The Spider Queen

(Alpha Star System- Planet Meri'an)

(Secret Location- Private Estate Of The Crown Prince)

Prince Theseus frowned slightly as he stared out of a window and observed the rain that was falling quite heavily outside.

There was a cold chill in the air.

Planet Meri'an had an intense rainy season where it would pour for weeks straight, and one would no longer be able to see the sun in the sky since the dark grey clouds would block its view.

The crown prince stretched out his hand and grabbed a bottle of wine from the table next to him.

He slowly opened the bottle and cork flew out with a small popping noise.

Prince Theseus did not bother to pour the wine in a glass but instead chose to drink straight from the bottle.

A bittersweet fruity taste lingered in his mouth as he swallowed the purplish-red liquid.

This wine was a special gift from an ambassador to the Kassian star system who wished to gain the mining rights to certain exo-planets.

Being the crown prince was exhausting and Prince Theseus could not help but fear the possibility of one day becoming emperor.

It was strange but ever since he had met his mysterious brother and been given those wonderful red crystals…

It was as though his mind had been shrouded by fog.

Prince Theseus frowned slightly as a small voice in his head kept shouting that something was wrong.

That voice… was so damn annoying.

The handsome prince tossed the empty wine bottle to the floor where it instantly shattered into hundreds of pieces of glass.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ruby-like crystal. This was the only thing that could make him feel at peace.

The crown prince vaguely felt a sense of discomfort as the crystal melted away in his palm and the reddish liquid entered his skin.

But the feeling soon passed.

Prince Theseus' eyes briefly turned completely white before returning back to normal. The fear and doubts in his heart had mysteriously disappeared.

He knew his mission… he needed to become the emperor… he needed to…

A robot android entered the room and began to clean up the mess on the ground while the crown prince stood motionless.

The android opened a vent near the lower region of its body and pulled out a tiny vacuum which it then used to suck up the shards of glass.

Its metallic frame suddenly trembled as it looked down and discovered a long blade sticking out of its chest.

A person walked out of the shadows and stepped over the broken android's body.

This person bore a striking resemblance to the late emperor and possessed a charm and beauty that seemed almost unnatural.

His beauty could only be described as transcendent as it went far beyond the boundaries of femininity and masculinity.

He wore a plain black cloak around his body that was adorned with golden threads in the shape of mysterious patterns.

The crown prince turned to face the intruder but there was not a hint of panic or surprise on his face.

"Brother… how are you?" the crown prince asked with a smile.

The man slowly walked up to the crown prince and without saying a single word he thrust his sword forward into Theseus' body.

Prince Theseus groaned in pain as the sharpened edge of the blade entered his guts and slowly travelled deeper inside his body.

He was a void stage cultivator with a physique that was impenetrable to normal weapons and yet this simple blade cut through his flesh like it was butter.

The beautiful man grinned savagely and leaned in closer until his lips were mere inches away from the crown prince's.

"You have outlived your uselessness… my sweet brother. The master has decided to reset the board and has no need for liabilities," the man whispered softly.

He reached into the crown prince's pocket and took out the Kry'en crystals that remained. His master would be pleased by his performance.

Prince Theseus coughed out specks of blood as he offered up no resistance. He wore a blank expression on his face when he heard his mysterious brother speak.

He had failed his master.

Therefore, he deserved to die.

It was a simple logic that made sense in the crown prince's mind since he had long been unable to think for himself.

The crown prince closed his eyes as the sword in his stomach twisted and a dark beam of energy erupted from the tip of the weapon.

This beam of energy entered the prince's dantian and shattered it completely.

Wrinkles appeared on Prince Theseus' face as he felt the qi in his body slowly escape his mortal vessel.

He died in a few minutes.

The mysterious man allowed his corpse to fall to the ground and then knelt down to examine the body.

The crown prince's heart was still beating. It throbbed slightly as the man carefully extracted it from the prince's corpse.

He stared at the heart for a brief moment and then opened his jaw. His mouth stretched much further than what was physiologically possible for normal humans.

The man swallowed the heart whole and fell to the ground as sharp bursts of pain began to erupt in multiple different parts of his body.

The biological modifications that his master had forced him to undergo were reacting to the heart that he had just swallowed.

He began to thrash and spasm uncontrollably on the ground as if he were possessed.

The crown prince's empty eyes seemed to stare into the void as the man's body began to twist and change.

After what seemed like hours, but it really may have only been a few minutes, the man got up from the ground and looked at a nearby mirror that hung on the wall.

His appearance was now completely identical to the late crown prince. Not just his appearance but even his DNA itself had been altered.

There was no difference between himself and the crown prince. No… he had become the crown prince…

"Theseus Sisrelis," the man whispered in a softly.

Blood was pooling out on the floor from the real Theseus' corpse that was beginning to get cold.

The man touched his face a few times as he got used to his new appearance. It felt extremely natural and familiar as if he had been born with this handsome visage.

He reached into his storage bag and pulled out a small vial filled with a dark purple powder.

He sprinkled the powder over the crown prince's corpse and the body gradually melted away into a pool of brown liquid.

This was a new beginning…