Chapter 726 - The Paragon Fights
To be honest, I'm both overwhelmed, and a little sad about my new stats. It's an incredible improvement over my last evolution, the gains to each of my stats is more than double, a feat which required the immense bonuses provided by the Mature Paragon evolution as well as a massive chunk of my evolutionary energy. It was necessary though. My stats had been lagging behind where they needed to be as I invested a lot of energy over the last few evolutions in expensive organs. Even though the gain is massive, I still lag behind Tiny in raw physical power and behind Invidia in mental might. It's true that the two of them are more of a streamlined, specific type of monster, but I need to work harder to make up for my lack of raw power by using my versatility to its finest.
Comparing my Cunning stat to Invidia's, the differential is made even worse by the fact that my own mental stats are split across four separate brains, whereas his are devoted entirely to one. Using the mental construct magic, he's able to replicate the ability to think about multiple things at once without having to physically divide his brains, as I have. Although I've made a huge stride forward with this evolution, I still have a long way to go before I can become a truly intimidating magical force. Having made all of my brains mutable is going to be interesting to explore as well. I'm sure there are plenty of options that'll help me take my spell casting game to a whole new level. So many more strides forward waiting in the future!
Having said that, I still have a level of juice in the tank that I've never come close to having before, and it's finally time to put it to the test! Eager to get started, I rally my pets and we start to move toward the line of battling ants in front of us. As we walk, I order my sub-brains to kick into gear and marvel as they stir the mana in my core, drawing it out and weaving it into the omni-elemental construct. It's still hard, obviously, but it isn't close to the near impossible task that it was before. Each of the brains works in harmony, guided by the coordination cortex as they cooperate to weave and fold the intricate, many layered structure. This is incredible! My main mind doesn't need to get involved at all!
[Are you ready?] I ask my pets.
They each reply to the affirmative and we start to run forward. A wall of insects covers the tunnel in front of us, members of the Colony hanging from the walls and ceiling to block off every possible avenue for the wave to pierce through their numbers. On the other side, a screaming mass of monsters pushes forward, fighting each other just as hard as they do the ants that bar their way.
"Clear a path!" I roar, blasting my pheromones forward and my siblings respond instantly, the centre peeling back to either side.
The monsters of the wave waste no time seizing this opportunity as they flood through with a triumphant roar, only to be met by Tiny's fist and sent flying back to where they came. In less than a second, we barrel through the opening and find ourselves surrounded on all sides, the wall of insects closing behind us. Enemies surround us on all sides, swathes of claws, fangs and worse reaching to rend us limb from limb from every conceivable angle. Tiny has never been happier. With a whooping bellow of rage and joy, his fists blaze with light as his hands start to flicker faster than the eye can see, sending straight punches in all directions that blow monsters back, stunning and damaging in equal measure. With the minimum space he needs achieved, he winds back his right arm, gigantic muscles shifting and bulging beneath his armour, before he launches a furious straight right that sends a fist of light the size of a car slamming into the ranks of monsters in front of us. The enemies just evaporate, knocked away or simply disintegrated by the power of that punch.
Imagine being tier one and having to face up to Tiny's fists… Such a miserable way to go.
Unwilling to be outdone by my first pet, I urge my sub-brains to finish their work and they each grumble back that If I really want to speed things up I could darn well get involved and help, which I refuse. Nevertheless, in only a few more seconds the construct slams into place and I task the main sub-brain with maintaining it as the other two begin to operate it, feeding in raw mana and extracting the desired type. The whole process is so much more flawless than it was before, my main mind not even required at this stage in the process. In a blessedly short amount of time, blue fire mana has acc.u.mulated and I finally deign to step in, weaving a fire domain with speed and precision that leaves my previous efforts in the dust.
With a 'whoosh', the air ignites as a sphere of pure blue fire expands around me, searing any foe who dares to step within ten metres of my noble frame. I turn the maintenance of the domain back over to the sub-brain and I almost weep as it manages to maintain the spell as well as operate the construct in order to keep feeding it with mana. Meanwhile, my other sub-brain has been hard at work pumping out lava mana, the combined essence of earth and fire. In a true test, I force the sub-brain to continue operating the construct whilst weaving a simple bolt spell and though it's a strain, it succeeds and soon an arrow of sizzling lava flies forward, splattering against a shadow monster who roars in pain.
This is fantastic! This is the dream! I'm casting multiple spells at the same time whilst maintaining a truly devilish construct and my main mind isn't involved at all! Muahahahaha! How far I've come! And if the main mind isn't involved, then I can get busy doing other things! Move aside Tiny! Time for this beefy ant to head to the front lines and get my chomp on!
My jaws locking into place, I charge forward, shouldering the ape aside in the process and unleash my most potent physical attack, the Doom Chomp!
CRUNCH!
Twin jaws of dark light, larger than any I've seen before, manifest beside my head and slam forward, tearing into the hordes of monsters in front of me and clearing space instantly. A flood of messages stream in from Gandalf, but I ignore them. That was crazy strong! Is this the benefit of increasing my Might to this extent? No regrets on that front!
[Gwahaahahahaaa! Come on, Crinis! You need to get your share of the experience so you can evolve! No holding back now!]
[Yes, Master!]
The four of us rip into the onrushing wave with wild abandon, unleashing our strength to its limit as behind us the garrison of ants watches on in amazement.
"I want the second and fourth squad off the wall and resting in two minutes!" the general roars at the stunned insects. "The rest of you hold firm! The Eldest is working hard to give you a rest and you are going to get one! Where are the medics! Get out here!"
Firing back into motion, the ants begin to scurry with urgency as the Eldest and his guardians tear into the hordes that had pressed them so hard only a moment ago.
-x-X-x-
This talk of 'ancients', mysterious creatures of supreme power that supposedly rule in the depths of our world is naught but superstitious nonsense. As a scholar, how can I put my faith in hearsay, tattered records and stories passed down over centuries? I need evidence. I need facts, verified by firsthand accounts. When we actually sit down and try to prove the existence of these monsters, what do we actually have?
Almost no written records survived the Rending, certainly not any that I can access or have heard of, a fact which I believe lends credence to my own arguments. If the pre-cataclysm society was so powerful, so wondrous, as many of my contemporaries would claim, then surely they would have survived the scourge of the Dungeon far better than they did. Waves are nothing new, we have experienced hundreds of them in the millennia since they first began. Many kingdoms maintain cities, outposts and forts in the Dungeon during these times, something that we know the civilisations of old were unable, or barely able to do.
"Oh," those who disagree would say, "you are comparing people with hundreds of years of acc.u.mulated expertise against those taken by surprise, without any knowledge of what lay beneath their feet!"
A foolish point that only lends further strength to my view. My detractors seem to be unable to see the contradiction they themselves have constructed. Were the old kingdoms immensely powerful centres of learning and strength far in excess of what we now possess, as they claim? Or were they weak, falling victim to the ravages of the wave and being swept away by a tide of weaker monsters capable of existing on the surface? It can't be both!
I have heard such nonsense as to suggest that the first wave that occurred during the Rending was simply of a scale larger than any that has occurred since, but again I ask: where is the proof? More than a thousand years later we have records of waves all over Pangera that date back centuries, and nothing such as what is posited to have taken place has ever been recorded. Not only has it never been recorded, the level of mana readings have never approached even HALF what would be necessary to create the conditions they describe.
