The Spider Queen

Chapter 185: Sophie Has A Bug Problem

(Hydra Star System- Planet Sinetera)

Sophie touched her amulet absentmindedly as she strolled through the forest canopy. 

The familiar warmth of her mother’s gift was oddly comforting.

The racial memory inheritance given to her by princess Rai’lle all those months ago did explain what exactly the amulet was.

To cultivate using the Spider Whisper Art required a female of royal blood to wear an artifact known as the Star of Ethnaise.

But the inheritance didn’t mention that the price paid was servitude to a hunter goddess!

Sophie truthfully had mixed feelings about the method. 

She had spent years cultivating using different qi gathering techniques to no avail but took to the Spider Whisper Art like a fish to water.

If only she could talk to her aunt Rai’lle in the amulet’s space…. there were just so many questions that Sophie had to ask! 

But her aunt had not appeared for a long time.

“Ouch!”

Sophie frowned as she felt a stinging sensation on her left leg followed by another sting further up her body.

She looked down to see what seemed to be tiny insects with rainbow shells and two pointy fangs crawling around merrily.

Every few seconds they would press their hairy feelers against her flesh and then open their jaws to take a bite.

What was strange about the matter was that the insects would bite in one location then walk over to a new location to repeat the process.

Their movements were almost mechanical-like. 

The stinging sensations worsened with each bite, so Sophie quickly acted by taking her hand and brushing them off her body.

Luckily, these creatures appeared to be quite fragile as their shells instantly burst upon contact with Sophie’s hand.

Thick greenish-yellow blood splattered whenever they popped but Sophie was unfazed by the grossness. 

Compared to the monster from earlier…. this was nothing. 

It took roughly three minutes to get the bugs off her body and it was fortunate that none had crawled to any hard to reach places.

Sophie gave her body one more harsh pat down and then continued on her journey to find a nearby stream or river.

The harsh sunlight shone through the trees, but Sophie’s eyes were beginning to adjust to the unnatural brightness.

Planet Sinetera orbited around two suns so the temperature on the planet could get quite high during the day.

Sophie was already sweating quite heavily, and she had to pause every few steps to wipe the beads of sweat constantly forming on her brow. 

Cough! Cough!

Sophie clutched her chest in pain as two harsh coughs burst out of her throat. 

The stinging sensations on her body from the insects seemed to worsen with every passing minute.

Poison?

But her body could typically handle most toxins instantly…. 

Cough! Cough!

The coughing worsened and Sophie saw small flecks of blood fly out of her mouth as she struggled to breathe.

Buzz! Buzz!

Hordes of compound eyes hidden in the treetops stared at the hybrid girl as she leaned against a tree to ride out the symptoms.

They had seen many prey brush off their initial bites only to fall victim to the potent slow acting toxin.

This strange two-legged creature would be ample food for the hive. 

First, they would wait until it died and then the worker drones would inject a new poison to liquify its insides.

Then the transport drones would bring this nutritious liquid to the queen.

Sophie felt as though fire was coursing through her veins and she could vaguely sense that something was watching her.

With enormous force of will, she pushed her body forward and tried to get out of range of whatever was hunting her.

Buzz! Buzz!

Seeing their prey moving away from them caused the insects to fall into a state of agitation. 

The commander drone waved its feelers around frantically and secreted an unpleasant smelling pheromone. 

A noisy swarm of rainbow-coloured insects rose into the air as one unit and then dashed towards the hybrid girl.

Sophie narrowed her eyes as an invisible pressure slammed down on the insects and halted their advance.

Their prey had been poisoned and yet there was a strong feeling of danger.

It felt as if they came any closer…. 

The two-legged monster would slaughter them all.

An odd silence was formed as Sophie maintained her position and the insects were too wary to make any sudden movements.

Sophie knew that this would not last forever as she could see an especially large insect angrily buzzing out a series of commands. 

Wait…. the stinging sensations….

Sophie smiled as she felt the painful feelings slowly begin to disappear. 

The immune system of an Arachnais was definitely not going to fail against some lousy bugs.

Maybe it was time for the hunted to become the huntress.

Sophie’s eyes shifted and darkened to a crimson red as the familiar rush of bloodlust and strength surged through her body.

Kill…. 

Kill….

KILL!

The insect leader had apparently noticed her changes as he commanded the horde to split into two groups and then charge.

“Too late,” Sophie growled in a husky tone as she leapt forward to meet them. There was a qi technique she had recently learnt that was just perfect for this situation. 

Yin Ice Blast!

Her qi circulated furiously as frost energy slowly formed around her fists.

The surrounding temperature rapidly started to drop, and a cool breeze could be felt.

Frost appeared on the nearby leaves and a cold chill penetrated deeply into the bodies of the charging insects.

This change in temperature caught the bugs by surprise and their flying speed slowed down subconsciously.

It was enough to decide their fate.

Sophie punched forward and a shockwave of pure frost energy slammed straight into the middle of the horde.

The fragile shell of those hit directly by the blast shattered immediately while those lucky enough to be in the outer zone had their wings frozen and plummeted straight down.

Sophie had made sure that the commander bug was struck directly by her attack and without a leader, the other insects collapsed in a panic.

It just took one worker drone fleeing from the battlefield for the rest to follow suit and quickly fly to safety.

“Don’t run you pieces of shit!” Sophie screamed in ecstasy and chased down the survivors.

Madness and killing intent clouded her vision.

The trees in her path were destroyed directly by powerful strikes and Sophie’s sense of reason was slowly fading away.

The insects flew desperately but how could they outrun an apex predator.

Suddenly Sophie found herself in the middle of a clearing where an enormous structure stood before her.

It looked like a pile of mud, but it was covered with tiny holes that led directly inside.

Buzz! Buzz!

The surviving bugs made a shrieking noise and soon hundreds of these rainbow insects emerged from the structure.

The mud structure shook as a five-foot-tall version of the insects made its way outside. 

This insect had two extra fangs and one long tail that had a pointed blade at the end.

It was the Queen.

And she was not pleased with the loss of her loyal soldiers.