Universe's End

Chapter 235: Hidden

“Hot damn,” Roxy whistled as she felt the power thrumming through the oversized turret. “Hot damn!”

She was currently standing behind the handles of the Empyrion Caster, grounding herself every few seconds as the weapon kicked off, an ear-shattering thoom of sound as the launched rails broke through the sound barrier with ease, eviscerating monsters.

And holy E.O.N., there were a lot of monsters.

These Casters are a godsend.

As powerful as the Empyrion Casters were, only tier sevens were allowed to fire them. Not because lower tiers couldn’t, but because there was a general warning that a low-tier using a weapon far outstripping their own capabilities could potentially warrant a negative reaction from E.O.N. or the World Spirit herself.

So, as a tier seven, Roxy had been a prime candidate, especially given that she was both versed in combat and a crafter; she would handle any on-the-fly system failures with the weapons while also looking out for herself in the worst-case scenario.

Thoom. Thoom. Thoom.

Firing off another three rounds in quick order, she swiveled the oversized turret weapon as she sighted another group, only to pause, her eyes widening.

Not good!

A group of mantis monsters was racing toward her, buzzing wings vibrating as they shot forward, a glowing energy surrounding them. At the same time, one of the almost-humans was suspended in the air beneath them, chanting and holding a book of all things.

Whether they were flying toward her because she was a Caster operator or because they somehow knew she was her father’s daughter, either way was bad.

Oh, there was also the issue that each mantismonster was level seventy-seven, Brilliance Touched.

A group of adventurers attempted to intercept them, only to be sliced cleanly in two.

She had a single instant to decide, abandon her post, or try to gun them down.

Ah crap.

Which may as well have not even been a question.

Hardening a panel of folded aura in front of her, Roxy yelled out, flowing her own energy into the Empyrion Caster as she forced it to overcharge, taking aim as she unleashed.

Thoom. Thoom. Thoom. Thoom.

In four shots, seven of the monsters were destroyed or otherwise maimed.

But that still left another five, plus the almost-human who was enhancing them.

Standing, Roxy whipped her hand out as, suddenly, a saber seemed to appear, her aura folding over the blade, and her left arm held a tower shield that was likewise layered by her aura.

Roxy wasn’t an idiot; as a still-rather-fresh tier seven, she had zero chance of beating even one of the monsters.

But that didn’t mean she was going to just let them rip her to shreds.

Snarling, Roxy lashed out, and yet it never mattered.

From the very wall she stood upon, a figure appeared, her butterfly wings flaring as she swept her claw out, a crescent blade of sunlight forcing all five remaining mantis warriors to dodge, their buffing support pulled along.

“Tsarina!” Roxy called out as the Ehkorrian Bug Empress folded her arms across her ‘chest’ as she stared at the mantis warriors.

“Apologies,” Tsarina said. “I was preoccupied elsewhere.”

Roxy smiled widely as she saw Tsarina. When most thought of the most powerful protectors of Ehkorrus, the first thought was the Chief Protector, Uncle ‘Los. Next was usually her dad, simply because people tended not to put him in the same bucket to begin with. Third was the Elite Four.

After that, people tended to shrug. There were, of course, powerful adventurers or warriors outside the Elite Four, but no one who could change the landscape of a battle all on their own. Roxy didn’t fault them for forgetting about Tsarina; most never saw her as she preferred to spend her time within the depths of her hive.

For the most part, only the higher-ups and Roxy herself knew the truth.

Tsarina wasn’t just one of the most powerful members of Ehkorrus.

She was number three, if one ignored her father, that was. Only Marcie and Unclo ‘Los were her better in a direct one-on-one.

Ehkorrian Tsarina

Level: 76*

The first of its kind, the Ehkorrian Tsarina is a hybrid monster belonging to the Ehkorrian Papilionoidea family and combining empress- and warrior-class traits. Born from the machinations of the Lord Founder of Ehkorrus, the Architect of the Precursors, it can self-produce without outside intervention, forming a hive of its own.

High-tier-seven alpha variant, born of already powerful concepts and legacies.

“You guys are fucked,” Roxy laughed as Tsarina glanced back and down at her liege.

“My lady, your language.”

Roxy was going to say something, only for the five remaining mantis warriors and their handler to return on the offensive. With each of the five mantis warriors also level seventy-six and Brilliance Touched, they were somewhere between the average monster and an alpha variant; they had the best chance of slaying an equal-level alpha variant.

