Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 51: Operation: Fuck Up The Damn Queen [I]

Kōya moved with a Speed Burst, his body blurring forward at incredible velocity as he passed a faded red street sign that said "STOP" except the letter P had completely peeled off from years of weather damage and neglect.

The moment he cleared that spot, the entire area was utterly destroyed.

The sign was blown off its rusted post and flattened completely by a massive piece of concrete rubble from a collapsing building that the Queen had crashed through in pursuit.

’Fuck,’ Kōya thought desperately as he continued moving forward without slowing.

He executed a sharp curve to the right and burst into another connecting street, his legs burning from the strain but the horrific sounds of buildings being systematically demolished followed close behind him.

He was absolutely certain the monster was still right on his tail, closing the distance.

’The System explicitly advised me to run... but even then, how the hell am I actually supposed to run from something this fast?’

The Broodminder Queen was insanely, impossibly fast for something so massive. His leg muscles felt like they were literally about to pop and tear apart from the repeated strain of consecutive Speed Bursts.

However, his newly acquired Healing skill was actively kicking in, repairing the micro-tears as fast as they formed.

He was genuinely grateful for buying this particular skill with his last monthly purchase slot.

With the constant regeneration it provided, he could push Speed Burst to its absolute physical limit without permanently crippling himself because if he stopped moving now for even a second, he would most certainly die instantly.

’What am I supposed to do now?’ he thought frantically as he curved sharply to the right of the street.

The massive stinger of the Broodminder Queen crashed down violently exactly where he had just been standing.

A deep crater at least two meters wide was formed in the concrete ground, cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.

Kōya let out a small, shaky breath of relief.

If he stayed moving in one predictable lane for too long, the Queen would anticipate his path and attempt to kill him right there with a direct strike.

He needed to stay unpredictable.

’I need to somehow get on the offensive,’ he thought with growing desperation.

However, that was significantly easier said than actually done in practice.

There was a very vast and fundamental difference between regular Iron-class monsters and Silver-class threats. It typically took coordinated squads of four or more experienced blue-liners and red-liners working together to successfully kill Silver-class monsters.

He was just one three-liner.

Kōya double-pressed the storage ball on his belt, and the collapsible spear materialized in his hand then he made a calculated risk.

He slowed down dramatically in an instant, his Speed Burst ending abruptly.

The Queen Broodminder’s massive form shot past him completely, her momentum carrying her forward as she anticipated he would still be running at full speed ahead.

"Here’s my shot," Kōya muttered under his breath. He activated Mana Mode instantly, feeling the energy flood through his entire body.

As the enormous monster began turning around to face him with confusion in her net-like eyes, he threw the spear with his absolute full might.

His legs were visibly steaming from the accumulated damage, but they were regenerating just as fast as the tissue tore.

A small break from running was genuinely appreciated, and besides, this intense pain was actively helping build his Pain Tolerance skill, so he was completely all-in on pushing through it.

The Broodminder Queen looked directly at the incoming weapon and she seemed to regard it as utterly puny and insignificant.

She swatted it away contemptuously with one massive stinger, destroying the weapon completely in a single casual motion as her wings buzzed alarmingly loud behind her enormous golden body.

Kōya let out a nervous, slightly hysterical laugh while quickly bringing out his sword from storage instead.

However, before the Queen Broodminder even got the opportunity to blitz forward and crush him, a singular concentrated ray of blood suddenly descended from the sky above like divine judgment.

It shot directly toward the Queen Broodminder’s face at incredible speed.

The Queen raised her right stinger defensively to block the incoming attack. However, the sheer concentrated force behind Victoria’s Blood Burst was tremendous.

It actually bent the tip of the stinger it struck inward on itself, the armored segment crumpling under pressure.

This caused the Queen to let out a high-pitched, agonized cry as she reflexively released the damaged stinger upward to relieve the pain.

The stinger didn’t hit anything in its wild swing and retracted immediately back to her body then the Queen looked furiously down at where the murderer of her entire hive had been standing.

He was completely gone.

She let out an absolutely shrill cry of rage as she flew higher above the destroyed street to look down at the surrounding area with her net-like crimson eyes.

Another shrill cry sounded, but this one was different.

’What’s it doing now?’ Kōya thought nervously.

He was currently hiding inside one of the recently collapsed buildings, pressed against a concrete wall.

Victoria was in her human form, crouched directly in front of him with her breasts unavoidably pressed against the top of his head due to the cramped space.

He had initially tried to complain about the awkward positioning, but she had immediately whispered urgently that he absolutely shouldn’t move a single muscle.

So now he was forced to stare straight ahead at nothing, trying to ignore the intimate contact.

Text appeared in his vision from the System.

