Maddy stood, wiping the last of her tears, the warmth of Arach’s embrace still clinging to her. Her mind sharpened, the weight of her title settling like steel around her heart. She thought quietly:
"Every Chira child I’ve created and every one I will... rests under my responsibility. Each carries its own personality, its own instincts... which makes what I do dangerous. That is why I must ensure that every child I bring into this world is..."
The doting mother lted away, replaced by the Chira Mother... the Progenitor.
"Arach. Stand up. Prove to that my choice was right. Show you are worthy of being my eldest."
Arach stood, his towering fra casting a long shadow. His four eyes blinked in unison.
"Mother?"
"Fight ."
For the first ti, confusion cracked his composure.
"Have I displeased you?"
His voice trembled.
"D-did I anger you because I embraced you without permission? I—I apologize. I did not consider your consent before I—"
"Stop."
Her voice cut cleanly through him.
"You can embrace whenever you wish. Do not ever hesitate for that. This is not punishnt. This is assessnt. I need to know if my decision was wise. If you are worthy to stand as my eldest."
Arach’s entire body stiffened. His secondary arms twitched; the Suzerain fur along his shoulders bristled.
"I... cannot. My purpose is your protection. To strike you would be to strike myself. I would rather shatter my limbs than harm you, Mother."
Maddy stepped forward.
"And if I fall in battle because you hesitated?"
His breath caught.
"If an enemy wears my face? Speaks with my voice? Cries like I do?"
Her eyes burned into all four of his.
"Will you kneel and apologize while they gut you?"
Silence.
"Arach... Loyalty without strength is decoration. I did not create decoration."
His fists slowly clenched.
"I would never harm you."
"Then do not harm . Challenge ."
His jaw tightened.
"This is an order."
Arach’s head bowed not in submission, but in conflict. His body trembled, instincts tearing at one another.
"...If I strike, it will be controlled."
"Do not show hesitation, Arach! If you cannot strike your mother in training, you will not be able to protect her in battle!"
Maddy shouted, her Divine Voice vibrating the very air.
"Use everything I gave you or I will consider you a... failure!"
The word failure hit Arach harder than anything.
Maddy raised her right hand. Light gathered, condensed, and ford into a long, shimring sword of Absolute Light. The glow painted her face in gold, rciless and divine.
Arach’s aura exploded.
Red and blue energy spiraled violently around him, pulsing like a second heartbeat. The cavern trembled. Dust fell from the ceiling. His six eyes narrowed at once, and the obedient warmth vanished. What remained was cold... and Predatory.
"If it is your will... Mother. I understand. I will not show rcy. I was not born to bring you disappointnt."
Maddy lifted the blade.
"I won’t either, Arach. Now show ."
They separated without another word.
Maddy lifted her hand toward the mobile womb chamber. It shrank at her command, smaller, smaller, compressing into a mote of light before vanishing entirely. It was mobile for a reason. Nothing in this room would interfere.
She raised her blade and leveled it at him.
Arach stood opposite her, power crackling across his body. The Demonic Ogre core throbbed beneath his skin. Every trait she had poured into him awakened at once—Suzerain fur bristling, secondary arms flexing, aura humming.
"This world shows no rcy... Not to the weak. Not even to the strongest."
The light around her intensified.
"I have finally birthed my first child. And that ans I carry the responsibility for everything they beco. If there is a flaw in him, I will find it. If there is weakness, I will break it out of him. If there is hesitation, I will burn it away."
Her grip on the sword hardened.
"This battle will tell whether I prepared you properly... whether I gave you enough to survive a world that would happily tear you apart."
A breath. She lifted her chin, voice rising so it filled every corner of the cavern.
"Show that you can survive ... so I can trust that you’ll survive everything else!"
She moved first, her manifested sword of pure light ready to strike. Arach did not wait—he t her head on. His six arms suddenly erupted with blades, transforming with Sword Spider – Organic Steel Chitin into deadly weapons.
"That’s it! Attack ! Use the traits I gave you—do not waste your potential!"
Their blades t, clashing with a force that shook the cavern and sent dust raining from the ceiling. Even Sephiran, sleeping nearby, woke at the sound of the impact.
Maddy danced across the battlefield, her sword parrying and striking against Arach’s six arms. He used Arachnid Poly-Limb Cognition, moving each arm independently to block her blows. Yet even with six arms, he could not overwhelm her—Maddy found openings and thrust her light sword toward his chest, catching him completely off guard.
"Mother, you are... hella strong!"
Arach reacted, hardening his skin with Shield Spider – Shell Plates and adding Lithic Armor. The reinforced scales took the blow perfectly; the light sword shattered against his chest without leaving a single scratch.
Maddy paused for a fraction of a second, eyes widening as she stepped back, slightly stunned.
"So... this is what six arms can do? Huh... not bad, Arach. But don’t think this stops !"
Arach’s eyes glimred with excitent. Thrill coursed through him like electricity.
"Let’s do this, MOTHER!"
He transford his other arms into a deadly arsenal. Two hands hardened into Shell Plates, becoming sturdy shields, while the other two elongated into Harpoon Limbs, forming long, nacing spears.
CLANG!
Maddy imdiately felt the tide of battle shift. With each of his arms wielding a different weapon, she had to go beyond relying on her sword alone—her hands manifested a dazzling array of tools, each perfectly synced with her skill. Her Divine Armant flared to life, adding even more options.
"I expected this. That’s why I gave you six arms to wield weapons and challenge !"
She countered Arach’s spear thrust with a shield of her own. When he attacked with a sword, she ford a Light Spear to intercept. When he raised his shield, she manifested a battle axe, smashing through his defense.
Every strike, every weapon, every switch was a dance of anticipation and reaction. Maddy had grown fluid, adaptive her battlefield awareness transforming into pure advantage.
She smirked mid combat.
"Keep trying, Arach. You’re making enjoy this fight even more!"
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