At that moment, Kai summoned a meeting. The 120 women—the 119 queens and the young witch—gathered with their King. Kai announced: —"Anastasia is the new member you were asking for. But first, she had to pass certain tests, as placing a ring on her could have been dangerous. Now that she has passed them, there is one step left."
He asked one of them to perform the ritual. The one chosen was Hana. She took the ring, approached Anastasia, and asked: —"Do you want to be my wife?" Anastasia responded with a clear: —"Yes."
In that instant, the ring placed itself on Anastasia's finger and held on tight. The other queens smiled. The 120 rings changed color at the same time, all turning into a soft lilac tone. That color meant one thing: the union was complete. The social experiment had fulfilled its purpose: the 60 pairs they formed during these months had reached the mental synchronization necessary for future unification into a single queen. Even so, months of training still lay ahead.
Kai welcomed Anastasia: —"From today, you are my wife. But you must understand that I have very strict rules." Hana took Anastasia's hand and spoke for her: —"Don't worry, Kai. We will explain it to her. But now we need to meet alone." Kai looked at them with a smile, nodded, and withdrew to the castle to attend to other matters.
The 120 queens surrounded Anastasia. She thanked them for the welcome, emotional and nervous. Sara took the floor: —"Anastasia, you are the last queen of all of us. I want you to understand something important: we share the same man, but we also share our hearts among all of us. Attending to the King is difficult, and you will do things you might not like." —"I am an adult woman, Queen Sara," Anastasia replied. "I know what it means to attend to the Warlock King." —"Don't call me 'Queen'," Sara corrected her tenderly. "Call me Sara."
Anastasia nodded and continued, looking at everyone: —"I don't know if you have heard rumors about the King... Among commoners and nobles, they say the King attends to hundreds or thousands of women in a single night." The queens looked at each other. They didn't know Kai was so famous... and it made them feel a slight sting of jealousy. Sara asked: —"Do you understand what you will have to do?" —"Yes. I will do my part," Anastasia said firmly.
Sara smiled. —"Good. Then it's clear: the social experiment is over. We will return to our previous life." In that moment, Hana was finally able to embrace her sisters again, and they her. A great collective relief was felt. But while the others celebrated, there was one conversation pending: Sara and Hana withdrew outside to speak alone.
Sara began: —"Why did you ignore me in the bath?" Hana sighed deeply. —"Ignore you? Are you serious? How do you want me to feel?" Hana responded with pain. Sara took her by the waist and spoke very close to her, caressing her face. —"Sara... I was months without you all. How do you want me to feel? I was excluded. I felt alone all this time."
Sara lowered her gaze. —"We know... we are very sad about that." —"I love you and our sisters," Hana continued. "But what I lived through was suffering away from you." Sara responded, holding back tears: —"My heart ached every minute being away from you... but we had to do it." And in that moment, Sara kissed Hana. Both remained embraced, recovering a love that was not physical, but a spiritual union.
Meanwhile, in the harem, Anastasia was being "received" by Aliarda and the rest. The young witch had never been kissed by a woman. The queens did not greet with handshakes or kisses on the cheek; they greeted with a kiss on the lips, without sexual desire, only as an expression of deep affection. Anastasia, surprised, was kissed by all 119 women. It was uncomfortable for her, but it awakened no carnal interest; it was a ritual gesture, a sign of sisterhood to prepare her for the King's arrival.
The queen from the mercenary kingdom, one of the more playful ones, pulled Anastasia into her enormous breasts and said: —"Look, beautiful. I'll tell you the same thing I told Lyris: you're going to be alone with the King in a room. For you, being new, the King won't include you in the giant bed; you will be in the King's own intimacy." Anastasia didn't understand and straightened up: —"What do you mean the King is going to be with all of us? I only see one King. Could it be that he multiplied?" They all laughed. —"How do you think Kai attends to us?" said a queen from the fire kingdom. "Kai attends to us by multiplying. Since one alone couldn't handle us all, you're going to have your own Kai for yourself. But remember," the mercenary queen added, "if you need help, let us know."
