The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

The rules of Chaturanga are basically the same as chess.

There are pawns and a king, the game is played on a 64-square board, and the movement of the pieces is almost identical.

The only difference is that there is a ‘war elephant’ instead of a ‘bishop’.

However, the rules and pieces of Magic Chaturanga were somewhat different.

No, it wasn’t just different, it could even be called heterogeneous.

Initially, Magic Chaturanga only moved the pieces using telekinesis magic.

But as time passed, the game pieces started to swing swords like puppets, adding visual appeal.

As the movement of the pieces became more dynamic, mages started adding various gimmicks and strategic elements.

“For the pawn rank, there are archers, spearmen, and shieldmen.”

Each game piece had its own unit type, and each unit type was assigned attack power and health.

The attack power of all pawn ranks was 1.

The health was 1 for archers, 2 for spearmen, and 3 for shieldmen.

However, archers could attack enemy pieces 3 squares away, spearmen 2 squares away, and shieldmen 1 square away.

Instead, the player had to choose each turn whether to move a piece or attack with a piece.

If a piece was moved, it couldn’t attack that turn, and vice versa.

There was a way to move a piece and attack at the same time.

It was done by overlapping one’s own piece with the opponent’s piece on the same square.

In that case, starting with the moved player’s piece, the pieces would take turns attacking until one piece’s health was depleted.

In Magic Chaturanga, they didn’t say ‘capture’ an enemy piece.

They said ‘kill’ it.

“There are a total of 8 pawns, and you can freely choose from the 3 unit types, right?”

Bahamut nodded at my question.

“That’s right. I have 2 archers, 4 spearmen, and 2 shieldmen. By the way, you can also freely arrange the initial placement as long as it’s within the pawn line.”

I chose 3 archers, 3 spearmen, and 2 shieldmen.

“We don’t have to choose the knight rank.”

The knight rank had fixed unit types and placements like in Chaturanga or chess.

Of course, they didn’t use the exact Chaturanga pieces.

The unit types were cavalry, priest, mage, transcendent, and king.

If applied to chess, cavalry was rook, priest was bishop, mage was knight, and transcendent was queen.

The knight rank naturally had attack power, health, and attack range like the pawn rank.

Cavalry had attack power 3, health 3, and attack range 1 square.

Mage had attack power 4, health 2, and attack range 3 squares.

transcendent had attack power 5, health 5, and attack range 0 squares.

King had attack power 5, health 1, and attack range 0 squares.

Uniquely, the priest couldn’t attack but could restore the health of ally pieces.

It had recovery power 1, health 3, and recovery range 1 square.

To add, the movement method of the pieces was basically the same as chess.

“Alright, the arrangement is done.”

When I finished arranging, Bahamut summoned magic soldiers on the huge game board according to that arrangement.

I brought a chair that was concealed by an illusion nearby, as it was bothersome to keep standing, and made it visible using Eunha’s power.

Then Bahamut looked at the chair with widened eyes.

“Huh? How did you do that?”

“What do you mean how? I just brought the chair. It’s not like I created something that wasn’t there.”

I don’t know why she’s surprised when we didn’t even teleport and just projected an illusion in the original inn room.

“No, that’s true, but…”

She seemed to have a lot to say, but I wanted to end this bet quickly.

“Don’t waste time on trivial matters and let’s start the game.”

I wasn’t very confident in these chess-like games.

Before I came to this world, I often played chess with my friend, and I would win maybe once out of five games.

The opponent was a 1,300-year-old monster, and this was my first time playing this game.

“I’ll let you make the first move.”

At Bahamut’s arrogant consideration, I moved a piece on the game board.

“Shieldman advances from E7 to E6.”

There’s no way to cheat anyway, so I don’t feel motivated.

******

“Uh… did I win?”

I asked in a daze.

Bahamut looked down at the game board with a shocked expression.

“This can’t be…!”

I lost more game pieces, but Bahamut’s king was in a straight line with my transcendent (queen), and my cavalry (rook) was waiting behind.

The only place to escape from there happened to be within the range of my archer.

If there was Bahamut’s piece blocking in front of the archer or it was only 1 or 2 squares away, the archer wouldn’t have been able to attack.

But it was exquisitely 3 squares away without any obstacles, so if the king moves, it will immediately become prey for the archer.

“You said you played this game for 1,300 years?”

Of course, it hasn’t even been 300 years since Magic Chaturanga solidified into its current game method.

But even considering that, it’s a whopping 300 years.

No matter how long a perennial silver player plays for 10,000 hours, they remain in silver rank, but with 300 years, even a silver player could become a challenger.

Moreover, isn’t Magic Chaturanga a turn-based strategy game, not a physical game?

When I asked out of pure disbelief, not intending to mock her, Bahamut looked really shocked and sobbed, her eyes reddening.

“This can’t be…! I was clearly winning everything!”

As she said, most of my pieces were killed and disappeared.

I only had a total of five pieces left, including the king, while Bahamut had eleven pieces remaining.

However, this isn’t a game about keeping many pieces alive, but about killing the king.

I simply tried to create an opening and pierce through, but I didn’t expect her to expose the king’s neck like this right away.

