the King's body. She reversed her grip on a dagger and stomped toward Gu Qiye.

The dagger met Gu Qiye's hand back, both of them being knocked back several meters. Yet when Gu Qiye landed, he transformed into a bolt of lightning and bypassed the Queen.

Next, he raised his hand knife, effortlessly piercing through the King's chest.

"Boom!"

Lightning rampaged from within the King, grinding it into dust.

"What will you do next?"

As he spoke, Gu Qiye raised his head, not minding the Queen Statue chasing from behind. Instead, he transformed into a colossal thunderbolt, like a leopard hunting, rushing toward Xia Pingzhou.

But at this moment, he suddenly witnessed an inexplicable scene. Before Xia Pingzhou, there remained a black-and-white barrier open, and above him, a beam of light connected to the distance, like a black-and-white rainbow.

Gu Qiye suddenly turned his head, seeing a second King's Statue standing dozens of meters away.

That was the King created by Xia Pingzhou using the second Contracted Demon, the Cloning Demon, before the original King was destroyed. The Cloning Demon could exist for eight seconds.

But he knew, within these eight seconds, the cloned King would be destroyed by Gu Qiye.

"Quite the tricks up your sleeve," Gu Qiye said.

He understood inside, at least in terms of stalling time, Xia Pingzhou managed perfectly. The two of them had been clashing in the Black King Domain for such a long time; if this were outside, he didn't know how many members of the brigade he would have already taken down.

Xia Pingzhou's ability mechanism transformed an originally lopsided, one-sided crushing battle into a strategic game of wit and chess on the chessboard.

Gu Qiye felt like he was playing a minute-long puzzle game. Only by solving all the puzzles and mechanisms could he claim the Chess Player's head. But if he guessed wrong at any stage, he could meet his end then and there.

Thus, his speed seemed weak and powerless, having to be forced to follow the other's pace.

"Should I say it's bad luck, picking on the one member who countered me the most?" Gu Qiye thought, Xia Pingzhou might not be the last member of the brigade, but he was certainly the one with the most means to save his own life.

At this moment, Gu Qiye twisted to avoid the Queen Statue's thrust and then shot toward the escaping cloned King. Raising his hand, he easily twisted the King's neck.

Lightning burst from his five fingers, tearing apart the King's remains.

"Now, what will you do?"

Gu Qiye slowly turned his head, expressionless, looking at Xia Pingzhou, almost spitting out each word.

He could see that Xia Pingzhou was already at the end of his rope.

The entire vast chessboard was empty. Pages lay scattered chaotically on the ground, with only a single Queen's Statue faithfully standing guard in front of Xia Pingzhou, her eye sockets ablaze with blazing blue flames.

Xia Pingzhou indeed was at the end of his rope.

So, in that moment, he chose to retract the Queen's Statue. Simultaneously, the entire chessboard began to contract.

Once the domain contracted, he and Gu Qiye would return to the Real World. But this process took four seconds, during which he couldn't use any Chess Species.

"Have you given up struggling?"

Gu Qiye said expressionlessly, transforming into a bolt of lightning as he charged toward Xia Pingzhou.

Yet, at this moment, Xia Pingzhou's lips moved slightly.

In the silence, he suddenly spoke:

"Black Cocoon, still alive."

In that instant, the world fell into complete silence. Shortly after, the thunderous roar of lightning belatedly shook the entire space. The bolt of lightning rushing towards him suddenly halted in front of him.

The chessboard was still contracting. The Black King Domain seemed like a compressing maze, continuously pushing toward Xia Pingzhou and Gu Qiye, as if it would crush them in the next second.

The entire world suddenly became quiet, eerily and inexplicably.

Gu Qiye placed his right hand against Xia Pingzhou's forehead. Even after the thunderous roar of lightning faded, the lingering arcs still vibrated in the air.

He slowly raised his head, looking into Xia Pingzhou's eyes.

"What did you... just say?"

Gu Qiye murmured in a daze, his face surprisingly pale, the electric light flickering in his pupils vanished suddenly, his voice had never been so weak.

Xia Pingzhou remained silent.

He dared to bet that once he spoke those words, Gu Qiye definitely wouldn't kill him.

This was the strongest move beyond the game.

And just as he expected, during the brief silence of Gu Qiye, Xia Pingzhou successfully retracted the Black King Domain—this was something almost impossible to achieve, as he had to wait four seconds under the premise of recollecting the Chess Species to let the entire chessboard contract, which was basically putting down arms and waiting for death.

But he did it.

At the very last moment, the black-and-white chessboard instantly shrank to the limit, transforming into a flickering light spot, merging into Xia Pingzhou's heart.

Then, amid Gu Qiye's voiceless and desperate questioning, the figures of both vanished.