「The Queen Broodminder is currently using specialized sound waves to detect your exact location, systematically narrowing down possibilities by analyzing your breathing patterns, heartbeat rhythm, and even subtle body heat signatures」

Kōya’s breath immediately stopped completely as he stared ahead in genuine surprise and alarm.

That monstrosity could actually detect his breathing from this distance?

「Affirmative. The Queen possesses advanced echolocation capabilities. If Host did not currently have Princess Victoria pressed directly against him, muffling your biological signatures, Host would already be dead」

After several more shrill screening sounds echoed across the area, the monster finally flew off in a different direction to continue searching.

They remained frozen in that exact position for several more tense minutes before Victoria finally pulled back and sat down carefully on a flat piece of stone rubble, breathing out heavily with relief.

"Damn... It seems that even in this current era, Broodminder Queens are still as temperamental and relentless as they were in my time." Victoria said, wiping a small amount of sweat from her forehead then she looked directly at Kōya with genuine confusion.

"What exactly did you do to make that monster so furiously mad at you specifically...? I’ve never seen one this committed to revenge."

There were definitely a handful of specific things that one could theoretically do to provoke a Queen into hunting them personally but it seemed like this particular Queen was pursuing him with an almost personal vendetta that went beyond normal territorial behavior. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Oh, that’s simple. I’m pretty sure it’s because I killed every single one of her children and subordinates, then completely blew up her entire hive," Kōya said casually without even pausing to think, as if this was perfectly reasonable.

He was currently flexing and testing his legs experimentally... they seemed completely fine now thanks to Heal.

However, Victoria immediately blitzed forward with shocking speed and grabbed him roughly by the front of his shirt, physically lifting him up off the ground.

"Are you absolutely mad?! You’ve doomed both of us!" Victoria said, her voice rising with genuine anger and fear. "Everyone who knows anything about Broodminders knows that you are never, ever meant to touch their hive structure! Now that monster will relentlessly chase you down until the very end of your life, no matter how long that takes or how far you run!"

"I can clearly see that reality now," Kōya said with complete seriousness. "But if we actually manage to kill that monster successfully, won’t we gain an absolutely massive amount of experience mana? You can use it to replenish your depleted reserves and regain more of your original power, and I can absorb enough to rank up to four-liner status."

Victoria let him go and sat back down heavily on the rubble with a deeply troubled expression visible on her beautiful, pale face.

From appearing relatively innocent and strategic, he had somehow transformed into a power-obsessed madman in what felt like a heartbeat.

What kind of insane person actively thought about ranking up and power gains while being actively hunted by a monster that could shatter reinforced buildings as easily as stepping on dry leaves?

"If you genuinely think we should attempt this suicidal plan, then I’ll be standing with you regardless of my personal feelings," Victoria said slowly, her frown deepening. "Being Blood Partners essentially means entering a form of marriage bond... a permanent joining of fates. Therefore, where you choose to go, I will go as well. That’s the nature of our contract."

She paused, making sure he understood the weight of her words.

"However, I want you to know clearly that I don’t approve of this plan even one bit... My full-power Blood Convergence only managed to bend the Queen’s stinger inward slightly. That’s nowhere near enough damage to actually kill something at Silver-class level."

"Don’t worry about the details. I already have a plan in mind," Kōya said with a confident smile that made Victoria immediately feel wary.

What kind of absolutely crazy, reckless plan had he cooked up this time in that strange brain of his?

She could practically see the dangerous ideas forming behind his eyes. Nothing good would come from this... she was certain of it.

’System, is the tactical plan ready?’ Kōya thought.

「Affirmative. I have currently drafted out a comprehensive battle strategy that has an estimated 80% chance of successful mission completion when accounting for all remaining items in Host’s possession and Princess Victoria’s current combat capabilities」

’Perfect. Official operation name: Fuck Up The Damn Queen,’ Kōya thought with satisfaction.

「... Host, for a military operation that’s as tactically fragile and high-risk as this one, that designation sounds rather childish and unprofessional」

’I don’t care. Just shut up and name it exactly that,’ Kōya thought with an internal huff.

It sounded absolutely cool in his head, and that was genuinely what really mattered here.

...

Approximately one hour later, after all the necessary preparations had been carefully made to follow through with the System’s tactical plan, Kōya stood alone in the center of an open plaza.

Multiple damaged buildings of varying structural integrity surrounded him on all sides.

Some had already fallen and were just piles of rubble, some were visibly ancient and deteriorating, and others were still standing relatively strong despite years of neglect.

The reason the preparations had even taken a full hour to complete was because the Queen had been surveying the entire area from above.

This made it extremely difficult to actually place the trap components on the ground without being spotted.

They’d had to hide at specific intervals whenever she flew overhead, freezing completely still until she passed but now everything was finally completely ready.