“Hmm, is this the 1,300 years you threw away?”

At my muttering, Bahamut was genuinely shocked and shed tears like horse dung.

Seeing the beautiful girl crying silently and pitifully, I thought.

Can dragon tears be used as magic ingredients?

If they can be used, I want to collect them now.

“Uuuugh…! Yuan, you idiot! Stupid! Dog poop! Waaaah~!”

Perhaps due to the shock of her pride being crushed, Bahamut spewed out childishly regressive vocabulary unsuitable for her age and fled through the window.

“You were a bit harsh with your words.”

“That’s right, saying she threw away 1,300 years…”

Jade and Gilbert, who were watching the game, also labeled me as a cold-blooded person without blood or tears.

“What, over a mere game?”

When I felt wronged, Jade and Gilbert gave me a reproachful look.

“Even if it’s just a game, if she invested 1,300 years, the shock must be huge.”

“If the Young Master had been playing Magic Chaturanga since the age of ten, he would only have 7 years of experience, so the shock would be even greater.”

No… this is my first time.

The original body’s owner before I entered this body might have played it, but it was my first time.

Of course, it wasn’t such a difficult strategy game to learn the rules, so I quickly got used to it.

“Is it my fault?”

The two of them simultaneously nodded at my question.

I only lightly played a game with the intention of entertaining her moderately!

It’s the fault of the one who lost even though I went easy on her!

I felt wronged, but I changed the subject because it seemed like they would label me as an unparalleled villain if I grumbled.

“By the way, when will this colosseum illusion disappear? Do we have to sleep in this colosseum?”

The wind blew in the colosseum within the illusion, and dust rose shallowly.

Is this really an illusion?

******

“Uwaaang~!”

Bahamut cried. She shed tears out of pure sadness because of her trampled pride, without any other emotion.

For her, who had lived a long time, such a shocking defeat was a first.

In fact, it wasn’t that she was a being who didn’t know defeat.

No matter how fearless dragons are in the world, she also had a time when she was inexperienced and young, a hatchling period.

In the vast stream of history, monster-like existences called dragon slayers appeared quite often.

As such, she experienced countless defeats and grew by overcoming those defeats.

She sometimes enjoyed defeat.

The long years took away her inexperience and gifted her with skill and knack.

Even when encountering something for the first time, empirical inference instantly eliminated shortcomings and granted familiarity.

Therefore, as she aged, defeat became a special experience that was difficult for her to experience, and it made her obsessed with ‘betting’.

“Sob sob! This can’t be!”

However, the defeat she just experienced was different from the ‘special experience’ she had been pursuing.

A spear master losing to a swordsman with a sword is just a good experience.

But a spear master losing to a swordsman with a spear is not something that can be dismissed as simply a good experience.

It would be a sensation akin to having one’s entire life denied.

From the original Chaturanga to the Magic Chaturanga with all sorts of variations.

All Chaturanga was like the spear of a spear master to Bahamut.

No one had ever defeated her until now.

From renowned mages to long-lived dragons, fairies, mermaids, and those who had their names on the Grandmaster title.

It was no exaggeration to say that she was the world champion who had won against all of them.

The game of Chaturanga was enough to become her pride. That’s why she couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Hmph~! Sniff! That guy Yuan, what the hell is he? Even the Spirit King couldn’t interfere with my magic, but he did it like it was nothing and even beat me in Chaturanga.”

Interfering with magic meant that one could dismantle the opponent’s magic at any time.

No matter how strong spirits were, it was something that spirit mages couldn’t even attempt if they weren’t skilled in handling the power of spirits.

“Come to think of it, he seemed to have a spirit cherished by the Spirit King ‘Lisbeth’. Hic! Does he also know the Spirit Archduke ‘Gavillette’ who worshipped the Spirit King?”

These days, Lisbeth seemed to be largely forgotten, and people called Gavillet the Spirit King, but someone who knew Gavillette wouldn’t carelessly say such a thing.

If that loyalty-crazed pure-blooded elf heard it, he would tear them apart and kill them for daring to blaspheme his master.

She had other thoughts for a moment, but as soon as the defeat in Chaturanga came to mind, Bahamut cried sadly again.

The matter of interfering with her magic using spirits wasn’t important at all.

After crying like that for a while, she pulled herself together.

“Waaah-! Sniff, this seems to be the first time I’ve been so purely immersed in emotions. I’ll have to ask to play the game again.”

Bahamut, who blew her nose with a handkerchief, headed toward her treasure vault located at the center of her lair with bloodshot eyes, staggering.

She gave the treasure exchange ticket, but before inviting Yuan, she intended to fill it with plausible fakes.

Of course, since it was a reward for making her forget her boredom and providing fun even for a moment, she had no intention of removing the real treasures.

Although her pride was ruthlessly shattered, it seemed she would be able to escape from the boredom that had been eating away at her mind like a disease for a long time.

Thinking about watching the Cardinal purge the demon worship cult and practicing Magic Chaturanga for a rematch made her slightly excited.

“When was the last time I became a challenger? Should I make him a dragon knight after all?”

Thinking of something Yuan would hate if he heard it, she began mass-producing plausible-looking treasures.