"What else do you want?" Tardium said.

"If you were me, what would you do?" Princess said.

Tardium reflected on her question. He couldn't afford any mistake, but also couldn't answer with an outrageous demand.

"Humans, your indecisiveness disgust me." Princess snapped her fingers. The spiderlings became restless and gradually approached Tardium.

"Wait!" he shouted. The sweats tickled from his face. "We'll accept your earlier condition."

The pulsation of his heart echoed beside his ears. He felt a sense of suffocation assaulting his chest. It burnt through his throat and blocked the airflow. In silence, he resisted the urge to gulp and stood motionless.

His teammates turned to him, their expression astounded. They hung their head low and softened their breath, their thought conflicted.

"Go on," Princess said and raised her hand. The spiderlings halted their progress.

She raised her hand to conceal her mouth, which curved into a smile. Her eyes gleamed azure with amusing anticipation radiating from it.

"If we could provide a satisfactory alternative, you would let us go," Tardium said and watched Princess hidden in the shadow. Behind her, Angelica stood with her hands behind her back like a senior maid.

Anything he said, they would record.

He faced the testimonial dilemma. Not speaking meant no explanation, but speaking too much could also backfire. Though the silence gave him time, it also magnified the stress.

"We gave you a record of our betrayal, but you remain unsatisfied," he said. "We'll also let you have Mucia. I'll relinquish my authority and gift her to you, along with the records I've gathered throughout the year."

"You are wrong, human," Princess said. "I create the record. It isn't yours to give. You cannot use it to leverage against me."

Tardium narrowed his eyes, but the spiderlings didn't resume the battle. He managed to catch a glimpse of Princess contemplating the offer. The android, Mucia, was superior to the supportive android that Princess had. Angelica was a damaged good for her.

"Miss, I'll provide more Fons batteries and the spare parts for you," Tardium said.

Princess shifted her gaze to Angelica. She observed the damaged body and trembling hands. A faint spark of electricity and a wisp of smoke seeped from Angelica. She regretted her plan.

"Mistress, please don't mind me," Angelica said.

She knew what Princess was thinking, but she also knew it was too dangerous to let the group live. It was too risky to exchange their lives for her body parts.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Princess smiled.

She glanced at Tardium, her eyes gleaming brightly. The ruthlessness in them settled Tardium, breaking his train of thought.

"Interesting suggestion, but it's merely just that," Princess said. "An easily disposable android isn't enough. Are your lives only worth that much?"

The spiderlings perked up and groaned in resonance. The vast world seemed to shrink, trapping Tardium in a slaughterhouse full of spiderlings. Their clicking noises haunted every moment of his awareness.

The sudden refusal caught him off guard. He forgot that Princess was vicious. She wouldn't accept a mere android in exchange for three human lives. He was running out of options.

"Just a bit more," Cyania whispered, her voice soft enough to go unnoticed.

Her words helped him regained his confidence. As long as the goal was in sight, he could endure more.

"What should we do?" Tardium said. Despite what he had in mind, he decided to question her instead.

"How about you?" Princess pointed at Tardium. "I want you to be by my side, in exchange for their lives."

As her speech faded, the world went silent. Everyone stared at her, their expression perplexing.

"Me?" Tardium said. His mind went blank as the plan he concocted flooded down the drain. His hands were sweaty and weak.

"If you remain here, the others will live."

Tardium gazed at his teammates. Constrien peeked at him with his complicated gaze while Cyania was concentrating on healing Canaris, though she must have heard it.

Tardium looked at his feet and panted, his breathing accelerated. He had to answer, but he couldn't choose the supposedly obvious answer. Between his life and his friends, he had to decide whom to die.

"Don't push me too hard." Tardium raised his voice. "I still have this thing with me."

He put the cylindrical device into the centre of attention, his hand trembling while holding it.

"Fool," Princess said, her voice icy cold. Her eyes turned sharp as they dimmed into blackness.

"Tardium, on your signal," Cyania whispered. The time was now.

Tardium heaved a sigh of relief before taking a deep breath.

"Wait!" he shouted, shaking with anger. He tapped Constrien, who nodded after receiving the signal. "You don't want this to end badly, do you? I won't hesitate to take me with you."

Princess froze, shocked by the sudden shift of the attitude. She shifted her gaze around, her feeling pricked her mind with a faint worry, but she couldn't detect anything.

"I'm done playing this game," Princess said.

"Don't force my hand!" Tardium yelled. He held his device above his head, threatening to push button. "Mucia, come back."

Cyania sprinted to the gate, a spell formation rotating in her hands. She commanded Canaris to protect her and prayed to the Gods for success.

Angelica aimed at Tardium and fired. With unprecedented accuracy, the bullet pierced Tardium's hand. The pain shocked him and loosened his muscle. The device dropped to the floor and rolled away.

The spiderlings screamed and rushed forwards. Constrien retreated to the flamethrower. He knelt and blazed the spiderlings with a spiral of flame, burning the living and the death.

"Finished!" Cyania yelled and pushed her hands against the gate.

By using the excuse of healing Canaris, she covertly drew a powerful Fons formation underneath the simple healing spell structure. Though it was powerful, she needed time to prepare it, which was why Tardium had to delay the inevitable.

The formation touched the metallic gate and collapsed into countless cracks. Like a firework, a blue light gushed from them and gradually decayed the gate. Its brightness overwhelmed the fog, revealing the spiderling tide in the darkness.

Despite the overwhelming numbers at the front, the backline didn't exist as Princess purposely shifted them to the frontline, creating an illusion of endless spiderlings.