26 - Seductive Act

A single spider skittered through the silk-strung halls of the castle.

Its carapace gleamed darkly under the faint green glow of bioluminescent sacs stitched into the ceiling. Its movements were slow, measured—too measured.

Because inside that spider's shell wasn't instinct or hunger. It was human.

Kai adjusted his limbs, flexing the joints of his disguise. The Echo-Hair Filaments twitched automatically, mimicking the idle fidgets of a regular Heloxian drone. His abdomen pulsed in perfect rhythm with the pheromone pattern he'd memorized from the nests outside. Everything had to be precise. Every scent, every step.

It had been a long time since he did this. Transforming, infiltrating, walking inside the lair of monsters not as a conqueror but as one of them. It was sickening. But this time, it wasn't just survival. It was strategy.

This was why he'd saved that gene—the Echo-Hair Filaments—to use the Adaptive Gene Canal.

He moved slowly through the webbed corridors. The castle was huge—a network of tunnels and chambers woven into a vertical spiral. It was more hive than fortress, built for instinct, not engineering.

Spiders clung to the walls, some hissing in rhythm, others utterly still. Most ignored him, but one didn't.

She was tall—well, tall for a spider—her thorax striped in iridescent green and red, scent glands flaring with interest as she approached.

Hree...

The voice echoed in his mind, not through words but through chemical intent.

Kai stopped. The spider crept closer. Her legs tapped his side. Her abdomen quivered in a very clear invitation.

He froze. Wait… what?!

She rubbed her leg against his in what was unmistakably a mating ritual.

Kai mentally screamed.

Why am I always in these situations?!

With as much dignity as one could manage in a spider's body, he lifted one limb and nudged her gently away, letting out a mild rejection pheromone. Not too strong to offend, not too weak to invite again.

The spider tilted her head, hissed once, then skittered off.

Never again, Kai thought, already regretting everything about this infiltration.

He kept moving.

Eventually, he found himself in a chamber larger than the rest—wide, circular, with a great pit in the center. Webs dangled like banners. Chittering drones bowed or clicked their mandibles as a massive form approached the central dais.

The Spider King.

Its body was bloated, armor thick like obsidian, crowned with a crest of jagged horns and dripping silk glands. Around it were the royal guard—bulkier, older spiders with scarred limbs and jagged eyes.

Kai watched from the shadows.

He didn't have long.

Then it hit him—an idea that was part insane, part perfect.

Kai took a slow, deliberate step across the chamber. This time, his movements weren't the stiff, aimless shuffle of a drone—no, they were smoother, seudctive, just sexy enough to catch attention.

He adjusted the limb joints of his spider form slightly, swelling the limbs and adjusting his balance to sway as he walked.

A few drones blinked. The guards twitched.

And the Spider King turned.

Kai could feel the weight of its stare crawl across his borrowed shell. Good.

He took another step, then "accidentally" dropped a silk pouch—just a lump of molted webbing, really. He leaned forward to retrieve it, his butt rising just a bit too high.

The room went quiet.

Then—SLAP.

One of the King's massive limbs smacked his abdomen with a chitinous thud.

Kai flinched hard.

Ouch. Okay, this guy's definitely a pervert.

He kept up the act, tilting his head back just enough to look "shy" and releasing a submissive pheromone pulse.

The Spider King's eyes shimmered with amusement, desire, and very little restraint. He chittered in a low rumble and gestured with a claw toward one of the silk-curtained chambers at the edge of the throne room.

"Private now."

Kai bowed low, then slowly skittered toward the room, heart pounding beneath his carapace.

Bingo.

This was the plan. General Ozark had told him that the Spider King hadn't abducted the princess for ransom or for strategy. He'd taken her because of her beauty.

Kai had taken one long look at his Gene Fragments, swallowed his pride, and muttered, Guess I'm weaponizing this one.

As the curtain closed behind him, and the King's massive limbs began to approach, Kai whispered under his breath,

"Let's hope this idiot keeps falling for it long enough."

