-----------
Carolain's Point of View
----------
I don't know whether to laugh or cry…
["Son of a bitch, you've got some balls invading my territory and messing with the rat kid's little sister."]
Watching the brat punch and kick the living room doorframe while cursing. An ironic smile creeps onto my face without permission.
["Yeah, yeah."] - Alicia nods from behind Astrad, in complete agreement.
["ZEUS, bring me my axe."]
"WOOF"
He said, and that "dog" shot off towards a closet under the stairs and returned with a traditional wood-handled axe.
"Woof," it yipped, holding the axe up in its snout and wagging its tail.
["Huh? No, Zeus, that's the suicide axe. Bring the thug-buster."]
"Woof."
Why do you have a damn suicide axe? Before I could process it, Zeus returned, this time with a modern black steel axe. Do you really have situational axes?
["Good boy,"] Astrad said, taking the axe. ["Now tell me where the fuck that piece of charcoal is."]
Zeus tensed its body and pointed its snout toward the upper right corner of the frame.
["There you are, YOU SON OF A BITCH."]
Without another word, Astrad swung the axe. As soon as the blade touched the wood, a shadow shot out.
And as illogical as it was, the moment the blade touched the wood, a shadow shot out of the frame as if escaping.
["WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?"] he yelled, dislodging the blade from the frame.
Without hesitation, he threw the axe with brutal force. The weapon passed through the shadow as if cutting through smoke and embedded itself in the back wall with a dull "THUNK." The shadow obviously suffered no damage, but it still stopped dead in its tracks and trembled, turning to look at its own intangible torso as if searching for a wound that didn't exist.
Are you stupid? I thought, completely bewildered.
The shadow, apparently terrified of a weapon that clearly couldn't harm it, didn't hesitate another second and passed through the window, fleeing the house.
["IF YOU COME BACK, I'LL FUCKING WRECK YOU, SON OF A BITCH."] - Astrad shouted, shaking his fist out the window.
"WOOF"
Zeus stood beside him, like a loyal guardian. And Alicia…
["Yeah… I'll wreck you."] - She clung to his shirt, partially hiding behind his back and shaking her small hand, imitating him.
["My little sister…"]
Really… I didn't know whether to laugh or cry…
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Astrad's Point of View
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["Tsk, son of a bitch. Next time, I'll definitely chop him to bits."]
["Yeah."]
"Woof."
I head back to the kitchen after getting rid of a damn squatter.
How dare it invade the territory of the great Me and, on top of that, mess with my vixens? Only I get to mess with my vixens.
["Whatever, just come have lunch, it's getting cold."]
["Yeah, yeah."]
Louise just reminded the rat kid of something important.
["HIIII!"]
The girls scream when I pull the jar of insects out of a drawer.
["What?"] —I ask, as I take a piece of meat from the freezer.
["N-not 'what?'. What's with that jar?"]
I'd heard that women are afraid of insects. Thinking about it, Milia didn't do well with them either.
["It's food for my pet spider, Ratchel. I'm going to feed her now."]
[[Why do you have something like a spider for a pet?]]
["Because I felt like it."]
They still seemed to have something to say, but I ignore them and head to the terrace. Zeus follows me and, for some reason, so do the girls.
["Why are you following me if you're afraid of her?"] —I asked, with my hand on the doorknob. They just looked at each other in silence.
["Whatever, but no sudden moves. Ratchel is very sensitive and gets nervous."]
I opened the door.
"Clack."
[…What the fu….]
["KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"]
The girls scream as I step onto the terrace. I want to scream myself. Some of the figures I left up here fell over… damn it.
Oh, and in front of me, a spider the size of an adult cat is looking at me.
[Ratchel?]
[taka taka taka]
[Oh hell, look how much you've grown. And your front legs grew back.]
[taka taka taka]
[Is that so? That's convenient.]
[taka taka taka]
[Well, I brought it, but there's no way this can fill you up anymore.]
[taka taka taka]
[Well, if you want it that bad… But now I have to think about what to feed you.]
[taka taka taka]
[Ohhh, I see, but be careful.]
[taka taka taka]
While Ratchel and I were conversing, the girls were petrified at the door. When she rubs against me, they almost faint.
[By the way… Where is…? …]
[SSSSSS]
[Mya… aaaaaaa…. You've grown…]
Mya is my pet snake. Just like Ratchel, I named her after characters from a certain anime. She was originally a black mamba, an extremely venomous type of snake, and they aren't very big…
But the one in front of me now is big… It's very big. If I had to compare it, it would be the size of the anacondas I saw at the zoo once. A deadly venomous snake in the body of an anaconda… Besides, its body is getting longer by the second… no, it would be more correct to say its body is appearing out of nowhere… Some kind of camouflage?
By the way, Ratchel is also venomous, I think her kind was called a black widow or something.
[SSSSSS]
[Ohh, you mutated too.]
[SSSSSS]
[I see, that helps a lot. I'm also glad your tongue healed.]
[SSSSSS]
Pop… pop
I hear a sound like something collapsing and look in its direction.
Some of the girls are on the floor, fainted.
Others are frozen on their feet, trembling.
And they all had an accident…
Ratchel and Mya, for their part, are happily rubbing against me.
Now then, who is going to clean up all this piss?
New piss sisters?
[Woof]
[I suppose you're right…]
[SSSSSS]
[They're not food, they're companions.]
[Taka taka taka]
[Why are you sulking?]
Our happy reunion lasted for a while.
............
