Chapter 13: Fated Battle, Immortality, Past Life Revelations and Hello, Outside World.

A/N:

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

[ ] : System, Raphael,

{ } : Telepathy,

\\ \\: Parallel Wills,

// // : W System announcement.

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Shiraori POV

It has been a few hours since Dante and I finished dealing with those humans and I can't put into words how glad I am to be done with that. Having the knowledge that humanity as a whole was responsible for the world being on the verge of destruction happened to fuel my animosity towards them, but them trying to shoot me for no reason is still too much. Either way, they're not important, what is however, is my upcoming battle with Araba. So far I've cleared the place of any monsters that could have been distractions and can now utilize the environment to aid my maneuvering in the battle. 'I've done all I can, so let's do and end this.' I thought to myself as I teleported to the hole where we first came across Araba. Shortly after, the dragon in question came and I used Appraisal on him one last time before we would start the battle and I finally understand what Dante has been saying, unless I let my guard down and act stupid, there's no way for me to lose this battle.

We looked on at each other as some pebbles were falling, and as though the pebbles were a starting bell, the instant they hit the floor we charged at each other, with me being faster. I fired a Black Spear at his head mid-jump, which he evaded, tilting his upper body to the left and he responded with a breath attack. But this was merely a 'greeting', before we properly began the fight.

After the greeting, I jumped into the air using Dimensional Maneuvering and he followed behind using the walls as footholds to chase after me. Whenever he got close, he swiped at me, but I dodged and responded with a barrage of Black Bullets, which he dodged despite his scales, which spared him from greater damage. Because he was evading my attacks, he was able to regenerate his HP, but this was me just using Information-in-charge to create my magic formulas to attack him. 'With this, I'm done testing the waters. Now it's time to go all out.' I thought as I pushed all my Parallel wills into Maximum synchronicity, forming scores of magic circles that sent out barrages of Black Bullets and Black Spears at him, chipping away at his HP. After a while, he was able to get out of the line of fire and began charging a breath attack and right before he let it out, I teleport right above his head and fire multiple Black Bullet spells above and below his mouth, forcibly closing it and causing his breath attack to explode in his mouth, but due to his dragon physiology, the damage he would have taken was reduced.

After the explosion, he whips his tail at me in an attempt to catch me off guard, but I dodge using Dimensional Maneuvering. He then lodges his tail into the walls to keep himself off the ground and starts firing Black Bullets at me, which I reciprocate in greater numbers with most of mine colliding with all of his and those that didn't hitting him or the wall. In the midst of the barrage, he leaps at me and tries to snap me up in his jaws, but I dodge to the right only for him to aim and fire a breath attack at me that I doged by propelling myself away with telekinesis and my Evil Eye of Attraction with my target being the wall.

Leaping off the wall after evading his breath, I send multiple Black Spears at him and he leaps away to dodge them as I keep jumping toward a trap I had set up near the ceiling, but he noticed and stopped chasing after me but this was going to be a mistake as he had given me breathing space to fire as many attacks at him as I could and I took advantage of it. After jumping to the area above the trap, I immediately use Poison Synthesis to send down massive orbs of poison with every attribute of the poison pushed to their maximum, slowing him down and reducing his HP even more. Irritated by this, Araba fires off several breath attacks, putting holes in the trap and evaporating the orbs of poison. Creating balls of thread, I launched some at the holes that he made in the trap and sent the rest at him which he dodged as his sense of danger flared up. But what he didn't notice was that as I was launching the balls of thread at him, I was also connecting them to create a bigger, more insidious trap, meaning that the obvious big trap was merely a decoy and after a few seconds, he leaped towards me after he made a hole in the web using his breath, then I sprung the gigantic trawl-like trap and used the Phantom Pain spell to keep Araba from damaging the webs and pulled them to fully wrapped him up. Of course this time, I had applied heat and physical nullification skills to thread so that he couldn't get out. Then I fired multiple orbs of poison at him while preparing other spells to fire at him then I noticed something that I hadn't expected, ice. He noticed that he couldn't burn my webs or tear through them so he froze them causing them to become brittle then he smashed the ice and by extension tore through my webs.

