A beauty that could probably topple cities.

  Hair that was smoother than the cleanest of rivers, and a skin that would shame even it.

  A glorious pair of breasts that jiggled with even the slightest of movements, rivaling that of Latanya's—— or perhaps it was better to say that Latanya's breasts rival them; as these pairs were the original.

  But most importantly;

  8 Legs, 2 Arms. And a whole lower body that could probably swallow Van whole.

  An existence that brought Van the reality of his situation as a System Holder; an existence that made Van completely hopeless; a being that he had fought in the inception of his powers…
"……Arachnaea?"

  "Oh my, oh my. So you still remember me?"

  Arachnaea quickly crawled from side to side as she touched her cheeks, humming promiscuously while wiggling her whole upper body,

  "I thought that after thousands and thousands of years, you've completely forgotten about this big sister……"

  Forgetting that creature in front of him was probably something that would never happen, Arachnaea was his first brush of death; something like that sticks with you for eternity. But of course, even without that… the mere fact that Arachnaea was the first and only actual talking monster that Van had met, as well as his first connection with the Olympians was something that would forever be indebted in his mind.

  "……Oh, but of course, silly me," Arachnaea's legs then stopped moving as she looked Van directly in the eyes, "For you, it should have only been a few years since we last met."

  "You… how do you know all of this?" Van then said with a gulp.

  "How indeed?" Arachnaea's fettered chuckles echoed throughout the entire cave, "And can you please step inside my lair? It is getting quite awkward that you're still standing outside, I feel like I'm some kind of disgusting insect; which I am technically not since I'm half arachnid, the more you know, the more you know; teehee."

  "……"

  More and more, Van was beginning to think that Arachnaea's existence was far more important than he first initially thought. She wasn't just a tool for the Olympians… no. She wasn't just a tool for whoever was behind her.

  "……Then don't mind me intruding."

  "My, I see you learned some semblance of manners. I still remember you screaming and running around like a rabid monkey the last time we met."

  "A lot has changed," Van then said as he slowly and carefully took a step inside the gate.

  "Really? You're still as cute and small as ever."

  "I happen to have grown a few inche——"

  And before Van could even finish his words, as soon as he stepped inside Arachnaea's lair, the scenery in front of him instantly changed. From the dark and ominous cave that was filled with grimy webs and ruined pillars to a scenery of a sea of white marble; almost reaching the end of horizons as it connected to an ocean of darkness.

  "Where… are we?"

  "You don't know?" Arachnaea's legs started to bend as she rested her lower body on the marbled ground, "I see you still haven't known the truth of your origin."

  "I know," Van answered as he too, sat on the ground. Carefully placing his hammer and shield to his side, "My parents are both from different universes—— The Seraph Azrael, and the Olympian Hermes."

  "I said your origin, cute little one; not your parents," Arachnaea let out a small giggle as one of her hands started to move intricately, each flick of her fingers with purpose as webs started to form between and around them, "Did you really think a pair of weakened gods would be capable of giving birth… capable of creating someone as cute as you?"

  "……Are you saying there's more to my existence?" Van's sighs almost traveled through the entire horizon, "And here I was thinking being born from two gods of different universes was special already."

  "Azrael is an Angel of Death, a being of complete magic and completely incapable of giving birth to life," Arachnaea's intricately moving fingers then stopped moving, as a familiar silk in the form of a feather rested between her fingertips, "While Hermes is a thief; a thief who stole an egg and claimed it as his own."

  "More riddles?"

  "Not at all," Arachnaea then said as she opened her palms, letting the feather slowly glide and float towards Van, "You are not a product of 2 universes, but three."

  "……What?"

  "Ugh," Arachnaea rolled her eyes as Van's confused tone reached her ears, "I am saying you have 3 parents. If you weren't so slow then you would be even cuter."

  "3…" Van then muttered as he grabbed the floating feather, "I assume the other one is originally the one who gave me the first feather… and not the Olympians?"

