Chapter 190 - Steven’s Merciless Battle

"Who dares to intrude my kingdom at this hour?!" a woman's voice yelled out in anger as she heard bricks and glass shatter when Steven broke into the top floor of her castle.

"Relax there lady. I'm not here for you. Im looking for the ruler of this kingdom. Probably a 10 or 20 foot giant with a long beard and axe. Have you seen him anywhere?" Steven asked as he looked around with suspense as he didn't know how much longer he could wait before his excitement would take over him. He couldn't help but feel anxious since he wanted the perfect opponent.

"I don't know any 10 nor 20 foot giant with a beard and axe but if you're looking for the ruler of this kingdom, you're looking at her," said the tiny woman which at best was only 5 foot tall and covered in golden armour which gleamed the colour of dark pink.

"Huh? I'm not talking about the ruler's wife. I know that you take over sometimes when your husband isn't home but I'm looking for the man of this house!" Steven began to get irritated at what he thought were lies that were being told by the woman.

"Actually, that must be pretty weird. I mean I understand that my opponent would be very tall but him being married to someone so short must be a little weird. I mean she's at least twice to 4 times shorter than him. Nevertheless, I'm not here to judge, as long as he's a formidable opponent which he will be, I have no reason to complain," said Steven as he thought out loud. However hearing those words seemed to anger the tiny woman which had claimed to be the ruler of the kingdom.

"I won't repeat myself once again so listen carefully! I am the queen and also the ruler of this kingdom! My husband is not 10 or 20 foot tall. He is a regular human being and not some giant. And for your information, I happen to be stronger than him so if you're looking for a fight, you've got yourself an opponent!" the woman stated in a clearly irritated tone.

"Okay lady. I understand that maybe you get left in the shadows because your giant of a husband takes all the spot light but there's no reason for you to lie and claim to be the ruler of this kingdom as well as saying something as outrageous as you being stronger than him. Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll cut you some slack. What about if I defeat you, I can battle your husband?" Steven offered as if he was actually giving the woman which he was able to battle a really good deal which she could never refuse. However it had the exact opposite impact as she looked angrier than ever from both being mocked and embarrassed in front of her own guards which were trying not to laugh as this all went down. Seeing as Steven was going to continue being persistent in his belief that the real ruler of the kingdom was a large giant which held a large axe and had a beard, Emily, who was indeed the true ruler of the kingdom decided to agree to Steven's conditions since she was quite confident in her own abilities and knew for a fact that she would be able to humiliate Steven and get revenge for him embarrassing her in front of her guards. As such, she gave Steven the reply he wanted.

"You know what, sure. If you can defeat me, I'll bring out my husband which is a 30 foot tall giant with an orange beard, battles with an axe and drinks the entire kingdom's supply of booze until he knocks himself out from being so drunk. That's what you are looking for right?" Emily asked sarcastically but Steven took her words quite seriously as he had been day dreaming of fighting a strong opponent for so long.

"3-30 foot?" Steven asked he even looked like he was drooling just as the fact that he would get to fight someone so tall. As such, his eyes quickly filled with determination as he had no option but to win.

"But I do have to warn you, I'm quite the strong opponent!" Emily stated which Steven seemed to not be listening to as his eyes looked too focused on their goal.

Without wasting anymore time than he already had by speaking to Emily, Steven's chest began to glow just like they had done when he battled against Julius which meant that he was activating his special trait already. He could do so since he had consumed monster cores to survive while he was trapped inside a dungeon for 10 long years.

Due to them being his only source of food, his body gradually began to adjust so that it could consume the monster cores. In exchange for all those years of pure hell, Steven gained the abilities of all the monster cores he had absorbed and was now able to use them as if they were his own powers.

"What the hell?" Emily asked herself with a clearly shocked face as she didn't understand how Steven was able to laugh a large beam of fire right from his mouth and direct it at her without using any sort of weapon. Due to her visible confusion, she was frozen for just a second before she realized what she had to do. Emily quickly raised the small one handed golden axe in her hand and activated its special trait so that she wouldn't be hit by Steven's attack.

"Special Trait: Wave Split"

Using her special trait, Emily was able to quite literally cut the wave of fire that Steven had fired at her with ease.

"Oh, how intriguing. I guess that mean I can't use long ranged attacks anymore. Well, it's not like that matters.. I have multiple other methods of defeating her, although this might be a bit cruel," Steven said to himself as he felt slightly bad for what he was about to do but for some reason his face had a grin on it.