The Spider Queen

There was a plain wooden door attached to the side of a massive rocky mountain whose jagged tip extended upwards towards the heavens.

This seemingly out of place door could not be seen by any scanning device nor could most people observe it using their eyes.

Layers upon layers of magic runes were carved onto its wooden surface.

These runes were written in an ancient arcane language and the letters softly glowed blue.

But what lay beyond the door was the lair of a monster…

Behind the door was a large open hall with no lighting. It was completely dark and the darkness itself seemed to be alive.

The sounds of chains rustling softly could be heard coming from somewhere inside the darkness along with the faint cries of young children.

Their screams would continue even as the voices of the children grew hoarse.

Guttural twisted noises escaped their throats and yet they kept screaming.

What horror were they experiencing in the dark? It was impossible to know… nor would one wish to find out.

The rattling of the chains grew louder and louder as a figure walked towards a containment chamber that had been placed in the back of the hall.

The figure was barely humanoid with a thick bulky frame and tiny shrivelled up arms that hung uselessly at his sides.

His face if one were able to see in the darkness was equal parts horrifying and attractive with a charm that would make it hard not to look away.

Thick fleshy bumps grew on different areas of his skin.

These bumps were pus-filled sores that oozes foul smelling liquid as the creature intentionally popped them.

Thick chains made from a dark black metal had been driven through the monster\'s legs and dragged along the floor.

There were mysterious runes inscribed on the chains that faintly glowed red. The creature winced in pain whenever the runes got brighter.

He let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion as he approached the containment chamber and saw someone floating helplessly in a golden liquid.

The person inside the chamber looked exactly like the late Emperor Sisrelis but there was something off about his appearance.

He was handsome to the point where it was actually off putting. There was something about his good-looking facial features that resembled a mask.

The monster raised up his shrivelled-up palm and lightly tapped it against the glass to get his servant\'s attention.

The man floating inside the containment chamber did not respond since he was still asleep.

For a moment the monster was tempted to drag his experiment out but that would ruin the process, so he decided to take a step back.

He stepped away from his laboratory and headed towards a small open hole in the corner of the hall.

Beyond that hole was a network of underground side passageways and hallways that created a complex labyrinth.

Any intruders that broke into his domain would easily get lost as they dealt with numerous fake walls, dead ends, and deadly traps.

The monster walked for around twenty minutes until he arrived at a room where a pool of crimson liquid bubbled softly.

He lowered himself into the liquid and a satisfied smile flashed across his face as he finally felt some relief from the painful sores all over his body.

"The plan is not working as smoothly as I would have hoped," the monster quietly muttered as he reached down to the bottom of the pool and pulled out a reddish crystal.

"That hybrid girl… her instincts are very impressive. Or perhaps she possesses a precognition ability…"

"As far as I know Duke Peterlor is just a swordsman…"

The monster frowned slightly as he thought about what he had seen through the eyes of his puppets.

A few days ago, Princess Cleo had finally left the safety of the Peterlor Estate along with the duke\'s daughter and a saintess from the Nephilim Church.

It was the perfect opportunity to implement his plan to infect the princess and gain a connection to the duke.

The monster had ordered several individual puppets to move towards N\'rean City and gift the princess one of the Kry\'en crystals.

It should have been a simple operation.

Those three girls were merely qi tide cultivators so their senses should be incapable of detecting that anything was amiss.

And yet… it had all gone wrong.

One or two failures could be chalked up to coincidence, but it was the hybrid girl\'s reaction to her shadow guard that convinced the monster that she somehow knew of his plan.

Or at least she was able to tell that there was a danger hidden in the seemingly valuable crystals.

She killed her shadow guard without hesitation… the monster was honestly a little bit impressed since it was clear that Duke Peterlor\'s daughter had inherited his ruthlessness.

One did not become the high-level commander of the Imperial Army with a soft heart…

The monster played with the red crystal in his palm and whispered a few words under his breath in a language that was impossible to decipher.

Mana circles appeared in the air above his twisted and deformed body and beams of light erupted from the center of the circles.

These beams of light entered the crystal and its reddish colour darkened even further until it became completely black.

When the process was complete, the monster began to cough violently, and specks of blood could be seen coming out of his mouth.

This damn curse…

The monster relaxed in the pool for several more minutes and then slowly got out of the crimson liquid.

He walked towards his laboratory once more but along the way he stopped in a certain room to pick up some raw materials.

Inside of a small, cramped room were dozens of children. Humans, Mendolesa, Quafes and even one Servie huddled together in the room since the temperature was low.

They wore tattered clothes that were falling apart, and their ribs could clearly be seen against their chests.

What was extremely disturbing were the signs of torture on their fragile bodies.

Fingernails had been pulled out, some were missing limbs while other were missing an eye or an ear.

Whip and burn marks could be observed along delicate parts of their bodies and a Mendolesa girl had an open wound on her forehead that was still bleeding.

They could hear footsteps coming from outside the room and expressions of terror flashed across their young faces.

Chains softly rustled, and the children trembled uncontrollably. After months of torture the mere sound of those chains was enough to send them into shock.

The door gradually opened a tall bulky figure stood in front of the room. It was impossible to see his face in the darkness and yet every child could feel his gaze linger on their bodies.

There was no emotion in his gaze. The monster looked at the children as if they were mere pieces of meat.

Invisible hands grabbed the nearest human child who screamed just once before one of the hands covered his mouth.

He kicked and screamed as he was dragged out of the room and the door swung shut with a heavy bang as his figure disappeared.

The monster looked down at the raw material and a sadistic gleam lingered in his eyes.