Bloodedge: Hero Of Riverbrandt - Volume 2

by Honeflash

Met with a not so warm reception, Ragna and Monika found themselves thrown in prison at Goldenia, the largest kingdom of Man. Making a jailbreak, they are forced to escape in order to continue their journey. With Prime Minister Alexiel pursuing them and Feena having betrayed them, how will they manage to escape from Goldenia?

30. The Golden Queen

Volume II: Unforgiving Kingdom

Chapter XXX: The Golden Queen

---

Location: 18th Floor, Goldenia

"I had always heard the stories and rumors many times..." Vira said. "But I never would've guessed they were actually true."

"Who would've thought." Albert replied. "The Queen of Goldenia from all those stories was actually alive and well."

The statue of the young queen of Goldenia had been broken, out from it came the young queen that disappeared all those years ago. She was short and had a young face, looking if she wasn't even a day over twenty. She had blue eyes and dark blue hair with a small pigtail held together by a read ribbon, a gold crown on top of her head. She was wearing a beautiful white dress with gold armor like plating on the front of it, a blue gem in between the gold, tied around her neck as a necklace. She wore a gold band on each of her arms, the left one up to her shoulder and the right around her black, long, fingerless glove. On the bottom of her dress were tied several red sashes, the one on the right having a golden flower attached to it. Blue, glowing flowers were also attached to the red sash as well. She wore white heels that matched her dress, the heels having gold plating on the bottom. A glowing ring was on her right index finger as well.

Rubbing her eyes she started to try and stand up, Albert helping the young queen back to her feet. The young queen looked around, taking in her surroundings as well as well as everybody that was around her. She blinking twice as she let her arms hang at her side.

"Um..." She started to say. "Where... am I?"

"In-I-In Goldenia..." Vira replied.

"I am?" The young queen looked out from atop the kingdom resting on the mountain. "We're so high up... I never would've imagined that I would be around to see Goldenia becoming such a grand kingdom."

"Pardon my bluntness..." Aglovale began asking. "But are you actually...?"

"Hm?" The young queen turned around to face everyone. "Oh right. I should introduce myself. Seeing as a lot of time has apparently passed since I was to walk around on my own two feet." She bows politely and smiled at everyone before standing up straight. "My name is Zoey Lou Aurelia Langdon of the royal Langdon family, daughter of the fifteenth ruler Charles Langdon and queen Hana Auerlia Langdon. As stated in his will, I was crowned the sixteenth ruler and made Queen of Goldenia after my father's passing. I am currently twenty one years old... or at least was. I guess I'm not sure how old I am anymore, so I'll stick with twenty one." The young queen curtsies. "It's nice to meet you all. Please, just call me Zoe."

That was something that alarmed everyone there. All of the stories that had been told were almost one hundred percent true. Zoe, the young queen of Goldenia, was indeed trapped in a statue of gold. With her soul returned she now stood before them, alive and well. Everyone was in shock. This was the last thing that any of them expected to see. Aglovale was the first to make a move afterwards. Setting his blade down on the ground, he kneels before Queen Zoe, the young queen blinking in slight surprise. Vira then followed suit and did the same as Aglovale. Alexiel soon took a knee as well. Albert next, followed by Mina and Mona doing the same as the others. Even Monika bowed down before the young queen. She then looked up as she snapped her fingers towards Ragna, Feena, Grena, and Rita. Getting their attention, she gestures for them to take a knee as well.

"What?" Ragna questioned.

"Oh why do we have to?" Grena complained.

"Just do it!" Monika whispered sharply.

Ragna, Feena, and Grena all groaned as they took a knee as well due to Monika persistence. Rita on the other hand, just sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. Zoe just looked around at everyone bowing before her, giggling slightly as she rubbed her finger on her cheek.

"Arise, everyone." She said, gesturing for them to stand up. "No need to be so formal around me now that you know who I am."

Everyone stood back up. Rita sighed, having just gotten comfortable sitting on the ground.

"Now then." Zoe continued. "I imagine that there are a lot of things for us to talk about."

"There is, your Highness." Vira spoke up.

"There's no need for all of that. Zoe is enough."

"Oh-U-Uh, alright. There are a lot of things to talk about... um, Zoe. But-But first we should... most likely head inside. There's a lot to talk about and everybody isn't here."

"This isn't all of you? Hm. Very well. I'll follow you in uh... Forgive me, I never asked for your names."

"Oh, right. I'm Vira, one of the current Prime Ministers of Goldenia." Vira gestures two Aglovale and Alexiel. "These two are the other ones."

"Aglovale."

"I'm Alexiel."

"My name is Mina." Mina also introduced herself, then gesturing to Mona and Albert. "This is my sister Mona, and our friend Albert."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Albert greeted.

"H-Hi!" Mona said.

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to introduce everyone." Vira cut in. "It's just that outside isn't probably the best place to do this. Come now, let's head inside." She looked up at everyone. "There's a lot to discuss."

"Very well, Miss Vira." Zoe nodded. "Please, lead the way."

Vira bowed politely before heading towards the castle, Zoe following right after her. Aglovale, Albert, Mina, and Mona all followed as well. Alexiel however, she didn't walk off and just stared at the others heading on ahead.

"You're not going with them?" Monika asked the redhead.

"Maybe later." Alexiel answered as she picked up her zweihander and started walking away. "I just need some time to myself honestly. What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What are you about to do? You wanna try and plead your innocence to the rest of the Imperial Court go right ahead." Alexiel turns around and points behind Monika. "But if I were you, I'd follow your friends' example and get the hell out of here."

Monika blinked and turned around. There, she saw that Ragna, Feena, Grena, Goblin Mage, and Rita had all started walking off towards one of the nearby lifts. Monika quickly turned around and ran after them to catch up. Alexiel sighed and started walking off in the opposite direction. With the other five, they didn't even seemed to be too concerned with everything that just happened.

"So the entire time that we've been out trying to rescue Goblin Mage, you and Albert fought off an entire demonic invasion?!" Feena asked Grena. "That is so cool! How'd you do it?"

"You make it sound like it was easy." Grena playfully rolled her eyes, rolling her motorcycle along. "I'm just as surprised as you are we made it out alive."

"That explains where you got the kid from." Ragna said.

"I'm not a kid!" Rita exclaimed.

"Whatever."

"Look, I'll tell you guys all about what happened once we get outta here." Grena commented. "And try not to antagonize Rita. She'll keep whining about 'I'm not a kid' if you don't."

"Hey!" Rita exclaimed in an offended tone.

"Wait a minute you guys!" Monika called out to the group, getting their attention as she ran up to them. "Where are you guys going?"

"We're getting out of here obviously." Grena answered.

"Everyone's preoccupied, so they'll probably forget about us long enough for us to get out of here." Feena added on.

"You're just gonna leave?" Monika questioned. "You're not even the least bit curious to know what's going to happen next?"

"This isn't our problem." Ragna replied. "If you want to stay behind and follow after them into that castle, then be my guest. I'm not trying to stick around here longer than I have to."

"Same here." Feena said.

"I've had my fair share of Goldenia for a while." Grena commented. "Besides, I ain't a political person.

"Hey, you think we should swing by the eighth floor again? See if Chat Noir and Reina are still down there?"

"What are the chances that we're still being hunted for?" Ragna questioned. "Most likely, they're still searching the other floors for us." Ragna then looked at Grena. "How the hell did you two even get up here?"

"He's not in the Imperial Army anymore, but all the soldiers still treated Albert like he's some high ranking one or something." Grena answered. "So we just used that to smooth right through anybody that was looking at us funny."

"Can we go now?" Rita spoke up. "I don't wanna lose my hat while we're so high up."

"Right. Let's get out of here." Ragna said. "Come on Monika. Let's leave them be."

"You guys go on ahead." Monika sighed. "I'm going to go back and see what's going on the castle."

"You're joking right?" Grena asked.

Monika didn't respond to Grena asking her that. She turned around and walked off towards Castle Vallera to catch up with the others. Feena wanted to try and go after her but was stopped by Ragna.

"Let her go." Ragna said to the mercenary. "If she wants to stay here and take a chance with that new queen then let her. We need to get out of here."

Feena sighed before turning back around and walking away with the others.

"Why is Monika not coming with us?" Goblin Mage suddenly asks.

"Probably because she wants to see if she can use this as an opportunity to deem us all innocent." Ragna replied. "I get it, she does want us to have a safe passage down, but we shouldn't gamble a safe passage on one woman. She was talking about trying to keep us all safe you know."

"Shouldn't we at least try to help her with that?" Feena asked, a little worried. "If she's doing this for us, then maybe we should-"

"If that doesn't work, then she'd feel much better if we were already gone and out of harm's way. For the most part." Ragna kept walking towards the lift, where Grena and Rita were already at and waiting for the two of them. "She'll be fine. Monika's proven she can take care of herself."

Feena looked back at the castle as she kept walking towards the lift as well.

