“Y-your Majesty, I-...” Before I could even finish my sentence, a bolt whisked by, barely missing me.

The bolt had smashed straight through Ellysa’s tea cup, shattering it into pieces. While Ellysa had been smiling just moments ago because the elves were killing each other, she was now smiling for an entirely different reason.

“Spirit.”

“YES, YOUR ABSOLUTE MAJESTY?” I stood in attention, trying not to displease her at any cost.

Ellysa closed her eyes as her smile became wider. She lazily dropped the broken cup… or what remained of it… onto the floor.

“Lay down on the floor.”

“YES, YOUR MOST GRACEFUL MAJESTY!” I immediately slapped my forehead against the snowy floor. Nevertheless, I tried to peek up just to make sure she didn’t want to kill me. I was sure she must be thinking ‘You should’ve protected my tea cup with your face, you maggot.’ or somewhere along that line.

Ellysa raised both of her arms, then clapped. The sound produced created a shockwave which resonated across the battlefield, catching the attention of every single combatant.

“Who in the People’s Beard are you?!”

“What is this shortie doing here?”

“FREEEDOM?”

Please, guys. If you want to die, don’t drag me with you!

Ellysa chuckled, then announced, “Greetings, you lowborn peasants. I am Queen-...”

“Did she say ‘queen’?!”

“Enemy of the state!”

“Enemy of the future theocracy!”

“A pretender to the throne?!”

“A counter revolutionist?!”

“I have no strong opinion about this whatsoever because I am just an orc!”

Everyone turned their weapons, from halberd-staves to glass swords, at Ellysa and her entourage. It seemed that everyone had suddenly forgotten they were trying to kill each other to the last man until a common enemy appeared.

Ellysa sighed, then stood in place with her hands resting against her hips. Her dwarven maids stood in a circle around their queen, but they showed no interest in unsheathing their weapons.

“Urraaaa!”

“For Holy Sayitsi!”

“The Revolution cannot be stopped!”

Just as the elven weapons were about to collide with the maids, Ellysa opened her eyes. I could already feel the pure malicious killing intent the dwarven queen exerted just by standing next to her. Queen Ellysa’s body twisted as a blade made out of flesh shot out from her arm, instantly decapitating the surrounding elves.

Ellysa’s maidens simply ignored the blade as it went through them like illusions. Blood gushed out in every direction, but the chaos had only begun. Countless balls of blood floated into the air created from the blood spilled by the corpses.

Ellysa’s shark-like mouth grinned from cheek to cheek as the balls of blood exploded, immediately wiping out large groups of people. Worse still, those that survived the initial explosion had black liquid spilt all over their bodies.

The foul, corrupted blood melted through the flesh of countless elves and orcs as they screamed, but the elves were determined and resilient, resisting to the bitter end. Arcane bolts danced wildly and swirled into the air, all headed straight for the dwarven queen.

Ellysa snapped her finger, and two of her maids exploded into a mist of blood. The mist immediately formed a red dome around Ellysa, and multiple explosions were soaked up by the blood shield.

Of course, vampires didn’t only used blood. Intestines erupted out of bodies, then began strangling any nearby living person. Ribs launched themselves and punctured countless elves who were foolish enough to stay near any corpse.

If dead bodies were soldiers for liches, they were weapons to vampires.

Blood started to rain from the excess of unchecked slaughter. A phenomenon common when a vampire takes the battlefield, aptly named the ‘Crimson Rain’ because survivors weren’t creative at making names, though I heard rumors that the vampires hunted the person who made this boring term.

Ellysa let loose a laugh unbefitting a dignified monarch, and more of a psychopath who had finally escaped asylum.

Not a single witness stood… except for me, perhaps. The entire square was painted in red, and countless numbers of mutilated corpses were scattered across the battlefield.

I looked back at the dwarven queen and realized that her dress had completely changed. A half cape made out of skin covered her top, but it wasn’t long enough to cover the fact that ribs protruded from her sides or that there was a massive gaping hole in her chest. In it, she lacked any organs other than a large beating heart. Actually, I couldn’t even tell if that was inside or outside of her chest.

The dress made out of flesh and bones produced an awful stench, causing me to almost gag. Although I’m a spirit, I possessed a human-like body in the material plane which did not help at this moment.

The tongues all reached out to lick the blood trickling down the fleshy dress while the eyes all over her dress looked around in pure anger.

Quite frankly, I was starting to think this was a nightmare. There was no chance something like… this thing… could exist in this realm of existence. Even comprehending her existence was causing a tear in my senses. If I was a normal human, I felt like I would’ve imploded from insanity a long time ago.

I had almost forgotten that the strongest mages were also the most deranged. Ones that should be locked up in the depths of The Abyss, never to see the light of reality.

As the rain started to fade, so did Ellysa’s vampire form. Her dress was starting to resemble a set of decorated crimson robes with a hood to cover her face. I raised my head and realized a group of antlered bears were approaching us.