It is my studied opinion that, as I have stated before in my earlier writings, the Cataclysm was indeed a real event, to say otherwise would be foolish as the weight of evidence on this matter is conclusive, but that rather than the delusion of impossibly strong societies falling to monsters of such strength that have never been seen or heard from again, instead the Cataclysm consisted of weak, unprepared societies falling victim to what was, at worst, a slightly above average wave.
The 'ancients' are simply an excuse for weak minded and lazy researchers who are unwilling to let go of the concept of a pre-Dungeon 'golden age' despite the lack of concrete evidence. In truth, the old-races of Pangera have never been stronger and the ancients do not exist. These are the facts and I challenge any who dispute me to provide evidence to the contrary. I am supremely confident that I won't be taken up on my offer, since no such evidence exists.
· Excerpt from the Challenge Letter of Scholar Grans to the Tower.
The power! The unbelievable power! Flinging spells and chomping my way through the rampaging hordes is far more fun that it really ought to be, and deep down I think I feel the stirrings of the long slumbering Dark Anthony. No! I reject thee, evil one! I need to get a grip on myself, this pointless and wanton slaying doesn't serve my purposes as well as I need.
[Come on, Crinis, Tiny! You need to get up here and vacuum in as much experience as you can. Can't have you lagging behind me and Invidia forever! Let's go, go, go!]
Tiny gives me a look that speaks volumes. I've been wanting to, but you jumped in front of me and I haven't been able to hit a monster since, idiot. Which may be true, but there's no need to frame it quite so roughly, Tiny! Forgive me, alright? I got carried away!
[Yes, Master!] Crinis is far more forgiving and leaps forward, her blobby body taking on the form of its full terror, her three mouths revealing themselves from within the shadows of her form.
After those gnashing maws appear, Crinis takes a brief moment to gather her strength before she unleashes the devastating scream that I heard once before in Rylleh. The effect on the monsters nearby is instantaneous as many rear back clutching at their heads or simply dropping to the ground, writhing as their sanity is assaulted by the psychic waves of fear that accompany her roar. Waves I can sense now, thanks to my antennae. Just how sensitive are these things? I can clearly detect the mental assault that rides along her voice, somehow attacking the mind of her foes without even employing mind magic. It's like an injection of pure fear, straight into the vein, and it appears to work wonders on the foe in front of us as they cower back from Crinis, revealed in her full majesty.
What happens next to those monsters cowering in terror, I would rather not describe. Let's just say I wish I could avert my eyes.
[Don't forget the Biomass!] I call over my shoulder, having pressed my face up against the tunnel wall. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing. [You guys need to max out your mutations before you evolve. I know it's not easy to get space to eat, so take turns or something. If you need help, call Invidia or me and we can chip in.]
With a roar, Tiny pushes off the ground and barrels forward, charging headlong into the next wave of monsters as they press forward. We've been making solid progress, pushing down the tunnel and putting some distance between us and the checkpoint manned by the Colony behind us. My hope is that the deeper we can go, the more checkpoints we can relieve by cutting off the flow of demons to as many places as we can. The endless hordes of shadow monsters are a pain, to be sure, but for now the majority of them are still in the first three tiers, with a few tier fours mixed in. I've no doubt there are tier five shadow monsters hiding out below, but for now they're managing to hold on and haven't been ousted from their hunting grounds as of yet. Something that will likely change as the wave goes on.
No, the real threat to the Colony right now is the demons climbing up from the third strata. From what Granin told me during our discussions before I left, there aren't actually that many connecting points between the second and third strata, for 'reasons that will become clear when I see it'. Which means the monsters climbing up into the territory claimed by the Colony may be coming from as few as one or two entrances. If we can push down and plug one of those for a while then that'll take a lot of heat off the Colony while they finish building their defensive network. Getting that deep is going to be a massive pain in the butt though, to be honest, I'm not even sure that we'll be able to manage it. Doesn't hurt to try though. Let's see how far down we can get!
-x-X-x-
"Dammit, Vibrant! Get back here!" Advant yelled, her scent filled with impotent rage.
"No chance!" laughed Vibrant as she raced away.
"We're trying to make you stronger!" the exasperated soldier tried to reason with the fast vanishing form of her fellow council member.
"I-can-do-that-myself-okay-so-I-don't-need-your-help-bye!" Vibrant replied with rapid fire speed, her scent fading almost as fast as she did.
In the end, all that remained in the section of tunnel was Advant and her escort, slumped in defeat as they tried to catch their breath.
"Damn that Vibrant!" she growled, "why does she have to make everything so difficult?"
She had been tasked with finding the second most powerful warrior in the Colony and bringing her back to the nest so they could pour their collective resources into her and raise Vibrant as the second powerhouse of the Colony, but so far she just wasn't cooperating. She'd heard out Advant well enough when she'd first caught up to explain the idea, but had flatly rejected the Colony helping her in any way, insisting that she would do it her own way before speeding off into the distance. Everytime Advant managed to catch up to her, the same scene repeated itself, with Vibrant slipping away no matter how hard they tried to pin her down.
With nothing else for it, she gathered her energy and pushed herself back to her legs, following along the trail of the speeding ant at a more sedate pace. Vibrant would have to stop and fight at some point, which was when they would next catch up to her. Hopefully the next time would go better...
Further down the tunnel, Vibrant raced away having already put her latest encounter with Advant out of her head. Who had time to worry about that sort of thing? There was so much fighting to do! And it was everywhere! No matter how fast she managed to get from one checkpoint to the next, it always felt like she should have gone faster, which was exciting! No matter how fast she was able to run around, it wasn't fast enough! This was a novel situation for the fast moving ant and she was loving it.
For a brief moment she wondered where all of her followers were, only to remember a moment later that they'd given up on chasing her because she'd run even them into the ground. Instead, one of the generals had organised them into roaming packs spread across the territory of the Colony, doing much the same thing Vibrant herself was doing: rushing from one flashpoint to the next, just on a smaller scale than their leader.
The air rushed through her antennae and over her carapace and for a long moment, she just indulged herself in experiencing the joy of running at full speed. She didn't know exactly when she'd begun to love moving fast, as far back as she could remember she'd had too much energy, to the point that the Eldest had claimed she'd been hyperactive even as a grub! Whatever the reason, it just felt right to run and so run she did! As fast and as often as possible.
The territory of the Colony whizzed by, a blur on the edge of her vision. She'd had to mutate her eyes to be able to work properly moving at these sorts of speeds, an investment that she didn't regret. In fact, it only ignited her desire to go faster! On and on she raced through the tunnels, several times passing by a soldier busy grappling with a freshly spawned shadow creature, but she didn't stop, couldn't afford to stop! The Colony needed her!
In less than five minutes, she had covered the six kilometres needed to reach the next checkpoint and arrived in a cloud of dust that blanketed the general standing at the rear of the skirmish.
"What the heck!?" her scent guttered in the sharp breeze that blew through.
"Hi-hi! Just here to help out but no need to thank me I'll get right to work and then get going okay byeeeeee!"
