Chapter 36 — A Web Woven From Hope
Yuto woke to screaming.
It was Arachne's voice.
Not the calm, honey-soft voice that had read him a story the night before, nor the amused voice that had laughed when Michael discovered the sweet rolls. This voice was desperate. Frightened. It ripped through the darkness with enough panic to drag him from sleep before he properly understood where he was.
"Yuto! Yuto, wake up!"
His eyes opened.
Nothing changed.
There was only darkness—thick, warm and strangely damp. Yuto tried to lift his arms and discovered that they would not move. His legs were bound as well. Panic surged through him, and only then did he realise that he wasn't lying on the bed at all.
He was hanging.
His entire body swayed faintly in the air, wrapped from shoulders to ankles in layers of sticky silk.
"Yuto!" Arachne cried again, her voice muffled as though coming through walls. "Please! You're inside one of their cocoons! There are too many of them! Taratect can't hold them back!"
His heart slammed against his ribs.
The city.
The spiders.
They had found Arachne's refuge.
"Michael?"
No answer.
"Michael!"
Still nothing.
Yuto struggled harder, terror rising now for an entirely different reason. Michael had slept beside him. If Yuto had been captured, then Michael could be hanging somewhere nearby in another cocoon—or worse.
Arachne screamed again.
Something heavy crashed outside.
Yuto squeezed his eyes shut.
He was afraid.
Of course he was afraid.
He was eight years old, trapped inside a cocoon in a ruined city full of enormous spiders while his brother and every other person he trusted could be anywhere in this world.
But beneath the fear, something warmer stirred.
His hand could not reach the Virtue Sigil physically, yet he could feel Hope answering him.
Arachne had looked after him.
Michael was somewhere nearby.
Renji was still out there.
Haruto was still out there.
The others were still out there.
And being afraid did not mean he had to believe everything was lost.
Golden light seeped through the silk.
Yuto's eyes opened.
The Resonance Linker at his wrist answered with a sharp pulse.
"Michael!"
Something moved in the darkness beside him.
A faint answering light appeared through another cocoon.
Yuto's fear broke beneath sudden relief.
"Michael, I'm here!"
"Yuto!"
The little Aetherkin's voice was muffled but alive.
Another crash shook the building.
Arachne cried out.
Yuto clenched his fists inside the silk.
"We have to help her."
"Wait—"
"Michael!"
The Linker shone.
Its ordinary one-stage evolutionary bypass activated through the bond between them, fed by Yuto's desperation and Michael's need to reach him.
"Please!"
Light erupted.
The cocoon surrounding Michael tore apart first.
The tiny orange-and-cream creature vanished inside a rising pillar of white-gold radiance. His small body elongated as the light reshaped him; wings unfolded one after another until enormous feathered structures filled the chamber, while luminous rings and celestial patterns revolved around a tall, elegant form.
Yuto felt the name before he heard it.
Michael evolved into Lumiel.
The Adult-stage angel opened his radiant wings.
His long staff appeared in one hand.
A single sweep released holy light through the chamber.
Yuto's cocoon burned apart without touching him.
He fell.
Lumiel caught him before he reached the ground.
"Got you."
Yuto wrapped both arms around him.
"Michael!"
"For the moment," Lumiel said, staring toward the ruined wall ahead, "we need to leave."
They burst outside.
And discovered a war.
The dead city had come alive with spiders.
Hundreds of Adult-stage Aetherkin crawled across towers, windows and bridges of silk. Some were as large as horses. Others were larger still. Black and violet armour covered their bodies, and corrosive venom dripped from hooked fangs onto streets already buried beneath webs.
Yuto's Resonance Linker identified the nearest cluster.
DREADWEAVER
AETHERKIN — ADULT STAGE
More readings appeared.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Yuto stopped counting.
Lumiel did not.
"We cannot defeat all of them."
His voice was very different in this form—deeper and calmer, resonating with an almost musical quality—but Yuto knew Michael well enough to hear the concern beneath it.
"We find Arachne and leave."
A scream answered them.
"A little help would be appreciated!"
They looked upward.
Arachne stood several floors higher on the broken remains of another tower. Her elegant crimson-and-black clothing was torn in several places, her enormous hat missing, long white hair whipping around her face while Taratect battled three Dreadweavers at once beside her.
One of the spider creatures crashed into Taratect.
Arachne stumbled backward.
Yuto's eyes widened.
"Arachne!"
Lumiel tightened his grip on the staff.
"We should get you somewhere safe first."
"No!"
Yuto looked up at him.
"We can't leave her."
"Yuto—"
"She helped us."
Lumiel hesitated.
Arachne looked down from above.
