All of the female warriors intent on participating in the Queen's Blade tournament have now assembled in Gynos, the capital of reigning Queen Aldra. There they are joined by Nyx, a normally-timid woman who possesses both a demonic staff and a serious grudge against Elina, and Nanael, who has been assigned by Heaven to participate in the Queen's Blade herself so that Heaven can ferret out what, exactly, Queen Aldra is really up to. (Instead she winds up mooching off of the priestess Melpha, who has an odd notion about what constitutes a holy text.) And the Queen is certainly up to something, too, which includes corrupting one of the fighters to serve her will, hunting down one of her wayward assassins, and trapping various individuals in amber. Individual combatants also have their own issues, including Cattleya's efforts to find or attract the attention of her missing husband, Echidna's efforts to reconnect with former student Irma, and Airi's vain efforts to keep cohorts Melona and Menace on the task set for them by the Swamp Witch. The tournament must progress, though, and with the match-ups and settings at the whim of Queen Aldra, some of the first round and early second round matches seem to serve additional purposes.