  "Bingo," Arachnaea winked as her gigantic breasts started to jiggle.

  "So you're not from Olympus?"

  "I am… or I was," Arachnaea giggled, "I did warn you about their perverted tendencies, I wouldn't know that if I wasn't from their universe."

  "So what exactly is going on here? How are you connected to this… other god?"

  "He—— she… let's skip the specifics and just call him a he, I still don't exactly know what he is," Arachnaea then stood up from the floor, "As soon as my world began to disintegrate and separate into what you call Fragmented Worlds, he approached me—— asking me of what I know, information about my universe as well as the Olympians; of course, I happily gave it to him since he seemed angry—— that's when he told me about his egg being stolen."

  "He… could pass through the Portal?"

  "No idea," Arachnaea shrugged, "But he told me my Fragmented World is the only place he could go to in this universe, the other Fragmented Worlds are far from his reach. He just usually appears beside me without any warning or signs, you know how gods are with their unusual restrictions."

  "What? When was the last time you met with him!?" Van then stood up from the floor and looked Arachnaea straight in the eyes.

  "Oh, you just missed him," Arachnaea once again giggled, causing her colossal and bare breasts to jiggle, "If you came just a little bit early then you would have probably caught a glimpse of him."

  "Did… he ask you to give me this again?" Van then furrowed his eyebrows as he raised the feather in his hand, "What exactly is this? Why is it a feather similar to the ones with the Seraph?"

  "Do I look like I know everything, cute little one?" Being bombarded with questions, Arachnaea could not help but once again roll her eyes, "Just ask him when you meet him."

  "Meet… But he seems intent on avoiding me."

  "Oh, he's just probably shy."

  "And that's probably an understatement. I didn't even know he existed until now."

  "He's always been watching you, though. How else would I know a lot about you if he wasn't telling me stories about you?"

  "Watching… so the one that was watching me all this time was him and not the Olympians?"

  Van could still remember the very first time he absorbed someone's Soul. The message said that it was the Gods of Olympus that was watching him… but could it actually be him all this time, working behind the shadows?

  "The Olympians? Pft," Arachnaea then began to burst out in laughter, "As if they are capable of doing something like that. They can't even leave this universe without your help; anyway, our time is up."

  "Time… is up?"

  "It's time for you to leave, cute little one," Arachnaea then tapped one of her legs on the marbled floor, and as soon as she did so, a Golden Portal appeared beside her, "Stay any more and they would probably find you."

  "They… could it be the World Eaters!?"

  "World Eaters? What an appropriate name for them," Arachnaea curiously muttered as she leaned her head to the side, "Now, off you go."

  "W… wait!" Van quickly grabbed his hammer as he suddenly felt himself being pulled into the Portal, "Where are they!? When will they arrive in my universe!?"

  Van slammed his hammer on the marbled floor, trying to stop himself from being dragged by the invisible force. But alas, the only good it did was create crevices on the ground.

  "I already told you, I don't know all the answers to your questions," Arachnaea said as she flicked her fingers, causing a thread to lift the hammer from the floor and hasten Van's momentum, "But you don't have to worry, we will meet again very soon. Teehee."

  "Wai——"

  Van's eyes started to release trickles of golden lightning, but even his speed was not enough to slow down the force that was pulling him towards the Portal. Try as he might to run, but the only thing he could do was watch as Arachnaea waved him goodbye.

  "Wait!" And by the time he finished his words, the only thing that welcomed him was the familiar darkness of space, as well as the tiny floating island he now finds himself standing in.

  "Damn it!" Van's eyes scanned every direction, trying their best to search for the Golden Portal, "We weren't don—— what the fuck?"

  There were completely no traces left of the Portal. There was, however, something even more shocking and surprising standing near him.

  "Oh my, oh my… so this is your universe."

  "H… how are you here?"

  "Well…
……I did tell you we would meet again soon."