"He's right!" she called, struggling to remain upright. "They're only Adult-stage! Taratect needs this battle. He's close—I can feel it. If he can evolve, we'll finally have the strength to leave this city!"
Lumiel stared at her.
Something inside him disliked those words.
Something had disliked Arachne from the beginning.
Her smile had always lasted slightly too long. Her movements had always been too controlled. Her kindness had always seemed to arrive precisely when Yuto needed it most.
But Yuto trusted her.
And Yuto was standing beneath a sky filled with hundreds of enemies.
There was no time to argue.
Yuto raised his Resonance Linker.
A pale golden barrier formed around him.
"I'll stay here."
Lumiel looked at him once.
Then turned toward the swarm.
"Do not leave that barrier."
"I won't."
Lumiel spread his wings.
The darkness recoiled from him.
Then he attacked.
Holy light tore through the city.
Lumiel moved like a falling star between ruined towers, his many wings carrying him over rooftops while the long staff in his hands became a blur of radiant motion. A Dreadweaver lunged from a wall.
Lumiel struck it from the air.
Another dropped from above.
A ring of light appeared between them and exploded outward, throwing the creature through three layers of webbing.
A third fired venom.
Lumiel's wings folded around him.
The poison struck radiant feathers and burned away.
Ten spiders fell.
Then fifteen.
Then more came.
Hundreds remained.
Yuto watched from inside his barrier with both hands clenched around the Resonance Linker.
"Michael!"
"I'm fine!"
He wasn't.
Yuto could see it.
Temporary evolution consumed enormous energy. Every blast, every high-speed manoeuvre and every defensive technique drained more from Michael's reserves and from the bond sustaining Lumiel.
The Dreadweavers seemed to understand that.
They stopped attacking one at a time.
Twenty came together.
Lumiel swept his staff through a circle of light and drove the first wave backward, only for strands of silk to shoot from three different towers and catch one wing.
He tore free.
Another strand wrapped around his ankle.
He destroyed it.
Then a Dreadweaver struck him from behind.
Lumiel crashed through the side of a building.
"MICHAEL!"
Yuto's barrier flickered as he ran toward its edge.
Lumiel exploded back into the air, but now one of his great wings hung lower than the others.
"Stay there!"
More spiders came.
Yuto looked toward Arachne.
She was losing too.
Or appeared to be.
Taratect lay collapsed beside her, several legs twitching weakly. Webs bound Arachne's wrists against the broken tower behind her.
"Yuto..." she called.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
"I'm sorry."
Yuto stared.
"Run."
"What?"
"You have to run."
Another Dreadweaver struck Lumiel.
The angel hit the rooftop hard.
His staff rolled away.
The temporary Adult evolution flickered.
Yuto's breath stopped.
The spiders surrounded him.
Lumiel tried to stand.
One knee failed.
"Michael..."
Arachne's voice came again.
"Go, Yuto. Please."
Yuto looked at her.
Then at Lumiel.
Then down at the small golden symbol of Hope glowing beside his Resonance Linker.
He could run.
He could hide.
Perhaps Lumiel could buy him enough time.
That was exactly why he couldn't do it.
Yuto closed his fingers around the Sigil.
His hands trembled.
He thought of Renji.
His brother who worried too much and pretended he didn't.
He thought of the strange shape their family had taken after their parents separated, and of all the times some childish part of him had still hoped that separation didn't have to mean losing anyone.
He thought of Haruto.
The others.
Every time they had survived something they should not have survived.
And Michael.
Michael had never promised that everything would be fine.
He had simply stayed beside him when it wasn't.
Hope wasn't believing nothing bad would happen.
Hope was believing there was still a tomorrow worth reaching when something bad already had.
Yuto lifted his head.
"Michael!"
Lumiel looked toward him.
Yuto's Virtue Sigil ignited.
"I believe in you!"
Golden light erupted upward.
Every window in the surrounding towers reflected it.
"I believe we're getting out of here!"
The Dreadweavers recoiled.
"I believe we're finding Renji and everyone else!"
Lumiel's eyes widened.
The Sigil burned brighter.
"And I believe there is still a future waiting for us!"
The light reached him.
This was no longer the Resonance Linker's ordinary one-stage bypass.
Hope had answered.
Lumiel disappeared inside a sun.
His damaged wings became whole.
Then changed.
The luminous, ethereal body of the Adult form was replaced by something more solid, more martial, more complete. White-and-gold celestial armor formed across a tall humanoid frame, traced by deep blue accents. Vast feathered wings opened behind him, throwing golden light across the entire city. An ornate holy helm crowned his head.
A radiant sword appeared in one hand.
