A spectacle of red and black filled the summit of corpses. Punctuating the air were the sounds of clashing steel. Yet only one of the combatants had a weapon made of metal. The other – an oversized scissor – was made of hardened brambles.

  Its DEF stat exceeded that of the brambles that protected the Bitter Thorns, which was why her blade could just barely bite into it. It wasn’t much, but Red’s ATT stats were at least higher than her weapon’s DEF, which meant that every clash whittled it down.

  However, the Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns could repair her scissor in seconds following their clashes. Brambles would sprout from the ground and coil around her weapon, replacing what had been hacked off.

  “Uncorroded Red. Do you understand what it means to fight within our domains!?”

  “You got an unlimited amount of reloads, huh!?”

  “Materials never end so long as we remain within my sphere of influence. A Corrupted Zone is no more than the manifestation of the mind. I think – and it shall become!”

  “If that was really true, then you wouldn’t be this weak!”

  “That’s right Red! A Corrupted Zone isn’t purely the physical manifestation of the mind!” Snow cried, which caused the eyes of the Queen to strain. “It’s a reflection of an aspect deeper than just the mind! Magic isn’t any different if the basis of a Corrupted Zone is that superficial!”

  “Corrupted Zones should exist for just the Corrupted.” The Queen stated, stabbing her weapon forward like a lance. “We are Corrupted ourselves. Sapient Corrupted masquerading in human skin. But even an unwashed dog’s desires can be made manifest with the fragment of a star I had attained.”

  Her AGI was marginally higher than Red’s. Unfortunately, Red could not rely on [Huntress’ Slash III]’s additional ability which would have boosted her AGI by 25%. Still, the difference was almost negligible, mostly in thanks to the Bloody Trail.

  As a result, Red easily side-stepped the weapon as it snipped the air. She dragged her weapon along its exterior and drove it straight into the chest of the Queen.

  Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns | HP: 78,305

  “Zero defenses. But you got no weak point at all! Snow! Are you figuring it out!?”

  Red drove her blade further. The body she had stabbed into was cold to the touch, which explained the Queen’s pale exterior. Furthermore, the wound did not bleed, meaning it was impossible to inflict Bleed Stacks.

  “I’ve got something!” Snow relayed with a turbulent cry.

  She was fighting her own battles as well.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  < CONDITION: The Queen of Sweet and Bitter Thorns’ HP cannot drop to 0 while The Fruit of Everlasting Miracles is active >

  “I can’t pinpoint where it is! It has to be inside of her!”

  “That’s why I went for the chest…!”

  Indeed, Red had gone for the Corrupted’s chest as she had assumed that this was where her heart was. If the Queen sought to become human, then naturally she’d place her heart on the left side of her chest.

  However, that was not the case at all. The Bloody Trail had mistakenly believed this as well. Her instincts could not be relied on here when it came to damaging the Queen.

  But when it came to avoiding attacks–

  “Tch –! *Clash*”

  “To utilize the body with such effectiveness is admirable. But isn’t it inefficient when you’re limited to just bones?”

  –Her instincts were second to none.

  < [Snip Off The Unwanted Fruits] >

  < Of a hundred fruits only one will be loved >

  ATT : 950 MAG ATT : 200

  < EFFECT: Inflict Bitter Thorn Stacks to the target. At a certain number of Bitter Thorn Stacks, inflict the Sweet Thorn Condition and create an apple carrying the essence of the target >

  Red narrowly blocked the scissors’ blades from beheading her.

  “An apple had sprouted from you! But that apple has yet to return to me! I can sense it here! Did you happen to bring it straight to me~?”

  “The only thing you’ll be getting is a bullet to the head!”

  The Queen had attempted to strike her by moving her arms in an irregular manner. The sound of brambles snapping and bones shattering accompanied the attempted snips.

  Red ducked and kicked off the Queen, skidding backwards before launching herself forward again with her blade held in an extended grip.

  “Humans are designed this way because that’s how they’re meant to be! They don’t need to change!”

  “Whether they change or not matters not compared to what they are. But isn’t it hilarious? There are billions of humans in this world. But people will turn to cherish a particular kind of human, despite them all sharing the same foundation. For you, Red – there can only be one Snow!”

  The Queen attempted to intercept Red with her scissors. Her AGI should have allowed her to excel against Red. But Red foresaw this and dropped to her knees, sliding beneath the weapon as she kicked the Queen off her feet.

  “You –!”

  “Keep your hands of my Snow!”

  She plunged the blade into the chest of the Queen again, and then, she began stabbing her wildly until Snow interpreted another incoming attack for her.

  < [Lashes The Envious] >

  < What cannot be mine shall not belong to them >

  ATT : 700 MAG ATT : 100

  Her scissors suddenly unhardened and flailed like a whip. It cracked the air and moved at supersonic speeds, lashing Red with several consecutive strikes.

  Red | HP: 18,981

  It barely did over a hundred damage to her. But this was just one lash. She had received over eight in the span of a second, which was over a thousand damage.

  Red | HP: 18,008

  Red threw herself away. Death was no longer an issue for her. But that did not mean she wasn’t afraid of it. There was no telling how long she’d be out for, so if she died, then she wouldn’t be able to protect Snow.

  “Tsk. It stings. But that poison isn’t gonna work on me anymore… just what the hell are you really after? Snow’s body? Did you really have to kill thousands just to gain an ounce of what you already have? I don’t understand…”

  Red genuinely couldn’t fathom the greed the Queen possessed. The envy that drove her to desire the essence of humanity. Not only that, but she couldn’t help but feel that the Queen didn’t even understand what ‘humanity’ meant in the first place.

  Neither did Red.

  But that’s why she had befriended Snow.

  Lived in that village.

  Made new friends.

  All so that she could learn what it meant to be human.

  “Humans don’t understand why they’re humans themselves. Such is the privilege of those born in high places. For us, we must scrounge through filth and mud, the very recesses of impurities all for a fragment of what they are. We owe them nothing. Humans already murder themselves en masse.”

  Red couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Humans are expendable.”

  “No…”

  Red clasped her fist defiantly. Her eyes burned with a deep, resounding hatred.

  “They are not!”

  “What is a few thousand humans in a pool of billions? What makes them different from a sea of rotting apples needing to be thrown?”

  “Humans are humans…”

  “But even humans can be used as fertilizer to grow a sweeter fruit. You and I know that humans are a resource!”

  18 Chapters ahead over on the

  Discord! We have cute Vengeful Red emotes!