Anastasia felt a bit of fear, took Hana's hand, and said: —"I can't be alone with the King... I need you to help me." They all understood it was too much for her and decided they would occupy the large bed all together. They took a bath, and this time Hana was with all her sisters. Amidst caresses and kisses, Anastasia felt for the first time that she was more than loved and accepted.
But the clock was ticking. Anastasia saw how all the queens watched the time, even the ones who seemed like strong, powerful warriors. They began to hurry and gave Anastasia very sexy sleepwear to wait for the King. It was her first time. The 120 queens were waiting for Kai, who hadn't been with his women for many months.
When he entered the room—a special white hall with a mysterious light—Anastasia saw the gargantuan bed. A blue glow broke the silence, and 120 clones of Kai appeared, naked. Anastasia closed her eyes, but when Kai touched her, the sensation was so intense she couldn't contain herself and jumped on him. Despite her shyness, she couldn't stop kissing him. The other queens watched her; the black witch had been in need of affection, and Kai awakened the deepest desires.
Moans of pleasure began to echo throughout the great wooden castle. Anastasia felt her eyes roll back as she experienced the King's power. The lights went out, and only the hundreds of blue eyes of Kai's clones could be seen. That night lasted about a week. The King had finally enjoyed his wives after a long, long time.
Delayed Evolution
Almost a year and a half had passed since Kai fought the Star, and his evolution had been delayed. The 120 women had never wondered why their husband had not fallen into the 76-hour evolutionary sleep. But after having been with him, they were all happy; and the new member, Anastasia, was also very happy with her sister queens.
Alequei found the King unconscious in the office. He didn't understand what was happening at first, but he soon realized it was the evolution. The King began to glow with a faint blue and some gold light. He tried to move him, but he weighed a thousand tons, so he called his wives. Some cast spells, but the weight was so immense that he could not be lifted. So, they decided to break the office window and call more than 1,000 soldiers. With ropes and chains, they secured the King's arms and legs, and everyone pulled at once.
When they managed to move him, the King crashed through the third-floor slab, falling to the ground floor where there was solid rock. Even so, the soldiers kept pulling. The chains were snapping due to the astronomical weight. Then, one of the queens enchanted the chains, and they stopped breaking. The 1,000 soldiers began to drag their King with superhuman strength.
The queens also pulled on the chains, and both Alequei and the governor put forth all their strength. It was a thousand tons that had to be moved. Kai left a deep furrow as he was dragged. Finally, they were able to bring him to the cave. The soldiers withdrew, leaving only the princesses and the governor. There was a problem: how to get him inside the cave.
Then, the young Anastasia said to the girls: —"Do you want me to put him inside the cave?" —"What? How are you going to do it if we can't lift him even with gravity spells?" they asked in surprise. —"Haven't you listened to the King?" Anastasia said. —"What are you talking about, Anastasia? We know the King better than anyone," some queens said. —"Yes, but you never listen to him. You only hear what he tells you."
The newcomer was right. They listened to the King, but they were so in love and dizzy that they didn't pay attention to the details. —"Look," Anastasia explained, "the King has his necklace, right? And this is his stone, the one he throws where he wants to go. Take the stone to the operating table in the cave." —"But we can't activate the necklace without him." —"Yes, we can," Anastasia replied.
She touched the necklace and said: —"Now." In a blink, she teleported inside the cave along with the King. —"How did you do that?" the others exclaimed. —"The King said that his love, his riches, and all his power were at our disposal. Don't you ever listen?"
They all looked at each other and chuckled. —"You're right... we never listen to him." Alequei looked at her in surprise. The young witch had shown everyone that she was someone who paid great attention. Meanwhile, Alequei repaired the palace destroyed by the King's own weight, with the help of some soldiers. At that moment, Isabella, the black witch, ordered him: —"I want you to withdraw all troops from the imperial territory."
