"The southern wall has fallen. Please evacuate to the underground complex immediately."

Throughout the city, citizens and officers froze under the presence of the emergency call. They turned to the walls which shattered into countless pathways for the Arachna.

The Arachna tide cast a shadow that overwhelmed the light within the city. It spread inward alongside screams and cries of fear. Everything became insignificant before it.

In the swarm of despair, a sturdy military complex stood tall, unwavering at the oncoming tide. It oversaw all anomalies. Under the unexpected circumstance, the silent building became lively, filled with the military personnel.

"Why is a C-graded tide coming here?"

"Reporting, commander. We've lost contact with the southern wall."

"Where is the reinforcement?"

The executives averted their gaze from the hologram in the middle of the room. They feared the red dots flashing inside the layout of the city. Like a flood, they invaded the southern part before spreading towards other areas.

"The tide also overwhelms the other cities. Only Sector B and C can send the reinforcement."

The commanders in the room felt hopeless. Because of the lack of wars, the corruption within Sector D had been eating away the military funds for years. They decided to pocket the taxes and maintain merely the absolute minimum effort to defend the city.

"Send the Special Military Order to the mercenaries under the law of emergency evacuation. Take this decree to implore the nobles. They're in their district." the supreme commander said.

He always had the looming fear about the rampant corruption and the unexpected tide, but his power alone couldn't change the internal structure of the Human Empire. He knew that it was a disgrace for the military to ask for help, but he had no choice.

"Our greed, our indiscipline, and our negligence lead up to this moment. Now, we're truly a laughing stock," he said.

Every commander was guilty. They knew the consequences of their actions, but their greed still triumphed over their duty.

"Permission to activate the automaton fortress granted. I'll take all the responsibility."

The situation had turned desperate enough for the supreme commander to utter such words.

...

"Do you trust me?" Princess asked.

She stared at Angelica, who was kneeling against the floor. With their gaze connected, they could feel and see a certain familiarity.

"Of course, mistress. This life belongs to you," Angelica said with a smile.

"This will hurt."

Princess sent a wisp of Fons into Angelica. It moved through her circuit before merging into the metallic body. She knelt and touched Angelica's chest. In an instant, she plucked the Fons battery from its place and drained its Fons.

Without a constant source of Fons, Angelica trembled in panic as if she was drowning. Her chest felt tight, her body stiff. If not for her will to live, she would have already entered a power-saving mode and shut down.

"Don't worry, Angelica. I'm here," Princess said as she continued to send in Fons.

It circulated in Angelica and breathed life into her. The suffocation gradually faded as the Fons from Princess substitute the Fons battery.

"You'll have to bear for a while. It's for your safety," Princess said.

By observing them through the spiders she scattered in the forest, she managed to study their composition and ranked them into an order of importance. No one would suspect that an abandoned base would have a humanoid Arachna in it.

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By feinting the scattering, Princess reinforced the false belief that no one was commanding the Arachna. The question became how the group of scavengers died.

"And thus, the scavengers died under an ambush of the Arachna."

She turned to the corpses she laid. They had their weapons broken and their body mutilated as if they died fighting for survival. She chose to take the handguns and a few gadgets from the corpses. Though she tried to take the best guns, she had to account for her aim and compatibility.

Most of the guns were too heavy and on the verge of completely broken. Princess stored a handgun and an energy gun for the energy shield. If the shield collided with an energy shot, it would short circuit and explode.

"During the struggle, strayed bullets caused a leakage to occur and fill the vessel with a fog."

Princess fabricated the story in great details, planning from the first step until the last. With this, she could limit the perception of the group, planning traps and pitfalls for them, though most of them required her quick wit and real-time information.

"Priority: the Arbiter, the engineer, and the vanguard, and then the slave," Princess said.

Angelica now understood why Princess forfeited her Fons battery. It was to conceal her presence and painted a fake picture.

"I'll gladly be your finest puppet, mistress," she said and placed her hand grasped Princess's hand, telling her feeling through the sensation of touch.

...

The plan and execution were different. Princess failed to account for other aspects: Tardium's superweapon, the electric grenade's potential power, and Cyania's talent.

In an accident, the electric grenade shocked Angelica and almost ruined the plan. She twisted and fell, creating a commotion that raised the guard of the group. Cyania to disregard the stealth mission and forcefully dispersed the fog.

Though more parts of her ambush became apparent, Princess didn't panic. Her facade of mindless Arachna remained strong reinforcement, helping her survive through the dangerous phase.

"They're coming!" Tardium said.

The group raised their concentration to their highest while waiting for the approaching spiderlings. In a clash, they fired against the spiderlings and dropped their bullet shells. The metallic noises rang inside the room as the spiderlings fell.

Mucia, the combative android, charged forwards and slashed her electric rapiers. She gracefully danced around the spiderlings and cut them in half, moving in and out of the engagement.

"We'll retreat," Constrien said.

He stared at the fog and shook his head. It wasn't a great idea to hold their ground when he didn't know the exact number of enemies. Though Princess didn't possess many spiderlings, she controlled them in a manner that gave a fault impression fo endlessness.

As Canaris reached the exit, the tiny spiders above the gate bit their webs and severed the threads that kept a piece of metal hanging. It dropped on his head and caused him to scream.

"Canaris!" Cyania shouted.

She disregarded the surrounding and swiped her fingers across the air. A spell formation emerged, its design rapidly assembling.

"Above!" Tardium said as he looked up.

Though the spiders hadn't done anything, the foreboding sense of threat loomed over Tardium. No matter how he tried to calm down, he couldn't find his source of discomfort.

As the group struggled to retreat, Angelica, who was lying on the ground, opened her eyes and turned to Cyania. With patient, she adjusted the angle of her handgun, but her hands kept spasming from the electrical shock.

"I'm sorry, mistress," Angelica peeked at the tiny spiderling beside her and said.

She aimed at Cyania's centre of mass. If she couldn't kill her, it would be better to create chaos for Princess to make her move.

Time was limiting.

Angelica pulled the triggered. The bullet spun out of the barrel and rushed to Cyania. It announced its presence while traversing the distance. The air whistled and heated up in a red trail.

"Miss, step away!" Despite feeling dizzy, Canaris jumped at Cyania and pushed her away.

The bullet barely grazed Cyania and penetrated Canaris's stomach instead. It went in and out of him, creating a bloody wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.

With her concentration broken, Cyania choked on her blood before spitting it out. Though the physical pain hurt her, the mental pain she felt was much more agonizing.

In a moment of dizziness, she clashed against Tardium, causing him to fall on the floor. Mucia attempted to help her master, but the spiderlings didn't allow her to do anything.

"Tardium, help me!" Constrien failed to maintain his balance, almost tripping backwards. He held his shield and repelled a few spiderlings himself. It vibrated as the heat burnt the spiderlings to death, though its brightness gradually dimming.

"I'll use another electric grenade," Constrien said before throwing the grenade.

A series of metallic cries echoed forth. The tiny spiders on the ceiling rained upon the group. Though their bite couldn't pierce the thick clothes or have strong venom, their number could induce significant chaos and distraction.

By showering on the group, they intensified the panic and disrupted their field of view.

"What's happening?" Tardium screamed.

His vision turned black as the spiders crawled all over his body. He felt a horrible sensation creeping across his skin as he struggled to wipe them off his face. It was as if he had spiders under his external skin.

As the struggle intensified, a delicate, dark-purple hand reached out from the darkness. It held a scythe that would harvest the unfortunate souls. In complete silence and precision, Princess pulled the trigger.