Chapter 176: Attacking The Tower (1)
"I’ve heard tales of your actions," the Queen called Kestrel to stand beside her. "My dear, you don’t have to treat those alphas too gently."
Kestrel turned her gaze from the room’s corner, raising an eyebrow. "Being gentle with alphas?"
Recently, the Queen had been teaching her the ways of combat, as Kestrel was a beta. But this puzzled Kestrel. She thought alphas were teammates and allies for betas on the battlefield. She thought she should be kind to friends. It just seemed right.
"These alphas are just delicate beings; you don’t need to use up all your strength on them," the Queen’s voice was gentle, like a wise elder sharing knowledge with a younger one.
Standing, the Queen began walking the long corridor, with Kestrel following beside her.
Together, they passed by tall white stone columns, each beautifully painted with intricate murals, until they arrived at a dimly lit corner, dominated by a massive cage.
"Getting them to obey? It’s really quite simple," the Queen remarked.
A group of alphas from the hall walked over, bowing on one knee to the queen, before drawing back the curtain hiding the cage’s contents.
Inside the gloomy, damp cage was a semi-beastly alpha. He looked haunting. Ragged blue butterfly wings spread from his back, and he had the head and arms of a grown man. But his lower body was insect-like, shimmering in the cage’s darkness, reminiscent of fireflies.
The creature, part human and part beast, let out a sorrowful, deep sound, as if on the brink of mutating. He was in a terrible state, still with the remains of a broken eyeglass clinging to his straight nose.
It was evident he used to be a proud and attractive alpha. The torment hadn’t broken his spirit. As the curtain was pulled back, he tried to clutch the cage’s bars, and his eyes gleamed with intense anger and despair.
The Queen reached out, taking Kestrel’s hand in her own.
There was a time when her touch felt comforting to Kestrel. Now, it felt as if a mask had been removed. The hand was chilling, its texture clammy.
With their hands intertwined, Kestrel could sense a frosty energy coming from the Queen. It washed over the hall, heading straight for the trapped alpha, who, overwhelmed by this power, dropped to the ground.
Inside that cage, Kestrel sensed a flurry of emotions—it felt like a field covered in morning dew, a cat prowling in the night, butterflies clustered together.
The alpha’s sharp teeth and claws had been taken away. He crumpled, resembling a dying ember or a puddle forming. He initially resisted, but soon started to writhe, no longer caring how he appeared.
His sweat dampened the floor; he looked like a fish out of water, gasping, trying to cry out, but no sound emerged.
The rhythmic pulsing of his insect-like abdomen filled the room with a fluorescent light, growing brighter and then dimming in the shadows.
Kestrel had never witnessed this before, but deep down, she understood—this was the alpha’s heat cycle being activated.
Traditionally, between alphas and betas, this unique state was induced only after forming a profound mate connection, during their most intimate encounters. Yet now, with just a simple gesture, the Queen had the dominant alpha succumb before her in the vast hall.
She had both initiated his heat cycle and sapped his energy, rendering him defenseless. He lay sprawled on the floor, sweat drenching his attire, releasing a soft, anguished cry of sorrow and suffering.
Throughout the grand hall, numerous guards, armed and prepared, stood tall, their expressions unaffected as they observed their previous allies and friends agonize before them.
The palace had always felt lonely, with the Queen as its sole resident. But now, seemingly to oversee this captive, several elite alpha guards were stationed.
These alphas remained poised, impassively watching the confined man’s torturous movements. Not a hint of emotion betrayed their stony expressions.
Kestrel swiftly withdrew her hand. Although the Queen’s touch had first been cold, it now became overwhelmingly unsettling. Kestrel felt her stomach churn, an overwhelming wave of nausea rising.
"What troubles you? Cannot stomach the sight?" The Queen, with her pale complexion, peered at Kestrel, her features concealed behind a white veil. It felt as though, hidden behind that gauzy barrier, countless unblinking eyes watched Kestrel, emanating a chilling stare.
A burdensome pressure weighed down on Kestrel, compelling her to surrender, to submit, to learn, and to bear witness to this demeaning display.
Kestrel had always sensed that the Queen’s demeanor towards her was peculiar. She couldn’t pinpoint any outright hostility from the Queen and even felt a sense of genuine fondness. Yet, this affection sent shivers down Kestrel’s spine, as if she might be engulfed whole at any given moment, with the Queen taking perverse delight.
Kestrel bravely met the icy stare of the Queen. Within the vast realm of her psychic world, she perceived a grotesque, immense entity. This being, seated in a remote abyss, took on an indistinct shape with countless eyes, multiple arms, and various odd appendages. It seemed as though it was an amalgamation of numerous lives fused into one.
This entity was both vast and unsettling. Its potent mental waves felt like an acid capable of corroding and contaminating everything it touched, seeping outwards, much like water.
"You’re still so young, unable to appreciate the intricacies of this," the Queen murmured with a hint of compassion, and with a simple wave, she ceased her restraint.
The alpha, trapped within the cold metal cage, slouched defeated, letting out heart-wrenching sobs. In the shadowy and moist confines of his prison, his body quivered a bit. His once intense eyes, which had sparkled with anger, now appeared broken, as tears and drool poured down unchecked.
"Child, it’s just the way of the world for the mighty to rule over the weak," said the queen, her voice gentle yet coming from a deep place within, quietly eating away at one’s heart, piece by piece.
"You’re still so young. But with time, you’ll come to grasp the truth of what I’m saying."
Kestrel paused, deeply reflecting on the queen’s words. Up to this point in her life, she had started to recognize her incredible strength. She realized that many of the betas and alphas in this world might not even come close to rivaling her power.
Maybe, just like the Queen, she could easily amass and command many followers. With just a simple gesture, she could showcase her superiority, bend the will of the strong, influence how people felt about her, and effortlessly gain their affection, awe, and passionate devotion.
It seemed almost too easy, which made the idea even more alluring.
Images of familiar faces floated in Kestrel’s mind—Birdie, Raymond, Locky, Kaworu, Nicole, Rakan... She remembered forging close bonds with these wonderful individuals, evolving from being solitary to being surrounded by cherished friends. This transformation was slow, required effort, and took a bit of her soul each time.
Her thoughts then drifted to Ren. He had gently introduced the mesmerizing underwater realm to Kestrel, drawing nearer to her, step by step. It took many shared adventures for their bond to grow so deep and trusting.