Isabella cast a spell, aided by Luna, the white witch. Between the two of them, they repaired the furrow and the entire building, leaving it much firmer. They were experts in magic. —"We don't want the King to see this," the witches said, and they withdrew. Alequei closed the doors. At that moment, everyone was asking Anastasia questions. Sara and Hana wanted to know: —"Are you saying we have Kai's power at our disposal?" —"Yes. Now you say he will be asleep for 76 hours. He hasn't slept in a year and a half. Let the hours pass, and when he wakes up, I will tell you my plan."
So, the 76 hours began. But this time the glow was very faint. It had been almost two years since Kai had evolved.
The 76-Hour Conclave
During 76 hours, the queens talked among themselves. Alaris, the Queen from the Sand Empire, raised the concern:
—"Alaris, what would happen if a demon attacked us at this very moment while Kai is sleeping?"
—"In fact," Alaris continued, "there is an emergency system that Kai has for when he is evolving, but we have never tested it."
Then, the queen from the Fire origin intervened: —"Why have we never tested that system? I have also seen the briefcase that is in the vault and we have never activated it."
Anya, the most intelligent of all, along with her two companions of the same origin, argued: —"Why don't we test it now that Kai is asleep? instead of waiting for something serious to happen to be tested."
The queens put to a vote the proposal to activate the emergency system, due to the doubt of an attack or war while Kai slept. The vote was unanimous: all of them voted in favor of using the system.
Since the system had never been occupied, none had any idea what the metal briefcase contained. Thus, the 120 queens headed to the vault.
The Vault and Kai's Strategy
The path to the vault was a narrow corridor, where only one or two people could walk at a time, so they advanced in a single file. As they walked, they were unaware that the vault possessed advanced security systems. They were not beasts, nor soldiers, nor magic, nor traps; the vault was protected by a system of certified and artificial weaponry.
Gladys, the Artificial Intelligence that Kai possessed and that guarded the entire vault, the palace, and managed part of the city, controlled these automatic weapons. The queens did not see them. The weapons were in a superior position, in a corner under the shadows, as the corridor had very little light.
They were firearms whose knowledge to build them the White Warlock had brought from his former planet, a world called Earth. In itself, he did not bring them, but rather invented them there, the result being a .30 caliber machine gun, a totally lethal weapon for that world. These weapons were a manifestation of Kai's thinking: that mental strength and strategy surpass brute force.
The queens tried to open the vault, but it did not respond. The vault, which always opened at a simple touch, remained sealed, even though they all touched the door. The entrance consisted of two gigantic metal doors, very heavy, wide, and thick, with no way to gain access.
While Kai was sleeping in his cave, they, beneath the palace, tried to enter the vault without success. Then, they tried to communicate with Gladys, the Artificial Intelligence that resided in the rings.
The Evolution Protocol
Gladys replied that the vault closed whenever Kai entered a state of evolution. No one could enter or leave, and she warned them to be careful because the weapons above their heads were aiming at them. The 120 queens, filled with fear, withdrew immediately. They had no idea that those automatic weapons, designed not only to kill but to impart a strategic lesson, were about to fire at them.
The Secret Plan
The queens did not understand how to enter the vault, but they knew they could not simply wait. Seventy-six hours would pass before the main entrance opened. However, Anya, one of the queens, broke the silence and proposed a risky idea: "Kai won't let us use the device. When he wakes up, we should use it, or at least know what is inside the briefcase. We must take advantage of the fact that he is asleep."
While they were discussing what Anya had said, Aliarda intervened: "I was in Kai's mind, and so was Lyris." The two queens who had connected mentally with Kai told everyone: "We could only see what he allowed us to. But we know that the vault has a secret passage."
"Which one?" asked Sara, another queen.
