Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 60: Ch58. Not yet

Chapter 60: Ch58. Not yet

A gust of frigid wind swept through the ruined throne room, carrying the scent of decay and something worse. Diego’s breath caught in his throat as he took an instinctive step back, his fingers twitching, ready to summon his knives. The sound of footsteps, slow, deliberate, impossibly heavy, echoed from behind the shattered throne.

Miles remained still. His fingers flexed at his sides, but he made no move to summon his scythe. Yet Diego could feel it, the way his best friend’s body tensed ever so slightly, like a coiled spring ready to snap.

Then, she appeared.

From behind the ruined throne, the Queen of Hearts emerged. Or, at least, what was once her.

Diego had seen nightmares before. He had witnessed the horrors of The Glitch, the twisted monstrosities that roamed the streets of their broken world. But nothing, nothing, prepared him for the sight before him.

Her form was a grotesque mockery of what the queen had once been. Her body was impossibly tall, draped in the tattered remnants of a blood-red gown that had once been regal, now nothing more than strips of fabric clinging to her emaciated frame. The colors of red and gold had long since faded, replaced by the sickly hue of dried blood and rot. Her skeletal fingers twitched at her sides, adorned with jagged rings that dug into the withered flesh beneath. And her face...

Diego barely stifled a whimper as he locked eyes with her.

Her skin was stretched too tight, cracking at the edges like aged porcelain. The remnants of her once-elegant mask still clung to her features, but it had long since fused with her decayed flesh. Her lips painted a deep crimson that seemed fresh despite the ruin of the rest of her body, curled into a twisted parody of a smile. But it was her eyes that froze the blood in Diego’s veins.

Hollow.

Deep, empty sockets where eyes should have been, yet somehow, he could feel them staring straight through him. A swirling abyss of madness, hunger, and something ancient that had long since forgotten mercy.

Then, she spoke.

Her voice was wrong. It was layered, as if a thousand whispers were speaking at once, each voice trailing behind the other in an eerie delay.

"Slumber... Disturbed."

Diego’s head snapped toward Miles, confusion mixing with fear.

Miles remained silent. His face was unreadable, but Diego could see the way his fingers curled into fists.

The Queen took a step forward, and the very air around them seemed to darken, the sickly glow from the castle’s walls flickering like dying embers.

"The usurper who stole my knight... The wretched thief who dared defy Wonderland’s order..." Her grin stretched wider, splitting her lips, and revealing jagged, blackened teeth. "You will suffer, as all traitors do."

The ground beneath them trembled.

"Stole your knight?" Miles whispered with a breath. "Who the hell are you talking about, you witch...?"

Diego barely had time to react before the broken pieces of armor scattered across the throne room began to move. Shattered helmets snapped together, rusted swords fused with skeletal hands. The massive, tattered playing cards that littered the floor began to shimmer, and from them came horrid creatures, a horrid mix of flesh and metal. Some resembling humanoid shapes, while others were bestial monstrosities.

They were surrounded.

The Queen lifted a clawed hand, and the army of the fallen obeyed.

A dozen knight-shaped abominations lurched forward, their rusted weapons raised, their hollow eyes burning with unnatural light. The card soldiers flanked them, their massive forms moving with unsettling fluidity, their claws sharp enough to sever steel.

Diego’s mind screamed at him to run. To turn and flee before he could even think.

But Miles was already moving.

Diego’s eyes widened at his best friend’s recklessness, but there was nothing he could do about it, except to...

Miles’ scythe appeared in his hands with a burst of black sparks, and he charged toward the middle of the lunging army. His blade swept in a wide arc, severing limbs, and slicing through armor as if it were paper. The first wave of the Queen’s undead forces crumbled before they could even reach him, although he had told Diego he had become a level 01 player again.

Diego shook off his terror and doubt, leaving the question marks in his mind for later, forcing himself into motion. He summoned his [Twin Daggers], his breath steadying as he fell into step beside Miles. No hesitation. No fear. They had come here for a reason, and they were not dying in this cursed place.

