Elenaris, the kingdom of absurdity and home to countless demi-species. However, in recent days, a few months to be exact, not a single demi-child had been born, and the cries of human babies were the only thing that could be heard in the infirmaries. Why that was? The queen knew pretty well and was even driving the whole ordeal.
As for the rest of the kingdom, with Shamisha's retirement, the spire had been turned into a library. The sex dungeon underneath the Bricks and Cobbles had been removed completely, and a new, much bigger building was constructed with the queen's permission to replace and serve even more customers at once. The only rule that she had stamped on the dungeon was that no humans shall be allowed to use the services of the place.
And with countless machina scattered throughout Elenaris–even inside publicly opened private businesses, Mono could keep an eye on everything and ensure that no rules were being broken. Using the same protocol that her master had once tried to backstab her with, the iron queen had successfully turned the city of crime into an uptight and posh society. But was the result worth the cost? The decline in labor from the demis and the subsiding of human living, nobody was blind to it and yet Mono continued on with her biases.
Even now, as she worked in the once-abandoned lab, she couldn't help but wonder.
'Maybe I should outlaw race mixing, too?' Left to her own devices, the queen's extreme views have had enough time to simmer and develop a stronger, twisted flavor. 'Maybe. I'll have to think about it once I'm done with my creation.'
Casting her gaze at the colossal machina occupying nearly the entire lab's interior, Mono pressed a finger to her chin and pondered what to add to the crab-shaped arthropod. With four legs as thick as the spire's base on each side, the machina stood firm yet lifeless. Glancing at its massive claws, each equipped with enough magic gathering ability to suck the life out of a living soul, the creature was more terrifying than any horror, but thankfully for now it laid dormant with months, maybe even years remaining before its completion.
"Maybe a combustion chamber for burning everything in its path?" Humming to herself with her hands folded, Mono pondered for a while longer but decided against the limiting idea. She wanted the beast to be self-reliant after all, and if fire was incorporated in its arsenal, then the moment it runs out of fuel, it would have one less option for assault.
'A magic reflecting shield, perhaps?' Kicking herself off the rough lab walls, she moved closer to the machina and began climbing the iron stairs built around the entire structure. Getting a story high, she stopped by one of its leg joints and pressed her cold fingers against the metal. 'What about physical attacks? I'll need something to block them entirely if I want to make this beast indestructible.'
For anyone else, the creation of something that could not be destroyed would've been a fool's prospect–but to the woman who'd died and come back to life, it was only a matter of how and not whether or not she could or should do it.
"Master!" Before Mono could reach an answer, however, the only door to her lab opened and in came Grace–her body now rid of rust and repaired almost as if new. "One of your friends would like to talk to you!"
Glancing around, unsure where Mono was, it took a moment for Grace to find her master. But as their eyes finally met, a frown took over her face.
"Testing the limits of your new body again? How many times do I have to tell you to stop working on this apocalyptic weapon!" She screamed out loud.
Jumping off the railing with a smile, Mono floated her way down using the gravity-reversing technology that Shamisha had developed for her false arm. And while falling to the floor, another thought crossed her mind.
'What if I incorporate the same protocol in the machina beast, Chimera?' The thought instantly lit up her eyes. Just thinking about creating a colossal machina that could climb walls, fall from the greatest of heights without problems and even lift things without even touching them was, needless to say, a thrilling prospect.
"Raven has arrived to check up on you, god knows you need one every day…" Grace complained, for she was tired of following the queen's shenanigans.
Rolling her eyes, Mono looked at Grace and let out a chuckle.
"Keep talking like that, and I might need to extract the copper from your pistons and use it for something else." Pointing a finger at her first creation, Mono expected her to show at least some form of emotion. However, babysitting a genius whose mind could rival the gods was a task too straining to have enough energy for anything else.
"I'll let him," Grace responded before turning around and walking away.
Staring at her back, Mono wondered why she never injected some humor into her protocols. But as the thought served no purpose, she disposed of it quickly and simply awaited the hero's arrival.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen him in a long time," she said to herself, wondering if Raven had changed at all.
Looking down at herself, her body all greasy from working on the machina all day and night, she knew one thing for certain.
"Doubt he's changed as much as me though, ahaha~" A new body especially made for physical labor, housing herself in it, her assumption was correct but even then as Raven walked in with a trimmed yet rugged beard and a fuller body than before, the queen almost didn't recognize him and when she finally did, she was struck with utter shock.
"What in the world?" Shaking her head, she tried to figure out if she was dreaming, but when the sight didn't change and Raven kept getting closer, she was forced to accept the reality.
"Mono Aurarelia, I'm here again because your goddess doesn't really trust you, and neither does mine…" Holding a hand forward, Raven continued to stare into the queen's eyes. "So, why don't we make this quick? The same thing as always."
Although still surprised by the change, Mono reluctantly gave Raven her hand. Squeezing it lightly, the warlord ventured into the mind of the queen to alter the instability that may have built up from being in an inorganic body. With the use of his gift of memory manipulation, Raven had helped the queen's mind stabilize again and again, but after six months of not meeting up, there were plenty of things that he had to clear up.
'Tsk...this will take a while.' And so it did, but even after he was done, there was plenty for the warlord to discuss with the iron queen. The first thing on that list? The massive machina taking up the entire space of the lab.