"Then I might just have some fun after all."

Ignis's eyes were burning. He looked ready to smash through the ceiling of the cavern and incinerate the world outside.

"Hold on," Damien said, stepping into the Dragon's line of sight.

"Before you go turning the canyon into glass... we have business."

Ignis paused, smoke curling from his nostrils. He looked down at Damien with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.

"Business? I thought we established that you were here to tell me about the rats."

"That was the warning," Damien corrected. "Now comes the price."

He looked the massive dragon in the eye.

"I need your blood, Ignis. Specifically, a vial of your Heart Essence Blood."

The air in the cavern instantly dropped to absolute zero, then spiked to furnace heat.

"My blood?" Ignis hissed, his head lowering until his snout was inches from Damien. The smell of sulfur was overpowering.

"You want me to bleed for you? A human? Do you think because you smell like Auntie Italica, you can make demands?"

"I need it to save a King," Damien stood his ground, his Will Armament flaring to protect him from the pressure.

"King Durin of the Dwarves. He was poisoned by the same Cultists coming to kill you. And... I need it for myself. To break through the limits of my body."

"And why should I care?" Ignis snorted, turning his head away. "Dwarves are loud. Humans are greedy. It's because of that greed you lot die so fast."

However Damien yearing this was still unwilling to give up "Because I'm willing to bet for it."

Ignis stopped. His ear twitched.

"Bet?"

"I can't beat you in a fight," Damien admitted, spreading his arms.

"You are a 6th Order Ancient Dragon. Your scales are harder than diamond, and your breath melts mountains. Fighting you would be suicide."

Damien smirked.

"But what about your mind?"

Ignis whipped his head back around, his eyes narrowing.

"My mind?"

"Dragons claim to be the wisest race," Damien said, his voice dripping with challenge.

"You are born with the memories of your ancestors. You know history, magic, and war before you even hatch."

"But are you smarter than a human?"

"Is that a joke?" Ignis roared, offending laughter shaking the gold piles.

"I have forgotten more knowledge than your entire race has ever learned! My mind is a fortress of wisdom!"

"Then prove it," Damien pointed to the floor.

"Beat me in a battle of intellect. A game of strategy. If you win, you get my secrets, my life and anything else you want."

"And if I win?" Damien's eyes flashed. "I get the blood."

Ignis stared at him. He looked at the tiny human challenging a Dragon to a test of wits.

It was arrogant. It was foolish.

It was exactly the kind of entertainment he had been craving.

"Fine," Ignis grinned, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"I accept. What is this game? Riddles? I know them all."

"No riddles," Damien shook his head.

He looked at the mountain of gold coins and chalices around them.

"Isabelle. I need fire."

"Yes, Young Master."

Isabelle stepped forward, creating a concentrated blue flame in her hands.

Damien grabbed a handful of gold coins. He threw them into the air.

"Melt," he commanded.

Using his own Golden Dragon Aura to shape the molten metal held in Isabelle's gravity field, Damien began to sculpt.

He didn't make gold bars. He made figures.

He made sixteen Pawns, small and uniform. He made Rooks, shaped like fortress towers. He made Knights, shaped like the Spirit Stags. He made Bishops, shaped like Mages. He made a Queen, elegant and deadly. And he made a King.

He made two sets. One of pure Gold. One of blackened, scorched Silver he found in the pile.

He used his sword to carve a 64-square grid into the flat stone floor of the cavern.

CLACK.

He placed the pieces down.

"This," Damien said, gesturing to the board, "is Chess."

"Chess?" Ignis squinted, leaning down. "It looks like a war map."

"It is," Damien sat cross-legged on the floor.

"The rules are simple. The goal is to capture the enemy King. But you cannot just brute force it. Each piece has rules. Each move has consequences."

Damien spent ten minutes explaining the movements.

Ignis listened intently. His bloodline memory absorbed the rules instantly. He didn't need to be told twice.

"I see," Ignis rumbled, his eyes gleaming with intelligence.

