The Spider Queen

(Five Hours Earlier….)

"Careful… careful… I got this," Sophie muttered to herself as she slowly descended down the edge of the sinkhole.

Metalloid ropes were securely attached to her waist and the climbing device made a buzzing noise as Sophie navigated her way down.

"Need any help?" Ragnar shouted from above.

"No thank you. I'm doing okay!" Sophie replied with a light smile. Using her right arm, Sophie gripped the edge of the wall and stabilized her body.

The captain and the other knights were already at the bottom of the pit but strangely enough after the first couple of messages, there was no further communication.

This did not raise any sort of alarm as Ragnar assumed that the team were busy picking samples from the mysterious plant.

The pit had a depth of over sixty feet, so Sophie was in for a long journey to the bottom.

The minutes passed by uneventfully, but the beautiful blue crystals protruding from the walls of the sinkhole provided a magnificent scenery.

There was something oddly hypnotic about their glow that made Sophie experience a feeling of great relaxation and tranquility.

Finally, she spotted vague figures in the distance surrounded by what appeared to be an endless sea of flowers.

Sophie pulled on the metalloid bindings to increase the speed of her descent and soon her legs hit the ground with a heavy thump.

"Honoured guest! The captain figured that you would want to take a look as well!" a young knight wearing a red helmet ran over.

He smoothly unclasped the bindings on the rope so Sophie could walk around and explore.

Sophie nodded politely and took a closer look at the new surroundings.

Despite being deep underground, it was surprisingly bright as the glow of the crystals seem to intensify in these depths.

The ground beneath her feet was a bright pink colour and Sophie's keen eye could detect tiny organisms moving around the soil causing it to ripple slightly every couple of minutes.

"Where is the captain?" Sophie asked curiously as she quickly scanned the room for the familiar figure.

"He decided to explore the deeper areas of the pit. There are a few side tunnels connected to unexplored areas that might have even more treasures," the friendly knight explained with a smile.

He then pointed towards a spot located at the left corner of the room where Sophie could see an open tunnel.

"Okay… thank you," Sophie replied softly.

The young knight bowed and then returned to his companions who were currently scooping up the plants and placing them in specially prepared storage bags.

Now… what should I do?

Sophie's eye narrowed as numerous plans and possibilities flashed across her mind.

This may be extremely risky but with the captain separated from the rest of team…

Was it a good time to strike?

It was impossible to be sure. There were inherent risks to an improvised attack but who knows if she would ever get another opportunity.

That's not to say that this ambush would be easy.

Somehow, she would need to take out the captain before he could alert the others.

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Then search through his body for any recording equipment to make sure that there was no evidence or traces of her involvement.

And finally return to the other knights and give them a plausible explanation for the captain's disappearance.

Sophie clenched her fist nervously as she weighed the pros and cons before coming to a heavy decision.

She would do it.

Waiting would not change anything and now was the best time to launch an attack.

Sophie glanced at the other knights and then headed towards the direction where the captain had gone.

She casually stepped on the plants while walking towards the tunnel and a weird sensation was transmitted to her mind.

It seemed almost…. painful?

Sophie paused for a moment and then raised her foot over the nearest plant. Its red and yellow leaves waved around merrily.

The flower in the center of the plant bloomed and a strange scent filled the air that caused Sophie's heart to race.

The hybrid girl frowned slightly then slowly pressed her foot on top of a few leaves. Immediately there was a tingling feeling in the back of her mind.

This feeling only got more painful as Sophie used greater force until she could not handle the intense sensation.

A psychic ability? Or was it something else?

Wait did the other knights feel the same thing?

Sophie turned around and saw the armoured knights smoothly uprooting and crushing the plants as they tore the mysterious flora into smaller pieces to fit the storage containers.

There was no visible reaction on their faces, but Sophie's golden eye narrowed, and she could see a thin green vine penetrating their neck.

Naturally, Sophie raised her hand and felt the area around her neck but there were no abnormalities.

This green vine did not appear to be causing the knights any discomfort and several of them were even joking and laughing as if everything was normal.

"Guys… I think…" Sophie wanted to shout out a warning but then decided to remain silent.

It was not that she had a bad experience or hatred with the knights in the squad but telling them about the green tendril would definitely lead to the captain returning to join the group.

Sophie suppressed the guilty feeling in her heart and walked towards the tunnel while carefully avoiding the mysterious plants along the way.

There was a large patch of flowers near the entrance of the side tunnel, so Sophie channeled the qi into her legs and used her movement technique.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Sophie rose into the air and performed a weird style of footwork that gave her the ability to step onto compressed pockets of air created by the technique.

She swiftly entered the side tunnel and found herself staring at horrifying pictures of what could only be described as a monstrosity.

Someone had painted every inch of the tunnel with an endless loop of the same image repeated over and over again.