The instant he freed himself from my webs, I launched multiple lightning Spears at him catching him off guard as he must have expected me to use darkness based spells seeing as he used his skill points to gain Ice magic all the way to Glacial magic as well as Darkness Resistance, Space Perception, Heresy Resistance, Parallel Thinking, Concentration, Prediction and Calculation Processing and ended up using almost all his skill points. Reading through the skills helped me understand that I would need to be more careful with teleporting and that his attacks will start coming faster than normal, but it's not like I haven't dealt with enemies like this before. Seriously, Dante's training was far more helpful than I thought it could have ever been.

Using earth magic, he starts using the walls to create more stable footholds to chase me. Dodging upwards to the ceiling, I bait him to reach a point where he can't attack anything behind him fast enough and teleport behind him and blast off his left forelimb with Evil Eye of Annihilation on all my eyes and rush to the floor using Dimensional Maneuvering. Araba, however, was not having it and he propelled himself off the footholds he made as well as a platform created by Dimensional Maneuvering and opened his mouth to fire out a breath attack at me, but this would be his last attempt as I used Evil Eye of Annihilation to blast his head to oblivion, killing him and ending the battle.

//Experience Points Have Reached The Fixed Amount.//(x5)

//Individual Shiraori LV25 became LV30.//

//Every Basic Ability Increased.//

//Skill Points Have Been Received.//

//Conditions Met.//

//Individual 'Shiraori' is able to evolve.//

'Ah, it's over. I feel lighter now.' I think to myself seeing Araba's corpse fall to the floor. {I told you it wouldn't last that long and at the end, you still didn't put your all into it.} Dante says as he teleports behind me and he was right. I truly didn't use everything I had against Araba, but killing him for some reason settled my heart, almost as if there was something pulling in my legs, trying to drag me down into madness, but killing him cleared it all. {Yeah, but I felt like I needed to do it or I wouldn't be able to relax.} I said turning to look at him. {And also, thank you. If you hadn't helped me train, then I would most likely still have an unnecessary weight on my mind.} I say as I hug him and he strokes my head. {Come on, let's head back to the nest so you can evolve. And don't worry about Araba, he's already crumbled to dust.} He says and teleports us back to the nest.

After we return to the nest, Detection picks up something, no, someone, someone who was very powerful and dangerous in the vicinity, causing me to look away from Dante's to the person. And it was then that I saw her, black hair with a white strip of hair on her bangs, a petite body dressed in what looked like a tube-top connected to gloves that reached her bicep and black hot-pants with dark grey stockings and black shoes, with what looked like a stripped cape with a high-fur collar.

*Image here*

"Hello, Ariel. Glad to see you, but don't you think you should at least introduce yourself to your granddaughter?" I hear Dante say in this world's language. 'Granddaughter, what does he mean granddaughter?' I think as she breaks eye contact with Dante and looks down at me with her red eyes. "So you are Shiraori. Your boyfriend here has given me quite a bit of trouble for you, but since you're my granddaughter, I guess I can forgive that. So have you seen it, Taboo?" She says with intensity and I nod in response to her question.

"I see. Then let me ask you something else." She says as she lowers her body to the point that we're at the same eye level. "After seeing everything that has occurred from Taboo and experiencing this world for yourself, what is it that you believe would be a solution?" She asks not breaking eye contact with me. I look up at Dante and he smiles at me then nods. {I feel that we must destroy the machines and make sure that they can never be built again and find a way to stop and possibly reverse the destruction that is underway.} I tell her in a firm voice which causes her to raise a brow before she stands up and sighs. "I admit, you were right, but why contact me now?" She asks Dante. "No reason really, just wanted to call you to witness the birth of a truly unique species among your bloodline as well as the birth of the next generation." Dante says with a seemingly nonchalant expression on his face, but I got the message and choose to evolve to Zana Horowa and the same feeling I got when I evolved to Ede Saine floods my senses. No pain, no irritation, no pleasure, just the pure reconstruction of my entire body.

