The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Outer Regions)

(Planet Vrean- Unknown Ruins)

"Now this plant seems to have medicinal properties… if you crush the leaf like this…" the tour guide explained as she held a leaf in her palm.

She wrapped her fingers around the thin leaf and crushed it mercilessly. Green juice splattered across her palm, but the guide didn't seem to mind.

She took out a knife from her pocket and sliced a thin cut across her wrist. She then rubbed the crushed leaf over the wound.

A few minutes passed and then eventually the wound began to close, and the tissue started to regenerate.

"Amazing!" one of the tourists exclaimed in surprise as he placed his hands together and clapped.

Isabella smiled politely at the enthusiastic man and continued to wander through the lush tropical forest while pointing out some other notable sights.

The tour was going much better than she anticipated after that hybrid girl decided to cause a scene and then leave.

Two hours has passed since she left, and nothing had happened. The small trace of worry in Isabella's heart had all but disappeared.

There were even some tourists who came back from the other side of the portal since they must have realised that the hybrid girl was an attention seeker.

As for the rest….

Isabella hoped that they were enjoying the scorching hot desert rays.

A satisfied smile spread across her face, and she began to walk with a bit of spring in her steps.

"Now we are going to head towards Maracas Falls which is one of the largest waterfalls on the planet…" Isabella loudly spoke so that everyone could hear her.

"There is a nice pool just at the bottom of the waterfall and the water is safe to swim or even drink if you wish to try it."

"Just let me know in advance who wants to swim so that I can record it in my notes…"

Isabella continued on the tour as normal and failed notice that the red writings on the obelisks were gradually getting darker with every passing minute.

A cold wind blew through the valley which sent a shiver down the spines of everyone who wasn't wearing a jacket.

Their guide did not seem bothered by the strange wind, so everyone did not panic or wonder where it came from.

As the group approached the large waterfall that was over several hundred meters tall, the loud crashing noise that the water made drowned out their conversations.

Isabella waved her hands to get their attention and then used her wrist communicator to project a message.

[Alright… everyone who wants to swim… I will be here on the shore supervising]

[If you wish to explore further then I only ask that you do so in groups and use the waterfall as a reference in case you get lost]

The guide waited until she got a few nods of understanding before clapping her hands and gesturing towards the water.

The water in the pool was crystal clear and one could see a beautiful white sandy bottom that looked straight out of a nature magazine.

Small bubbles could be seen rising up from the bottom since there were thermal vents that kept the water nice and hot.

It was the perfect natural hot spring.

Some of the tourists jumped in straight away without caring that their clothes would get wet while others wandered off into the nearby forest to change.

Isabella sat down on a rock overlooking the pool below and kept a close eye on the tourists that were happily swimming in the warm waters.

The words of the hybrid girl briefly surfaced in her mind, but an irritated frown appeared on Isabella's face.

She had gotten some pretty awful tourists before, but this was the first time that someone had spoken up and disrupted the group with such nonsense.

But the look in her eyes… was a noble girl so proficient in acting?

"No… why am I dwelling on that…" Isabella muttered as she tried to banish the image of Sophie's serious gaze as she told them about the mysterious danger.

BOOM!

Enormous energy fields erupted from the tip of the black obelisks and rapidly spread across the valley.

The shockwaves from the eruption caused Isabella to lose her balance and fall to the ground ungracefully.

Panicked shouts and cries for help came from the tourists who did not expect something to slam into their bodies with great force.

The ones in the water were quite fortunate since the shockwaves passed over their heads. The energy waves travelled until they reached the edge of the valley.

A purplish barrier was formed around the valley that blocked off every single entrance and exit that led to the outside world.

Isabella immediately glanced in the direction of the obelisks as she heard a low humming noise coming from the inside of the mysterious structures.

A door opened up in the middle part of the structure and thousands of flying creatures emerged that darkened the skies.

The red writings on the outer surface of the obelisks no longer glowed as if they were already spent.

The creatures that emerged from inside of the obelisks were around eight feet tall with slender whip-like bodies.

They were covered in heavy black scales that resembled armour and possessed four arms each with a pointed needle at the end of their palms.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The creatures rushed downwards with the sharpened end of their needles gleaming ominously under the light.

One of the tourists barely had any time to react before he was split open in half.

One side of his body crashed to the ground motionless while the other was picked up by the creature who began to devour his corpse.

"What the hell?!"

"Run! We have to run!"

"She… she was right… FUCK I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK!"

Horrific screams and agonising cries of pain echoed through the valley and Isabella could only watch in horror as everyone died.

Blood, guts and chunks of flesh lay scattered across the ground and the scene was one straight out of a nightmare battlefield.

A creature turned its attention to the trembling guide and flew over.

Isabella opened her mouth to scream but the monster's needle penetrated her throat and tore out her vocal cords.

No one survived.