I said goodbye to Keller…
and stepped into the portal.
It sealed shut behind me— and instantly began pulling me somewhere.
Where? I had no idea.
There was no ground beneath my feet.
No light. No sound.
Only emptiness.
And motion—slow, heavy, suffocating.
As if the darkness itself was swallowing me alive.
I didn't know where I would end up.
And yet… what surprised me most
was how calm I felt.
No panic.
No fear.
No pain.
Just silence.
And cold, focused resolve.
I once looked down on him.
The man I'd considered a worthless plebeian.
I truly believed I could crush him—
like a god stepping on a turtle.
But he was a god.
A being of power beyond anything our world could comprehend.
He simply killed me.
After death, I thought it was over.
That I'd either find rest—
or vanish into nothingness.
Be forgotten.
Wiped clean.
But no.
Keller had other plans.
He wouldn't let me disappear.
He chose to send my soul to another world.
To entertain him there.
How humiliating.
For me—the Emperor of the Board.
I may no longer have a body.
I may be nothing more than a drifting spirit.
But I'm still me.
At least he didn't take that away from me.
The portal keeps dragging me.
Strange vibrations begin to stir—
subtle at first, then growing stronger.
The air—if that's what this is—feels thicker.
Full.
For the first time, I sense it.
Magic.
It flows somewhere ahead, like a web of ghostly threads…
as if someone is summoning something.
But no one summoned me.
I feel no will.
No voice.
No spell with my name on it.
And yet— I know where this path leads.
I can feel it.
The portal is taking me, the Emperor,
right into the heart of that magic.
You want me to play your game, Keller?
You think I'll be your pawn?
You're wrong.
I won't lose to you again.
This world —your world— will become part of my chessboard.