Chapter 228 Act Two: The Blazing Queen And The Desperate Paladin II

- POV General -

In the great arena of the coliseum in the middle of a starless night, the crowd of soldiers held their breath for what was to come in the next few minutes. For the first time, the one who had stood up, the one who was going to interrogate the imprisoned Paladin named Leto, was not the Empress. The Queen herself had come to the ice wall where he was bound to show them all what she was capable of.

Since the creation of the Empire, Gaya had never been perceived as cruel or even as someone with the stature of a leader. Of course all the warriors respected her and saw no one but her as Queen, but the one who was of insane physical and mental strength to them was Freya. However, minds were beginning to change since the mythical speech the dragoness had given them in the rain.

A new facet of the Queen had appeared with the war and little by little she was becoming more than the Empress' wife dragoness. She who had fought for the first time for the lives of her citizens and who had raised her voice to give them courage when despair and sadness had taken hold of them. So the soldiers were all silent, both curious and eager to see how powerful she could be.

"This is the Queen..."

"Mmmh, Gaya-sama is going to take care of that human scum."

"I-I can't wait to see it"

"Shhh and look !"

In reality, no one had ever seen her fight since Gaya had only taken part in the war for the first time the day before, perched on a gigantic ice platform. All they could see after her fight was a dragoness, the last of her kind, carrying a bloodied man in her mouth. The story of the Mother of Dragons was known to almost everyone, but no one had ever seen her in action, not even Kira.

She knew this and had decided that night to show them what she was capable of, despite her motherly, warm and loving demeanor that she wore most of the time. Freya's wife was standing in front of the Church Paladin who was responsible for the torture of her little brother and the threat to her daughter Shiro. The immense anger that she had repressed until then began to come out, creating a crimson aura around her body.

Gaya was flying several feet off the ground with her wings kicking up dust with every little beat, staring at Leto with her menacing amber eyes. She was determined to get answers and would stop at nothing to achieve her goal, especially if it meant the survival of her family and her Empire. As Kira had said, act two had already begun and the frightened Paladin was about to experience a real nightmare from which he would not wake up.

"How about we start ?"

"P-Please...I...I...m-mercy..."

"There will be no mercy for the invaders and even less for those who dare to attack those I care about or even think about it."

The atmosphere was heavy, the presence of the dragoness and her aura more terrifying because instead of getting angry, she was for the moment very calm...too calm. Her anger could be felt throughout the coliseum and for her subjects it was somehow as terrifying as for Leto. The Queen who usually was always calm, smiling, warm was no more and had given way to a mother, a sister and a vengeful wife.

"You're going to tell me everything you know, I have all night ahead of me and you, your suffering will be less unbearable if you cooperate wisely. Do you remember a little dragon boy that the Church used for its experiments ?"

"I-I...I don't know anymore...I..."

"Come on make an effort~ 10 years old, crimson hair like mine, tortured and turned into a hybrid race from a chameleon. Conditioned from birth, drugged, wings nearly torn off, horns ripped off, and tongue severed. Doesn't that tell you anything ?"

As she spoke, Gaya's voice grew colder and colder as she remembered the state in which she had met Angel. She wanted to know, she wanted to hear it from Leto, why had they done this ? How had they found her little brother when she herself didn't know he existed. She sensed that there was something bigger behind all of this and wanted to know what.

As she finished her quick description of Angel, Leto who had no choice but to listen finally understood who she was talking about. He knew she wanted to know every little secret about the Supreme but his loyalty to his leader was not about to waver despite the situation. However, the man was no fool and was willing to give her answers even if he didn't make them complete on purpose so as not to betray his leader.

"I-I remember y-yes...the thing that...I mean the little boy taken in b-by our Supreme"

"Himself, since you remember then tell me his story"

Crossing her arms over her generous chest and squinting her eyes thoughtfully, she was willing to wait before doing anything despite her anger. Gaya wasn't stupid, she knew that tortured, Leto might never tell her what she wanted to hear, that said, the torture was going to happen tonight no matter what. Having no choice but to obey, the man would then begin his tale without knowing he was talking to the little boy's sister.

"I-I don't have all the information since...it was his Excellency the Supreme and his right-hand man the Holy Scholar Sage who took care of him. H-He was found as a still-living fetus on the body of a dragoness w-who perished in flames by the Vancesia Empire before being exchanged with the Kingdom of Zal with a black-scaled lamia."

"..."

