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Charles and the others had already followed Roy's advice and evacuated, so when the Xenomorph Queen climbed to the surface, all she found were a few lonely prefabricated buildings.
This Queen had been trapped in the pyramid for who-knows-how-many years. This might've been her first time leaving it to see the outside world.
Roy wondered what this Xenomorph version of The Shawshank Redemption would think of this vast, desolate white world. Would she cry out "Freedom!"?
More likely, she'd scream "Protect me!"—because Roy was already hot on her trail.
"Where do you think you're going? You really think you can escape?"
As he said this, Roy noticed the Queen standing still, head tilted back, motionless. Something was off.
"What, you giving up already?"
Roy figured the Queen, new to the Antarctic, was probably frozen stiff.
After all, Xenomorphs weren't exactly built for cold climates. Think about animals that thrive at the poles—thick fur, layers of blubber. The Queen had none of that. Her fan-shaped crest might be thick, but it sure wasn't insulating.
Xenomorph physiology was insect-like, and insects typically don't handle cold well.
"Whatever. Let's just finish you off. Wonder if I'll get a rune this time."
Roy hefted the Leviathan Axe and hurled it with force. At close range, the impact was nearly simultaneous with the sonic boom.
The Queen's body was almost cleaved in half, barely held together by a thin strip of flesh. Her acidic blood sprayed everywhere, leaving black scorch marks on the snow.
Yet, astonishingly, she still didn't react.
Roy frowned. Something wasn't right.
A second later, red tendrils sprouted from the Queen's body, knitting her nearly severed torso back together.
The Thing? When did that happen?
Roy was shocked but not entirely surprised.
The Queen was massive, so a small amount of Thing cells could easily go unnoticed.
Then he spotted it—a tiny red spot on her back.
On closer inspection, it was a small, red-shelled messenger Xenomorph, curled into a ball, its tail piercing the gaps in the Queen's crest. It had delivered the Thing cells and now seemed completely dead.
Roy guessed this was the messenger Xenomorph hatched from Lucas Barnes's dachshund, infected by Thing cells and transformed into a messenger hybrid.
This forced fusion reminded him of certain deep-sea fish mating habits.
Take the anglerfish—most people know them as those "pretty" deep-sea creatures with a glowing lure on their heads. But those are all females. Male anglerfish are tiny, sometimes just a centimeter long, over ten times smaller than females.
Some species of male anglerfish find a female by scent, bite into her, and release a digestive enzyme that fuses part of their body into hers, becoming a sort of organ.
Yeah, they basically turn the female into a futa.
Some popular females even end up with multiple males attached.
(Illustration)
The Queen's situation was eerily similar. The dachshund-born hybrid wasn't mating, but it was passing on genes.
To transform the massive Queen, the hybrid likely poured all its cells into her. That red lump was probably just an empty husk.
Otherwise, the Queen wouldn't have mutated so fast.
"Alright, let's see what you've got!"
With that, Roy shifted into his demon form. His body swelled, reaching over seven meters tall. His physical attributes skyrocketed, with his constitution hitting the world's cap of 200 points.
Thanks to the Leviathan Armor, he pushed past the limit to 205.
This meant Roy's body could tank a hydrogen bomb without a scratch—maybe just a nosebleed.
But breaking the world's attribute limit had downsides. The space around him warped, rejecting him. It felt awful.
This was why Roy rarely used his demon form lately. Not only was his size impractical, but the world's rejection was uncomfortable.
Luckily, he'd learned a trick from Elizabeth to suppress his demon form's attributes, allowing her to sneak onto Earth without her full power triggering alarms.
After dialing back, Roy brought his constitution down to around 190, paired with 185 strength, 155 agility, and the blazing hellfire coating his body. He couldn't imagine losing.
The Queen's body was undergoing a radical transformation. The Thing's genes had fused with hers in a way more complete than typical Xenomorphs.
Most strikingly, her body was starting to resemble a humanoid!
It was like a throwback phenomenon.
In Prometheus, the first Xenomorph was born by chance—human DNA, black goo, and trilobites combining to create the Deacon Xenomorph.
The Deacon retained a mostly human shape, with only its head hinting at future Xenomorphs. No spines, no tail, no armor except the head.
(Deacon Xenomorph)
The Queen was now in a similar state. She'd already torn off her tail to escape, and as her spines and armor shed, she looked more and more like a Deacon.
Her proportions became sleeker, almost elegant, with distinct human-like female features.