Then, Aliarda and Lyris told everyone else about it. The secret passage consisted of a dungeon. The dungeon was located in the forest, within the King's imperial grounds. The only way to reach the vault was through another door, but they would have to traverse those dungeons. This one, however, was SS-Class.
This meant it was a dungeon Kai used for training, where there were high-level monsters and very intelligent, intuitive traps, specifically designed to defeat great adventurers. It was a dungeon that Kai had designed to open to the public soon, and the grand prize was entrance to the vault of the white warlocks. But that dungeon was not yet open to the public.
Heading to the Dungeon
At that moment, the 120 queens decided to go to the dungeons. They undertook the journey on foot through the King's imperial grounds. They walked into the depths of the forests, which stretched for acres and acres, and finally reached the entrance of the dungeon: a large cave at the foot of a mountain.
They were all equipped with leather and metal armor. Some mages carried bags and provisions. They also brought mules to transport supplies to the cave entrance, where they quickly set up a camp.
While they spent the night planning, Gladys, the Artificial Intelligence, had granted them a map indicating the number of floors the dungeon had: one hundred floors in total. The queens would divide into groups of four, with a clear strategy:
The first group would advance to Floor 25.
The second group to Floor 50.
The third group to Floor 75.
The final group, the strongest ones, would advance to Floor 100.
The groups were divided by strength: the strongest would go to the 100th, the next to the 75th, and so on. They spent the night camping in the great forest. Those grounds were the exclusive property of the King, making it the safest place on the entire planet. No beast, villain, or demon would dare set foot on those lands without facing the consequence of being eliminated. Thus, the queens spent the night feasting, dancing, and singing, celebrating a new adventure about to begin.
The Blood Trial and the Conquerors of Floor 1
The eldest daughter of the Demon King, a queen who came from the Demon Lord's territories and was now married to Kai, broke the silence with a practical question: "What will we do with those who get injured?"
The Strategist Queen smiled with an expression of absolute confidence: "Don't worry, the strategy is flawless. The queens who return to announce it's time for relief will be, precisely, the ones bringing back the wounded."
She explained the logistics: at the base camp outside the cave, the Queen of the Church and two other queens (one of Knowledge and one of Genius) would remain. The Queen of the Church would provide the most advanced healing and spiritual support. The other two would organize the strategy in case of any failure.
"This way, we will have a support base and can organize ourselves for any unforeseen event. Everyone else with combat strength will go into the dungeon. It is true our numbers will be reduced for the final combat, but the strongest will be able to arrive with all their energy intact."
The strategy was clear: mutual aid was the key. The groups were different, but any injuries revealed during the advance had to be sent back.
The First Step
At that moment, the first group of about thirty queens advanced. They were beginning the great adventure in one of the largest dungeons on the entire planet. The cave entrance was immense; a giant could pass through it.
Upon entering, they observed many Mana crystals and what appeared to be rabbits hopping alongside other monsters. One of the elven queens, armed with a bow, attacked a rabbit. The animal disintegrated into small golden sparks and dropped a crystal, which she picked up. It was a common system in dungeons: kill monsters so they drop their power center or a magic crystal.
But these animals were not like those outside. While real-world animals bled when pierced by an arrow, those inside the dungeon were monsters. Upon catching one without killing it, they discovered its nature: they had teeth like piranhas. In large numbers, these rabbits would be lethal.
The Assault
And that was exactly what happened. As the thirty queens advanced toward the center of the first floor, about 150 red-eyed rabbits emerged and began to attack them. The sound of sword strikes, arrows, and magic spells rang out like a rain of tossed grenades. The queens, though protected by magic shields, were bitten by the swarm of furry piranhas. The shields prevented the skin from breaking, but the pain and pressure of the teeth were felt right down to the bone. Despite being only the first floor, there were already injuries.
After eliminating the threat, the White Mages and the Queen of the Church who accompanied the group provided support and began healing the wounded.
