The Spider Queen

(Planet Caorn- Elysium Archipelago)

(Unnamed Island)

SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!

The loud animalistic cries echoed again and this time they sounded even closer than before.

The ground began to tremble violently as if a massive herd of animals were rapidly approaching.

Danger!

Sophie's danger sense activated, and she immediately slipped into her battle stance. She began to circulate qi throughout her body and cracked the whip in her hand.

SCREECH!

A creature leapt out of the nearby bushes and rushed towards the three girls. It was a beast unlike anything that Sophie had ever seen before.

Its body was composed of a black smoky substance that oozes and wriggle slightly.

The body of the monster was vaguely humanoid and yet it ran on all fours like an animal.

The head of the monster was covered by a white silvery grey mask. Purplish-red pupils could be seen glowing behind the mask that concealed most of the creature's facial features.

Bang!

Cleo lifted up the plasma rifle in her hand and shot a single blast straight into the monster's chest.

However, the shot passed harmlessly through its smoky body. Sophie frowned and used one of her weapon techniques.

Asura Whip Art- Hellfire!

Black flames engulfed the edges of her whip and the temperature around her body rapidly increased until the grass beneath her feet ignited.

Sophie stretched out her arm and then lashed the whip at the monster who was barreling forward making no attempt to dodge her powerful attack.

Crack!

Her whip went straight through the creature and slammed against a nearby tree instead. The tree was instantly split in two and black flames crept up the separated halves of the tree.

Danger!

Sophie grabbed Cleo and flung her out of the way just as the creature opened its mouth and roared loudly.

A sonic shockwave erupted out of the monster's mouth and the attack flattened the nearby trees and bushes.

Sophie's eardrums burst and bright red droplets of blood began flowing from her ears. She shook her head in annoyance and the flesh began to regenerate.

"Let me try," Rachel frowned slightly as her fingers curled around the sword attached to her hip.

She closed her eyes and when she opened them there was a golden cross where her pupils used to be.

Angelic wings sprouted out from behind her back, and one could hear the sounds of trumpets blaring loudly in the distance.

A golden halo floated lazily above her head, and it shone with a divine light that made it hard to look at it directly.

Holy Sword Art- Divine Justice!

Rachel casually thrust her sword forward and a burst of holy light erupted from the tip of her blade.

The beam of light formed a crescent wave and shot forward at the monster neatly bisecting it in half.

It looked like a fatal attack however….

The two separated pieces of the monster began to tremble, and the inky smoky mass of the creature extended several tendrils.

The tendrils connected the two pieces together and the creature stood up from the ground apparently unharmed.

It was like Rachel's attack had never occurred.

SCREECH! SCREECH! SCREECH!

Five more monsters burst out of the nearby bushes and they began to spread out in a circular formation to trap the girls inside.

"Physical attacks and cultivation techniques don't seem to be working on them…" Sophie muttered quietly.

Her golden eyes glowed slightly and her vision rapidly enhanced. She could see that hidden inside the smoky blackness of the creatures' bodies were…. mana runes?

They were magical constructs.

"Fuck…" Sophie cursed when she realised what she was dealing with.

Magical constructs required a mage to deal with or one would have to wait for the caster to run out of mana.

However, judging by the sheer number of runes making up the monsters' bodies, Sophie was pretty sure that they were the work of an archmage.

There was only one plan that she could think of.

"Run!" Sophie yelled as she activated her Rsychosis technique and ten hybrid girls who looked exactly like her appeared out of thin air.

She grabbed Cleo and Rachel by their arms and dashed out of the encirclement before the nearest monster could grab them.

SCREECH! SCREECH!

The monsters attempted to give chase, but Sophie's mirror copies lunged at them with ferocious expressions on their faces.

The eyes of the clones shifted from a golden luster to a dark crimson hue. Their bladed appendages tore the monsters apart using swift stabbing motions.

But it was no use.

"Arghh… damn it…" one of Sophie's clones' voice trailed off as an inky black hand protruded out of the middle of her chest.

The mirror copy was torn apart from the inside as the black inky smoke shredded her organs and internal muscle tissues.

"They just won't die!" another complained as she ducked out of the way and kicked a monster in its belly.

Or at least what she assumed was its belly.

The creatures after all had bodies composed of a thick black gas-like liquid so it was hard to tell if they even had organs.

Meanwhile Sophie had lifted up Cleo in one hand while using her other to hoist Rachel on her back.

Cloud Treading Dragon!

Her figure shuttled through the trees so quickly that she became a blur. Cleo covered her mouth and tried not to vomit while Rachel was also feeling a bit queasy.

"Rachel… check the map. Cleo…I need you to use your psychic sense to scan for any nearby lifeforms," Sophie ordered with surprising firmness.

"No… no… problem babe," Cleo spoke with a great deal of difficulty as she forced herself not to throw up.

The princess closed her eyes and sent out faint mental pulses to scan the nearby surroundings for any intelligent lifeforms.

Rachel on the other hand reached into her pocket for the map and tried to calculate where they were on the island.

"Okay… so… I think you need to head north until you see a large waterfall then turn east until there is a cliff…" Rachel whispered quietly as she checked the map.

Sophie nodded and then picked up the pace. She was much faster than her two companions so she had unilaterally decided to become the shuttle.

Besides… they needed to keep as much distance from those monsters as possible. Sophie grimaced as another wave of memories entered her mind.

Her clones were in trouble.

Five of them had died so far in horrific ways. Their bodies had been ripped apart from the inside and they had perished in agony.

Two of the surviving clones were heavily injured and on the verge of death while the remainder could still fight… but not for long.

"Sophie! Something is coming!" Cleo yelled as her eyes shot open.

SCREECH!

Chills ran down Sophie's spine as she saw the bushes to her right begin to rustle and a large smoky hand slammed down on the ground with so much force that the earth itself trembled.

A beast several times bigger than the monsters that they had encountered before slowly lumbered out from behind a nearby clump of trees.