Somnus sighed. "I have not terminated subject Gemma; however, she may have died of her wounds. Unclear."

"What?" Arcadia asked, surprised. "You didn't kill someone important?" Her question reflected her shock.

"Are you all right, Somnus?" Emily asked. She too was surprised that Somnus did not kill someone for once. Although, this wasn't her way of making a joke, she genuinely noticed that Somnus had not been himself since he returned from the lower dungeon a few hours ago.

"All systems green," Somnus replied. Not even once had he looked away from his work.

On the table before him was something that once used to be an Arachnid, a type of dungeon monster that was rare and not very strong—in fact, it was quite weak. However, the barely alive Arachnid on the table did not look like that weak creature anymore. It was covered entirely in Argentmetal plates, like armor, to the point that it somewhat resembled Somnus's old body.

"You have been acting strangely, my Lord. The goblins are also acting strangely. Did something happen during the Raid?" Emily asked.

"We are leaving the Dungeon," Somnus said as he traced a finger over some of the Argentmetal plates. There was a sense of hurry in his motions, yet even though he moved with such haste, the magic circles he created never seemed to lose their quality.

"We are leaving, my Lord? Where would we go?" Arcadia asked. Of course, neither Emily nor Arcadia wanted to ask Somnus what he was doing to the poor spider. That wasn't the only spider Somnus was experimenting on. Another was one was laying quietly on another table only a few meters away. Arachnids were usually timid creatures who would flee at the first sign of trouble, despite being almost as large as a horse. Therefore, to see two Arachnid quietly laying down on the table while Somnus was doing who knows what to them was surprising. Perhaps Somnus had good intentions?

"To my City," Somnus said, as he released another spell against the Argentmetal. At this moment, Somnus turned and looked towards Det who was standing in the background. "Det, bring the mythril."

"Master make new weapon?" Det asked as he picked up some of the mythril plates that were laying around in preparation for this experiment. Det had received only mild injuries from the Raid. He and Lod had been instrumental in suppressing the rest of the Adventurers while Somnus and Hadron fought the others. Every Division had reported that there were some exceptionally powerful adventurers among the enemies, but with superior teamwork they managed to overcome the opposition. The orcs, dumb as they were, correctly rationalized that the enemy used formations suitable only for fighting a single enemy, so they countered with a relentless swarming attack. Of course, the other monsters doubted this was strategy, just orcs being orcs.

"Need weapons urgently," Somnus said. "Must learn process for mechanization."

"Mekanission?" Det asked, as he placed the mythril plates on a free spot on the table. "Can Det be Mekanised? Det strong. Det prove he proper man for b.o.o.bs."

Lod entered the room at that moment, carrying Orichalc.u.m plates. "Det not man. Det stupid goblin. Heala dance on Det grave. Lod celebrate with Heala."

Of all the nicknames the monsters gave her, Arcadia liked "Heala" the most. Unfortunately, "Heala" was the only one that was actually nice in any way.

Det scowled at Lod's words and narrowed his eyes. Lod had been also only mildly injured, still a new scar graced his flesh, this time over his right eye. It made Lod look like a veteran.

The goblins had looked more warrior-like than the orcs, intimidating and with a battle-hardened presence.

"Det not understand why white robes like Lod better than Det. Det stronger," the goblin complained, noticing Arcadia's approval of Lod's words. Of course, Det didn't know it was because of the nickname.

Lod flashed a smile full of broken teeth. "Lod suave. That why."

Det frowned, "Lod make up words again."

Lod slapped Det across the face and growled. "Lod no make up word. Look in dictorary." Lod said as he pulled out a small, ruined, book from his tunic. It was a dictionary.

Det rubbed his cheek, took the book and walked back to his previous spot next to the wall. Det bragged that he was stronger than Lod all the time, but when it came to put the cards on the table, he always retreated from the confrontation.

Det flipped open the book and began reading.

"Master. Lod meet strange new goblin. Goblin say name is Hadron. He with us, master?" Lod asked.

Meanwhile, Emily, Arcadia and Somnus ignored the two goblins who always made a scene whenever they were together. They took turns insulting each other and the humans. Even Arcadia, who felt insulted the most, eventually stopped caring about what nicknames they used for her.

