Genuinely, what the fuck?

So, Cid took this Queen to Shadow Realm, right? Right. He did everything to make sure he has a cool one-on-one battle against this Queen and then reemerges as the sole victor, right? Right!

But what did Blood Queen do? She just… She just refused to fight and decided to play 'damsel in distress' card! No fair! No fair, he says! His perfect scene was ruined!

He just started enjoying their 'conversation'! Oh, well, maybe if he asks her she will entertain him for some time…

Eh, anyway, he changed his plans. Instead of a cool battle he went for the "God descended to his apostle and asked what she wished for" scene. Surprisingly, her wish was really close to the 'world peace' one. Almost. She wanted to be free of curse. She probably means vampirism? Cid always thought they are kinda cool… Like, the ones that are the Night Rulers that live in secluded places and rule the world from the shadows, not the ones who glisten in the sun.

But it seems like in this world being a vampire is a curse, huh? Well, judging from the ghouls he saw on the way, yeah… Though that guy who planned Blood Queen's revival was a very good evil minion, though who cares about him now, anyway?

Right, Queen's wish. Actually, it was pretty simple; just of configuration here and there, realization that being Vampire is just another branch of Magic Overload (or rather, Violet's cells doing stuff; did these guys really use them everywhere?), and then release it as Nuclear… No, really.

Cid had an epiphany: nuclear explosion has several effects. The most obvious is, of course, the explosion itself. Then comes then blinding light. Another part is shockwave that reaches way farther than explosion itself, and from shockwave also comes the deafening sound. The part that everyone is afraid of, however, is radiation. Without radiation nuke would be just another bomb that explodes and that's pretty much all. Radiation, however, makes sure that even if you survive the initial explosion, your flesh will melt off from aftereffects, and you will curse at yourself for trying to delay the inevitable.

So! Cid wanted to replicate radiation effect, but a bit different. You see, he already has his mass healing, right? But this healing is one-time only; you used it, it healed, job is done. Now, however, he wants to make it ongoing recovery. Just curing Blood Queen from vampirism would be easy, in fact, it was one of the effects that he wanted to achieve. Another effect, however, would be giving mid-level regeneration, disease immunity, and some other beneficial stuff for the time being. Nothing too long, only a day or so. He has a whole city of vampires, what's a better testing ground?

Once he confirms that it works, he may be able to do the actual Nuclear Magic with all the effect that he talked about. Why? No reason, really, he just wants to be able to do it. Take it as obsession with overpowering the nukes from previous life, even though he has long ascended past that level.

Right, so mass-healing that has ongoing recovery effect and grants several buffs… Hmm, with each day, he comes closer to being actually deity…

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes.

The bright moonlight shone upon her. Bright, white moon…

White?

Blood Queen blinked and stood up. She… feels good… She shouldn't feel good.

She has asked the Darkness to take her in and grant her release. Why is she still alive?

Confused, she stood up.

She can see a lot of people around herself. Some fighting each other, some just standing at the side. And some…

"Q-Queen Elizabeth!" crimson-haired woman ran up to Blood Queen and intertwined their hands, "I am so happy that you're unharmed!" golden eyes stared straight into red ones.

"Yes, Mary…" what else could she say?

"When that man took you… somewhere… I was so scared… I thought it was the end of you!…"

"I thought so too…" Elizabeth closed her eyes.

Why was she alive? Was there some higher purpose for that?

"What about vampires?" she asked straight away.

"Oh! That's right!" Mary stood up and coughed, "After you and that man came out from… somewhere, he released some kind of light and said something about Recovery and, uh, Atma? After that all ghouls reverted back to human form, while vampires…" she opened her mouth.

"Your teeth…" Elizabeth watched in interest as Mary's jaw shifted from human-like to vampire one and back repeatedly.

"M-m-m," Mary closed her mouth, "I do not feel bloodthirst anymore, however I still have benefits of being a vampire."

"Hmm…"

True to her words, the thirst was no longer present. Instead, she felt her body being as light as a feather as her organism produced the necessary energy by itself. Of course, Elizabeth herself was way more proficient in Blood Magic, and so she realized that the effect was temporary: in merely a few days it would dissipate, forcing her to procure food on her own. However…

The changes themselves were permanent. She no longer had to drink blood to satisfy her cravings, instead being able to consume any kind of food non-vampires could. She could drink the same drinks humans could, she could eat anything that humans could… Is it the peaceful existence she wished for? They could finally… live without fear?

"D-Damned woman…" Elizabeth heard the commotion.

Curious, she turned her head and saw some kind of a man lying on the street as fox therianthrope pressed her heel against his head.

"Would you, please, hand over this man to us?" blonde-haired elf spoke to the fox.

"Hmm?" brief surprise flashed through therianthrope's eyes.

How… interesting…

"How… interesting…"

Queen immediately turned her head around to see strange masked woman looking at her interest.

"You know, I haven't had a chance to speak with you all this time. Now, however? How about we take it somewhere more private, and you will tell me how you came to be. Deal?" woman mysteriously smiled.

Elizabeth's gaze was locked onto the mask. Mask so similar to the one of…

"Are you with him?"

