My Hermes System

"Oh my, oh my. What do we have here?"

"Please don't touch anything. I still don't know what to do with you."

"Oh, is that an invitation, because you know you can do anything you want with me."

Van had been wanting to block his ears from the giggles and chuckles that had been echoing through his private quarters for almost a whole hour now. If it wasn't for the slight confusion as to how Arachnaea was in front of him outside the Portal, then his panic would probably be even higher than it is.

"I've honestly been thinking about you since we first met," Arachnaea then said as she slithered, no'¦ as her sharp and pointy legs crawled their way towards his bed, "Do you know how lonely it has been, being stuck there with only Him coming around? And he's quite a boring conversation starter, always talking about you and nothing else."

"How'¦ are you even able to go out of the Portal?" Van then said as he slowly started to calm down.

"What do you mean?" Arachnaea slightly leaned her head to the side as her slightly dead eyes stared Van straight in the eyes. No, if Van remembers clearly, then they weren't slightly dead-- they were completely gone. Even until now, Arachnaea suddenly taking her eyes off was still a memory he couldn't shake loose.

"How were you able to go out? Athena and the others were only able to pass through the Portal since I absorbed their God Souls."

"Well, you already answered your question," Arachnaea then let out a long and deep sigh, her enormous breasts jiggling from doing so, "I am truly flattered that you think me of such, but I am not a god, cute little one-- I am a monster."

"You're'¦ not?" Van looked at Arachnaea from head to toe, careful not to fixate on her distractive breasts. He should be used to something like this by now since Latanya has a similar size. It was just that'¦ Arachnaea's were just freely dangling there; devoid of any clothes and only her long, now snow-white hair partly covering them.

"Do I not look like a monster?" Arachnaea once again let out a small giggle as the sound of Van's bed sprang up from having her resting her body on it, "Monsters could always go out of the Portal, isn't that why there were monsters here?"

"...Those were giants."

"Oh, my bad. Teehee,"

"Wait'¦ if you could have always gone out whenever you wanted to, then why--"

"Why didn't I?" Arachnaea interrupted Van before he could finish his sentence, "Well'¦ let's just say there wasn't anything in it for me before."

"And now there is?"

"Oh, yes," the bed almost bounced from having her weight lifted off it as she stood up, "I get to live longer."

"What do you--"

"King Evans!"

And once again, Van was interrupted. But this time, by Athena who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and blocked his view of Arachnaea, "I'¦ shall get rid of this monster for you!"

"Ho?"

"Wait. Athena, she is--"

The sound of steel clanging rippled throughout the room as Athena's spear and one of Arachnaea's legs made contact with each other. Van was initially going to stop it, but then, he saw the sneaky look of distress on Athena's face-- something that he had only seen once; when she was telling the story of how she brought the ruin of the Olympians.

And so, Van decided to stand back. He was, however, ready to intervene at any time with his trusty shield. There was something else that caught his eyes; Athena's breasts'¦ they doubled in size.

Just'¦ what exactly is going on here? Van thought as he watched 2 sets of breasts clashing-- as he watched two women suddenly clashing with each other.

"How are you even still alive!?" Athena's roar almost made Van step back a few meters, "I don't understand!"

"Well, maybe because you're really not as smart as you think you are?"

And in contrast to Athena's rage, the smugness and playfulness in Arachnaea's tone were easily discernible, "You did think you were the best weaver in the world, only to be defeated by a humble seamstress living in Lydia."

"You think you were humble!?"

"What's gotten you so worked up? Afraid your little monster has come to ruin things for you?"

"..."

Van continued to watch as the two fought inside his room, destroying all of his furniture. Judging by the verbal exchange between the two, something must have happened between them; Arachnaea briefly told her about what happened to her eyes'¦ could it be that it was Athena who plucked them out?

"..." As entertaining as it was to see Athena being so flustered, Van was also quite amazed. He could still remember how hopeless he was when he first faced Arachnaea back when he just unlocked his powers-- but to think she was strong enough to hold her own against Athena?

He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle for thinking how he even thought he had a chance against her back then. If Arachnaea truly wanted to kill him back then, then she could have done so with the blink of an eye-- even now, the speed of her legs as they tried to slice Athena was comparable to Hermod's speed.

