Plague Queen (2)
KABOOM!
The entire building seems to crumble with a thunderous roar.
"Beep! Destination reached. Ending route guidance."
As AlphaGo's mechanical voice finishes its announcement, the thick cloud of dust begins to clear.
The Pink Dragon Knights! There they stand.
Roin speaks in a cold voice.
"'Sen Rose Cindy Wendy,' president of Logidia Pharmaceuticals! You're under arrest as the prime suspect in the Silverflower Village plague incident."
Hearing this, Cindy Wendy furrows her brow and crosses her arms.
"Tch. That wench Levitia failed, huh? Fine, whatever. But leaking customer info too...?"
After grumbling for a moment, she turns to these unexpected intruders.
"What business do you have in my legitimate place of business?"
AlphaGo steps forward.
"Beep! Here for certification inspection."
"What nonsense is that? I've followed all the procedures and gotten every certificate required!"
"Beep! Got your public key certificate?"
"...? What's that?"
"Beep! That's why your personal info got hacked."
Cindy Wendy stares at her in disbelief for a second.
"What bullshit! How's that related to getting hacked? And how the hell did you even get in here? I've got thick firewalls, mines, booby traps everywhere...!"
"Beep! Installed ActiveX?"
"...? What's that? I didn't install crap like that."
"Beep! That's why you got hacked. Your fault."
"What the hell! How did you get in?! This is a sealed chamber 500 meters underground! No one's allowed entry!"
"Beep! Pop-ups allowed?"
"Quit the bullshit! I didn't allow anything!"
"Beep! Then close the browser and reopen from scratch. Building's smashed anyway, so rebuild from the ground up."
AlphaGo's robotic response finally makes Cindy Wendy explode.
"You crazy bastards! Who the hell are you!?"
Cliche steps forward from the back.
"Name's Cliche. Pink dragon."
Cindy Wendy's expression shifts slightly.
"Pink dragon? Oh, right. Heard some ragtag knight order popped up at the palace. Thought it was a joke. Didn't believe it even when they said Phantom Thief Kid got nabbed by them..."
The Plague Queen Cindy Wendy.
One of the eight heads of the evil organization Hydra that threatens the entire world.
She eyes the entire Pink Dragon Knights with narrowed gaze, then flashes a seductive smile at Cliche up front.
"Yeah. A brand-new ragtag knight order becomes the kingdom's top knights, no one's gonna buy it. You got desperate for results, heard about me, and came running."
"?"
"Too bad. You picked the wrong fight. I'm a global-level villain. Not for punks like you. But don't worry too much—dying to a villain like me boosts your rep. An honorable death, y'know."
Whether Cliche tilts his head or not, Cindy Wendy presses on.
"Dunno how you got down here, but bye."
With that, she thrusts both arms forward.
Pop-pop-pop!
A green miasma boils from her body, sweeping the area in a gaseous-liquid energy.
The poison aura dwelling within her.
Sizzle!
The surrounding steel begins to melt.
The poison engulfs everything in an instant.
Any normal person would collapse in under five seconds in this toxic fog.
"Ugh... bleh... what... is this...?"
"Ho ho ho. This is... seriously nasty."
Even Hotse and Unicef stagger back from the potency.
No one can guess how a human came to wield such virulent poison.
"Beep! FBI WARNING. This program is infected with an unknown virus. Reboot? YES / Yes."
AlphaGo glitches, blue screens flashing in her eyes.
But.
"Heh. 'Hmph.'"
One person snickers.
Kira the Diablo.
Born with immense holy power.
Cindy Wendy's poison has no effect on her alone.
Flash!
Diablo unleashes the Black Flame Dragon from her left hand, halting the raging poison pouring from Cindy Wendy.
Tssst...
It begins to neutralize, purifying into clean air.
"...Huh?"
Cindy Wendy narrows her eyes at Diablo.
"Impossible. You neutralized my poison? You a priestess or what?"
"Heh! Don't box my 'identity' in one word."
"Unbelievable. Only the Singmulgur saintess could detox my poison... But she wasn't nuts like you. Who are you?"
Once every few thousand years, one is born beloved by all gods, wielding vast holy power.
Conversely, one cursed by all gods, born with deadly poison.
Cindy Wendy is Diablo's polar opposite.
"Damn it! What the hell are you! Die!"
"Heh! I'll save 'em all!"
The plague sweeps the chamber, holy power sweeps back—repeating several times.
"Guh!"
Green sweat beads on Cindy Wendy's face.
"N-no way. I'm getting pushed back? Me, the Plague Queen?"
"Yer... plague... queen... or ain'tcha?"
Hotse, shrouded in holy power, steps forward with her kukri.
Kra-kri-kig!
Golden aura slices the marble above Cindy Wendy's head.
"Damn."
Cindy Wendy recoils from the oncoming aura.
At least mid-level Sword Master!
Far stronger than her puppet presidents.
These guys are no pushovers.
She's instantly surrounded by the Pink Dragon Knights.
"Why spread the plague to Silverflower's elders?"
Roin asks, and Cindy Wendy snaps irritably.
"Got a flower granny fetish. That's it."
You know those types? The ones who find rheumatism or age spots sexy.
Like the negative flip of shotacon—the reverse shotacon?
"???"
