The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Unknown Location)

Thunderous applause echoed through the arena as the child-like creatures clasped their gnarled hands together and clapped.

Sophie and the rest of her mirror copies exchanged nervous glances as memories flowed into their minds from the captured clone.

Stuck inside of a painting?

What kind of cultivation technique was that?

The other clone that was accompanying the captured mirror copy hurriedly rushed forward to grab the painting when something unexpected happened.

A canvas mysteriously flew towards her body and a dazzling white light erupted from the blank sheet.

The mirror copy closed her eyes in pain and when she reopened them, she discovered that she was also trapped inside a painting.

Thunderous applause once again erupted from the thousands of creatures moving around the edges of the field.

Sophie took out some weapons from her storage bag and handed them out to the surviving clones who each grabbed one.

Some mirror copies held daggers while others turned the safety off the plasma rifles.

There was even a clone who decided to grab the spare whip in Sophie's storage bag.

Sophie on the other hand decided to grab a plasma pistol and two vials containing foul yellowish substances.

The creatures simultaneously tilted their heads towards a certain direction and loud footsteps could be heard coming from one of the holes in the wall.

Tap… tap… tap…

A man emerged from the hole and his appearance sent chills down Sophie's spine.

He wore a flamboyant reddish cloak with a mishmash of patchwork colours on his chest.

The cloak covered his entire body except for his feet. He was completely barefoot, and each toenail had been painted a different colour.

A white mask with a crying expression drawn on it was placed over the man's face and concealed his facial features.

"My dear audience…." the man spoke in a hoarse tone and his words echoed through the arena.

"The performance…. has begun…"

He bowed towards Sophie and the other clones before reaching into the pocket of his robe to pull out a simple paintbrush.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sophie unleashed a barrage of plasma fire at his body since it was clear from her danger sense that this mysterious man was a threat.

The man froze in place as the plasma rounds got closer but beneath the crying mask…

Sophie could somehow tell that he was smiling.

He was struck by multiple rounds, but his body turned into black oily paint that fell towards the ground and created a large puddle.

The mysterious man rose up from inside the puddle of black ooze and his twisted laugh filled the arena.

"So impatient… good art… requires time to perfect…" the man whispered softly as he raised up his right hand.

The brush in his palm trembled and some of the black ooze travelled upwards and stained the bristles.

The man waved the brush around and painted a large portal.

Sophie and her clones kept firing at his position, but the thousands of child-like creatures kept intercepting the plasma rounds with their own bodies.

Corpse after corpse kept dropping to the ground but the creatures kept throwing away their lives as if the man's safety was more important than their own.

It was chilling sight.

Sophie's eyes shifted red as her vision turned into a world of orangish-red. She could feel the bloodlust flowing through her veins and whispering to her.

It wanted her to hunt… to kill… to consume…

The hybrid girl growled almost like an animal and her changed state seemed to affect her clones as one by one their golden eyes also shifted to a crimson hue.

"There… you look beautiful…" the man praised as he raised up his thumb in an approving gesture.

"Art… require inspiration… you will be my muse… and this… hehe… this will be my… masterpiece…"

The man giggled mischievously and skipped around the black portal. He raised up the brush to his neck and sliced it across his flesh.

Sophie watched in disbelief as somehow the soft bristles on the end of his brush managed to slice apart his flesh like a hot knife passing through butter.

The man's head dropped to the ground and the mask cracked open to reveal a badly burned face with several scars.

Black oily blood oozes out of the man's neck as his corpse remained standing up as if something was controlling it.

The portal began to spin and from the darkness… something emerged… no… it was someone…

Multiple versions of the man walked out of the portal and each one held a similar looking brush in their right hands.

The surviving child-like creatures cheered loudly and walked over with blank canvasses. The group of men each headed for a blank canvas and began to draw.

It didn't take long for their work to be completed and this time Sophie did not make any sudden moves since she wasn't sure what was going to happen.

One of the men opened his mouth and the words that flowed out seemed to be tainted by the faint feeling of insanity.

"Art requires a soul…"

"Art requires a soul…"

"Art requires a soul…"

He tossed his canvas in the air, and it flew directly towards one of Sophie's clones who was holding daggers in her hands.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Sophie shot at the incoming canvas and her shots easily pierced through the object, but it did not slow down.

She could only watch as it slammed into the body of an unlucky clone and once again another person was trapped inside the painting.

"We need to destroy the whole thing," one of the mirror copies suggested as she clutched the whip in her grasp.

Sophie nodded at her idea and began to circulate her qi in a pattern that was both familiar and a bit strange.

"Art requires a soul…" another version of the man joined in the chorus.

He tossed his canvas into the air and this time it flew towards the clone directly behind Sophie.

The hybrid girl growled and used the qi technique that flashed across her mind. Her right palm ignited into flames, and she punched towards the deadly item.

Phoenix style- Fire fist!

An enormous fireball erupted from Sophie's hand and flew towards the canvas at a startling speed.

She was not the only one who attempted to destroy the object as the clone using the whip lashed out with a vicious attack.

Asura Whip Art- Hell Flame!

The edges of the whip were surrounded by illusory flames that raised the temperature in the arena by several degrees.

Both attacks landed directly on the blank canvas which instantly disintegrated after being exposed to the high heat.

All the men in the arena screeched in fury and their inhuman voices became a cacophony of messy sounds.

"Art… you destroyed art… you monster…" one of the men whispered softly in an almost seductive tone of voice.

"Monster… monster… monster…"

"Art… soul… monster… I SEE IT! I SEE IT NOW!"

Each man tore off his white mask and black ooze began to drip out of their facial orifices.

Their noses, eyes and ears all leaked out the oily black substance.

They slowly moved towards the hybrid girl and her mirror copies with jerky puppet-like movements.