The Spider Queen

Boom!

Sophie jumped to the side and watched in shock as a nearby tree was zapped with a ray of destructive energy.

It could not be understated the true extent of the horrifying force that the colossal alien wielded.

Sophie witnessed firsthand how devastating that simple ray of light was to the innocent tree.

First the green leaves turned a sickly pale yellow as a dark crimson energy travelled from their veins into the stems and then the trunk.

This insidious force corroded the insides of the plant and soon its once healthy appearance was transformed into nothing more than a withered tree at the end of its life.

Gradually the topmost leaves and branches turned into dust and scattered in the wind.

This disintegration was akin to a virus and soon the rest of the plant followed until there was nothing left.

This entire cycle of death occurred in less than five seconds.

Sophie shuddered as she imagined what would happen if the giant's attack had managed to hit her body.

"STOP RUNNING YOU PATHETIC LITTLE…." an angry roar echoed through the open forest where Sophie was currently fleeing for her life.

Boom!

Another tree turned into dust as Sophie had to make a sharp turn in order to avoid getting hit.

She was at a clear disadvantage in this hunt for survival. It didn't seem to matter how fast she ran as it was difficult to outpace a giant with feet bigger than the length of her entire body.

One casual step from the behemoth could cross a distance of two hundred meters. The only reason she had yet to be caught was the injury she had inflicted to the giant's pinky toe.

Clearly this so-called god was not used to pain as the sharp throbbing feeling that occurred whenever he moved was enough for him to hesitate.

"Damn… when is that poison going to kick in," Sophie muttered to herself as she took a quick look backwards.

That was a mistake.

What she saw was a sight that would haunt her nightmares for the next couple of months should she survive this ordeal.

A muscular hulk-like humanoid with eight heads that all had expressions of distorted rage mixed with pain.

The skin of the creature was originally a pitch-black colour with silver areas dotted in his flesh that resembled a beautiful starry night.

Now there were cracks opening up inside the skin where numerous eyeballs stared at Sophie's every move.

Each eye oozed a yellowish-green pus that dropped to the ground and made a dull hissing sound when it melted the earth.

There was a scarlet energy coating the beast's hands as the giant prepared to launch another strike.

Boom! Boom!

This time two orb-like beams of light shot towards Sophie's location at a speed that the hybrid girl could barely react to.

All she could see was a crimson blur getting closer and closer until it was almost too late.

Sophie's bladed appendages clung to a nearby boulder and pushed off so that her body twisted in mid air to avoid the beams.

The force of the explosion flung Sophie against a nearby tree but there was no time to react as the giant once again summoned more energy.

This was not a good situation.

Sophie coughed up tiny flecks of blood and she could feel that several of her ribs may have been bruised from the hard blow.

"Keep moving… keep moving," Sophie gritted her teeth and forced her body forward.

She was being far too passive but there was nothing she could do to turn the tide.

Dodging the beams at close range was impossible without the use of qi movement techniques so she needed to maintain a safe distance.

It was not that she hadn't tried to use long range attacks such as poison needles or even a few rounds of heavy plasma fire, but nothing seemed to work.

After Sophie fled from the clearing, the giant had clearly learnt from his mistakes and surrounded his body with an invisible psychic barrier that deflected all projectiles.

Now there were only one possible course of action.

Run!

Sophie may not be the bravest cultivator… she would be the first to admit that experiencing the memory of death from Sui Meng had changed something in her.

Nothing was more important than living.

A man who flees a battle he can't win will live to fight another day while a brave man who holds his ground will die a glorious death.

Fuck that.

Sophie wasn't ready to die and especially not when there was a little girl relying on her to get back home safely.

She knew fully well that Lily would not survive in the Unova Syndicate without her help.

Boom! Boom!

Sophie ignored the surrounding blasts that kicked up piles of dirt into the air.

She ducked and weaved through the energy beams using her bladed appendages to change her momentum when necessary.

Two sharp metalloid needles glowed ominously in Sophie's hand as the hybrid girl gripped their cold handles carefully.

Was it possible to break the barrier?

Thirty minutes had passed since the chase had begun and Sophie was slowly losing hope that her poison would be effective.

Surely the circulatory system in the giant wasn't so slow.

Without qi Sophie had to rely on the naturally enhanced physique of the Arachnais race to maintain her pace but this had limits.

She was already feeling a burning sensation in her lungs and her legs were beginning to ache uncomfortably.

Boom!

Sophie shifted her head one inch to the right as a scarlet beam of energy narrowly missed her left cheek.

No, this situation couldn't last.

She needed to try something and fast.

Sophie placed the two needles in her mouth and reached into her storage bag using her right arm.

There was only a single plasma rifle inside her bag that Sophie had previously attempted to use to shatter the barrier to no effect.

This time she was going to try something crazy.

Sophie continued to run but her attention was partially shifted to the gun held precariously in her arm.

Now how did Katarina say to do this again…

Sophie frowned as she tried to remember the commands needed to activate the overload trigger.

She ran her fingers over the cool surface until she found a series of raised symbols hidden on the underside of the gun's barrel.

Without hesitation Sophie pressed the symbols in a specific order and the temperature of the gun rapidly increased.

The cold metal got hotter and hotter until Sophie's palms started to develop blisters from the sudden heat.

Not yet…

Sophie waited until a red light flashed twice and then prepared for her killer move. This was a truly desperate play but at this point she was ready to try anything.

Now!

She turned around and threw the plasma rifle right at the charging giant. The red light on the gun flashed once more as the rifle hit the edge of the psychic barrier and slid down.

Sophie did not bother to see if the initial stage of her plan was successfully as she immediately pulled the two poison needles out of her mouth.

BOOM!

An enormous explosion came from behind her as the plasma rifle exploded with the force of three hundred rounds.

Small fires made from green flames appeared around the edges of the blast and more importantly….

Sophie's golden eye could see that the giant alien's barrier had shattered.