"It is a simulation of battle. The Pawns are the infantry. The Knights are the cavalry. The Queen... is the Apex."

"Exactly," Damien said. "You take the Gold. I'll take the Silver."

"Obviously," Ignis scoffed, delicately picking up a golden pawn with the very tip of his massive claw. "Gold belongs to dragons."

The game began.

Ignis played exactly as Damien expected. Aggressively.

He moved his pawns forward rapidly, trying to dominate the center of the board. He brought his Queen out early, using her raw power to terrorize Damien's lines.

"Check," Ignis rumbled, knocking over one of Damien's knights. "Your horse is dead."

"So it is," Damien smiled. He didn't panic. He moved a bishop.

"But you left your flank open."

Ignis frowned. He looked at the board. He realized that by chasing the knight, he had exposed his King to a diagonal attack.

"Hmph," Ignis grumbled, pulling his King back. "Cowardly tactic."

"Strategy," Damien corrected.

As the game progressed, Damien didn't just play; he talked.

"You know, Ignis, this board is like the world outside."

Damien sacrificed a pawn to trap Ignis's rook.

"The Twilight Association treats people like pawns. They throw them away to gain ground. But they don't understand that a pawn can become a Queen if it reaches the end."

Ignis looked at the pawn he had just captured.

"And you?" Ignis asked, moving his Bishop. "What are you? A King?"

"No," Damien moved his Queen, shattering Ignis's defense.

"I am the Player."

"Checkmate."

Ignis froze.

He stared at the board. His King was trapped. His Queen was pinned. His massive army of gold pieces was useless against Damien's surgical strike.

He had lost.

"I... lost?" Ignis whispered.

The air in the cavern grew heavy. Smoke poured from the dragon's nostrils. His tail twitched, threatening to smash the board.

Isabelle and Leona tensed, ready to fight.

But Ignis didn't rage. He stared at the board, replaying the moves in his head. He instantly analyzed the reason for his defeat.

"I chased the kill," Ignis realized, his voice low. "I used my Queen to hunt your pawns, and you used your pawns to trap my King."

He looked up at Damien. There was no anger in his eyes anymore. Only respect.

"You tricked me. But... you played well."

Ignis sat back, the ground shaking.

"I am a Dragon. I do not go back on my word."

He raised a claw to his chest. He tapped one of the massive scales over his heart.

CRACK.

He ripped the scale loose. A single drop of blood, glowing like molten lava and radiating enough power to burn a city, welled up.

Ignis produced a crystal vial from his own hoard and caught the drop.

He corked it and flicked it to Damien.

"One drop of Heart Essence," Ignis said. "Don't drink it all at once, or you'll explode."

Damien caught the vial. It was hot to the touch.

"Thank you, Ignis."

"Don't thank me," Ignis grumbled, looking back at the chessboard. "Reset the board."

"What?"

"Reset the board!" Ignis demanded, his eyes burning with competitive fire. "I know your tricks now, human. Best two out of three."

Damien laughed. "You're on."

He began to set up the pieces.

But just as he placed the King, the ground shook.

Not from Ignis. From above.

BOOM!

Dust fell from the cavern's ceiling.

Ignis stopped. His head snapped toward the ventilation shaft.

His playful demeanor vanished instantly. His pupils contracted into vertical slits of pure violence.

"They're here," Ignis hissed, his voice dropping to a terrifying growl.

"They interrupted my game."

Damien stood up, pocketing the blood. He looked at the ceiling map in his system.

[Warning: Hostile Force Detected.] [Entity: Red Templar Crusade.] [Commander: Valerius (Anti-Mage).]

"They didn't just interrupt," Damien said, his eyes turning cold.

"They kicked down the door."

He looked at Ignis.

"Do you want to finish the game later?"

Ignis rose to his full height, spreading his massive wings. The heat in the room spiked to inferno levels.

"No," the Dragon roared.

"I want to burn the pieces."

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