Chapter 510: The Big Players. 2
"He is like a beast," Violet muttered as she stared at the television.
"..." Hilda, who was next to Violet, nodded and added a few words of advice:
"Don't underestimate him because of his initial impression. He might seem like a beast, but you don't hold the reign that long if you don't have something else."
Violet nodded but also felt like adding:
"... isn't this because of the Werewolf Queen?" As an heir-in-training to be Clan leader, she was compelled by Agnes and Hilda to learn about the Leaders of each Faction.
After all, as the Snow Clan was responsible for domestic and foreign policy, the Snow Clan leaders needed this knowledge.
And during those studies, she'd learned of the Werewolf Queen.
Tasha Fenrir, the Werewolf Queen, and like the Werewolf King Volk Fenrir, she was a woman blessed by The Beast of Ragnarok, but the similarities only ended there.
Coming from the country of Egypt, the woman was the complete opposite of Volk.
If the man was a strong, honorable, ruthless beast, the woman was treacherous, sneaky, and liked to practice manipulation.
If Volk was Samar's light, Tasha was its darkness.
"Even light is bound to be stained by darkness after long exposures... Especially if that darkness is your wife."
"...." Violet nodded. She understood Hilda's warning.
Violet saw the entrance change again, taking on an appearance of a mythological forest, an appearance that seemed to come out of fairy tales. Soon the man's voice was heard.
"The Fourth guest, straight from the hidden Arcane realm, the Queen of Witches, Evie Moriarty."
At this moment, Sasha, Violet, Ruby, and the people around them looked at the television as if it was going to swallow them up. They wanted to see what the Witch Queen looked like.
Then a tall woman appeared wearing a long, thin black dress with dark red accents, with an opening in the legs that made room for dark golden armor and armor she also had on her arms.
But rather than appearing plain in design, this armor seemed to be the arms and legs of some sort of draconic being.
She had white skin and a curvy body. In her eyes, you could see a kind of complicated golden Magic circle with several spikes and tiny runes that seemed to be slowly rotating clockwise.
In her strangely draconic hands, she had a long black staff that, just like the Crown on her head, was giving off a kind of light blue energy with shades of light green.
The Queen's Crown was made of a material that looked like black twigs, and the Crown had a light blue colored gemstone as if it were some kind of Magical stone that radiated power.
It was just too… flashy.
It was evident that the Queen came fully equipped. Her entire body was composed of unknown Magic but clearly visible even to the naked eye.
She wasn't the Witch Queen for nothing.
'Mother...' Seeing the woman's visage, Hecate couldn't help but think internally; it had been a while since the woman had seen her mother in person, and she still had the same extravagant appearance.
"So this is the Witch Queen... She looks pretty flamboyant." That was Sasha's honest opinion.
"True... She's dangerous too." Tatsuya spoke to his cousin.
"Mm." Sasha felt that sensation too.
The problem with fighting a high-level Witch like the Queen was that their means were unknown. They didn't have a specific skill set like Wolves or Vampires; they were complicated to deal with.
"The meeting is at a different location this time, huh…."
They heard the Queen's voice, and her voice was... strangely attractive?
"What's that feeling?" Sasha shivered; she felt an odd sensation run through her body.
"..." Tatsuya frowned.
"Seduction Magic..." Hecate said but soon corrected herself: "Specifically, it's a Magic that makes the user's voice attractive enough for all beings and unconsciously forces everyone to see them in a positive light."
"...is this really affecting us who are watching her on television?"
"It just shows how proficient she is with Magic... Even when I was in Arcane, she used this kind of Magic unconsciously."
"Don't worry, it's just a light suggestion spell. If you have a strong will, you can ignore it." Hecate added.
The two Fulgers nodded.
"Following Evie Moriarty, the Second Daughter of the Witch Queen, a woman who has ventured into the far reaches of Black Magic. An extremely considerable feat given her young age, Alice Moriarty."
