sbdcsierra Chapter 1988 The loser must abide by the rules set by the winner? The original rule, the rule of pow
Chapter 1988 The loser must abide by the rules set by the winner? The original rule, the rule of pow
Chapter 1988 The loser must abide by the rules set by the winner? The original rule, the rule of power!
"I accept."
Thanos said calmly.
He had no reason to refuse.
He had absolute confidence in his "system," in his wisdom, and in the power he possessed.
Even though he was bound by the "game" shackles, he was confident that he could win in the end.
"Game Rule Two: Game Format, Infinite Chess."
“A chess piece is the embodiment of the ‘power’ that both sides possess or can mobilize.”
"In each round, both sides can use resources to construct, move, or activate pieces, and can also set temporary rules; the goal is to checkmate the opponent's 'King,' that is, to completely destroy the opponent's 'winning' possibility."
As the rules were set, light and shadow shifted across the chessboard, beginning to outline the shapes of the pieces.
Thanos's side had pieces that were a dark purple with six-colored shimmering edges, giving them a heavy sense of oppression.
His "king" is a miniature version of Thanos, sitting on a dark gold throne. Although he sits still, he seems to command an army, with his left hand clenched and surrounded by six-colored light spots.
The "back" position features a constantly rotating phantom of a strange gemstone containing cosmic nebulae, symbolizing the convergence and transformation of the power of the Infinity Stones.
The "chariot" is two towering interstellar fortresses, the "horse" is two ferocious cosmic beasts, and the "elephant" is two intersecting and rotating mysterious halos.
The "soldiers" are phantom images of fully armed, silent, and menacing vanguard warriors.
Though small in number, they possess a resolute determination to advance one after another.
On Rick's side, the pieces are a warm grayish-white. His "King" is a miniature of a white-haired boy holding a star cup, with his eyes slightly closed, as if deep in thought.
The "back" position is an open, heavy book, with words flowing across each page, symbolizing the infinite changes of knowledge.
The "car" is two ingeniously designed geometric structures, seemingly embodying the ultimate principles of all machinery and architecture in the world.
"Horse" represents two probabilistic clouds that are constantly shifting and whose trajectories are difficult to predict; "elephant" represents two mirrors that reflect different possible futures.
The "soldier" is a series of seemingly simple but constantly combined and changed basic symbols.
The game begins.
Thanos takes the lead.
Without the slightest hesitation, the vanguard phantom representing "soldiers" advanced forward and occupied key positions.
The moment the piece was placed, the space around it seemed to solidify, as if it were asserting its "real" control over the area.
Rick moved a pawn forward almost without thinking, but instead of placing it directly opposite the opponent, he moved it slightly to the side, avoiding the opponent's attack while subtly pointing towards another empty area on the board.
Thanos remained unmoved, urging the "horse" to leap forward, while the Star Fortress, symbolizing the "chariot," subtly adjusted the direction of its cannons.
Both sides kept placing their pieces, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of moves had been made on the chessboard.
Thanos's style is bold and sweeping, with each move carrying a strong sense of oppression, like commanding a disciplined army to advance steadily and compress the opponent's space.
Rick, on the other hand, is like a scholar strolling in his own courtyard. His playing style is agile and subtle, as if he is weaving an invisible net, not pursuing gains or losses in a particular moment or place, but guiding the flow of the game on a macro level.
Thanos's offensive intensifies.
He used the power of the "Queen" to forcibly change the "rules of action" of pieces in a certain area, giving his "Rook" an extra opportunity to charge straight ahead, directly targeting Rick's "King".
At the same time, the "elephant" flashed, instantly teleporting its other "horse" to an extremely tricky position, forming a double-horse drinking spring with the previous "horse", threatening Rick's "king" wing.
Rick's game seemed to be suppressed, and his room for maneuver was reduced.
But he remained calm, a faint, data-like light flickering in his crimson eyes; he did not try to counter the opponent's killing move head-on, but instead gently moved the "back" that had remained stationary.
The queen chess piece shone brightly, and the pages of the book turned rapidly.
The next moment, the rules around Thanos's "horse" that had been teleported through space were temporarily adjusted.
Its current "landing point" is determined to be "conflicting", and it needs to retreat to a position one square away from its previous position.