Attacking Tsarina in unison, it was clear the monsters weren’t just random monsters given power and set free, but a coordinated assault group. Scythe arms glowing green and orange, they rushed her, each swipe of their scythe arms also projecting green spines that instantly regrew.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Even their handler joined the offensive, saying something and gesturing toward them as orange feather magic flared into existence before launching toward Tsarina.

While Tsarina couldn’t actually make the physical expression, Roxy could sense it all the same.

She was smirking.

Catching two of her attackers at the same time with her arms, her leg snapped out, spearing through another mantis warrior’s wing as it suddenly veered off course, slamming into the wall as a horde of black beetles burst

free from the wax and completely encased the monster in a moment, dragging it back within the dense wall of wax and vegetation.Which left two of the mantis warriors still free, until she opened her mouth and spat two globs directly at them, the substance smacking them in the face and beginning to burn through their heads as they clawed at the material in an attempt to remove it.

The orange feather magic, meanwhile, splashed harmlessly against her body as the ‘fur’ covering her seemed to shimmer, drinking the magic in.

Yanking her arms back, the two mantis warriors Tsarina had caught by their arms suddenly found themselves having lost a bit of weight.

That being the exact weight of an arm each.

Of her four arms, two had remained crossed the entire time.

“Pointless,” Tsarina said, her jaw clacking several times in her ‘real’ version of a laugh.

Injured, the four remaining mantis warriors weren’t dead yet. The two de-armed mantis warriors pressed their remaining claws to their weeping wounds, a searing orange light closing them. The two that had been clawing at their faces were clearly worse for wear; a burning wax had melted through part of their armored faces, yet they also took to the air once again.

“As stated. Pointless.”

Stepping back as if walking on air, Tsarina pulled free from a molt as it suddenly came to life, facing the injured monsters as the real Tsarina glanced at Roxy.

“I will leave a protector.”

Waving her hand upward, several warrior insects appeared, her projection magic placing two hulking beetle beasts on either side of the Empyreon Caster.

“Won’t this make me more suspect?” Roxy asked, cocking an eyebrow at Tsarina.

“It won’t matter,” Tsarina said confidently, before crossing her arms and falling upon the wall, vanishing as if she’d just dove into a lake and not solid matter.

Well… She isn’t wrong.

The four mantis warriors were currently being torn apart by her molt clone; their handler had been literally ripped in half by the molt’s four arms, a crawler, one of the hive workers, dragging the still weakly struggling man into the wall, the wax accepting him much like it had accepted Tsarina.

Thankfully, Empath Resonance was more effective with those she empathized with, people she knew. Otherwise, the full brunt of what the bisected man was going through, being pulled apart piece by piece while still somewhat alive by the hive workers, would have likely caused some serious mental duress.

“This is why you don’t attack our home,” Roxy sighed, still going through exercises she’d developed over the years to shunt out some of the intake from Empath Resonance.

Anyway, the hive workers are cute when you scratch between their eyes or antennas, so I forgive them.

Tsarina wasn’t bored –that would be highly inappropriate for her– but she wasn’t exactly being challenged so far. As Empress of the Ehkorrian Hive, her job was mostly final defense; she wasn’t seeking battle further out in the field like the one known as Marcie. For the most part, that meant she only acted when an assault group such as the one that had bee-lined for Lady Roxy attempted to disable one of their gunners.

But that also meant she wasn’t exactly facing the very strongest foes out there. One of the assault groups working in coordination would prove a challenge for all but three or four of their strongest fighters, herself and the Great Khan not included. Still, if she were to be challenged, it would take a peak tier seven, or a very flimsy tier eight.

She wasn’t disappointed in the sense that no Empress wished to see their territory overrun by invaders. That said, there was an element of her that wished to test the extent of her strength. She was powerful, but how powerful? Only two within the city, once more ignoring the Great Khan, could contest her. Of the two, the Chief Protector was above her, but even the Grinning Demon was only at her level; their spars, while limited, had shown as much.

Had she been another monster, thoughts of turning on the city of Ehkorrus would have undoubtedly entered her mind. There was an instinctual understanding that if a monster were to take over a settlement, they could create something even better than her regular hive. Paired with her nature as a Queen-type monster, she could only imagine what the outcome would be. With only two figures who could truly oppose her, her success was all but guaranteed, the ability to hold the population hostage after her hive had so successfully intertwined with the city.

