Chapter 400: Absolute Devastation

As Alexander’s mental focus fractured, the glowing pink hue in the Fox Queen’s eyes flickered out. The fog of submission cleared, and the sovereign shook her head, regaining her senses amid the fire and blood.

Realizing her surroundings, her back scorched, and remembering how she had been paraded around like a thrall, fury erupted in her chest. Her yellow eyes blazed with golden light.

"I am not a puppet!" shrieked the Fox Queen with a roar that echoed across the courtyard.

Ignoring the clash between Big Black and the other queens, the sovereign pivoted on her heels and charged at Alexander. Her nine spiritual fire tails bristled like incandescent lances, primed to impale the vampire while he remained dazed.

Yet before the flames could touch Alexander, a silhouette vaulted into the queen’s path.

Liora drew her curved blade and parried her mother’s strike head-on. Sparks of energy showered both of their faces as the young princess grit her teeth, holding the clash with every ounce of strength left in her body.

"Liora!" screeched the Fox Queen, her features contorted in rage. "Get out of my way, you foolish child! I am going to tear this vermin apart!"

"I won’t let you touch him!" screamed Liora back in defiance, shoving her mother’s blade back to create distance. "You had your chance to ruin everything! It’s over!"

"I raised you to be a queen, not a vampire’s bitch!" roared the Fox Queen, advancing with her claws dripping in aura.

A few meters away, Big Black continued his demonic rampage. The Serpent Queen tried to spit a cloud of acid into his eyes, but the minotaur didn’t flinch. Using [Explosive Muscles], he clapped his hands through the air, generating a shockwave that pulverized the acid and slammed the Serpent Queen headfirst into the stone. The Spider Queen seized the opening to drive two legs into his shoulders, but Big Black’s [Steel Body] snapped her limbs like dry twigs.

"I’m going to slaughter every single one of you!" bellowed Big Black, grabbing the Spider Queen by the throat and slamming her into the rubble.

The Vampire Empress descended to form a perimeter around Alexander. Her remaining elite vampires raised a barrier with their dark wings and shadow blades, deflecting the wind blasts and stray fireballs flying across the courtyard.

"Hold the line!" commanded the Empress, unleashing [Shadow Bats Lvl 9] to intercept an air cannon aimed at Alexander’s chest.

At the center of the defensive circle, Alexander remained on one knee, clutching his head with both hands. His fangs bled from internal pressure, and his [Vampiric Emperor Lvl 1] wings twitched, on the verge of dispersing. The mental overload from holding the enchantment echoed inside his skull, while his regeneration struggled to purge the demonic corruption from his system.

"Damn it... move..." growled Alexander through grit teeth, forcing his eyes to lock onto the surrounding chaos.

The ground shuddered once more as Big Black hurled the Spider Queen’s mangled body into the center of the plaza and turned, his red eyes locking onto Alexander.

Big Black let out a laugh that echoed across the ruined capital, looking down at the fallen bodies and the despair in the air.

"A bunch of insects," said Big Black, cracking his neck. "It doesn’t matter how many of you gather, you’re still just a handful of insects."

The Fox Queen froze, breathing heavily as the fire coating her body began to dim and die out. Physical exhaustion and magical burnout made it impossible for her to sustain her nine tails. A few meters away, the Serpent Queen lay slouched over the rubble, bleeding from her eyes, nose, and mouth after the beating she had taken.

"Let’s finish off the intruders first," declared Big Black.

Flexing his legs, the minotaur surged forward at speed toward Alexander. Seeing that the vampire was still struggling to clear his mind, the Vampire Empress threw herself into the attack’s path without hesitation. The collision was devastating: the fist struck her defense, launching her body across the courtyard and burying her under tons of collapsing stone alongside half of the main castle.

"Useless," spat Big Black in contempt, turning his eyes away from the cave-in.

Without losing momentum, he pivoted on his hooves and lunged once more toward Alexander, driving a second blow toward his head.

The demonic fist slammed into Alexander’s face with a crunch. The hyper-concentrated pressure caused the vampire emperor’s head to explode in a detonation of bone and tissue, while his decapitated body was hurled downward, plowing meters into the earth and leaving a smoking crater at the center of the plaza.

Big Black towered over the slaughter, throwing his arms wide as he unleashed a roar toward the sky that shook the night clouds.

"Listen well, you scum!" bellowed Big Black, lowering his gaze to lock his red eyes on the three trembling sovereigns. "From this moment on, you three will obey like good bitches! You will hand over every single corner of this kingdom to me, or I swear I’ll slaughter every last one of you!"

The Serpent Queen, coughing up blood clots as she dragged herself through the rubble, lowered her head until her forehead pressed against the blood-slicked stone. Panic gripped her throat, smothering any trace of the royal pride she held; only the instinct for survival remained.

"Y-Yes... whatever you command... my lord..." wheezed the Serpent Queen in a trembling voice, submitting.

Beside her, the Fox Queen, exhausted, drained of energy, and staring at the crater where the vampire’s body lay, felt her legs give out beneath her. The arrogance of her bloodline crumbled. She dropped to her knees, shaking with rage and helplessness, unable to meet the minotaur’s gaze.

"I accept... submission..." whispered the Fox Queen, digging her nails into the dirt.

The Spider Queen, leaning on her broken limbs, backed away a couple of inches before collapsing onto her knees as well. The terror of being crushed like an insect consumed the last embers of her resistance.

"The kingdom... is yours..." muttered the Spider Queen with pale lips.

All three sovereigns of the realm lay broken at the demonic giant’s feet, wrapped in the deathly silence of the ruined capital.