---

Location: Entryway, Castle Vallera, 18th Floor

Walking to the castle, two soldiers opened the castle gates. Vira entered in first. Behind her was Aglovale and Albert who were walking at the sides of Queen Zoe. Mina and Mona were right behind them, Monika catching up to them quickly as she was walking in behind them. The two soldiers then shut the gates from the inside. Upon walking inside, they immediately caught the attention of nearly all of the soldiers and other officials inside of the front gate. Their attention was all on Zoe, who some of them started to recognize as the woman who was a golden statue, unknown to them that she had been freed.

"Who is that with the Prime Ministers?" One of the soldiers asked. "That girl in the white dress?"

"She looks familiar." a nobleman replied. "But I can't remember where I saw her."

"She kind of looks like that golden statue from outside." a noblewoman spoke up. "You know, the one of the golden queen."

"That would be her." Vira said, gesturing to Zoe as she stunned everyone. "You are all in the presence of Zoe, the queen who was turned into the statue of gold that was outside before being freed moments ago."

"Hello, everyone." Zoe said politely.

"Are they serious...?!" said one of the noblewomen.

"That's... that's the golden queen!" a soldier exclaimed.

"Prime Ministers, what is the meaning of this?" Asked one of the nobles. "How can this be?"

"There's quite a lengthy explanation involved." Aglovale answered. "Is Her Highness in the throne room right now?"

"Um... Yes-Yes, she is."

"Then we'll be on our way."

Leaving everyone in astonishment, the group all followed after Aglovale and Vira as they made their way to the throne room. Zoe looked around as she saw everyone's eyes on her, the people bowing before her as she walked by.

"So, what is this current queen like?" Zoe asked. "Is she from the royal lineage too? Granted I myself had no descendants but I did have brothers and sisters that had children."

"Unfortunately the royal lineage has, well... ended." Vira answered. "You're the last of the original royal family."

Zoe look surprised. "I see..."

Meanwhile, Albert, Mina, and Mona had been talking to Monika in the back.

"H-Hey, where are the others?" Mona asked.

"Don't worry about them." Monika replied. "They left already."

"What for?" Mina questioned.

"I suppose this doesn't interest them." Albert answered. "Besides, they were on their way out of Goldenia before this detour."

"I guess you're right..." Monika said.

"Why didn't you go with them? You didn't have to come here."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested to see what's going to happen now. Not to mention that, I'd rather not just leave Goldenia a criminal if I don't have to. I wanted to know if Zoe would be willing to help us."

"Even after all the trouble we kinda caused?" Mina asks.

"Even then." Monika looks ahead of them. "But all of that aside, I think that it's better that I wait to bring this up after they've made Zoe the Queen of Goldenia again, officially."

As they were chatting among each other, the group had finally approached the throne room. Several soldiers had been standing outside of the door to the throne room, standing guard to keep anyone from entering in. As Vira and the others approached the throne room, they all stepped up in the way.

"Her Highness has requested that no one, not even the Prime Ministers be allowed into the throne room at this time." One of the soldiers said.

"This is an important matter that must be discussed with her immediately." Aglovale stated to the soldiers. "This is an order. Alert Her Highness that we must see her immediately."

The soldiers looked at one another before nodding. The soldiers opened the door to the throne room and headed in to alert the queen of the current situation.

---

At that time, in the Throne Room. . .

Sitting with her legs crossed and a hand on her head, Freesia had a very tense expression on her face. Iska and several other soldiers stood by in worry as the Queen of Goldenia was also shaking violently.

"Y-Your Highness!" Iska exclaimed.

"N... No... They can't be..." Freesia had been muttering to herself.

"Your Highness, what's the matter?!" One of the soldiers called out.

"Are you ill?!" Another soldier asked in worry.

Unknown to the rest of them was the true reason as to Freesia's distraught. Behind the queen and completely invisible to the others in the room was the purple silhouette of the woman who had Freesia under control. Having her hands on the queen's forehead she was showing Freesia a mental image that Ragna and the others were starting to escape her grasp once again. With her target having left the eighteenth floor, Freesia knew that she was out of ideas. And she knew what was coming next for her.

"This can't be happening...! I had him!" Freesia exclaimed to herself. "I-I was so close to giving him to you. This isn't how this was supposed to end, I-I. . . Your Excellency, please understand! Understand that this isn't my fault!"

The silhouette spoke not a word, worrying Freesia even further.

"Please! Don't go silent on me! Please, grace me with your words of advice! Spare me, I was so close! All of this can't be my fault! Please, don't kill me over this! I couldn't- I-I couldn't-!" Freesia clenched her head with both of her hands, growing ever more scared. "Everything that I worked so hard to obtain! Please, don't take all of this away from me!"

Freesia heard not a response coming from the silhouette, indicating the woman in question was still silent, sitting back and listening to Freesia's pleas without giving her any type of responsible.

"No. . . No, I don't wanna die-!"

As Freesia was starting to lose it, Iska and the soldiers in the room were trying her best to calm her down. Iska and another soldier were holding Freesia's hands down to the throne, as another one massaged the queen to try and relieve her. Feeling her head, Iska could feel the queen's temperature had been increasing, and still was even now as she felt her forehead. Freesia was taking deep breaths rapidly, her body shaking as the soldiers around her were all desperately trying to calm the queen down. The whole time, the silhouette of the woman was floating behind her, remaining invisible to everyone else except for Freesia. At this time the two soldiers that were guarding the outside of the throne room suddenly came in, approaching the throne.

"Your Highness!" One of the guards said as they bowed.

"What is it now?!" One of the soldiers next to Freesia asked roughly. "Can't you see that Her Highness isn't well?!"

"It's the Prime Ministers. They're demanding that they be allowed to see Her Highness immediately."

"My liege is back?" Iska thought, referring to Aglovale. "But then that must mean that the skirmish outside must have ended. Could it be that they succeeded and that our target has been captured? If that's true then perhaps any possible good news will lift her spirits... But should they be allowed to see her in this state."

"Let them in..."

Everyone looked at Freesia. The woman's breathing had slowed down to normal as she was starting to cool. Adjusting her glasses she slowly started to stand up, her soldiers helping her in the process.

"Just... let them in..." Freesia ordered softly, still holding a hand over her head.

The two soldiers looked at each other before running back to the throne room door to let in the others. Everyone's attention turned towards the door as Freesia was now standing on her own.

"There's no point in trying to figure a way out of this anymore, is there?" She started mumbling to herself. "I'm going to die anyway. There's no point in trying to deny it or say no to anything is there? I'll disappear soon anyway, won't I?"

"It seems you become confounded to your fate." The woman suddenly spoke to Freesia, after all this time. "Very well. You can keep your abilities that I gave to you, as well as this title as Queen of Goldenia. For as long as you remain alive that is."

"Yes... Your Excellency..." Freesia said, looking down as the silhouette of the woman vanished.

The sound of the throne room doors opening could be heard, along with several footsteps approaching everyone. Iska and the other soldiers were all looking in shock as everyone came in, not because of Aglovale, Vira, or Zoe but because of Albert, Mina, Mona, and especially Monika coming in with them. Freesia looked up upon hearing their confusion, and also had a look on confuse as well. Walking forward, she started to approach the group with Iska and the others following behind her as the throne room doors closed.

"What..." Freesia started to ask. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Please forgive us for the sudden intrusion, Your Highness." Mina spoke up suddenly, bowing before the queen.

"My liege, what's going on?" Iska asked Aglovale. "Why are all of you here, especially her?" Iska pointed to Monika as she said that. She then pointed at Zoe. "And who might this be? What happened? Where's-"

"Their duel ended in a draw." Aglovale said, referring to the fight between Alexiel and Ragna earlier. "Both combatants then left the area afterwards. Instead of pursuing them however, we had something else that came into our concern. Something that we need to deal with first before bothering with them anymore."

"What might that be?"

"I believe that's your cue." Vira said as she tapped Zoe's shoulder.

"Oh. Alright." Zoe nodded. "What should I do?"

"Uh... Just... introduce yourself. We can take care of things then if you want."

"Okay."

Zoe walked forward from the group, standing in between them and the soldiers with Freesia and Iska. Clearing her throat, she curtsied before everyone and she began to speak.

"Hello to you all. My name is Zoey Lou Aurelia Langdon, formerly the sixteenth ruler of the kingdom of Goldenia."

Everyone in Freesia's group were all surprised when they heard Zoe's introduction.

"The sixteenth-Wh-What?!" Iska said in surprise.

"That's the golden queen?!" One of the soldiers exclaimed.

"The one that was the golden statue outside of the castle?!" Another called out as well.

"She's alive?!" A third soldier said in surprise.

"The... The... Queen..." Freesia slowly started to speak, in complete shock.

"Oh, you must be the current queen of Goldenia, I take it." Zoe said, approaching Freesia. "It's nice to meet you."

"What's... What's really... going on...?"

"Listen... Freesia." Vira started to say as she walked over to the current queen. "I get it, everything that's happened has probably, well, stressed you out with how all of this has happened in such a short time that you've been queen. But to tell you the truth, we've been thinking that we should allow a member of the royal family to take over now."

"I. . ."

"The royal family has always been heavily reliable when it comes to dealing with the things concerning the kingdom." Aglovale added. "Granted, they may not have been well loved as they should be, but at the very least they've proven their worth. And Zoe's records for when she ruled further proves that. I too, believe it would be wise to allow her to take over."

