Fate is a funny thing, to those who try to defy it, they do so not realizing that in doing so they are mere slaves walking the path of a predetermined fate. For the Queen of Witches who see's herself as the closet being to perfection, having control of this power would truly grant her that perfect status.
"So you've finally awakened." Unable to hold it back any further, the Witch Queen burst out into a gleeful fit of laughter.
'Anti-Magic, Fate manipulation and the blood of the species loved by mana... MINE, THEY WILL ALL BE MINE!!'
Seeing that the Queen was distracted by the sudden appearance of Vanessa's red cat, Grim took it upon himself to take the bitch out before she could command Asta to do something he'd regret.
[Breath of Thunder]
Switching to the magic with the fastest attack speed, Grim didn't want to leave the Queen with any time to react.
[3rd Form: Thunder Swarm]
Swinging his blade forward, multiple arcs of spinning lightning shot out and struck the queen. Not to his surprise, the queen had erected a blood barrier around herself that defended against the lightning.
Not willing to waste time on Grim and his attacks, the queen focused her attention on Vanessa and her cat. While Grim's blood and ancestry did spark the Queen's greedy nature, compared to the power to manipulate fate it was inconsequential.
Commanding Asta to kill Noelle, he held the sword tightly before swinging it and decapitating the silver haired noble.
"NOELLE!!"
Screaming loudly, Vanessa didn't even realize that her cat had touched Asta and the scene they were seeing now was completely different to the gruesome one they had seen seconds before. Instead of cutting through Noelle's neck, Asta sliced though the bottom part of the crucifix holding her up.
'WHAT!!'
[Rip and Tear]
Taking advantage of the Queen's momentary lapse in attention, Grim switched to [Breath of the Beast] and easily sliced through the blood barrier before arriving at the Queen's side and activating [Crazy Cutting].
"Bye bye bitch!"
Watching the blades grow larger in her eyes, the Queen felt her life flash before her eyes as she panicked and instinctively summoned all her crows to her side making them taste the metal of Grim's blade.
*SLASH*
*SLASH*
*SLASH*
*SLASH*
Unfazed by the sudden appearance of the crows, Grim massacred the lot of them in seconds before charging the queen who was in a state of shock after almost having her life ended by someone weaker than her.
"QUEEN!!" He yelled gripping his swords tightly and jumping at her.
"S-STAY BACK OR I'LL KILL HER!!" At this range and with his swords capable of cutting through magic, the queen knew any defense she had would be useless unless she managed to put some distance between them or stop his charge. With that idea in mind, she used [Puppet Bloodflow] on Vanessa and planned to use her as a hostage.
[Breath of Wind]
Switching breath styles again, Grim pushed his mana to the absolute limit as he burst forward at a speed so fast that his wind sword didn't even have enough time to form as he drove his fist deep into the Witch Queen's bony cheek.
*BANG!!*
Compressing and combusting the air between his fist and the Queen's cheek, an explosive amount of force burst out as Grim broke the bones in her cheek and sent her flying high into the air. Feeling the unfamiliar presence of four tiny paws appearing on his shoulder, Vanessa's red cat leapt off of him and landed on the witch queen's airborne body dispelling any magic that she had active.
'Damn, that's the second woman I've punched today... Should I go for a third?'
---
Crashing heavily on the floor with a giant bruise on her face, Grim walked over to the defeated Queen and after materializing his Beast swords and pressing them against her neck, he said.
"Probably a weird thing to ask considering the circumstances and all that, but how does it feel to lay flat on your back while a man bears down on you?" He asked with a mischievous grin.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood and several teeth, the Queen awoke to the feeling of sharp metal pressed against her neck. One wrong move and her life would be cut like a piece of string.
"I-I lose..."
"No shit."
Showing off an innocent smile, he was as he was about to pierce her throat but the sound of Vanessa's sudden call stopped him.
"Don't kill her!!"
"Eh?" Without turning to look at her, he tilted his head while keeping his eyes trained on the Witch Queen.
"She's beaten, there's no need to kill her." Vanessa said after arriving by his side.
"Seriously? That's your argument?"
"Grim... If you kill her then there will be no one left to protect the Witches Forest."
"...What about the witches?"
Vanessa shook her head. "They need a strong leader to protect them. Without her the Witches Forest wouldn't survive the attacks from the neighboring kingdoms."
"As bad as that sounds, its not really my problem."
"Grim please."
Hearing the desperation in her voice, Grim eventually relented and slowly moved his sword away from the Queen's throat.
"You owe me."
Nodding her head, she watched as he walked away before looking back at the bloody mouthed queen.
"He really is incredible isn't he." The Queen grinned looking up at her daughter.
"..."
"Not only is he loved by mana, his prowess is in combat is amazing."
"...I never thought I'd see the day when you'd praise a man."
"Hahaha *cough* *cough*." Coughing up another mouthful of blood, the queen dusted off her clothes as she struggled to her feet. Activating her healing magic, she removed the concussion and healed her face.
Looking at her daughter's resolute face, a series of flashbacks played in the queen's head as she eventually smiled before healing the others and inviting them back to her throne room.
---
"What you people call a magic stone is likely this." Removing her earring, the Queen threw it to Grim who caught it with little difficulty.
Having not gone on the seabed temple mission with the others, this was the first time that Grim had seen a magic stone.
"Why would the Eye of the midnight sun be after this?"
Staring at Grim's face closely, the Queen briefly closed her eyes before opening them and answering.
"That stone in your hand has the ability to amplify the magic power of the person wielding it."
"Whoa!"
"Seriously!!"
"Unfortunately, only those born from the Elven tribe can use it to its full potential."
Hearing the words "Elven", Grim's eyes focused sharply on the stone in his hand. This action did not go unnoticed to the Queen who merely smiled.
