43 - Arachne's Plan

Ixtra's 2nd Release was by no means one of the weaker ones.

It gave him access to Scarlet-Crimson Essence, which he could now feel and produce at will.

Presently, he was much stronger than I was. Although he had less of it right now than I had void mana, that was only because he hadn't had time to build it up.

Since he could produce it constantly, and I couldn't absorb void mana constantly, along with the fact that one bit of Scarlet-Crimson Essence was stronger than ine bit of void mana, this meant that it was only a matter of time before he surpassed me.

Walking together, he came clean about stealing from the treasury. I said I didn't mind, although it surprised me that the treasury was so easy to steal from.

Guess there was a reason it had been empty when I first got it, huh.

Ixtra also said something I'd never hear from the cold, cruel demon's innocent looking face.

"Merca, when I went away from you, I realized something. I like being around you. And not being near you annoys me. So I'm gonna stick by you from now on."

He still couldn't bring himself to say he liked me, just that he liked being around me. That was probably the friendliest thing I'd ever hear him say though, so I was quite touched.

You'd think I'd be weirded out by having a guy essentially stalk me, but he'd done exactly that on my explicit orders for over a hundred years already. This wasn't much different. Actually, it was less weird than before.

I had never really thought about it, but I guess having a demon in your shadow always watching you, even just to guard you, is pretty creepy, huh?

I asked him about the screams in the 4th circle, but he also didn't know what exactly was there at the center of the circle.

I asked him about going there, seeing as we were both quite strong now, but he said,

"Merca. There are things much stronger than mere archdemons here, in this place. It'd be wise of you not to let your curiosity get the better of you."

Being cautioned against recklessness, by the guy that just killed maybe some 30% of the 6th circle's greater demons alone while almost dying in the process, was somewhat annoying but I acknowledged the truth in his words.

Ixtra was stronger than me in raw physical power now, even with my spells enhancing me. The only reason I was still slightly stronger at the moment if we were to fight was because I had a lot of void mana, which equated to essentially endless 10th circle spells.

His body in its 2nd Release was powerful enough to withstand the void on its own, and he could almost rival my max speed too.

However, that wasn't enough to traverse realms. It once again became an issue of a warp drive.

Actually, since demons had such long lifespans, and he wouldn't have to expend energy to protect his body like I did, there was a chance he could just fly for years and years, millenia and more, until he found another realm somewhere, but that was beyond inefficient. Moreover, if there was no other universe nearby, he'd just die out there.

Ixtra was already considered an archdemon once he had his 2nd Release. The scarlet-crimson essence he had awakened to made him even more powerful on top of that.

With such strength, he and I could wander basically anywhere between the 1st and 7th circles largely unhindered.

The problem of realm traversal was one every archdemon would have to face, so surely there must be a method discovered by other archdemons that had come before.

We decided to travel around and try to find information about the matter.

At first, Ixtra insisted on coming along, but later he agreed it'd be better to split up.

Later being months later, by the way.

It was interesting. He seemed a lot more attached to me than made sense.

I guess even demons can form bonds sometimes.

***

Ixtra had been feeling weird.

His 2nd Release had transformed his bloodline. He was now half imp, half devil.

And devils were, well, not the greatest bunch.

And so after his 2nd Release first manifested, his first thoughts upon seeing Merca had been to instinctively imagine how to best take advantage of him.

That's right, it wasn't comradery or friendship. Oh god no.

It was machiavellianism.

He smiled without thinking, putting on a poker face. His mouth moved before he could think right and he had laughed and spoken in a jokingly self-deprecating manner. It was to build rapport.

The thought appeared in Ixtra's mind,

'You have to make him believe you're the same Ixtra he knows, despite your transformation. Otherwise, he'll leave at best, kill you at worst. After all, you know his secret.'

Ixtra had always been more of a pessimist fundamentally. Optimism and Hell don't exactly go together.

However, this instinctive deep, dark cunning and distrust that felt ingrained into his bones, this was beyond anything he had ever felt before.

He decided to travel with Merca for a while before making an excuse to break away. They had decided on a meeting place on the 6th floor, where his ascension occurred, after a period of 50 years of information gathering.

Well, one was an archdemon with a lifespan in the millions of years, and the other was a reanimated body, an immortal undead. 50 years was nothing to both of them.

At that time, Ixtra decided to just maintain a slightly "friendly", if callous, relationship with Merca thereafter. No need to antagonize someone that strong for no reason.

As for the information search, he planned to wholeheartedly do it. After all, he also wanted to travel to other realms.

