Inside the sealed room, Princess let go of a Fairy. She dropped on the metallic floor and gasped for breaths. The cold temperature nipped her skin.

"I've told you everything. Let me meet my friends."

"You're pitiful, not knowing your place."

Princess pointed at the Fairy, her fingertip tapping the forehead. The azure radiance, hidden within it a golden gleam, penetrated the skull.

The Fairy gagged, her eyes widened. She reached out to Princess but failed to reach her. Her body gave in and collapsed, never to stand up again.

After she made sure the Fairy met her friends, Princess left the room. Through the screen she watched the destruction of the special patrol fleet. The golden Arachna swarmed the vessels and killed everything that moved.

"Map the route to the Human–Elf border. We'll be greeting the little princess."

"Your highness, we know it's a crude trap."

"It's perfect because they know I can't pass on it."

"Worst case we might have to fight against the combined might of the Great Races."

"If they could unite as one, the Arachna wouldn't be winning this hard." Princess turned away from the screen. "Is there a contact from the Arachna Queen?"

Despite the betrayal during the invasion of Sector D, the Arachna had never attempted to pursue her. When clashed, the Arachna would give way as if she was their saviour.

"The upper-echelon of the Arachna hadn't made any major movement since your escape."

"Soon we'll get to marvel at the complex architect spanning millenniums. Let's hope everyone has plans for us."

As the last vessel sunk beneath the sea of clouds, Princess walked to a bathroom. In the next hour, she soaked under the creamy cold water. She donned herself in a black dress to blend in with her dark-purple carapace.

In a long stroll, she passed through the rose-filled hall and visited Angelica. As soon as she entered the room, her eyes shone with life. The sleeping body in the cylinder wordlessly greeted her. Angelica remained dreaming and waiting.

"I'm back. Today I have some free time."

Her fingers tapping the security glass, Princess whispered mundane stories to Angelica. She hoped to build a dream world for Angelica through her involvement.

"Your highness, an enemy approaches." Shifting Mist interrupted the moment. "Another one from the Human Empire."

Princess sighed. "Sorry. I'll continue after this."

With a smile on her face and a glow in her eyes, she left her humanity inside and exited the room. It didn't take long for her to reach the core room and witnessed the emergence of an approaching fleet.

In contrast to the incompetent patrol fleet, the new enemy came prepared. Their vessels radiated a domineering aura capable of fighting against the endless horde of Arachna.

"Not only the Elves used them, but humans also used them. In the name of science, these people butcher children and torture men, though it is also them who guided Angelica to me."

"Do we engage or retreat?"

Princess stared at the map while her army of golden Arachna spread out. "Let none survive."

The main vessel aimed its energy cannon at Shifting Mist and fired a gigantic beam. Like a shooting star, it shot passed the sea of golden Arachna and melted everything it encountered.

The blinding light pierced the clouds and exposed the landscape below. From Shifting Mist, Princess saw the ray of heat approaching and quickly dispersing into soft sparks. Once touched the layer of mist around Shifting Mist, it slowed into a harmless breeze.

As the heat scattered, the steam in the air turned into a downpour before freezing into snows and hailstones. The calm weather flipped into a storm.

Shifting Mist glowed in divine light, its structure radiating liquified Fons. The golden mist gathered into an ever-revolving spell formation, ranging hundreds of meter across the sky. The circular design absorbed the surrounding air and fired at the fleet.

The golden light, soft yet blurry to the eyes, slithered to the main vessel. Like a blade, it cleaved the vessel in half. Countless mushroom clouds sprung, sending shockwaves that obliterated the nearby aircraft.

The explosions coloured the sky before fading to obscurity. The vessels sank under the depth of the clouds, returning to the embrace of nature.

From the main vessel, emergency ships rushed out. Their movement resembled the flies. They desperately flew in all directions, hoping to escape through luck.

Princess averted her attention and walked away. The gigantic spell formation broke down into particles and merged with the mist around the flying fortress.

An hour later, the storm subsided. The remaining survivors knelt before Princess, their arms and legs restrained by a group of golden Arachna.

They held down the survivors with their claws, their blades hovering above the heads. Aside from the breathing, the room was silent.

"Greeting, your highness," one of the humans said.

She struggled to look at Princess but could only see the dusty mantle with its shadow casting on her. The black tiles seemed depthless and all-encompassing, its invisible reach pulling her down.

"Why did you seek death?"

"Your highness, please come back to The Empire. You are a human and should not be with these monsters."

"Answer my question."

"With your rumoured intelligence, you should have known the Arachna is the embodiment of destruction. Only with you can we eradicate them."

Princess stomped the woman's head. A muffled cry rang as her eyes rolled back and her body went limbed. The Arachna took her out while Princess chose the next survivor.