A knight lunged at him, its rusted sword swinging downward in a brutal strike. Diego twisted out of the way, his body moving on instinct, now that the heat of the battle had taken him out of his stupor and into a more comfortable, usual place.

His blade found the gaps in the armor, slipping between metal plates and severing whatever force was keeping the abomination standing. The knight collapsed, lifeless once more.

[You killed a...]

[You have received...]

Another came for him, not giving him time to register the system’s words, and then another one lunged. The battlefield blurred into chaos.

[You killed...]

[You killed...]

Miles was a storm, his scythe carving through the Queen’s forces with an effortless grace that sent shivers down Diego’s spine.

It wasn’t just raw power, it was efficiency, precision honed from however long he had spent in this hellhole. He moved through the enemy ranks faster and faster, almost looking like a ghost. But he was not unstoppable, having received some hits himself, a few bruises and trickles of blood appearing on his face, shoulders, and underneath his shirt.

And the Queen...

She was just watching. Waiting.

Her hollow gaze never left them, her lips stretched into that same awful grin. And then, she moved.

Miles barely had time to react before she was upon him.

One moment, she stood at the throne, motionless. The next, she was in front of him, her clawed hand lashing out. Miles twisted, avoiding the strike a split-second too late, the sheer force of her attack sending him skidding backward, his boots carving deep trenches into the floor as blood flowed from a deep gash on his side.

"You took him from me." Her voice trembled with rage, her fingers twitching as if barely restraining herself. "You will pay the price."

She lunged again, faster than before.

Miles met her head-on, his scythe clashing against her claws in a deafening screech of metal against bone. The impact sent shockwaves through the throne room, shattering what little remained of the once-great palace.

Diego didn’t hesitate. As soon as he saw Miles’ legs shaking under the vicious flurry of blows that came from the Queen, he darted between the remaining undead, weaving through the chaos until he found an opening. His blades flashed, cutting through the Queen’s leg, but instead of flesh, he met something far worse.

The moment his daggers pierced her, an overwhelming surge of madness flooded his mind.

Visions. A throne of severed heads. A river of crimson stretching as far as the eye could see. Laughter, sharp, grating, endless.

And by the Queen’s side, something dark, ancient, not evil, but also not friendly.

Something terrifying.

Diego staggered back, his breath coming in short gasps. His mind felt like it was unraveling at the edges, his thoughts slipping into something he couldn’t control.

"Don’t let her touch you!" Miles’ voice snapped him back to reality. "She’ll tear your mind apart before she even kills you!"

Diego shook himself free of the lingering madness, gripping his daggers tighter. He had to focus. He had to fight.

"A little rabbit, scurrying underfoot..." The Queen turned her head toward him, her grin widening.

Then, she raised her hand, and Diego’s blood ran cold.

The entire castle trembled. More armor began to shift, more broken knights rising, more soldiers rising from the torn cards. The army she had summoned before was nothing compared to what was coming now.

"We’re too outnumbered." Miles cursed under his breath.

"No shit!" Diego snapped, his pulse racing.

"Run, little vermin," she cooed. "Run, and I may let you last a little longer." The Queen cackled, the sound warping the very air around them.

Miles exchanged a glance with Diego. They both knew the truth.

They had barely arrived at a farming spot, and they were already unable to win this fight.

Not yet.

"Time to go!" Miles growled, stepping back. He lifted his hand, summoning the key that had brought them here.

"You will not escape me again." The Queen’s laughter turned into a snarl.

Shadows surged toward them, the remnants of her army closing in fast. But before they could reach them, Miles turned the key in midair, and the portal flared open.

Diego didn’t hesitate. He jumped through, barely feeling the ground beneath him before everything blurred. The last thing he saw before the portal closed was the Queen’s twisted, seething expression as the world faded to black.

And then, they were gone.