//Evolution Complete.//

//Became the Race 'Zana Horowa'.//

//Every Basic Ability Increased.//

//Evolution Skill Bonus Has Been Received.//

//As a Result of the Evolution, the Skill 'Immortality' Has Been Received.//

Pause. 'Say what!?' I think to myself as I check the details of the skill.

//Immortality: Death Within the System Becomes Impossible.//

Seeing the details shocks me once more as I truly cannot die as long as I am within the system. In other words, if someone who wasn't Dante, D, Güliedistosiez or someone with Abyss Magic, attacked me, they could only dream of killing me. This means, that I could basically tire out any enemy that I faced and come out on top as long as I had something that could kill them. And that wasn't even the last of it. There was another unnerving thing that this evolution gave me, a title called Champion.

//Champion//

//Condition: Being Recognized as a Champion.//

//Skills: 'Destruction Enhancement LV1', 'Status Condition Resistance LV1'.//

//Effect: Inflicts the Heresy Attribute Effect "Fear" on anyone who sees the holder.//

'Seriously though, who the hell is it that decides who is 'recognized as a Champion'?' I think to myself after checking the details. "Hey, Ariel. You might be her grandma, but that doesn't mean I'll allow you to kill her. So if you value your life, you will stop exuding such a murderous aura." I suddenly hear Dante say and I look up to her face and see the most bloodthirsty expression I could ever imagine on a human and it causes me to gulp, but shortly after it returns to her calm face and the murderous intent I was feeling subsides. "You, what is your connection to the Administrators?" She asks, pointing to me. But before I could answer that I sense the smartphone materialize close by and I feel Dante and Ariel simply disappear from my Detection despite me still seeing them clearly. "Obviously the Administrators." I hear a beautiful but unsettling voice say from the smartphone.

"Hi, it's me, D." She says with her usual playful voice. {Why are you back now, huh?} I ask, barely hiding the exasperation in my voice. "I just thought I'd pop on by to celebrate your 'immortality'." She says which causes me to ask her a simple question. {About that, why the hell would you make such a broken skill?} I ask and she chuckles for a bit. "Here is a counter question, little spider. What do you think humans ultimately all desire? Wealth, power, fame and more than anything else, immortality. If it exists as a skill, then people would do anything to attain it. They will sacrifice everything and everyone and fight with all their strength to attain it. And you see, it is the sight of that fight, of that untiring hard work..." {That 'you people' enjoy.} I say completing what she was saying which makes her chuckle. "It's very efficient, don't you think?" {Your personality is truly rotten.} I say to which she simply responds, "I'm an evil god, after all."

{But that unattainable dream you're talking about just fell into my hands. What's that about?} I ask her to get some details about my race and Immortality beyond what Appraisal tells me. "The legend is that the Zana Horowa is an immortal monster and I honestly didn't expect anyone to successfully evolve into it." She says, causing me to exclaim. "Think about it. It takes two evolutions from the Zoa Ele species which at its base has Rot Attack but has no Rot resistance, so normally their fate would end with a single use of Rot Attack and if they somehow survive and evolve into Ede Saine, they would get the Evil Eye of Annihilation but still no resistances and sooner or later, every individual would end up dying by their own attack. You're quite lucky to have gotten the resistance, so congrats, you're the first one to evolve into Zana Horowa. You're a unique monster, literally the only one in the world. Congratulations, clap, clap ~" She explains then claps mockingly. {I'm not happy about it at all if you say it that way.} I tell her, expressing my discontent. "Haaa, even though you're getting this blessing." She starts to say but I interrupt her. {But everything so far that's happened to me, especially stuff like Taboo.} I say and clearly hear her facial muscles morph into an evil smile. "It's a really good system, don't you think?" She asks and I immediately deny it. {No, I don't. I originally came from a world where something so absurd didn't exist, so it's just unpleasant.} She just giggles at my response. "Well, either way. That attack you used on that Arch Taratect at that time with your split minds was an 'attack from outside the system'." She says reminding me of the way I had killed one of the Arch Taratects. {Really?} I ask, surprised that I may have already started moving beyond the limits of the system. "I don't remember making a skill that would let you do that." She says, affirming my thoughts. {So does that mean I'm stepping into the 'domain of gods'?} I asked just to be sure. "Simply put, yes, that's how it is. Hehehehe, I'm looking forward to you making your way here. Those are my true feelings." She says with a sonorous yet creepy laugh. {Really? What the hell are you plotting?} I ask her in disbelief. "Hmm, I already told you. Entertainment. Either way, I'm in a good mood today so I'll answer some of your questions." She says surprising me. Before I ask, I take a look at Dante and see his face in a slight frown with a murderous aura emanating off him but from what I see, it isn't targeted at either me or Ariel but at the smartphone.