". . ."

"She... seems to have gone quiet." Zoe said. "Is everything alright?"

"Well, you see..." Iska stepped in to explain. "Her Highness actually wasn't feeling quite well before all of you came in. Perhaps all of this is too much for her to-"

Iska was interrupted as Freesia suddenly held out one of her hands in front of the girl. The current queen started to chuckle loudly enough for everyone to her as her arms dropped to her side.

"Preposterous." She said quietly.

"Ex-Excuse me?" Vira questioned.

"Preposterous!" Freesia suddenly said loudly. "Do you not realize how foolish you all sound?! With everything that has suddenly happened within the short period of time you NOW want to add crowning a new queen on top of that?! You expect me to just give up everything that I worked so hard to take for myself?! Everything that I've done, you expect me to just quit now?!"

"Freesia, surely you understand that the royal family should be the ones to lead!" Aglovale stated.

"Silence! This woman has been gone for years. For me to suddenly relinquish the throne to her would be a mistake! A mistake that I will not allow! Out of my sight with this idea! I demand you leave this instant!"

"Don't be so stubborn about this Your Highness!" Vira said, then turning to the others. "Come on say something! Help me out!"

"N-Nothing we say will really be effective will it?" Mona asked.

"There must surely be some reason that she's fighting so hard to push this idea away." Mina said, tapping her chin.

"There is." Albert spoke up. "I believe so, at least. Something's keeping Her Highness from wanting to give up the throne to Lady Zoe..."

Everyone turned towards Albert.

"What do you mean?" Vira asked.

"What are you hiding, Your Highness?" Albert asked Freesia with his arms folded. "Why are you being so adamant about this for real?"

"I don't need to repeat myself do I?" Freesia asked, now sporting a smirk that gave her both a cocky expression, and one that made it seem like she was losing her mind. "I merely have this kingdom's best interest in my heart, and causing more confusion would not be right. But by all means. If you think that I am hiding my true intentions, expose me. I want to see where this goes."

"Well then. If the kingdom of Goldenia's your true concern, then why did you constantly speak as if you were referring to yourself only?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your tone and speech earlier. I could only hear the words of a woman who's concerned about herself more than anything."

"Aren't all living beings the same?"

"That is true. However, not all living being are rulers of great kingdoms, and have to be concerned with the well-being of many people just as much as their own."

"Are you implying that I don't care for Goldenia? Why would I even seek to rule this place as its queen if I didn't care about the kingdom? The multitude of people that live in this kingdom on a mountain?"

"Power."

Freesia nearly tensed up at that statement.

"You just wanted the power that the position would give you, didn't you?" You had your own hidden agenda at the time, so you hopped on the opportunity to become the next ruler of Goldenia following His Late Highness' mysterious death." Albert chuckled. "Which, I might add, is such a convenience for you now isn't it?"

"Excuse me? Are you accusing me of killing Cain, the former king?"

"That wouldn't make any sense." Vira said. "According to Alexiel and two other witnesses, when His Late Highness was killed, the assassin also tried to take Freesia's life but she managed to reach Alexiel in time. There's no way that Freesia would have done it, and then injured her own self. It just doesn't make any sense."

Albert looked down as he thought. "Hm... You're right." He said to Vira. "That wouldn't make sense for her to do something like that."

"What if it was the king who injured Freesia?"

Everyone suddenly looked back as Monika spoke up.

"I'm not making any accusations or anything." She clarified quickly. "It's just a theory to consider, if we're talking about this now."

"It's a foolish one at that." Freesia responded with a shrug. "What reason would have for wanting to attack His Late Highness?"

"If you could kill him and make it look like the work of another, then I guess that's why?" Monika shook her head. "Please, don't take me seriously. I'm sorry, I'm just thinking aloud here."

"No... That's a good thing." Albert said, then turning to the Prime Ministers and Freesia. "I want you to tell me everything that you can about the night that His Late Highness was murdered."

That was something that alarmed everyone. No one was expecting that demand from Albert.

"The king before her was..." Zoe said to herself, facing away from everyone. "What on earth has happened to my kingdom...?"

---

Meanwhile, on the 18th Floor; Outside of Castle Vallera. . .

As everything was happening inside of Castle Vallera, Alexiel could be found still sitting outside of the castle itself. She remained seated in one of the chairs in the courtyard of the castle. Leaning back, she was looking down at her hand, staring at the mirror blade shard she had summoned. For the past few minutes, she had been sitting there staring at her reflection. The redhead was clearly reflecting on what Ragna said to her.

"Maybe giving up wasn't a bad option..." She thought aloud as she stared at herself. "He was right. I hate to admit but he was right. I don't see myself anymore when I look into a mirror. Heh. You don't see me either, do you?"

Alexiel closed her hand slowly, and sighed.

"It's been a while since I've listened to anything you've had to say to me, hasn't it?" She asked aloud, completely aware of who she was talking to. "You're right. I haven't been myself for years. Hell, probably not since the day I left. I let myself lose my way, and now look what I've become. Obsession... Anger... Depression... There's a lot of things that have gone through my mind since I lost my team."

Alexiel opens her hand and looks at her reflection in the mirror blade shard again.

"You know, I don't think I ever asked you this. Do you think that what happened back there... Do you think it was my fault? Is it my fault that my entire team died that day? All because I froze that day."

Alexiel went silent for a moment. She sat there staring at her reflection in silence. After some time, she nodded and closed her eyes before closing her hand again.

"You think so?"

The sound of glass shattering could be heard right after. Opening her hand, the mirror blade shard had been shattered.

"Glad to see that one of us has their head together. Honestly I don't know what the hell to think anymore. I've lost my way completely..." Alexiel sighed deeply. "You're right. I never should've left her side. I never should have ran away."

Alexiel looked up into the sky.

"I never should have left her side."

---

Inside Castle Vallera's Throne Room. . .

Inside of the throne room, the Prime Ministers and Freesia had explained the night of Cain, the former king's murder, at the request of Albert.

"It took place a few days after that girl and our demonic target had both been defeated by Alexiel." Freesia explained, referring to Monika and Ragna's fight against Alexiel. "I coerced their archer into switching sides to make things easier and the two of them were taken captive. As Alexiel was given control over their fates afterwards by His Highness' orders, I came here that same night in order to issue my complaint. Honestly, I found that leaving such a matter in Alexiel's hand was highly unwise of him, and wanted to change his mind. He sent Alexiel out as we began to talk alone. I don't know how or why at the time, but only a few minutes later an assassin managed to sneak into the throne room." She looks away. "His Highness Cain protected me so that I could get away. But the assassin was quicker, and managed to strike him down before I could run for help. Almost immediately they came after me and stabbed me through the chest. I managed to make my way to Alexiel before the blood loss caused me to faint." Freesia looks back up at Albert. "That's the jist of it. That's what happened on that night. Now are we done here?"

"Did you request to speak with him alone?" Albert began questioning.

"No. That was His Highness' decision to send Alexiel out of the room.

"Do you believe that it could have been Monika or the others?"

"Unfortunately that has to be ruled out. Two were in prison and the other wasn't on the eighteenth floor at the time. If it was an associate to them however, that cannot be ruled out."

"Do you remember anything about the assassin at all?"

"It all happened so fast. I'm afraid not. Else, things would have been much easier."

"Nothing at all? The weapon they used? What they were wearing?"

"I said no!"

Albert, this doesn't seem to be going anywhere..." Mina sighed.

"Actually, I do recall Alexiel mentioning the weapon." Vira spoke up. "Not sure if mentioning it would help. But, Alexiel mentioned that the wound the weapon in question left was what could only be a spearhead. It was a curved spearhead wound but it also had sharp points on the end as if had spikes sticking out on it. That's all Alexiel told us."

"What you're describing sounds like the leg of a spider." Albert points out, almost getting a response out of Freesia. "There aren't any weapons I recall that could make such a wound in one strike. It was one strike correct?"

"It was." Freesia answered. "That was it."

"I see..."

"So we know what the weapon looks like, but we don't have any other clues..." Mona said. "I don't think you'll get anywhere Albert. It couldn't have been Her Highness."

"May I speak, please?"

Everyone turned to Zoe.

"I would like to say something regarding all of this please." Zoe said politely.

"I... don't think you should have to ask us for permission..." Iska said, sweatdropping at the girl's kindness.

"I think the simplest solution to all of this to prove that Queen Freesia is actually innocent here, would be to have her show us where she was wounded."

Freesia was taken back as she clenched her fists at that statement.

"If the killer hit her too, then she'll have the same wound that was described." Zoe turned to Freesia. "That shouldn't be a problem right?"

"T-That's-!"

"Oh, wait! It didn't hit anywhere that you wouldn't wanna reveal in public did it? I'm sorry, there's no need for you to expose yourself that much if that's where they hit you at!"

"I was there." Aglovale said. "When Alexiel brought her in, the wound was... further down than what you're thinking. On her abdomen."

"Oh. That shouldn't be a problem, right Queen Freesia?"

Freesia looked away, folding her arms. "N-No-"

"Alright then!"