Because behind that curtain, somewhere deep inside the silk-woven chambers, was where the princess was kept. And Kai only needed one moment to strike.

As Kai crept into the chamber behind the Spider King, his borrowed limbs twitching with unease, he saw her.

The princess.

She wasn't tied up, she wasn't in chains, she wasn't screaming or crying or glaring in defiance.

She was sitting.

Calm and crossed legs. Draped in silken robes, golden-blonde hair cascading over one shoulder, and sipping a cup of whatever passed for tea in a spider hive.

She glanced up, eyes bright and amused.

"Oh? You brought me another one?" she said to the Spider King, tone lazy and playful. "This one's got nice proportions. It's better than that last dull carapace."

Kai froze. Wait. What?

He narrowed his eyes behind his exoskeletal mask. Is she… playing along? Acting? Yes, Albrecht said she was smart. She must be pulling his strings from the inside.

Then the Spider King—this hulking monster that had crushed warriors and ordered entire swarms—blushed. Its massive frame shivered slightly and it averted its eyes like a lovesick beetle.

What the hell did she do to him?

Kai didn't get time to think. The Spider King dropped with a loud thud, sprawling its limbs out with a goofy groan and positioning itself in front of the princess.

Then—pssstt—

A jet of silk sprayed into the air, landing squarely across the princess's face.

Kai's stomach twisted.

WHAT!?

She just wiped it off calmly and gave a sweet, sultry smile.

Kai recoiled. That's disgusting! What—what even is this?! I'm not doing that! That's not part of my plan!

I need to end this fast.

Kai stepped forward, chitin flexing, eyes narrowing behind the mask of his transformation. Enough was enough.

He'd seen soldiers die, friends break, and had crawled out of piles of corpses to get here. And now? He was watching a monster and a princess in love play court while the kingdom burned.

He reached for his gene slots and triggered the Vorabone Carapace to reinforce his limbs.

Playtime's over.

Time to snatch the princess and burn this whole twisted kingdom from the inside out.

Kai crouched in the dark behind a twisted silk pillar, limbs clicking silently. The Spider King's attention was fixed on the princess—his monstrous eyes glinting with hearts, his grotesque legs twitching in anticipation.

Now.

Kai let his transformation collapse. His chitin peeled back with a wet hiss, and in an instant, he was back in his human form—scarred, lean, and utterly nude.

The air hit him like a slap. The princess's eyes widened the second she caught sight of him. She turned beet red.

"Oh my—!?" she gasped, yanking a curtain of her long hair to block his lower half from the Spider King's view. "Focus on me!" she barked at the spider. "Look at me, not the... the random feral man in the corner!"

Kai flinched, his hands flying down to cover himself. Again!? This is becoming a cursed pattern.

But there was no time. The Spider King had started turning.

So Kai moved.

He sprinted forward, feet slamming against the silk-laid floor. His right arm shifted mid-run, muscle twisting as George 1 activated, surging with electricity.

The Spider King turned just in time to catch a lightning-charged punch to the face.

The blast echoed through the hive like a detonation.

Kai didn't stop. He slammed his fist again, then drove a blade-formed left arm into the King's chest. Black ichor exploded outward. The creature shrieked, lashing wildly with its legs, but Kai was already climbing up its thorax.

Another jolt of thunder arced from his fist, shattering the chitin across the Spider King's crown. The giant spasmed violently, legs twitching, then collapsed with a wet thud that shook the chamber.

[GENE FRAGMENT ACQUIRED – "REGICORE LATTICE"]

Classification: Internal Organ / Sovereign Control Node

Effect: Embeds a crystalline neuro-lattice within the user's spinal cord, passively generating a low-frequency command field. Lesser arthropoid Riftborn within range experience hesitation, obedience, or complete submission based on control sync.

Status: Stable

Risk: Overheating during mental strain / Host may attract rival swarm instincts.

Kai dropped down beside the princess, breathing hard, still completely exposed.

Kai stood up, draping the silken bedsheet around his waist like a makeshift toga. The fabric was embarrassingly see-through, but it was the best he could do.