Turning back to the phone, I take a deep breath and ask the question that has hounded me from the day I woke up reborn as a spider. {Why was I reincarnated into this world?} "Aah. Well, I guess I'll explain that from the beginning. First off, you and everyone in that classroom in your previous world died. You're good so far, right?" She asked. {Well, it's not good but I died after all.} I respond. "Well, that event also happens to involve the last 'Hero' and 'Demon King'." She says nonchalantly. {Wait a minute, how could they have interfered with Earth when it has nothing to do with the system of this world?} I ask a bit confused. "They were able to breach the Wall of Worlds. You see, the last 'Hero'and 'Demon King' were both very high rank Dimension Magic users and by working together, they were able to invent a magic that allowed them to get through the Wall of Worlds. The only problem with that plan was that they had to construct a massive and very difficult formula with absolutely no assistance from the system. So although they managed to activate the spell, they lost control of it and the energy in the spell went berserk and exploded. It wasn't their goal but they ended up killing 25 humans in your class that day. The souls of the humans were about to fall apart and diffuse into the world that fired the magic, but I managed to keep them together. Then I created the n%I=W skill that lets you keep your memories and reincarnated all of you in this world." She says, explaining what happened to me, to us. {A desperate measure, huh. Wait, 25 humans!? But that can't be right. If you include the teacher, there were 26 of us in class that day. This doesn't add up, someone's missing.} I say as I think about it and gasp as I come to an unsettling conclusion.

"Hehe. This is why I prefer talking to smart people. The last person in the classroom was me. See, the spell went berserk but it was still able to find its target, me. But they couldn't control or focus the magic and ended up hitting the people around me without killing me." She says while giggling, causing a vein to pop in my head. {So it was your fault after all!} I say in anger. "Now now, at least I felt somewhat responsible for your deaths so I gathered your souls up. That's something that I normally can't afford to do in this world, you know." She says which caused me to ask something else. {What the hell did you do to make the Hero and Demon King of all people to ally against you?} "I didn't really do anything, but for some reason there are people who believe that the administrators are their enemies. Oh well, the time for questions is over. I'll keep having fun while watching you." She says abruptly. {What!? No fair and stop peeping, damnit!} I say in annoyance. "Nah, I'll keep watching while eating some chips and playing video games. Now that I think about it, this new chip flavor tastes good. I've even got some ice cream with me, so which do you think is better, chocolate or vanilla?" She taunts. {Just shut up and go away already!} I say while preparing to throw a rock at the smartphone. (A/N: Which do y'all think is better? I personally prefer a mix of the two )

"Ah, one more thing. I hope you'll be able to defeat 'her'. I'm really looking forward to you entertaining me some more. Now to get back to finding the bastard that hacked my games." She says before the phone vanishes. Shortly after, I feel Dante and Ariel reappear in my Detection. {Well, you heard everything.} I say, turning to them and seeing Dante's face with a sympathetic expression while Ariel looked like she was having an existential crisis while also looking at me like I was some alien. 'To think that there's so much plotting involved with my death. I can't work with this at all. No way.' (A/N: Nai wa)

