The Spider Queen

Boom!

A muffled groan could be heard as the so-called 'god of destruction' experienced the full force of a plasma energy bomb at close range.

The blast knocked the colossal behemoth to his knees and the pale green flames continued to burn on the surface of his skin.

Overloading her plasma rifle had been Sophie's last resort as she didn't have many long-ranged weapons in storage bag, but it was worth it.

There was a faint tangy scent of rotten meat that filled the air as the giant's flesh burned under the intense heat.

Sophie wrinkled her nose in disgust as her enhanced sense of smell was now more of a curse than a blessing.

There wasn't much time to make her move.

She quickly pulled out two random vials of poison from her storage bag and dipped the tips of the metallic needles inside.

With one fluid motion, Sophie pulled back her arm and launched two deadly projectiles right at the giant's chest.

The sharp metalloid tip of the needles penetrated deep into the flesh of the beast and delivered a deadly injection of toxins.

Sophie took a quick glance at the labels on the two vials and a faint smile flashed across her face.

The contents of the vials were just what she needed to deliver a fatal blow or at least damage the giant's internal organs.

The first vial contained a lethal concoction nicknamed 'Listera's Tears'.

One drop was enough to produce violent madness. More than one drop and the victim would die with blood leaking from their eye sockets.

Legends say that this was the favourite poison used by heirs eager to quickly inherit the lands of their parents.

And the second vial had an even deadlier mixture.

The fresh blood of a beast known as the Qireane when added to a specific herb found on planet Gaia would produce a toxin that calcified the victim's intestines.

They would die in their bodies own poisons.

Of course, that was the effect these toxins had on most carbon-based lifeforms and Sophie could not tell if the giant was immune to these poisons.

Sophie tossed the now partially empty vials on the ground and continued to run forward into the dense forest.

This part of the forest was darker than the rest of the grasslands with thick vines covered with razor sharp thorns wrapped around the trunks of the trees.

Sophie had to contort and shift her body around to avoid these hazardous thorns, but she could not escape getting a few small scratches on her arm and face.

"DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR PATHETIC LITTLE ATTACKS CAN HARM ME!" a frustrated roar echoed through the forest.

The ground trembled under the weight of the twenty-foot-tall behemoth as the angry giant ignored his pain and stood up.

His once proud and noble appearance was completely changed as the blast from the plasma rifle had left him disheveled and dirty.

The thin loincloth that covered his lower body had been destroyed in the blast and Sophie could see a whip-like phallus appendage swaying in the wind.

More eyes grew out of the cracks in the giant's skin and a thick layer of what seemed to be yellowish-white mucus coated the wounded areas.

Sophie watched in disbelief as the burnt flesh and scorched skin was instantly healed under the influence of the mucus.

It took less than ten seconds for the new flesh to grow back and replace the damaged areas.

This was not just a healing process…. it would be more accurate to classify it as complete regeneration.

Sophie frowned as her danger sense went haywire.

The distance between herself and the giant had increased significantly while the creature suffered from the blast but now there was a strong feeling of a threat nearby.

She turned around and prepared to continue widening the distance when a cold chill made the hairs on her right arm stand up.

Bang!

Sophie hurled her body to the left and watched in horror as a nearby boulder exploded into thousands of pieces.

Above! There was something above!

She glanced upwards and saw hundreds or maybe even thousands of floating eyeballs that darkened the sky.

"DID YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT YOU COULD STOP ME? I AM A GOD!" the giant's middle head yelled.

"I HAVE LIVED THROUGH EONS WATCHING CIVILISATIONS LIKE YOURS CRUMBLE TO DUST AND FADE FROM HISTORY."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH POWER IS CONTAINED WITHIN A MERE PIECE OF MY BODY?"

The thousands of floating eyeballs flapped their wings and created fierce winds that crashed into Sophie's body.

The hybrid girl was lifted off her feet and flung into a nearby vine.

The sharp bladed thorns on the vine dug into Sophie's flesh and ripped off chunks of her skin.

Tears welled up in Sophie's eye as she tried desperately not to scream out in pain as her bloody wounds stung with even the slightest movement.

You need to run now …. Move… MOVE!

Sophie stumbled to her feet and narrowly avoided a thin beam of reddish light that evaporated the vine that had entangled her body just a moment ago.

"There is no escape child," one of the other heads spoke in a much calmer tone.

"Why engage in this futile struggle for survival? All mortal creatures no matter how powerful cannot escape the wheel of life and death."

"We will freely admit that you are certainly one of Khul's strongest creations, but your strength is nothing compared to a primordial entity."

"F…." Sophie exhaled softly and muttered incoherently.

The middle head clearly wanted to continue attacking but the head who tried to persuade Sophie gestured for him to stop.

"What did you want to say?" the relaxed head asked curiously.

Sophie stared at the monster who gazed back at her from a distance like a god watching an ant crawl through the dirt.

This was absurd.

This entire trial was nothing more than a joke.

How could anyone even hope to survive this?

A bloodthirsty expression flashed across Sophie's face and just for the briefest of moments…

Her eye was a crimson red colour.

"I said…" Sophie grinned with bared fangs.

"Fuck you."