"T-The Supreme wanted to raise him to...to prove that conditioned, a monster child could live among humans but...the more h-he grew, the more dangerous and u-uncontrollable he proved to be. T-Therefore, the only solution was to treat him like a rabid beast using the...ahem...cruel means we now regret."

As Leto finished his tale having changed several details to appease the one in front of him though, he was far from knowing or even imagining that Angel was not dead, had been healed and was at the very moment asleep in the hospital. Gaya listened silently, frowning more and more as she didn't believe a single one of his lies, let alone the fact that the Supreme wished to live among those he called "subraces".

"AAAAARG !!!"

Suddenly, just when he thought he was out of the woods, the man let out a scream feeling extreme pain in his abdomen before lowering his head. A gigantic draconic nail had sunk deep into him enough to cause him pain but not enough to kill him. The pain was horrible and as he looked up he could see the Queen had changed her hand to that of a dragon, her face contorted with anger and contempt.

"Even in a situation like this, you dare to lie ? Have you no shame ? To be willing to portray your Supreme as a good being seeking peace with the races you call 'monsters', disgusting ! Regretting your cruel ways ? Don't make me laugh !! This little boy was a shadow of his former self, devoid of all confidence, traumatized both physically and mentally !"

"AAAAH !!!"

"I'll tell you myself the cruel truth, it's that you were experimenting with mana and crossbreeding on behalf of the humans. You locked up this poor little defenseless being for ten years like an object by torturing and drugging him to get rid of him at any time."

"AAAAARGGGG COUGH COUGH !!!"

Gaya was slowly letting out her anger as she dug her claw ever so slightly deeper into the flesh of the man who was beginning to spit blood. She had not been aware of the part about the fetus and knew very well that the body of the dragoness from which he had been extracted, was their mother. Leto's statements and lies had been enough to make her snap and that calm she had kept until now, was disappearing.

"Why are you taking it out on us ? How can you be so insensitive to a little boy who grew up next to you regardless of his race ? Why did the Supreme that you worship so much send him here ? WHY ?? WHO IS HE ? WHAT IS HE AFRAID OF ?"

"M-MERCY...AAAAARG !!!"

"ANSWER ???"

The Queen was gritting her teeth, shaking, and had a trace of murderous madness in her eyes that could devastate everything in its path. As she spoke, she moved her claw up to the man's rib cage, creating a gaping, bloody opening. With her other hand, also changed into that of a dragon, she grabbed the Paladin's left leg before squeezing it extremely hard, exploding all his bones.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG !!!"

"ANSWER !!!!"

As she spoke that one word, the entire crowd of flabbergasted soldiers could hear a change in her voice along with the sound of breaking bones. Like when she was in her dragon form, her voice seemed to be made of hundreds echoing throughout the arena along with Leto's screams of agony. He was still alive and knew that if he didn't want to suffer more, he had better forget about his loyalty to the Supreme.

"W-We fear the being...w-who...once threatened humanity...during...what...we humans call "A-Age of Extinction". W-White hair, p-purple eyes possessing a... a magic t-that couldn't be h-human !!! COUGH COUGH !!! T-The Supreme knows ! He knows that there is such an abomination hidden here...making the prophecy real !!! AAAAAAARRRG"

Plunged into pain and half-conscious the former Paladin leader finally said it all not being able to bear what he was going through anymore. For the first time, a human had revealed to one of the races he hated the origins of their hatred as if it were totally justified and fair. Yet, though speaking the truth, his words only made Gaya a little more angry while all her thoughts went to her daughter in danger.

"YOU FEAR THE HALF-HUMANS AND OTHER RACES BUT IT IS YOU HUMANS WHO ARE STIRRING UP OUR HATRED AND CAUSING YOUR OWN EXTINCTION !!!"

Despite his explanations, the Queen still did not understand how this part of human history was a good reason to persecute, torture and kill. She who had been a victim of this hatred by losing almost all her family while her race had never sought to dominate the world. Her voice had become terrifying, cold but burning with wrath as her suffocating aura only grew and grew.

Gaya was far too angry to make the connection between this being that had threatened humanity and Kalaa, Freya's sister who had appeared a short time ago. All she could see was that once again different people had to suffer for something they had never done. The people of Elysium, her soldiers, her family, her brother and now her daughter ? It was more than she could bear as she felt her mind spinning.