So saying, the large soldier threw herself into the fray, dodging and weaving through the hordes, working her mandibles with relentless energy, cleaving legs, shattering hides and piercing demon flesh. She was a whirlwind more than an ant, never ceasing her rapid paced movement, finding ways to dodge and slide through gaps that an ant half her size would never attempt. Seizing on the momentum that her intervention had brought them, the rest of the ants leapt forward into battle, shoving back the wave and thinning out the monsters, buying them precious time to rest.
The moment the tide of the battle changed, Vibrant turned around and dashed away, leaving nothing but the scent of her "Have a nice dayyyyy!" lingering on the antennae of the ants who momentarily had to wonder if she had ever been there at all. There was need! She was needed! And so, she had to go. All over the territory the Colony had claimed there were checkpoints that needed help, needed someone to come and relieve the pressure, just so they could catch their breath. Vibrant was ready! Vibrant was willing! She couldn't be everywhere at once, but she could sure as heck try!
Just as she was picking up the pace and her heart was really starting to race, she suddenly felt her front right leg snag on something she hadn't seen. Before her balance could fail, she snapped down her second leg and managed to catch herself just in time to avoid losing any of her speed. A perfect recovery. Except for the second, then third snag she hit. What the heck was going on?!
With two of her legs snarled in some kind of invisible obstruction, even her highly developed sense of balance wasn't enough to save Vibrant from going down.
CRASH!
With a loud thump, she tumbled end over end and slammed into the tunnel wall heavily, stunning her for a moment,.
"What the... hey!"
Which gave just enough time for the net to drop down from the ceiling.
"Hello, Vibrant," came a scent she knew all too well, "how nice to see you again."
"You!"
Descending from the ceiling like a filthy spider came the small ant who had captured Vibrant last time, but only with the help of Crinis! She'd forced Vibrant to sleep, for hours! She might have been able to run faster afterwards, but she still resented being made to be still!
"What do you want?! I'm busy helping the Colony! I haven't even been avoiding sleep!"
More ants emerged from the shadows and they surrounded Vibrant on the ground, looking down at her with glee.
"You have not been avoiding rest," the nameless one said, "but according to the Eldest, there is something else you have been avoiding, is there not?"
Vibrant, for once, grew still.
"I'm not sure what you mean, you probably don't mean anything, right? Why not just let me go and be on my way? There's plenty of ants out there that need help and I can help them! I want to help them! You wouldn't want them to not be helped, right? So let me up and I'll get to rushing over and you don't need to worry about me or anything that I might be avoiding, which is nothing because I'm not avoiding anything!"
"Did she take a mutation to help her talk that fast?" a nearby ant wondered.
The nameless one wasn't distracted.
"The Eldest believes you've been ready to evolve to tier five for some time, but have been holding back because you don't want to be stuck in one place. You've been avoiding it for weeks now, haven't you? Well look at what we have here."
The nameless one drew out a precious rare core and placed it on the ground in front of Vibrant.
"Everything we need to help you evolve in the best possible condition. You want to help the Colony? Time to be the best Vibrant you can be."
Vibrant thrashed her legs for a moment before giving up.
"You won't let me go until I evolve, will you?" she said miserably.
In response, the nameless one reached over and patted her on the head.
"We absolutely won't," she said.
-x-X-x-
Down and down into the depths we plunge, battling the furious monsters of the wave every step. The number of cold undead creatures we encounter continues to rise as we progress, and I can't believe the sheer variety of shapes the shadow monsters can take. I understand that their shadow flesh makes them the basically formless, squishy and mouldable things that they are, but some of them are just weird.
Tiny battled a disgusting beast who resembled a slug fused with a seahorse that fired some strange form of death plasma out of its face-hole. The whole thing was rather traumatic from my point of view and I wish I'd never seen it. Only Invidia's intervention managed to prevent my ape friend from suffering a premature death during that fight, and in fact during many fights.
Without much ability, or inclination, to avoid damage of any sort, Tiny has come to rely rather heavily on his armour to prevent damage, which works well against physical attacks, but doesn't help much against the more insidious attacks levelled at him by death monsters and demons. Without the eyeball of Envy, Tiny would have had to face-tank all number of poisons, curses and toxins that were sent his way and I've little doubt he wouldn't have survived long.
Before he evolves to tier six I'm going to make sure that he covers his bases and gains a few more points in cunning. I'm starting to think the reason I've never seen any of Tiny's species evolve beyond tier two is simply because the lightning fist ape and what comes after are simply too dumb to survive without constant babysitting and supervision. I might have a chat with Granin about it when we get back... Still, it would be encouraging to learn that my first pet's total lack of survival instincts was an inbuilt flaw rather than something I introduced myself.
The number of demons has also continued to rise and without the benefits of my evolution they would have been a right pain in the backside to deal with. Despite being tier five, both Tiny and Crinis struggled against tier four demons, the resilience and sheer brutal power of the creatures simply a tier above what we had seen so far.
[Disgusting trash! You will be rendered into pieces before you lay a claw on my Master!] Crinis ranted, her limbs wrapped around the foul visage of a hulking demon, sawing away at it.
[Need any help, Crinis?] I ask.
[Do not foul your mandibles or mind on this infernal creature, Master! I am enough to end its miserable suffering!]
I think you are more the cause of its suffering Crinis. Nevertheless, she is successful in ridding the poor beast of its condition, namely the one of being in one piece, and swiftly descends on the Biomass. In just a few seconds the looming threat of the Wrath Demon is gone, along with any evidence it existed in the first place, vanished into the three maws of the blob of death.
Despite her victory, we are still surrounded, and I once again bring down a domain of scorching blue flame, using my main mind to supercharge the spell and increase its range, burning any monster who dares to come close.
[This is exhausting,] I complain, [there's no end to them.]
[You didn't expect anything different; did you Master? It's a wave after all,] Crinis says.
Tiny just gives me a thumbs up, a broad grin splitting his bat face. I know you're happy, we've been fighting for hours without pause! This is basically paradise for you! For his part, Invidia just continues to float alongside us, the intense light of his eye resting on each of us briefly before flicking away to the tunnel then returning to us after a few seconds.
[I know that!] I say, the roars of burning monsters ringing in my ears and causing me to become irritable, [but I was kind of hoping they'd stop flooding upward at some point...]
Our descent has been very different than what we experienced in the first strata during the last wave. At that time the tunnels were filled with spawns of weaker monsters with occasional stronger ones feasting on the free experience and Biomass, and although it was draining in the extreme, it wasn't too difficult to clear them out. This time, it's so, so different. Moving downward in the Dungeon has felt like walking into the face of a gale force wind. We want to go deeper, but it appears as though every other monster in the Dungeon wants to go higher. Which means stronger monsters, more of them, and delivered fresh to our face in a never-ending stream from the depths. We aren't even dealing with the creatures being spawned around us, as those are snatched up and consumed by the rising monsters in a flash.
[How long can you maintain this domain, Master?] Crinis asks me.
Good question. I check the mana flooding into my core through my legs and idly check what I can grab from the ambient mana around us.
[If I keep dragging in mana, probably indefinitely? It would take most of my concentration to do so though.]
[Then might I suggest we rest here momentarily?]
[Alright, you two can relax. Invidia, can you deal with anything that gets through?]
The eye flashes dark energy.
[I ssssshall take my due...]
[Sure thing buddy.]
The pulsing sphere of blue fire isn't enough to deal with the press of monsters on its own, though it does damage them. Sadly, most of the demon spawn are resistant to the flames, which allows them to push through it, which is where the power of explosions comes into the picture.
