Chapter 310: Two Queens In a Palace

Leno, Lidia, Squabee, and Sarah walked across the grey earth, admiring the devastation caused from Zalo’s calamity.

"Nothing is left alive. It’s... all gone. Not a single plant looks like it survived."

Leno nodded his head.

"Zalo’s forces appear to be spread out towards the very edges of the continent. I feel a high concentration of corruption a little way ahead. That may be the time leviathan you all are looking for."

Leno squinted his eyes.

"But are you sure it’s a leviathan? Something tells me this place is much more powerful than you think."

Lidia shook her head.

"It’s been so long that it is likely it has grown. Especially with all the monsters that may have entered its area to feed it. Does Zalo know this thing exists?"

Leno raised his shoulders.

"It is likely he does know but never bothered to investigate himself."

Sarah held on to Squabee’s arm as they walked forward.

"I hear something far ahead of us."

Everyone stopped and looked forward. Leno squinted his eyes as he looked across the terrain.

"What is it you hear?"

Sarah hesitated.

"It sounds like... laughter."

Squabee shook slightly understanding who she may be hearing.

"Pops..."

Lidia straightened her back and marched forward.

"Let’s continue walking."

"Wait. I hear something else."

Sarah raised a hand to her ear. After a short pause, her eyes widened.

"People! There are other people there!"

"All the more reason we need to hurry. I wonder what kind of gift we will be welcomed back with after what happened."

Leno scratched his neck.

"I’m assuming these people don’t like you very much?"

"Not at all. Gosh, it’s still so weird talking with you. You were just inside my belly!!"

Leno smiled warmly.

After thirty more minutes of walking, a mighty kingdom revealed itself. Strangely, it looked the exact same as it did when they left it, as if it never aged a single day once they left its boundaries. However, a dark energy was now perforating the air, making it hard to breathe. Leno’s smile slowly turned into a frown the more they walked.

"This air is corrupted. I would recommend you all stay close to me."

Squabee began to panic.

"The air is corrupted?! That’s possible?!"

"With a powerful enough entity, it appears so."

"So, we have made it? We’re in the time leviathan?"

Leno nodded.

"We’ve been walking inside its territory for around twenty minutes at this point."

Hearing Leno’s comment made Squabee weak in her knees.

"Twenty minutes?! How large has this thing grown?!"

They entered through the front gates of the kingdom and began walking through the empty streets. Lidia walked up to Sarah.

"Where do you hear the people?"

Sarah pointed towards the palace.

"The voices have gone silent. They were all in the castle."

"How many?"

"I don’t know. It sounded like five voices. Two of them sounded very familiar."

"Familiar? We need to get to the castle as soon as possible."

Without wasting anymore time, Leno teleported them to the front steps of the palace. This place brought terrible memories back to Lidia and what she had to endure thanks to the Queen’s power. However, this was also the very same place she had received her light powers, something that had changed her power completely.

"I don’t miss this place."

Instead of opening the doors, Lidia simply kicked them off their hinges. No one asked any questions and followed her inside.

"Which way, Sarah?"

"Go left."

They walked down the long, flawless corridor. Lidia looked at Sarah for another direction.

"Continue walking this way. I think there’s a hallway you need to take a right at the very end of this."

Sarah was right. Lidia allowed Sarah to take the lead of the group with Squabee helping her walk. Eventually, they made it to two reinforced doors at the very end of a hallway. Sarah’s face looked worried as she stopped in front of it.

"It’s... this one. They’re all in here."

Lidia rushed past Sarah and grabbed the reinforced doors with her hands, crumpling them like paper and tossing them to the side. She strode in confidently as she looked around the familiar throne room.

Sitting right in front of her, on her throne was none other than Queen Chronos herself. Her hair was longer but kept the same blue shade. Pops was by her side, covering his face while laughing to himself like a maniac.

"No... ENKI!!"

There were three people strung up on wooden posts, Enki being one of them. The person next to him was Pelo Kin, the emperor of Paria Empire. The last person was a woman Lidia had never seen before. Each of them was severely deformed, blood covering every inch of their body. Shallow breaths left every one of their mouths as they hung lifelessly against the wood.

"Pelo..."