It would have been fine if there were only two of them, but Arachnaea could control all 8 with such mastery and guile, switching from movement to attack in a split second; not giving Athena even a slight respite.

--And all this with still a smug look on her face.

"!!!"

Van's eyes then widened as the fight suddenly reached him as he was distracted, even causing him to use his speed to move to the side-- which he probably shouldn't have, as the two went on and destroyed his wall as they continued to fight without any regard to their surroundings.

"..."

"What's going on, father!?"

And just a few seconds after the sound of his wall ruptured through the entire castle, a golden streak of lightning appeared in front of Van, her voice filled with worry, "Do we have an intruder!?"

Van did not answer, instead only pointing towards the destroyed part of his room.

"W'¦ what is that?"

"Not what, Vanya; don't be rude," Van then let out a small but deep sigh as he shook his head, "She's our guest, an old friend of mine and Athena's."

"An'¦ old friend? Could it'¦ she be an Olympian?" Vanya blinked a couple of times as she watched as the two continued to battle it out; destroying wall after wall until they reached the outside, "Then'¦ why are they fighting?"

"I suppose we'll find out later."

"Are we'¦ not going to stop them?"

"Only when it gets dangerous."

"It's not?"

"They seem to be equally matched."

"That's quite amazing. But'¦

...why are aunt Athena's breasts so huge?"

"Who knows."

"...We should probably stop them now?"

"Perhaps you're right."

And so, with a sigh, Van suddenly disappeared from his spot, only to appear right in the middle of Arachnaea's sharp legs and the tip of Athena's spear.

"!!!"

Athena quickly unsummoned her spear, causing her to lose balance and stumble straight towards Van who swiftly and carefully caught him with his arm. Van then slightly tucked himself in as he tightened his grip on his other hand, expecting an impact coming from his shield'¦

...but it never came.

"..." Instead, as he put down his shield, he found that the tip of Arachnaea's leg was only inches away, but completely halted.

"Oh my, oh my," she then let out a small promiscuous hum as her leg started to retract, "It seems I really am not capable of harming you, master."

"...Master?"

***

"So, explain to me the situation again."

"With all these people present? Well'¦ I don't mind the audience."

A few minutes after their heated battle, Arachnaea was now inside the throne room, surrounded by Van, Athena, as well as the others.

"And don't take your clothes off!"

"Hm, party pooper. It's just so imprisoning-- I haven't worn clothes for almost a hundred thousand years."

"We don't care, just explain why you are here again."

"Ah, Athena-- always wanting to get what she wants."

"I am not that woman anymore! And speak, why did you call King Evans your master?"

Seeing Athena quite flustered, the others could not help but look at each other. They were so used to Athena being quite stern and strict, so seeing her all winded up right now was'¦ quite refreshing, to say the least.

It was just that'¦ why are her breasts suddenly so huge? And while the others were confused, Latanya, on the other hand, could barely contain herself from laughing. After all, she was probably the reason for Athena's sudden change of physique.

But this truly is quite alarming, she thought. She was supposed to be the one with the unusually large breasts. But if Athena insists on her new aesthetics, then there would be two of them now'¦ not to mention this new arrival-- They might look like they have similarly sized breasts, but Arachnaea's body was almost that of a small giant.

So if it ever happens that they were to stand beside each other, then Latanya's would be dwarfed. She was also calling Van her master, which was something Latanya was already going. This'¦ is truly troublesome.

"So you say," Arachnaea's coquettish giggle echoed throughout the throne room, "But I don't want to keep everyone-- the reason I am calling him master is simply that literally, and figuratively-- he is my master."

"...Why?" Van then said as he curiously leaned from his throne.

"The feather I gave you," Arachnaea then let out a small but deep sigh, "It's the only reason why I am outside the Portal. We are in some sort of contract, I guess?"

"...But you said you could leave at any time?"

"That's true," Arachnaea nodded, "If the Portal wasn't completely gone, that is. Anyway, long story short; He gave that feather'¦

....so that I could assist you in the coming calamity."