World Keeper - Chapter 1271: The Most Mortal Demon Queen

King grinned to himself as he stood with his group of more than a thousand fighters. There were more than a dozen Extreme Gods with combat-oriented domains, hundreds of normal gods, and several other high-level players that had been roped into this. One of the other guildmasters, a woman with spiky red hair, crossed her arms under her chest and cocked her hips. “With this many people, why don’t we just directly destroy that universe once he’s there?” She asked, but King shook his head.

“Universe destruction isn’t an instantaneous thing. There would be a few seconds for him to acknowledge the destruction and flee before he got caught in it.” King explained. “We need to blitz in and deal as much damage as we can before he even knows what is happening. Thanks to the prophet of my guild, we have his exact location, as well as the time that he will be appearing. In a few minutes, we’ll teleport in and release our strongest attacks.”

“Because of how fast we’re going, we might not have time to properly identify the target. However, my prophet said that he’s going alone, and won’t want anyone disturbing him, so assume that whatever we see is our target. We’ll deal with any potential clean-up once he’s dealt with.”

The other guild masters reluctantly nodded their heads. This was a sloppy plan, but considering their target, it was the only semi-reliable way that they could handle such an assassination.

Nearby, Creta stood at the edge of the platform where they group was gathered, waiting for the teleportation to be activated and send them all in. Those two horrific fates kept flashing in her mind, tormenting her for days on end.

Because she wasn’t a combatant, she used the excuse that her prophecy had consumed too much energy to avoid being included in this group. In actuality, she was horrified by the being that she was about to send them all to face.

A moment later, she gulped thickly. “I-It’s time.” She said, placing her hand on the control device. The others nodded their heads, assuming combat stances and preparing their own divine powers.

With a flash of mana, they disappeared, reappearing in a large, empty field. Their eyes quickly scanned around, identifying a humanoid figure not far away. With a unified shout, they blasted that figure with countless attacks, the ground trembling beneath them. The wind itself seemed to scream under the force of their attacks.

When the barrage ended, there was naught but a crater left, the field destroyed, and King grinned. Nothing could have survived that. He thought to himself, knowing that it contained enough concentrated power to kill even a Master, if caught by surprise.

Just then, the ground trembled once again, and the sky turned red. A sinister laugh filled the air. “Oh, what’s this!? So many people to play with!” A dark voice echoed, as black shadows converged in the center of the crater, turning into an obsidian throne. “Let me tell you a story of the Demon Queen Lifre, residing within her palace of black stone.”

The earth trembled again, the sky going black. Far in the distance, dark walls could be seen rising up, the only light provided by a series of hanging chandeliers. From behind the throne, a figure emerged. She was tall, with long, black hair flowing like silk, and piercing red eyes surrounded by black sclera. Her wings stretched out behind her crimson skin, and her clothes clung tightly to her voluptuous frame.

“It’s a trap! Kill her!” King shouted, firing off a beam of light, the others only a breath behind him. “Get us out of here!”

“My teleportation isn’t working!” Another god answered. When the dust settled from this second, more panicked volley, the throne was shattered, resting in a pool of blood.

“That wasn’t very nice.” The woman said, and a sickening crunch came from the center of the group, the god in charge of transport having his head ripped from his neck. A fountain of blood spewed from the severed stump, splashing on those nearby. A moment later, the demoness appeared at the edge of the crater, apparently unscathed and holding the severed hand in her hands. “I was trying to give my introduction~.”

Blood? King mentally questioned, shocked by what he had seen. How could a god bleed? Such a wound would typically be an inconvenience, easily fixed by rearranging his divine energy. “Who are you?!” He asked, trying to buy time to build up another spell, one strong enough to shatter even an Extreme God.

“That’s what I was trying to say!” The demoness laughed, lifting the head with an open mouth, tongue stretched out to let the blood fall on her tongue. After a moment, she threw the head away, licking her bloodied lips. “I am the Demon Queen Lifre. And you are all in my castle, where none may leave without my permission.”

Lifre? Wasn’t that the name of a slime, not a demon? King questioned internally, but didn’t interrupt her.

“But, it’s no fun to just leave you blindly floundering about, so why don’t I tell you my gimmick?” She asked in a saucy tone, her hands on her cocked hips. “I am… Mortal. I am the epitome of mortality. In fact, you could say that my mere presence renders all around me to be mortal. Whether you are a god or a devil, all shall bleed in my presence.” As she spoke, the ground shook again, causing her to grin sinisterly. “So long as I persist, there is no immortality to save you. No reconstituting your bodies. I wonder, how many of you remember how to fight with flesh and bone?”

“You’re lying.” King coldly accused, a small ball of mana forming behind his back. “If you were a mortal, you would have died in that earlier attack! Just look at all that blood, and not a wound on you!”

There was a giggle, and suddenly Lifre was directly in front of King, leaning in so that her eyes were mere inches from his own. “But, that’s not my blood. You never even hit me with your slow attacks. Didn’t you understand me? In my presence, everything is mortal.”