Zoe walked over and grabbed hold of Freesia's shirt. Before the current queen could react, the previous queen lifted up her shirt for everyone to see. While most of it had healed up by this point, Freesia's wound she sustained that day was still there and visible enough for everyone to see. Everyone blinked however. Looking at the wound on Freesia's stomach was different than what was just described. The woman tensed up as her wound was revealed to everyone.

"It's... not the same?" Zoe questioned.

"And Freesia doesn't remember if the assassin had another weapon." Albert said.

"I recognize the shape of that wound, now that I look at it up close." Aglovale said. "That was His Highness' blade, I believe."

"T-That's because the assassin stole his sword and used it on me!" Freesia exclaims.

"...How would you suddenly remember that one little fact out of everything that happened?" Albert asked.

"I-I didn't see the weapon that was used at the time, as I said before! For all I know, m-maybe the assassin decided to set up His Highness by killing him with own sword. She may have stabbed him multiple times to make that wound, and then attacked me to make it seem like the king is the one who-"

"Didn't you just say His Late Highness was stabbed once only?"

Freesia went wide eyed.

"Furthermore, why now all of a sudden do you assume the assassin was female?"

Freesia's hands were shaking as Albert managed to catch her panicked mistakes.

"He's right." Vira said. "That doesn't add up."

"Your Highness, is there something you're not telling us here?" Iska asked.

Freesia remained quiet however.

"I think I may understand what's going on now." Albert said. "If I am correct, then what really happened to the former king is that Her Highness here was hoping to seize power and control over the fate of Monika and the others herself. But when the king gave that to Alexiel and refused to change his mind, she killed him. In the process, he wounded her and she thought to play this off as the work of an assassin."

"That... does make sense..." Aglovale said. "One of the first things she did was attempt to remove Alexiel from controlling their fates. She also forced her to have Lieutenant Weisswind hanged."

But... would Freesia really do something like this?" Vira questioned. "Going as far as to kill His Late Highness..."

"The only one who can answer this is her." Monika replied, pointing to Freesia.

"Well?" Albert waited for an answer.

". . .Heh..."

Freesia started chuckling again. She stared up at Albert.

"I will admit." She spoke. "That was quite fun, watching you expose me for killing His Late Highness." Everyone was taken back as Freesia said that. "Yes. I confess. I murdered His Highness Cain, here in the throne room. There was no assassin. I intended to tell you all this sooner, but when this man here thought he figured it out, I thought I may as well entertain him."

"You're kidding... right?" Vira said, stumbling back.

"Men! You heard her." Aglovale commanded to the soldiers. "We'll apprehend Freesia here, and we'll take her to the Imperial Dungeon for now."

"That however..." Freesia smirked. "Is where you're wrong."

All of a sudden, four long, spider-like limbs suddenly bursted out of Freesia's back, shocking everyone and scaring a few. Before anyone could react, the spider legs thrust forward and impale the soldiers that were moving to apprehend her. Pinning them to the wall, she killed the four of them in an instant. The spider legs were viciously yanked from their chests, leaving the same wound that was described earlier. Aglovale, Vira, and Illya all looked on in horror. Albert was stunned and taken back. Mona shrieked in fear as she was shaking like a leaf, Mina standing in front of her as she, Monika, and Albert drew their blades.

"What... are you...?" Monika asked.

"I'm somebody who's got nothing to lose!" Freesia exclaimed, as she was now standing up on her four spider legs. "You were wrong about one thing; The reason why I killed him. Not because I wanted power. It was because I wanted that man."

"'That man'?" Albert questioned.

"The one we've been after. Ragna The Bloodedge of course. That's why I've been so obsessed with his capture!"

"Him...?"

"'The Blood'- Huh?" Monika said confusedly.

"I had to do something, otherwise he would've slipped through my grasp had I let Alexiel to her devices!" Freesia said. "That's why I had to!"

-x-

Throne Room, Weeks Ago. . .

". . .Is that so?" Freesia said under her breath. "If that's the case..."

"Hm?" Cain turns around. "You say something Freesia-?!"

Cain was suddenly on guard as he drew his blade, looking at what was in front of him.

"I can help with that."

As he looked up, standing above him was Freesia. However, the Prime Minister in question suddenly had four spider legs growing out of her back. The legs being very long that while she was standing on them, the rest of her body was floating in the air. Freesia smiled evilly as she laughed. Walking forward she lowered herself down to Cain's level, the man stepping backwards.

"Whoa! Freesia!" He exclaimed. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"If I told you, Your Highness." Freesia chuckled. "I'd have to kill you. But then again, I am going to kill you anyway right now, so it couldn't hurt. Somebody approached me with an offer I couldn't refuse. They gave me power, and they promised me the position of ruling Goldenia. All I have to do is hand over that man in red to her. Ragna The Bloodedge. However..."

Cain dodged out of the way as Freesia suddenly stabbed into the ground with one of her spider legs.

"You letting Alexiel have full control is interfering with Her Excellency's demands! Who would I be not to repay the woman who gave me this power?!"

Swinging his blade, he parried away two of Freesia's spider legs that tried to strike him. Lowering herself down, Freesia's spider legs were floating behind her as she walked towards Cain on her own two feet.

"And now that you also know about my newfound power and who it is that gave me this, I have no choice but to do away with you. I'm going to kill you here and now, Your Highness."

"...You uh... Sure we can't just talk this out?" Cain asked.

The man immediately ducked under one of the Prime Minister's spider legs after he said that.

"Okay that's a no then."

Cain rushed forward towards Freesia, who jumped high out of the way to avoid his sword. Turning around, he saw Freesia hanging from the wall behind him with one of her spider legs stuck in the wall. She swept at him with two of the other legs, both attacks Cain blocked. Jumping off the wall, Freesia tried to stab Cain from above, but he managed to roll out of the way. Walking towards him, Freesia kept Cain at bay by striking with her spider legs from a long distance. The king was being forced backwards by the Prime Minister as she kept walking towards him. Deflecting away her spider legs away, Cain rushed in once again. Going straight in while she was wide open, he held his blade out in front of him. Freesia quickly tried to bring her spider legs back to try and stop her. This resulted in both of them being impaled. Freesia managed to impale Cain from behind using one of her spider legs. At the same time however, Cain managed to impale Freesia through the abdomen with his own blade.

"W...Well..." Cain groaned and smiled. "This isn't how either of us were expecting this to go huh?"

"Y... You...!" Freesia growled. "Impudent...! Little...!"

Using her spider legs, Freesia pulls Cain away from her and then threw him straight onto the throne. Crashing straight into the throne, Cain fell back into the seat and remained there motionless. Freesia retracted her spider legs and grabbed hold of Cain's sword with her hands. Pulling hard, she yanked it out of her abdomen, dropping the sword and falling to her knees as the blood leaked out of her chest.

-x-

Throne Room, Present Day. . .

"...At the end, the king of Goldenia met an end as a warrior who fought till his death. It's such a shame that I had to cut down someone like him, but I had no other choice." Freesia laughed, as she confessed. "If I hadn't done so, then there's no way I could've tried to please Her Excellency!"

"Why are you telling us all this then?!" Vira demanded an answer, sword in hand.

"Because, my dear friend Vira. You, Aglovale, and everyone here... are about to meet the same fate that the former king, as well as those four soldiers also met. You see, I don't have much time left. I'll most likely pay for my failure to capture Ragna The Bloodedge, and as such I've decided I'll use my time to finish you all off!"

"You... You traitor!" Vira pointed her sword as she started summoning her familiar. "Bloody Hell! Kill-"

Before Vira could finish, Freesia held out her palm and shot out spider webs towards the woman. Vira suddenly found herself pinned down to the wall due to Freesia's spider webs. Trying to yell out, Freesia then covered Vira's mouth with spider webs.

"How about you all just roll over and die for me?" Freesia asked smugly. "It's not like you'll be able to defeat me!"

Aglovale and Iska both immediately struck the ground with their weapons, sending a trail of ice straight towards Freesia to try and freeze her. The current queen leaped up in the air to avoid this, and the stabbed her spider legs into the ground, breaking some of the ice. She then swept at the group with one of her spider legs, splitting everybody up as they dodged out of the way. Freesia then sought to pick them off one by one. Firing another spider web, she managed to pin Aglovale to the ground by his legs as he landed. Iska tried to run over in order to help out her liege. She was interrupted by Freesia jumping in front of her and landing on one knee. Sweeping her spider leg, she sliced Iska across the chest. Iska was knocked back as she slid across the ground, blood leaking from her chest.

"L-Lady Iska!" Mona called out.

"Mona!" Mina exclaimed. "Move!"

Mona looked up to see another one of Freesia's spider legs coming straight down for her. Shrieking, Mona tried to defend herself using her staff, but had her weapon knocked away and saw another spider leg coming down on her. Before Freesia could finish her off, she was knocked back to the throne by a large gust of wind due to Monika. Freesia scowled and slammed her spider legs into the ground. Using the momentum, she launched herself forward towards Monika very quickly. Before the wind elemental could reacted, she was smacked across the room by Freesia's spider legs. Freesia quickly pinned her to a wall using her spider webs. She then planned to go in for the kill, but Freesia was stopped from attacking Monika due to Albert grabbing hold of two of her spider legs and holding them in place. Freesia looked back at the man holding her down and growled.