The Deadly Trap
On the second floor, the group found monstrous wolves, but in smaller numbers than the rabbits. The combatants of this group managed to push through without issues, still without encountering traps. What they did find were some chests. However, one of the Knowledge queens and the Strategist warned the group to ignore them.
"That is a trap. Kai's loot systems are usually direct; a chest in the middle of the path is an anomaly," one of them explained.
To prove it, they threw a stone toward the chest. Instantly, a portal shaped like a black hole opened, swallowing the stone and disintegrating it. The trap was lethal: if any of them had gone for the loot, they would have died on the spot.
The Bloody Journey
Throughout all this, the queens did not know that the dungeon was completely closed to the public, and even to them. The Warlock King Kai would be very angry if he knew his beautiful wives were fighting the terrible monsters he had designed for adventurers. But Kai was asleep, and the queens' curiosity about what was inside the briefcase was so great that they were determined to conquer the dungeon.
Sleep and the Broken Bone
The thirty queens advanced to the third floor, where they found beasts like bears and colored magical elks. The latter were beautiful to behold, but the elks' horns released a spore powder that induced sleep.
"Don't go near those elks," warned one of the Strategist Queens. "The sleep will leave you vulnerable. That is why the bears hunt them; they are easy prey. It's better if we drive them away with fire."
However, the bears would not let them pass, so they had to face them. The bears fell, dropping their crystals. The queen noticed that the monsters disappeared in golden sparks, as if made of magic. But they were not holograms, as a bear's claws had indeed injured one of them.
A White Mage Queen took a hit to the arm. Her magic shield was powerful and barely left a mark similar to a cat scratch on the skin, but the force of the impact had broken the bone. While the Queen of the Church in the group attended to her, the others moved forward.
Camping in the Dark
They had to reach Floor 25. According to their sleep schedule, night was falling upon them. They decided to camp inside the dungeon, taking turns to stand guard. Meanwhile, outside, the other queens waited near the cave, discussing strategies in anticipation of their relief. They needed to receive a full report of what the dungeon was like.
The Abyss and Faith
Upon reaching Floor 20, they came across a gigantic abyss, a cliff that seemed impossible to cross. There was no visible bridge, but they knew there must be one: the Test of Faith. One of the knowledge queens threw a handful of sand into the void. The sand stopped mid-air, revealing the silhouette of a gigantic bridge, perfectly solid though totally transparent. The group felt immense vertigo while crossing, having to avoid looking down as they walked on air.
The Extinction of the Goblins
They reached Floor 23, where they found high-category humanoid monsters: Goblins. These goblins tried to attack and kidnap them. Goblins were famous on the planet for kidnapping women to reproduce, but they had tried to kidnap the wrong ones. Many of these queens were warriors or of beast origin. There was no mercy: the goblins were decapitated and burned.
The Gore Finale of the Guard
Finally, they reached Floor 25. There they found a pair of quite large ogres guarding the entrance to Floor 26, though they did not attack directly; they only stood guard. The queens devised a plan to distract the ogres, divide them, and attack from the back and front. The Red Mage executed the attack: she launched a powerful fire spell that hit one of the ogres' throats, blowing it off and causing him to bleed out in a brutally gore scene. The second ogre was eliminated by an Elven Warrior who plunged her sword right into the cervical spine of his back.
Before moving to Floor 26, they had to fulfill their orders and wait for the second group. Of the initial thirty queens, eighteen were injured. They undertook the journey back, leaving only 12 on Floor 25. These twelve queens would serve as a support point and carry key information to the second group on its way, along with the injured queens returning to base camp.
The Power of 15 Tons
Nearly a full day passed inside the dungeon. When 18 of the queens emerged from the cave (eighteen of them injured), the waiting sovereigns saw the gravity of the situation. The dungeon was undoubtedly dangerous. At that moment, the immediate advance of the Second Group was ordered to support the 12 remaining on Floor 25. It took them only a couple of hours to arrive, as floors one through twenty-five were completely clear. The only way the dungeon reset was if all intruders died, which allowed the second group to advance without obstacles or exhaustion. The Second Group joined the 12 survivors of the first, forming a contingent of 42 queens ready for combat.
