The Queen lunged forward, snipping the air as she took this opportunity to strike down the unmoving Red.
“The agony of the lashes must be causing your mind to reel, no!? That is one of the downsides of the flesh! I’ve heard that suffering is integral to human experiences!”
As expected, Red did not attempt to block this attack. The scissors snapped around her neck, but it did not decapitate her.
“Your DEF was this high!?”
Indeed. [Snip Off The Unwanted Fruits] did 950 ATT damage. But with Red’s DEF it did a total of 391. The extra 1 came from her MAG ATT, which could not penetrate through Red’s cloak.
It heavily bruised her neck. The pain was excruciating, but Red was no stranger to it. She welcomed it in fact, and with the Queen this close again, she plunged her blade into an eye.
“REEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!”
“Hold still while I put you down!”
[Punch]. Like a hammer to a nail, she punched the blade deeper into the Corrupted’s skull as her emotions Heightened.
It was a significant boost that caused her total ATT to reach 960. The attack became a one-sided ordeal, and it wouldn’t be long before Red would reach the First State.
Once that happened, then the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns was as good as dead.
“Mister Huntsman didn’t deserve to die!” Red mounted the Corrupted and began pummeling their face with rounds of hammer-like punches.
The Queen’s head split open, revealing worm-like brambles beneath as their HP rapidly depleted. In the meantime, Red endured the lashes of the Queen, her skin flailing and her clothes tearing.
The Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns | HP: 48,545
Red | HP: 13,200
Red would die first.
“Vengeful… Red…!”
“That’s Hatchling Red to you!”
She hacked off the arms of the Queen. With no way to wield the weapon, Red was now completely free to eliminate the Queen as she saw fit. The rotting innards of the woman the Queen had taken over splattered and churned like the pulp of a decaying apricot.
Her eyes glowed a vibrant red.
Her hatred for this monster forced her to dissect her as she scoured her body for its core.
“You dare destroy this vessel of mine? I was close to perfection…”
And just when she thought she had found a golden light within her abdomen –
“RED! MOVE! NOW!” Snow cried with a desperate plea.
–Red gave it a quick stab before retreating.
Unfortunately, that light did not seem to be the Queen’s Core.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“What’s coming next!?” Red shouted, relying exclusively on Snow’s commands.
“I’m not sure just yet! It’s a hunch… But I’m getting a reading I’ve never seen before! It’s… This… What is this…?”
Snow’s eyes lit up as if she knew exactly what the words that were written in her diary meant, but her mind had refused to believe them. She covered her bloody mouth in disbelief, the ground shaking around them.
This was not caused by Rockie, who had gone around slaying the Bitter Dregs. Those same Bitter Dregs were terribly weak and had attempted to flock towards Snow but to no avail. But now, dozens were converging on the glowing corpse of the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns.
“But it was expected. I will be receiving Snow’s body soon enough.”
“First… you should come to understand that while we are monsters, that smallest, glimpse – an aspect – of humanity resides within us.”
“That comes in the form of emotions.”
//////// < WARNING > ////////
< The Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns’ Emotional State is Rapidly Rising >
“She has those Emotional States too!?” Red couldn’t believe this.
“… That’s not possible…” Snow was also shocked, but for an entirely different indiscernible reason.
Red had believed this phenomenon was exclusive to just her and those around her.
But for it to exist within the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns meant that perhaps everyone had this latent power.
No. Snow said she hasn’t seen this before. This must be a first.
“I hear a faint ticking. The morning bird sings.”
“Those faint whispers…”
“You will not prevent me from claiming my wish!”
The light within her corpse intensified, as was the light hidden within the shattered oak tree behind her. The split barks were held by a complex web of brambles resembling connective tissue.
It shivered to an invisible wind as mounds of meat rose from the ground.
The Bitter Dregs latched onto one another, creating meaty brambles. The hands of corpses reached towards the light as though they were cadavers attempting to escape hell. That light was a false star, and rather than offering them salvation –
“Become one with me. The nutrients of humanity. Condense. Accumulate. Fester. So that we can become that perfect fruit.”
–It became their ultimate damnation.
A fruit-shaped being made from the masses of humanity stood before them. It was attached to the tree with an artificial umbilical cord. Nutrients were pumped into it as though to nurture something sinister within.
The faintest outline of an inhuman embryo could be found when the light of the tree shone directly behind it.
Precisely two pillars of flesh rose. They were shaped like arms and stood over five meters high. They were not as large as the eight-meter large fruit of humanity. Each carried an oversized half of the dark scissors.
“Like my Fairytale’s Bane and my knife. It’s upgraded.” Red clicked her tongue.
The Queen’s stats had changed to reflect their newfound form. It was minimal, but she knew right away that what she couldn’t see was the most important detail.
“Its DEF stats should be higher this time. There’s no way that bastard isn’t going to try to protect that embryo inside!” Snow was the first to relay this.
< [Shell Of Utter Beginnings] >
< A false embryo waiting to absorb its awaited nutrients >
ATT DEF : 1,200 MAG DEF : 1,200
< EFFECT: Lock ATT DEF and MAG DEF to 1,200 on self. When HP drops to 0… >
“… Fine then. Two can play that game.” Red bared her teeth.
And at once –
//////// < WARNING > ////////
< Your Emotional State Has Risen to the First State >
–Red retrieved her Fairytale’s Bane from her [Dimensional Storage].
18 Chapters ahead over on the
Discord! We have cute Vengeful Red emotes!