BOOM!
The four of us are showered with dust and stones as we settle in for a short break as Invidia sucks in mana from the air and weaves his deadly magic with it.
BOOM!
[How much further do you guys think we need to go before we reach the third strata?] I ask.
[I cannot say, Master, I do not know how thick the shadow layer is, nor can I say how far we have travelled so far.]
Tiny just wobbles a hand back and forth, eyeing the exploding monsters around us sadly. By my estimation, we've come a significant number of kilometres down, the slope we've been travelling on has been fairly steep, and despite fighting every step of the way, we've been pushing hard without rest. At least the fire domain helps keep the cold off. It's freezing down here.
[Have you two managed to gain a few levels?]
Tiny pulls a face whilst Crinis just sounds frustrated.
[I have, but slowly. It will take a long time to catch up to you, Master.]
[Hey, if we don't push hard, you'll never get there,] I try to encourage them, [it's a mountain, but without climbing, you'll never reach the top. If we keep fighting and accruing experience at the pace we have been, you'll be level eighty before you know it.]
I checked on the two of them before we set out and it's a bit unfortunate, but they're lagging quite a ways behind. Both have managed to raise their levels fairly well since reaching tier five, but both were stuck in the thirties when we started. With hard work, they'll be able to evolve by the time this wave is done.
[Oh, did either of you grab any cores?]
Crinis extends a limb from within her blobby mass and deposits a few cores in front of me which I quickly leap on and devour. The capacity of my core has doubled after all, need to pump it all the way up to max!
[What about you, Tiny?]
The ape just shrugs and shakes his head. I'm not surprised, the big guy usually isn't bothered keeping track of any cores he comes across when eating, he spits them out like seeds and ignores them in favour of shovelling in more food.
[I need all the cores I can get my hands on right now,] I scold him, [and after you and Crinis evolve we'll need hundreds more in order to max out your cores as soon as possible! Don't slack off! You're making trouble for everyone else!]
He has the decency to look a little ashamed, which is a plus. His laziness is usually fine, but when he drags himself and others down I can't indulge him anymore.
[Masssster. They are clossssing in on usss.]
A quick glance is enough to confirm that Invidia is correct. Despite his frequent detonations, the monsters are pressing closer, even through my domain spell. With a weary mental sigh I push my legs under me and flex my mandibles.
[Back at it gang. We've got a long way to go.]
-x-X-x-
Why are the monsters of the third strata called demons? This is a question frequently asked of me by those unfamiliar with that particular strata, or less well read on monsters in general. It's a general misconception that it was the civilised races of Pangera that designated the monsters of the third strata as 'demons', as a response to the particularly intelligent cruelty inherent in the more highly evolved monsters encountered there. This simply isn't so. It was, in fact, the System itself that assigned the name of demon to those monsters, probably long before any surface being encountered and slew one.
As to why this may be the case? Ah, here we come to the crux of the matter. This question is the cause of much debate and speculation in the academic community even to this day, and despite what many of my colleagues believe, I don't think it will be possible to arrive at a conclusive answer.
Some posit the theory that the System itself contains a sense of 'good' and 'evil', and use the language associated with various Skills, Classes and monsters to support this idea. The argument has some merit, I admit. Various healing classes, or those with a predilection to endeavours that one can argue are for the immediate benefit of society, do in fact receive affirming and positive language in their descriptions as given by the System. Other classes that are... less savoury in nature, such as torturer, executioner or thief, are far less complimentary in the text, though it must be noted that neither does the language of the System strictly condemn such classes.
So it is by this argument that the most 'evil' of all monsters have been denoted by the System as demons, as they are the most deserving of this title. Others argue that this concept is inherently flawed, as all monsters from the Dungeon are, in essence, highly motivated killers. The less intelligent monsters may pose less of a threat than their smarter... colleagues... but the motivations of both are similar: kill, eat and grow stronger.
It's only the natives of the third strata, to my knowledge, that seem to enjoy what they do, even go out of their way to inflict pain, fear or terror in their victims. There have been numerous witnesses to testify that the demons will act like this even when preying on each other. And each demon will attempt to indulge itself according to their nature as described by their species. Wrath demons engage in horrific displays of anger and rage against those who they see have wronged them, Greed demons will go to absurd lengths to collect and acc.u.mulate that which they desire whilst delighting in the pain inflicted, Envy demons are known to strip everything from their foes, reducing them to literally nothing before dealing the final blow.
Why do they act this way? Why have they been named and designed to be this way by the System? In my humble opinion, there are none who can say for certain.
· Excerpt from Lecture Series "On the nature of Demons" by teacher Sooka of the Tempest Alliance.
I'm so damn tired. I need more ants nearby to fuel the Vestibule, the twenty bodyguards who have shadowed us down this far simply aren't enough to provide the kind of energy that I need. It's been two damn days and we haven't had much of a break in that entire time. Constant fighting for this length of time is enough to take it out of anyone, even a tier six, as it turns out. We did actually try to bury ourselves into a wall and hide from the wave for a while, but it wasn't too effective. I don't know if the monsters here are smarter or if our cores are just too easy to detect through a few metres of collapsed tunnel wall, but no sooner did we seal ourselves into a pocket of air that we'd dug out than the monsters started digging their way through to us.
Stop being so persistent! Leave us alone, dammit!
In the end we managed to get a tiny rest by digging further in and forcing the monsters to work harder to get to us, but it wasn't nearly enough to recharge the batteries. In truth, we should have turned around a long time ago, but I can feel that we're getting closer to the third strata with every step and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super interested in taking a peek. This is the new frontier! The next leg of the Colony's conquest of the Dungeon! What will the terrain be like? What sort of tunnels, what sort of mana, are we going to find? The sense of adventure is welling up within me and I cannot bring myself to squash it, despite the danger that pressing forward entails.
"Eldest, I must recommend against this course of action," I scent a killjoy from somewhere above me.
"Protectant? What do you mean?! Aren't you curious to catch a glimpse of the third strata? Not to mention the benefit to the Colony if we can block an entrance to our territory for as little as an hour!"
If we stop the flow of demons into the second strata beneath the Colony the pressure on all of the checkpoints above will diminish dramatically. It would achieve the goal of this expedition in one fell swoop!
"My only goal is to make sure that you remain alive," comes back the reply, "going further into the teeth of the wave isn't worth the risk."
"Be a lot easier if you lot helped out more," I grumble.
"We are helping more than you think. We've done as much as we can whilst also remaining hidden."
"You must be getting a hell of a lot of stealth levels out of this."
"... yes."
I don't want to reveal to Protectant and her crew that I do, in fact, know exactly what they've been up to. Their thoughts and desires, their Will, has been flowing into the Vestibule, being enhanced by the Nave, and giving me a window into their activities. What they want, what they do and how they do it, aren't really mysteries to me anymore, especially when I'm actively paying attention. I'm sure the information I can glean from an individual ant when I focus on them would be overwhelming were I to try it back in the nest, but it's fairly trivial for me to do so here, with only twenty of my siblings within range.
"Make sure you keep getting levels," I urge them all, directing my scent widely across the ceiling where the rest of them are hiding, "I know you've been working hard to level up. A bit more of a push and you'll reach tier five. Let's do it!"
