The World's Ego (Book 2)

Breakthrough

Rimuru POV

I sighed under my breath at another failed attempt to decipher the chessboard in front of us (and some intervention to prevent the two Herrschers from arguing with each other). Calling Chloe really seemed like the only option, but I was willing to try just a few more times in case 'time' wasn't the only factor that was keeping us out of the mindscape.

"To think that a chessboard would stump any of us..." Mobius sighed, having arrived here after I called for her help, "... Unbelievable. Even my analysis isn't showing any answers or results."

"Whoever made this is really smart, I'll give them that." (Expert) Vill-V commented while looking around the chessboard for any clues, and fiddling with the board, "Usually, things like this would have some kind of secret mechanism but so far... Nothing."

"And if this really is what's keeping us out of the mindscape other than 'time', then whatever that thing is..." Mobius hummed, "... It's smart, annoyingly smart. As if it's playing a game with us."

"We've played plenty of 'games' like this before, didn't we?" I shrugged my shoulders as I continued to analyze the chessboard with Ciel, "But you're right, there's no mechanism so we must be missing something here."

"Hey, Feiyun." (Expert) Vill-V called, "Other than this chessboard, is there nothing else that you can find from the memories?"

Feiyun shrugged, "Nothing at all. Whatever I sensed, they were condensed into that chessboard. It's important, that's all I know."

"Maybe try solving it yourself too." Iris rolled her eyes, being the only one who's been assisting us the entire time, "Other than that, I think it really is about time we call the Hero Chloe, considering how urgent this entire thing is."

"Agreed." Mobius nodded, "We'll continue helping too, but hopefully, 'time' really is the only thing that's getting in our way."

"Yeah..."

<I will contact Chronoa and update her about the situation. They should be able to help us with the 'time' related aspect of the hidden mindscape. In the meantime, if Feiyun can continue digging into the memories that she sensed, we might be able to find more answers related to the puzzle hidden by the chessboard.>

That's practically the only thing we can do right now anyway...

"Feiyun, this is concerning Mei and the others..." I turned to the Herrscher, "... Can you try again? Or at least try helping us?"

Feiyun let out a small huff before finally moving toward us, hands on her hips, "Just giving you a heads-up, but don't depend on me to make any progress on this. You know that I'm not good with a chessboard."

"It's not like a game of chess is related to this anyway." Iris stated bluntly, "Anything will do, as long as you're helping instead of standing there."

"Well, she did help by condensing those turbulent memories into this chessboard..." I reminded Iris, "... But any help will be appreciated, Feiyun."

"Fine..."

If Su was still here, we could appreciate his help too. Maybe the Seed of the Sumeru would give us another breakthrough too...

<On the contrary, Master, if you were to call for him now, I believe he would try to come back to Tempest as fast as he can. We did leave a teleportation circle in the Eastern Empire for emergency purposes. I believe this counts.>

You're not wrong...

"Rimuru-san!" I turned to the voice that called me as I got up just before the girl could pounce on me, catching her easily, "I'm here! I heard it was an emergency!"