JOURNAL ENTRY NO: 251
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Aranea primordialis
REGIONAL ALIASES:
Latin America (Swamp Areas): La Viuda Susurrante / La Tejedora de Niebla (The Whispering Widow / The Mist Weaver)
Southern Folklore (Anglo): The Canopy Creeper
Cryptozoology Forums: The Daughter of the Shadow
NICKNAME (ASTRAD): The Justification for Arachnophobia
📊 THREAT ASSESSMENT
CLASSIFICATION: VENATOR / ELEMENTALIS
According to theoretical analyses, its nature is that of an elemental incarnation, a being that not only lives in darkness but is made of it. Its conduct is that of a supreme hunter, a Venator that uses a combination of physical traps, chemical warfare, and paranormal guerrilla tactics to dominate its ecosystem.
DANGER LEVEL: RED (3 stars)
Based on fragmentary reports and ancient writings, the threat is Red. Forget low-caliber weapons; reports suggest an anomalous chitin exoskeleton. Heavy weapons might crack it, but its ability to vanish into the shadows turns any confrontation into a logistical nightmare. You don't fight the spider; you fight its nest, which moves, suffocates you, and stabs you from impossible angles.
AGGRESSIVENESS LEVEL: RELENTLESS
All accounts agree on this: once you enter its hunting ground, you become its prey. There is no escape. It will hunt you with sadistic patience and terrifying intelligence, using its environment and abilities to play with you, exhausting your sanity and resources before descending for the killing blow. It is not a beast; it is a strategist.
🧬 COMBAT FILE (TL;DR)
TYPE: Aberration / Beast
AFFINITY: Shadow (Primary) / Wind / Toxic
🎯 PRIMARY WEAKNESSES (Theoretical):
High-intensity xenon or UV light (would force it to remain corporeal), Massive and sustained fire (destroys the webs and dissipates the mist), Sonic suppression (would interfere with its shadow movement).
📌 KEY STRENGTHS:
Armored exoskeleton, Shadow Immersion (invulnerability and teleportation between shadows), Neurotoxic Mist Venom, Shadow Webs (trap and cause panic), Corrosive bite.
📚 ORIGINS AND COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY
Universal Archetype: My main thesis. This creature is the archetype, the "patient zero" of arachnophobia. Legends like the Jorōgumo in Japan, Anansi in Africa, or Arachne from Greek mythology are not separate stories; they are the attempts of different cultures throughout history to describe the same primordial entity.
Modern Fantasy: The most obvious influence is Tolkien's Shelob, but reports suggest that Aranea primordialis is much more than a simple giant beast. Its use of shadow and mist elevates it to a level of paranormal threat.
Cryptozoology: It is linked to "giant spider sightings" in jungles and swamps, usually dismissed. The details of its "strangely dark webs" and the "sudden mist" in the reports now take on a new and terrifying meaning.
Astrad's Analysis: Humanity is not afraid of spiders because of their eight legs or their eyes. We are afraid because somewhere in our DNA, in our genetic memory, is the recollection of this thing.
📝 DETAILED ANALYSIS
PHYSICAL AND SENSORY DESCRIPTION:
Based on contradictory accounts, a profile has been compiled. It is an arachnid entity that can reach the size of a vehicle (some records speak of a specimen the size of a two-story house; I decided to ignore that). Its exoskeleton is an obsidian black that seems to devour light, marked by a bright red symbol on its abdomen, similar to that of a black widow. The true horror lies in its mastery of the environment. It weaves webs made of solidified shadow, almost invisible to the human eye but cold to the touch, which not only trap physically but also induce a sense of panic and despair.
BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY:
It is the aerial terror of the swamp. Its hunting method is a masterpiece of psychological warfare. First, it establishes a vast nest of shadow webs in the treetops, creating a labyrinth of traps. Then, it exudes its volatile venom, generating a toxic mist that accumulates below, mixing with the swamp's natural fog. Trapped between the venom that suffocates it from below and the webs that prevent its escape from above, the prey is then hunted by the spider, which uses its Shadow Immersion to move intangibly between the shadows, attacking and disappearing. Its war with the Serpens primordialis is a conflict of titans that defines the ecosystem.
☣️ PROTOCOLS
RECOMMENDED ENCOUNTER PROTOCOL (Theoretical):
DO:
Carry self-contained breathing apparatus in areas of possible infestation.
Use broad-spectrum UV light sources to reveal the shadow webs.
Utilize area-of-effect incendiary weapons (flamethrowers, Molotov cocktails) to clear the terrain.
DON'T:
Travel alone through foggy swamps.
Assume a shadow is just a shadow.
Touch a web, no matter how normal it looks.
Look up only when it's already too late.
FIELD REPORT (Fragment from the last recording of a cryptozoologist in the Everglades, 2019):
"...the mist is unnatural. It's not water vapor; it smells like... almonds and ozone. My lungs... they feel heavy. There are webs everywhere. They're sticky, but above all, they're cold. Like touching a void. They don't reflect my flashlight. [Sound of static and a sharp click]. Oh, my God. It's not that the shadow is moving. It's that there's something moving inside the shado— [The recording cuts off into a choked scream and the sound of ripping silk]"
🎤 ASTRAD'S NOTES (THE ONLY SHIT THAT MATTERS):
I've always wondered why the fuck we're so afraid of spiders. A critter that's often smaller than your thumb. It makes no sense. Until you research this thing. This son of a bitch is the answer. The Aranea primordialis is the reason your brain screams 'BURN IT ALL!' when you see one in the shower. It's a fucking genetic memory.
It's not a monster; it's an archetype. It's the embodiment of every primordial fear we have about spiders, but with all the stats maxed out. Afraid of its bite? This one poisons you with the air. Disgusted by webs? Hers are made of pure darkness and despair. Afraid of it hiding? This one teleports through shadows. It's the final boss of the arachnophobia DLC.
For now, it's a legend, a horror story to scare people on internet forums. But if this thing is real, and if it ever decides that the swamps are too small for it... then our phobia won't be a phobia. It will be the most justified survival instinct in the history of humanity.