If all of them reach tier five at the same time my pets reach tier six, my group will have reached a much higher level of power, making us a mobile fortress that the Colony can fling at our enemies. Certainly we'd have been able to hold at the Siege far more effectively.
"Anyways, we're pushing forward again!" I declare. "We aren't going home until I catch a glimpse of the third strata. If you want to go back, then push forward even more aggressively!"
I can feel the curses ringing through the very souls of the defender squad above me, each of them raging that the target the Council wants them to keep alive is so determined to seek out danger at every turn. Not my fault, team. I'm not the one who tasked you with this impossible mission, so if you want to complain then go back and yell at the ones who commissioned you in the first place. Having reaffirmed my desire to push on, the group girds themselves and continues to press onward into the teeth of the endless flood of monsters. The deeper we go, the more necessary it becomes for the bodyguards to get involved, working in groups to knock monsters off balance, put damage on targets from range with coordinated acid barrages, or use magic to thin out the weaker opponents. It makes a noticeable difference and my pets and I keep moving forward.
The first thing I notice is the heat. The irrepressible cold of the shadow sea gives way ever so slightly, the faintest hint of warmth brushing against my carapace. Thank goodness! The temperature was getting so low that my legs were on the brink of locking up. The more we move, the warmer it gets, and the fewer shadow monsters we see, as if they are actively avoiding the heat. Which makes sense I suppose.
[Crinis, are you feeling alright as it gets warmer?] I ask, concerned.
[It's uncomfortable,] she admits, [but I'm fine.]
[Good, we can press on then.]
Down we go, further into the depths. Eventually we come across something I didn't expect to see, a thick wall of fog blanketing the way forward. We walk cautiously forward, testing our footing and stretching our senses as we go, even as monsters and demons swarm around us. Every time I move my leg forward, the rock gets hotter, until it reaches a near scorching temperature that thankfully does no damage, though it stings. Tiny is particularly uncomfortable and I can sense him hopping from foot to foot as we fight our way through the fog.
It lasts for perhaps a hundred metres of tunnel, and when we emerge on the other side, the Dungeon has completely transformed. No longer are we surrounded by the dark and cold, instead, a wall of heat boils the moisture from my eyes and bright red light emanates from veins that flow through the walls like branching lines of pure magma. Far more shocking than this is the scene that opens up before us. The tunnel continues to slope down, forming a ramp to what I can see is a flat pillar. Not far ahead, the walls of the tunnel drop away to reveal a huge expanse of open air that frankly defies belief. Keen to see more, we barrel forward, slamming monsters out of the way, even knocking them over the edge to fall to the depths.
[Hold them off,] I tell my pets, [I want to take a look.]
As Crinis, Tiny and Invidia move to defend me from the monsters, I move to the edge of this ramp and look over the edge, my mind freezing at the impossible sight. The floor... is so... so far away. What am I even seeing? Even in the Dungeon... this surely can't be possible...
But the evidence of my eyes cannot be denied. The ramp we stand on connects to a pillar of fiery rock that rises what must be ten kilometres from the floor. It's hard to make out, but as far as my eyes can see, the rocky ground flows with lava, fire and a writhing carpet of monsters that flow toward the base of the pillar. The pillar itself is covered in monsters, clawing their way upward, even as they fight each other every step of the way. These are the demons who've been reaching us in the second strata, those few who survive the climb. In the far, far distance, when I strain my eyes to their limits, I can make out another towering spire of stone that looks as if it holds up the sky itself.
So you're telling me that the entire surface, and the top two strata, are being held up by these columns?! Surely not, right?!
-x-X-x-
[Master, we need help!] Crinis' call shocks me out of my daze and I rush over to assist them against the unending crush of demons that charge up the ramp once they have crested the top of the pillar and secured their position against their fellow demons.
The flying demons have such an absurd advantage in this situation, simply flapping their way up and onto the ramp, but once they reach this natural chokepoint, all bets are off as the demons fight amongst each other to reach the second strata.
[No worries, I'm here!] I call as I leap back into the fight, my mandibles pumping and minds spinning a new domain.
Without the overwhelming crush of shadow monsters, the fire domain no longer serves a purpose as the demons are at least partially resistant to it. All production of blue fire mana is discarded and the construct now starts to pump out pure ice mana which is deftly woven into a new domain. Likewise, the lava mana I was working with before is also cast aside in favour of the much easier to work with air. In only a few seconds the first compressed bolt of air is ready and I fire it at a lithe, weasel looking demon trying to slip past us. Caught unawares, the beast only has time to roar indignantly before the powerful gust of air carries it over the edge of the ramp and plummeting to the depths below.
Ice domain!
The moment I release the spell the air around us becomes infused with frigid air and spinning chunks of ice that bounce harmlessly from my allies but detonate with a sharp crack when they hit anything else. At first I'm wholly satisfied with this new domain, the demons certainly aren't big fans of the ice, but after a few seconds I notice something I may have overlooked. The amount of mana being sucked out of my core to maintain this domain is unbelievable! Even over this short period, the sub-brain in charge is starting to frizzle from overwork as it tries to maintain the spell and produce the ice mana necessary to keep it running at the same time.
The reason why is readily apparent: it's too damn hot here! The ice mana is being consumed way too quickly! Cursing inside, I throw away the ice domain and switch to air, both sub-minds working together to pump out the same type of mana to hurl bolts of compressed air at my foes.
[How are you holding up, Crinis?]
[I'm fine, Master!] she replies, her voice steely with determination.
[Don't give me nonsense Crinis,] I warn her as we battle back and forth with the demons, [give it to me straight, that's an order!]
[My strength feels like it's being sapped,] she grudgingly admits, [and my flesh doesn't move through the shadows as easily as before.]
Of course, without the naturally abundant shadow mana and darkness in the second strata, her powers don't work half as well as they did before. Another problem quickly becomes apparent.
[Is it just me, or are these demons much tougher than they were before?] I gasp as the bladed arm of a nasty looking horror scr.a.p.es across my carapace before I can snap forward with my mandibles and end the threat.
[The cold must have weakened them when we fought them before,] Crinis guesses, [here they are surrounded by their natural affinity and it is empowering them.]
Dangit! This is actually way harder than I thought it would be. Despite arriving at the most perfect natural chokepoint we could hope for, the ramp is no more than fifty metres wide and every demon who climbs the pillar has no choice but to move up it if they want to reach the strata above, we may not be able to hold here as long as I'd hoped.
[Hold on for a little longer, then we'll fall back! And make a break for the second strata! Alright?! If anyone is struggling, make sure you let Invidia know!]
"I really don't think you should stay here, Eldest!" Protectant appears to tell me in person, her antennae twitching in all directions as she nips forward to bite at the legs and joints of the demons near Tiny. "This situation is too unstable, there's no need to take the risk!"
"We're alright," I tell her, forcing my exhausted body to keep moving as yet another demon fronts up to me, charging toward my much larger frame with reckless abandon. "Just hang on a little longer and then we'll retreat. We'd be fine if all of you were tier five already..."
"Is this really the time for that, Eldest?!"