"Elven? As in elves?" Finral asked confused by what she meant.
Nodding her head, the Queen explained that it was unknown where the Elves exactly came from. She also brought up some information that the group weren't knowledgeable about, like the fact that the elves lived in what is currently known as the forsaken realm. Oddly enough, that's where Asta's village was located. The group also learnt that the elves were a species born with a naturally high amount of magic power with most of them possessing magic power on par with the Queen herself.
She then went on to explain that the elves came into conflict with the humans and due to their superior numbers the elves were defeated and eventually faded away into the annuls of history. Furthermore, the third eye that Fana possessed was actually the result of somebody casting forbidden magic on her.
She then focused her attention on Grim and payed attention every minor expression that crossed his face.
"It could be possible that Eye of the Midnight Sun are descendants of the elf tribe. Furthermore *looks at Asta* those swords you wield are the last remains of the elf tribe leader that summoned the ancient demon god."
"WHAATT!!" Overloaded with too much information that he couldn't understand, Asta's brained seemed to spasm as he fainted and started mumbling to himself.
---
After fixing Asta's arms and getting the magic stone along with a plethora of new information, it was time for the black bulls to leave.
"Grim." The Queen called out. "A word if you will."
"What! No way!" Asta said standing in front of him and preparing to bring his anti-magic swords out.
Placing his hand on his shoulder, Grim gently pulled him back.
"Its fine Asta."
"What! But she-
"I know." He nodded. "But I want to talk to her to."
Hearing the conversation, Vanessa came and stood by his side.
"Are you sure."
"Yeah."
Looking into his eyes, Vanessa couldn't gleam any information from his face and eventually sighed before grabbing Asta and heading outside.
"We'll wait for you out here."
Nodding his head, Grim waited until the group had left the area to finally turn his attention back on the Queen.
"..."
"...."
"...."
"...."
Not liking the fact that the Queen's throne gave her a position in which she was looking down on him, Grim manipulate his mana to gently levitate off the ground and fly above the throne so he could look down on her.
[A/n: Weird flex but okay.]
Seeing him flying, the Queen couldn't help but breathe out lightly.
"What noble mana... You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you."
"Yeah about that, you keep implying that you know me, but I'm pretty sure we've never met before."
Falling silent, the Queen looked at Grim's face like she was trying to memorize it.
"5 years ago you appeared within my forest through some powerful means unknown to me."
Hearing her talk about the past 5 years, Grim frowned.
"You knew I was there."
"Knew you were there? I protected you while you lived in my territory."
"What!"
"Don't tell me you didn't find it strange that you as a child was able to survive so many run ins with powerful beasts without losing your life."
"Well yeah, but I was a pretty badass kid so..."
"For the two years you spent living in my forest, I ensured that you had everything you needed to survive. Whenever you fell hungry I provided you with a weak animal that you could easily hunt, whenever you became thirsty I cleared the stream so that no predators would attack. Even in your sleep, I protected you from the senses of any preying beasts."
Hearing all of this, Grim was mildly shocked but quickly calmed himself down as only one question persisted in his mind.
"Why? Why would a man hating carpet munching cunt like you protect a child like me? And don't say it was because I was a kid, after seeing how you treat your own daughter that bullshit won't work on me."
Ignoring his blatant insult, the Queen looked him up and down before explaining.
"Your blood."
"My blood?"
'Don't tell me she has a blood fetish!!'
Seeing the weird expression on his face, the queen frowned. "Whatever your thinking is incorrect."
"Ahem, please explain."
*Sigh* "I can sense the blood of the elf tribe running through your veins, powerful but yet to be unleashed. But from your reaction to me explaining how the elves were wiped out earlier, you already knew that didn't you?"
"..."
Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything, she continued.
"Originally, I planned to guide you into the Witches Forest and then turn you into my puppet."
"What stopped you?"
Gazing at his face, the Witch Queen thought back to the time of his childhood. "Like with my daughter, I had a divination that you would return to this place and with you you'd awaken a long lost sensation within me."
'Long lost sensation?'
Remembering the punch he had delivered to the side of her face and all the bloody accompanying it, Grim could help but grin.
'Quite a painful sensation if I do say so myself.'
"Although it was quite a surprise to see you here with my daughter and that anti-magic boy, I now understand the sensation that the divination foretold of. Boy, no, Grim, for the past hundreds of years-
'Hundreds of years? How old is this bitch?... She looks good though.'
"I have sought out perfection, first it was through my magic, then it was through my daughter and now I see it is through you."
"Excuse me?"
"After seeing what you were capable of today, from your power, potential and battle senses, I finally understand the true path to perfection."
'What is she on about?'
"With my knowledge and power combined with your blood and potential, we would be unstoppable!"
'Combined?'
"Wait a second!! You don't mean-
"Breed me Grim!" She declared. "And together we will birth the greatest witch! No! The perfect witch!"
"..."
"..."
"Grim?"
"FUCK NO!!" He suddenly yelled catching her off guard.
"What?!!" Not expecting that answer, the Queen was understandably confused. While she may not be as young as her daughter Vanessa, she knew she would still be able to turn heads if she appeared in any of the four kingdoms.
"Listen lady, forgetting the fact that you're like 800 years old or something (though I would still smash), if there's one thing m memories have made very clear to me, its to not stick my dick in crazy!! Especially those with crazy lesbian strength! And besides! What do you mean the perfect witch! What if it came out as a boy!"
Instead of answering, the Queen looked down to his crotch and frowned. For some reason, Grim could hear the distant sound of scissors.
"Yeah, this ain't happening. It was nice meeting you, well not really but thanks for the magic stone. Bye." Waving his hand, Grim didn't waste any time listening to anything the Witch Queen had to say any further as he blew another hole in the throne room wall and flew through it and into the distance.