The princess peeked through her fingers, face crimson.

"…Couldn't you have shifted into something with pants?" she muttered, trying to look anywhere but directly at his hips.

Kai sighed. "My bad. I didn't exactly bring my wardrobe when I infiltrated the enemy hive disguised as a sexy spider."

"…You were the one walking with hips like a goddess," she said, voice deadpan, still covering her cheeks. "You're lucky he fell for it."

"I told you. Reinforcements are on the way," Kai said, tightening the bedsheet and stepping toward the door. "Let's just—"

BOOM.

The door burst open. Albrecht stood in the frame, chest heaving, sword wet with spider ichor.

"Kai!" he barked.

Kai nodded. "She's fine. Kind of."

The princess blinked, then smiled. "Big brother!"

The prince froze. Then he dropped his sword, fell to one knee, and bowed his head.

"…I should've come sooner. I should've—" his voice broke. "I failed you."

She shook her head gently. "You came. That's all that matters."

Then—

KRRRAAAKH—

A shadow loomed behind Albrecht. Kai's eyes snapped wide. "Behind you!"

A massive spider, bigger than the rest, pulled itself through the wrecked hall—an elite guardian. Its front fangs twitched with anticipation, eight legs clicking across stone. It had been waiting for the king's command—now it moved on its own.

Kai cursed, tearing the sheet off and snapping into battle stance, electricity already dancing across his arms. The silk fell away.

The princess didn't even react this time. "For the love of—just kill it already."

"Kai—run! Get her out, now!"

Albrecht's voice was iron—unshaking, final.

Kai turned, but the prince wasn't looking at him. He was looking straight at his sister.

"If I had protected you that night…"

His grip tightened around his sword. "If I hadn't hesitated—if I hadn't been so afraid—"

His voice cracked for the first time. "You wouldn't have been taken. You wouldn't have had to survive all this. I failed you as a brother and as a prince."

He raised his blade toward the lumbering spider. "Let me fix that."

Kai smirked. "Not today, Prince."

He flicked his mind inward. Sekh, how long can I keep that Heloxian Knight form?

"Ten seconds," Sekh said. "That's all you get."

That's all I need.

Kai stepped forward. And yes, he was still completely nude.

The princess made a high-pitched noise behind her hand. "Do you ever fight fully dressed?"

"No time," Kai muttered. "Get ready."

Albrecht took one step toward the spider—and Kai moved.

Electricity sparked around his skin as his muscles swelled, bones twisting, voice howling mid-shift as plates of hard carapace slammed into place. His figure surged outward, transforming mid-sprint into the towering, spined form of the Heloxian Knight.

Time slowed.

In one impossible motion, Kai scooped the princess in one arm, Albrecht in the other, his feet hammering through the castle as he sprinted toward the balcony.

Albrecht shouted. "Kai—!?"

"No need to sacrifice yourself," Kai growled.

And then—

They jumped.

Wind howled. The ground surged up fast. Kai's carapace cracked from the pressure.

He shouted midair: "Fire it!"

From the ruined tower behind them, a red flare screamed into the sky. It split the clouds like blood on silk.

The signal to retreat.

The princess was screaming. "You absolute madman! This is suicide! You can't just jump off a castle with royalty in both hands!"

Kai was grinning now, wide and reckless. "Still alive, aren't we?"

Albrecht coughed, catching his breath as the wind rushed past. "The castle—wasn't the plan to burn it?"

Kai's eyes flicked to him. "I did. Room by room, while I was looking for her."

THUD.

They hit the ground hard, Kai landing on all fours with the two royals in his arms. Dust kicked up. The woods beyond the spider castle howled with alarm.

Kai looked up at the sky. The flare was fading.

Ten seconds were up.

His armor cracked apart. He collapsed to one knee, human again, gasping for breath—naked, exhausted, but still smiling.

"Let's never do that again," he muttered.

The princess just buried her face in her hands. "You're insane."

Albrecht looked at Kai, then nodded. "But you're also the reason we're still alive."

The ground behind them rumbled. The castle was burning.