In the other formed an enormous shield of light and metal, its surface covered in rotating celestial circles and glowing sigils.
The pressure of an Elite-stage Aetherkin descended across the rooftop.
Yuto stared upward.
Michael's voice answered from inside the light.
"Lumiel evolved into Archoniel."
The pillar exploded outward.
Dozens of Dreadweavers were thrown from the tower.
Silence followed.
Even the spiders understood that the battle had changed.
Arachne watched from beneath her carefully arranged bindings.
And smiled.
Just slightly.
Exactly as planned.
The dead Dreadweavers did not matter.
The damaged city did not matter.
Even Taratect's staged injuries were expendable.
She had needed Yuto frightened.
Then hopeful.
Then desperate enough for Hope itself to answer.
And it had.
The boy had pushed his partner through a double-stage bypass.
Juvenile to Adult.
Adult to Elite.
The energy rolling from Archoniel made every predatory instinct within Arachne tighten with hunger.
Beautiful.
She had expected potential.
She had not expected quite so much of it.
Yuto stood beneath the golden light, staring up at his transformed partner with tears on his face and absolute trust in his eyes.
Perfect.
The web shifted.
A single thread touched his shoe.
He didn't notice.
Another slipped across his wrist.
A third slid around his waist.
Yuto smiled.
"Michael..."
The threads tightened.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Silk snapped around both arms.
More wrapped around his legs.
The golden barrier surrounding him flickered as dark strands threaded through its weak points from inside the structure itself.
Yuto gasped.
"Arachne?"
She stood.
The webs supposedly holding her fell away.
Taratect rose beside her.
Uninjured.
Yuto stopped struggling for one stunned second.
Arachne brushed dust from her crimson dress.
Long silver-white hair spilled around her shoulders. The elegant crimson-and-black gown, elaborate web-patterned fabrics and jeweled ornaments were exactly as Yuto remembered them from the night before.
But now the disguise no longer hid everything else.
Long dark arachnid limbs unfolded behind her.
One.
Two.
Four.
Eight.
Her beautiful face remained.
That somehow made it worse.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Her voice was still warm.
"You did wonderfully."
Yuto stared at her.
"No..."
Arachne stepped closer.
"You gave me exactly what I needed."
"No."
She gently lifted his chin with one finger.
"Look at him."
Yuto's eyes went toward Archoniel.
Michael had already realised.
His sword blazed.
"Let him go."
The softness disappeared from his voice.
Arachne smiled.
"Come take him."
Archoniel moved.
He crossed the rooftop in a burst of golden light.
Then stopped.
Not voluntarily.
Black silk flashed into visibility around his sword arm.
Another thread caught a wing.
Then ten.
Then hundreds.
They had already been laid throughout the city.
Across rooftops.
Inside walls.
Between towers.
Waiting.
Archoniel pulled.
The first threads snapped.
Arachne's eyes narrowed.
More replaced them.
The celestial warrior raised his shield, light exploding from its surface, but silk wrapped around the edges and tightened against his armored body.
Yuto screamed.
"Michael!"
"I'm fine!"
Archoniel drove his sword through a cluster of strands.
Light erupted.
The webs burned.
Then something strange happened.
The remaining strands brightened.
They were absorbing part of the released power.
Arachne's smile widened.
"Did you imagine I brought hundreds of my own brood here merely to overwhelm you?"
Archoniel stared at the glowing threads.
"The entire city is your formation."
"Such an ugly word."
Arachne stepped beside the dangling Yuto.
"I prefer web."
Archoniel pulled again.
Silk wrapped around his legs.
Around his shield.
Around his wings.
The stronger he fought, the more of his released holy energy spread through the network surrounding them.
Arachne leaned close to Yuto.
He flinched away.
"You lied."
There was more hurt than anger in the words.
For the first time, Arachne's smile became genuinely delighted.
"Of course."
She stroked his hair.
"That is what spiders do."
Yuto's eyes filled.
The expression almost made her laugh.
Instead she looked toward Archoniel.
"I have wondered for a very long time what an Elite holy core infused with Hope would taste like."
Archoniel's sword ignited.
"You won't find out."
The entire city trembled as he released his power.
Golden light burst from Archoniel in every direction.
The closest webs vanished.
His sword tore one arm free.
Then the shield smashed outward and broke another cluster of strands as the celestial warrior forced himself into the air.
For one instant Arachne's expression changed.
He was stronger than she had calculated.
Good.
That would make what came next more valuable.
Archoniel drove through the web toward Yuto.
Too far.
Arachne pulled the boy backward.
Then the heavens opened.
A column of white-gold light appeared above the skyscraper.