And though Kōya was absolutely certain that with his fucked-up Fate trait, the Broodminder Queen was probably already heading directly toward him, he still decided to provoke her even further by releasing a Praetorian corpse from his storage ring.

He stood in the exact center of the plaza now and drew his sword.

He began dismembering the corpse... it was specifically the one he had body-slammed during the hive raid, he had wanted to use it for research however he didn’t see the chance.

He methodically removed both of its arms with clean cuts.

Victoria even helped from her distant position, using a precisely aimed Blood Burst to completely pulverize the corpse’s head into unrecognizable paste.

Meanwhile, Kōya spread the dismembered remains deliberately across the ground in a disrespectful display.

After completing the desecration, he carefully placed five of those high-powered explosive devices he’d purchased among the scattered body parts, concealing them under chunks of the corpse.

As he finished positioning the last bomb, his Danger Sense suddenly started firing off urgent warnings.

"Phase 1 complete..." Kōya muttered under his breath. His Danger Sense screamed louder.

He activated Speed Burst and leaped backward in a blur of motion, landing precisely fifteen meters away... right at the designated position where Phase 3 would begin.

As his feet touched the ground, the Queen Broodminder descended from the sky directly onto the desecrated corpse remains.

She looked down at what this human had done to one of her loyal guards who had died valiantly trying to defend the hive and protect the young.

Her entire body trembled with rage.

She brought down one massive pincer slowly to touch the destroyed body in what seemed almost like a gesture of mourning.

However, there was an audible mechanical click from the remote detonator in Kōya’s hand.

A massively powerful explosion immediately boomed outward, completely engulfing the Queen in fire and force.

The blast scattered debris and dust throughout the entirety of the plaza, rattling nearby buildings.

Kōya’s body had already begun glowing with Mana Mode activation in preparation.

The thick smoke gradually cleared to reveal the Queen Broodminder hovering above the completely destroyed corpse.

Her net-like eyes had somehow turned even more intensely red than before, practically glowing with pure hatred.

She looked directly at Kōya and her wings buzzed with absolutely wild, uncontrolled fury.

「Phase 2 of Operation: Fuck Up The Damn Queen has been successfully accomplished

「Host may now begin the tactical retreat phase」

Kōya immediately burst forward into the predetermined alleyway using Speed Burst. He could clearly hear the Queen buzzing violently outside the narrow passage.

It was a deliberately chosen narrow alleyway which he would follow through into the more complicated maze-like section of this district.

There were various other monsters lurking around in these abandoned streets, but it was also an extremely complicated network of intersecting passages and dead-ends.

This complex layout would lead him eventually to Phase 4’s target location.

"Come on..." Kōya muttered under his breath as he executed a sharp swerve into another connecting alley.

Just then, the Queen Broodminder burst violently through the exact wall where he had been running from, moving in a completely straight line. She was obliterating walls, support beams, and everything else in her path without even slowing.

She was absolutely beyond pissed!

Kōya curved skillfully through several more interconnected alleyways and finally made it out to the main street.

He took a brief pause as his legs visibly steamed from the accumulated strain.

This pause was specifically to taunt the Queen who was still barreling forward behind him through destroyed buildings.

He actually stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Catch me if you can!" he called out mockingly.

Before she could shoot out of the building and into the open street, Kōya had already begun a running start down the street, which formed a long straight line perfect for Speed Burst.

The Queen burst explosively out of the building sides like a missile and immediately began chasing after him with single-minded determination.

That was precisely when Victoria knew that Phase 3 had officially begun.

She flew high above the Queen’s position and immediately began analyzing the bloodflow patterns throughout the Broodminder’s massive body.

She could see that the creature had barely sustained any meaningful structural damage from the multiple explosions... her armor was simply too thick.

Victoria immediately began activating Blood Convergence at maximum output.

Kōya had called this particular part of the mission "Aggro Management", whatever that strange term actually meant.

His explanation had been that he was going to act as live bait to maintain the Queen’s complete attention.

Meanwhile, Victoria would serve as the primary damage dealer, attacking from range while the Queen was distracted.

So while Kōya moved rapidly through the streets as a highly visible distraction, leading the Queen toward the Phase 4 location, Victoria was meant to deal as much accumulated damage as physically possible.

Her Blood Convergence pumped faster and more intensely than she’d ever pushed it before.

She was even breathing noticeably faster from the exertion and mana expenditure.

’If he dies here today... then I’ll inevitably die along with him due to complete lack of a Blood Partner,’ she thought as multiple concentrated spheres of blood energy formed rapidly around her hovering form.

She began firing them in rapid succession.

’He absolutely must survive this... It’s not like I want head pats or anything.’

The blood projectiles struck repeatedly... hitting the top of the Queen’s armored head, the delicate membrane of her wings, and especially the underside areas where the bomb damage had created small cracks in the armor plating.