At the same time, one of Rick's hidden "soldiers" suddenly linked with the transformed "vehicle" behind him, shooting out an invisible "chain" that entangled Thanos's "vehicle" that was able to advance due to special rules, preventing it from moving in the next round.
Thanos decisively abandoned the locked "vehicle" and, with the "rear" as the core, launched an even more ferocious attack in conjunction with another "vehicle" and a large army.
The phantoms of the chess pieces collide, rules and concepts clash, and a silent, turbulent storm unfolds on the chessboard.
Force, space, reality, time, soul, and mind—the six fundamental forces of the universe—are deployed in turn under Thanos's command.
Rick also rarely confronted Thanos head-on, always trying to disrupt him with minimal cost and maximum effectiveness.
The movement of a seemingly insignificant "pawn" may, a dozen steps later, interact with the foresight of another "elephant" and the rule modification of the "queen," forming a fulcrum for a trap or a counterattack.
As the game entered the middle stage, Thanos still held the advantage in terms of pieces and board presence, but his brows furrowed slightly.
He felt that every attack he launched was like hitting cotton, or getting caught in a web of spider webs. Despite having the upper hand and the initiative, he was unable to achieve a decisive breakthrough.
Rick's moves may seem loose, but they are incredibly resilient, and he always manages to defuse crises in the most crucial moments in unexpected ways, even turning the tables and eroding Rick's advantage.
Are you calculating all the possibilities for me?
Thanos's deep voice rang out, carrying a hint of genuine interest.
He no longer pursued a quick victory, but instead began to employ deeper strategies, taking advantage of the characteristics of "time" and "reality" to lay traps that spanned multiple rounds, dismantling Rick's defenses from a more fundamental level of "rule logic".
Rick remained silent, but the speed at which he placed his pieces seemed to increase slightly.
His "king," the phantom of a young boy holding a cup, had opened his eyes slightly at some point, his crimson eyes reflecting the myriad changes of the entire chessboard.
In the endgame, there are not many pieces left on the board.
Thanos, thanks to the advantages he had accumulated in the early stages, still possessed major pieces such as the Queen and Rook, while Rick only had the Queen, Bishop, and a few pawns that had crossed the river, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of pieces.
However, the space around Thanos's "king" was unusually cramped, and Rick's "soldiers" had already quietly approached Thanos's territory, posing a threat.
Thanos mobilized the last "Queen" and "Chariot" to launch a final, fierce attack, heading straight for Rick's isolated "King," attempting to deliver a decisive blow.
However, at this final moment of battle, Rick, who had been holding back all along, suddenly opened all the pages of his book, and countless runes shot into the sky, creating an incredible resonance with the soldiers crossing the river!
One of the "soldiers" suddenly "transformed" into a marker representing "rule loophole triggering"!
This mark happens to activate the backdoor that Rick left dozens of rounds ago when he used Thanos's "reality alteration"!
The second and third pieces move in unison, and their existence is temporarily redefined as a hybrid state of being able to move in a straight line and capture pieces diagonally.
Like a combination of "Queen" and "Soldier", it instantly blocked two key positions on Thanos's "King" flank!
Thanos's "Queen" and "Chariot" were about to kill Rick's "King," but found themselves in a dilemma.
If you try to rescue him, the offensive will collapse, and you will be unable to stop the threat of Rick's "pawn" being promoted; if you don't rescue him, Rick's "king" will seem to be in danger, but in fact there is a "pawn" position that was set up by the "elephant" a dozen or so turns in advance!
Thanos's eyes flickered, but he realized that no matter which path he chose, he would eventually be driven into a desperate situation by Rick's seemingly scattered but actually interconnected pieces in the endgame a few steps later.
His powerful pieces, which he relied on to win, became a hidden danger that led to his being checkmated because of their overly prominent positions.
"General."
Rick's calm voice rang out as he placed the last piece.
An elephant that had already moved to the perfect position flashed with mirror light, reflecting Thanos's only possible escape route, which was blocked by the rule loophole mark triggered by Rick's recent "transformation".
A decisive blow, unsolvable.
Thanos's "king," the phantom sitting on the throne, has been completely locked down by Rick's pieces on every level, including rules, space, and possibilities, leaving him with no possibility of moving.
