The gates of the Holy Castle swung wide to reveal Queen on her wheeled throne, designed with the sole purpose of inspiring terror in her enemies. 108 men lined her on horseback, each of them in distinctively postapocalyptic attire, their eyes glinting with violent delight. Fighting side by side with their queen was an unparalleled honor to them.
Queen merely had to jerk her chin and her berserkers made a mad dash into the city.
“What a lovely day!”
“Out of the way, shitstains! Our Queen has arrived!”
“I’m hotter than rollin’ dice!”
If they hadn’t just rushed out of the Holy Castle, no one would have believed that these violent thugs were one of the most respected battalions of the Holylight army.
Queen’s cheeks reddened with excitement as she relished the fresh air and chaos of battle. Luna, meanwhile, lay tied up in chains in the middle of the Holy Castle’s great hall.
Watching the Satanists ooze throughout her city, she whispered to Fuji. “Spread the word. Kill every piece of shit you see.”
“Our Queen has spoken!” Fuji bellowed to his men. “Kill a hundred enemies each or die trying!”
“Kill them all! Kill them all!” Queen’s guards chanted. They might have been zealous to a fault, but they at least had exceptionally high morale. Above all else, they wished to fight and die for her.
Queen’s portable throne and her guards trampled through everything in their path until they arrived at a central location in the city. She leaped off of her throne as Fuji tossed her weapon to her. Slinging the Legendary Hammer of Sigma over her shoulder, Queen cackled. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, you fucking termites!”
That utterance commenced the annihilation of her enemies. Every invader that entered her field of vision had their skull caved in, entrails splattered, and limbs torn off.
Inspired by Queen’s rampage as an AMT—Automatic Murder Tank—her blood-soaked disciples shouted their way through the battlefield.
“Look at our Queen go! She’s like a starving shark set loose in a pool!”
“That really gets me going!”
“Kill, kill, kill! Spill the blood of these fuckers until there’s a lake she can swim in!”
The most dangerous thing about the Satanists was that they had nothing to lose, but Queen’s men were even worse in this regard. Their mission in life was to die in battle before her. Every cut on their fronts and arrow in their backs only brought them that much closer to their Valhalla. By comparison, the Satanists seemed levelheaded. At least they had the common goal of upsetting the status quo. In the face of soldiers longing for a warrior’s death, the Satanists fell apart all too easily.
Drenched in the blood of her enemies, Queen shuddered in the thrill of the fight that she had been deprived of for so long. “This will be your grave, you fucking ants! Crisscross Applesauce!” She drew a cross in the air with Sigma, which became a shock wave that shredded through Satanists, turning them into a sludge of meat and bone.
While most Satanists ran for their lives at the sight of the dreadful Queen of Bloodshed, a towering man among their rank dared to stand in her way. “I’ve been waiting for this, tainted Holy Maiden!”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Zane! You broke my jaw! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that!” Outraged, Zane pointed at a jagged scar across his face.
“Fuck if I know. What about that little worm of a scar?”
“You!” Zane bellowed with rage. “You will pay for it!” Valiantly, Zane swung at Queen with his battle-axe, but split nothing but air.
He was nowhere near an even match for Queen, but she was itching for any toy to play with. “You’d better not break too soon, Worm Ass... Bodybuilder. Diamond Body.” Layering her skills, Queen drastically bolstered her Defense—so much so that she was able to stop Zane’s axe with one finger.
“Wh-What the...?!” he croaked.
“Worm Ass.” Queen kicked Zane in the chest, sending him flying.
When he regained his footing, he produced an object that resembled a crab claw—a Final Straw. Final Straws were atrocious magical items given to the Entranced—Trance addicts—among the Satanists, who would be sacrificed in a ritual to summon Hellions. Utopia made a point to exploit his followers to the last minute of their lives.
Queen didn’t usually give her foes advice, but this particular object made her speak up. “Didn’t peg you for a tweaker... You got any idea what that thing is?”
Zane scoffed. “Are you afraid? This is a precious magical item Lord Utopia has bestowed upon me. It shall grant me demonic powers and help me destroy forces of light!”
“The only thing it does is turn you into a monster. Not that I give a shit if you do.”
Zane laughed again. “It’s my turn to shatter your face!” He tossed the forbidden item into his mouth. A few moments after he chewed and swallowed the claw, Zane’s face became purple as he clawed at his chest, choking out his last words. “Wh-Why...? Lord... Utopia...”
“Told you so,” Queen said. “Well, I’ll clean up your mess, anyway.”
Giant pinchers burst out of Zane’s abdomen in an explosion of flesh and blood. From the red mist emerged a powerful, snarling Hellbeast. “Holy Maiden... Queen... Kill...”
Zane’s anatomy had bloated into that of a giant bear, distinguished from an ordinary one by its pink fur and a pair of horns on its head. Its arms were as thick as bundles of logs, and its claws looked sharp enough to tear through steel.
Queen huffed through her nose. “I’ve read about the Scarlet Bear. First time seeing one for real.”
The pink bear charged. Even as a Hellbeast, it held a grudge against her, who dodged the bear and unleashed a volley of attacks with her fists. “Drop dead already! Asura.”
Six powerful blows struck the bear’s side, but the Hellbeast did not budge, its thick fur apparently lessening the damage of physical attacks.
The bear gained on Queen, swinging its tree-trunk-size arms that looked powerful enough to rip through a person like tissue paper.
“Bring it on... This big fucker looks a little more like a challenge! Double Down.” The earth cracked where Queen kicked now that her Attack had been doubled by her skill. Keeping the momentum of her leap, she swung Sigma into the bear’s gut.
The Hellbeast growled, apparently suffering some damage from the blow. “I’ll...devour you...down to the brain...!”
Unbothered by the bear’s roar, Queen activated skills of her own creation. While Luna used an original category of magic called Gold magic, Queen’s abilities were far more straightforward. “Let’s play, Worm Ass... Your Ass Is Grass. STFU While I Beat You to Death.”
The first skill amplified an enemy’s perception of pain. The second was just as sadistic, as it forced broken-spirited enemies to stay and finish their fight with Queen. It was difficult to imagine who else could have even come up with skills like these.
Now she screeched like a prehistoric bird. “Let’s see how many hits you can take!”
The pink bear blocked Sigma with a single paw, but pain twisted its features. It let out an excruciating growl and began rolling on the ground in agony.
Mercilessly, Queen beat the bear over and over with her hammer. “What’s the matter?! We’re just getting started! Dance, fucker, dance!” Queen laughed again in a song of pure ecstasy.
Smiles grew on the faces of her disciples too. Apparently, masochism was a prerequisite to join the Queen’s army.
“I haven’t seen our Queen go that hard in a long time! The monster’s crying tears of joy!”
“That fuckin’ bear’s hogging her love!”
“Never thought I’d find myself jealous of a monster... But our Queen’s smile makes it all worth it.”