CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

A choir of clicks spread across a city of silk as the countless homoarachnoids lived their lives, uncaring for the events that occurred on the surface. Homoarachnoids clicked their pincers in nonchalant manners, communicating with each other. They lived their lives, walking about the city, going about their day, partaking in their part as minute cogs in a grand civilization that spread across millions of stars.

And yet, the rest of their distant civilization mattered not.

The inner surface of Planet Amadeus III was their home.

It curved inwards, causing the web-laden ground to rise ever so slightly with each step that a homoarachnoid took. It curved in on itself, creating a closed civilization.

A closed civilization of webs and homoarachnoids.

At the very epicenter of the planetoid-sized cavity was the sun.

Or rather, the molten outer core of the planet.

It hovered at the very epicenter of the hollow cavity, maintaining its shape and never once moving away from the epicenter of the planet.

As if fixed in its place at the very epicenter by a powerful force.

And indeed it was.

The planetary engineering of the homoarachnoids was a feat that vastly exceeded the kind of planetary engineering that most interstellar civilizations conquering many stars were capable of.

The homoarachnoids had conquered the negatron matter that existed at the epicenter of infected worlds and had used it as fuel for their gravitational binding, turning the outer core of the planet into a star that supplied them with light and heat.

All while maintaining an inconspicuous and unsuspecting appearance of a barren gray world on the surface. The webs that formed the ground of their civilization were a technology that engineered space and time as well as weavers could the fabric of cloth.

It was civilizational stealth on a level that very few civilizations could achieve.

An outpost world at the outer edges of their civilization.

An outpost with the purpose of creating more infected worlds to farm more esoteric matter.

They were an explosion that was waiting to happen.

A people that lived alongside a virus that sought to conquer the universe, sequestering resources from the virus while preparing the world for the inevitable blooming that would consume them all, spreading more virus seeds to create more infected worlds to farm resources from.

In return, the virus gained fertility.

It gained authority.

Authority that it could use if it ever came across a cause worth using it for.

And it just had.

RUMBLE

The deep biosphere bacteria embedded across the crust of the planet acted.

An unfathomably complex sequence of causality emerged as the bacteria triggered a series of events, a sequence of signals that spread deeper and deeper into the planet, into the webs that were connected with the homoarachnoids.

It transmitted a single command.

"C̴̪̥͚̗͍̜̩̯̙̋̃̃̎̎́́̄̌̈́ă̸̧̮̹̘̯̙̺̰͕̳̱̗͍̘̆̎͝p̸̨̨̨̧͕̞̻̪̣̹̘͓̌̃̄̌̈́̓ţ̶͕͎̖̖̥̬͉͎̗̤̠́̋̋̿̓͌́̍ͅͅu̷̧̞̰̺̝̭̘̤̻̼͒͂̍͝ͅř̵ͅe̸̖̭̼͒́̌.̵̨̧̝̹̱͚̲͈̳̻̜̔ ̵̢̫̻̺̻̝͈͔͎͚̠̺̯̓̂̆̒͆͊̇̑̕͠Ḩ̴̧̻̲͙͕̜̘̈̈͋̓̎͆̐e̷̛̲̼̣͉͙̹̟͖͙͇̬̓͆̓̌̈́̄͑̂̊̚͘̕͝ͅr̴̬͂̅̏͂̌̈͐̈́͗͊.̶͕̭̼̫̓͌"

Suddenly, every homoarachnoid froze as the command hijacked their consciousness.

"O̶̟̙̞̻̠͓̠̩̫͔͓̗̩͕̊̆̈́͑̆͒̾̒͛̋̆̈́̚͜͠n̷̨̰̲͙̱̳͎̍̚͝e̶̖̦͉͓̯̦̽͆̾̊̾.̶̨̢̤̗̮͚͇̜̫͐̿̈́̂̅̎̿͆͗̀̂̈́̽͘ ̶̛͍̪͂̏̅̀̈́̔̑̓́̓̃̐Ẁ̶̭͉̝̼̼̀̆̏̐̑͊i̶͙̟̺̞͖̗̯͊̈́̕ţ̸͖͚̮̒̿͗̉̏̇̎̿́̽͆́͜h̶̤̣̖̦͍̣͖̠̗̝̑͒̾̊͌̕ ̸̨̡͉͉̈́̍̾͒͝T̵̜̜̩̣̮͈̃́͠͠h̵̡̡̧͕̖̗̩̻̟̳̩̲̣̫͇̍͛̉̊̌͠ė̵̡̨̡̟̯͔̼̫̱̥.̶͓͖̜̝͈̠̞̂̐̈́͐̂̃̓̉͜ ̵͔̮̋͋̈́́̏͋͗̀̃͠Ṵ̷̼͚̝̦̪͉̜͙̀̆͗͐̑̓̄̈́̑̊͝ṇ̸̡̙̯̤͖̺̼̥̙̖͎̳̂͌̈́̽̀̃̇̀̈̚͠i̵̢̛͇̟͈̭͆̈́̈́̌̀ͅv̴͇͚̘̱̜̪̹͎̬̱͇̑̐͑̏̆̉͊͘e̴̢̳͎̲͠r̵̛̛̜̘̔͝s̸̛̬̦̟̬͆̅͊̅̑͆̋͆̿̚̚̚͝ḝ̶̤̖̤̤̤̻̜͈̀̎͌ͅ.̵͔͕̦́͋ ̸͔̥͗̒͋̐̑̐͋͑̈́̄̀͂͛̚͝I̵̤̮̅͘ņ̸̛͔͆̽̏̄͛̏͝.̵̢̧̬̬̩̠̻̫̳̙̊̏̌̀̂̓̒͜ͅ ̶̢̺̼̠̼̲̱͊̆̀̑̏̀͑̽́͛̕͘ͅH̶̝̞̼͚̣̝͓̖̒̏̿͆͛́̉͘̕e̴̡̧̧̖̺͖̱͍͍͖̮͉̝̔͛͗́͋́̏r̷̛̛̫̯̣͙̮͕̍̃̅̂̇̀͊̈́͆̃͜͠.̸̨̱̳̰̩̥̣̅́͊̿̈̋̑̔̓̄͝ ̵̝̟̦͙̪̩̱̦̘͎͙̪͉͔̾̇̀̀̓͂̋͒̇̿̈̿̐͜͝Ḙ̵̟̞̖̙͚̰̔̆̔̑͜ͅͅͅÿ̶̢̫͕͔́̑̿̃͝͝ͅẻ̶̱͉͇͉͓͉̑̑̊́̄̈́̕̕s̵̢̨̛̮̟̘͈̜̥̱̞͚̮̽̈́̊̈́́͒͘͘͜͜ͅ.̴̨̛̥̻̜̪̞̉̐̌̆̇͌́̚ͅ"