According to the rules of "Infinite Chess", Rick wins.
The game is over, the outcome is decided.
Thanos looked at the "King" on the chessboard, whose situation was now hopeless, and then looked up at Rick, who remained calm and expressionless.
The silence lasted for several seconds.
Then, he slowly raised his left hand, the glove inlaid with six Infinity Stones.
"He truly deserves to be called someone who can rival the God of Games, Tet, and even surpass him in some aspects."
"Even though I transmigrated to this world and underwent 'enhancement' more than once, my strength has risen to this level. In terms of pure calculation ability and thinking speed, theoretically, it has already matched this power and been elevated to an equivalent realm."
Thanos's voice rang out, his gaze sweeping over the chessboard endgame that was gradually fading but still displayed exquisite and unparalleled skill. A complex expression, almost self-mocking, flashed in his eyes.
"But when it comes to 'games,' the gap between us is still as vast as the ocean."
"This is a gap in talent, a difference in the essence of innate ability, which cannot be easily bridged by simply adding strength or accelerating thinking."
He readily admitted that he had lost to Rick in the "game" and acknowledged Rick's "talent".
Even though he transmigrated into Thanos and possessed his current strength, as an ordinary person, he still lagged behind "geniuses" of the same level in some areas.
"But who told you that the loser has to abide by the rules set by the winner and obediently hand over the bet?!"
"This 'game,' though it's your territory, your rules!"
"But what the outcome will be, who will determine it, and whether or not to abide by it?"
"It's never been up to you to decide!"
Thanos's lips curled into a smile as he spoke, enunciating each word clearly:
"The Star Cup cannot bind me!"
"Snap!!!"
As Thanos finished speaking, a shattering sound rang out in the void, as if the "rules" of the entire world had been forcibly pried open with a crack.
Rick's incredibly stable "God's Game," which he launched with the power of the "Star Cup," instantly revealed countless crisscrossing spatial cracks on the enormous chessboard composed of starlight and pure concepts, along with the phantom images of all the symbolic pieces on it.
The domain is collapsing! The rules are being forcibly broken and dismantled!
A hint of genuine seriousness flashed across Rick's usually calm and unwavering crimson eyes.
He could sense that the rules and domain he and the "Star Cup" maintained together had been forcibly "torn apart" by an unreasonable force!
It's like using brute force to smash a hole in the inside of a delicate clock, not caring whether it damages the movement, just to stop it from running!
"The power of the Star Cup has actually been..."
Rick's mind raced. He could feel the power of the Star Cup still there, but the domain of rules had suffered irreparable damage.
"Your 'game' is very interesting."
"But now, game time is over!"
"Let's go back to the most original and fairest rules."
"The rules of power!!"
A crack appeared on Thanos's left Infinity Gauntlet, but his aura reached its peak!
The power of the six Infinity Stones was forcibly fused together under his control.
An aura powerful enough to make anyone who sensed its presence tremble in their soul was brewing in that fist!
Boom!!!
No sound can travel in a vacuum, but at the moment this punch was thrown, the depths of every existing soul "heard" that terrifying roar that seemed like the end of the universe!
In front of the fist, a straight, pitch-black, void-like passage that devours everything was blasted out, with the edges of the passage twisting and boiling with chaotic spatial currents.
The passage spread toward Rick and toward the continent of Asgard behind him at a speed beyond common sense.
Wherever it passed, all matter was annihilated by the impact containing the six primordial forces of the universe, returning to the most primordial nothingness!
"not good!"
In the distance, Thor's eyes were bloodshot. He could sense that even the divine barrier of Asgard would be absolutely unable to completely withstand this world-destroying blow.
Loki and Tony, however, remained completely calm, simply watching Rick.
If it were Rick, he should be able to withstand this level of attack.
And indeed, Rick, facing this destructive torrent, showed solemnity in his eyes, but not panic.
He seemed to have anticipated that his opponent would overturn the chessboard and retaliate in the most savage way.
"As expected, once the rules are broken by brute force, all that's left is a pure contest of strength?"
Rick muttered to himself, his voice barely audible.
He slowly raised the seemingly ordinary "star cup" in his hand.
Above the star cup, the luster that seemed to contain all colors yet return to nothingness suddenly became incredibly bright!