"MY LITTLE BROTHER DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR FEARS, MY DAUGHTER DOESN'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT EITHER AND NO ONE ELSE DOES !!! YOUR SUPREME IS JUST A COWARD USING THIS AS AN EXCUSE FOR REVENGE, BLIND AND UNABLE TO SEE THAT HE IS THE CAUSE OF THESE WARS !!!"

"N-NO, M-MERCY AAAAARRRGG !!!"

With her left hand she had grabbed the rest of his remaining left arm but was not squeezing it, yet the man felt his skin heat then burn giving him a new wave of intense pain. The air in the coliseum was becoming stifling even for those around and a growing heat could be felt throughout the arena as the crowd discovered a Queen as ruthless and terrifying as her wife.

All that anger she had kept inside her, all that pain, all that sadness was finally surfacing after so many years because of Leto's statements. To learn that everything she had experienced and would experience was simply due to the stupidity of humans was too much. All these deaths, all these broken families, all these traumas, all these wars were the cause of a single event that happened thousands of years ago ? Yes, it was too much.

As everyone watched, the dragoness' aura began to change as Leto's deafening screams rose into the black sky of the Empire. Becoming more and more crimson, in an explosion of power it literally turned into flames of the same color. Blood-red flames were now covering Gaya's body, who didn't even seem to notice her anger at that moment was so immense and uncontrollable.

"P-Please...kill me..."

Leto was gasping for breath, the skin on his arm was blistered, burned and showing the bone in his arm a little more every second. He was still in pain but his mind was exhausted and despite the pain he could only utter a few words. He wanted to die, he wanted all this to end but Gaya had decided otherwise. Letting go of his arm, while a smell of burning flesh invaded her nostrils, she answered.

"Oh but it's only just begun~!"

Flapping her wings to rise higher in the sky, like the incandescent Sun of the Empire, she had just awakened a power that no one suspected. The beautiful red flames danced around her, hypnotizing and deadly subjugating all the spectators and especially her wife who had risen. The Imperial Queen, the dragoness of Elysium under the eyes of all, had set herself ablaze by the sheer force of her emotions, making Kira utter three words.

"A Blazing Queen..."

___

FULL STATUS

Names : Freya / Lucifer Nightshade

Age : 0 years old / Mentally : 25 years old

Sex : Female

Course: Ice Demon Wolf of Chaos - Adult

Race : Imperial Demon

Titles :

- Demon Goddess of Primordial Blood and Death (former - until all powers are recovered) - 20%.

- Wrathful Lucifer (7th Sin) - Master of the uniques Sins Demons (to unlock it, please gather the other 6 - 3/6 - (locked)

- Dragon tamer

- Ruthless slayer

Level : 45/70

Exp needed for next level: 0 / 46 000

HP : 170 000 / 170 000 MP : 85 000 / 85 000. BLOOD : 100 / 100

Strength: 560

Defense : 560

Agility : 566

Endurance: 563

Speed : 562

Intelligence: 560

Charisma: 500 (imperial she-wolf)

Attribute points to allocate : 600

Married to : Gaya Nightshade

Daughter : Shiro Nightshade

Twins (son & daughter) : Tyle & Altaïs Nightshade

Little sister : Kira Nightshade (Greedy Fox)

Big sister : Kalaa Nightshade

Empire (menu)

Subordinates: 2239

Humans killed: 153

Souls: 2/3

Elements: Ice / Chaos (Freya) - Blood / Death (Lucifer)

Skills (all):

Attacks :

- Demon Claws (Lvl 5)

- Bite of hell (Lvl 6)

- Infernal ice spikes (Lvl 6)

- Fighting techniques (Lvl max)

- Mastery of the katana (lvl max)

- Demonic Empress aura (lvl 7)

Défense :

- Ice demon wall (Lvl 6)

- Demonic Cloak (lvl 5)

- Pain Resistance (lvl 6)

Attack/Defense :

- Domain of the Ice Empress "Frozen Wrath" (lvl 4)

- Death Gaze (lvl 1)

Others :

- Humanoid form

- Demonic form (linked to the title so incomplete) - 20%.

- Ice creation (Lvl 6)

- Detection and control of mana (lvl 6)

- Storage of chaos (Lvl 4)

- Devouring Chaos (Lvl 5)

- Master of Souls (lvl 3)

- Lucifer's Threads of Blood (lvl 3)

- Healing Blood (lvl 3)

- Analysis

- Telepathy

Passives :

- Commander (lvl max)

- Natural Aura of the Ice Empress ]