The Spider Queen

Judging from the size and the strength of the beast, it was obvious that this monster was not supposed to be defeated.

Clearly there must be a hint, or some kind of item hidden inside the arena that would allow an ordinary student to be able to grab the blue jewel.

Sophie knew that but…

She didn't want to finish this trial like an ordinary student.

It was unclear how the points system worked for the first stage considering that it was a team exercise.

However, Sophie was willing to bet that if she showed something crazy then the examiners watching would have no choice but to award her the maximum marks.

"Ready?" Sophie asked with a wicked grin on her face.

"Not really…" one of her mirror copies replied.

Another one let out a heavy sigh while a third placed her head in her hands with a defeated expression on her face.

Sophie shot her clones a stern look and they eventually got serious. The hybrid girl reached into her storage bag and handed out weapons to her mirror copies.

During the entire process, the monster remained motionless as if waiting to see what she would do next.

Sophie took a single step forward and a low grumble echoed through the large space.

The monster's two heads hissed, and a faint greenish mist began to fill the air.

"Alright… let's do this… hopefully at least one of us can survive…" a mirror copy reluctantly spoke while pointing a plasma rifle at the beast.

"Just one? I bet only miss original over there will be fine," another grumbled as she stretched out her arms and yawned.

"I'll take those odds. I say… at least three of us will make it out," someone else chimed in.

The other mirror copies were happy to join the conversation and a lively atmosphere soon formed.

"Ridiculous… two at most…"

"You know what… I'm feeling adventurous… put me down as 'everyone survives'."

"Feeling bold today, are we?"

"Well, I am a gambler…"

Sophie closed her eyes and ignored the noises and distractions that surrounded her. She just focused on her breathing and relaxed.

When she opened them… the world had slowed down to a crawl. A faint crimson mist began to spread from the corner of the golden eyes.

Her fangs slowly lengthened, and she could feel a terrible power pulsating through her body and filling up her meridians.

The ground cracked beneath Sophie's feet and a feeling bloodlust flooded her mind with thoughts of slaughter and killing.

Hunt… hunt… HUNT!

Kill… kill… KILL!

Sophie growled darkly as she reached into her storage bag and pulled out a long slender whip over six feet in length.

The edges of the whip were covered in sharp spikes.

She was not the only one affected by her berserker state as one by one her mirror copies fell under the same effect.

Without saying a word, they simultaneously attacked. Sophie's body blurred and then vanished from the spot as she rushed forward.

Asura Whip Art- Black Hell!

Horrific dark flames surrounded her weapon which Sophie then flung at the creature who moved its enormous body towards her.

The tip of her whip sunk into the monster's stomach and the beast let out a terrible cry of pain that reverberated throughout the coliseum.

A large wound opened up in the middle of its stomach and inside the injury… a black flame was consuming the creature's flesh.

Sophie's mirror copies were a tad slower than her, but their attacks were also surprisingly effective against the beast's reddish armour-like scales.

Bang! Bang!

Plasma rounds shot through the air from the rifles held in the arms of three of her clones.

Slash!

Two of her mirror copies held longswords in their hands which they used to rip apart the creature's legs.

Sophie twisted her body around midair and gracefully landed on her feet.

Her bladed appendages shot forward and their barbed ends tore apart the creature's armour-like scales like a hot knife through butter.

The greenish mist filling the arena got even heavier and an unpleasant scent that smelled like a mixture between rotten eggs and sewage entered Sophie's nose.

Some of the mirror copies gagged and even Sophie herself had to fight down the vomit that was rising up in her throat.

The creature roared in anger and the small holes along its back suddenly burst open and thick globs of yellow pus rained down on Sophie and her clones.

Gross!

Sophie frantically moved her body out of the way of the foul-smelling yellow gloop that landed on the ground with a hiss.

The stone tiles where the pus landed began to melt away and brown soil could be seen beneath the tilework.

"Fuck! My arm!" one of the Sophie's mirror copies yelled in anger as she took a knife and sliced off her injured appendage.

She had to slice off her arm since the pus was slowly moving upwards from the point of contact on her skin.

Danger!

Sophie jumped backwards without even looking and only a few seconds later a thick pinkish arm slammed down where she had just been standing.

Pink fleshy arms that bore a creepy resemblance to human ones slowly rose out from the small holes on the monster's back.

These arms extended outwards and rushed towards Sophie. At the end of each arm was a hand with three deformed finger-like shapes.

Asura Whip Art- The Spider's Web!

Sophie's crimson eyes shone with an eerie light in the dim underground temple. She cracked her whip and it split into one hundred different pieces.

These pieces rushed forward like an endless tide and clashed against the incoming arms. Sophie channeled her qi into her weapon and the arms were immediately torn apart.

The creature roared loudly and prepared to launch another attack but…

It was too late.

Sophie's figure disappeared and then reappeared right next to the titanic beast.

Despite the massive size difference, the monster felt the shadow of death hang over its body.

It tried to move away but Sophie's mouth was already mere inches away from the surface of its flesh.

The hybrid girl sank her fangs into the two hundred feet tall monster and injected the venom stored in her glands.

The creature shuddered violently and then collapsed. Its body twitched uncontrollably, and foam began to leak out of the side of its mouth.

Sophie knew that her venom had gotten more potent as her cultivation had improved but this surprised even her.

Maybe she had gotten far more stronger than she had initially assumed.

Sophie's musings were interrupted by a loud shout that pierced through the quiet atmosphere.

"Damn I won the bet! All of us survived!" one of Sophie's mirror copies excitedly shouted as she swayed her hips and made finger pistols using her hands.