Death Queen Island lies in the South Pacific near the equator. It's said to be, like the Death Zone of the Jamir Plateau, one of the fragments of the Mu continent. The surface is scorching hot as if on fire, rain of flames falls year-round, and it's like a blazing hell with brutal conditions. It's the training ground of the Dark Saints and the main base of Dark Saints exiled by the Sanctuary.
As for so-called "Dark Saints exiled by the Sanctuary"? That label isn't so clear-cut. In the last Holy War, there was even a Dark Saint at Gold Saint level, wearing a Dark Cloth modeled after a Silver Cloth. Though Dark Cloths have no Bronze, Silver, or Gold categories and are uniformly called Dark Cloths—and they don't provide the Cosmo amplification corresponding to Bronze, Silver, or Gold Cloths—they can inherit some of a Cloth's special abilities. In other words, among Dark Cloths, those modeled on Silver Cloths are actually the strongest. After all, Silver Cloths may carry quite remarkable special abilities—like the Dark Altar Cloth and the Dark Perseus Cloth.
Meruem set foot on Death Queen Island, this archipelago of living volcanoes, as if strolling through his own garden.
"If memory serves, there's no such thing as a 'Dark Gold Cloth' among Dark Cloths. But that was a past setting— whether it appears in this world remains to be seen. Even if it did, it wouldn't surpass Dark Silver Cloths, since Silver Cloths carry numerous special abilities. Stripping away defense and Cosmo amplification, Silver Cloths are in many ways superior to Gold Cloths."
"If my memory isn't failing me, I recall that in the last Holy War, the Gemini Gold Saint—Defteros, the younger of the 'Dove' brothers—once stayed in Death Queen Island's magma, and back then there were other villagers living on the island."
"But now on Death Queen Island, I don't sense any ordinary people besides those Dark Saints. Seems the Dark Saints do need a thorough reorganization. If they can be taken under my command and trained up, they'd make no small force. We'll see whether these Dark Saints know what's good for them. If not, just wipe them all out—the Dark Cloths make decent rewards. If not for avoiding premature exposure to the gods' gaze, King Meruem and the Chimera Ant Army have never lacked for manpower." Meruem wandered Death Queen Island at ease, quietly monitoring the Dark Saints' Cosmos.
Compared to the Sea Realm and Asgard, these Dark Saints' Cosmos were so faint as to be negligible.
Even the strongest among them was only at the Bronze level. No wonder, when Ikki unified the Dark Saints, he said they weren't even worthy of competing for Bronze Cloths. Their strength is downright pathetic. It seems the current boss of Death Queen Island is called Qiang-ge (Qiang Ge) or is it the gay one (Jigao)?
He seems ambitious—rumored to be plotting an attack on the Sanctuary? Laughable in the extreme. Never mind that the Sanctuary is guarded by Gold Saints—even a few capable Bronze Saints would suffice to wipe out this group of Dark Saints as they are now.
"Overestimating themselves" is Meruem's assessment of these Dark Saints. As for the Dark Four Heavenly Kings and the leader of the Dark Phoenixes, Nidagoya—Meruem hadn't sensed their Cosmos yet.
At best they're not weaker than an average Bronze—but that's about it.
The previous Dark Saints' leader, the Dark Altar Avid, reached Gold-tier strength before daring to seek revenge on the Sanctuary. Under him, the Dark White Whale and Dark Crow were both masters close to Gold strength. Look at this generation's Dark leader by comparison—pitifully weak.
Incidentally, Meruem had already found Ikki's Cosmos, but sensing he wasn't in mortal danger, he didn't go to him first.
"Look, a stranger's come to Death Queen Island. How rare." Meruem didn't hide his presence, heading straight for the Dark Saints' gathering place. Only when he came within plain sight did some Dark Saints finally spot him.
Even their five senses were terribly poor—not even up to Wang Hu and Bado after a few months of training. Such base existences, even with Cosmo, are cannon fodder.
"Daring to set foot on Death Queen Island—looking for death." Another Dark Saint in an unknown Dark Cloth took over from the previous speaker.
