“Where is Champion Michael?” I asked the man in front of me. He was missing an arm, but the fight had left him like the worm he was.

“I don’t know! I swear.” I doubted that. While I couldn’t sense lies from people, I could tell he wasn’t being honest.

“Really now. What about Clarissa? Where is she hiding? How do you get your orders?” I asked. My left hand gripped him by the shoulder while my right hand moved towards his eye socket.

“I don’t know! I don’t- AHHHH!” He screamed as I plucked an eye out. I tossed it away onto the ground and wiped the few drops of blood and fluid on his clothing.

“You are the highest ranking person around here. I am just going up the chain of command, tell me!” I demanded.

“I only know the location in the wilderness. A drop spot at a buried cart, to the East,” he said.

“Now was that so hard.” I brought the man over to the store so he could purchase a regeneration. A beam attack came out, targeting me from behind. I waved my free hand to disperse it, but another came from the front. The man I held captive was blown apart with my barrier protecting me.

I tossed the useless fried corpse to the side. I had no considered shielding my captive. If he was to die, then he could die. I pulled out two needles and imbued them with energy. There were two force explosions on opposite sides of the plaza. The life signs winking out. Worms, all of them worms.

The strategy these people were employing was quite clever. In fact, it was honestly impressive. I was being kept at a certain distance at all times. No one could harm me, or hurt me. But I was only one woman.

Killing off my own soldiers as punishment for their failure to protect my son was something I wouldn’t regret. But the fact that I had to do everything on my own was exhausting. Inhaling the weak energy in the air, I revitalized myself, but I could already sense the burden I was putting on my body. I purchased a restoration which helped push things till later, but it was only a temporary measure.

I would not show weakness. I could rest when I had found my son, or I was dead. Nothing would stop me until that point. I left the city and continued my way towards the East. Any group I found, I interrogated for any clue and if they had seen Champion Michael.

He was running about, but there was no word on his current whereabouts. This Clarissa, who had arranged all of this was quickly rising up on my list of people to kill. There were just drop points and exchanges. With intermediaries and times and locations switching around.

I prided myself on being clever, but this level of complexity was giving me a headache. It was not something I could use my Kung-Fu on. That was why I had people to do these things for me. Unfortunately, they had all been killed off. They were all useless, the fact they were so weak and unable to manage things in my absence.

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Grabbing a woman this time after killing her friends, I started the process again. “Where is Champion Michael?” I asked.

“I don’t know! He went West to the Dragon Empire!” The woman struggled and screamed while futilely trying to break my grip.

I twitched my hand and snapped her neck, tossing the worm to the side. Useless, utterly useless. I kept moving East. I would keep checking the cities. No matter what people had to get food and supplies. That meant eventually Michael would show up, unless dead drops were prepared for him.

How annoying. I clenched my fists in anger, as I raced across the landscape. The next group I just killed, not even bothering to question to vent my frustration. It was a nightmare trying to track him down with how this was all set up.

The strong people were hiding, the weak people were like worms. They were everywhere. For every ten I killed there were eleven more. Moving supplies, crystals, about in a great web. I was no fly, but I still felt caught in the invisible strands slowly being weaved around me.

It was probably my imagination. The only thing that mattered in the end was power and being the strongest. As long as I was the strongest, I would win, it was that simple. It was inevitable. The problem was getting that victory. If Michael and Clarissa were hiding, then digging them out from wherever they were wouldn’t be simple.

I had followed some people at a distance, observing, hoping to follow the trail of crystals, but they had just been routed for more supplies and people exchanging positions so they could get restorations and switch out.

If there were any crystals being moved to a central location, it wasn’t happening nearby unfortunately. I would have to keep watching and trying to find if any were being siphoned off. While I was no master detective, it didn’t take a genius to realize that following the point crystals would eventually lead me to the ring leaders.

They would need to get powerups to have any hopes of facing me. I would just track the crystal flow and then kill them once I found their base of operations. It would take a lot of time, but I was confident, that I would be able to manage something so simple.

No matter how great the spider may weave their web, that didn’t change the fact that there was a spider. If this Clarissa was killed, then everything would most likely fall apart and make things a lot harder for Michael. It was clear she was the real brains running everything based on the questioning I had completed.

While I did not believe the first few people who had screamed out her name, enough had that it was obvious that she was managing the resistance against me. When I found her, I would let her suffer a bit before torturing her for the crime of going against me.

I would never accept a dog that bit me. Even my Inquisitor had only asked to challenge me in a spar, since she refused to bow to anyone weak. I easily put her in her place. I could respect that kind of attitude. A lost dog learning to obey. But this, this web of intrigue was disgusting.

There was no purpose except to annoy an delay me. Perhaps they imagined they could put up a fight if they delayed me long enough. That was foolish. I was not a child that could be easily distracted. I was the Divine Empress.

Another group, perfect. I raced over killing all but one instantly. I grabbed the man up by the neck. “Where is Michael?” I asked.

“What-“ I ripped off an arm for his insolence.

“You do not ask me questions. Now. Let’s try this again. Where is Michael?”

“I don’t know.”

“Clarissa?” I asked.

“I have never met either of them, I have two kids-“ His head separated from his body. Another worm and utterly useless.

“I hope you are watching Avatar. Since I am coming for you as well,” I glanced up at the disturbance of energy in the sky. It quickly disappeared. Still East. Well that was a good as a direction as any other. Watching me only revealed her location, allowing me to find her more quickly. It was only a matter of time before my enemies fell into my hands.