"How could you do all of this!?" Albert exclaimed. "You'd really go this far just for one man!?"

"You cannot possibly understand the amount of pressure I was under serving Her Excellency!" Freesia yelled out. "Not to mention my life is pretty much forfeit at this point! I might as well have some fun with these new abilities!"

Freesia yanked her spider legs out of Albert's grasp and then grabbed hold of him using all four. She threw him across the room, leaving him to crash into the roof before falling to the ground. Mina made her move to try and attack Freesia next, getting in close to try and attack her. Freesia moved out of the way of Mina's rapier and then fired another spider web, leaving Mina stuck to the ground. Mina coughed up blood as Freesia then stabbed her through the chest. She then picked up the water elemental and tosses her away as well. Mina had blood leaking from her mouth and blood as she tried to get back up.

"This isn't good...!" Monika thought. "What the hell, I couldn't have possibly prepared for this!" Monika tried to free herself from the spider web to no avail. "I-I can't move! I need help! But... everyone's busy...!"

---

Location: 1st Floor, Goldenia

"So then, right in the middle of this guy just blabbering on about whatever shit he was talking about, I just shot him straight in the face with a ball of fire and WHAM! Took him out with one shot!"

"It was more of you throwing him to be precise.

Meanwhile with the other group, Ragna, Grena, Feena, Rita, and Goblin Mage had managed to make their way back to the first floor after everything that's happened. On their way off the lift and out of the kingdom, Grena had chosen to spent that time explaining everything that happened while they were trapped underground. Rita was also randomly chiming in to correct Grena on some of the things she's saying.

"And then they all just tried to jump us!" Grena continued. "One after another, Albert and I just kept mowing down demons by the thousands!"

"There was roughly only a hundred of them, not including me." Rita butted in. "What do you mean 'by the thousands'?"

"Hey who's telling the story here?!"

"Might as well be me. At least I'd tell the truth." Rita sighed. "Do all humans have to exaggerate like this?"

"I'm not exaggerating that much! Besides that part was the only thing I may have exaggerated."

"It won't be the last."

"Alright then kid-"

"I'm not a kid!"

"-if you think you can tell me what happened better than I can, then why don't you give it a shot."

"Fine. I'll start at the part that you skipped over about how Tau and I nearly beat the both of you into the dirt."

"You did not!"

"I did too!"

"Heh. I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying this more than her story." Ragna snickered.

"You can say that again." Feena giggled.

Grena turned back and looked at the two. "Hey, what are you laughing at?"

Neither of them said a word as they kept walking, much to Grena's annoyance as she groaned.

"So, since I just got here, you guys mind telling me why we're leaving so soon?" Rita asked. "This place is huge. I figured if I not with those dead demons that were trying to invade, I could pass off as a human visitor or something."

"We're... not exactly welcomed here, to put it simply." Ragna said.

"Because you're a demon too?"

Grena and Feena were more surprised to see how quickly she figured that out, Ragna nodding his head to confirm. The demonic mage then noticed the looks on the faces of the two girls.

"What are you staring at me like that for?" She asked. "It only makes sense for that to be the reason. Besides, considering everything I do know about us demons that were living underground, I can tell you that this kingdom does have a right to be afraid of demons. Hell if one of them can roam free like this, I'd hate to see what that entire army would've done if you hadn't stop us."

"That entire army down there for sure would've made things worse for Ragna." Grena sighed. "If we hadn't stopped them, I'd hate to see what methods they would've used to hunt you down."

"We probably could've just left among all of the confusion." Ragna said.

"Yeah, but come on. Think about it."

While those two were talking, Rita noticed Goblin Mage was eyeing the top of her staff.

"What?" Rita asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Shiny..." Goblin Mage said, entranced by the shiny, gold end of the staff. "Can I... hold it?"

"No thanks."

"Please?" Goblin Mage reaches out for Rita's staff.

"What the hell?! I said no!" Rita moves away from the little goblin girl and started walking faster.

"Aww..."

"If those demons had managed to get up here and attacked Goldenia," Grena had been explaining to Ragna. "If this place made it out alive then most likely they would've blamed you for being the one to start that. They'll think of you as someone who brought them here and then they'll definitely put up a bounty on your head again. This time, one hefty enough to get other kingdoms in on the action of hunting you down."

"You really think they'd go that far?!" Ragna exclaimed.

"It would make sense." Feena chimed in. "Demon commander comes in and scouts the kingdom, escapes capture, and then sends for his army to ransack the place. I can already see it now."

Ragna sighed loudly. "Who would've guessed things would've gotten that bad if it wasn't for Grena and Albert."

"I'll accept thank you's in the form of money." Grena said smugly.

"Don't get your hopes up."

Grena groaned.

"Hey, keep your child under control will you?!"

The three looked over to Rita who was trying to still keep her staff away from Goblin Mage, the little goblin girl completely mesmerized by the golden glow coming from the top of Rita's staff. Feena sighed and pulled out a gold coin, then whistled to get Goblin Mage's attention. Walking over, she handed her the coin. Goblin Mage immediately forgot about Rita's staff as she stared at the coin, Feena picking her up afterwards.

"Sorry about that." Feena apologized. "Goblin Mage can't help herself."

"I figured she was a goblin." Rita said. "Anima Scrutator may reveal what realm you're from but if you aren't human, I have to guess your species. Glad to see I guessed right."

"So what do you plan to do once we're out of here?" Ragna asked Rita.

"Pardon?"

"You can go off and do whatever you want to once we've gotten out of this place you know. Considering how you've been trapped underground, I guess you'll probably want to explore the outside-"

"Help!"

Ragna and Feena both suddenly frozen as they suddenly heard a voice cry out for help inside their heads.

"What the hell...?" Ragna said, looking around.

"What was...?" Feena did the same.

"Uh, guys?" Grena questioned with a confused look.

"What's gotten into them?" Rita asked.

"How am I supposed to get out of this damn web!? I can't move!"

"Wait a second..." Ragna said. "I know that voice!"

"I heard it too!" Feena exclaimed. "Isn't that-"

"Monika!"

"?!" The woman gasped as she could suddenly hear Ragna and Feena. "Ragna?! Feena?!"

"Monika where are you?" Feena asked internally. "How can we- Wait, Reina's spell! Is it still in effect?"

"It must be." Ragna thought. "That's the only way that we can still hear her. What's going on?"

"Ragna, Feena, please. Get back up to the castle as fast as you can!" Monika replied. "I need your help! We all do!"

"What's going on?"

"I don't have time to offer an explanation! We're in the throne room! Please, hurry!"

Ragna and Feena could both tell by Monika's frantic thoughts that she was definitely in need of their help. The two of them looked at each other and nodded.

"What's up with you two?" Grena asked. "Why are you-"

Feena quickly handed Goblin Mage to Grena. "Hold Goblin Mage." She said quickly. "We'll be right back."

"Wha-?!"

Ragna and Feena both rushed back towards the lift before Rita or Grena could stop them. Quickly operating it, Feena managed to make it go straight upwards towards the eighteenth floor as fast as she could make it go. Grena and Rita watched the two of them head straight up, both of them having a confused look on their faces. At that point, Goblin Mage also suddenly looked up from staring at her shiny coin.

"...Where'd Feena go?" She asked.

---

Location: Throne Room, Castle Vallera, 18th Floor

Back inside of the castle's throne room, things weren't looking good for the group either. They had all been doing their best to combat against Freesia and her newly revealed spider-like abilities. However, the woman had them on the disadvantage due to her catching them off guard with her abilities. Iska had been incapacitated and had fallen unconscious due to lack off blood. Mina wasn't in any better condition. She was leaned up against a wall as she held a hand over her bleeding chest, having only one eye opened. Mona and Albert were standing close to each other, the former hiding behind the latter for her own safety. Monika was still stuck to the wall, Aglovale in the same situation. Zoe was trying to see if she could help Vira get free from the spider webs was stuck in. She had managed to take them off of Vira's mouth, but in the process some had gotten stuck to her hand.

"Lady Zoe, please! You need to run!" Vira said.

"I'm not going to run and leave you all behind!" Zoe responded, wiping the spider webs off on her dress. "You shouldn't have to lose your life her because of me!"

"But if you stay here, Freesia will kill you too!"

"It's a Queen's duty to be there for her people, especially whenever they need her the most. I won't abandon you all even if it means putting my own life on the line to make sure of that."

"How noble of you."

Zoe looked behind her to see Freesia floating right above her, standing on three spider legs. The fourth one was pointed straight at Zoe.

"Willing to give up your life for these fools." Freesia said in a mocking tone. "If you want to die that badly, then I'll happily grant you death. So die!"

Freesia's spider leg lunged straight at the young queen. Vira closed her eyes, not wanting to watch. Zoe held out her hands in front of her and turned her head away. Just before the spider leg could impale her, Zoe suddenly turned into a golden statue once again. The spider leg collided with the solid gold queen, Freesia suddenly tensing up in pain as she yanked her spider leg back.

"OW!" She yelled out. "OW! OW! OW!"

Vira opened her eyes and went wide eyed immediately. "Lady Zoe, she..." She started to say. "She turned to gold again...?"

