The Spider Queen

In that moment… everything seemed to fade away.

Sophie could hear the steady beat of her heart as she jumped out from behind the cover of a sand dune and rushed towards the captain.

This was it.

No matter what had happened before, Sophie knew that the next few minutes would decide the outcome of the fight.

She could feel the sickening feeling of bloodlust rising up in her chest and allowed herself to indulge in this dark sensation.

Sophie's golden pupils gradually turned scarlet as her vision shifted into a world of orangish-red.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl.

Sophie activated her movement technique and instantly teleported forward towards her weakened foe.

The berserker state for all its flaws was unquestionably powerful.

Sophie knew that her reflexes, reaction time, danger sense and strength were enhanced far beyond her normal capabilities.

Unlike the last time, Sophie still maintained a thin thread of sanity but her sense of reason faded with every passing second.

She needed to end this quickly.

Screech!

An inhuman roar echoed across the empty desert but Sophie could detect vague emotions of panic and fear hidden in that terrifying shout.

Fiery spears composed of dark purplish-black flames materialised out of thin air but their numbers were much less when compared to the previous assault.

The speed at which the fire elemental creature launched the spears at her body had also slowed down significantly.

Sophie effortlessly ducked and weaved through the endless barrage and even had time to fling needles at her opponent through the gaps.

Elsewhere her mirror copies were also making their way towards the floating ball of flames.

Bang! Bang!

The sounds of plasma fire filled the air as one of Sophie's clones relentlessly fired shot after shot at the creature's back.

Masses of purplish flesh would fall off the fiery abomination's body as the plasma rounds made contact with its outer surface.

These wounds regenerated fairly quickly but its flames seemed to dim slightly after the creature healed itself.

Clearly the divine energy required to maintain its fiery form was beginning to exhaust the last reserves of qi in the captain's dantian.

Asura Whip Art- Form Two

Hail of Frost!

Sophie lashed out with her whip as shadowy illusory snowflakes appeared along the length of her weapon's body.

Crack!

She managed to get one successfully strike before a ring of fire pulsated outwards from the floating orb's core.

Sophie jumped backwards and narrowly avoided the fate of being roasted alive.

She had now attracted the full attention of the creature.

Thick pillars of flame erupted from the ground beneath Sophie's feet as the hybrid girl had to awkwardly shuttle from place to place.

Sophie's danger sense had been strengthened thanks to her berserker state so she still managed to avoid these unpredictable attacks.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Captain Dawn had enough energy left to make the situation far more dangerous than what Sophie had initially anticipated.

Between dodging the pillars of fire and avoiding the flaming spears, she could not find the opportunity to launch any counterattacks.

A bloodthirsty snarl flashed across Sophie's face as she laughed madly.

There was not even a hint of tension or worry in her expression.

Boom!

An enormous explosion sent sand shooting up high into the sky as the first clone managed to get within striking distance of the flaming orb.

Sophie closed her eyes for a brief moment and sent out a message to her copies using the mental network that connected them.

[Don't let up! We can end this now!]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Successive explosions happened one after the other as Sophie's mirror images managed to throw their explosive devices at the fiery creature.

Sophie bravely ran straight into the dusty sand cloud and used her enhanced vision to locate the captain's body amidst the hazy surroundings.

"There you are," Sophie muttered hoarsely as she ran towards the fallen figure.

Captain's Dawn appearance had taken a drastic shift. The dark purplish-black flames were now dimly lit and the orb was now longer floating in the air.

Half of its biomass had been blown away after suffering the full brunt of high-class explosives and the damaged areas on its body were no longer regenerating.

Sophie did not intend to give mercy to her weakened opponent.

This was a life and death encounter in which only one of them could survive.

She extended her whip outwards and pressed a button on the top of the hilt. Sharp blades extended outwards along the length of her nano-fibre whip.

Asura Whip Art- Form Seven

Bloodmoon Chill

Sophie swung her whip in a circular pattern and the illusory image of a blood-red moon could be seen shining through the center of the arc.

The temperature rapidly plummeted to a level that was so low that Sophie felt her arms begin to shiver involuntarily.

Maybe somewhere in the creature's mind it recognised the impending doom that was about to befall it since the flames surrounding its body briefly reignited.

But it was merely the final spark before the fire burned out completely.

Sophie easily dodged the multiple flaming spears that were shot directly at her and then swung her whip forward with all the strength that she had left.

Crack!

A soft whimper entered Sophie's ears as a nasty crack appeared right down the middle of the flaming orb's body.

This crack lengthened and expanded until the fiery elemental split into two pieces.

A harsh white light was suddenly emitted that caused Sophie to close her eyes in pain.

One minute… two minutes…

Sophie tentatively opened her eyes and saw the naked body of the captain laying on the ground defenseless.

The dust cloud had now been fully dispersed and she could see her four mirror copies slowly approaching from the distance.

Sophie walked up to the captain… her target… her enemy…

The greatest foe that she had ever fought and by far the most dangerous.

Captain Dawn sensed her approach and tilted his face towards the hybrid girl walking towards him.

"You fiend! THE SUN GOD WILL DEVOUR YOUR…" Captain Dawn roared but his words were cut short as Sophie extended one of her blade-like appendages outwards and then sliced off his neck.

The expression of rage and surprise was still on the captain's face as his head rolled a short distance before stopping.

Sophie wasn't going to give him the chance to finish his speech.

She had seen far too many possible futures where the captain had managed to blow up his dantian and kill the both of them.

It was over.

Sophie slumped to the ground and hung her head as a wave of exhaustion crashed over her body.

There was no feeling of victory or satisfaction.

She just felt tired.

[Good work my little vessel]

[I am glad that you survived! My priestess has grown awfully fond of you and who knows how long it would take to find another delightful gem like you]

Sophie didn't even react to the cold feminine voice that invaded her mind. The Hunter Goddess' sadistic temperament was something that she was used to by now.

"What do I need to do now to finish your quest?" Sophie asked softly.

[Don't worry I will take it from here]

Sophie's body twitched and she could feel a foreign power enter her dantian that felt both familiar and strange.

Sophie rose up from the ground and approached the headless corpse of the captain with jerky motions as if she was controlled by a puppetmaster.

She used her sharp nails to rip open the corpse's chest and pulled out the heart that was still beating.

Sophie held the organ in her hand for a brief moment before opening up her jaw and pushing the heart into her mouth.

It didn't take long for the fangs in the hybrid girl's mouth to tear the hunk of flesh into bite-sized pieces that were easily swallowed.

The meat was hard, rubbery and had a taste that could only be described as vomit-inducing. Sophie tried desperately to stop chewing but her body was no longer in her control.

She could only passively wait as the last piece of meat entered her throat and then the goddess made her body kneel down.

Strange words flowed out of Sophie's mouth. The language was archaic and dark but she could somehow tell that it was a prayer.

"Jaesa nyke jioragon bisa prayer naejot ao."

"Se anogar hen issa eli prey emagon issare given naejot ao provide issa rusir greater kustikane"

"Sir bona nyke kostagon sagon able naejot jioragon ao tolmiot greater spoils."

"Arghugon. Ossenagon."

As the prayer continued, Sophie discovered that she could recognise a few words in every sentence but that was the full extent of her understanding.

Suddenly the words coming out of Sophie's mouth ended and she felt the foreign power that was inside of her dantian had vanished.

It was finally over.