"Oh? Interested about him? I am interested too, but he rarely tells me anything…" woman sighed and signaled to follow her.

Unable to fight off her curiosity, she followed right after. Maybe she will get to know who her saviour is…

"Hand him over to you, you say…" Yukime bit her lips.

The sudden heal came in a clutch, and even though Stierlitz could handle Gettan on her own, that still did not do wonders for Yukime's mental state. And so, she wanted to deal with him herself. However, she realized that something was… off. For example, Blood Queen that was previously fighting at the top of Crimson Tower was now suddenly talking with Yukime's bodyguard. On the street. While Spirit Fox is still near a dangerous person.

So, should she hand him over? Rational part of her believes that yes, it would be better to hand him over now that she had nothing to do with him. Emotional part, however… Wanted to kill him. To tear him apart. To teach him how her mother felt…!

She inhaled to calm herself down.

Yes, it would be far better to hand him away. Away from herself, so she doesn't feel such anger anymore.

And yet, before she could proceed…

A figure clad in black slowly descended to them. A man, whose face was hidden by darkness, only two piercing red eyes could be seen.A man, in clothes similar to that of blond elf speaking to Yukime. And in his hand…

"John Smith?" she had her suspicions, but…

"This name was merely my alias, something that was chosen for a successful completion of the mission. Outside of that, I am Shadow, the one who lurks in the darkness and hunts the darkness."

"Shadow, you say…" she squinted. The longer she looked at him, the more familiar he felt…

"Y-You! It's you!" wolfman suddenly tried to jump up, "You were the one who stopped me back then!"

'Back then?'

And then, memories flashed before her eyes.

Back then, when she didn't even reach fifteen, her village was destroyed. Destroyed, because of actions of her fiancee, Gettan. Back then, she truly loved him, and he loved her, too. And yet…

He decided to go against her mother's advices. Moreover, he was the one who took the life of old woman that cared for both him and her. By assassinating her. And he threatened to do the same to little fox. Oh, Yukime did not want to believe that something like that could happen. She desperately wished for it to be a dream. And yet…

It was no dream. It was cruel, harsh reality. Cold indifference of the world did not care about feelings of one small therianthrope. It only cared about one thing: were you adapted enough to survive?

And so she did. She tried to do everything in order to survive, going as far as taking up a job in the brothel. Yes, that one job. Over time, she has risen enough to open her own, one where all her employees would be treated fairly.

However… How did she survive against Gettan, back then when he was a formidable warrior, and she was nothing more but stay-at-home fiancee?

She was saved. Saved by strange… boy? Yes, it was a boy. A boy who stepped against Gettan as she desperately tried to cling onto her consciousness.

Later on, she woke up. And found no one. She hoped that her village still stood, but there was nothing. It was then she dismissed the vision of that boy and simply thought Gettan had a spark of kindness and mercy left to leave fox alive.

Now, however?…

"It's you…" Yukime's lips parted.

"It's you!" Gettan screamed in fury.

Man simply tilted his head at them.

"You were the one who saved me back then…"

Man nodded at her.

"Then… even now…"

Even now… Even now he saves people?

"Wait, then…" a realization struck her.

"Master Shadow is leader of Shadow garden…" elf simply smiled, "And all people present are members of this organization, excluding you and Gettan."

All. All people. Even the ones who are actually with Oriana.

"Our goal is to eradicate the Cult of Diablos," blonde elf stated further, "And we are not short of measures to do so. In fact, President of Snow Fox corporation…" she leaned a bit, "How about you enter in a cooperation with Mitsugoshi?"

Shadow simply listened to them. Upon seeing their questioning glances he nodded.

"Mitsugoshi…" she fell in thought, "So that's why he never targeted it, despite it being the easiest target… All of this was done to… To take away the Lawless City," she raised her head at him once more, "You didn't even lie about your purpose. You always told me the truth, and yet I dared to think that I used you successfully…" she chuckled sadly.

"Reality is… often disappointing," he cocked his head.

"True."

She went silent for a moment.

"I will enter cooperation. And… You can take Gettan away."

"A sound decision. We promise you will not regret it," elf smiled brightly, "My name is Alpha."

"Yukime. But you already know that, I assume."

"Indeed, we do. Now, Shadow Garden, bring this man to Eta."

Members behind her nodded and came forward. Wolfman tried to resist, but he was completely emptied after the fight, and so even lower-ranked members could easily subdue him.

"You… You!"

Gettan screamed at his last powers as he was being carried away.

"You appeared at the moment of my triumph and saved this fox back then!" he screamed, tears of anger falling from his eyes, "You have left me scarred for life!" the diminishing scars were clearly visible on his face, "And now, you waltz here and take away my last hope at accomplishing my goal!"

Shadow only watched the wolfman's breakdown.

"And now-! Now…"

Gettan went limp in feminine hands.

"You took everything from me…"

Wolfman blinked, seeing the Darkness looking at him in amusement.

"I don't even know who you are."

Hams crossed off yet another line in Cid's bucket list.

And yes, Shadow Realm was, indeed, a parody of Morde's ult, though unlike Death Realm, Cid went mainly for the cool factor.