The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(King's Island- Central Square)

It seemed that a significant portion of the population on King's Island were currently walking around in Central Square.

Loud cries and jeers could be heard which promoted a festive atmosphere as eager recruiters proudly boosted about the benefits of joining their mercenary group.

"The God's Hand are the best fighters in the entire universe!"

"Join us for an immediate signing bonus of one thousand dollars! No questions about background or criminal history asked!"

"No other mercenary group can match the Solaris Kiss when it comes to health care benefits and a 401K!"

Sophie held Lily in her arms as the pair wandered through the crowd in central square.

Today was a recruitment day for the various mercenary corps operating on the island.

Each mercenary group had set up their own stalls with the bigger ones occupying the most space and the best locations.

The weaker or smaller organizations were forced to the edges of the square and not many people were visiting them.

There was always a need for skilled warriors so anyone with a decent cultivation level was besieged by recruiters from all sides.

Sophie was wearing a heavy black cloak that concealed her appearance and hide the four blade-like appendages jutting out of her back.

Lily on the other hand wore a silvery-grey facial mask that concealed her human features as well as a smaller robe that was light green in colour.

Despite the plentiful number of stalls, Sophie took her time to walk slowly around the entire square.

Choosing which mercenary corps to join would be perhaps the most important decision so far.

There were advantages and disadvantages to every group, so Sophie carefully observed the members of each.

By the nature of their work, mercenaries were tough ruthless folk, and some were no better than common criminals.

Sophie did not want to join a group that consisted of thieves, murderers, and rapists.

It only took about fifteen minutes to circle the entire Central Square area and seeing the different stalls gave Sophie some inkling about which ones to apply for.

There were two important conditions that had to be met before Sophie would even consider joining.

The first was that the mercenary organization planned to leave the planet and join up with the Unova Syndicate government-led forces at the border.

The second condition was to convince the group to allow both herself and Lily to join.

Sophie had already thought of a plan to fool the recruiters.

She would package Lily as a rare alien species with the ability to see glimpses of the future.

Naturally, Sophie would tell them that Lily had no control over her abilities to avoid any demonstrations.

Of course, it was improbable that Lily would be able to join any organization based on such an inconsistent ability.

But Sophie hoped that her strength would be more than enough for the potential group to turn a blind eye in order to accept Lily as well.

Sophie's train of thought was soon interrupted by a loud announcement from an alien standing in the center of the square.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" a sharply dressed man with two gorgeous purple wings sprouting out from his back yelled out.

"We will now begin the pit fighting challenge! Any brave warrior who can survive ten fights in a row will be able to secure a contract from one of the top mercenary guilds!"

The ground beneath his feet warped and twisted as an enormous pit formed right in the center of the square.

Two sets of stairs led down to the bottom of the pit and the alien pulled a variety of weapons out of his storage bag.

He lay the weapons along the sides of the pit. Each weapon was made from high quality materials and gleamed under the sunlight.

Sophie narrowed her eyes slightly as a thoughtful expression flashed across her face.

The ordinary mercenary groups were the ones setting up stalls in the square but the top mercenary corps operating on planet Xerciam Prime were far more selective with their prospective candidates.

For those groups, quality was a lot more important than quantity as their members were not cannon fodder to be thrown on the frontlines of battle.

None of these top groups had set up stalls in the square but rumors and whispers had said that hidden recruiters from these organizations were mingled in the crowd.

Sophie was conflicted over what to do next.

The perfect opportunity to show off her strength was here but she hadn't forgotten about the bounty placed on her head.

Members of these top mercenary groups had information channels and Sophie had no doubt that her bounty would be exposed after a basic investigation.

Smaller organizations were not as curious about the background of their recruits so there was less risk involved in joining one.

In addition, the top mercenary groups on the planet were indeed very impressive but leaving one of these groups would be far more difficult.

"And we have a first challenger!" the host roared as a shark-like creature with a heavy sword on his back stepped into the ring.

"Are there any other brave souls wishing to enter the pit?" he sneered at the crowd of warriors.

"I will!" a muscular fighter with ten arms leapt into the pit and caused a dull thud as he landed with great force.

Instead of a weapon, the muscular fighter's palms glowed with an eerie light before erupting in purple flames.

A holographic screen was projected in the air above the central square so that onlookers could see what was happening inside the pit.

The shark-like alien calmly walked down the stairs and faced off against his opponent with a silent look.

There was not much build up as both fighters simultaneously took a step back to gather momentum before rushing forward.

Sophie glanced at the screen as she was curious about the nature of the fights taking place.

Was it to the death or would the host stop before serious injuries occurred?

Swish!

The shark-like creature swung his great sword with startling speed right at the neck of the muscular alien.

Bang!

Sophie widened her eyes in shock as the muscular alien caught the sword with one hand before the other nine palms struck the shark-like creature right in its chest.

The shark-like creature howled in pain as the purple flame covering the hands of the muscular alien burned his flesh.

There was a savage glint hidden in the eyes of the muscular alien as his palms pushed further in until the surface of his opponent's flesh was charred black.

The shark-like alien gasped and whispered his surrender but no sooner had the words exited his lips did the muscular alien tear his head off.

Blood spurted into the air as the headless corpse of the shark-like alien crashed to the ground motionlessly.

Sophie had already covered Lily's eyes once the muscular alien had counterattacked as she could detect the killing intent even through the holographic screen.

Hmm… so looks like these fights were to the death.

Thunderous applause rang out from the watching crowd as the muscular alien triumphantly waved his hands in the air.

A few tiny creatures dressed in brown robes walked down into the pit and removed the corpse silently.

"Now wasn't that a quick fight ladies and gentlemen?" the host joked as the crowd laughed along.

"Maybe the next warrior will prove to be a greater challenge for our current champion of the pit!"

Sophie continued to watch as she saw several aliens step forward eagerly to be the next person to fight the muscular champion.

Maybe she could give it a try.

Sophie's predator instincts were slowly awakening, and she could feel the familiar rush of madness coursing through her veins.

The hunger to hunt and kill was threatening to overwhelm her sanity as Sophie's body walked slowly towards the pit.

There were no plans to keep a low profile nor to conceal her strength.

A proud huntress would kill whenever she desired.

Just as Sophie was about to join the crowd of pit fighters, a terrible jolt of pain shock her to the very core.

Sophie was brought to her knees as a splitting headache threatened to shatter her mind.

She could vaguely hear Lily frantically yelling something in the background, but it was like the words were hidden behind a fog.

Sophie felt violently ill and didn't even notice that her eyes rapidly changed from their typical golden hue to a terrible shade of purplish black.

The world around her shifted into a vision of black and white with multiple shadowy figures dancing inside the void.

All of her other senses had disappeared, and Sophie could no longer touch, hear, smell, or taste anything in her surroundings.

It was a feeling she had only felt a handful of times before.

Sophie recognized this new state as the same ability she had used to find Astrid during the entrance exam.

But why had it randomly activated now?