98. Queens
98. Queens
- 1 -
The moment Libertas left the swamp, the Alraune gathered at her point of departure all turned their gazes upon their queen.
It was because her eyes held a truly rare, entranced expression.
"How was she?"
At the words of the red Alraune, who stepped forward as the representative of those gathered by the lake, Nirvana's smile widened even further.
It was a smile like one lost in a dream.
"She was every bit as beautiful and adorable as I had expected."
"Is that so...?"
The Camellia Alraune, who adorned herself with showy flowers that could rival roses and bore a companion flower called 'Middlemist Camellia' on Earth, looked puzzled.
The Libertas she had seen was a dungeon lord possessing formidable strength, and she had thought there was no way their queen, Nirvana, would not be wary of someone with such power.
After all, the foremost virtues of a leader who commands monsters were, ultimately, 'strength' and 'wariness'.
"Haa..."
But no matter how one looked at it, Nirvana's current state seemed thoroughly captivated by the newly met dungeon lord.
- The queen herself?
- To my eyes, she just looked terrifyingly strong.
It was an ironic sight—an Alraune, a creature that bewitches and devours others, being bewitched herself—but the Alraune simply bowed their heads, thinking 'so it goes'.
She was often eccentric, but Nirvana was the leader they acknowledged.
Whatever anyone said, they believed she would not stand idly by if something endangered the group, come what may.
Besides.
- Ah, but her outward appearance was so pretty and cute.
- That's true. Ah, how wonderful it would be to have her by one's side at night.
The Alraune coveted Libertas just as much.
Hearing their murmuring, Nirvana sharpened her gaze.
"All of you. She is mine. Do not set your sights on her."
- Yes!!
The Alraune answered in unison, but the wary look Nirvana displayed did not disappear for quite some time.
It was because, while Nirvana herself might possess the strongest craving for beauty among the Alraune, the others' cravings were not much lesser.
- Was she really cute?
- I told you, she was.
See this.
She had told them not to set their sights, yet every last one of their eyes was still flashing.
Indeed, in this aspect, they were untrustworthy creatures.
"Red Camellia. White Rose. Nepenthes. Vegetative Violet. Jade Vine. Step forward."
- Yes!
Thus, all those being dispatched to the dungeon this time were her successor candidates.
Those who, vying for the position of the next queen, were desperately struggling to gain her approval.
At least these ones had the shackle of the successor position, so they were trustworthy.
"You will be dispatched to Libertas's dungeon. Prepare yourselves, and once preparations are complete, report immediately and depart."
"Us?"
"Is that true? Your Majesty."
Originally, she had been thinking of sending only about Seth among them.
Because using successor candidates as handmaidens was incredibly convenient.
What changed her mind was the very moment she came face to face with Libertas.
'She built a fence inside a shell with sharply erected spines like a hedgehog, diligently examined the inside and outside to harden the shell, and revealed an infinitely soft inner flesh to the person inside... how could she not be cute... I will definitely make her mine.'
The Libertas she met in person instantly drew Nirvana in.
Libertas thought she had hidden and revealed herself appropriately, but even that alone was a sufficiently magical charm for Nirvana.
"That is so. I promised to dispatch forces to the dungeon. In exchange for the forces we send, they agreed to purchase items from the demon realm that could help us. So, bring along the children each of you leads as well."
If this matter goes well, and if these ones do not impudently set their sights on the dungeon lord, then this time, Nirvana thought, she would truly have to appoint a successor she had long postponed.
For Nirvana, who had long utilized these capable talents in the successor position, it was a regrettable matter, but...
'Such patience despite her youth. That beauty. That atmosphere. No human hero could easily surpass that true beauty. Therefore... definitely!'
If the price was being able to 'have' the dungeon lord, then anything was fine.
Whether in terms of power, or in a real relationship.
Chureup...!
She had no intention of letting anyone else take Libertas away.
Absolutely not.
- 2 -
After Libertas left the vicinity of the lake, Echidna selected and summoned those among her clan who could handle magic best.
She wanted to experience once more the physical stimulation she had newly felt today.
"Mana... you say?"
"We apologize. That is impossible, Your Majesty."
"If you mean to banish us, please simply tell us to leave...!"
However, the Lamia mages who heard her request all showed reluctance.
They gave as reason that following her order might harm their queen with their own hands.
That it was no lie was a statement accompanied by a reaction sufficient to understand.
"Calm down and speak in detail. What do you mean by that?"
"Your Majesty. We Lamia have an exceptionally high resistance to mana. If we were to succeed in injecting mana into Your Majesty's body, there are only two possible cases."
After hearing the explanation, Echidna's face was minutely tinged with surprise.
A control of expression through superhuman patience.
However, if someone with good observation had seen it, they would have noticed that the scales on her back or tail scales were somewhat puffed up.
'Then Libertas is...'
