The Spider Queen

Chapter 186: Dinnertime!

(Hydra Star System -Planet Sinetera)

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Sophie could hear the steady beats of her heart pounding furiously as she gazed at the insect queen.

The familiar feelings of bloodlust and ecstasy surged through Sophie’s body with greater force. 

This rush…. 

Sophie had to fight back the urge to moan as the thrill of the upcoming fight caused her nipples to harden painfully.

The crimson colour had now spread and covered the entirety of both her eyes. 

It seemed that her reaction to being in the hunting state was becoming more and more violent as time went on.

And Cleo was currently not there to bring her back to reason.

Sophie smiled hungrily and bared her fangs with a faint hiss as she quietly observed the insect queen hovering above the ground.

Towering over her fellow drones at an impressive height of five feet with additional appendages such as her extra fangs and bladed tail.

The rainbow carapace of the queen shone brightly under the sunlight and Sophie had a gut feeling that it would not be as fragile as the worker drones’ outer shells. 

But even still…. 

What was the fun in hunting boring prey?

Rsychosis!

Sophie’s movements became strange and uneven as her figure split into three identical copies. 

Using the ancient martial art of the Arachnais tribe had now become second nature and each of the illusions created were capable of dealing physical damage.

One copy rushed to the right of the queen while the other two darted straight into the middle of the swarm of worker drones.

Buzz! Buzz!

The insect queen quickly responded by making loud noises using her mandibles. 

The worker drones separated into different groups then moved together as giant swarms.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

The movements of the three copies shifted and warped around the battlefield leaving the insects with no openings to strike.

The identical versions of Sophie playfully laughed as they continued to duck and weave through the rainbow-coloured swarms that chased them.

This was it.

Hunter vs prey.

A fight to determine life and death.

Rsychosis when mastered to the highest level could create identical copies of the practitioner that could fight using different techniques.

These copies would also have a portion of the cultivator’s intelligence and be able to make independent decisions during battle.

Sophie was far from this level so her clones could only cast a qi technique whenever she did. 

The insect queen flapped her wings around angrily, but Sophie and her clones darted around the clearing like ghosts.

Danger!

Sophie’s instincts flared up and she hurriedly attempted to change her direction, but it was already too late.

The Insect Queen sucked in a deep mouthful of air and blew out a thick purplish smog that made the surrounding area foggy.

Sophie closed her mouth and tried not to breathe but the effect of the smoke was not poison as she had anticipated.

Travelling through the fog was like trying to run in water. 

Sophie desperately tried to get her legs to move but the thick viscous smoke naturally slowed her down.

This was all the chance that the worker drones needed to strike, and they caught up within seconds.

Buzz! Buzz!

The insect queen relayed a series of rapid commands and the worker drones rammed straight into the bodies of all the copies.

Upon landing on the skin, the worker drones would bite and then inject their venom.

Two of the copies attempted to lash out but this wave of attacks had been enough to rattle Sophie’s concentration, so their figures gradually faded and then vanished.

The insect queen saw that the remaining threat to her hive seemed to be in a state of shock.

The loyal soldiers under her command continued to bite.

Wave after wave of venom entered Sophie’s body but unlike last time….

Something had changed.

Sophie’s fangs lengthened painfully as she felt that this new poison coursing through her veins was being directed into her venom glands.

There were no ill effects as her immune system had fully neutralised the poison and assimilated it into her own body.

This was the perfect time to strike.

Sophie’s body was now fully covered by a sea of rainbow-coloured bugs, but her eyes stared directly at the insect queen.

The stinging pain of the insect bites allowed a brief moment of clarity to enter Sophie’s cloudy mind.

Closing the distance through the fog would be difficult so Sophie had to somehow trick the insect leader to let down her guard.

She closed her eyes and fell to the ground while flaying her arms and legs around as though she was going into shock.

Buzz! Buzz!

The insect queen joyfully gave out some more commands and the worker drones bit down even harder.

All the while the purplish fog was slowly diffusing and becoming less concentrated. 

Not yet….

Sophie waited for what seemed like an eternity until she sensed that the purplish fog had dissipated enough to move around normally. 

The insect queen was buzzing around triumphantly as she mistakenly believed that the two-legged monster had fallen victim to her worker drones’ venom.

Sophie slowed down her movements in order to give the appearance of the venom working and then patiently waited.

One more minute passed….

Now!

Fire Fist Style: The Burning Man!

Sophie channeled her qi into all the meridians around her body and ignited the energy gathered into flames.

It was fortunate that the flames from this qi technique did not burn the practitioner otherwise Sophie would be covered in third degree burns. 

And her beautiful hair would be gone!

The insects crawling on her skin burned away into nothingness and Sophie dashed forward like a flaming meteor towards the insect queen.

Bam!

A heavy fist hit the center of the insect queen’s thorax and the flames coating Sophie’s body burnt the creature upon contact.

Buzz! Buzz!

The queen tried to get away, but Sophie was too quick and sank her fangs deep into the queen’s abdomen.

“How about a taste of your own medicine bitch!” Sophie’s muffled voice cried out.

The insect queen’s immune system stood no chance against the enhanced version of the worker drone’s venom entering her bloodstream.

Within thirty seconds the queen experienced total organ failure and died only seconds after in agonising pain.

The remaining members of her hive quickly scattered with the death of their leader and Sophie was too lazy to chase them down.

It was quite the funny twist.

The queen had died under the venom of her own loyal soldiers. 

Sophie swayed gently as a strong wave of exhaustion hit her. 

The nonstop running and fighting since arriving on the island had just been too much. 

The corners of her vision started to darken, and Sophie had to fight off the feeling of sleepiness.

There was still one thing left to do….

Sophie made her way to the corpse of the Insect Queen and kneeled down until she was staring at the abdomen. 

Something very tasty was inside.

Something that was calling out to her.

Sophie’s hands moved involuntarily and tore into the meaty flesh of the queen’s abdomen. 

Gross smelling blue blood spurted out of the hole and landed on Sophie’s body, but the hybrid girl didn’t care.

She rummaged around the entrails of the creature until she found a small rectangular shaped organ still beating faintly.

It seemed to be the insect queen’s heart.

Sophie held the heavy organ in her palm and was overcome by an intense feeling of hunger.

She slowly moved her hand upwards and pushed the heart into her open mouth.

Her fangs easily tore through the outer meat of the organ and Sophie swallowed the entire heart in just a few bites.

The flavour of the meat was extremely delicious. 

Somehow the tender flesh and blue blood still coating the organ added to its taste.

If Sophie had to describe it…. the meat tasted vaguely like seafood with a salty aftertaste.

When the final portion of the meat had been swallowed, Sophie felt an intense burst of energy flow through her body.

Sophie trembled as the Spider Whisper Art began to circulate even though it was still daytime. 

With each circulation of her qi from her dantian to the rest of her body, Sophie could feel some subtle physical changes occurring.

As what these changes were….

She had no idea.