OP Absorption
Chapter 55: Gamble

Chapter 55: Gamble

Lucas wasn’t the only one reeling. Gary gripped his hammer so tightly his knuckles were white. Joe looked ready to bolt, only frozen in place by sheer terror. Mary’s usual calm had fractured, replaced by grim acceptance.

Susan whipped her head around, glare fixed squarely on Hana who stood stoically near the back, her expression unchanged.

"Hana!" Susan’s voice was sharp, cutting through the thick silence. "Rank 6? Are you kidding me? Look at this!" She gestured wildly at the assembled spider army, the impossibly powerful Queen on her throne. "This isn’t Rank 6! This is suicide!"

"She’s right," Gary added, his voice low and rough. "What did command tell you? What the hell did they send us into?"

Hana met their accusing stares coolly. "My orders were to investigate the anomaly and retrieve lost Guild assets. The Rank 6 designation was based on initial readings before the dungeon shifted." It was a half-truth, carefully worded.

"Bullshit!" Susan spat. "That thing on the throne could wipe out half the city guard, let alone us! We were set up!"

While the team confronted Hana, Fin remained silent, his attention locked forward. He ignored the guards, the impossible odds. His gaze met the Queen’s across the vast chamber. She stared back, a faint, almost curious smile playing on her lips, her two deep eyes holding an ancient, unsettling intelligence. It felt less like a Queen observing intruders and more like a scientist studying insects.

Then, she spoke. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it filled the chamber, resonating not just in their ears but deep within their bones. It was soft, melodic, almost soothing.

"Human," she said, her gaze never leaving him. "How long do you intend to hold onto my child?"

The power laced within that soft voice slammed into them like a physical blow. Gary staggered, dropping to one knee. Susan gasped, bracing herself. Lucas and Joe cried out, collapsing onto the dais. Mary swayed, her face pale but determined. Even Hana flinched, her composure cracking for a split second.

Only Fin remained standing fully upright, though the pressure was immense, forcing him to plant his feet wider, gritting his teeth against the crushing weight of her presence. He still held Arachne’s arm in a firm grip.

"Fin, let her go!" Gary choked out, struggling to breathe under the Queen’s aura. "Don’t provoke it!"

"He’s right," Mary pleaded, her voice strained. "Give the monster back! Maybe it’ll spare us!"

Arachne twisted weakly in his grip, looking up at him with wide, terrified eyes. "She’ll kill us all," she whispered frantically.

He ignored them all. His eyes remained locked with the Queen’s. He felt the raw power radiating from her, testing him, pressing down. But mixed with it was that familiar, addictive hum – a vast, untapped reservoir of energy he instinctively craved.

"I beat her," he stated, his voice tight but clear, defying the pressure. "She belongs to me now."

A flicker of something – surprise? Amusement? – crossed the Queen’s unnervingly beautiful face. "Is that so?"

The pressure instantly doubled.

With choked cries, the rest of the team crashed fully to the polished floor, pinned down, struggling for air. Gary’s hammer clattered from his nerveless fingers. Susan was flat on her stomach, face pressed against the cold stone. Hana lay sprawled, her mask of control finally shattered, replaced by raw effort just to remain conscious.

Fin’s knees buckled. He staggered, bracing himself with his staff, the wood groaning under the strain. Black spots danced in his vision. Every muscle screamed. But he didn’t fall. He wouldn’t fall.

Arachne writhed beside him, pinned half-upright only by his unyielding grip. "Hey!" she gasped, pain and fear thick in her voice. Tears streamed from her multiple eyes. "You’ll die! She’ll crush you! Just let me go!"

He glanced down at her, his expression tight with strain and defiance.

"Shut up," he forced out through clenched teeth. "Stop acting like you care."

He glared back up at the Queen, meeting her intense gaze with his own burning refusal. He wouldn’t kneel. He wouldn’t break.

"Fin, you idiot! What are you doing?!" Susan choked out, her face pressed hard against the cold floor. "Just let her go!"

"Have you lost your mind?!" Gary echoed, his voice strained. "You’ll get us all killed!"

He ignored their frantic pleas, his entire focus on the Queen. His bones creaked under the pressure, muscles screaming in protest. He could feel the immense power radiating from her, capable of crushing them instantly. Yet... it wasn’t happening.

Beneath the overwhelming weight, his heightened senses, amplified by the spider-mana swirling within him, detected something else. Restraint. Control. This wasn’t the full, unrestrained killing intent he’d felt from lesser beasts. This was a display, a test. She could kill them with a thought, but she wasn’t.

Not yet.

Why? Curiosity? Arrogance? It didn’t matter. It was an opening. A sliver of a chance.

He straightened slightly, pushing against the invisible force, his voice a harsh rasp. "This is pointless."

The Queen tilted her head, a flicker of amusement in her deep eyes. The pressure didn’t lessen. "Pointless? Resisting the inevitable?"

"Testing us," he corrected, forcing the words out. "If you wanted us dead, we’d be dead." He spat blood onto the polished floor. "So, what do you really want?"

Silence stretched, thick and heavy. The team watched, pinned and helpless, bewildered by his audacity.

"You are... interesting, human," the Queen finally said, her tone thoughtful. "More perceptive than your companions."

"Enough games," he gritted out. He needed to shift the dynamic, seize the initiative, however small. "A challenge."

That drew a reaction. The Queen’s eyes narrowed slightly. The pressure lessened fractionally, allowing shallow breaths. "You seek to bargain? From your knees?"

"Me against your best," he pushed, ignoring the near-collapse of his body. "One fight. We win, we walk out of here. Alive."

A low ripple of sound went through the assembled spider guards – chitinous clicks and soft hisses. Disbelief. Mockery.

The Queen regarded him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "An entertaining notion. A mayfly challenging the storm." She paused. "And why would I agree to such a meaningless spectacle? Your lives are already forfeit."

"Because you’re curious," he shot back, gambling on his intuition. "You want to see what this ’mayfly’ can do. You want to see the power I took from your children." He met her gaze defiantly. "And because sitting on that throne must get boring."

A slow smile spread across the Queen’s face. It wasn’t warm. It held the cold beauty of sharpened ice. "Bold. Arrogant. And perhaps... accurate."

She waved a slender hand almost dismissively. The crushing pressure vanished instantly.

The team gasped, drawing in ragged lungfuls of air, pushing themselves weakly up from the floor. They stared at Fin, then at the Queen, utterly bewildered.

"Very well, human," the Queen declared, her voice regaining its soft, resonant quality, though the underlying power remained. "A death match it shall be. Entertainment is rare in this domain."

She leaned forward slightly on her throne, her legs shifting beneath her. "Choose your opponent from my court. Defeat them, and your path from this castle will be... unobstructed." Her eyes gleamed. "Fail... and your suffering, along with that of your companions, will be exquisite."

He straightened fully, pulling Arachne upright beside him. She stared at the Queen, then at Fin, disbelief warring with terror on her face.

He ignored her, his gaze sweeping over the silent ranks of spider guards lining the hall. Arachne’s strength, the matriarch’s power... he had faced strong opponents. But looking at the Queen’s court, he knew the champion she would offer would be leagues beyond anything he’d encountered.

Still, it was a chance. Their only chance.

"I accept," he said, his voice steady now, the earlier strain gone.