Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Bitch Who Can't Even Have Kids
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"I can do it too?
So, don't do it with other women—do it with me instead?"
"Haaah...?"
Arachne couldn't hide her irritation at Amy's words, her face twisting in a scowl. Her eyes gleamed with clear contempt, as if she found Amy utterly pathetic.
It had been a while since Arachne and Amy had faced each other like this. To be honest, from Arachne's perspective, she'd suffered so much at Amy's hands that she couldn't muster any fondness for her whatsoever.
And yet, in the midst of this sweet reunion with me, Amy had barged in and thrown everything into chaos. It was enough to drive anyone mad.
No matter how quick-witted Arachne was or how skilled she was at schemes and tricks, she wasn't some heartless monster who could fully suppress her emotions.
"You pathetic little shit... what the hell are you saying?!"
She lunged at Amy, sharp claws and venomous fangs bared—a primal threat to protect the mate she'd claimed for herself.
But Amy didn't flinch. Having reinforced her own parts in the desert and grown quite accustomed to combat by now, she swiftly adjusted her stance. As Arachne charged, Amy—
Shing!
"Further movement risks injury."
—held her vibrating blade right at the spot just above Arachne's upper lip.
Arachne, who must have thought she'd win easily, froze in momentary panic.
"...Hah, fine. Pretty quick, aren't you."
Pretending to back off to lower Amy's guard, then...
"Try blocking this!"
She hurled her massive body straight at Amy in a full-on charge. It seemed she figured that even if Amy was fast, she had the edge in raw power.
"Arachne, hold on!"
But I knew better.
Amy had grown even stronger than before.
And she could crush Arachne without breaking a sweat.
Crash!
Arachne went flying off into the distance. Amy had reversed the momentum of her charge and flung her bodily out of the web.
"Wh-what...?"
Only then did Arachne snap back to her senses. A surge of irrational fury unfit for her cold, calculating nature had boiled over, but now that defeat stared her in the face, she had to rein herself in.
"Amy, stop!"
"Yes."
I calmed Amy down as she brushed the dust off the sprawled Arachne.
This wasn't something to settle with brute force. Right now, Arachne needed comforting—not a beating to force her submission.
I had no intention of doing that anyway. Arachne was pregnant with my child, and we'd be living together from here on out.
We had to look out for each other. It was time for me to step in.
"You okay?"
"..."
Arachne looked like her pride had taken a serious hit, but though she ground her teeth, she didn't charge at Amy again.
"You okay."
Instead, she shot Amy a fierce glare brimming with contempt and rage. It didn't faze Amy in the slightest, but Arachne was still fuming, unwilling to back down just like that.
"You're living the good life, huh, Joo-ho? Parading around with a girl like that means you don't even have to humor me anymore, right?"
"What're you talking about?"
"It means me and our kid don't even register to you anymore! What else could it be? Might as well just kill us off now!"
A sigh escaped me. Arachne was yelling at me now, her eyes even welling up with tears.
"Pick one. Me, or that bitch!? If you're gonna go off with her, just kill me and the baby right now! Do it quick!"
"I'm not doing that. Please, just stop..."
"Hah? You're not? Then why'd she barge in here and wreck everything? You should be the one punishing her yourself, right?"
Realizing she couldn't win a straight fight with Amy, Arachne immediately turned to using me. It was a raw outburst of emotions she couldn't just ignore.
"Slap her or something! Your mate—the one carrying your child—comes back battered, and you're just gonna let it slide? You gonna do that?!"
"Alright, alright... just calm down first."
Here, I had no choice but to take Arachne's side.
She'd waited alone for over a month, pregnant the whole time. Amy and I were the ones who'd left her side, so in the end, this was our responsibility too.
"Amy, apologize to Arachne."
"I did nothing wrong."
"Just do it and let's move on. You surprised her by showing up out of nowhere. Apologize for that much, okay?"
Amy insisted she wasn't at fault, but Arachne ground her teeth and escalated with even more outrageous demands.
"Get on your knees and bow your head too! Hell, even that's not enough to make me forgive her!"
Of course, I ended up in the awkward spot.
Pulling from both sides in a tug-of-war just leaves the rope suffering.
"...I apologize. I'm sorry."
"Bow your head too!"
In the end, Amy bent first. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong, but she honored my earnest plea.
No need to bow that low, though.
Her apology was so thorough it hurt my heart instead.
"There, you're over it now, right? Let Amy go."
"..."
Arachne paused, staring down at Amy bowed and prostrated before her. Her pursed lips suggested she wasn't fully satisfied yet.
"Pfft—ah hahaha!"
But unexpectedly, Arachne burst into laughter. She let her emotions run wild without restraint, cackling with unrestrained contempt that sent chills down my spine.
Sensing I wouldn't indulge her further, Arachne shifted tactics, finding a new way to vent on Amy.
It was simple.
She just lobbed a few sharp barbs, exploiting what she had that her rival lacked.
"A bitch who can't even have kids, pretending to be female. At best, you're a fake one made of stone."
Those few words were her most devastating weapon. Arachne had a natural talent for reading emotions and weaponizing them.
After her desert ordeal, Amy had developed a more feminine air, making her an easy target for Arachne.
Emotions could be a weakness in nature. Amy's budding feelings were under assault.
"Arachne, come on, that's too far...!"
"What's too far? Even if you look the part, you don't smell like a female at all. What's the point of chasing Joo-ho when you can't even have kids?"
Arachne pretended to sniff the air, giggling mockingly. Amy had a built-in fragrance system that appealed to humans, but that wasn't the "female scent" Arachne meant.
It was pheromones.
The instinctive aroma determined by sex hormones in every creature's body—that's what Arachne was getting at.
Especially from her perspective, now in her prime and pregnant to boot, Amy must have seemed utterly ridiculous.
Strong enough to cleave her half-sisters in two,
yet fundamentally incomplete as a female, unable to fulfill the core role of pregnancy and reproduction.
"Arachne, seriously, stop. That's too harsh."
"What'd I do? Oh, Joo-ho, you mad too? Sorry~"
Amy's cool expression hardened in a way that felt especially ominous. Her facial muscles and eyelids hadn't shifted much, but the aura she exuded put everyone on edge.
Yet even Amy couldn't muster a rebuttal.
Running her onboard processors yielded no gaps in Arachne's logic. If anything, she had to concede her own inadequacy.
"Puhaha! Look at her. She's glitching out again. Joo-ho, did I go too far? I was just stating facts—why's she acting like that?"
Yeah.
This seemed to be Amy's new hurdle.
She was peerlessly strong by the logic of power,
and she'd surely grow even more with Ember tech and Rophuk's legacy ahead...
But as a woman yearning for love, she'd hit a wall she couldn't easily overcome.
"Amy!"
I wanted to call her back, but
Arachne was already waiting beside me, clothes shed.
"Hng, gonna go after her?"
I couldn't just leave Arachne behind.
Truth be told, she took priority right now. This mess was Amy's doing for rushing in alone.
"Really?"
Arachne said, gently caressing her belly.
Soon to be a mother,
she knew how to wield even the lives inside her as weapons.
In the end, I couldn't bring myself to grab the hand of the dejected Amy trudging away. Sure, she'd agree my choice was rational... but
Somehow, her retreating figure looked so forlorn.
"...Don't use the kids like that. I get it. I know they're mine."
"Use them? I just want you to love our kids a little more."
I was stuck in a tough spot between the two women, unable to refute either.
I understood both Amy
and Arachne,
and my head throbbed fiercely for it.
"I grew up without a dad, but wouldn't it be nice if our kids got to live with theirs? Right?"