King thrust his hand forward, unleashing the gathered magic, but Lifre was no longer there. The magical blast shot past her former location, crashing into the distant wall. King watched in horror as the wall cracked… and bled. Long lines of blood flowed down from the crack, and Lifre clicked her tongue from a few meters to the side.

“Do you understand now?” She asked with a sadistic smile. “The only thing you killed was an innocent little throne. Now, shall I finish my explanation, or are you going to interrupt me again?”

King’s eyes shook, and his gaze darted around, privately messaging those around him. Find a way to seal her movements! She seems to want to monologue, so take advantage of it. Look for an opening!

The demoness giggled as she walked to the edge of the crater once again. “Good, it seems you’re willing to listen. Now, as I was saying, everything is mortal in my presence. Furthermore, I have an additional power from my mortality. I can use the powers of any whose blood stains my body.” There was an evil glint in her eyes as she spoke, licking her lips again. “How much will you all entertain me? Struggle, scream, and persist. Fight against the inevitable, and become sacrifices to my legend.”

As soon as she finished saying that, her wings flapped, and she ascended to the sky, her arms spread wide. “I am the Demon Queen Lifre, the one who slaughters worlds! Come, and let the carnage commence!”

With Lifre airborne, three people near the back of the group held up their staves, forming a prison of mana around her. However, she simply laughed, her figure disappearing in a golden flash. “Nice try, but your friend was quite good with teleporting.” She said, holding a severed arm in each of her hands.

Screams rang out through the group as two of the three who attacked previously fell to their knees, clutching the bloodied stumps. Gods rarely felt pain, and never like this. Normal pain may be wise to keep for them, but debilitating pain prevents one from being able to defend themselves. Thus, almost every god will set a limit to the pain that they can feel after they have mastered their own divinity.

Lifre grinned as she watched the scene, the others stepping back in horror as she slowly walked forward. When the ground trembled again, King was distinctly aware that this was not an earthquake, nor was it the aftershock of an attack. This was the heartbeat of the planet. The ground beneath their feet had come alive.

Lifre’s body vanished again, dropping the severed arms and appearing in the middle of their group. Her hand slowly caressed the cheek of a silver-haired swordswoman, looking at her with a grin. “You should be one of their strongest fighters, so why are you so slow?” She asked, and the woman immediately reached for her sword, only to cry out in pain when she found her wrists both severed, blood gushing out over both her and Lifre.

It was only now that several of the nearby combatants noticed Lifre’s tail, long and flexible, with a spaded tip. Around it was a thin layer of ki, as sharp as a sword’s edge. The tail flicked lightly, and the woman in front of Lifre was cut in half, causing the demoness to laugh as her body erupted in a fountain of blood. “More, more! Show me more! This can’t be all that you can do! I was so excited to get to have fun! You can’t be this weak just because you’re in a flesh body!”

After Lifre spoke, she tilted her head back and to the side, her eyes hollow as she looked at the nearby fighters. “If you can’t entertain me, I’ll find ways to entertain myself. You don’t want that, do you?”

Horrified by her cruel display, ten nearby mages conjured a torrent of flames around Lifre’s feet, which spiralled up into the sky. “Fighters! Reinforce your eyes with ki! Mages! Track her movements with your mana! If you can’t adapt to her rules, you’re going to die here!” One of them shouted, and Lifre laughed crazily from within the torrent of flames.

“Yes, yes! That’s it! Now you’re starting to understand! Good! There’s hope for you!” She said, her wings flapping once to dismiss the flames. A thin layer of ki served as armor over her body, protecting her from the magical flames. “I have mastered all four primary energies. I have bathed in the blood of the earth. Show me! Show me that there is at least one of you that can fight me!”

As soon as she spoke, a dozen fighters charged, their swords raised. Lifre’s tail flashed, dismembering the first three to reach her before she jumped into the air, leaving them to scream on the floor. A crazed grin was etched on her face as arrows laced with various energies shot towards her, forcing her to dodge through the air. Some of these arrows turned to follow her, causing her to laugh as she flew down into the crowd, forcing the arrows to pierce their allies.

With every move she made, screams rang out and blood sprayed. The most horrible thing was that she often didn’t aim to kill. She crippled them, removing their arms or legs, forcing them to feel pain that they had long forgotten. Their cries caused the faces of their allies to pale, their shoulders to tremble in fear. They knew that Lifre could easily have killed them all already, but she chose not to. She was playing with them.

Finally, one arrow found its mark, piercing through the ki barrier around Lifre and sticking into her shoulder. The demoness gave a hiss of pain. For the first time, they saw her bleed. Yet still, the grin never left her face. If anything, it only grew wider when she saw that one of them had managed to land a blow. “Finally, I can enter stage two! Rise!”

The blood soaking the ground trembled at Lifre’s words, pooling up and attaching to the bodies of those it came from. For the swordswoman that had been split in half, the blood formed sutures to pull her body back together. For those dismembered, it formed limbs made of blood.

Those unfortunate enough to survive losing their limbs were horrified to find their bodies moving on their own, their powers being turned against their former allies. Try as they might, they could no longer control their ki, their mana, or even just their basic movement. They had become blood puppets of the sadistic demon queen.