Vira let out a small shriek of surprise as the golden statue suddenly shattered quickly, Zoe turning back to normal. Freesia growled as she looked at Zoe, rubbing her aching spider leg.

"How?!" Freesia demanded an answer to what happened. "How on earth did you do that?!"

"I have the ability to turn myself and other things into gold." Zoe explained. "I can also change them back to normal in some cases, as I demonstrated with my own body. You won't be able to kill me since your attacks aren't strong enough to break through solid gold."

"Tch! I don't have to be! Not if I'm fast enough to-"

Freesia screamed as she was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning, courtesy of Albert. Falling back to her knees, she looked up as Albert leaped over her. Sword in hand, he landed in front of Zoe and faced Freesia.

"Milady, please work on trying to free Prime Minister Vira." Albert said. "I'll hold her off."

"Alright." Zoe responded. "Oh! May I borrow that knife on your waist?"

Albert nodded, and handed over the sheathed knife to the golden queen. Turning back around, he blocked an attack from Freesia's spider legs using his sword. Zoe ran back over to Vira to begin cutting the spider webs off of her. Rushing in, Albert parried off Freesia's spider webs as she tried to attack him from long range. Holding out his hand, he fired a bolt of electricity from his palm straight towards Freesia. The spider woman leaped out of the way and onto the nearby wall. Holding out her palms, she fired more spider webs at Albert, who avoided them. Using his speed, he rushed towards Freesia who did the same to him. Clashing several times, Albert was put on the defensive as Freesia kept striking from different angles using her long spider legs. He avoided once again as Freesia tried to fire another spider web at him, and then went to kick her directly in the face. Freesia leaped over him and landed on her feet, her spider legs in the air above her.

One after another she tried to go for the impaling kill. Albert avoided every one of her attacks, but was still kept out at long range. Suddenly, Freesia looked up as she heard someone behind her. Looking back, she saw that Vira had been successfully freed by Zoe, and was going on the offensive. Freesia jumped forward to avoid Vira's sword, but found herself vulnerable as an energy blast could be seen forming on her hand, courtesy of Vira's familiar.

"DARKANE!"

Vira fired a blast of dark energy straight at Freesia. The blast collided and knocked the spider woman back as she crashed into the wall. Vira giggled as she started to walk towards Freesia, who was stuck in the wall.

"My darling Katalina was hurt all because you had to become so involved with Ragna, you know." Vira stated, having a crazy look in her eye. "I'm gonna enjoy making you pay for what your action caused!"

"You're a fool to think that you can beat me." Freesia scoffed. "None of you stand a chance."

As if to make Freesia look like a fool, she was knocked down to the ground via a blast of wind coming from Monika, who was still stuck to the wall in a spider web.

"Can someone come up here and help me out...?" Monika sighed.

Albert was about to try and jump up to reach Monika, but was stopped as Freesia suddenly got back up. He and Vira jumped out of the way as she sweeps at them with her spider legs. Monika tried to knock her off balance with another blast of wind, but missed. Freesia then turned around and pulled out her flintlock pistol. Firing, she stop Monika straight in the chest, the girl groaning in pain as she was hit.

"That should silence you." Freesia said. "Annoying pest-"

Freesia was suddenly tackled to the ground by Vira grabbed her, the woman standing over top of her as she tried to stab Freesia through the head. Blocking with one of her spider legs, Freesia used another one to stab Vira in the back, making her wince. She then picked her up using her spider leg and slammed Vira on the ground. Vira coughed up blood as Freesia started to get up. Yanking her spider leg out, Freesia was preparing to go in for another attack, only for her to have to block an attack from Albert's sword. Before she could move her spider legs away, he grabbed hold of one of them and sent a volt of electricity through her body. Freesia shrieked as she was badly electrocuted. Trying to pull herself together, she slowly moved her other spider legs in to try and grab Albert. The man kicked her in the chest and let go, knocking her back as slid across the ground.

"We might go easy on you if you quit now, Freesia." Vira said. "Give it up."

Freesia growled as she stared at Albert and Vira.

Meanwhile, Zoe was working on getting rid of the spider webs that had pinning Aglovale to the ground by his legs. After some time of cutting them with Albert's knife, she managed to free him as well.

"Thank you, Lady Zoe." Aglovale thanked.

"It's nothing, I promise." Zoe said.

Aglovale looked over to Mona, who was trying to tend to Mina and Iska. "How are they?"

"I've managed to stabilize their wounds." Mona responded. "Both of them are out of it now, but I've made it so that they won't die! Now we just need to get Monika down so that I can tend to her."

BAM

Suddenly, the throne room's door was busted wide open. Running in was both Ragna and Feena, who had just arrived and ran straight through the castle in order to reach them, avoiding guards and noblemen as well.

"Monika, we're here!" Ragna called out.

"What's going-!" Feena said, looking over at the now spider-like Freesia in shock. "...O-On?"

Freesia went wide eyed, as she stared at Ragna.

"You came back..." She said, standing back up. "You came all the way back here once again..."

"It's... a good thing we didn't bring Grena with us..." Feena said worriedly.

"What are you doing back here?!" Vira asked surprised. "You do know that its you she's after right-"

Vira couldn't finish her sentence before a large spider web suddenly came upon her. The Prime Minister found herself completely wrapped in web and fell to the ground. Albert tried to rush at Freesia, but soon met the same fate. The spider woman was giggling madly as she walked over towards Ragna and Feena, who were taking steps backward. A noblewoman had also rushed to the throne room door with several guards, having been chasing after Ragna and Feena after their commotion.

"There you are!" She said. "Guards! Arrest-"

Looking up, the noblewoman screamed and fainted as she saw Freesia. The two soldiers were frozen in fear. Freesia glared at them and smirked. Before they could run, her spider legs shot past Ragna and Feena, impaling the soldiers and the fainted noblewoman. Retracting her spider legs, she walked towards Ragna and Feena, a happy look on her face.

"This is the best thing that you ever could have done for me, Ragna The Bloodedge!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands.

Ragna blinked in surprise upon hearing how Freesia addressed him. He then started to realize. "Wait..." He said. "You... You know me, don't you?!"

"Only everything that Her Excellency told me about you after all. But I know enough. Now then." Freesia extends her spider legs once again as she stood up on them. "Why don't you do me a favor and come with me. That way, maybe Her Excellency will see reason to spare my life."

"Like hell I'm coming with you!"

"Oh...? I see..."

Freesia didn't say another word before charging at Ragna and Feena, the pair quickly hopping out of the way of the spider woman. Looking up, Feena managed to spot where Monika was hanging from due to the blood dripping down from her wound from Freesia's gun. Without hesitating, she fired arrows up towards Monika, hitting the spider webs and cutting them. Monika started falling from the wall and was quickly caught by Ragna, who rushed over to catch her.

"Monika! You alright?" He asked.

"I'm... fine..." Monika responded, breathing heavily.

"Don't turn your back on me!"

Ragna turned around to see Freesia coming down on him with her spider legs. Holding Monika in his left hand, he held out his right arm and summoned his Azure Grimoire shield. Blocking Freesia's spider legs, he lunged upward and knocked the woman back as he set Monika down. Freesia went in for another attack but had to stop and deflect arrows coming from Feena's crossbow. The archer fired several more arrows towards the spider woman, who constantly hopped around to avoid the attacks with her agility and strength. Suddenly she landed right on top of Feena, knocking the girl down as she came face to face with her. Freesia grabbed hold of Feena's arms to keep her on the ground.

"You should've never double crossed me, you fool!" She exclaimed.

"I should've never double crossed Ragna and Monika, you mean!" Feena yelled back.

Shifting herself around, Feena pushed Freesia off of her using her feet and then rolled away from the spider woman. The crossbow mercenary ducked underneath a spider web that nearly hit her. Freesia rushed towards the girl but suddenly found herself slipping as Aglovale had turned the ground underneath her into ice to throw her off balance. As she was forced back to her feet, Ragna, Albert, and Vira all rushed her while Aglovale carried Monika over to Mona to be healed and Zoe moved away from the fighting group.

Freesia stabbed her spider legs through the ice to pull herself back up to tower over the group. As she was back up, she began attacking them with one spider leg at a time as she moved from the ice. The three of them constantly gave her a hard time, even going after her spider legs to try and cut her down. Freesia winced as she felt pain from their blades and jumped up high. Holding her hands out, she formed a spider web across the ceiling, and walked across it. She continued to spin more webs as she was using her powers to their full extent as she made herself back down to the group. Vira and Aglovale jumped up to try and strike at Freesia, but were blocked by one of her spider legs. She used another to batter them away and then fired more spider webs, sticking the two to a wall.

Freesia was suddenly shocked and knocked off of her spider web due to paralysis arrows from Feena and an electric shock from Albert. Falling to the ground, she managed to snap to despite the shocking and paralysis. Back on her feet, she quickly rushed to the three on her own feet and sent out all four spider legs towards the group. Ragna stood in front of them and batted them all away using his Azure shield. However, that was exactly what Freesia seemed to be hoping would happen. Just as he did that, she held out her palms and managed to fire spider webs that pinned Ragna's legs to the ground, and another one that knocked away his large sword. Albert and Feena both made their moves at that time, but Freesia managed to catch them before they could get going. Firing spider webs, she provoke them into dodging out of the way and being struck by her spider legs, that impaled their shoulders and pinned them to walls away from Ragna. The two were in pain as they struggled to get back up to fight. Freesia giggled crazily as she approached the now stationary Ragna, who was trying to pull himself free of her spider webs.

