The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Sector Alpha-099)

(Unknown Planet)

Perhaps in another time or place it would be considered beautiful sight.

A sea of gorgeous flowers blooming as far as the eye could see. Their thin thread-like leaves swayed merrily in the wind and a pleasant scent of honeydew filled the air.

Unfortunately, this peaceful scene was nothing more than a nightmare for Sophie.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie channeled her qi towards her legs and activated a movement technique to get out of this dangerous situation.

Her figure blurred and instantly vanished without a trace.

Sophie appeared ten kilometers away from her previous location but was struck by an intense bout of dizziness.

She had pushed herself to the limits of the movement technique, so it took a few seconds to shrug off the nauseous feeling.

"Big sis…sister… what was that?" Lily whispered in a frightened tone.

"I'm not sure but I think we lost them," Sophie replied calmly and continued to run towards the direction of the ship.

She was not foolish enough to assume without any evidence that they had actually escaped the grasp of the green ooze, but it was important to relax Lily's nerves.

The endless scenery of reddish rocks and dust made what happened earlier seem like a fever dream, but Sophie didn't let her guard down.

Her danger sense was still in a period of high alert, so Sophie was constantly scanning the surroundings for the first sign of trouble.

Chik! Chik! Chik!

A loud series of clicking noises caused Sophie's heart to drop. She hurriedly channeled more qi into her legs in order to increase her speed.

But it was too late….

An enormous flower rose up from the ground and its appearance was a bit different from the other plants.

This flower was around the size of a two-story buildings with sharp jagged thorns running along its stem and leaves.

The colour of its petals was a pale white colour, and an unpleasant scent of rotten meat and carrion was constantly being emitted from its fleshy interior.

Sophie reached into the pocket of her battle suit and pulled out a tiny red vial. Without hesitation she pulled off the stopper and downed the entire contents.

An intense feeling of pain coursed through her veins as the poison travelled through her body before entering Sophie's mouth glands.

It was time to fight.

Sophie's fangs lengthened and her eyes shifted from their typical golden hue to a fiery shade of crimson red.

Rsychosis!

Five identical copies of Sophie suddenly appeared, and each ran towards the mysterious flower from a different direction.

Pierce!

Sophie spat out a mouthful of blood as a thick green tendril penetrated the underside of her ribcage.

The only reason why this injury wasn't fatal was because Sophie's heightened senses had allowed her to shift her body to the side at the last moment.

However, things were not looking good…

There seemed to be some kind of neurotoxin on the tip of the tendril, but Sophie's immune system quickly reduced its effects.

But even still, the area around the wound rapidly decomposed and festered right before Sophie's eyes.

It was a strange injury as Sophie could tell that the toxin was not responsible for this effect.

The rest of her copies did not even have the time to react, and the tendrils accurately stabbed right through their heart.

Their corpses withered away into dust which was then absorbed by tiny pore-like holes on the underbelly of the tendrils.

Sophie coughed out a few more specks of blood and took a small glance at her injury.

The hole was not closing despite her regenerative power.

She could feel her body growing weaker and weaker with every passing second.

What was this thing?

The speed of the attack just now was too fast for ordinary qi tide cultivators to even get a glimpse.

There was only one ability that could possibly allow her to close the gap…

Sophie did not have much time to think of other possible countermeasures as four tendrils shot at her with incredible speed.

Slash!

This time Sophie completely surrendered to her predatory instincts and the blade-like appendages on her back accurately cut through the vines.

Chik! Chik! Chik!

The flower did not seem happy as a tidal wave of green tendrils rose into the air. The sky itself appeared to have been transformed into endless vines.

Sophie's red eyes looked up at the incoming attack and instead of retreating, the hybrid girl advanced forward without fear.

Lily was gripping onto her back for dear life, but Sophie was no longer concerned with the well being of the child.

Now the only thought consuming her mind was to hunt.

It was time for the huntress to find some worthy prey.

Sophie grinned with a bloodthirsty expression on her face that would send shivers down the spine of even battle-hardened men.

Under the influence of the berserker state, her senses were now heightened to the extreme and her speed rose to an unprecedented level.

Sophie's figure deftly weaved through the barrage of attacks as though there were eyes in the back of her head.

Drops of blood soaked the ground wherever she ran as the wound on her stomach was only aggravated with her high intensity movements.

Chik! Chik! Chik!

Clearly the plant became a tad impatient as an unexpected attack came not from the tendrils but from the flower itself.

A thick layer of mist filled the air and regular cultivators would have been unable to see what was happening in the area around the main body of the plant.

Sophie's crimson eyes could easily pierce through this weak disguise, but an unpleasant smell almost caused her to throw up.

The rotten stench being emitted by the flower had increased tenfold and now the odour was so strong that Sophie could practically taste the smell.

Her movements did not slow down in the slightest but now there were some tears forming around Sophie's eyes.

Lily's tiny face was wrinkled up in displeasure, but she dared not complain as she knew that now was a key moment in the battle.

Sophie narrowed her eyes as the distance between her and the main body of the plant continued to close.

Now was the time to strike!

The venom glands in Sophie's mouth cycled the remnants of the poison she had ingested into their ducts.

Sophie's fangs throbbed slightly, and the hybrid girl prepared to make a killer move.

The plant had no intention of stopping the assault, so she was forced to endure blow after blow.

First two of her ribs had been cracked….

She kept going.

Then she lost an ear….

She kept going.

Then her right eye was pierced….

She kept going.

Finally, her left arm was slicked clean off…

Sophie moved through the endless waves of attacks like a demon possessed from the deepest and darkest pits of hell.

No matter the price….

She would finish her mission.

Maybe a small part of Sophie still retained some level of sanity as Lily had not suffered a single injury during this dangerous period.

But when it came to her own body….

In the berserker state Sophie could be more cruel to herself than any enemy.