“Arachnea Queen!” a hulking man called out, brandishing his claymore. “I know you’re here! Show yourself.”
What an idiot.
Striking a pose there would just end with him getting hit with a Chemical Swarm’s stinger or torn to bits by the Genocide Swarms. My will traveled through the collective consciousness, prompting four Genocide Swarms to lunge at the man.
“Hmph!”
But the next moment, he caught a stinger flying at him with his bare hand, using the other one to swing his giant blade and mow down the Genocide Swarms charging at him in one fell swoop.
“So that’s the Gregoria’s hero... Georgius the Dragon Slayer...”
In the game, his backstory was that of a hero who slayed countless dragons in an ancient era where the dragonkin menaced humanity. He slayed dragon after dragon, protecting the people. Eventually, mankind and the dragonkind reconciled, but he continued his slaughter, eventually making him the most hated man alive among the dragons.
When he made his way to slay the ancient dragons, they cast a curse on his younger sister. Should Georgius slay any more dragons, his younger sister would die. He was told that the only way to lift the curse was to serve as a warrior under the wise leader of the dragons, Augustus. And so, Georgius bitterly reconciled with his old enemies, becoming the Gregoria’s hero unit.
He was a formidable unit in the game. He was no match for Sérignan’s final form, but his defense and attack were both very high, and he could overwhelm large crowds of enemies. I recalled many matches where he’d easily dispatched many of my Arachnea units.
As one would expect of a hero unit, ordinary units couldn’t hold a candle to him.
“Your Majesty, please wait here. I shall dispose of that man.”
“Sérignan, no! Wait!” I called out to stop her. “The way you are now, you—”
The way she was now, she couldn’t beat Georgius if he was in his final form!
“You there!” Sérignan shouted, facing him.
“Hm? Oh, one of the Arachnea’s insects.” Georgius turned his eyes toward her in a provocative manner. “I have no interest in fighting you small fry bugs. I only have business with the Arachnea’s queen. She’s here on this battlefield, right? I will not kill her, so bring her before me. The Emperor seeks to speak to her.”
“You dare call me a small fry...?” Sérignan asked, glaring at him. “You disrespectful lout. We will never leave our queen in your hands, no matter what your intentions are. No, you will instead become another corpse to feed this forest.”
“I see,” Georgius said, holding up his claymore. “Negotiations have failed, then. Die, insect.”
“Try it if you can, human,” Sérignan spat back, readying her longsword.
Their clash would be resolved quickly. As she was now, Sérignan couldn’t beat Georgius. I should have stopped her, even if it meant stepping out myself. But my feet were shaking too hard. Their fighting spirits clashed and filled the place like a storm, leaving me rooted in place.
“Then let the battle...”
“Begin!”
Sérignan charged ahead, and Georgius moved in too. Sérignan made the first move, swinging her longsword down on Georgius’s head. But he deflected her blow with a swing of his claymore and swiftly dived into her flank.
“Heh, is that all you’ve got, Arachnea?”
The next moment, Georgius’s claymore swept sideways across Sérignan’s body, rattling her.
“Ugh!”
Thankfully, her armor blocked the slash, but she clearly took damage.
“Now, come on out, Arachnea Queen!” Georgius called out as he landed another blow on Sérignan. “You’d better hurry up, before I turn your servant into mincemeat!”
He punctuated this comment with another swing of his claymore, this time striking Sérignan’s abdomen.
“Ngha!” Sérignan groaned, coughing up blood.
No more. I couldn’t stand to watch it any longer. I had to save her.
“Your Majesty!” Lysa cried, but I ignored her and stepped out into the clearing.
“Stop it,” I told Georgius. “That’s enough.”
“Your Majesty! Why?!” Sérignan moaned, looking at me as if to say she could keep on fighting.
Sérignan, no. If this goes on any longer, you’ll die. I can’t stand by and let that happen. Never.
“I’m the Arachnea’s queen. You wanted me to come out, right? Well, here I am. Take me away.”
But then I found Georgius gawking at me, his expression completely drained of bloodlust.
“Katja...?” He muttered an unfamiliar name. “Is that you, Katja?”
“No. I’m the Arachnea’s queen, Grevillea,” I told him tersely.
Eventually, he said, “Right... So you are the queen. Yes, you fit the description. A fourteen-year-old with black hair and brown eyes.”
He began approaching me, his eyes once again lighting up with intelligence and fighting spirit.
“Will you come with me peacefully?” he asked.
“You’ll kill my knight if I don’t, right? Then my answer is yes.” I nodded.
“Follow me, then. We will not tie you up, but do not resist. Otherwise, I will have to kill you, and I don’t want to do that.”
Oddly enough, Georgius seemed to regard me rather gently, as if I were a dear family member or something.
“Fine by me. Dying isn’t in my itinerary either. I promise to come along quietly.”
“Farewell then, Arachnea Knight,” he told Sérignan. “We will take custody of your queen for a time.”
With that said, he carried me to his wyvern and then took off. As we launched into the sky, I could hear Sérignan shout something from the ground.
Just bear with it for now, Sérignan. I can’t let you die.
♱
Watching as the Nyrnal Empire took Grevillea away, Sérignan was overcome by a terrible sense of helplessness.
Protecting her is my duty. I was to be her sword. Her shield. I ought to have sacrificed myself before I gave her up. But I couldn’t protect her.
The queen, Grevillea, had sacrificed herself to save Sérignan.
I couldn’t protect myself. I couldn’t protect my sworn sovereign. I let her fall into the enemy’s hands.
“Dammit...all!” The words slipped from Sérignan’s tongue out of sheer frustration. Her failure to meet her duties was simply that vexing.
“Lysa, we must save Her Majesty from the enemy!” she cried.
Lysa shook her head. “Sérignan, you need to heal those injuries first. Her Majesty let herself get taken hostage to protect you. If you die, she’ll surely be beside herself with grief. Are you all right with that? We can still feel her through the collective consciousness. She’s still alive.”
“But—”
“No buts. You have to focus on recovering so you can be in prime condition to rescue her. I’m sure that’s what she wants. Don’t forget, she can still give us accurate orders even when we’re apart. Or do you not trust her?”
“That’s not what I mean! I do believe in Her Majesty! You’re right... She’s always given us the right orders so far. This time should be no different. But I’m still worried. Her Majesty is held prisoner, and who knows what these Nyrnal outlaws might do to her. You know as well as I do how rotten these people are, Lysa.”
“Yes. I know.”
Lysa’s home village had been burned to the ground once again. The elves had been massacred, and the forest they called home had been ransacked and ravaged. Despite the elves not wanting anything to do with the war, the Nyrnal Empire dragged them into the conflict and unjustly torched their entire settlement.
The Empire’s crimes far surpassed the cruelty of Maluk’s knights. Lysa was hardly calm about this. She, too, was worried about Grevillea. Given what the Nyrnal Empire had done to the elves, there was no guarantee they would treat her fairly.
“Your Majesty... Please, stay safe. We’ll definitely save you.”
“Yes. We will save her, Lysa.”
Lysa and Sérignan were determined to strike back against the Nyrnal Empire. Right now, the two of them couldn’t do much, but their queen, Grevillea, would surely come up with a plan for them. So Sérignan, Lysa, and the Swarm believed. They kept their minds fixed on the collective consciousness, awaiting her voice.