The last time he left, he hadn't believed Merca would be able to get stronger again. After all, his very soul had been placed into a new body, and that new body was an undead. A low level, weak undead that could die at any time.

It was ridiculous to think he'd be able to get stronger.

And normally, this wouldn't be incorrect, but Merca's bloodline was too special for that.

Speaking of, let's check back in on a certain spider lady.

***

In the depths of the Chiral Prism Dimension, there were loud cackles and uncontrolled bursts of maniacal laughter that rang out constantly.

After over 10 minutes, they finally died down.

It was difficult to imagine. Being locked up for over a thousand years. Staying in this place, that looked the same everywhere and had nothing in it.

Arachne's brain wasn't like, say, a human one. It was better evolved to handle solitude.

Still, it had been stressful. There was a real chance of staying here for millions of years.

She didn't want that.

Apocolypto: events were only meant to keep the gods sharp and stop them from becoming overly complacent. Nonetheless, many of the consequences were very real, and no mere pretend play.

One of those consequences could easily be being locked away for an untold amount of time.

So, the level of stress and anxiety Arachne had built up all came loose at the same time, and she laughed her heart without a care in the world.

It didn't matter to her if she sounded insane in the process.

In front of her stood the sanctum septica, except it looked slightly different.

In her long confinement, she had thought of many different plans to defeat the abyssal seraphim. She treated it like a puzzle, turning it over in her mind again and again until she found a viable strategy.

She decided to make a plan surrounding the sanctum septica.

It had long been overdue for an upgrade after the last major event, and now it was due for a double upgrade.

The winged motif on the pillars represented the 7 original archangels. The sanctum septica had been created as a way to channel their power.

Even without them present, it could still be used by any god out there and some who were not gods for most purposes, since it just relied on divine energy.

However, that was all. The abyssal seraphim had abyssal gods, who were stronger than most gods. In fact, there was a separate group I won't talk about here that are also stronger than most gods, and the abyssal seraphim are further stronger than them.

So, the tool was in heavy need of an upgrade, two upgrades even.

Arachne had spent the years of confinement conjuring up a complex web of designs and blueprints for such upgrades, and she had all the tools she needed, so she just needed to get her hands on a sanctum septica to do the upgrade.

Of course, it was still sealed, so it could only make basic strings, but once unsealed, it'd be even stronger than before.

She had only finished the 1st upgrade, however.

She just needed one more ingredient for the 2nd upgrade, and after that, it'd be able to alchemize a tool that could defeat the abyssal seraphim.

The wing motif had been replaced with an octagram motif, and some of the runes had changed. The platform on the floor also had an octagram on it now, compared to when it was undecorated before.

The changes in how it looked were minor, but the change in its capabilities was major.

Now, for that last ingredient, and also for that unsealing, both required she make it out of the Chiral Prism Dimension.

However, she wasn't exactly here because she wanted to be.

Well, truthfully, she had been here for over a 1000 years, so she had grown fond of the place, but still, it was the truth that she was trapped in here.

The abyssal seraphim had set up an array inside the spatial tunnel that would heavily injure her and throw her back inside the dimension if she tried to escape.

The reason they did not kill her was because killing someone of her level was not that easy.

Even Merca only had his soul sent to Hell. As for Arachne, she would quite literally "respawn", all her memories intact, in a designated place.

They didn't know where this place was, and if she spawned in a hidden place and hid for many years outside their control, plotting and scheming away, that would be very bad for them.

To properly kill her, they'd also need to know the spawn location.

It was better to keep her alive for now.

There was little she could do, anyways. They had caught her in a trap.

Ironic, given she's part spider.

To be honest, she didn't really have the greatest plan for getting out.

It all hinged on a bet she had made. A bet on a certain human boy. She was hoping he could find her and work with forces outside to free her.

As long as that happened, she could get the last ingredient and upgrade the sanctum septica once again, and defeat the abyssal seraphim, ending this Apocolypto: event.

Of course, she could just live forever in hiding once she escaped, but more than the disgrace of defeat, she feared one thing far more than that, and it was the reason she absolutely had to obtain victory.

The face of her creator's disappointment.

She had seen him make that face to others before. It wasn't scary or cruel. It was just disappointed. And that made her feel awful.

She was very loyal to the being that created her. Of course she was. She was made to be, designed to be. She wasn't like humans, who were created with disobedience to God inherent in them, needing only provocation to activate.

So she needed success in this plan, and she had done her part swimmingly. Now, it was all up to the people outside.