She was taking full tactical advantage of every visible weakness.

Both of them were relying completely on the critical fact that the Queen was far too focused on killing Kōya to notice the attacks coming from above and behind.

They curved around a corner and Victoria curved smoothly through the air as well, continuously increasing her output and generating more blood projectiles.

She was hacking away at several specific parts of the Queen’s body, dealing progressive accumulated damage to joints and wing membranes.

’He better give me an absolutely massive feast of his blood when we finally finish this insane mission,’ Victoria complained internally while firing another barrage.

...

’Phase 3 is almost completely concluded,’ Kōya thought as he glanced behind him.

The System had confirmed with 99.9% certainty that the Queen would not turn back or give up the chase now, so he was operating under that assumption.

She was definitely getting noticeably more sluggish in her movements due to Victoria’s accumulated damage but if he slowed down carelessly and risked letting her get too close, she would definitely launch her stinger in a direct killing strike.

「Sufficient cumulative damage has been sustained by the Queen Broodminder. Proceed immediately to Phase 4 execution」

Kōya smiled with grim satisfaction. This was going remarkably, almost suspiciously smoothly so far.

He let a small pebble fly up into the air as a predetermined signal.

The constant blood projectile barrage from Victoria immediately ceased on cue. However, it seemed that the Queen still had significant spirit and stamina left in her despite the injuries.

She actually sped up her wing beats even though they were visibly bleeding now from multiple puncture wounds.

’What the hell...’ Kōya thought with alarm as he spotted the predetermined street branching off to the side up ahead.

With a few more curved movements, he would reach the Phase 4 execution point and just as the Queen was about to reach striking distance of his back, Kōya began spinning rapidly to the right.

He turned himself into a human spinning top, executing a curved Speed Burst at an extreme angle.

The Queen’s massive stinger strike missed him entirely, stabbing empty air.

Kōya steadied himself after completing the sharp turn and burst forward down the new street.

The Queen was behind him again, albeit moving noticeably slower now from accumulated wing damage.

Now they had entered a significantly wider plaza area where the plan was going to reach its final conclusion.

Kōya increased his pace dramatically despite how his tortured leg muscles screamed desperately for rest.

He made several more unpredictable turns on the street to ensure that the Queen couldn’t line up a successful ranged stinger snipe even though she had fallen somewhat behind.

They had specifically marked several buildings in advance during preparation.

He just passed by Building B, which was a visibly leaning structure with compromised stability.

Up ahead were Buildings A and C positioned on opposite sides.

According to the plan, he would use Building B’s collapse to slow down the Queen’s momentum even more.

Then Buildings A and C would fall simultaneously to finish the job with crushing weight.

Yes, he had planted explosive charges in the two buildings’ support structures.

Kōya shot past Buildings A and C at full speed.

The Queen crashed directly through the center of Building B, her momentum forcing her through the weakened structure.

This slowed her forward velocity down considerably as she had to push through concrete and steel.

Kōya stopped running and positioned himself right behind Buildings A and C.

He collapsed onto one knee as if completely exhausted, breathing heavily.

The buzzing sound from the approaching Queen was absolutely worth the performance as she visibly sped up, sensing victory.

One of her damaged wings was even bending at an awkward, unnatural angle from Victoria’s focused attacks.

Kōya stood back up slowly as she neared the buildings, his hand gripping the detonator switch tightly.

The Queen’s net-like eyes suddenly widened with recognition.

It was the same type of device as before—

"Sayonara, motherfucker." Kōya called out clearly.

He pressed the detonator.

Simultaneously, a massively high-powered Blood Convergence beam slammed into the Queen’s back from above with tremendous force.

The impact pushed her down toward the ground level.

At that exact same moment, the explosive charges detonated and both buildings began collapsing inward.

Massive amounts of rubble and structural debris came crashing down directly on top of the Broodminder Queen’s position.

Kōya leaped backward with a perfectly curved Speed Burst, even managing to adjust his trajectory while airborne.

He cleared the blast zone completely as both buildings collapsed simultaneously onto the Broodminder.

The catastrophic impact cut off her buzzing sound immediately and completely.

Dust and debris filled the entire area. After that, Kōya fell onto one knee for real this time.

His legs were steaming even more intensely now from the extreme extended usage.

He waited expectantly for the experience mana to float out from the Queen’s destroyed body.

However, nothing emerged from the massive pile of rubble and his face registered genuine surprise.

"You’re actually still alive after all that..."

The dust gradually cleared to reveal that despite her body being almost completely submerged under tons of rocks and concrete, her head was still positioned outside the rubble.

It was heavily damaged with cracks across the armor plating, but she was definitely, impossibly still alive.

"What a fucking monster," Kōya said with a mixture of respect and dread.