Chapter 44: A Calamity-Like Power, an Arrival Like the End of Days

(This chapter is recommended to be read with “Tom Tom” as background music, commonly known as “The Little Song of Starburst”~)

Blood Rain poured down in torrents.

The sickly-sweet scent of iron mingled with the stench of scorched earth, congealing into a nauseating gloom across the battlefield.

Whether it was the fearless Orcs or the Humanity soldiers who had yet to retreat, all of them now stood frozen as if struck by the Curse of Petrification, rigid in place, their pupils reflecting the figure standing beneath the downpour of Blood Rain.

In an instant, hundreds of lives were snuffed out like dust.

This kind of power had already surpassed anything mortals could comprehend.

“No… Impossible… This must be an Illusion! Some kind of Mass Destruction Spell Scroll!”

The fanaticism and greed on Shala Wiseclaw’s face had long since faded, replaced by a look of terror and disbelief, as if she were seeing a ghost.

She simply couldn’t accept it—the power this woman displayed was even more direct, even more… terrifying than the very gods she worshipped!

“P-Priestess, let’s retreat for now!” Beside her, the pig-headed female warrior Piggelu snapped out of her petrified state and growled low, “We can’t match this one!”

After speaking, she shouted to those around her, “Don’t be afraid, everyone! There’s only one of her! With our army of hundreds of thousands, we could drown her with a single spit each!”

Yet none of the Orcs around her dared to move, their clawed hands gripping weapons trembling like autumn leaves in the wind.

Just as morale had plunged to its lowest, Shala Wiseclaw gradually regained her composure and let out a loud laugh, “Relax, we still have our trump card…”

As if responding to her words, a hoarse and weighty voice echoed from the depths of the marsh behind them.

“What a… disgraceful bunch.”

“To think a little human girl could scare you all out of your wits.”

Boom!

With those words, a colossal figure nearly five meters tall forced its way out of the Corrupted Marsh.

With every step she took upon solid ground, the earth trembled violently, as if a walking Attack Beast was on the move.

The newcomer bore the majestic features of a lion-type Orc, her amber vertical pupils sharp as blades. A savage claw scar slashed across her left eye, nearly tearing half her face apart.

Her thick, sandy-golden hair was braided into several massive plaits hanging down her back, and around her neck hung a necklace fashioned from polished human skulls, gleaming a chilling white beneath the Blood Moon.

“That’s the Slaughterer, Haus! It’s Lady Haus!”

“The Legendary Lion King who cut down a thousand! She’s here too!”

“We’re saved! We’re saved!”

The desperate Orc Army, upon seeing this figure, seemed to find their backbone at last, erupting in frenzied cheers as if given new life.

“So noisy.”

Slaughterer Haus’s gaze turned cold. With a backhanded slap, she instantly crushed the noisiest werewolf beside her into a puddle of bloody pulp.

The splattering blood didn’t even cause her expression to change in the slightest.

Instead of frightening the Orcs, this brutal act only made the bloodthirsty frenzy in their eyes burn even hotter!

Only then did Haus bare her teeth in satisfaction, revealing a cruel smile.

Step by step, she strode before Astreia, her towering figure casting a mountain-like shadow.

“Little girl, your name is Astreia, isn’t it?”

Slaughterer Haus absentmindedly stroked her chin, a trace of nostalgia flickering in her amber eyes.

“I remember… Many years ago, I personally crushed the necks of a pair of human nobles.”

“Before they died, they kept shouting this name…”

“Oh, right. That couple, weren’t they the King of Valoran and the Queen of Valoran…? Take this, you little brat!”

Before her words even faded, Haus suddenly exploded into action!

Those claws, sharp enough to rend steel, howled through the air and slashed down at Astreia’s head!

Yet—

Astreia simply raised one hand slowly and caught the unstoppable claw with ease, as if it were nothing.

“Clang——!”

A shrill screech of metal rang out, accompanied by a shockwave that blasted outward in a visible circle!

Yet Astreia’s figure remained utterly unmoved.

“W-What?!”

Slaughterer Haus’s amber eyes widened in shock. She tried to pull back, only to find her wrist gripped tightly by a seemingly delicate hand, utterly immovable.

“Oh… So this is your answer?” Astreia slowly lifted her gaze, those Witchfire Eyes burning with violet flames, utterly calm. “If that’s the case, then tonight, I’ll take the chance to avenge my parents…”

“Damn it!”

