OP Absorption
Chapter 60: Monster

Chapter 60: Monster

Fin turned slowly, his unnervingly blank gaze lifting from the hole in the wall where Arexa had vanished to meet the Queen’s eyes across the chamber. The silence stretched, thick with stunned disbelief and simmering fury from the throne.

"Thank you," he said, his voice a perfect monotone, devoid of warmth or gratitude. "For this second life. For this power." The glowing green lines covering his body seemed to pulse brighter for a moment, then began to flow like liquid light, retracting from his limbs and torso, converging entirely onto the back of his right hand.

They coalesced rapidly, etching themselves into his skin, forming a complex, glowing green symbol that resembled interwoven circuitry and fractured webbing. The light subsided slightly, leaving the intricate mark clearly visible.

He flexed his marked hand slowly, observing it with detached curiosity. "It is... considerable." He looked back at the Queen, his eyes fixed on her. "But I have no intention of becoming anyone’s pet. Not even yours." His tone held no arrogance, no defiance. It was the simple, chilling statement of an undeniable fact.

The Queen’s knuckles whitened where she gripped the armrests of her throne. A faint tremor ran through her elegant frame. Her voice, when she spoke, was dangerously soft, laced with venom. "That Mana Cell... I tried for for a long time to assimilate its power. Even my body, perfected over millennia, could not contain its full essence without shattering." Her eyes burned with possessive fury. "Yet you... a flawed, fragile human... absorb it completely? You dare defy me with power meant for me?"

Her composure fractured, rage contorting her beautiful features. "If I cannot have you as a tool, then your existence is pointless! Back to the dust you crawled from!" She flung her hand out, a sharp, commanding gesture. "Kill him! Tear him apart!"

The command galvanized the remaining spider-kin. Dozens of guards – giants, humanoids, elemental weavers – surged forward from the walls and pillars, a wave of clicking chitin, skittering legs, and radiating killing intent. They filled the hall, converging on Fin’s lone figure.

He watched them come, his expression unchanged. The overwhelming odds, the sheer mass of monstrous power rushing towards him, seemed to register as nothing more than data.

He showed no fear, no concern. He simply raised his marked right hand, palm upward.

Light flared above his palm – the same intense, potent green as the mark on his hand. It coalesced instantly, solidifying, taking shape. A blade formed, humming with contained energy. It wasn’t physical steel, but pure, woven mana, sharp-edged and radiating power that resonated with the Mana Cell’s absorbed essence.

It looked sleek, deadly, and utterly alien.

The Queen froze mid-motion, her eyes wide, staring at the manifested weapon. Disbelief warred with dawning horror on her face. He can shape its power? Already? The Mana Cell wasn’t just integrated; it was being wielded.

Her eyes fixed on the humming green blade in Fin’s hand. "So that’s the mana cell in use?" she murmured, almost to herself, her voice barely audible above the sudden chaos.

The first wave of spider reached Fin. A giant lurched forward, mandibles snapping. He moved, not dodging, but flowing through the attack. The green blade blurred, leaving a trail of emerald light. It passed through the giant’s thick carapace like heated steel through ice. The creature staggered, two clean halves sliding apart before dissolving into ichor.

He didn’t pause. The blade danced. A humanoid guard lunged, claws extended. He pivoted, the blade slicing upward, severing limbs before embedding itself in the guard’s torso. Another dissolved. He moved through the throng, each step precise, each strike economical, each ending resulting in disintegration. There was no wasted energy, no visible effort, just mechanical lethality.

The Queen watched, motionless on her throne. Her initial fury seemed momentarily suspended, replaced by intense, analytical focus. This wasn’t a fight. Her children, powerful guards honed over centuries, were being dismantled. His movements were too fast, too clean. He wasn’t fighting; he was erasing them. Like a machine processing faulty components.

"No," she corrected herself silently, "a monstrous machine."

Arachne pressed herself harder against the stone wall, trembling uncontrollably. Her multiple eyes were wide, reflecting the green flashes of the mana blade.

’W-what am I seeing right now?’ The human dispatching the Queen’s court with effortless finality felt utterly alien. ’Is this the same human I fought? The one I nearly killed?’

She risked a glance towards the throne, desperate for intervention, for the overwhelming power she knew her Queen possessed. But the Queen just sat there, watching, her expression unreadable.

More guards fell. An elemental weaver launched a volley of shadow spikes; he cut through them with the mana blade, the energy dissipating harmlessly. He closed the distance in an instant, the blade vanishing into the weaver’s core before it could react. A cascade of smaller scuttlers swarmed his legs; the green light pulsed outwards from the mark on his hand, and they simply ceased to exist, leaving only faint wisps of smoke.

Arachne couldn’t bear the Queen’s inaction. "My Queen?" she called out, her voice a low, shaking whisper.

No response. The Queen’s gaze remained locked on Fin, who continued his silent, methodical slaughter.

"My Queen!" She pleaded, louder this time, desperation cracking her voice.

Still nothing. The Queen might as well have been carved from the same obsidian as her throne.

The last of the spider hesitated, a flicker of primal fear finally overcoming their ingrained loyalty. It didn’t matter. Fin moved among them, the green blade a constant, lethal blur. A final slice, a final dissolve, and then... silence.

The throne room was empty, save for the Queen on her throne, the trembling Arachne by the wall, and Fin standing alone amidst faint traces of dissipating ichor. He lowered the blade, though it didn’t vanish, humming softly at his side. His eyes scanned the silent room, devoid of triumph or satisfaction.

Arachne stared at the empty spaces where her kin had stood moments before. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, tracing paths down her pale cheeks. She looked again at the throne, at the figure who had watched the massacre unfold without lifting a finger.

The betrayal felt colder than the stone floor beneath her.

"My Queen..." she choked out, the sound barely audible, heavy with disbelief and shattering despair. "Why?"