Images flashed through their mind as the virus transmitted the necessary information.

"C̴̪̥͚̗͍̜̩̯̙̋̃̃̎̎́́̄̌̈́ă̸̧̮̹̘̯̙̺̰͕̳̱̗͍̘̆̎͝p̸̨̨̨̧͕̞̻̪̣̹̘͓̌̃̄̌̈́̓ţ̶͕͎̖̖̥̬͉͎̗̤̠́̋̋̿̓͌́̍ͅͅu̷̧̞̰̺̝̭̘̤̻̼͒͂̍͝ͅř̵ͅe̸̖̭̼͒́̌.̵̨̧̝̹̱͚̲͈̳̻̜̔ ̵̢̫̻̺̻̝͈͔͎͚̠̺̯̓̂̆̒͆͊̇̑̕͠Ḩ̴̧̻̲͙͕̜̘̈̈͋̓̎͆̐e̷̛̲̼̣͉͙̹̟͖͙͇̬̓͆̓̌̈́̄͑̂̊̚͘̕͝ͅr̴̬͂̅̏͂̌̈͐̈́͗͊.̶͕̭̼̫̓͌"

That was all that was needed.

The homoarachnoids marched.

They marched with abandon.

RUMBLE!!!

The entire planet began shaking. The seismic radiation that swept across the surface of the planet was so intense that the horizon of the planet visibly bobbed up and down. The ground began cracking as gray dust was lifted up into the air, while the atmosphere of Planet Amadeus III began growing more and more tumultuous.

It was not gone unnoticed on the surface.

"Woah." Kane’s expression grew serious as he directed a sweeping gaze across the world around them.

Arastia had a bad feeling about all of it. She couldn’t help but feel that this had something to do with her niece. She didn’t have much evidence, but the fact was that the homoarachnoids that Ria had fought had come for her again. The fact that the black-furred homoarachnoid that she had almost killed had then gone after Ria made her feel especially uneasy about the anomalous seismic activity that was ongoing in the world around them.

She turned towards Ria once more, even as the world around them shook in a perilous manner. "Ria, you should go back to the Blood Arc until—"

She paused as she realized Ria had changed.

Her face had grown pale.

Her expression had frozen with alarm.

Her body language had stiffened.

A single emotion lurked in the depths of her amber eyes.

Fear.

A pure, raw fear unlike anything she had ever felt in her entire life. It was so overwhelming that it engulfed her entire mind and body, completely paralyzing her in it.

It had commenced from the moment the world around them had begun shaking, swiftly consuming her heart, leaving her completely drowned in bone-chilling terror. Her breathing began to grow ragged as her heart rate began to rise.

"Ria...? Ria!" Arastia arrived before her, shaking her shoulders with concern in her eyes. "What’s happening? Are you alright?"

"Your Highness..." Sage Sayfeel felt the intensity of her emotions, widening his eyes with surprise. "What... what brings you fear?"

She was surrounded by a Transcendent Candidate, a Martial Corporeal, and one of the strongest pathwalkers in human civilization. And yet, their powerful and protective presence wasn’t enough to assuage her concerns. It wasn’t enough to prevent her from being completely consumed with utterly heart-wrenching fear.

So much so that Ria couldn’t even hear them anymore.

Arastia didn’t need to see more.

She turned towards Kane.

"Get her back to the Blood Arc immediately."

Kane nodded, turning towards her. "Let’s go, kiddo."

He lifted Ria in a princess carry, all about to activate the Corporeal Realm and zoom away at superluminal speeds.

And yet, Planet Amadeus III did not permit him to.

RUMBLE!!!

The rumbling intensified as the very fabric of space and time around the planet began to warp. Kane’s eyes widened as he sensed the structure of the world around them shifting. The gray skies shook while the winds danced. The atmosphere grew electric with peril as he tried to shoot up into the skies, trying to get Ria out of there before the situation deteriorated.