She had learned just what kind of outrageous thing the dungeon lord she had newly accepted as a friend had simply committed and left.
According to the mages' words, penetrating the bodies of creatures like Lamia where magic power was accumulated and interfering with that body was truly a difficult task.
As already stated, the cases where it was possible were only two.
One was when the queen herself risked assassination and released the accumulated magic power in her body.
And the other was when the queen's injuries were so severe that her resistance was disrupted.
'But she so casually inserted mana into my body.'
Echidna had experience injecting mana into someone else's body, but had never allowed anyone to seep mana into hers, so it was something she had not known.
Because she herself was skilled in poison and the magical technique to control it, she had never felt difficulty in infiltrating mana into someone else.
"Interesting."
"Your Majesty?"
"From your perspective, who would you say possesses a magical ability similar to mine?"
"That is..."
"Speak without reserve. No punishment will be given for this conversation."
The Lamia mages, who had been cautiously eyeing each other and the queen, wondering if this was a loyalty test, soon one by one laid down their views mixed with their own opinions.
VS matches are always enjoyable for everyone.
"First, there is the Alraune Queen. The black Fate (緣) flower she keeps with her and the light magic she uses is said to have deceived 100 people who entered the swamp regardless of their level of experience, so not only her capability but her manipulation ability would be similar to Your Majesty's."
"An obvious answer."
Indeed, if she could easily overwhelm the Alraune Queen or was far inferior to her, she would have taken the initiative over all the forces in this vicinity long ago.
The abilities of the other Ant Queen and the beastman queens were clearly similar to hers, but the reason they were not mentioned was because they were simply warriors who knew how to use magic.
In Kamaya's case, although she handled mana well, her magical capacity did not reach Echidna or the Alraune's level.
In Orea's case, although the amount of mana she possessed was sufficient, she lacked the technique to handle it.
"The current court mages of each kingdom would also be similar. Of course, their immediate level of experience might be high, but Your Majesty could soon catch up."
"I had anticipated that."
The levels of experience of the court mages distributed across the current continent—that is, those representing a nation's magical power—were mostly ability users of high rank or above.
They were living histories and the hidden potential of each nation, and except for a very few, all were old monsters over 60 years of age.
Echidna's age barely reached half of theirs, so being compared to them was quite a remarkable thing, but she, as a monster, half looked down on humans and let it pass simply.
"I will point to Duke Dantalion of the North. Comparing the recorded history of his youthful appearance to what Your Majesty can do now, and considering that history is generally recorded with exaggerations, I believe Your Majesty's talent can be sufficiently compared."
"Though it seems a bit like flattery, it was a satisfying statement."
Echidna had never thought that she herself could dare compare to the grand dukes, but she had possessed the confidence that she could become a talent rivaling them, so she did not deny it.
However, what was different from before was that this time, she had met someone who could make her into such a talent rivaling those grand dukes.
"Then, to bring her under my command would truly be a nigh impossible task."
The one who had inserted mana into the body of the Lamia Queen, who possessed powerful magical abilities, as easily as pouring water into water.
Dungeon Lord Libertas.
The ability of this dungeon lord, whose appearance had only been observed for a mere four months, was overflowing with astonishment—only that she had not noticed it quickly.
To think she could so lightly overwhelm the magical ability of herself, who had acted as queen here since childhood.
"Who... do you mean?"
"You need not know. All of you, withdraw. I wish to think."
"Yes. Your Majesty."
After sending away all her subordinate mages, she agonized.
'How can I get her into my hands?'
Her first friend, and new rival. What to do about her.
She herself could not immediately notice that the thought had, at some point, changed from 'bring her under my command' to 'get her into my hands'.
- 3 -
"How on earth... did this happen?"
Among the ant-human Myrmekians who ruled the northern coniferous forest, the Clever clan was famous as a warrior group. And Orea was the queen and general who ruled over them. She received a report a few days after Libertas's visit that the 'spiders' had disappeared from the forest.
"According to rumors spread by other monsters... it seems their king is dead. They witnessed queen consorts, princes, and princesses receiving orders and retreating, but the king was nowhere to be seen among them..."
"How could he die so suddenly and so meaninglessly overnight? Just three days ago, he fought me on equal footing."
At her younger sister Etna's report, Orea wore an expression that said it made no sense. A warrior who had scattered powerful magical energy and combat strength across the battlefield, a match for a thousand, had disappeared overnight without a trace or rumor. That was the same as there being a talent nearby who could do such a thing, and it was no different from the emergence of a new threat.
"That I cannot know. But there is no other reason for the spiders to retreat, is there."
"That's true. ...I'm sorry for being irritable."
"It's alright."
Etna felt just as frustrated. If the king had died, a great battle should have occurred in the area for it to be normal, but no one had witnessed that moment.
"First, let's settle the vicinity. If the spiders have retreated, a vast area of this forest will be neutralized. We must block them before humans swarm in."