The abomination painted had a humanoid torso, five arms, ten legs and an enormous prehensile appendage that was wrapped around its waist.

Dark shadowy tendrils erupted from the monster's back and formed symbols that caused Sophie's head to throb with pain when she stared for too long.

The face of the creature was not visible as the artist had obscured its features by painting a fiery sun where the head should be.

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There were no plants inside the tunnel, but Sophie could spot tiny vines clinging to the sides of the wall.

She hurriedly ran through the side tunnel with the only sound being the wind created by Sophie's rapid speed.

The drawing on the wall was just a painting and yet….

Sophie felt as though the horrifying creature was watching her every move.

She could swear that the dark shadowy tendrils shook slightly as she floated though the tunnel.

Eventually there was a bright orange light up ahead. Sophie rushed forward and found herself inside an open cave.

There was an altar in the center of the room where the same figure in the painting was now in the form of a statue.

Kneeling at the foot of the altar was the missing Captain Dawn.

His once handsome appearance and flowing blonde hair had change significantly.

He looked old… no… it was more accurate to say he looked ancient.

The man who did not look older than his early thirties now had the vestiges of a man twice that age.

Captain Dawn's blonde hair was now completely white, his body was covered in wrinkles and his eyes had bags so heavy that he looked exhausted.

A musty stench of decay surrounded his body that was so pungent that Sophie could smell it across the room.

Sophie nervously stepped closer but there was no reaction.

She cautiously reached into her storage bag and pulled out a vial filled with a dark greenish liquid.

Please…. Please work…. Please…

Sophie did not consider herself a religious person but at the moment of life and death. She could not help but pray to whoever was listening.

One step…

Two steps…

Three steps…

Sophie was only six feet away from the captain when the statue in the middle of the room gave out a terrifying roar.

This sonic boom launched Sophie halfway across the room and she crashed into a wall with a dull thud.

The stone sculpture gave out a low chuckle and thick shadowy tendrils crept towards Sophie's location.

Sophie was a qi tide cultivator and therefore this blow should be easily shaken off, but something was wrong.

There was no strength left in her body.

She could not longer sense any qi in her dantian. This was not the feeling of qi exhaustion….

It was something much more serious.

Sophie could not sense even a hint of qi energy and it felt as though she had never cultivated before.

This was a bad situation, but Sophie did not immediately start to panic. Although her qi seemed to be blocked… all of her fighting skills were still there.

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She leapt to her feet and ran in a circular motion around the stone statue while frantically thinking of countermeasures.

Sophie wanted to deal with Captain Dawn but right now the statue was the bigger threat and he seemed to be protecting the kneeling knight.

Poison? You can't poison stone.

Whip techniques?

Sophie reached into her storage bag and pulled out her specially crafted weapon. The length of the whip was covered in metalloid spikes made using a rare metal from the planet Tharum.

Unfortunately, she could not use her qi to perform techniques, but Sophie still managed to launch a fierce offensive.

Crack!

The whip slammed into the body of the statue, but the creature remained unphased. Sophie felt an enormous force as the abomination grabbed the whip and pulled her towards him.

She wisely let go but the initial momentum was enough to send her flying towards the hideous figure.

"Arghhhhh!" Sophie screeched in pain as she used both her remaining arm and her stump to halt her movement.

Thin droplets of blood fell to the ground as Sophie's wounds reopened at the worse possible time.

Bang! Bang!

The ground started to shake as the stone statue jumped up and down while chanting a song in a weird language.

"Na'rev ejrtse yorenfa neroaf!"

"Je'ref ketns yorsnar neroag!"

"Rh're kneka ekrhn!"

The shadow tendrils inching their way to Sophie's bruised body received a significant boost as they rushed forward at a lighting fast speed.

Sophie tried her best to get up but the fresh pain from her wounds made moving difficult so she could only watch in horror as the tendrils got nearer.

Sophie furiously attempted to channel her qi and even tried to shift into berserker mode, but nothing happened.

Maybe the goddess wanted to teach her a lesson for rejecting her power before?

"Fine you win… I'm willing to accept your gifts hunter goddess!" Sophie screamed desperately as one tendril wrapped around her foot.

"Please I just need some more strength!"

"Any strength! I'm begging you! Don't let me die like this…."

Sophie closed her eyes and tried her best to bring out her hunter state or use any of the goddess' powers, but it was all for naught.

The shadowy tendril buried itself in Sophie's abdomen and the hybrid girl could feel the lifeforce in her body slip away.

Sophie raised her hand in horror as wrinkles appeared on her once smooth skin.

"No…goddess… don't abandon…" Sophie's voice slowly faded as her vision began to darken.

There was no peace in her final moments of lucidity.

The only thought in Sophie's mind was one simple question.

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Why did the goddess take back her powers?