As the timer continued to tick down, I tried to look at my surroundings once again.
Aside from the existence of the Pawn tower located diagonally on my back left, I was certain that there was no tower anywhere else around me. And even though I knew the move pattern of each chess pieces, I was starting to doubt whether this event used the same movement pattern and rule or not.
But if this was the standard board and had the same rule set, then the reason I was being attacked right now would be...
"...a horse from B8 moved to C6 and attacked me."
There was no system window telling me that I was correct or showing me the location of the Horse tower in question, but if this was the case, then I should be safe from danger with the Pawn tower nearby.
However, if I took on the attack head on and ended up dying, there was no guarantee that would just be failing the event and not failing the whole Chekat's Trial.
"......should I take on the challenge, or..."
The timer had dropped to five, prompting the system to voice out the countdown. In reflex, I moved my hand... and touched the [Yes] option.
At that moment, the system window disappeared and replaced by a different one.
[Challenge from: Horse tower]
[1. Mana Regeneration will be fixed to 0 for 5 turns]
[2. Ten Explosive Projectiles will be launched towards you from the Horse tower]
"...what does it mean by-"
Before I could even finish my question, I felt a sharp pain from right shoulder. And soon enough, an explosion occurred and sent me flying towards the edge of my tile, slamming me against the invisible walls.
[You Received 150 Damage]
"-!!"
Realizing that unexpected hit took more than a quarter of my HP made me feel a terrible chill on my back.
I could not see the projectile or where it came from, but from the direction it really seemed to be coming from somewhere to my left. With that in mind, I quickly moved away from my position and rolled to my right. Whether that was the correct decision or not, there were three explosions occurring at the same position where I was at.
Six more projectiles-!!
I tried to create a large [Fireball], planning to shoot it randomly forward to intercept the explosive projectiles. But just as I extended my hand forward, a red system window appeared in front of me.
[Warning. You are being Challenged]
[You are unable to use Offensive Spells]
"...so, I can only dodge around like this or try to block them somehow..."
Perhaps because I had frozen on the spot to read the system window, but another projectile hit me once again and exploded, causing me to fall head first into the solid tile beneath me.
[You Received 150 Damage]
"...is it perhaps a fixed damage..."
Curiosity made me want to test things out, but I decided to refrain myself from doing that and used [Telekinesis] to quickly lift my body up to the sky.
As I hovered in the air, I tried to look around the place... but I still could not see anything aside from empty skies and...
"......wait. Is it just me, or are the floor tiles that I could see... completely obscured?"
I might not have paid attention to the ground this whole time, but the tiles that I could see from my current position were extremely limited. I knew I had gone forward three tiles and the Pawn tower near me had gone forward two tiles, but the only illuminated tiles were the four adjacent tiles around both me and the Pawn tower's, the tiles around the other Pawn tiles, and the white tiles located diagonally forward to the right from the tower with a pointed crown.
All the other tiles were in neither black or white tiles, but completely unseen, as if something was covering them.
"......I see... I think now I know what's happening."
[All ten projectiles have been fired]
[You have won the Challenge]
[The Horse tower will return to its prior position]
[Your turn to move]
[The places you can move to will be illuminated for a short period]
[If you do not move within 10 seconds, a random tower will move in your stead]
"...hoo..."
It was then that I could see the white tile in front of me, illuminated with a green color... and a black tile diagonally to my front right, illuminated with a red color
And positioned on top of that tile was a Horse tower... quite possibly, a different one from the one that Challenged me just now.
[You can Challenge the Horse Tower near you]
Seeing the information inside the new system window when I landed back on the ground, my mouth involuntarily formed a smile.
"...a Challenge, huh..."
The thought of trying to attack the tower made me kind of wanting to do the same as a revenge... especially considering I had been attacked with the explosive projectiles and lost more than 50% of my HP just now.
But when I realized that my MP had dropped to less than a third, I ended up stopping myself.
...if I could attack it physically, I could just use the Sky Thruster and [Gatling Thrust] to damage the tower and possibly destroy it. But if I am forbidden from using physical attacks like how I was forbidden from retaliating just now...
.........let's try to save my MP for now and not challenge it.
With that thought, I ended up not Challenging the Horse tower and just moved forward one tile. As I walked to the new tile, I could see the black Pawn tower standing in front of me and the Horse tower to my right, as well as two other black Pawn towers diagonally to my front left and right, illuminated by a red light.
But the illumination soon disappeared and the tower's appearances were obscured by something before a system window telling me it was the opposing team's turn appeared, leaving only the Pawn tower directly in front of me and the Horse tower to my right that stayed visible to my eyes.
As I looked around my surroundings, I also noticed that the other two tiles to my back and left were visible, signifying that my 'field of vision' was only one adjacent tile. When I looked back, the Pawn tower and its four adjacent tiles could also be clearly seen by me, telling me that my assumption that the field of vision was shared between towers and me was correct.