Probably not, but the slow progress of my security guards is getting frustrating. The demon slashes forward with its claws and I blast it in the chest with a condensed burst of air, sending its wiry frame flying through the air and over the edge of the ramp. It was a quick and painless way to deal with the enemy, though it doesn't work nearly as well on the heavier ones. As we continue to battle hard, it's clear that we're being forced to give ground as the press of demons only grows thicker with the passage of time. For every one we put down, another two are ready to take their place. Even if the bulk of them are only tier three or four, in this environment they're much tougher, moving faster and hitting harder than when we fought them above.
"ROOOOOOAAAAR!" a rumbling bellow ripples through the air and my antennae whip around as I try to work out where the heck that came from.
From below? Over the edge of the pillar I see a massive arm covered in dripping black tar reach up and dig into the stone, thick muscles bulging to haul the rest of the monster up to the top of the pillar.
[We've got a big one here guys! Keep your eyes peeled!] I tell my desperately fighting pets.
The spark of battle ignites in Tiny's eyes anew as he spots the enormous demon cresting the edge of the pillar, a broad grin splitting his bat features.
[You stay here!] I order him. [This one's mine!]
Seriously, how would any of his species survive without a baby sitter?
Heedless of the smaller demons crushed by its bulk, the newcomer smashes its arms down and lifts the rest of its massive body into view and I get my first glimpse of the full creature. It's huge, bigger than Tiny, bigger than me, bigger even than the Queen. Clearly built heavily around its physical stats, the monster is powerfully built, thick slabs of muscle that remind of nothing as much as Garralosh, the sheer overwhelming physical presence similar. Two squat, powerful legs hold up a frame appears like a concrete wall. The monster is hunched at the shoulders, its head little more than an open circular mouth ringed with teeth. At the end of each of its absurdly thick arms there aren't the hands or fingers that I would have expected to see, instead two more mouths, just as wide and lined with barbed teeth as the one in its head. It's whole body drips with black tar that steams and sizzles as it falls down onto the hot stone beneath its feet. No two ways about it, this dude is ugly.
Having gotten its feet under it, the monster reaches out lazily with one arm, the muscles in its forearm twitching strangely for a moment. Faster than my eyes can see, a spear-like tongue is launched forward, piercing its target in an instant. In a matter of seconds, the poor victim is dragged back into the arm, it's body vanishing into that horrific ringed maw as the arm bulges grotesquely around it. Not only is it ugly, it's nasty! What is up with these demons?! Its meal complete, the giant monster starts to move forward, clearly intent on mounting the ramp and ascending to the second strata. Then it lays eyes on me and my group.
"A FEAST?!" it bellows with mad joy. "INSECT. I WILL WELCOME YOU INTO MY GULLET!"
It can talk?! Is this thing tier six?! A chill rolls over my carapace. Please tell me it's not higher than that...
-x-X-x-
When I hear that deep, taunting voice emanating from somewhere within the demon I almost reflexively start spinning together a mind bridge, my automatic reaction whenever someone speaks to me whom I can't talk back with naturally. In only a few seconds the connection snaps into place and the demon pauses for a moment, bringing its horrific face to align with me.
[A smart bug? How interesting!]
The mind of the demon is as repellent as its voice. There is a roiling sense of frenetic energy and desperate need hidden beneath an oil slick surface of grease. Every thought I brush against seems to stick to me like a rancid smell. Needless to say, its deeply unpleasant. Talking to Invidia is nothing like this, he may be a single minded little eyeball but there isn't this terrible sense of otherness to him. Is this the difference between a demon raised in captivity and one raised in the wild?
[Who are you calling an ant, ugly?] I retort, snapping my mandibles in anger, [what's your deal anyway? I thought only the weaklings were climbing up here, what business do you have poking your gross face about?]
The demon takes slow steps forward as it leers at me, another spear-like tongue drooping out of the central mouth, swaying with its movement.
[You address me, bug? It's not often the food talks back. Will you struggle? Will you writhe and scream for me? Are you delicious? The city is ever hungry and you might be the morsel they are looking for.]
Just. Gross. The novelty of finding another monster smart enough to converse, and the wealth of information that it might hold are almost not enough for me to resist cutting the connection. This thing has such an alien way of thinking that exchanging words with it is almost enough on its own to make me sick.
[You want to eat me demon? Are you sure you won't become food yourself? How about you step back and we have a little chat before you do something you'll regret? Tell me a little about this city, where might it be found, for example?]
Despite having a circular mouth, I can tell that the demon is grinning as that barbed tongue lolls out of its mouth.
[Anga plays with food, but Anga does not discuss with food. If you want answers, come and take them, little bug.]
It has a name? Before I can get my thoughts together to try and keep communicating, the beast cuts the mind link itself, the feedback making me flinch for a crucial moment. A cruel gleam flashes in the creatures eyes, ringed around its terrible mouth, and in that moment of weakness it stretches forward one of its arms and blasts its spear-tongue at me. Even with my mind rattled, my antennae do their work and I sense the projectile a moment before it is even released. Nerves across my body fire in synch, sending my large frame sliding to one side and causing the spear to merely graze the side of my carapace before embedding itself more than two feet into the stone behind me.
Yikes! Even though it was just a graze, I can tell that the tongue managed to scr.a.p.e off a layer of my precious diamond carapace. A direct hit might not go straight through, but it would surely hurt! Quick as flash, I turn my head and attempt to snap my mandibles down on the trailing, fleshy cord that connects the spear back to the monster's mouth. It's a disgusting, sinewy connection of pale meat and I really would rather not bite, but robbing Mr Anga of one of his primary weapons seems like the sensible play.
CHOMP!
My eyes almost boggle out of my head as the tongue flexes and twists away from my mandibles, avoiding by bite my centimetres. Are you telling me the whole thing is prehensile?! It can move and bend the whole way along its length? Before I can get a chance to bite again, the whole tongue grows taut and in a flash is wound back into the huge demons mouth.
Tiny Crinis, Invidia and the twenty guards continue to battle around me, fending off the barrage of demons who still make their way up from below, but my eyes are fixated on this nasty specimen, the other monsters fading into the background. The others will be able to deal without me for a while at least, but I'm the only one who can go toe to toe with this guy, I can tell. This here is a fully grown demon, like Invidia. When I use mana sense to get a touch of his core, I can tell that it's a touch stronger than mine, which means it's almost definitely in tier six.
I waggle my antennae mockingly at the demon and clack my mandibles to let him know what I think of his surprise attack and in response another two of the spear like tongues appear, one dangling from each arm-mouth. To my disgust, the display doesn't stop there, as each of the beasts three tongues extends out further, twisting through the air until each of them has risen above the height of my head, arched down to point at me like arrows ready to fire.
Well, that certainly is unpleasant.
I set my legs and not a moment too soon as my antennae fire a warning and my body reacts before I can even think.
BOOM!
And again!
BOOM! BOOM!
First one, then the other two spear-like tongues launch in my direction with almost no speed lost due to being extended out of the demon's mouths. I dodge the first one cleanly, but the moment my opponent sees which direction I've dodge to, the other tongues fire, bending through the air to home on my position as I move. Only by leaping at the last second do I avoid getting skewered, though the second and third strikes grate against my carapace, once again carving a groove in my beautiful shell.
My sub-minds are working overtime, trying to make use of the air mana they've already acc.u.mulated and before I land they fire off two wind blades that slash outward, almost invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Once again the demon attempts to flex its tongues, bending them to avoid my spells, but the wide arc of the wind blade is much harder to avoid and both of them strike into the tongue, cutting it, but not deeply.