"Don't bother." She said. "You'll never break through those. Now then..." Freesia towered above Ragna using her spider legs. "I'll claim back my right to live... by giving you up as an offering towards Her Excellency!"

"Don't even bother!"

Ragna's right arm transforms again as he sweeps his monstrous claw across the ground. Several spikes of darkness came out of the ground, forcing Freesia to jump back to avoid being impaled. Ragna used the opportunity to cut the spider webs around him with his claw. As his arm transformed back to normal, he quickly ran over and grabbed his sword. Moving quickly, he manages to slice free both Feena and Albert, who also grabbed their weapons. Freesia was running straight towards them on all four spider legs. Feena fired her crossbow, only for the spider woman to leap in the air over the arrows. Coming down on the group, her spider legs clashed against Ragna and Albert's blades. The two used their strength to push her backwards, Freesia landing on her feet and pulling out her flintlock pistol. She quickly loaded and fired at the group, all three of them dodged as they rushed at her. As she reloaded, she fended off the three of them using her spider legs. Ragna and Albert repeatedly clashed their blades against her spider legs, while Feena's arrows were constantly being deflected. As Freesia finished reloading, she aimed her pistol at Feena, who had her crossbow pointed at Freesia. Both fired their weapons immediately. As their shots went past each other, Freesia winced as Feena's arrow cut the side of her face, shedding blood. Feena jumped in surprise as her crossbow had been shot out of her hand and into the air. Before she could try and get it, Freesia's spider leg suddenly came in and stabbed straight through it. Feena's crossbow was broken into pieces.

"Ah, crap..." Feena said.

Freesia smirked and looked to the side to see Ragna and Albert coming towards her again. She leaped into the air to the point where they were both under her. Holding out her palms, she fired a large barrage of spider webs straight down below her. Ragna held out his Azure Grimoire shield to try and defend himself while Albert was trying to cut his way through using his speed. However, the overwhelming amount of webbing was more than they could handle. Eventually they found themselves on the losing side. Ragna had been able to shield himself from the majority of the spider webs. However, that just scattered the webs around his shield, leaving his shield, arm, and the rest of his body to eventually be trapped by the spider webs. Albert, while fast, wasn't able to deal with the massive amount of webbing, and found himself trapped in Freesia's webs. Feena tried to run over and see if she could do something, but was stunned as Freesia jumped down in front of her. The crossbow wielder was suddenly stabbed in the back and winced as Freesia lifted her using her spider leg. Freesia smiled at the girl before throwing her into the large amount of spider webs as well.

"Imbeciles." Freesia laughed. "I told you already that you wouldn't be able to defeat-Ow!"

Freesia rubbed her cheek as something was thrown at her. Looking down, she was a small pebble on the ground that had been turned into solid gold. Looking to her right, she saw Zoe standing next to her, trying to get her attention with that pebble.

"Please, stop this!" Zoe exclaimed. "Leave them alone!"

"What are you, crazy?!" Ragna questioned the golden queen. "What are you gonna do her?!"

"Lady Zoe, please run!" Albert called out.

"She won't let us stop her!" Vira called out, being sidelined by the golden queen along with the others.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" Freesia asked, looking down at the queen with confidence. "What are you going to do? Turn into gold again to stop me from killing you? Oh, I know! Why don't you try turning me to gold! Is that what you were hoping for?"

Freesia then laughed, mainly because the look on Zoe's face told her that she was actually hoping she could do that.

"I'll enjoy taking you down." Freesia said as she approached Zoe.

"Please, run milady!" Aglovale called out, drawing his sword. "We'll give you that chance!"

"If I run now, then what good will that do?" Zoe said, backing away from Freesia till she was at the back of the throne room door. "She's been able to beat us with her tricks, but we can't just let her win. I know that I can't do much as far as fighting, but I'll use my powers to try and save my kingdom!"

"How noble of you." Freesia mocked. "If that's the case..."

Firing another spider web barrage all of a sudden, Aglovale, Vira, Mona, and the other injured found themselves stuck to the ground, unable to move and help Zoe out of this.

"Then I'll grant them all a front row seat to watch the golden queen of Goldenia be slaughtered, fighting all the way until her death."

Zoe clenched her fists, shaking as she tried to keep a brave face. Freesia raised one of her spider legs and pointed it at Zoe, while smiling.

"Now it's time to see if I'm faster than your abilities." Freesia boasted.

"...I-I'm ready! I won't lose!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Say goodnight."

Zoe closed her eyes as she prepared to turn herself into gold in order to defense.

CRASH

?!

"What the bloody-"

However all of a sudden, the door to the throne was broken open behind Zoe. Before Freesia could react, a crescent wave of light came sailing straight at her vertically. Everyone watched as the wave of light cut straight through the spider leg Freesia had raised up, tearing it clean off and throwing her slightly off balanced to the point she had to land on her feet. Freesia looked up at the destroyed door and went wide eyed as she saw who was walking in. Everyone also did the same, surprised to see who had suddenly arrived. Walking into the throne room, her scarlet red hair flowing in the gust of wind, zweihander in her right hand, was none other than Alexiel.

"A... Alexiel...?" Vira said in surprise.

"...It was all you, wasn't it?" Alexiel asked Freesia, glaring at her with an intimidating stare.

"So you know what I did already...!" Freesia scoffed, standing back up on her three remaining legs.

Suddenly a large volley of mirror blade shards came out of nowhere, heading straight to the two groups that were trapped in spider webs. Before they knew it, the mirror blades had torn the spider webs to shreds all around the throne room, freeing everyone and cutting up Freesia's advantage. Freesia stepped back in shock, nearly falling over due to the lack of a spider leg.

"My powers...!" Freesia thought. "She can... She can just cut through my webs just like that?! With such ease...!"

Alexiel then turned away from Freesia and walked over to Zoe, who was looking up at the redhead. Alexiel pointed her zweihander down and took a knee while her hand was on its hilt. She bowed before the golden queen.

"Thank you, your Highness." Alexiel said. "That bravery of yours, to throw yourself into the face of danger. That's exactly what this kingdom needs. A ruler that's as strong as you."

Zoe blushed. "Aww, you're flattering me...!"

The golden queen jumped in surprise as all of a sudden, Alexiel had been tied up in more of Freesia's spider webs. The redhead stood up to noticed that her hands and arms had been tied to her body in an uncomfortable. She didn't seem to care however, as she just turned around to face Freesia once again.

"So…" Alexiel started to say to the spider woman. You have the powers of a spider, as well as its legs. I'm surprised. I never would've thought that you were a demon, Foxblood."

Alexiel narrowed her eyes as she stared at Freesia, then nodded her head.

"Even your soul is giving me a false reading. Whoever gave you this power, didn't directly turn you into a demon it seems." Alexiel scoffs. "To think that I've been letting you deceive me ever since His Late Highness' death."

"I just needed the power so that I could try and get you out of my way." Freesia explained, folding her arms. "However every time I tried to subtly move you out the way, you always found your way back to chasing after Ragna." Freesia laughs. "I'm just glad that you weren't able to kill him! That would've been bad for me!"

"You're right I guess. I couldn't kill him. No matter how many times I've tried now, he's always escaped my grasp and his friends have helped defeat me at every turn. It's quite demoralizing to see that I've become a woman who can't even beat a single man. However…"

Alexiel suddenly summons a large volley of mirror blade shards around her. The shards flew straight past her, cutting the webbing around her and allowing her to move freely. The redhead raised her arm and pointed her zweihander at the spider woman, having a serious and vicious look in her eye.

"There is someone that I can kill." Alexiel stated.

"What? Me?" Freesia just laughed at that. "Please. You see everyone here? Working together, they still didn't stand a chance against my spider-like powers. What makes you think that you'll be able to provide a different result?!"

"Because this fight won't be over with until either one of us is dead. And in case you've forgotten, let me remind you." Alexiel suddenly spins her blade around, then shoulders her zweihander. "I don't die just because you kill me."

Not wasting any time, Alexiel rushed straight at Freesia after she said that. Freesia was standing on her feet as she sent her three remaining spider legs towards the redhead to impale her. Alexiel battered away two of the spider legs using her free left hand. As the third came down, she jumped on top of it and ran straight at Freesia while on it. Before she could bring it back, Alexiel kneed Freesia in the jaw, making her stagger back. She then cut the spider woman across the chest and knocked her down to the ground with a low kick. Freesia then retracted her spider legs and impaled Alexiel from behind, but was shocked to see that Alexiel didn't show any pain, or halting in her judgement as a result. Alexiel kicked Freesia in the face and knocked her away, forcing the spider legs out of her back. She then grabbed Freesia's foot before she could get too far away.

"W-Wait!" Freesia exclaimed. "What are you-!?"