Everyone, Roin included, looks utterly baffled.
Whoosh!
Cindy Wendy darts to a pillar.
"Fine. You cornered me pretty good."
Even in desperation, she hasn't lost her confidence.
She growls at the Pink Dragon Knights.
"But that's over now. You shouldn't have come here. 'Cause there's space behind this pillar!"
Before anyone can react, she slaps a hidden button on the wall.
Rumble rumble rumble...
Space behind the pillar.
A secret door opens, revealing underground stairs between massive stone pillars.
"Gonna run?"
Cliche asks lazily, and Cindy Wendy cackles.
"You should run! Better scram now!"
Her smug words bring unease to the chamber.
"Hey... somethin' weird... comin' up... from below...?"
"Ho ho ho! Drank too much last night? Feels like somethin's rising in my throat too."
"Beep! Not vomit. Something's rising from below."
"Heh! Feels ↗ super ↘ dark energy."
As they say, thick darkness wells from the stairs below.
"Ah ha ha ha ha! Show yourselves!"
Cindy Wendy shouts, and horrors emerge from underground into the light.
Ooooh!
Monsters!
Each brimming with deadly poison.
Captured from the western jungles for venom extraction.
Giant snakes, toads, scorpions, centipedes, spiders—shackled, glaring resentfully.
All venomous beasts.
"Monsters I isolated underground 'cause they wouldn't obey! Way deadlier than that scorpion queen Chaka Chaka."
Cindy Wendy smirks from behind the pillar.
"And. There's a monster stronger than all of 'em combined."
As she says, these beasts look terrified of something.
They scramble topside, fleeing deeper horrors.
Then.
The ultimate worst poison monster she unleashed on a gamble appears.
Humanity's nemesis. Mythical being.
A transcendent monster said to have beaten dragons.
"O-ho ho ho ho!"
The Spider Queen Curequium.
She hauls her massive bulk to the surface.
The poison monsters cower and tremble under her presence.
The world's most vicious monster is unleashed once more.
But.
"Long time no see."
Cliche mutters indifferently.
Curequium's face changes instantly upon hearing him.
"Eek!?"
* * *
A while later.
"Ah, always in your debt. I'll head out then. Let's grab a meal sometime. Someday..."
"When's someday?"
"Uh... y'know, someday... far in the future... when we reach the vast, wild sea's end..."
The Spider Queen Curequium looks frail as a tiny snail before Cliche.
She bows politely in fear.
Soon, the Spider Queen—who was captured nest and all mid-hibernation—scurries off with the other western poison monsters.
"???"
Only Cindy Wendy can't grasp the situation.
"What!? Why's the Spider Queen Curequium scared of you guys!? What the hell are you!"
But Cliche just looks annoyed.
"Spill the floating potion ingredients."
His demand is consistent from start to finish.
But the vibe's totally different now.
Cindy Wendy's legs shake.
"Th-that's a trade secret... Haven't even told my daughter-in-law..."
Hotse taps her kukri.
"Ah, shankin'! Fine... convo... tool, eh..."
Faced with Hotse licking her blade and closing in, Cindy Wendy spills the recipe.
"J-just mixed a bit of Wanggabi Stone fragments from Midland into regular love potion!"
Cliche tilts his head.
What?
"I'll explain."
The ever-knowledgeable Roin chimes in.
"Remember the superpower Midland I mentioned before?"
"Yeah."
"They've got a stone slab engraved with past kings' names. Super sacred. And it floats in midair for some reason."
"Floats? In the air?"
"Yep. No mana detected or anything. When a new king rises, they carve the name, and the chips float around too..."
Cindy Wendy nods at Roin's words.
"Y-yeah! I got those chips the hard way and mixed 'em in. That's why it makes your whole body float."
Cliche strokes his chin.
The draconic scent from the floating potion.
Linked to the great empire Midland's royal family.
Another key to home.
"But isn't potion with stone chips harmful?"
Roin asks, and Cindy Wendy shakes her head, making excuses.
"No! Extracted from 365 natural ingredients, just a tiny bit of Wanggabi chips! Good for you long-term! Great for students, guys, super beneficial—damn, how do I sell this! Ah! It's sold out! Limited stock, super discount, order now before it's gone...!"
"Ain't... no... home shoppin'~~ Where ya hawk... drugs, ya junkie bitch~~ Spill... where ya stashed... the rest? Where... can I... buy? How much? Please!"
As Hotse swings her blade at the tearful Cindy Wendy—
Boom!
The ceiling corner explodes, wires shooting down.
Clang!
The wires wrap Cindy Wendy's waist, yanking her skyward.
"Huh?"
Roin looks up to see tense-faced Levitia.
"Ha ha hat! Don't compare me to public certs and ActiveX crap! Unlike banks or corps, I take responsibility for data leaks! After-service!"
Levitia scoops Cindy Wendy and rockets up.
"Those... damn... fire... bitches~~"
Hotse chases, but boom! Poison bombs block every blasted wall section.
Impossible.
"Heh, my holy power's tapped out. Tough one."
Even Diablo slumps, exhausted.
Cindy Wendy's poison drained even her.
Arguably the toughest foe yet.
"Hmm, Midland's Wanggabi..."
Only Cliche, thrilled with the new clue, beams energetically.