Princess pulled the trigger and listened to the sound of the bullet. It cut through the fogs, echoing a screech.

The noise startled Constrien. He raised his energy shield and saw the bullet passing through it and melting into a molten liquid. It burnt his clothes and seared his exposed skin.

"There's a human ambush!" Constrien shouted as he suppressed the pain.

He randomly fired at the fog. They killed the spiderlings but couldn't reach the hidden enemy. In his panic, the spiderlings sneaked to his side and jumped him. In the air, they met a clean strike from Mucia and got cleaved in half.

The acidic blood poured on Constrien. It slowly ate his protective gear before dropping its potency over time. Because he wore goggles, the blood couldn't damage his eyes.

As the acid scorched his clothes, it also drowned and burnt the tiny spiders on his body. With a swipe of his hand, he brushed the corpses of the spiders away.

"Tardium, get the flamethrower!" Constrien shouted.

He turned to his team and witnessed the chaos. As the formation was broken, he had to act as the last line of defence. If he and Mucia fell, the Arachna would overrun them with ease.

"Yes, boss," Tardium said.

He pushed himself up and reached back to his backpack, pulling out the mechanical parts and began assembling them. The crawling sensation itched him, but he could only endure the disgust. Though he knew they couldn't harm him, his speed reduced because of his distress.

"Get away from me," Cyania said. Her muffled, timid tone changed into a shriek.

Her eyes looked everywhere, but she couldn't avoid the spiders. They were inside her, outside of her, and beside her. She couldn't take it anymore. Without creating any formation, she screamed and sent a wave of raging wind outwards.

It passed through everything and paralysed the spiders. They shivered and died from internal combustion. Their bodies burst into blood mists, which painted the clothes crimson.

The invisible wind blew the fog open, revealing the army of Arachna but not the mastermind behind the ambush. Princess had already retreated into the darkness.

"Miss, please stop," Tardium said as he turned to bind her.

She twisted like crazy and scratched him. Her nails scraped a bit of his skin off, creating cuts on his arms.

"Wake up!" Tardium closed his eyes and slapped her with all his might.

His force threw her to the ground as he held his shaky hand in pain. He trembled while watching Cyania slowly got up, his heart accelerating as if it was going to explode. A second was an eternity for him.

"Thanks," Cyania said.

Her soft hand touching her swollen cheek, she cried in pain. Though she was upset, the hit shocked her awake from her frenzy episode. It was the right call from Tardium.

To she who was born as the nobility of the Elven Kingdom, it was a new experience for her.

With her status, she could have everything. Because of her talent, no one dared to scold her. It was rare for her to get tired, let alone feeling pain.

"How dare you hit my lady?" Canaris said.

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He crushed the spiderlings before glaring at Tardium. He bared his fangs and groaned.

"No, Canaris. It's okay," Cyania said.

She cast a spell on her cheek. It healed her wound and softened her skin. The red handprint disappeared as if it didn't exist in the first place.

"Sorry, I'll be more careful this time," she said.

She nodded at Tardium and turned to the tide of spiderlings. Her eyes gleamed in blue and green. The Fons around her separated into two and assembled into two formations with two different designs.

As long as she remained behind Constrien, she wouldn't get shot by the mysterious ambusher.

From the side, Angelica attempted to steady her aim at Cyania. With all the chaos, the group didn't have time to be on guard for another sleeping threat.

By staying off the stage, Angelica had the privilege of taking another free shot, though she had no new instruction from Princess. She had to make the decision herself.

"Mistress, I can't aim," she said.

With Canaris around, she couldn't risk shooting Cyania and Tardium. In the end, Angelica decided to kill Constrien. He was stationary while his attention was at the spiderlings. He also blocked Princess from aiming at the rest of the group.

She aimed at Constrien's centre of mass. Despite her unsteady hand, she could land a good shot on an almost stationary target.

"Got you," Cyania said before collapsing one of her formations into fragments.

They rapidly rotated and soared to Angelica. They morphed into ice spikes and pierced her, throwing off her balance. A part of them hit her joints and significantly impaired her movement.

Angelica fired the bullet. It strayed from its path and hit the Fog Repeller. Smokes and electricity flew from its surface before it crashed against the ground, its propellers broken.

The destruction of the Fog Repeller prompted Constrien to turn to Angelica. He saw the swarm of spiderlings submerged her and narrowed his eyes. He concluded that something more sinister than merely Arachna was at play.

"We have to get out," he said and glanced at the exit.

The gate that could lead him out of the vessel had closed despite the lack of electricity. From this observation, he could safely reason that something was controlling the gate.

"Someone's playing with us," he said.

He tossed his last electric grenade into the fog as hard as he could. He figured someone must be hiding inside it. As long as he threw far enough, the enemy would have to react.

Princess commanded the spiderlings to hug the grenade. They formed a wall that absorbed all electricity. At the same time, she switched her weapon an energy gun and aimed at the energy shield. The gun was on the verge of collapse, so she hadn't used it before.

Once she pulled the trigger, the gun shattered into pieces of heated scraps. The ball of energy flew to Constrien.

Constrien raised the shield before turning pale in terror. He flung it forwards and let it crash against the energy ball, merging in a searing noise. They fused into one, shifting its bluish tone into a crimson shade.

They ruptured into a wave of heat that melted everything it touched. It expanded into the surrounding and lit a fire on the corpses of the spiderlings.

Constrien retreated, but the heat caught his arms and scorched his clothes. He screamed while trying to put out the fire.

"Crouch down, boss," Tardium said. He held a flamethrower and aimed it at Constrien.

After Constrien crouched, Tardium pulled the trigger and watched the blazing dragon killing the spiderlings in front of him. He laughed at his success, feeling proud of his machinery.

As the flame shot toward the fog, it tore the veil of concealment and revealed the secret. Beside the swamp of spiderlings, a figure stood tall amidst the Arachna.

The radiance of the flame caressed her carapace and reflected off the dark glitter. With a pair of azure pupils, she stared at the group with indifference, unaffected by all actions.

"Go, my children. Let them taste the might of us Arachna!" Princess said.

Her army of spiderlings screamed in accordance. Despite the raging flame, they forced their way to the group, using the corpses of their frontline to block the fire.

The sensation of an approaching doom lingered over the group as they witnessed the insanity of the Arachna.

Constrien couldn't believe his eyes that an exotic beauty would be the ruler of the Arachna. Even more so, as an Arachna, she was intelligent enough to scheme.

"Mistress, I'm sorry." Angelica stumbled to Princess before kneeling on the floor.

"It's all right, Angelica. You did well." Princess stroked Angelica's cheek. Her cold gaze faded and got replaced by the tranquil, gentle one.

It was her fault who miscalculated the plan. After all, no one was perfect.

"Miss, please allow us a chance to talk." a voice interrupted Princess. She gazed at its origin.

Tardium looked at her while holding a strange device in a threatening manner.

From her observation, Princess knew it was a dangerous device that would indiscriminately destroy everything unless inputted with complex real-time data to prevent friendly fire.

In conclusion, it was a suicide bomb that could potentially destroy both sides if Princess pushed the group too far.