Freesia screamed as all of a sudden, Alexiel took off running and dragged her along the ground. Using her strength, she raised Freesia into the air and slammed her on the ground, leaving her lying on her stomach. Freesia tried to use her spider legs to stab Alexiel while her guard was down. The redhead predicted this however, and grabbed hold of the leg in her left hand as it came towards her. Without hesitation, she used her zweihander and cut the leg clean off of Freesia's back, making the spider woman scream in pain.

"Do you not know the amount of pain you've put me through with all of this!?" Alexiel shouted.

Freesia scrambled back to her feet and got to turn around. She pulled out her flintlock pistol and pointed it at Alexiel, only for the redhead to stab Freesia with her own broken off spider leg. Shrieking, her arm went limp as she dropped her pistol. Blood was leaking out from several places over Freesia as she stumbled back from Alexiel. Before she could try and go on the offensive, she found herself being cut and pierced by several mirror blade shards while Alexiel was walking towards her. Freesia manages to send out one of her two remaining spider legs, only for Alexiel to catch it and yank Freesia towards her. Forcing the spider woman to spin around, Alexiel kicked her hard in the back. Not only did it knock Freesia forward, but the force combined with Alexiel's grip tore off another one of her spider legs. The fall of hitting the ground knocked out the spider leg that Alexiel impaled Freesia's shoulder with too.

The redhead threw aside the spider leg she was holding and walked towards Freesia. The spider woman panicked, and scurried back over towards the throne, pulling herself up as she breathed heavily.

"You couldn't understand me Alexiel!" She exclaimed. "You would never understand why I had to do everything that I did!"

Freesia thrusted out her last remaining spider leg in a last ditch effort to attack her opponent. Immediately she shrieked as Alexiel sliced it off.

"All of this came with a price!" She continued. "She demanded that I bring Ragna to her, by any means necessary! Now this is my last chance to please her! So why!" Freesia pounded the throne with her hand. "Why won't you just stay out of my way!?"

Alexiel suddenly used her mirror blade shards as a platform and pushed Freesia over to her. She grabbed the woman by her collar and held her up to her face, Freesia looking away as she whimpered.

"I don't know who's commanding you, but they made a mistake giving a coward like you power." Alexiel said in response. "All you deserve is death."

Freesia whimpered louder and shrieked as Alexiel drove her fist into her gut, having positioned her zweihander so that she would not strike Freesia at that time.

"Someone like you who isn't built to be a leader. Who hides in the dark while you make your subordinates do all of the work. And yet they expected you to capture somebody and hold them here. Pathetic. If I had known you'd be such a weakling I never would've passed up becoming the Queen of Goldenia myself. So now do me a favor." Alexiel's grip tightened. "Roll over and die."

Freesia's body was shaking. Just being around Alexiel right now was enough to make her feel fear.

"Y-You… You're a mon- "

"You look me in the eye when you're talking to me." Alexiel cut Freesia off.

"Wh… Wha-?"

"NOW!"

Freesia flinched as Alexiel yelling. Slowly, she turned her head up to face Alexiel. Coming into eye contact she could see the redhead glaring straight at her. Freesia was now making total eye contact with Alexiel.

!?

Before she could say anything however, an eerie blue glow emitted from Alexiel's pupils into Freesia's pupils. Everyone watched in shock as Freesia started screaming loudly as her entire body became engulfed in flames. Alexiel let go of Freesia as the woman fell onto her feet. Screaming in a massive amount of pain, Freesia started to slowly stumble back as she was foolishly trying to fan the flames off of her body. Alexiel turned her zweihander so that it was pointed towards the burning woman. As Freesia kept stumbling backwards, Alexiel made her move. She impaled Freesia straight through the chest with her zweihander and pinned her to the throne. Freesia could be heard choking on her own blood as the zweihander was driven deep into her gut.

"Return to nothingness."

Alexiel viciously yanks her zweihander out of Freesia's burning chest. The woman who was previously the current Queen of Goldenia sat there emotionless as Alexiel turned and started walking away. The redhead extended her arm outward and spun her zweihander around quickly. She stopped as she positioned her arm down with the blade of her zweihander pointed up behind her as she walked away from the burning Freesia. By this time, everyone else had started to gather around as Alexiel was walking away. They were all in shock at what they just witnessed Alexiel do. Mina and Mona panicked and both averted their eyes of fear as Alexiel walked past them. Albert avoided making direct eye contact as well. Feena and Monika quickly moved out of Alexiel's way, both of them showing some fear as well. Aglovale, Iska, and Vira did not seem to be all too surprised by this, as they've witnessed Alexiel do this before. Zoe was surprised, but she didn't seem to have any fear in her eyes as she watched Alexiel walked away. Ragna remained completely stationary as he stood in front of Alexiel. The man was also just as surprised as the others as the redhead that has been chasing him just demonstrated one of her most devastating abilities. He didn't say a word however, at least not until Alexiel walked right past him without a word.

"Just... what are you?" Ragna asked.

". . . Someone you should fear." Alexiel responded.

Ragna slowly tensed up after hearing her say that after everything that he just witnessed. Everyone turned around as Alexiel walked off without saying a word. Walking out of the throne room, she turned the corner and walked into the hallway. The redhead was now out of everybody's sight. As soon as she was, a sigh of relief swept through some of the group. However they all jumped as they heard laughing coming from behind them. Everyone turned around to see that, much to their surprise, Freesia was still alive as she was burning. The woman's voice could be heard laughing loudly for them to hear. Their hands were all on their weapons, waiting to see what would happen.

"You don't seem to realize what's going to await you now that I'm gone do you?!" She yelled out to the group, her body being completely motionless. "You should've just came quietly and went along with me when you had the chance! You shouldn't have kept resisting and resisting every chance that you could. Because now, she's going to take matters into her own hand in order to capture Ragna the Bloodedge! And she'll kill anybody who dares to get in her way! You'll abhor her! You'll fear her! And most of all... You'll lose to her!"

"Who the hell are you talking about?!" Ragna exclaimed.

"You had best be alarmed everywhere you go! You'll never know... Where that Demonic Queen... Will be lurking... waiting... for... you...!"

Everyone watched as the flames died out with Freesia's last words echoing across the room. As the flames were gone, so was Freesia's body. Nothing was left of the woman. No bones, no ashes, not even her soul. She was just gone.

"The... Demonic Queen...?" Monika questioned.

"I've... never heard of such a person..." Aglovale said.

. . .

"So..." Vira said, trying to break the awkward silence. "Would you all care to stick around a little while longer? We could use some help with cleaning..."

She was right. The entire throne room was now a mess.

"I... guess we could help..." Monika sighed.

---

Location: Unknown

"Aww, how disappointing."

Inside of a dark manor in who knows where, the woman that Freesia had been working for was still sitting in her comfortable chair with a wine glass in her right hand. Having her eyes open, the amethyst purple glow in her eyes had started to fade away. She had a disappointed look on her face and sighed loudly. She had her hand on the side of her cheek as she closed her eyes.

"I was hoping that fight would last longer." She said in a disappointed tone. "Poor Freesia. She didn't even stand a chance there."

The woman looked up as she heard clapping coming from behind her. Turning her chair around, she faced behind her. Looking behind her, she could see that the clapping was coming from Terumi. The man was wearing virtually the same outfit as before, though instead of the yellow cloak that he was wearing, he now had a fancy black jacket that went well with the white shirt and black pants he wore. The shirt was also fully button and had a tied neck tie. Wearing a fedora on his head, his green hair was also visible.

"My, aren't you quite the little deceiver, eh?" He said, eyes closed while clapping. "I'm impressed."

"Oh?" The woman raised a brow as she crossed her legs. She then took a sip from her wine glass. "What are you going on about?"

"Come now, be honest; You never had any intentions of killing that beastkin anyway did you?"

"Honestly, the only plans I had to kill her was if she succeeded. I figured I'd tell a little white lie that I intend to kill her for failure, and wait to see what she does next. I didn't think she would go that crazy, but it was something that certainly made for an entertaining show. It's too bad that you couldn't see it Terumi."

"Ooh, how manipulative! Bravo. But it seems you have a problem on your hand now, doesn't it?"

"You speak as if I wasn't already prepared for the chance that Ragna were to escape Goldenia."

Terumi shrugs. "Well goes to show what I know then."

"By the way..." The woman looked up and down at what Terumi was wearing. "What are you up to? I believe that is what you wore the moment I brought you into Riverbrandt isn't it? What's with the sudden change? Not that I mind, however."

"Oh this? I figured I'll be bored if I just sit here and watch you do everything. I've decided that I'm going to explore this world of yours myself. Besides, it looks like you've got things covered here. I'm sure you won't mind if I go on a little walk."

"I suppose you're right. Very well. Have fun I suppose. But, if you don't feel like walking..."

"Hmm?"

"It would be best of you to hitch a ride with my subordinates on their airship. They'll be moving out once I inform them of everything."

"So it all comes down to the ten of them hunting down Raggy and his little band of misfits, eh? That will certainly be fun to watch." Terumi laughed.

"Indeed it will..." The woman took another sip from her wine glass, and then dropped the glass. "Indeed..."

The glass shattered as it hit the ground.

"...It will."