Chapter 84

Beneath the group’s horrified gazes, Hazel’s face contorted in torment. Her mouth opened, but no sound came, only heavy beads of sweat sliding down her brow. Her body curled inward, shrimp-like, before a spine-chilling transformation seized her.

Her limbs twisted, joints grinding with a sickening crackle, as if some unseen force mangled them at will. From her back sprouted rigid, segmented limbs, clawing outward like fiendish hands from a hellish abyss. Thick bristles coated them, their growth marked by a chilling rustle that set hearts racing. Her spine ruptured, vertebrae snapping one by one, black blood splattering. From the broken wreckage, thick spider legs emerged, iron-hard, their joints gleaming coldly.

Through it all, Hazel’s head hung low, her long hair spilling like a dark cascade, veiling her face. When she raised it, the group saw her new form. Her head was still Hazel’s, but deathly pale, drained of color. Her eyes, void of life, stared like twin chasms, a soulless husk now melded with a spider’s body.

The sight summoned memories of the Human-Headed Spider that battered their windows nightly.

Just as the Ivory Effigy had warned, opening the wrong chest meant eternal servitude, chained to this Dreamplay forever.

“Damn it,” Oliver growled, fists clenched, his face a mask of rage. He’d thought himself hardened, but this eerie power dwarfed him, stirring a bitter mix of helplessness and regret.