"Should we report to Leader Jango?" Dark Saint A
"Hahaha, what do you think? Then we wouldn't get to kill a civilian for sport. Makes my hands itch." Dark Saint B
"You're terrible." Dark Saint C
Killing civilians? No wonder Death Queen Island, once home to residents, ended up like this.
"Turn to dust and atone to the villagers who died." Meruem's finger flashed, and several Dark Saints blocking his path turned to ash before they could even scream, dispersing into the air. "Bruto and the rest—" The other Dark Saints who hadn't attacked were shocked. Bruto wasn't the strongest among them, but thanks to his violent nature he ranked among their top few. And now, he was—
"A monster!" "Go report to the leader!" "I don't want to die yet!" The Dark Saints around them scattered like startled deer.
"Undisciplined and disorganized, with abysmal mental fortitude. On that point alone, even Sanctuary grunts are better than this lot." Meruem laid into them without mercy.
"A rabble… no, not even worthy of being called a rabble."
"Who are you to stir up trouble on Death Queen Island? Don't you know this is Dark Saint territory?" After Meruem waited a while, a tall man with a long, bitter face and purple hair arrived before him, surrounded by a crowd of Dark Saints.
The current leader of the Dark Saints: Jango.
"Death Queen Island is Dark Saint territory? It's just a prison for exiled refuse, and yet you call it territory? Ridiculous." Meruem didn't even deign to spare him a proper glance.
Merely Bronze-level Cosmo.
"You little punk—seeking death! Galaxy Abyss!" Stung to fury by Meruem's blunt words, Jango took the initiative to attack.
In Jango's mind, even if he wasn't on par with the Sanctuary's Pope, he was at least a master. After all, he was a strong man with Cosmo.
Ants will never comprehend the strength of dinosaurs. And Meruem was far stronger than dinosaurs.
If he'd used one finger against those Dark Saints just now, he used one finger against Jango as well.
In Meruem's eyes, Jango was no different from those other Dark Saints.
"Impossible—" "Leader!" "A monster! A monster!"
Amid the terrified cries of Dark Saints whose courage had collapsed, Jango was erased by a single finger from Meruem.
"Anyone else who runs dies." With that, Meruem one-shotted a few more Dark Saints attempting to flee, finally stabilizing the situation.
The Dark Saints were scared out of their wits. Used to lording it over Death Queen Island, for the first time they felt how weak they were in the eyes of outsiders—just like the civilians they'd slaughtered.
"From today on, Death Queen Island will be under my control. The Dark Saints need a purge. Perhaps in the future you'll return to Athena's banner, but first you'll need the talent to be chosen." Meruem kept it short and blunt, stating his purpose to the Dark Saints.
"In a while, someone will come to take charge of you Dark Saints."
Whether they believed it or not was none of Meruem's concern. He didn't want to stay here another minute. Things not even as good as refuse weren't worth more time.
Having said his piece, Meruem departed like a thunderclap, vanishing before the Dark Saints.
After he left, the Dark Saints breathed a collective sigh of relief. Most of them paid no mind to Meruem's words and instead eyed the leader's position. Only a few figures hidden among the Dark Saints brightened at Meruem's words—though they drew no notice from the others.
Had Meruem been there, he would have noticed that these few Dark Saints wore Dark Cloths identical to the Bronze Five's Cloths.
Dark Pegasus, Dark Andromeda, Dark Dragon, Dark Swan, and a Dark Phoenix.
"What a… rare good mood." Leaving the Dark Saints' gathering place, Meruem headed toward Ikki.
At that moment, Ikki was being beaten by his master, Esmeralda Guilty, who preached Guilty's world—a creed of hatred—as he struck.
In the end, the eleven-year-old Ikki collapsed before Guilty from exhaustion in body and mind, and only then did Guilty stop.
"Guilty gives me the impression of someone mentally deranged. Heh—so that's it. The Demonic Emperor Fist from Saga, is it? No wonder… It's a pity, though. In his current state, even if I restore his original consciousness, he'll be a simpleton. He's been like this too long—the violent, hate-filled disposition is already his mode of thought."
"Simply put—there's no saving him."
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