The ground underneath Lidia cracked as she stomped her foot on the ground.

"RELEASE THESE PEOPLE AT ONCE!!"

The Queen studied Lidia carefully.

"My, it seems I’m not the only Queen anymore. How disappointing."

"Let them go. Now."

Lidia’s voice was cold and threatening. Her body began to shimmer with powerful light.

"Or else."

Queen Chrono’s began to laugh. Pops joined her in the laughing for a short while.

"Let them go? Why would I ever do such a thing after what you have all done to me and my friend here? Besides, each of them is beyond broken by now, I’m sure. Look at the glimmer in their eyes and see for yourself."

Lidia ran up to each wooden figure and broke it with one fist. She picked up Enki who laid weakly in her arms. His eyes were lifeless and distant as if he had seen horrors beyond any comprehension.

"What did you do to them? What did you DO?!"

Squabee and Sarah rushed over and healed their wounds. However, even after being healed, none of them moved or spoke a single a word.

"Sarah, keep healing them."

Sarah shook her head.

"They... they are completely healed already. My powers aren’t doing anything more."

"Then what’s wrong with hem?"

"It may be a mental wound. My powers aren’t capable of healing those."

The Queen scoffed.

"It looks like your friend did some medical homework. Healing won’t work on them. They’ve probably experienced an agony beyond comprehension for eons at his point. Sound like a familiar situation, Lidia?"

Lidia’s blood boiled with rage. She was about to charge right at the queen and punch her in the face before Leno stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Mother, please don’t. We didn’t come here to fight them."

The Queen raised an eyebrow.

"Mother?"

A sly smile appeared across her face.

"You’ve been busier than I thought while you were gone. Much busier. Please don’t tell me my handsome servant was the one who gave you that child."

"You’re a dead woman if you try to talk about my husband like that again. Understand me?"

"Husband?! Oh! My heart aches!"

The Queen made an exaggerated gesture with her arms before leaning forward on her throne.

"By the way, why isn’t he here with you? Already get into a fight?"

Lidia stared at the Queen with a burning gaze. Leno was the first one to speak.

"My father is on a quest for strength. We’re going to take down Zalo for good. I understand you’ve had some quarrels with my parents in the past, but can we put that aside and form a temporary alliance?"

Lidia scoffed.

"I would rather fight Zalo alone than fight alongside this wannabe queen."

"An alliance?! Ha...haha...HAHAHA!"

Pops laughed and rolled on the floor hearing the ridiculous notion.

"Form an alliance with YOU bunch?! After everything you have put us through?! YOU... you... you, you, you, YOU, YOU?! HAHAHA!! And they say I’M the crazy one!!"

Leno nodded, stading his ground confidently.

"You’re both very strong. We don’t need you as allies, but you make things much easier for us."

The Queen shook her head.

"So, you want us to be the cannon fodder for your grand plan? Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Mother, please stop. This battle is something hardly either of could handle. I’d rather not have to kill you both, so please join our side."

"Kill us? That may be a funnier comment than offering for us to join you! You couldn’t lay a finger on me if you tried. I bet you couldn’t even damage my jester."

"If I damage him, will you join our side?"

"What kind of nonsense is this?! We aren’t negotiating with you. In fact, you should all be worrying for your lives."

The Queen held out her hands as azure sparks exploded from her fingertips.

"It’s unfortunate you are all already trapped."

Leno teleported next to Queen and sliced her head clean off. Pops turned his head to see what had happened, but Leno was already behind him, throwing his fist through his skull. Pops’s body when limp as Leno’s fist explode out the front of his face.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I’m sorry, Mother. It looks like we are going to have to fight alone."

As he opened his eyes back up, he was standing right where he just was. The Queen was staring at him with an amused expression. Leno’s eyes widened.

’I wasn’t fast enough.’

"What’s with that look, huh? Did you try something and figured out it’s too late for either of you to escape without consequences?"

Lidia stared at the Queen with wrath.

"I’LL KILL YOU!!"

She exploded forward and connected a glowing fist with the queen’s face. A concentrated explosion ripped her head clean off, painting the room red with blood. Before pops could react, Leno managed to slice his torso in half.

Woosh

Both Lidia and Leno were standing back where they started, the Queen giving them the amused expression.