Arachne's eyes widened.
"Again?"
It fell.
Not one of Minerva's radiant lances this time.
This light carried a different signature.
Precise.
Focused.
Controlled.
Arachne released Yuto and moved.
The beam struck the building.
There was a single breath of silence.
Then half the skyscraper ceased being architecturally relevant.
Concrete, steel and webbing erupted outward.
Archoniel moved instantly.
He ignored Arachne.
Ignored the collapsing tower.
Ignored the surviving Dreadweavers.
He caught Yuto.
The boy wrapped both arms around his armored neck.
"Michael!"
"I've got you."
Archoniel spread his wings.
A huge celestial circle appeared over the city.
Concentric rings of gold turned against one another, illuminating symbols across the clouds.
Then the heavens split.
A vast Gate of Dawn opened overhead.
Golden light crashed downward.
This was nothing like the gentle radiance Michael normally used to comfort Yuto.
It was judgment.
The beam struck the spider district and vaporized entire sheets of webbing. Dreadweavers fled across walls and rooftops while weakened buildings collapsed beneath the pressure.
Yuto stared up at Archoniel.
He had never seen Michael like this.
Michael was still there.
But this was Michael furious.
The gentle guardian had become an armored angel of war.
Then a familiar voice called from another rooftop.
"Are you planning to destroy the entire city, or only the parts with spiders?"
Yuto turned.
A figure stood on the broken edge of a neighbouring tower.
Silver-blue armor.
A long lance.
A cape moving in the wind.
Golden hair visible beneath the helm.
"Caelan!"
Relief hit Yuto so hard he nearly started crying again.
Stormmane stood behind Caelan, missing arm still obvious but his sword already drawn. Luminel floated beside them, staring down into the ruined district with an expression of profound irritation.
Stormmane looked at Yuto.
Then at Arachne.
Then at the thousands of webs.
"We leave you alone for one day."
Yuto gave a watery laugh.
"You got here!"
"We were shot here," Stormmane corrected.
Luminel folded his arms.
"Repeatedly."
Caelan's gaze remained on Arachne.
His Eyes of Fate were already open.
The spider queen rose from the collapsed building below, debris sliding harmlessly from her webs.
Not injured.
Not even particularly dishevelled.
Her elegant human-like form remained visible beneath the monstrous additions: long white hair, crimson gothic layers, dark gloves and glittering jewels, surrounded by eight immense spider limbs.
She looked up.
Saw Caelan.
Then Luminel.
Then Stormmane.
Her smile vanished.
"You."
Caelan rested his lance against one armored shoulder.
"I assume you aren't the welcoming committee."
Luminel floated forward.
His expression had changed completely.
"Don't underestimate her."
Archoniel looked toward him.
"You know her?"
"I know of her."
Luminel's gaze never left Arachne.
"She's old. Older than this age of the world. She survived a Reset."
Yuto looked between them.
"Arachne said she was summoned like us."
"No," Luminel said.
Arachne's eyes narrowed.
"She was born here."
He raised his spear.
"She's one of the old legend-born Aetherkin. Her form comes from a human world's ancient tale of the spider-weaver Arachne."
Arachne's smile returned.
"Fairy."
"Liar."
"Survivor."
"Predator."
She spread her arms.
"Those are not mutually exclusive."
The remaining webs throughout the city began to vibrate.
Caelan's Eyes of Fate filled with futures.
Most were unpleasant.
Arachne looked at Yuto in Archoniel's arms.
Then at Archoniel himself.
Then at the newcomers.
Her lips curled.
"My, my."
Her spider limbs spread behind her.
"Hope. A holy warrior. An old fairy. A wounded lion."
Finally, her many eyes settled on Caelan.
"And whatever you are."
Caelan lowered his lance.
The point faced her.
"A disappointed dinner guest."
Stormmane blinked.
Luminel looked at him.
Arachne's expression twitched.
Caelan smiled beneath the helm.
"I heard there was food."
For one second, nobody spoke.
Then Stormmane started laughing.
Even Yuto made a small choking sound against Archoniel's shoulder.
Arachne's webs tightened across the entire city.
Caelan's smile disappeared.
His lance settled into both hands.
Myriad-Star Fate Body began to awaken beneath his Azure armor, the first stellar patterns of Ki and Destiny glowing through its seams.
Archoniel descended beside them with Yuto protected behind his enormous radiant shield.
Luminel raised his spear.
Stormmane took his stance.
Arachne's eight limbs dug into the building beneath her.
Every web in the city pulled taut.
Caelan looked at the spider queen.
"All right."
His Eyes of Fate opened fully.
"Let's ruin dinner."