Revelation of Power
Before advancing, the queens shared the reports from the first group. There were traps, invisible bridges, and chests that meant certain death. But the most shocking fact was that the monsters were capable of breaking the bones of queens who, individually, were incredibly powerful. This is where the power of the sovereigns resided: each of them was so dense that she weighed around fifteen tons. This density and shared strength was a power that Aliarda had taken from Kai and then distributed. They were no ordinary warriors; they were practically as strong as SS-Class warriors.
However, there was a limiting factor: race. A human, no matter how dense, would never be as strong as a dragon with the same density, weight, or speed. Race made a huge difference. This meant that the bear on the third floor was stronger than an average SS-Class warrior. The queens were, individually, invincible warriors, but Kai's dungeon far surpassed them.
The Advance Toward Floor 40
With this harsh reality assimilated, the forty queens advanced. Between Floor 26 and Floor 40, they faced increasingly formidable monsters: giant lizards and humanoid abominations that Kai had created to terrorize adventurers. Among them, they found a three-headed beast resembling a fire-breathing lycanthrope, a nightmare that dominated this stretch. Upon reaching Floor 40, their path was blocked by a gigantic serpent. The serpent did not attack. Instead, its eyes glowed intensely as it asked them a question: "Do you want to play with me?"
The Awakening of the Star
While forty of the queens were under the unsettling gaze of the serpent on Floor 40, at the outer camp, the tension of time had mounted. Nearly two days had passed, and the waiting queens realized the famous seventy-six hours were about to be up. It was then that Gladys, the Artificial Intelligence guarding the King's properties, interrupted the strategic discussion.
"Attention to all sovereigns. I have recalculated King Kai's evolution process. His sleep will not take seventy-six hours," the robotic voice announced. "Given the magnitude of the event that led him to sleep, it will take approximately twenty-one days for him to complete his evolution."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the camp. "We have plenty of time until our husband wakes up!" one of the queens exclaimed. Another asked Gladys if the King needed any of them to look after him.
"At this moment, no one can approach the King," Gladys replied with her usual calm. "He is emitting an immense amount of radiation. I have isolated the entire zone." The Queen of the Church frowned. "Radiation? A nuclear explosion?"
"It is not a nuclear explosion, but a gamma radiation burst," Gladys corrected. "The King has begun emitting intense radiation again due to his evolution. Within him, an energy as great as that of a star is emerging—one of the most massive in the universe. It is too much power for a single being, and his energy is unstable. I have sealed the cave so that nothing escapes outside, but I have still requested the Governor to evacuate part of the city near the Palace."
The Trap of the Crowned Serpent
Returning to the dungeon, the forty queens stood before the enormous viper. Although the creature had a murderous appearance, it did not attack, though fear and tension ran through the group. "If you want to play with me, let's play, and I will let you pass," the viper said in a tone that sounded almost playful. Anya, one of the most intelligent queens, asked it directly: "What do you want us to play?" The serpent smiled: "What I want you to do is bring me that small light over on that side." It pointed to a dim light glowing about three hundred meters away, on the other side of a river. Its waters looked fast and turbulent. One of the combat queens suggested: "I'll jump across it."
"No," the viper said. "You cannot jump it. You must swim through the waters and bring me that small light. If you bring it to me, I will let you pass." Three queens from the Pirate Kingdom, great swimmers, offered to go. "Not yet," Anya said. She took a long rod with a piece of cloth and touched the water. As soon as it touched the surface, the rod and cloth disintegrated instantly.
"Oh, and it's a pity, I thought you'd fall for it," the serpent said, smiling. "But I want you to bring me that light. Remember: you must swim." It was impossible. The river was pure acid. The serpent was a Crowned-Class monster.
