Pov Queen Melissa of the Black Empire:
4? day of the Monster Wave.
Thanks to the Elves’ warning we were able to mobilize our troops to remove people from their villages and send everyone to cities with walls capable of withstanding a Wave of Monsters.
To prevent any possible mishap as this was not a normal Monster Wave, I contacted the Adventurer Guild to place a quest across the Empire, I did this to ensure that all small towns had at least five Adventurers of Grade S to defend and the mid-sized cities have at least Grade SS Adventurers, so my Imperial Knights who are in Grade SSS could focus only on the city and capital suits.
Unfortunately, we only have five people in the Lower Catastrophe Grade in the Empire counting on me, I sent 3 to the most important cities in the Empire while staying in the capital prepared to act if necessary.
As I saw it was very necessary, during the first 4 days more than 50 Lower Catastrophe Grade monsters appeared, but the strange thing is that the reports I get say that no other city has seen monsters of this level of strength other than Fortress Venon City.
I was on top of the city walls when another monster appeared, this time it was a Demonic Kimera Spider, for some reason most of the monsters were Kimera or Demonic type.
At the moment I didn’t have enough time to think about these things and I just kept fighting, this cursed Demon Spider had a Spider’s body but its legs were screaming arms where the fingers were replaced by sharp claws, its head was that of a deformed skull with two big horns.
This monster used curses and hallucinations, but I found a strange thing, this monster was very intelligent, smarter than I expected to see from its race being a first generation monster.
But even so, I killed this monster after a few minutes of fighting, I bound him with chains made of the dark element before using demonic energy to destroy his body.
Today was the 4th day of battle and I have had very little time to rest, we also had few casualties, but I feel that something is wrong.
“My Queen, someone wants to find you.” (employee)
“Who are you?” (I)
“I’m the new maid hired 6 days ago, being a former Adventurer I was given the task of accompanying your majesty here on the city walls.” (employee)
“I think I remember something like this…” (I)
“Who’s looking for me during a Monster Wave?” (I)
“The Prime Minister, Duke Gregory Roux.” (employee)
“I thought he was on the other side of town taking care of the monsters there, what did he come here for?” (I)
“Did he say anything about the reason for his visit?” (I)
“Not your Majesty, he just said it was urgent.” (employee)
“I was planning on getting some rest as I’m feeling a little unwell today, maybe because of these ongoing battles or lack of sleep.” (I)
Sigh
“But it seems that a ruler doesn’t have time to rest during a crisis.” (I)
I get up from the chair I was sitting in, grab a piece of fruit, and eat it as I walk to the meeting room which is the only place he would be, probably talking to the officers responsible for this side of the walls.
My maid comes after me.
When I enter the room I see Roux talking seriously with the Generals and strategists, but something seems strange.
“What could be so urgent for you to abandon your post, Prime Minister Roux?” (I)
“Majesty, you have a big problem.” (Gregory Roux)
“I hope it’s serious, I was about to start meditating to be ready for the next attack.” (I)
I’ve been feeling my body weak, and my senses are a little slow too, but the biggest problem is my mana is circulating 2 times slower through my body, if this continues I can die during combat which is not good.
“Looks like someone is taking advantage of this Monster Wave to attack.” (Gregory Roux)
“See this, your majesty.” (Gregory Roux)
“Huh!? Who dares to challenge the Empire on this continent?” (I)
“…” (I)
Cough
As I reached out to take the paper Roux showed me, I noticed too late the ripple in space when suddenly the maid who should have been behind me is in front of me.
At this moment where I was not in good condition, I was taken by surprise by a sword that goes through my heart and my whole body from behind, I feel the energy stop flowing through my body at the same time that my vitality is being absorbed by the blade of this sword, all I could do was cough up some blood as I dropped to my knees.
“I am the one attacking, former Queen…” (Gregory Roux)
“Gregory Roux…” (I)
“Die!” (Gregory Roux)
He comes close to my ear to mock me before twisting the blade wanting me to die faster, I take one last look at the Generals smiling and the one General who lost his mind before I knew it, before losing consciousness I smile and use my last strength to squeeze the crystal in my necklace destroying it.
“…” (I)
… … …
… …
…
———–
Pov Duke Gregory Roux (Prime Minister):
When the Vampire Blade has stopped absorbing Queen Melissa’s vitality and I don’t feel any signs of life in her body, relief washes over me.
“Hahahaha… finally, I finally got it after over 100 years of planning… hahahahaha…” (I)
I look at the Generals and Strategists “convinced” to stand by me, then I look at the fool who knew he was too stubborn to be convinced and now has his head on the ground.
“Warn the others, the plan must be finalized today before news of the Queen’s death is known.” (I)
“Send a message to Summoners to stop calling our valued Kimera warriors, we no longer need to fake attacks from Lesser Catastrophe Grade monsters.” (I)
I lost 1/3 of the Kimera Warriors we’ve created over these 100 years just to force her into positions full of poisons and use the cursed equipment to weaken her enough to kill her that way, even though she’s in the Lower Catastrophe Grade like her, I know that I’m still not capable of winning if I attacked head on or I would have done that a long time ago. 𝙚𝙤𝙫𝙚𝒍.𝒐𝙧𝙜
“(You were always very attentive and suspicious, I had to do everything very slowly for this to work, this Wave of Monsters was a blessing from the Gods for me, I couldn’t let this chance pass, even if I had to lose 50 valuable warriors to deceive you.)” (I)
I look at Queen Melissa one last time, seeing her necklace fragment on the floor and the slight smile on her face makes a shiver run through my body along with hints of a bad premonition for my plans.
“(This must have been to warn others of her death, but that won’t help, I already have people scattered all over the Empire.)” (I)
“< Incinerate >” (I)
Fire magic isn’t my specialty, but this low-level magic should be enough to deal with a dead body.
“Now the time has come for this Empire to abandon the old traditions and have a true Emperor again.” (I)
“I will lead this Empire to conquer this continent, something that should have been done a long time ago and then finally annihilate the cursed Humans of the Morror Continent!” (I)