The moment she faced the onslaught of monsters, a nightmare from Hildred flashed through her mind.
That day when monsters swarmed in the heart of the Holy Empire.
Chesha realized that fairies were mixed within the gruesome monsters.
So, she poured out all her power to purify the monsters.
The sight of the monsters rejoicing and vanishing amidst the white flower rain was still vivid.
Chesha reached out a trembling hand.
Thwack, a slimy piece of the monster stuck to her wrist before sliding off.
A faint scream brushed past her ear.
It was the cry of a fairy trapped within the monster.
Her head was spinning, and Chesha squeezed her eyes shut.
A ringing sound echoed in her ears.
The terrible sounds the monsters made mixed with the ringing.
Saint King Cyanor’s shouts cut through, tormenting Chesha even more.
“Count Vasillian! Summoning monsters again! Do you not fear the wrath of God!”
The scolding voice, safely hidden behind the holy knights and priests, was utterly desperate.
Kiern chuckled, but his laughter was quickly buried and disappeared.
The villain in this place was Vasillian.
The Saint King was a hero, punishing heretics who defied God’s will.
A nauseating stench made her want to vomit.
‘The Saint King summoned the monsters.’
But where did he bring the monsters from?
The Saint King couldn’t have brought the monsters directly from the Black Forest.
That was Kiern’s territory.
No matter how much of a Saint King he was, he couldn’t freely enter and leave the Black Forest, which Kiern was openly guarding.
The most likely possibility was that the Saint King already had the monsters.
Like the monsters trapped in the wine cellar under Hildred.
However, Chesha had purified a tremendous number of monsters, enough to fill the Holy Empire.
Only about a year had passed since then.
It would have been difficult to create so many new monsters in that time.
Unless he turned something existing into a monster.
Chesha’s rapidly connecting thoughts reached a conclusion.
‘Could it be… the fairies imprisoned in the lab?’
The emerging guess was horrifying.
She hoped it wasn’t true, but nothing else explained it.
The Saint King had turned all the fairies he held as test subjects into monsters.
‘Because they are no longer needed.’
If he captured just one.
If he captured Chesha, the queen, there would be no need to fill the lab with other fairies.
So, he had found a way to use the unnecessary beings usefully.
He must have planned such a terrible act to eliminate the evidence of the fairy experiments, subdue Hylon with monsters, and frame the Vasillian family.
‘Why hasn’t anything changed?’
Hundreds of years had passed since the previous Fairy Queen had suffered terrible things in the lab.
Yet humans hadn’t changed at all.
Without reflection or change, they continued to abuse fairies.
Chesha clenched her teeth hard enough to make a sound.
The halo above her head, which had been shimmering faintly, gradually emitted a strong light.
Tears welled up in her eyes with anger.
Something was about to snap in her overheated mind.
“You are the Queen.”
The crown’s voice was heard.
“Your actions are the Queen’s choice, and the fairies’ choice.”
Although the words were not readily understood, she was able to regain her senses for a moment.
“…You’re telling me to act carefully.”
Chesha asked the crown in a low voice.
“What do you want? What do you want me to do?”
The crown was silent.
It only emitted brighter and stronger light.
While Chesha was arguing with the crown, Hylon bound all the pouring monsters with the Chains of Judgment.
“…….”
No matter how skilled he was, it was impossible to face such a large number of monsters alone.
His neat eyes were distorted.
However, no one could escape out of the banquet hall.
If he didn’t subdue the monsters somehow, something terrible would happen.
As the Chains of Judgment became strained while binding the monsters, attacks poured towards Hylon, taking advantage of the gap.
Kiern quickly moved his shadows to block the attacks.
However, without the demon sword, he could block humans, but it was not enough to help Hylon, who was fighting the monsters.
Hylon and Kiern’s eyes briefly met.
Hylon coldly snapped at him.
“Don’t worry about me.”
Hylon manipulated the chains with one hand and took out a small device with the other.
When divine power was injected, the small device turned into a white light and shot out.
After the light disappeared into the darkness.
Suddenly, lightning flashed in the dry night sky.
In an instant, the surroundings brightened, and twelve lights appeared in the air.
The identities of the lights were people.
The clothes they wore were different, but they all wore the same mask.
As soon as the people of the Holy Empire saw the masks they were wearing, their faces turned pale.
“Inquisitors……!”
They were the twelve inquisitors who had left Hildred following the traitor Hylon.
They drew their holy swords and formed a formation centered on Hylon.
Pure white divine power wrapped around the holy swords.
The divine power they generated resonated and amplified each other.
The Chains of Judgment also emitted stronger power by receiving the divine power of the inquisitors.
The monsters bound by the chains let out painful screams.
It seemed as if they would destroy all the monsters right away.
“…!”
The sky rippled, and several times more monsters than before poured out from the cracked gap.
The Chains of Judgment, which had been making unstable noises, finally could not withstand the resistance and shattered.
As fragments of the chain scattered in all directions, Hylon’s body collapsed.
The sight of him vomiting red blood was etched into her vision.
“Hylon!”
Chesha called his name as if screaming.
Before she knew it, her body had sprung out.
“My lady!”
“Chesha, no!”
However, Serea and Kiern immediately grabbed Chesha.
Purple magic and black shadows wrapped around Chesha’s limbs, making her unable to move.
It was only natural.
Because Chesha had no power now.
Unlike when she purified all the monsters, she was in a state close to an ordinary human.
If she approached carelessly, she would be torn to pieces by the monsters.
‘But.’
Chesha watched the monsters, freed from the chains, rampaging wildly.
It was beyond Kiern and Serea’s ability to stop them.
Serea broke the magic that had been blocking the entrance to the banquet hall and shouted.
“Damn it, Kiern! Bring the twins! Tell Belzeon to bring all the imperial knights and troops! As much support as possible! We have to do something about the monsters first……!”
The inquisitors surrounded Hylon and protected him from the monsters.
Having suffered deep internal injuries, Hylon coughed up blood several times.
As he wiped away the flowing blood, he met Chesha’s eyes.
The moment she saw him broken, Chesha fully understood the crown’s words.
If she made the wrong choice, the fairies would also pay the price.
Because Chesha was the queen of the fairies.
‘But.’
Before being a queen, Chesha was Lichesia, a witch, and the youngest of the Vasillian family.
‘I decided not to give up anything.’
She didn’t want to make a choice that only benefited the fairies.
‘I came all the way here because I wanted to protect everything.’
Thump, her heart pulsed greatly once.
Flowers began to bloom beneath Chesha’s feet.
A fragrant scent of flowers spread amidst the monsters’ foul odor.
The monsters, which had been rampaging wildly, stopped moving and turned to Chesha all at once.
And the moment Chesha’s eyes sparkled.
Whoosh!
Flowers bloomed everywhere.
With the flowers completely filling her vision, reality distorted, and a dreamlike illusion unfolded.
It was the Illusion Realm of the witch Lichesia.