The dust storm engulfed the landscape, painting the world with gloomy, dark-brown dust.

Though no sunlight could penetrate the thick layer of dust, the group had brim lights which illuminated the surrounding. They marched forward, going against the wind current. The dust kicked against their face, but their masks protected them.

Though they had the goggles, they still raised one of their hands to protect their face. If a stray piece of rock hit the goggles, it might break and stab their eyes.

In the whirlwind of dust, the storm roared in all directions. Aside from the sound transmitted through radio, interference noises were everywhere. The group slowed their pace and surveyed their surrounding with thermovision.

"Twelve o'clock, approximately fifty meters away," Constrien said. "Get ready."

Tardium nodded. He tapped the side of his goggles, activating the device attached to it. The screen displayed real-time information into graphs and charts. He set a cylindrical device on the ground.

"Expect a confrontation in ten!" Constrien aimed his gun up-front, his eyes peeking at his teammates to check their condition.

Through the thick layer of dust, the silhouettes of the spiderling manifested. They jumped at Constrien, baring their fangs. He pulled the trigger and watched them turned limp, their green blood splashing backwards.

The gun recoiled and pushed him back. He knocked it against an approaching spiderling before assessing the situation. A horde of spiderlings rushed to him.

He retreated, tossing a metallic rod at the spiderlings. His gun spewed bullets and killed a few spiderlings. A flash of blue light emerged from the rod and shocked the nearby spiderlings.

"Canaris, clear the way," the Elven Arbiter said and pointed at the spiderlings behind her.

Canaris, cloaked in dirty clothes, stepped forward. His motion shook off his hood and revealed his wolf-like ears and his sharp, yellow pupils.

The Elven Arbiter placed her hand on his head. The Fons assimilated into his body and circulated along his veins.

"Yes, my lady." Canaris took a step forward, his body expanding, his claws sharpening. From the thin slave-like appearance, he turned into a monster with covered in grey fur.

He wreaked havoc among the spiderlings, effortlessly tearing their hardened skin. Though they scratched his body, he remained unconcerned.

He ripped a spiderling in half and gobbled it, crunching its flesh with his sharp, grinding teeth. The acidic blood couldn't do anything to his strengthened body except adding a sour flavour.

The group gradually picked up their pace. Constrien tossed a few more electric grenades and shot a few more spiderlings. He appeared calm while he dealt with the seemingly endless horde of spiderlings.

In the area around the group, the Arachna's corpses formed a small hill. The green puddles of blood reeked a metallic smell with which the dust storm carried.

"Tardium, progress?" Constrien said. He shielded his teammates and activated the defensive gadget. The device attached on his arm created a semi-transparent blue barrier. The heatwave the device emitted rippled the vision and penetrated his thick clothes.

At the temperature where an organic material would melt and caught fire instantly, it served as a powerful deterrence. Nevertheless, its consumption cost was too much to maintain for long.

"Just a little more," Tardium said as he inputted the real-time data into the cylindrical device. Despite the uproar in the surrounding, his focus remained on the device.

If he messed up even a single line of coding, he would have to start all over again. He had to leave everything else for his teammates and concentrated at the task.

"Incoming Spitlings!" Constrien raised his shield. Two spit-like darts shot penetrated the shield. The heatwave evaporated them in exchange for a surge of power usage.

Aside from the spiderling, one of the most common Arachna was the Spitling. They were a spider with their upper-body resembling a snake, having two fangs which stored poisonous glands in them.

In a large-scale war, the Spitling could cause chaos with their deadly spits whose penetration force could pierce through thick metal. Its weakness was the high temperature that would vaporize it. Without the outer membrane, the deadly poison would get neutralized by the natural chemical in the air.

"Finished!" Tardium said. He pushed the activation button and watched the device processing his command.

"Canaris, come back," the Elven Arbiter said. Canaris threw the spiderling away and sprinted to her, his body shrinking back to the thin appearance.

"My lady, am I good?" Seeing her nod, Canaris smiled, his hand wiping the blood on his face. As long as she praised him, he was content.

"Let's end this," Tardium said before throwing the cylindrical device into the air. He and his team ducked.

The device spun and radiated Fons through its gap. The pressure from the within cracked the metallic surface and created a few rifts. They released a surge of invisible wind that enveloped the surrounding.

After a pause of silence, the device broke into fragments, revealing a sphere of electricity. It split into rays of lightning and passed through the sandstorm, shocking all Arachna within the hundred-meter radius.

An explosion of blue light occurred. The surge of electricity disrupted all forms of communication and fried all running electronic devices, though the group had already turned off their gadgets.

When the light faded, a fragrance of cooked meat permeated the surrounding. The group could see countless corpses littering everywhere, filling the dust storm with dark-greenish hue.

"Time spent: 19 minutes. Kill count: 84. Thank you for choosing our Virtual Battleground," a feminine yet robotic voiced echoed.

Before the group's eyes, those corpses disintegrated into nothingness, the terrains into a blurry green scenery. Once everything regained their original design, the black room resurfaced.

"The new equipment helps massively," Tarduim said. He watched his fake gadgets disappeared from his grip. As the stimulated sensations faded, he began to relax.

The group didn't spend any bullet or equipment. Everything was all illusion created by the technology called the Virtual Battleground.

"Let's go back," Constrien said. As of the moment, he had full confidence in his ability. Even if they couldn't accomplish the objective, which was unlikely, they would be able to survive.

...

"Do you recognize them?" Princess said while holding a gun. She examined the design before handing it to Angelica.

"My deepest apology, mistress. My database doesn't have any record for weaponry." Angelica bowed, her voice quivering.

"It's all right." Princess giggled, though she felt a little disappointed. Though she absorbed the Captain's memory, she didn't gain any worthwhile knowledge.

Because of his lowly status, he didn't have any valuable information. The operations of the scavengers didn't suit her, so she effectively gained nothing.

"Angelica, record this," Princess said. She reloaded the gun. According to her memory, she positioned herself and aimed like how a trained human would.

Angelica stared at Princess with an amusing expression. Before her, an Arachna was wielding a gun, though her demeanour was elegant, unlike the others.

Princess's action was akin to a supportive android picking up a gun and fighting against the army of Arachna at the frontline. It was poetically contradictory.

She pulled the trigger. Triple gunshots resounded. The semi-automatic rifle recoiled, pushing her backwards. The smoke rose from the barrel as the bullets penetrated the metallic wall.

The wall absorbed the bullet into it then spit it out and slowly reconstructing its damaged body like an organic lifeform recovering from an injury, though no one noticed the change.

"Theory and practice aren't the same after all." Princess shook her head. If she aimed at the centre of mass, she should be able to hit two out of three shots. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Mistress, in an enclosed space, you should be able to threaten the intruders with your shots. The intimidation method can work as a distraction for the killing blow."

"I'll keep that in mind." Princess examined the gun. The smoke and the heat it produced worried her. Though it was of somewhat acceptable quality, the time had worn it down.

The next battle would be tedious, but it would also be the last battle she had to fight alone. As long as her existence was a secret, she would have a long period of peace to spend nurturing her army.

"To kill them without any chance of getting detected by long-distance communication?" Princess muttered. The gem in her heart accelerated her thought process.

In the silence, Princess revealed a sadistic smile, expressing her delight in the form of a grin and a gleam in her pupils.