As Miana stood in the hallway of the arena, she looked at the red gate with beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Even now, her hands were still shaking after watching that fight with Pig God. To think that lump of fat had such a power hidden inside him without anyone finding out, and to think that Arad was still able to easily overpower that was nothing short of baffling.

This coming fight of hers will be against Han. If she loses, then this will be the fight she is going to eat a beating, and if she wins, Arad will whip her hide in the finals. She had hoped that Pig God would win, and she could then easily poison him in the fight, but now, that plan had gone down the drain.

But what scared her more was that Arad seemed to know more about her clan’s poison than she did, which was far weirder than anything else she had learned in her life. Just what was he, where did he come from, and just... where does his power end?

"Esteemed Elder." A little girl approached her from behind and extended her hands forward. Miani looked at her and then smiled. The little girl carried in her tiny hands a small pouch filled to the brim with black dust, a dried form of Miani’s clan poison.

"Esteemed Elder? I am your mother." She leaned down and looked at the little girl’s face. "You can just call me mom, you know that, right?"

"I know." The little girl replied with a stern face and then looked at the poison pouch in her hands. "But... This is an official clan tradition. The spiderlings must handle our Elder’s poison to slowly build tolerance and resistance against it."

Miani reached forward and took the pouch. "You’re just delivering the extra dose I asked for. I bet sister sent you instead of any other disciple because she thought you’d be worried about me." She pulled a gourd of wine and mixed the dried poison in it.

"You’ve seen all the monsters fighting in this tournament, didn’t you?" Miana smiled as she drank the wine and felt the poison filling her entire body.

"I did... uncle Arad is strong." Her daughter replied, and all the blood drained from Miani’s veins. "Uncle... did you meet him?"

Her daughter shook her head. "No, I didn’t. But I’ve met a girl my age who knew him. I told her that you’ll win, and she told me that Uncle would win. When I asked why, she said it was because Uncle Arad is a master of poisons, and has two wives who is far more skilled than you are..." The girl frowned, "I’d say, she just doesn’t know how skilled you are."

Miani gulped, "That girl, stay away from her for now, and don’t go anywhere near Arad. He is dangerous." She then turned around, walking toward the arena. She had a fight to deal with first, she can’t have her mind wander into other matters.

"No, just go back to the clan. You’ll be safer there." She waved her hand, and them emerged from the red gate.

"... The Mother of Spiders! Miani!" The referee shouted, and when Miani stood in the middle of the arena, the entire crowd burst into cheers. "Esteemed Great Mother of Spiders, you were supposed to be fighting Sound Burst Soi Mi, but now you’ll have to face Demon Sword Han. What do you have to say about this sudden change?"

Miani looked at the referee with a smile. "I am more worried about Arad in the finals. I am certain that by now, you all understand that we know nothing about his power. Demon Sword Han is powerful, but I can understand his power, I can see his limits, and compare them to mine."

She looked at the crowd, "When I look at Arad, I only see an endless dark abyss. I cannot sense the limit of his cultivation, and that reminds me of the days when I was but a little girl, walking behind my Spider Mother."

"Indeed, we have no details about The Lumberjack Arad, his powers are indeed a mystery, and the fact that he defeated so many fighters with raw strength alone is, honestly, terrifying." Then, the referee lifted one arm up, and pointed toward the blue gate.

"You’ve all heard what Lady Miani had to say, but what would her opponent say? Welcome him... Demon Sword Han! My dear husband." She then quickly approached Miani. "Make sure to give him a real good beating. He’s been drinking a lot lately, and needs some... guidance."

"Got it..." Miani returned the smile.

As Han walked into the arena, the crowd cheered, and he waved back at them. The referee approached him and asked the same question she had asked Miana, what does he think about the current situation.

"I was excited to face Feu; he is a war brother after all. We fought together on many fronts." He shook his head, "But, I can understand. After such a deadly fight, he can’t keep going unless he wants to damage his cultivation."

Han threw his gaze at Miani. "While we’re both here to fight over the chance to study under an Elder much older, wiser, and stronger than us, it isn’t worth crippling ourselves. Let’s have an honourable fight."

Miani shook his hand. "Mutual feeling, there is nothing worth ruining our lives for." She then smiled. "But my face is above my neck, not below it. Or are my breasts that enticing for you to stare at them even in front of your wife?"

"HAN!" The referee growled at him, and he laughed. "Well, where am I supposed to look? Your heart is inside your chest." He pointed at her chest with one finger. "Deep breaths, accelerated heartbeat, and slight sweat buildup in your cleavage. That’s a clear sign you had a fresh dose of poison ingested."

Their hands parted, and he crossed his arms. "I can wait for your body to digest that poison and integrate it into your bloodstream."

She giggled. "Oh, please. You don’t have to worry about me. That dose of poison isn’t for you, but for Arad." She smiled. "I am sure you understand this as well. That man isn’t someone any of us can defeat under regular conditions."

Han chuckled. "Well, I got a theory. Lady Bloody Rose probably doesn’t want to take a disciple this year, so she brought him. She might even have a thing for him." He smiled, "I bet you the prize money that his thing is tiny."

Miani blinked twice, "You saw all that power and still dare to insult him publicly like this? Now, you’re making me want to lose just to see that tiny thing stuck in your backside." She then turned around to walk toward her corner. "But, keep this in mind. You’ll lose here, and I’ll deal with Arad."

^I wonder if it is really small? But with his size, even if it was small, it would still be decently big. No, wait. If it were normal, then it would be far too massive for a regular woman. And, if he happened to have a massive one, then it might be the size of my entire foot from the knee down. I’ll ask him when we face each other.^

As she reached her corner, she turned around, and Han was in his corner as well with his sword drawn and ready. The referee looked at them for a brief moment and then ran to get outside the arena. The moment she jumped over the fence and crossed Liana’s barrier array, the gong rang, and the entire arena shook.

Han unleashed all of his power at once and rushed forward to reach Miani before she could set up her net. With her web, she was a defenceless woman like all others. But, what he saw when was rushing toward her wasn’t the face of a woman, of a fighter, or of a human, but that of a monster.

The sadistic grin on her face as she lifted two fingers, and when her eyes burned dark, the threads flashed with power above her head. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

[Secret Art: Weave of Death]

This time, her web didn’t remain still, but all of the threads rushed forward toward the charging Han like a wave of blades, ripping the ground apart and cutting everything to pieces. The ground quaked, and the ear-piercing roar of groaning metal shook the entire underground arena as Han tried to block the threads with his sword, only to get blasted away.

"What was that?!" He growled, but before he could even regain his balance, she was already behind him with a clenched fist. "Did you know? Spiders are fast and powerful." Then, with a single punch to the spine, she sent him flying right back toward her net of razor-sharp threads.

As she stood, she threw a glance toward Liana, who was watching the fight from the VIP room. "You know what, Lady Bloody Rose? I am now more interested in knowing who Arad is than becoming your disciple."

Liana took a deep breath, lifted her foot, stepped onto the window, and jumped down, landing on one of Miani’s threads without getting cut.

"Arad isn’t interested in becoming my disciple, so whoever wins this fight between you two would become my disciple." She then smiled, "But, I’ll advise against trying to get closer to Arad."

"That only makes me want to find out more about him." Miani smiled. "But that would have to wait." She turned around toward her net, where Han was just standing back up.