Queen Spectria, the self-proclaimed "Queen" of an underground city that Elayne, nor anybody else with her, had even known existed until this very moment. This was a place where, seemingly, a massive colosseum stood as the heart of everything. Fighters of all kinds battled within its bloodstained walls to entertain the Queen. And to the complete shock of Elayne, Mark, and Gardenia — the only ones present who actually knew Ignis — this Queen was his sister.
But how? How was it possible for a Forging Spirit, a child of Hephaestus who had been placed inside a Divine Forge, to even move out of her own temple and create all of this? How had the people started moving there in the first place? What strange culture had been born in the darkness beneath the earth? Just... how? There were so many questions swirling inside their heads that it became difficult to even know where to begin asking.
The air itself felt heavier here, thick with the scent of ancient ash, molten metal, and something faintly sweet that clung to the stone. Distant roars and the clash of weapons echoed from far below, carried upward through winding tunnels. The colosseum must have been enormous if its noise could reach them so clearly even from this distance.
However, Elayne quickly recalled what Marble, Blank’s aunt, had said earlier.
"There’s an Underground Spectral Furnace the Undead discovered long ago. An Ancient Divine Spirit lives there. Due to her boredom, she built a gigantic colosseum where monsters, undead, and noble races fight for renown and rewards. There’s a larger village underground built around the colosseum where she reigns as its queen."
An Underground Spectral Furnace that the Undead had discovered long ago. And from the looks of it, the Ancient Divine Spirit who lived there was Spectria. Due to her endless boredom, she had built a gigantic colosseum, and the worst part was that she forced monsters, undead, and noble races to fight one another for sport.
For renown and rewards?
It was even more shocking that the people actually liked such savagery enough to build an entire village around it. Elayne felt completely thrown off balance, her thoughts spinning as she tried to understand how something like this could even function. A society built around bloodsport, ruled by a Divine Spirit who should have been bound to her forge... it defied everything she thought she knew about the Netherworld.
But what finally woke her from her daze was Marble’s reaction after hearing Ignis claim that Queen Spectria was his sister.
"Huh? There’s no way that’s the case, hahaha! You’re one little netherworld fire spirit. What would you even have in common with the Divine Spirit, daughter of Hephaestus?!" Marble laughed aloud, her voice sharp with disbelief. "Don’t make me laugh now."
"W-What?!" Ignis roared, his small form suddenly growing larger as flames flared around him. He looked down at her with clear indignation. "I am also a Divine Spirit! And I am Ignis, her younger sibling! I govern my own Divine Furnace on the surface!"
"Hah! Oh yeah?" Marble asked with a sneer, crossing her arms. "I cannot even feel a speck of divine power in you, and you’re down here, not on the surface. Hephaestus’s children are all powerful Divine Forging Spirits tightly tied to their Divine Furnaces. Although Queen Spectria’s Furnace was massive and she was able to expand it even further with her powers, there was still a limit to what she could do. And she definitely cannot leave her city."
"A-Ah, that’s because... Um..." Ignis sighed, the flames around him dimming slightly as he realized she was not entirely wrong. "I had no idea I needed divinity to prove it... yeah, my main body has it. I am only a fragment of my main body that my master here, Planta— I mean, Elayne, is bound to."
"Huh?" Marble turned her sharp gaze toward Elayne. "So you claim she’s the chosen one? Hephaestus Descendant?! The Legendary Class Holder?! Hah! She’s strong, sure, but she holds no such power that I can sense."
"Aunt, we avenged your people. We slew Jester... what else do you need us to do to prove what we did and to earn your damn respect before I try and squeeze it out of you?!" Blank roared, pointing his spear, White Maiden, directly toward her face. The tip of the weapon trembled slightly from the force of his anger.
"...I know," Marble sighed, her expression finally softening just a fraction. "But it is still hard to believe, even if you move his corpse around, you know? Players are monsters, demons that cannot be killed... I cannot be truly sure that she is really who you say she is if she doesn’t prove she has the strength to beat Jester."
"It’s fine," Elayne said, regaining her composure with quiet determination. Her voice was calm, but there was an unshakable weight behind every word. "I will prove myself to you and to the rest of the Undead. After all, it is not like we were able to save anybody. There is no physical proof that we even helped. The city was destroyed. The people... were already dead. We released their souls, so we gave them peace of mind and allowed them to pass away peacefully, but I know that such a thing is not enough for you."
"..." Marble looked annoyed by how honest she sounded. In a world full of treacherous and deceptive people, someone this honest felt dangerous in a completely different way.
Elayne possessed a natural charisma, an aura that drew people toward her. It was born from something severely lacking in this world, yet something that almost everyone still wished to have.
Sincerity.
Love.
Compassion.
Mercy.
She exuded such a bright light of all these positive energies that it became virtually impossible to fight against once it was set in motion. At the same time, she was not someone stupid enough to be taken advantage of easily either. There was a quiet strength beneath the kindness, a resolve that refused to bend even when faced with skepticism and suspicion.
Marble studied her for a long moment, the flickering light of distant forges casting shifting shadows across both of their faces. The tension in the air thickened, but Elayne did not look away. She simply waited, patient and steady, as if she had already accepted the burden of having to prove herself all over again.
Around them, the distant sounds of the colosseum continued — the roar of a crowd, the clash of weapons, the heavy thud of something massive hitting the ground. The underground city of Queen Spectria waited below, full of questions, dangers, and secrets that none of them were yet prepared to face.
And somewhere within that city, a Divine Spirit who Ignis’s claimed to be his sister sat upon her throne, watching over a world of blood and glory that she had created out of pure boredom.
-----