The Psychopaths' Solution
The Axe Queen and the Mercenary Queen, considered the two craziest, approached the viper. "Hey, you, how fast are you?" the Mercenary Queen asked. "I could eat you, little one, right this second," the viper replied, offended. The two queens burst out laughing. "I don't think you'll eat us. We run faster than you." The giant viper attacked, but the two queens jumped back with incredible speed. The viper slammed its face into the floor. The queens began running toward the river with the viper hot on their heels. When the viper was about to devour them, they pushed each other to the sides. The viper, due to its inertia, fell directly into the river. The serpent crossed the river and landed on the other side, becoming a makeshift bridge. It had fallen into its own trap because of the provocation of the two queens.
Mist and Ancient Whistles
"You are crazy!" Anya scolded the two queens who had used the serpent as a bridge.
"You know that's how it is, my love," the Mercenary Queen replied, laughing as she looked at her.
The forty queens quickly used the viper as a makeshift bridge and crossed. What shone on the other side of the acid was the key to the door, proving that they had to cross the river no matter what. They had used ingenuity and a touch of madness, but they had opened the way.
Floor 41: The Forest of Solitude
Upon moving to Floor 41, they entered an area covered by a dense white mist. It was a desolate place, like a dead forest. As soon as they began to walk, the mist completely disoriented them, and suddenly, they found themselves separated. The floor grew larger and larger as they moved away, and the forty queens were separated and alone. They realized it was a trap that didn't kill through attack, but through despair: they would die in absolute solitude, without food or water, unable to find the exit.
The Queen of the Lizard Kingdom was the first to realize the true nature of the deception. She began to use an ancient magic from her kingdom: a sharp whistle that reptiles used to call their young. The whistle transcended the mist and was heard by one of the wind mages. The Wind Mage found her thanks to the direction of the sound, and upon reuniting, both confirmed it was a deadly trap.
Acting quickly, the wind mage conjured an immense tornado, using her control of the air to clear all the mist. In seconds, the turbulent whirlwind swept the floor, and the other queens were able to see and rejoin the group. Thanks to the Lizard Queen's ingenuity and the Wind Queen's strength, they had overcome a trap that would have decimated any other expedition.
Floor 42: The New Enigma
After reuniting, the forty-two queens found the door and moved to Floor 42. The next obstacle was completely different. What was on this floor were not monsters, not traps, and not labyrinths. What it was...
Chapter 9: The Goblin's Illusion
Upon moving to Floor 42, the obstacle was not physical, but visual and economic. What they found was a village. It was a village of goblins: small houses, tiny paths, and minuscule carts. The forty queens were giants beside them. These goblins were not creatures one could easily negotiate with; they were greedy, covetous, and obsessed with gold.
"If you want to pass through here, you will have to pay," a goblin announced upon reaching what seemed to be the first bridge.
The queens paid without a word, leaving one gold coin each. But upon reaching the next "bridge," another goblin (who looked suspiciously like the first) charged them again. They kept paying until they reached the fifth bridge, where the cost skyrocketed to ten gold coins each. At that point, the group stopped.
They realized something was wrong: there weren't that many bridges. They were crossing the same bridge over and over again. The path was a magical trap that caused the same goblin to charge them incessantly. The entire village was an illusion. In reality, all the goblin was doing was stripping them of their gold.
Revelation and Combat
One of the queens, the Red Mage, acted immediately. She cast a black magic spell, disintegrating the goblin's magical illusion. The creature revealed itself for what it truly was: a kind of black ogre that, upon being discovered with its pot of gold, tried to escape. But the Tiger and Wolf queens captured it.
The goblin, cornered, leaped backward and transformed into a giant ogre armed with an enormous wooden club. The creature's plan became clear: to take their gold and, when they had no more, demand other things in exchange. But the queens had been smart enough to discover its deception in time.
Now, a formidable and furious fight between the forty queens and the immense transformed ogre was about to begin, with the goal of Floor 50 in sight.