‘P-please...don’t c-come near…’ I tried to shout, but couldn’t find my voice. I reached for my throat, thinking that someone was strangling me.

I had thought the worse was to come when the bears stopped in front of the queen. They bowed down, and an elf officer on top of a bear greeted, “Greetings, honored guest of the People’s Forest. My leader is pleased that you have come and wishes to meet with you at the Kreylin. May I know Your Honorable’s name?”

Ah… it seemed that Ellysa had already thought of this. Despite being a psychopath, she was still cunning. As expected of a queen and a vampire lady.

“I am the Vampire Lady Essah. While I am displeased at the welcoming party given to me, I will forgive your race as I am feeling generous today,” Ellysa declared.

Despite the cold climate of the elven lands, there was a visible sweat falling from the elf’s forehead. “Y-... Your generosity is lost on us, Honorable Comrade.”

It seemed that all the witnesses have been killed thus the queen assumed a fake identity… or perhaps that was her real identity. Regardless, not many people have seen the dwarven queen in person, but it seemed that Ellysa was meticulous and cautious.

“Now, lead me and my thralls to your so-called leader before I lose my patience,” Ellysa ordered.

“Yes, Honorable Comrade. Please ride on the bear specially prepared for you,” the officer suggested as he beckoned for an antlered bear with a cushioned sofa atop of it to move forward.

“Come now, spirit. Let us not dawdle around for too long,” Ellysa called out to me.

A maid draped at piece of black cloth on me, then left me. Only now did I realize that I was covered in blood. My hand was still shaking from what I witnessed, and my breathing was erratic. But still, my body moved on its own, as if it was some kind of basic instinct.

I… I just want to go home.

.

.

.

The Kreylin was a citadel built within a massive tree. It was heavily fortified with walls and numerous sections to serve as the nation’s final line of defense against enemies and as the nation’s capitol building.

It was guarded by republican forces, members of a milder faction whose goals were to enact a democratic government which combined the best of both the current and the old government.

Despite being besieged by all sides, the republicans held their ground even when it was cut off from the rest of the world. Elves, as long as they had a patch of dirt, could supply themselves with a wide variety of supplies like food and weapons which was why elven villages could be months away from one another. A single elven fort would a massive thorn in any invader’s path so most nations don’t bother with invading the elves.

An elf wearing a commissar’s fur coat sat on a sofa waiting for us in a room we were guided to. As soon as we entered, he stood up and greeted the queen.

“Honorable Comrade, I, as the representative of the Sayitsi Federation, greet you in this time of turmoil. May I know why you are here?” the elf asked. Vampires were notorious throughout the Continent, so most people opted to placate them rather than make enemies out of them. After all, only they could stand toe-to-toe against the demons.

Ellysa, wearing her robes, walked around the room and inspected the furniture. At last, her eyes descended upon a set of ceramic tea set sitting inside a cupboard.

“Where was this made?” Ellysa asked as she picked up a teacup.

“It is from the Vallen Empire, Honorable Comrade. Would you like to take it as souvenir?” the elf offered.

Ellysa’s mood improved as her maids took the tea set off the cupboard. I gave the elf a thumbs up for his success in delaying the end of the world. The queen went for the most intricately designed chair and sat on it. She adjusted herself, but frowned when she realized she was still uncomfortable.

She got off the chair, then snapped her finger. Her shadow mutated and manifested into a monster, panicking the elf representative until it formed a shapeless chair. She sat on it, crossed her legs, then said, “I am looking for a group of Angolian ambassadors.”

“Comrade, we could fetch the Angolian ambassadors right this instance if you-...”

“Not them. Recently, the so-called ‘heroes’ from Angolia came here. Do you know of them?” Ellysa asked.

“Yes, comrade. They came here to act as representatives of Angolia before being replaced by the new Angolian ambassadors,” the elf replied.

“Where are they now?” Ellysa follwed-up.

“Eh… last I heard, they took a ship from Greeningsrad to the Sorcerer City States. But if you plan on going to the Sorcerer City States, Greeningsrad is currently taken by rebels and-...”

“That is not a problem. Prepare a ride to Greeningsrad immediately,” Ellysa ordered.

“Yes, yes, comrade. As you will.” The elf immediately left the room. After all, the faster he gets her the ride to Greeningsrad, the faster the vampire lady would leave. Not only that, the elf figured that if the vampire was to go to Greeningsrad, she would be able to wipe the rebels out.

It was a win-win for the Federation!

I sighed tiredly as I leaned back on my chair. Ellysa chuckled then raised her brand new tea cup towards me. A maid took out a pot out of nowhere and poured tea into the cup.

“You look tired. How about a drink?” Ellysa offered to which I accepted. Not that I wanted to reject anyway.

I took a sip then almost spat it out.

This wasn’t tea?!

It was beer the whole time?!