In contrast to the woman, this man remained motionless, whispering a prayer. On his uniform was a half-torn badge of a religion.

"Understand that I question and you answer." Princess examined the badge. "How high is your position of faith?"

"I'm only a cleric."

"How high is your connection?"

"I know a few Bishops."

Princess gripped the man's head and stared into his eyes. "Have they spoke of any oracles?"

"Not in recent time."

She let go of him and turned to survey the other survivors. Within the room, she only saw fear and despair.

With her order as her scythe, Princess listened to their answer and judged them. After she tortured a few disobedient prisoners, the rest craved in and spilt everything, though their limited knowledge gave her almost nothing.

"Sadly your god has forsaken you."

Princess strolled to the core room. The muted screeches penetrated the walls and reached her, only to soften as time and distance increased. Their meat wasn't to her standard, and their memory only served to muddle her mind.

"I detect no anomaly within one-hundred-kilometre diameter. Your hypothesis is likely to be true," Shifting Mist said. "I've cleansed the examination room."

"The faster we proceed the safer we are. We'll know the truth when we reach the end."

...

"Are we starting without her?"

"No need to distract her. She's trying her best."

Specria placed her documents and took a sip of her colourful drink. Multiple people chatted through the display. Despite not having seen each other for a long time, they remained casual.

Knowing they used one of the strongest encryptions, Specria made herself comfortable by wearing a thin dress and laying on her desk. Her chest pressed against the woodentop and spread sideways, though she didn't mind.

"Shame, woman, do you have it?"

"I'm tired and sleepy and lazy. Let me be."

"You're just lazy. We don't have much free time like you, so tell us the result already."

"Fortunately, or unfortunately, she ignored our signal."

"So she isn't the real deal."

"She didn't attempt to decrypt it. She just ignored it altogether."

"You're telling me she didn't want to see us."

"She must have her reasons."

Specria shared an aerial map above the Great Races' territory. Hiding inside the complex pathways were red dots with varying shades of brightness. They spread across the world with seemingly no pattern.

"The darker the colour, the more likely she had visited the marked place. She didn't kill everyone in her path. As for the most recent example, she let an old veteran general live."

The information regarding the general manifested on the screen.

"I saw him before. He was lucky enough to meet her highness during her frontline operation."

"You sure?"

"My memory hasn't failed me before."

Through the hologram, a man raised his hand and shared a map to the group. He was one of the influential military chiefs.

"My men have caught a strong fluctuation of Fons. I've marked the estimated location of the conflict."

"Should we go check?"

Specria sighed. "We'll prepare for the ambassadors of the Elven Kingdom first. I suspect we might encounter her there."

She pointed at the location near the boundary between the Human Empire and the Elven Kingdom then created a rough aerial pathway which intersected with the boundary.

"Who will take this opportunity?"

Everyone looked at each other, feeling an enormous weight crushing their mind. Everyone here wanted to see her again, but no one had any idea what would happen if they met her.

The questions of her personality, her ambition, her affection—all remained a mystery. If possible, they would love to see her come back as a human, not as something not human but also not Arachna. In this murky line of humanity and monster, they struggled to define her existence.

"I'll do it," Ocupas said. "She was once my fiancée. I want to know if she still remembers us."

"She broke up with you, but you still pursued her."

The giggles echoed from the screen and filled Specria with joy. When everyone was here, the world didn't seem so gloomy anymore. As her thought arrived at the conclusion, she hung her head low.

"It's not your fault. He'll surely say that."

"I know. It's just so surprising that an assassin-class Arachna could enter the city, kill one of the most important figures of The Empire, and leave without any trouble."

As his death set the example, the Great Races tightened the security over the important personnel. Nevertheless, they couldn't bring back the genius strategist.

"Last thing. Can anyone contact Lord Inemas?"

No one answered. If one could casually contact an Authority, the search would have finished already. With this assumption in mind, it was strange that Lord Inemas, who mentored Princess of Resolution, hadn't attempted to search for her whereabouts yet.

"Who knows what the Authorities are doing. Their vision eclipses ours in both the scale and duration. If not for the existence of the real Gods, they might as well be one."

Specria shook her head. "Why are you staring at me? I don't know if I could become one or not. Less than one in a thousand peak Arbiters could become an Authority."

"Let's hope for Medoria and you to become one. With that kind of power, we'll be able to ensure her safety and negotiate with The Empire."

"Be careful of what you said. They might be listening."

"I don't fear their systemic power."

"By they, I mean them." Specria pointed at the sky directly at the sun.

Everyone understood her implication. Aside from the Authorities, the anchor of the Great Races largely remained with the presence of the Gods. With the countless devout members, they were the strongest force within the Great Races, dwarfing all other since the beginning of time.