The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Unnamed Asteroid Field)

(Zrudread University Starship)

Disgusting blood tendrils burst out of Kohli's severed body and connected the two pieces of meat together again.

The pirate leader shakily got to his feet and stared warily at the two mysterious cultivators standing in front of him.

They were both fully cloaked and wore masks but Kohli could somehow tell that they were both watching him carefully.

Death was near…

"What do you want?" Kohli snarled fiercely and tried to look for a way out of this perilous situation.

Neither one of the cloaked figures responded to his question so Kohli decided to try to use his gift to absorb their cultivation.

While Kohli was unable to boost his own cultivation level using his gift, he was still capable of draining the lifeforce and vitality from others.

He quietly extended a tendril of his qi outwards and tried to make contact with their bodies.

All he needed was one opportunity and then he would counterattack… one chance… one chance to strike…

Now!

Kohli narrowed his eyes and the tendril of qi split into two spear-like weapons that stabbed forward at the cloaked figures.

Unfortunately, his qi tendril was not able to penetrate the flesh of the unknown cultivators and enter their meridians.

Kohli tried again and again but no matter what he did… his gift could not take their cultivation away.

This meant one of two possibilities.

They were somehow immune to his ability… or their cultivation levels were too high.

And right now, Kohli was leaning towards the latter option since it was the one that made the most sense.

Who were these people? Reinforcements from the university?

Were they associated with the mysterious attackers who deployed five destroyer spacecrafts to hunt him down?

"Fuck… fuck… fuck…" Kohli hoarsely cursed as he felt the boils on his body start to itch uncontrollably.

A particularly large blister on his chest burst and sickly yellowish liquid oozed out of the open wound.

Things were looking bad.

He had yet to find the duke's daughter and his skin was now covered in wrinkles.

Kohli could feel his vitality slowly drain away as he continued to manipulate and control the mass of blood floating around his body.

Maybe it was time to retreat.

Even in his state of madness, Kohli still retained a semblance of his sanity and knew to preserve his own life.

He only needed a distraction and then he would run towards the crimson portal that was only two floors away.

Blood Reaper Wave!

Kohli stretched out his right palm and the floating blood around his body formed a gigantic reaper's scythe.

He was about to fling the attack forward when one of the cloaked figures vanished from the spot.

Not good… NOT GOOD!

Kohli's instincts flared up and he tried to avoid the source of danger coming from behind, but it was not possible for a mere qi tide stage cultivator deal with such powerful enemies.

For a god stage cultivator dealing with him was almost akin to a fully grown adult man being sent to beat up an infant.

Slash!

A wave of sword qi burst out of the tip of the unknown foe's longsword.

Kohli did not have time to react before his body was sliced into a million pieces. The floating blood surrounding his body crashed to the ground.

"Adolebitque illud descendit," the other cultivator whispered. Runic symbols floated in the air around his body as a magic circle appeared around Kohli's corpse.

The blood tendrils squirmed and tried to reconnect the broken pieces of their master's body, but it was too late.

An enormous pillar of fire rose up from the magic circle and completely incinerated what was left of Kohli's body.

Even in his final moments, Kohli could not believe that this was his fate.

He was the protagonist… he should have gotten revenge… the duke's daughter… she needed to die…

The fearsome leader of the Calypso brotherhood and the vessel for an otherworldly entity from beyond the void died without a trace.

The stone tablet that he had hidden inside the temple beneath the headquarters of his organisation suddenly cracked.

The mysterious red writings on its surface dulled and in a place beyond the void, a colossal eldritch entity screamed in pain as it felt its powers weaken.

Nothing remained except for ashes.

The sword wielding cultivator stepped forward and took out an empty test tube from his storage ring.

He scooped up some of the ashes and placed them inside the empty vial for further testing before turning to face his companion.

There was a brief moment of silence as the pair communicated using a spiritual sound technique.

No one knows what the content of their conversation was but by the end of it both figures disappeared from the corridor.

Instructor Barrett laughed happily as he saw the intruder die quickly after being subdued by the cloaked cultivators.

Cleo watched the video feed curiously and played back the footage to take a closer look.

The cultivator with the sword did not even bother to use a technique.

The raw power from the sword qi surrounding his blade and the speed of his attack was enough to take Kohli down.

A faint shiver ran down Cleo's spine as she realised how quickly the powerful intruder was killed.

It was another reminder of the dangerous truth of the universe.

There was always someone or something out there who was stronger than you.

The universe was infinite and even the mighty intergalactic empires such as the Insectoid, Unovan or even the Federation were but specks of dust when compared to its vastness.

Who knows what kind of monstrous creatures lived just beyond the observable universe…

Bleep! Bleep!

Instructor Barrett's communicator rang out and the elderly man checked his messages and saw several incoming transmissions.

He read the messages carefully and the grin on his face widened when he heard about the good news.

The last few hours had been incredibly tense but now there appeared to be a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Instructor Barrett looked up from his communicator and relayed the good news to Cleo who standing at the side.

"The two cultivators who helped us before and going to look for Drew and Elenora so they will be rescued soon," Instructor Barrett spoke happily.

"Also, in the case of an emergency, Principal Malik has ordered the alpha, gamma and zeta squads to reinforce our position."

"The fleet should arrive in around two hours so all we have to do is hold on until then."