The Nightmare Game Chapter 10

We'd just reached the castle entrance when the alien army was already waiting.

They surrounded us with spears and bladed weapons.

Too many of them. My particle rifle ran out of energy. I switched to the more destructive pulse cannon.

Aliens died faster, but I was also blowing holes in the castle's outer walls.

While firing, I apologized to Hailey: "Sorry about your castle!"

Hailey didn't respond. She turned and ran inside.

"Wait!"

I fought off the alien swarm while chasing after her.

I followed Hailey into the throne room from yesterday.

We both froze.

Another woman sat on the throne, dressed and built identically to Hailey.

Hailey shouted at the throne: "Who are you!"

The woman shot back: "I should be asking you that! How dare you impersonate me!"

I hurled a throwing star at her.

Crack! The star embedded in the woman's helmet.

The helmet split. Her face was revealed—

Another Hailey!

I looked back and forth between the two Haileys.

The throne-Hailey gave the command: "Kill them both!"

Countless aliens swarmed out.

My pulse cannon quickly ran out of energy. Time for the ultimate weapon.

I used Absolute Obedience to summon everyone: Sophia, Grace, Old Man Harrington, the Chainsaw Maniac, and more.

A massive battle erupted.

Wave after wave of aliens attacked. We were losing ground.

Suddenly, my Hailey ripped off her necklace.

Her body expanded, transforming into a thirty-foot-tall bee.

This was her true form!

Throne-Hailey wasn't about to be outdone. She also removed her collar and transformed.

The two Haileys fought each other with devastating force. Half the castle collapsed. Countless aliens died in the crossfire.

The commander's voice crackled through my earpiece: "Ethan, are you inside the alien castle? What's your situation?"

I gave a vague answer: "I'm here. It's chaotic. Situation unclear!"

The commander saw through me. "Don't play dumb. We installed surveillance on all of you. I know you've gained the Queen's trust!"

Damn it! They'd been spying on us!

The commander continued: "The one fighting alongside you is the original Queen. The other one was created using our cloning technology! If you kill the real Queen, the clone will lead the alien army to join us!"

I remembered Hailey mentioning she'd been injured by humans years ago. They must have obtained her DNA then to create this clone Queen.

No wonder the aliens had been acting so strangely—the fake Queen was controlling them!

The commander tempted me: "Kill the real Queen and you'll earn 100 million Dread Points!"

I responded with greedy interest: "Really? What do I need to do?"

"We're sending you a poison injector. Shoot it into the Queen's body and she'll die!"

"One problem—they're fighting so intensely, I can't tell which is which."

"The clone Queen's color is lighter!" the commander replied.

"Got it!"

The poison injector materialized via quantum transport.

I raised the gun-shaped injector and decisively fired at the lighter-colored Queen.

The fake Queen convulsed, her body wracked with poison, and collapsed dead within seconds.

When she died, all the aliens stopped attacking.

The commander's voice exploded through the comm: "Ethan Hayes! You dare betray me!"

I taunted: "I'll betray you whenever I feel like it. What are you going to do about it?"

The commander laughed coldly. "You asked for this."

Suddenly, a high-pitched whine screamed through my head. My brain felt like it was being pierced by hot needles.