Because they had poured all of their energy into that single strike, the princes and princesses were now utterly exhausted. They clearly had not expected the queen to rise again, let alone transform into such a form. Their gazes turned toward Athena almost in unison.
Athena merely smiled and looked up into the air.
Up there, the queen's body was undergoing a terrifying change. From her face, darkness began to spread outward violently. Her moon-colored hair rapidly turned into a pitch-black mass, as though it had been congealed from thick sludge.
Her flesh shifted to a grayish black, no longer bearing the glossy sheen of metal. It withered and collapsed inward, making her appear as though only a layer of shriveled skin remained, stretched over bare bones.
Her once-luxurious robes, woven with countless intricate patterns, began to dissolve as well, revealing the body beneath, where rib joints were exposed with no flesh to cover them.
"Rip!"