Honestly, this version of the Queen might appeal to people with unique tastes.
It was like a woman in a custom bodysuit.
(Roughly this vibe, minus the tail and spines)
The mutated Queen let out a piercing screech, radiating an invisible wave of malice that even startled Roy.
It seemed the Thing's genes and hers had reached a perfect balance, elevating her lifeform.
Her strength now rivaled an upper-tier demon, maybe even a demon lord.
But demon lords varied. The strongest could claim a Sin Authority and ascend to Hell King status instantly. The weakest? Just lackeys for other lords.
"Quit screaming! Pipe down!"
Roy hurled the Leviathan Axe again to teach her a lesson.
With 185 strength, he threw it at four times the speed of sound.
That's nearly 5,000 kilometers per hour!
If Roy threw the axe from Los Angeles at that speed and it maintained velocity, it'd reach Tokyo in three hours.
But to his shock, the Queen dodged the axe. Her reaction speed was unreal.
"Not bad, you've leveled up!"
After dodging, the Queen got cocky, hissing aggressively at Roy.
"You're hissing at me? Looks like you need a lesson!"
Roy recalled the axe and beckoned her with a taunting gesture.
The next second, the Queen vanished, her massive frame moving with unmatched agility, appearing silently behind Roy.
Her speed broke the sound barrier, yet there was no sonic boom or shockwave.
Her unique physiology let her move faster than sound without a trace.
That was a neat trick—Roy wanted it. His axe throws always caused a loud boom, triggering chain reactions.
But sneaking up on Roy? No chance. He whipped his thick demon tail like an iron lash, smacking the Queen's face and sending her flying.
With his current constitution, Roy's tail was probably tougher than the world's hardest metal.
The Queen hit the ground, seemingly snapped awake by the slap, realizing Roy was still the boss. She started circling cautiously, not daring to attack.
"What, not coming at me anymore? Guess it's my turn!"
Before he finished, Roy teleported behind her with a psychic jump.
Knowing her reaction speed and sharp senses, he skipped physical bursts and went straight for spatial abilities.
It worked. The Queen didn't react in time, and Roy's axe slashed her back.
Her crest had upgraded too. Before, Roy's 115 strength left a gash. Now, with 185, he only managed a shallow cut.
Her defense was almost on par with his.
But her crest was her only tough part. The rest of her body, built for agility, wasn't as durable.
So, Roy targeted her unarmored arm.
The Queen wasn't dumb enough to stand still. As Roy raised his axe, red tendrils shot out, trying to grab him.
Too bad Roy's demon form was cloaked in hellfire. The tendrils couldn't penetrate it, and he chopped off one of her arms.
The severed arm sprouted spider legs and tried to scuttle away, but Roy pulled out his M1014 shotgun and blasted it with hellfire energy.
The Queen realized she was outmatched in both physicality and abilities.
So, she decided to run. Again.
Her intelligence was clearly higher than the Thing's, which had foolishly tried to eat Roy.
But escaping wasn't that easy.
Her back crest opened, revealing red flesh that morphed into exhaust ports, spewing red gas.
The gas hit Roy's hellfire and triggered a massive explosion.
Roy stood unmoved, but the blast obscured his vision.
Sensing another escape attempt, he leaped out of the smoke and saw the Queen sprouting beetle-like wings, ready to take off.
"No you don't!"
Roy teleported again, swinging his axe at her wings. To his surprise, it cut through too easily, like slicing an empty shell.
It was an empty shell!
The Queen had pulled a cicada-shedding trick, leaving her husk behind while her real body burrowed underground.
It made sense. Roy's demon form had wings too, and she couldn't outfly him.
The wings were a distraction to keep him from noticing the ground.
With Thing cells, the Queen could reshape her body for any environment, creating functional organs on the fly.
Now, she'd turned herself into a super burrowing machine, drilling deep underground.
In just seconds, she'd gone dozens of meters.
And she was cunning, leaving cell clusters behind as decoys.
Didn't matter. Roy kicked the husk aside, took a deep breath, and unleashed a stream of hellfire into the burrow.
The fire roared like a dragon, catching up to the Queen in seconds.
Even with her enhanced body, she couldn't withstand the hellfire's heat.
A few seconds later, the snow erupted nearby, and a much smaller Queen crawled out, gasping, her resistance completely broken.
"It's over!"
As Roy raised the Leviathan Axe to finish her, a strange noise came from above.