But that was if she were another, more foolish monster. Her loyalty was to her Khan, the one responsible for her creation. Ignoring the reality that such an attempt would only result in a divine fury being smote upon any so foolish as to attempt to attack the Great Khan’s home.

A glance upward only confirmed it. As powerful as Tsarina was, she wasn’t anything compared to the two forces clashing in the sky. One, a blazing icon of prismatic and brilliant fury, the other, no one else but the Great Khan.

Foolish.

The Bird was immensely powerful; in fact, from a purely pneuma perspective, the Bird likely had anywhere from four to five times the pneuma at its beck and call, a monster heavily invested in the magical forces of existence.

But that was hardly all that mattered.

Turning her gaze downward, she watched multiple places at once, her awareness spread throughout the hive, the walls were her eyes and ears.

Ignoring the fact that she didn’t have ‘ears.’

Oh?

Charging toward a wall on the east side of Ehkorrus was a giant reptilian creature, twenty feet long, though not much taller than eight feet. The lack of overall height made sense, given how utterly covered in thick scaly plates it was, a monster that was clearly exceptionally tilted toward durability.

Level seventy-eight.

Atop it were nine ‘Varasians,’ as she had identified. Also heavily armored, they pointed split swords toward the nearest Empyrion Caster as the group channeled a ball of prismatic light.

Perhaps worth some effort.

The surprising aspect was that each of the nine varasians seemed to carry a similar aural weight as the lowest member of the ‘Elite Four.’ Having so many with that level of strength was somewhat surprising. Still, to Tsarina’s gaze, she could see the influence of another within them, the same way her own brood, down to even the most meager drone, were marked by her existence.

It made sense if one wanted power quickly, but those marked in this way could never grow beyond their origins. For a monster drone that was of little consequence, but for one of the ‘enlightened’ to neuter themselves?

Foolish.

Either way, it was a chance to have more of a challenge than what she’d had so far. Appearing out of the wall, Tsarina shot forward, her four arms reaching out as she grabbed the horns of the tank-like monster. With so much momentum, it was far from easy, but she pushed. For several seconds, it amounted to nothing, the riders of the monster temporarily distracted by a molt clone that had joined her, but even with the inertia the charging monster had built up, it faltered until they froze in a deadlock.

Heavy.

Her arms trembled for a moment, the most exertion she’d encountered so far.

Good.

Her clone suddenly zipped backward, flying beside Tsarina as she eyed the nine varasians and the heavily armored monster. With nine opponents of their caliber plus the monster they rode upon, even for her, it might be asking a bit much to face them while handicapping herself by fighting alone.

But then, she was an empress-class monster. While she was plenty powerful alone, her full strength was that she was never alone.

The nine varasians glared at her, chanting under their breath as their split swords composed of odd green mineral glowed, a building light exploding outward, splitting and fusing back together at random as if to disorient her as it raced toward her.

Her molt clone held its hands out as if holding a large orb or sphere, pink light erupting between its four arms.

With her clone holding the base of the attack in place, Tsarina’s clawed hands began to circle and spin around the ‘orb’ of pink light, as it solidified before shrinking inward, an energy so dense and heavy that she couldn’t have handled both holding the magic in place as well as weaving it together.

The enemy attack reconverged once more, a beam of light like a solid bar that looked as if it would strike directly through her.

That was assuming Tsarina let it.

Striking the condensed ball of pink energy with her palm, a mirroring lance of pink energy shot outward, intercepting the enemy’s prismatic magic. Clashing for a moment, the two finally canceled each other out.

“Interesting,” Tsarina said, her jaw-like mandibles clacking.

“You do not serve a proper Lord, follow one whose origin aligns with your own!” One of the Varasians called out as Tsarina’s clacking intensified.

“The Brilliant Fool?” Tsarina clacked, her ‘laughter,’ unable to be kept in check any longer. “No. I serve a greater Khan.”

“Then perish, there are too many of us even for one of your caliber to face,” another Varasian said.

“Indeed,” Tsarina nodded. “So I shall even the odds.”

Then, to their horror, and to Tsarina’s amusement, five more clones joined her, emerging from the walls.

“Let us begin.”