CHAPTER 385: THE PLAN? WHAT PLAN?

Arachne was left in a stunned silence at Adam’s blunt response. It took her a second to recover before she hissed at him with a voice filled with extreme annoyance

"Why the hell are you so damn stubborn!"

Adam’s face contorted a bit as he responded "It’s something I inherited from my mother. I heard she is quite the Stubborn old lady."

Arachne’s mouth went slightly agape at her childs brazen attitude. However she knew that he was right and let out a sigh of her own. "Fine! You win....What’s your plan on getting me out of here."

Adam froze at Arachne’s question. His jaw clenched, but his eyes flicked away for the briefest moment. The tension in his shoulders gave him away before he even spoke.

Aria’s wings faltered mid-beat as she landed beside him, her eyes widening. "Wait... you don’t actually have a plan?"

Lily’s hand slapped against her forehead, dragging down her face with an exasperated groan. "You have got to be kidding me. You brought us all the way here without thinking past step one?"

Leo’s mouth twitched as if he wanted to argue in Adam’s defense, but even he was left staring in disbelief. "Adam..."

Luna’s jaw hung slack, her ears twitching like she could not believe what she was hearing. "You really just came in here planning to wing it?"

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Arachne’s eyes widened, then narrowed into a look that could have burned holes through stone. "You absolute fool!" she hissed, her voice echoing harshly in the chamber. Her chains rattled as she strained against them in frustration, her venomous gaze locked on her son. "Charging into the heart of a divine prison with no plan? Do you have any idea how much danger you just put yourself and them into?"

Adam’s face heated, and for the first time real nerves crawled under his skin. His fists tightened at his sides, not with confidence but to mask the tremor in his hands. "I... I was going to figure it out when I got here," he admitted, his voice rougher than usual.

Aria gaped at him, Lily muttered something about regretting every life choice that led her here, and Luna outright smacked her palm against her forehead.

Arachne let out a furious, ragged sigh, her chains creaking with the motion. "By all the gods, I cannot believe my blood runs in your veins. Stubborn and reckless I can tolerate. But stupid?" Her fangs bared as she spat the word. "You are lucky you were not killed before reaching me, you idiot child."

Adam winced, his shoulders hunching as if her words struck harder than any blade.

Arachne let out another tired sigh, heavier this time, like a woman finally resigning herself to a bitter choice. Her head lowered, eyes burning into Adam with both fury and resignation. "If it has come to this... then I have no other choice."

Her tone left no room for argument. "Hold up the Orb, higher."

Adam hesitated, his throat dry, but obeyed. His hand lifted the glowing sphere above him, the light washing across the chamber.

The moment he did, a sound like cracking stone echoed through the chamber. Adam’s heart lurched as he saw long fractures spiderwebbing across Arachne’s massive divine body that was pinned against the wall. Each crack glowed faintly, leaking threads of golden ichor. His grip on the Orb faltered when, to his shock, a second sphere shimmered into existence before him.

This new Orb drifted forward, merging seamlessly into the one he already held. The combined sphere pulsed with unbearable heat, searing his palm. Adam’s teeth clenched as he tried to endure, but within seconds the pain was too much. With a strangled gasp, he released it.

The Orb did not fall. Instead, it hovered in the air, spinning as blinding light poured out of it. Shapes began to take form, growing, stretching, filling the chamber with a hum of raw power. Adam’s breath caught in his throat as he stared, his chest rising and falling too quickly.

After what felt like an eternity but was only a minute, the light finally faded. Standing before Adam was a figure he recognized instantly. His mother, not the towering spider goddess, but the woman he remembered from his childhood. Her skin was pale to the point of translucence, and she wore almost nothing, her body fragile and bare compared to the monstrous form that had loomed over them before.

Behind her, the divine Arachne cracked apart completely. The massive body that had been pinned to the wall splintered and shattered, collapsing into a pile of glowing fragments like broken glass.

Leo’s voice cut through the silence. "What just happened?" His eyes darted between the shattered divine form and the woman now standing before them.

Arachne’s gaze snapped to Adam, sharp enough to make him flinch. "I cast aside my shell... and my divinity." She swayed slightly, her steps uneven as she moved toward the pile of shards. Her hand shot out and seized Adam by the ear, yanking him along with her. "Stop staring and get to work. Fill your inventory with as much of my remains as you can carry."

Adam hissed in pain as he scrambled to obey, fumbling with his interface while she kept her grip on him.

Leo’s mouth opened and closed, stunned by the casual way she said it. "Wait... are you saying you are no longer a god?"

Arachne crouched by the pile, her expression a mask of both exhaustion and irritation. "By discarding my shell, I severed my divine nature. I cannot be considered a god. At least not for now."

The weight of her words dropped onto the group like stone. Aria’s hand flew to her lips, Luna’s ears stood rigid in disbelief, Lily’s face went pale, and even Leo staggered back a step.

Adam froze for a heartbeat, his hands hovering over the shards as the realization sank in. His mother had given up her godhood for him.