Oo—o- was left almost paralyzed by what she saw.

She saw the web of galaxies that spread across the entire universe. She saw how energy, matter, and information flowed across the galactic filaments in ways that defied her wildest understanding.

She could almost feel the life within it.

The sentience.

The intelligence.

The omnipotence.

All within the depths of the amber eyes that Ria possessed.

That was when she understood.

She understood why -o—o-o sought her.

She understood why the Divine Mother had changed her mind based on the information before her.

This one was special.

BANG!!!

A flash of pain spread through the female homoarachnoid’s face as Ria’s face smashed into her nose, breaking it on the spot. The pain caused Oo—o- to lose focus on Ria for just a moment as she struggled to regain her bearings.

By then, Ria had already slipped through.

WHOOSH!

She leaped away from the female homoarachnoid with a grim expression, even as the alien creature massaged her nose, eventually turning towards her with an intense glare in her eyes.

One that was genuine anger.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!

"How. Did. You. Escape. My. Web?"

Ria stiffened, refusing to answer. The reality was that she had simply adjusted her Water Integument suit to get rid of all adhesive properties. This meant that there was nothing that the web could stick to. Since the exo-Martial suit was not made up of conventional matter and could adaptively evolve its properties, it was as strong as Ria used it.

’I’m so glad I bought this exo-Martial suit.’

She would need to thank her aunt when she met her next. Without this exo-Martial suit, she would not have been able to break out of the webs of her opponent without the kind of aid that her exo-Martial suit had provided her.

Her aspiring kidnapper quickly shook off the wound that Ria had inflicted on her before diverting her full attention towards Ria, slowly closing the distance between them with step after step.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

"-o—o-o. Was. Right," she spoke with an almost fanatical tone. "I. Was. The. Fool. For. Distrusting. Him. Even. Though. The. Divine. Mother. Has. Personally. Commissioned. Your. Captured. Presence."

Ria’s amber eyes sharpened as her mind sprinted into thought. She didn’t know who -o—o-o was, but based on the statement, it was a homoarachnoid who was familiar with her.

The one who had survived.

Ria gritted his teeth. ’Damn, if only I had been strong enough to kill that bastard.’

Then she wouldn’t have been in the mess that she was in had she been that strong.

Of course, she realized she was asking for much given that -o—o-o had managed, even if barely, to survive Arastia’s power. She didn’t hold a candle to her aunt, that much she understood.

More importantly, the female homoarachnoid before her was no ordinary creature either. Arastia had head-butted her with enough force to explode the head of the average homoarachnoid that she had been fighting just moments prior, and she barely gotten a nosebleed.

She was extremely strong.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Want. From. Me?" Ria demanded. "Just. Leave. Me. Alone. You. Freaks!"

She spoke click fluently. Something that Oo—o- seemed to appreciate.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

"Your. Intelligence. Is. Appreciable. But. Right. Now. I. Merely. Need. Your. Compliance," Oo—o- replied back in a cryptic manner. "The. Divine. Mother. Shall. Not. Be. Made. To. Wait. By. The. Likes. Of. You."

This was the second time that she had mentioned the Divine Mother. Ria sensed that she spoke the name with piety in her mind, which was also evident in her body language as well.

Clearly, it was someone very high up in the hierarchy of the homoarachnoid civilization. Likely someone extremely high up on the totem pole. Someone who could command the likes of even powerful homoarachnoids like the one she had fought earlier that day. Another thing that she could deduce was that this authoritative figure had likely been made aware of RIa’s existence.

Why?

She couldn’t even fathom it. Assuming this Divine Mother was the leader of the entire civilization, then she couldn’t imagine what in the world she could possibly want with Ria. She felt a deep sense of frustration as to why these alien freaks were obsessed with her. They constantly uttered bizarre things about her eyes and the universe within them. If she didn’t know better, she might have assumed that they were trying to flirt with her.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

"Get. The. Hell. Away. From. Me. And. I. Won’t. KIll. You." Ria swore with a vicious tone. She glared at the homoarachnoid with fierce eyes that glowed with power. She revved her Realms of power, even mobilizing sparks of materia prima to threaten her enemy.

And yet, Oo—o- was unperturbed. A gleeful expression emerged on the female homoarachnoid.

"Your. Destiny. Is. To. Fall. In. The. Webs. Of. The. Divine. Mother."

With those words, she rushed forth towards Ria as her stinger pointed straight at her.

It unleashed a sequence of short but extremely swift web fluid bullets that threatened to pin Ria where she stood. Ria’s amber eyes sharpened as she immediately leaped backwards, evading the powerful bullets.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!!!

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook with the shocking amount of force that erupted from the ground with each collision. Ria’s eyes widened as the very bedrock beneath her feet erupted violently in what could only be described as an extremely dangerous explosion of web fluid.

Each of the bullets seemed to have been highly compressed pellets of pure web fluid that erupted in all directions once they made contact or collided with an extremely hard surface. The sheer force with which they expanded broke the bedrock, causing gray dust to spew into the atmosphere, making the entire environment opaque.

"Cough!" Ria gritted her teeth. "Damn, how much power can a bunch of bullets have?"

Clearly, more than enough to split mountain ranges.