CLACK! CLACK!
As I land back on my legs I once more taunt Anga with my mandibles. Not responding to my efforts, the demon continues to slowly advance, retracting its tongues closer to its body and letting the spear tips hover over its head. Despite the first two exchanges going in my favour, my opponent doesn't seem rushed, quite the opposite. I can almost feel a horrible sense of glee rising from the creature as it continues to narrow the distance between us.
POW! POW! POW!
Unwilling to let him narrow the gap for free, I rapid-fire a series of acid blasts whilst also using my main mind to spin together a few gravity bolts, drawing them out and weaving them together in record time. Anga makes no attempt to dodge any of this, the acid connecting with his tar-like covering and sizzling madly. Likewise the spells strike the demon without him showing any reaction at all, simply continuing his ponderous advance. Not even bothering to dodge? Where does the confidence come from?
Suddenly, a sensation of dizziness rolls over me and my legs shake, overcome by a sense of weakness. I stumble to one side and the moment I do, my antennae ring loud with warning. He's about to fire again!
-x-X-x-
I rely on my instincts and dodge, my weakened legs firing to get me out of harm's way. The demon has picked his moment well, striking at the first sign of weakness and this time I'm not able to get away from all three of the spear strikes, the third one slamming into my carapace just in front of my foremost leg on the right side of my body. The force of the impact is stunning, even with my new stats, and my weight is driven backward, though I'm able to keep myself upright.
I can feel that the hardened tip of the tongue has failed to penetrate through my shell, though it has managed to dig in an inch or two, weakening my carapace in that spot significantly. I unleash the two windblades I have prepared and they cut deep into the flesh of the tongue connecting the spear to the main body, but again fail to sever it. Burning bright ichor drips from the wound onto the hot rocks of the third strata, steam rising as it bubbles to a boil in an instant on the ground.
What is this sense of dizziness? Have I been poisoned in some way?
I keep moving, unwilling to remain still, forcing my legs to pump away despite the strange lethargy that has overtaken them. As I circle around the demon, I try to analyse my situation and study the barbed tongue still embedded in my shoulder, hoping to get a glimpse of what ails me. It doesn't take long to realise what the problem is. Though the very point of the tongue is hardened beyond the strength of steel, the area just behind the tip is different, coated in small sacks that contain a virulently green looking goop that is even now leaking out onto my carapace. Some sort of venom or toxin? But I was only scratched! Even now he hasn't managed to get through my shell and into my bloodstream!
[Invidia! I've been poisoned! See what you can do about it!]
With all the practice he's had lately, during the siege and keeping Tiny alive, Invidia has trained the rank of his healing magic at a rapid clip. I know for a fact that with his achievement of the higher ranks he gained knowledge of ways to deal with poisons and afflictions, which will hopefully be enough to alleviate this situation. For now though, I need to get this damn tongue off of me before more of this insidious toxin manages to worm its way into me. Let's see if he wants to test his tongue against this!
DOOM CHOMP!
The dark energy mandibles manifest as an extension of my own and before they slam shut, Anga has rather predictably chosen not to chance it and pulled his tongue back. Although the fight has turned positively in his direction, the demon seems a touch hesitant to approach too closely now that I've revealed the power of the doom chomp. He might be willing to soak up the acid damage, but it seems as though my mandibles might be more of a threat than he's willing to take on. Not that I'm going to give him a choice.
I quietly start to pump gravity mana into my mandibles and they begin to glow with an unearthly purple light, something that my opponent doesn't fail to notice. He pauses his advance for a moment, tongues still hovering threateningly. I can immediately tell what he wants. The poison managed to affect me when I barely had any of it on my body and now he managed to pour it onto my carapace with his last attack. If I can't counteract the effect somehow then the fight is already over, all he has to do is wait.
[How are you doing, Invidia?]
[The demon toxin issss ssstubborn. Not physssical at all. Mana basssed it hasss ssseeped into you. I have done what I can for now.]
Mana based?! A mana toxin!? I switch on my mana sense and direct it inward to reveal that Invidia is totally correct. The disgusting goop that Anga dripped all over me is a medium for delivering the poison rather than the poison itself. A viral form of mana has leaked out of the stuff and drifted into my body, latching onto my own mana and corrupting it, disrupting the flow of energy throughout my body. I didn't even know something like this was possible.
Using his big ol' brain, Invidia was able to detect the issue and attack the infected energy within my body, breaking it down and dispersing it as best he could. Some traces remain, and given time they will multiply and replicate the problem, but for now I'm not in any immediate danger. Not that the demon knows that. I continue to build the gravity mana in my mandibles and I manoeuvre, only to stumble and fall, crashing into the rock of the ramp with a thud.
As I feign weakness and try to push my body off the ground, I can almost feel the malefic glee rising from Anga as his tongues waggle in the air. He once again starts to approach, his thick chunky legs bringing him slowly closer. I flop and twitch on the ground for a few more seconds until I'm confident that he's close enough before I unleash my prepared surprise. The gravity mana infused in my mandibles flares to life as I reach out and pull.
I don't target Anga, the demon is way too heavy for the gravity to affect him, and I'm honestly not sure it would go super well for me if his whole body started falling at me. No, no. I target something much more specific.
The demon barely has time to react as one of his tongues suddenly feels a pull and is dragged toward me.
DOOM CHOMP!
Focusing on maximal sharpness, I slam shut my most potent biting attack, severing the tongue completely. Anga rips his remaining two tongues back into his body to avoid me getting hold of them too, but I'm not focused on that. Legs firing, I dash as quickly as I can toward the demon, mandibles wide and ready to bite again. Before my opponent can bring his weapons to bear, I slam down another doom chomp, cutting deep into his left arm. Not letting go, I drag the demon forward, putting him off balance before releasing my grip and slamming into his back, sending him toppling to the ground. Quick as a flash, I leap beside him and snap my mandibles forward once again, nearly severing the arm. I maintain the grip and open my mind to his, connecting with a mind bridge once again.
[Hey there, food,] I taunt him, [feel like talking now? Might want to start fast, I'm more than a little hungry.]
The mind of Anga is little changed from what it was before. That same roiling violence beneath a coat of filth is present, but I sense no fear from him.
[Hurr, hurr,] he laughs mentally and out loud at the same time. [A feisty morsel you are. Will you allow Anga to live if he speaks with you? If I am to be food, I would rather be eaten and be done with it.]
He sounds as if he's surrendered, but connected as we are I can sense the thoughts of harming me bubbling away in his mind. He would turn the situation in a second if I let him, and I doubt he would give me a chance to walk away alive.
[Sure, I'll let you leave my sight alive if you talk,] I tell him, [I just have a few things I want to learn.]
-x-X-x-
"If you're going to talk to that thing, you better make it quick, Eldest!" Protectant calls as the fight continues to keep the press of demons from overwhelming me.
Right, don't want to waste any time here, need to get our info and get the heck out of here. Still, this is a precious chance to talk to a fellow sentient monster. I've heard that there's tons of them down here in the third strata. What to ask? What does the Colony need to know the most?
[You mentioned a city?] I ask the trapped Anga, [whereabouts might I find it?]
[You don't see it?] the demon says in a near mocking tone. [Look down the spire!]