"Tsk, don't go revealing others' secrets out there," Evie muttered, but her voice was clearly heard by everyone.
The organizer who owned The Limbo didn't care, and soon a woman was at Evie's side.
She had ashen skin like a ghost, wearing an all-black dress with a low neckline on her breasts; her eyes were black, her hair was black, and everything about her was black, even her fingernails.
It looked like she came straight from a goth party.
And just like her mother, she was wielding a black staff that contained a neon green gem on top of the staff.
"I foresee trouble, Mother."
"Yes, I know."
Black Magic... It was not widely accepted. The reason for this was that it was a Magic specialized in the mind. A Master of Black Magic could curse, control, give suggestions, and even subjugate a person's mind and turn their target into a completely different person.
It was a very hated Field of Magic for obvious reasons.
It was Magic more hated than Necromancy that Selene, Evie's First Daughter, specialized in.
'Sis…' Looking at the woman who took her place as Evie's Second Daughter, Hecate didn't know how to feel.
In the Witch Realm, Evie's 'daughter' rank was more of a status. These women were not the Queen's biological daughters; they were her closest beings and her most significant assets.
The Queen labeled them 'Daughters' as a way for the women to gain or have familial affection with the Queen. After all, when you became a Witch, you'd leave your whole life behind, and many women couldn't stand that.
And some women just had many mental problems the day they became Witches. So being one of the Queen's Daughters was prestigious in Arcane's realm.
"...." Tatsuya looked at Hecate from the corner of his eye; he'd spent long enough with the woman to notice her feelings even behind that cold and indifferent mask.
'I'll ask her later.'
"Come on, My Daughter."
"Yes, Mother."
The two women headed for the palace, not even waiting for the voice to speak.
As the two walked quietly, people were watching them.
"The Queen, huh," Fred spoke.
"We are fortunate." Ruby said, "It's very difficult to see the Queen. She merely moves around to talk to the Faction Leaders. It's usually her daughters who take care of minor matters."
"..." The group fell silent.
"... She's weird... And what's that creepy feeling?" Leon asked.
"Seduction magic~" Renata laughed lightly at this trick that, in her opinion, she considered idiotic. After all, she was the very definition of seduction.
'Although with weaker minds, she can have great influence.' Renata looked at Andrew, who seemed to be charmed by the woman.
Anna raised her eyebrow and looked at Renata.
And just with that look, Renata understood Anna's question.
Renata shook her head as if saying: 'She's not like me... She's much inferior.'
Anna snorted in disdain and went back to caressing Zack.
Soon the entrance began to change again, this time taking on the appearance of Japanese temples.
"Fifth guest, a woman who recently rose to prominence with the feat of uniting an entire race and becoming their Leader, and with that feat, she became worthy of joining this gathering."
"The Supreme Commander of The Strongest HyakkiYakou, hailing straight from the Supernaturals of Japan, the Nine-Tailed Fox, Otsuki Haruna."
A woman appeared in front of the gate, wearing a short black kimono with golden trim. Two long black stockings hugged her legs tightly, and nine fox-like tails danced somewhat mesmerizingly behind her.
A simple katana with a black sheath and golden trim was in her hands as if following the same theme as her clothes.
Deep black eyes and a little red eye makeup decorated her pretty face even more.
Looking at the image of the woman on television, everyone watching was surprised; she was beautiful!
Some even had nefarious thoughts, but let's ignore these fools and focus on a particular group.
"A Nine-Tailed Fox!!! A Nine-Tailed Fox!!!!" Fred started to react like a madman; his eyes were shining brightly.
Seeing the woman tossing her hair back as if arranging her hair, Fred went into delirious spasms.
"Kyaaa! A fucking Nine-Tailed Fox!" He took out his phone and started taking pictures at high speed; at some point, he seemed to be teleporting from how fast he was moving.
"Fred, calm down, man!" Edward tried to hold Fred, but he couldn't.
