The Spider Queen

(Unova Syndicate- Planet Xerciam Prime)

(King's Island)

"Can it be changed?" Sophie whispered softly.

A dark chuckle echoed in her mind as the cold inhuman voice replied in a bemused tone,

[I will not change this target as your first offering]

[I require greater sacrifice and strength from the one I have chosen as my primary vessel]

Lily looked up with a confused expression as her big sister stared at the horizon and started to talk to herself.

Sophie narrowed her eyes and asked the question that was foremost on her mind,

"You misunderstand."

"Will the events that occurred in the vision you show me happen regardless? Will Lily die no matter what choice I make?"

"Because if that's the price then you can forget about it. I will accept punishment for failing your task, but I cannot accept the Lily's death."

There was a brief moment of silence and Sophie could feel each of the eyes staring at her from a location beyond the void.

She knew this was a foolish question to ask.

The hunter goddess was a powerful eldritch being and who knows what kind of punishment she would need to endure for her disobedience.

But it was worth a try to at least ask.

In the worse case scenario, she would simply leave Lily on this planet temporarily with a weapon stash and go hunt the target herself.

Time seemed to stretch out for an eternity as Sophie felt thin droplets of sweat run down her back.

It was unnerving to be watched and yet have no idea where the observer was hiding.

Suddenly the familiar cold whisper echoed in her mind with a tinge of an unknown emotion that Sophie could not recognise,

[Mortals tend to think of time like a river. Flowing from one direction to the next with a certain event guaranteed to proceed another]

[Truthfully, time is like a tree. Every decision you make will branch out into an unknown direction. Timelines can be split, changed, and molded into unrecognisable forms]

[The vision I showed you is just one of the many possibilities or branches growing on the tree of time]

[And no matter your choice, the tree will continue to expand and grow infinitely at least…. until the end]

Sophie sighed in relief as she heard the answer.

Destiny and fate were two words she didn't want to think too deeply about.

The entire notion that life was meaningless, and all actions are preordained was a frightening concept and Sophie preferred to believe that free will existed.

[I look forward to your hunt]

Just as quickly as the entity had appeared, the hunter goddess vanished from Sophie's mind and the feeling of being watched slowly faded away.

"Big sister, are you alright?" Lily asked frantically as she saw Sophie frozen in place.

Sophie blinked twice and looked down to see the little girl staring at her with a concerned expression on her face.

"Big sis…. ekk!" Lily exclaimed as Sophie picked her up and fiercely planted a series of kisses on her forehead.

Sophie hugged Lily tightly as all she could see was the vision of Lily's torn up corpse laying motionlessly on the ground.

Whoever that man was… he was strong.

Sophie remembered seeing her future self with a ripped off arm and gorged out eye.

Were those prior injuries or did it occur during the fight before she saw the vision?

Could Sophie even beat someone whose swordsmanship was far beyond what she could currently handle?

No.

That future would never occur.

There was no need to face him in a direct battle.

Perhaps a well-placed trap or poison would provide an advantage and decrease the gap in combat strength.

Sophie's golden eyes briefly flashed a crimson red colour before shifting back to normal as she gently spoke to Lily,

"Sorry I had a headache just now and I was a bit confused once it went away."

"Should we go home so you can rest?" Lily asked worriedly.

"No… seeing such a cute and precious child is enough to cure me," Sophie teased lightly and rubbed her face against Lily's cheek.

Sophie teased and played with Lily for a few minutes until the little girl calmed down.

There was no longer any desire in her heart to join the pit fighting ring, so Sophie headed towards the recruitment booths.

A tiny alien with fin-like appendages and scaly skin called out to Sophie as she walked by,

"Welcome to the Hand of God! Would you like to join our band of high-quality mercenaries?"

Sophie paused for a moment and then asked curiously, "Does your organization plan on joining the war against the Earth Federation?"

The smile on the recruiter's face immediately vanished and he replied tersely, "No we are not."

Sophie nodded politely and turned away to check out another booth.

However, things did not go as smoothly as she had hoped.

"Welcome to the Black Spear!"

""Does your organization plan on joining the war against the Earth Federation?"

"Are you insane? Hell no!"

"Greeting new guy! Are you ready to become part of our family?"

""Does your organization plan on joining the war against the Earth Federation?"

"Cough…. cough…. actually, our family is rather full…"

What was going on?

Sophie had heard rumors that the Unova Syndicate government were offering generous rewards to mercenary groups willing to join the fight in the frontier region.

Every organization she had asked so far had given her a range of responses from lukewarm promises to outright refusal.

But she had chosen to ask these groups because just a few hours earlier they had mentioned leaving the planet during their showcases.

Still, this was the best way to leave the planet unnoticed, so Sophie gritted her teeth and continued to inquire.

"No way!" a female recruiter steadfastly refused.

She was a green skinned alien with a heavy bulky frame and a long tail then was currently wrapped around her body.

This was the tenth group Sophie had visited and now a feeling of deep frustration was beginning to overwhelm her.

"Why? Didn't you advertise this morning that your Blooming Flower organization would be joining a private army under a well-known commander?"

"Do you not have a galaxy communicator?" the female recruiter asked with a confused expression.

Sophie shook her head and a look of understanding flashed across the recruiter's face as she finally understood why this lunatic was so adamant about joining the war.

The recruiter looked around to see if anyone was paying attention and then leaned in to whisper to Sophie,

"The news came in just a few hours ago…."

"The war with the Earth Federation is basically lost! Several of the armies stationed in the frontier region have been completely destroyed."

"Right now, those monsters are looting and pillaging all civilisations inside the border zone and are rapidly advancing inward!"

"No mercenary group would dare to join the government now! All the money in the world is useless if you are dead."