"The generals are waiting. You just need to give the order."
"Hm. Then..."
"I think I can help with that, Orea."
The sisters turned their heads at the voice that suddenly rang out and discovered the party that had been standing there before they knew it. All in black clothing with a black parasol, and a Demon Lord candidate whose eyes flashed with an unmistakable light.
"Libertas? You, didn't you go down... wait."
"Blue Arachnids...? No way."
The two immediately realized that the composition of the party standing beside Libertas had changed. A skeleton, one wolf beastman, and one bird beastman were the same, but someone had been added.
"I executed their king, Orea. It was due to a small difference of opinion."
Libertas was speaking nonchalantly, but the content was absurd. It was hard to believe she had executed the king of an enemy faction overnight, and the reason was simply a 'small difference of opinion'. The truth of the matter was that Tigris, formerly Aotsukigumo, had made a remark that seriously touched Libertas's nerves, but it was an impossible thing for Orea to guess now.
"These children are the proof. They are the children of the Arachne King."
"Those Arachnids... are truly children of the king?"
"Even I think it's an unbelievable statement, so it doesn't matter if you don't believe it. But you've already confirmed that the spiders have retreated, so it must be that way, right?"
Moreover, not only that, but she even appeared with several blue Arachnids, who seemed to be the king's successors, in her retinue.
"Introduce yourselves, you two."
"Hello. I am called Tristan."
"I'm Lea."
Also, there were not that many Arachne individuals in this world. Comparatively speaking, as few as 'queen ant monsters'. It was because Arachnids appeared in the same way queen ants were born among ants. Either born as Arachne from birth, or a few outstanding spiders evolved. Generally, everything born from the surrogate womb of an Arachne was just a 'spider monster', so the number of monsters that could be acknowledged as Arachne was bound to be extremely small. Yet, in that situation, two Arachnids were following Libertas.
'There's no way I can't believe it.'
From the death of the Arachne King to Libertas, who claimed to have absorbed his colony. Every single thing was hard to believe, but since the proof had appeared blatantly right before her eyes, not believing it was also impossible.
"Why did you bring them?"
"A kind of hostage, you could say. I rallied the spider colony around the third one. But I have no intention of taking them all. I will hand over a portion, so use them to guard the borders of the coniferous forest."
"Then, those two are the center of that army?"
"Your guess is correct. It's what you need most right now."
Tristan and Lea were Tigris's eldest son and eldest daughter. She intended to plant these two, a man and woman full of desire and with a high possibility of becoming troublesome, beside the Ant Queen as her eyes and ears, to prevent the division of the spider swarm. For that reason, she gave them roles for now and left only the hint that there would be an opportunity if they handled it well. The first and third queen consorts, each being the mother of one of them, had earnestly entreated on their behalf, but it was difficult to grant trust based on that alone.
'She cannot refuse either.'
Meanwhile, the Ant Queen sisters had no choice but to accept this gift that was not quite a gift. It was an offer they simply could not refuse, even knowing the danger. The most numerous tribes in this coniferous forest at the moment were, first, the Myrmekians, and second, the spider monsters serving the Arachnids. If those spider monsters all left the forest, the external boundary would inevitably lose strength, and then even more humans would enter this forest.
'If I let that slide, the Myrmekians' rule itself will crack.'
If that happened, there was no law saying a second and third spider would not appear. There were more types of monsters than one might think that could multiply indefinitely if only given nutrients. Even Orea, whom Libertas had assessed as lacking in queenly qualities, knew that much. The experience of reigning over this forest was not just a matter of a year or two, after all.
"Understood. I accept."
"A wise decision."
Orea, who exchanged glances with Etna and confirmed she shared the same thought, immediately informed Libertas that she accepted the proposal. Yet, she did not forget to attach conditions as well.
"In exchange, you must definitively transfer the command of them and the army they possess to us. Even if you summarily execute them in an emergency, you will not hold us responsible..."
"You speak natural words. You won't need to worry. Right?"
"Yes!!"
The Arachnids answered with full fighting spirit at the small woman's light question. That appearance, no matter how one looked at it, was the figure of them having already seized control of their spirit within a matter of days. At that, Orea felt her heart grow complicated, but she already knew she could not take back the words she had spoken.
"I bid you good fortune in battle. General Orea. Chancellor Etna."
"Thank you for your help. Queen Libertas."
"Thank you."
All the sisters could do at that moment was bow their heads and express their gratitude.
"This time, I shall see you at the council hall. I look forward to working with you then."
The dungeon lord, Libertas, who had been looking down at them expressionlessly, and her party soon vanished into the shadows, leaving the two Arachnids and the spiders that followed them in that spot.
"... Huff."
Feeling as if the shadow left in the place where she had stood signified their future, the Ant Queen sent her off with a complicated expression. It was the moment the small war of the coniferous forest ended, not by their own hands, but by another's.