Dante POV

I had expected the annoyance and dread that Shiraori would feel, but I hadn't expected that Ariel would be so shell shocked by D's revelations. There's a lot that could be said now but it's best left for later. "I really want to act as if what I heard now was an auditory hallucination, but it's hard to do that when you're as resistant to hallucinating as I am." Ariel said, exasperated. "So from what I can infer from what D has said, not only did she create the system, but she reincarnated Shiraori here and 24 others in this world that could have ended up in any other situation such as being reincarnated as a different monster, human, demon or elf." She says as if asking for confirmation. "Yes, but I wouldn't be worried. If they don't reincarnate as a monster, their growth in power is going to be multiple times less than Shiro-chan's, and that's if they don't reincarnate as a monster like a dragon, because then they'd not be hatched for years." I say, assuring Ariel that there's next to no chance of the others having any significant impact on the world as it is. "However, I would be worried about the one that has reincarnated as an elf, because she has telepathy and a skill that helps her track the other reincarnates." Immediately after I say this Ariel's head snaps away from Shiraori and over to me. "How can you tell!?" She asked with some urgency in her voice, but I just calmly smiled.

"It's because I used Appraisal on every single being in this world." I say and watch as her eyes widen then narrow. "There's no way that is possible." She says in suspicion. "But it is and you're looking at the proof of its possibility." I tell her smugly. "But how can... You're not affected by the system at all, are you?" She asked in realization. "No, Ariel. I am not. While I can interact with the system, I am not a being that is linked to it." I say while patting Shiraori's head. "Some of my skills and abilities can possibly be gained by beings within the system, but they would be limited and weakened in comparison to gaining them without the interference of the system. For example, Detection. It is created here by compounding different specialized perception skills but it lacks a few more integral skills, such as Spiritual Perception that would allow them to sense souls and the like, extradimensional perception that would help them sense more than just the space around them and distortions to it, they would also sense pocket dimensions, natural dimensions and be able to sense the higher dimensions and chronological distortions as well. So, like I said, similar but incomplete and weaker." I explain to her which causes her to contemplate the implications of my presence.

"Well, there's no point overthinking it now. We'll have enough time to talk about all this when we start moving together, but now we have to get moving, us because she still needs to evolve once more before she hits the end of her evolution within the system, you because you need to build a following among the demons since we'll be going to war within the elves." I say before we start walking towards the exit of the labyrinth on Kasanagara. "Fine then. I'll leave you to it " She says and dashes towards the Daztrudia exit.

{So, how do you want us to do this? Want to walk all the way or teleport close to the exit?} I ask Shiraori. {Hmm, let's just teleport there. I'm already far more powerful than most things here in the labyrinth, bar the Bottom Stratum, so there isn't really any reason for me to stay here, except maybe going to lay some eggs.} She says while browsing through her skill list. {Why not do that then? Laying eggs, that is.} I ask her and she stops to think for a bit. {You know, it might be helpful later. Okay, just give me some time and I'll be back.} She says before she teleports away.

*2 hours later*

{Okay, I'm ready.} She says after teleporting back and I notice that her biomass has reduced considerably, but not enough to impair her in any way. Nodding, I open up a portal and we walk through to see the exit. A gate with stairs in front of it and torches on either side of the gate, clearly made by humans is here in front of us as well as a few humans with crossbows aimed at us, who I just knocked out. {So, wanna do the honors?} I ask Shiraori and she nods and releases a small Black Bullet at the gate that explodes and destroys it and the fort surrounding it. I create a Force Shield to keep anything from hitting us, then turn to her with a brow raised. {Sorry, I didn't think it was that much.} She said while with a scythe at the back of her head and a sweatdrop on her face. Using the repulsion function I added to the Force Shield, I blew the rocks away from us exposing the sky to us.

Seeing the sky again after everything that has happened brought a smile to my face. I turn to Shiraori who is shaking, before she suddenly shouts. {Finally, we're out of the labyrinth!} I look away to the forest in front of us and concur her statement. "Yeah. Yeah, we're out."

Chapter end.