Somnus was still preparing the mythril plates, easily bending them in his hands. He had learned how to shape magical metals and now it had become easy enough for him to do it with his bare hands, and certain spells. Most of the forging itself he had left to a few gifted goblins and orcs whom Somnus taught the necessary skills.

"Codename Hadron is an ally," Somnus said as the mythril plate attached itself to the Argentmetal with ease. Somnus pressed his fingertip against the mythril, and a spell formation appeared on the plate and then faded away. He was inscribing spells on the plates. Most of them were of a defensive nature that hardened the plates and made them immune to damage.

"Master… Lod want to know what master is doing with eight leg things. Lod hate eight leg things. They no taste good and they hairy. Lod once eat one and Lod get sick. Lod get indignation and make mess in loincloth."

Emily snorted, failing to stifle her laughter. "Indigestion, you mean."

Lod looked to Emily and said, "Pretty eyes is so smart." Lod, and some of the other goblins, had respect for Emily who was always quiet and out of the way. She never made trouble for anyone. Unlike Arcadia who always seemed to question Somnus and his decisions.

Somnus sighed. "This is subject Alpha. That is subject Beta," Somnus said.

"Somnus is weaponizing the Arachnids," Arcadia said with a sigh. "He doesn't care that they are almost an extinct species."

"Arkanids better this way. Master make Arkanid strong," Lod said with a satisfied nod and a grand tone, as if trying to sound smart and dignified.

"When master weaponize Veyron?" Lod asked.

Suddenly, Somnus looked up from the Mechanized Arachnid. He had completely forgotten about the dragon. "Is Veyron still stuck in the lower levels?" Somnus asked.

Lod nodded. "Veyron got hungry and eat goblin. Dungeon Core not enough mana to feed Veyron."

"Unfortunate," Somnus said.

Lod smiled, "Master understand goblin trouble. Lod grateful."

Also unfortunate was Lod's misunderstanding. Somnus's intention was to weaponize all the creatures of the dungeon, even though it was very unrealistic to do so. However, the loss of a goblin was the loss of a potential weapon.

"Need more materials to mechanize Veyron," Somnus said. "Which is what these two are for."

"I thought they were weapons," Arcadia said, uncharacteristically nonchalant about the entire thing.

"Weapons have many uses. These are scouts." Somnus said as he finished the last piece of magic metal plating and took a step back.

"It is complete," Somnus said with a satisfied expression.

The monstrosity before him could hardly be considered a creature. It was entirely plated in armor and it was only vaguely spider shaped. It was entirely silver with a smooth, mirror finish surface. Its eyes were made out of faceted gems and within them burned the glint of magic. It did not appear to have any external weapons, but even so, the creature looked like a powerful enemy. Its limbs glowed with a bluish cyan color, thin lines of pure mana flowing through the invisible magical Arrays.

"Codename Baryon, activate Gram-type mana reactor," Somnus said. This was the moment of truth. It was the final piece of the puzzle that Somnus was missing. He had attempted twice to fuse magic with life, and both times he failed. In fact, Hadron somehow becoming a weapon that devoured mana was a fluke and Somnus could not prove any of his theories. What Somnus was missing was life itself, or so he reasoned. Therefore, this time, he had decided that he would turn a living creature's heart into a mana reactor. He was so confident of his success that he had already made preparations for weaponizing it as well. The spells he had cast on Hadron in that fight—Baryon and the other spider, Codename Photon—would be able to activate on their own and supply with their own mana.

With the words, Somnus saw the magical circles in the spider's heart come to life and he tracked their progress, speaking out loud, as if it was a habit from his days as a machine.

"Reactor safety released. Connection successful," Somnus said, as he leaned over the spider. "Mana purity at 100%, no anomalies detected. Reactor output rising."

The blue lines along the spider's legs began to glow brighter, lighting up the entire room.

"Experiment is a success," Somnus said as the spider woke up and stood up on it's eight legs. It was large, towering at almost three meters high when standing on its legs, and it was standing on the table on top of that.

Your Corruptor job has improved.

Your Abhorrent Weapons skill has improved.

Its metallic legs clicked on the table as the spider turned and focused on Somnus. There was a tense moment when the ominous and threatening spider stared at Somnus, but then it emitted a mechanized chirp and casually walked out of the room.

"Lod is liar!" Det suddenly shouted, dropping the dictionary. "Lod not charming or elegant!"