OP Absorption
Chapter 58: Plans

Chapter 58: Plans

Hana braced herself against the pillar where Arexa had impacted, spitting blood. The surge of power that had fueled her desperate punch still hummed within her, but it felt thin now, brittle. Blood trickled from her nose, dripped from her lip where she’d bitten it. She swayed, a wave of dizziness washing over her.

On the dais, Gary started to cheer, "Yeah! Take that, bitch!" but his voice died as he saw Hana stagger.

"Wait," Lucas breathed, his eyes wide behind his glasses, fixed on Hana. "Her energy signature... it’s fluctuating wildly. It’s plummeting, but the output is... unnatural. It’s like she’s..." He trailed off, the implication dawning. "Life force. She’s burning her own life force."

Susan’s head snapped towards Lucas, then back to Hana, horror replacing the relief on her face. "What? Burning her life? For this?"

Mary gripped her sword hilt tighter, her knuckles white. "Hana..."

Across the hall, Arexa pushed herself up from the base of the pillar. She brushed a fleck of stone dust from her shoulder armor. The powerful punch had left no visible mark beyond a slight indentation on her segmented chest plate. Her six crimson eyes fixed on Hana, colder and sharper than before, stripped of all amusement.

"You surprised me, little human," her melodic voice was flat now, devoid of its earlier taunting lilt. "Careless of me." A faint, crimson aura began to shimmer around her, pulsing like heat haze. The air grew thick with killing intent. "Playtime is over."

The Queen watched from her throne, her expression one of mild disappointment. She rested her chin back on her hand, her gaze flicking between Hana and Arexa. "Finish it, Arexa. This display grows tiresome."

Arexa didn’t need telling twice. She moved, not with the dancing grace of before, but with the direct, brutal speed of an executioner. The whip cracked, not just a single lash, but a blinding series of strikes from multiple angles simultaneously.

Hana met the onslaught, fueled by the rapidly diminishing dregs of her life force. Her sword became a shield, deflecting blows that would have shattered bone. She moved with a speed that belied her injuries, parrying a thrust aimed at her throat, ducking under a vicious horizontal sweep.

She even managed a quick counter-attack, her blade slicing Arexa’s arm – a shallow wound that barely bled before the crimson aura seemed to seal it.

She was faster now. Stronger. But it wasn’t enough.

For every blow she blocked, two more rained down. For every inch she gained, Arexa forced her back a foot. The whip was a relentless storm, chipping away at her defense, leaving stinging cuts and deep bruises. Hana felt the power inside her guttering, the backlash intensifying. Her vision blurred periodically, her lungs burned, and the taste of blood was constant in her mouth.

’Just need to win,’ she thought desperately, the mission parameters echoing in her mind. ’Just a few more hits... before I collapse.’

But Arexa gave no openings. The spider warrior pressed her advantage relentlessly, her aura flaring brighter, her movements becoming faster, more vicious. The whip seemed less a weapon and more an extension of her fury, biting and tearing.

"She’s losing," Joe whispered hoarsely from the dais, watching Hana stumble after a particularly brutal exchange.

"She’s killing herself," Gary corrected grimly, clenching his fists helplessly. "Look at her!"

Hana’s movements grew sluggish. A desperate parry went wide. Seeing the opening, Arexa snapped the whip forward with vicious precision. It bypassed Hana’s sword, wrapping tight around her sword arm, the leather biting deep into flesh.

With a sharp cry, Hana felt the bones in her forearm grind under the immense pressure. Her sword clattered from her numb fingers.

Before she could react, Arexa yanked hard. Hana was pulled off balance, stumbling forward, exposed.

Arexa dropped the whip, her other hand flashing forward, palm open. Not a punch, but a strike aimed directly at Hana’s sternum, charged with crackling crimson energy.

It connected with sickening force.

Hana gasped, the world dissolving into white-hot agony. She felt ribs crack, felt the volatile energy surge through her, disrupting the last flickering remnants of her life-force boost. The power inside her sputtered and died completely.

She flew backward, no longer empowered, just broken, hitting the polished floor hard and skidding several feet before coming to a stop in a crumpled heap. Her eyes fluttered, consciousness fading rapidly.

Arexa stood over her, breathing evenly now, the crimson aura slowly receding. She nudged Hana’s still form with the toe of her boot, then looked up towards the Queen, awaiting further orders.

The team on the dais stood frozen in horror and despair. Their leader, the one who had sacrificed her companion for the mission, lay defeated, possibly dead, at the feet of the Queen’s executioner.

The Queen surveyed the scene, her expression impassive. She glanced at the pedestal beside her throne, where the dark Mana Cell pulsed faintly. Then, her gaze drifted back to the entrance dais, not to the horrified team, but to the motionless body lying near them.

Fin.

She regarded the crumpled form of Hana, then waved a dismissive hand toward the entrance dais where the remaining Hunters stood frozen. "Very good, Arexa. Kill the rest," she commanded, her voice soft but final. "And bring me that boy’s body."

Arexa bowed smoothly. "As you command, Your Majesty." She turned, her eyes sweeping over the five remaining humans huddled together near Fin’s corpse. Their faces were masks of terror, despair, and a final, flickering ember of defiance.

"No..." Gary breathed, raising his hammer, though his arms trembled. "We won’t just..."

He didn’t get to finish.

Arexa blurred. She wasn’t using the whip now, just her blinding speed and the natural weapons of her kind – chitinous claws that extended subtly from her fingertips.

Gary swung his hammer in a wide, desperate arc. Arexa ducked under it effortlessly, her hand flashing out. A wet, tearing sound, and Gary’s head tumbled from his shoulders, his body collapsing a second later.

Susan screamed, lunging forward with her shield and remaining blade. Arexa sidestepped the clumsy charge, her arm moving in a swift, clean slice. Susan’s head fell, rolling to bump gently against Gary’s boots.

Joe threw his last two daggers. Arexa slapped them out of the air contemptuously. Before Joe could even register surprise, she was upon him. Another slice.

Lucas fumbled with a device, trying to conjure one last spell, his face slick with sweat and tears. A crimson blur, and his head joined the others on the floor.

Mary, the last one standing, met Arexa’s gaze, her sword held steady despite the impossible odds. There was no fear left in her eyes, only weary acceptance. She opened her mouth to speak, perhaps a final curse or plea, but Arexa gave her no chance. A single, precise movement, faster than the eye could follow. Mary’s body crumpled silently.

It was over in less than ten seconds. Utterly anticlimactic. A massacre, not a fight. Five lives extinguished like candles in a hurricane.

She stood amidst the carnage, untouched, breathing evenly. She flicked a droplet of blood from her clawed fingertip, her expression impassive.

She walked calmly over to where Fin lay, stepping around the spreading pool of his blood. She glanced down at Arachne, who still huddled against the wall, too weak and terrified to move, watching with wide, horrified eyes. Arexa offered only a look of faint disgust before ignoring her completely.

Bending down, she easily lifted Fin’s lifeless body, slinging him over her shoulder as if he weighed nothing. She turned and walked back toward the throne, her footsteps the only sound in the vast, silent chamber besides Arachne’s ragged breathing.

She knelt once more before the Queen, carefully laying Fin’s body at the base of the obsidian stairs leading up to the throne.

The Queen leaned forward slightly, her gaze fixed on the boy’s still face, pale beneath the bloodstains. Her expression was unreadable, a mixture of clinical curiosity and something deeper, more possessive. She reached out a slender finger, tracing the line of his jaw, leaving a faint trail through the drying blood.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips.

"I have plans for you," she murmured, her voice a soft, chilling promise directed at the corpse before her. "My perfect toy."