Haus made a split-second decision, her left claw forming a blade as she unhesitatingly slashed at her own right arm, attempting to sever it to escape!

She was fast.

Astreia was faster.

“Crack——!”

A crisp, tooth-aching sound of bone shattering echoed across the field.

Astreia merely tightened her grip, and Slaughterer Haus’s massive hand, along with the wrist bone, was crushed into powder!

“Awo——!!!”

Howling in agony, Haus’s huge body staggered back wildly, and after putting some distance between them, she dropped to one knee in utter humiliation.

Cold sweat, mingled with rain, poured down her face.

Silence reigned.

The Orc Army, who had just been cheering in frenzy, now stood frozen once more.

“O-One move… The legendary Slaughterer Haus didn’t even last a single move?!”

“She’s the monster who can topple an Attack Beast with her bare hands! How could a human crush her hand?!”

“Is she… Is she really human?!”

“A devil! She’s a devil!”

“It’s over… We’re all going to die here…”

Seeing the army’s morale collapse again, Slaughterer Haus gritted her teeth against the agony in her right arm, suddenly stood up, and bellowed at all the Orcs!

“Shut up, all of you!”

“Look behind you! It’s nothing but barren marshland! Our younglings, starving, are gnawing on the corpses of their own kin!”

“Look at your mates! With so little prey, they can’t even bear healthy offspring with you!”

“Now! Fertile land is right before us! Countless human livestock is right before us! All we have to do is break through, tear her apart, and everything will be ours! Food! Glory! Our future!”

“For the survival of the tribe! Even if we bleed every last drop, drive your claws into the hearts of Humanity!!”

“Kill——!!!”

Yet, as she listened to this impassioned pre-battle speech, Astreia suddenly covered her face with one hand.

“Heh…”

“Hehehe…”

“Hahahahahahaha!”

She laughed.

She laughed so hard she doubled over, her whole body shaking, her manic laughter even drowning out the thunder!

Haus exploded in rage, and even knowing she was outmatched, still roared, “What are you laughing at?! What’s so funny?! Why do weak Humans get to occupy the Continent’s richest lands?!”

“No, no… I’m just laughing at your naivety.”

Astreia slowly lowered her hand, her lips curling into a ruthlessly cruel arc, her Witchfire Eyes suddenly turning fierce and menacing.

“You still don’t understand.”

“The Erashia Continent is not… yours for the taking!”

“What did you—”

Whoosh——!

Before Haus could finish, the Witch Queen’s figure vanished from her spot!

The next instant, she appeared right before Haus, grabbing her massive head in one hand without pause, then charged straight into the Orc Army behind!

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

……

At a speed so fast she became a blur, Astreia used Slaughterer Haus’s face as a battering ram, plowing through everything in her path.

The boulders, ancient trees, and countless Orc soldiers standing in her way were all instantly smashed to pieces!

After carving a bottomless “Canyon” through the entire Corrupted Marsh, the Witch Queen soared skyward, clutching the half-shattered head.

Bathed in the blood-red moonlight, she admired her trophy with a ferocious grin.

Then—

“Splurt!”

She crushed it with a single squeeze!

Blood and brain matter exploded like fireworks beneath the Blood Moon.

Astreia flicked out her tongue, licking the warm fluid splattered at the corner of her mouth, savoring the taste. Then she turned her gaze back to the tens of thousands of utterly terrified Orcs below.

She seemed… not yet satisfied.

The next second—

The Witch Queen transformed into a streak of pitch-black light, tearing through the sky as she dove!

Thus began the one-sided massacre.

She rampaged through the Orc Army like a human-shaped cannonball, her path a series of nuclear explosions, shattering the fleeing figures into pieces!

Heaven and earth shattered.

All was swept away.

The Orcs hadn’t even had time to react before annihilation descended upon them.

The massive negative pressure from her supersonic flight swept up torrents of mud and blood, forming a colossal “tsunami” that crashed down on the barely conscious Orcs, along with their terror and wails, burying them forever in the depths of the marsh…

No one knew how long had passed.

The silver moon in the night sky had been dyed completely blood-red.

The entire World had fallen into an apocalyptic silence.

And floating in this blood-colored doomsday, Astreia was—

The one and only, invincible.

Queen of the World!