'When did he get so strong!?'
"Impossible!" Edward recoiled a little at the intensity of the look Fred gave him.
"Look, it's the adorable Nine-Tailed Fox! Nekomimi! Fuck yeah! Ahhh!"
He wasn't even making any more sense at some point in the sentence.
"I mean... What's so cool about the Nine-Tailed Fox...?" Pepper muttered.
"I prefer cats." She looked at Zack with a dangerous look.
"!!!" The cat's fur ruffled, and it looked around alertly.
"Nya!?" He was looking for his enemy.
"Accompanying Otsuki Haruna, the woman who is her right hand, straight from the Supernaturals of Japan, Commander of The First Battalion of Youkai, the demonic cat, Yotsuba Kuroka."
A woman with long black hair, two cat tails, and cat ears appeared. She was wearing a kimono similar to Haruna's, but with the difference that the kimono had purple details, and she wore it more slovenly, leaving her shoulders showing and a great deal of cleavage that showed her developed breasts.
"Nya? Haruna-nya! You suddenly disappeared; I was worried-Nya!"
"Kuroka, calm down. And fix your clothes."
But the woman completely ignored Haruna and continued hugging her, and when she finished hugging Haruna, the woman looked around like a curious cat.
'... I'm starting to regret bringing her.'
Kuroka was competent; that was a fact... But she was very free-spirited and had a curiosity far above average.
Which was understandable since that was her nature.
'I wanted to bring Genji, but I can't entrust my entire army to Kuroka.' Due to her cat-like nature, when she got bored, she would start teasing everyone around her, looking for fun, which usually meant a lot of trouble.
Problems that Haruna didn't want to deal with right now.
Because of that, she left Genji in charge and went to the meeting with Kuroka, even though... She was competent.
In the basement of Victor's house.
"The cat... The cat...!" Pepper's eyes gleamed dangerously.
Lacus backed away a little and covered his ears; soon, everyone heard.
"Kyaaaaaa!" Fred and Pepper screamed at the same time.
"Neko!!!!!!" Pepper jumped from where she was, took her cell phone, and started taking pictures like Fred.
"Kyaaa! A cat girl!" Fred wasn't behind; he ensured he took as many pictures as possible.
"Japan is precious! Amitabha, Amitabha!" Pepper couldn't help but pray.
"Was that a Buddhist chant? Was she a Buddhist?" Leona asked; Pepper was praying so hard it led her to believe so.
"I suggest ignoring my sister; she gets… Hmm, excited when something piques her interest." Ruby spoke with a sigh.
"I'm glad I covered my ears..."
"...." Leona, Andrew, and Edward cast a sympathetic look at the two sisters.
Unaware of the positive and negative attention they attracted to themselves, the two girls started to enter the palace... With Haruna pulling Kuroka by the neck.
When Haruna entered together with Kuroka, the entrance changed entirely and took on dark tones. The environment became darker, as if the night itself had arrived, and the entire entry changed to Nightingale's theme.
A mist began to surround the area, and a moon appeared in the skies.
Ancient, Noble, Beautiful, and at the same time... Dangerous.
"Tsk, tsk, I can feel the favoritism from afar," Volk grunted as he saw the situation through the window.
"Well, Vlad is a friend of the host." Shiva, who was not far away, spoke with a small smile. Just like the owner of The Limbo, Shiva was also a good friend of Vlad's.
"Looks like the Leeches were the last ones this time." Zeus snorted with disdain, clearly annoyed at the 'special' treatment.
"Hey? You didn't say that when you tried to run after Vampires in the past."
"The past is the past; whoever lives in the past is a museum; the present is what matters."
Thor laughed as he patted Zeus on the back:
"Hahahaha~, this is very ironic coming from you Greeks." But, of course, he didn't need to add much; those words were enough to demonstrate how much of a hypocrite Zeus was right now.
Zeus grunted in annoyance and was silent.
"The Sixth guest..."
......
