The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Special Arena)

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Over and over again the shadowy figure kept slamming the giant golden bone against the ground which kicked up a wave of sand.

The other shadowy figures in the village crowded around him and began to speak in a language that was incomprehensible.

One by one they turned around to face the crowd of students and several bloodshot eyes appeared across various parts of their bodies.

They were monsters.

Even Sophie was creeped out with the eeriness of the situation. It made no sense… how on earth was there a village inside the desert biome?

And why were they performing such a strange ritual?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"I don't like this…" Luna whispered softly as she stroked Blackie's hind leg and subtly reached for the sword attached to her hip.

"I agree… there is something strange about this whole situation," Sophie replied quietly as she uncorked one of the poison vials.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie's figure blurred and then vanished from the spot before appearing only a few hundred meters away from the camp.

She easily crushed the vial of toxins in her palm and watched its greenish- yellow contents spill all over her fingers.

Poison Arts- Serpent Fang!

Sophie lunged forward and stretched out her right hand in the direction of the camp.

The green liquid instantly turned into a gas and the hybrid girl poured her qi into the gaseous mixture.

A cloud of green smog rushed forward and took on the shape of an enormous serpent with fangs that gleamed under the sunlight.

Sophie's attack hit the residents of the village directly before they had any time to react. The green fog penetrated their clothes and went into their orifices.

The shadowy figures screeched in pain as disgusting pus-filled boils appeared on their skin and their numerous eyes started to bleed heavily.

They collapsed on the ground motionless as Sophie's poison ravaged their bodies and shut down their internal organs.

The shadowy figure who was holding the bone saw the death of his companions and stared at Sophie with a look of hatred in his cold eyes.

He was also poisoned but somehow mustered up the strength to slam the bone into the ground one final time.

Boom!

Sophie watched emotionlessly as he too became a lifeless corpse before turning around to rejoin Luna and the rest of the students.

Sophie took one step before the sand beneath her feet started to tremble.

A sense of danger the likes of which she had only encountered in life and death situations made the hybrid girl instantly activate her movement technique.

It was just in the nick of time as an enormous sixty-foot-tall worm-like abomination rose up from the ground and swallowed the entire camp whole.

The tents, the corpses and every trace of the mysterious shadowy figures vanished in a single bite from the monster.

The worm had pinkish-red flesh and a body that was snake-like in appearance.

It had a massive maw with rings of sharp blade-like teeth that bore a striking resemblance to a meat grinder.

"Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" one of the students in the crowd shrieked before frantically dashing away.

She was not the only one to flee as some other students scattered in different directions with the only thought in their minds to preserve their own life.

Even Sophie froze for a moment as she stared at the monstrous abomination that was around the size of a large skyscraper.

The worm-like monster turned in the direction of fleeing students and completely ignored Sophie who was standing a mere hundred feet away from it.

It dove back into the ground and a wave of sand slammed into Sophie's body and buried her completely in the desert.

She could hear the sounds of muffled screams as the beast pursued the fleeing students and swallowed them one by one.

Wait… why did it ignore her? Was it an Insectoid?

Sophie closed her eyes and tried to communicate with the worm-like monster but received no response.

No… that wasn't the case…

The hybrid girl wriggled her body around and slowly climbed out of the sand dune that was now covering her body.

She could feel sand particles going into her ears and some even managed to slip into her battle-suit.

Sophie popped her head out of the sand and gradually hoisted the rest of her body out. Luna saw her from the distance and began to rush over with Blackie by her side.

The worm-like monster who was chasing a Mendolesa boy in the distance suddenly turned around as if attracted to the pair running towards Sophie.

Sophie felt her danger sense activate once more as the shadow of death fell upon her body.

Her golden eyes gleamed as she went into overdrive to figure out a way out of this perilous situation.

She observed the worm-like monster carefully as it slithered towards their location and discovered something shocking.

The beast didn't have eyes!

The large size of the beast had distracted Sophie from taking a closer look, but she suddenly realised why the shadowy figure was slamming the bone against the sand.

The worm-like monster hunted according to the tremors produced from movement!

"Luna! Stop moving! The beast doesn't have eyes!" Sophie roared loudly and her voice echoed through the desert.

Luna skidded to a stop and held out her palm to stop Blackie from moving forward. The pair froze in place as the worm-like creature got closer and closer.

Beads of sweat ran down the sides of Luna's cheeks as she could feel the unpleasant warm breath escaping the monster's mouth.

Blackie's right head whined softly but it was instantly shut up by the middle head who shot it a fierce look.

The monster waved its head around as if it was confused before diving into the sand and disappearing.

Sophie's golden eyes darkened, and she focused on a student running in the distance who had not heeded her warning.

The student frantically ran forward while using a barrier device on his wrist to activate a forcefield to deflect the animals that attacked him from the underground.

He managed to run a few kilometers before a massive figure emerged from the ground beneath his feet and swallowed him whole.