I'm going to assume the spire refers to the gigantic pillar we are close to the top of. Glancing over the side of the ramp, I can see straight down the absurd, vertigo inducing sight of the giant stone formation holding up the roof of the third strata. Just as before, I can see the rocks teeming with lifeforms climbing their way up dotted by flowing rivers of lava that flow out of the pillar at various points. Then I notice something odd and it takes me a second to reconfigure my perspective to understand exactly what it is that I'm looking at.
Is that... what I think it is?
What I had originally thought was a rock formation around the base of the pillar appears to be something else. Looking almost straight down at it, I couldn't quite make out the difference, but when I look a little harder, I realise it isn't actually on the ground. What I'm seeing is, in fact, a plate-like rock formation that circles the entire pillar about halfway down. And as I stare harder, I realise that those aren't rocks, but rather buildings that are formed on that flat ring. That's a city?!
It appears as though I might have found it... Suspended halfway up the pillar, multiple kilometres above the floor of the strata, the demon city exists on the pillar itself. How do they avoid getting swarmed by the climbing monsters though? Try as I might, I can't make out the details from this distance to work it out.
I feel the thoughts of my captive shift in an unpleasant direction and I wrench his arm with my mandibles as I return my full focus to him, dashing his hopes of knocking me off the edge.
[I'd tell you not to think about it, but I don't think you're capable,] I say.
[Demonic nature cannot be changed,] he seems to agree.
[So you came from the city on the pillar?]
[I did.]
[What for?]
[This is the only time that we demons can rise to the second strata. I was sent to scout and search for developments in the overworld.]
Makes sense I suppose. The wave gives the demons a chance to move up in the world, so to speak, and why wouldn't they seize this opportunity to check out the lay of the land? In a general sense, they have more to fear from attackers descending from above than those rising from below, since waves are rare. If an army like the Legion, or perhaps a giant Colony of ants, were to start setting up shop above them, the residents of the city would probably rather be aware of it than not.
Even so, I feel like there is more that I'm not being told, though I don't can't figure out what it is.
[You were sent by yourself? Hardly seems like enough.]
The demon gurgles a laugh out loud.
[A full-grown demon has little to fear moving up, usually.]
[Your just an unlucky sap who picked on the wrong ant, I suppose.]
He's not wrong. How many tier six monsters would he run into on his climb if I hadn't been here? None, probably.
[Does the city have a name? Or this place... this area of the third strata?]
The demon grins.
[You are above the Plains of Leng, bug, and the city of Roklu.]
Interesting. It doesn't mean a whole lot to me, but it's nice to know that the place has a name at all. Perhaps Granin will be able to tell me more about it.
[So another question that I have,] I pose to my demon friend, [is what happens to you when you crawl back to your city injured, having failed your mission before you managed to leave the strata?]
[Another will be sent and I will be punished,] I can feel from the demon's mind that he doesn't much care. [They may decide that Anga is to be food and throw me to the vats.]
Vats? I'm not sure I want to know.
[I am done with your questions, insect,] the demon growls, [either finish me or let Anga go free.]
[But we were getting along so well,] I tell him.
[I will speak no more,] he says and cuts the mind bridge once more.
It's odd that he would know how to do that, though I sense no strong ability for magic coming from him. Certainly he didn't cast a single spell during our fight. It makes me wary, thinking that there might be further depths to this demon that I don't yet understand. Still, if he doesn't feel like talking, I can hardly take the time to try and make him whilst exposed here on the ramp. I release my bite on the demon and back up slowly allowing him to gradually put his feet under him.
With his right arm nearly severed and the tongue from his main mouth cut, Anga is not much of a threat. Still, I continue to be wary of him as he steadies himself before turning to move back down the ramp. Before he's taken two steps, my antennae tingle with warning and I curse, jumping to one side. The demon spins faster than I had expected and fires his one remaining tongue-spear from his left arm from near point blank range. I don't bother to fully dodge, merely shifting my body to the left to put the demon between me and the edge of the ramp. With a loud 'THUNK' the spear slams into my carapace, once again failing to penetrate all the way through but I pay it no mind, instead coordinating with my sub-brains to condense the air mana I need for this spell to work.
BOOM!
With a concussive blast I unload two condensed air bolts right into the demon's chest from close range, giving just enough force to knock the demon backward, but not quite enough. Hit him again!
BOOM!
Unable to correct his balance in time, Anga if blown backwards, slipping over the edge. For a moment I can feel the aura of murderous glee rising from the demon before he slips out of my sight. With a powerful snap of my mandibles, I sever the spear that still connects us and wait to see if I get a notification for the monster's demise.
None comes. Dammit.
He had to have known he wouldn't be able to defeat me, as wounded as he was, so why bother making the attempt? I get the feeling the demonic mindset is going to be very different than what I would expect to see from a normal sapient creature. Still, we learned a few valuable things from him, such as the name and location of the closest demon settlement to the Colony. We'll need to scout it out in more detail in the future, since I've little doubt we'll be conquering the place as our first port of call to extending the territory of the Colony into the third strata. I glance out of the vast terrain that is lain out before me from this high vantage point. Won't all this be better when it belongs to the Colony? I look down at the teeming hordes of demons down below. Just think of the farming possibilities...
"Alright everyone," I call to my bodyguards, "time to go!"
[Pack it up gang, we're retreating back to the nest.]
Hopefully the way back up is easier than the way down.
-x-X-x-
"Fall! Fall, you interlopers, invaders and unbelievers! You are the nutrients provided by the Dungeon to grow something greater! Your Biomass will be the building blocks used to construct the new Path! The new way! Go in peace, under the mandibles of the Colony!" Beyn orated, his sonorous voice rolling through the tunnels like wind.
"Give it a rest, would you?" Isaac muttered, working his spear relentlessly alongside the soldier ant next to him.
Why he wasn't back on the surface patrolling the quiet streets of Renewal and enjoying the new ale being brewed up there, he still didn't know. Instead of relaxing and putting his feet up, here he was in the Dungeon, fighting alongside the Colony and the several other surviving members of the town guard, getting an earful from the mad preacher while they were at it.
After another five minutes of fierce battle, the sudden rush of shadow beasts was finally put down and Isaac gathered his people rest. He pulled off his helmet and wiped the sweat from his brow as the others did the same, patting each other on the back and sharing any levels or Skill improvements they might have gotten.
"Friend Isaac!" came a voice from behind him.
"Ah, plops," he cursed before turning with a smile to see the one-armed priest approaching, hunched over due to the weight of the shield he bore on his back.
Isaac pulled a face.
"I'm not sure you really need to be carrying that thing around," he said, "Do you even get a strength bonus from your class?"
"I do not," the priest said, breathing heavily. An hour of yelling hadn't winded the man in the slightest but carrying an oversized shield for twenty metres knocked the air straight out of him. Classes, what a thing. The vagaries of the System were nothing new to Isaac, he was born and bred in it, had never known a life without it. "... but the burden is light," Beyn gasped, "as I am strengthened by my faith. The shield of righteousness is my burden to bear, as decreed by the Great One directly."
"Did the 'Great One' really decree that?" Isaac asked sceptically. "That's not exactly how I remember it."
"One must allow some interpretation of the Great One's actions," the priest replied defensively, "would you rather I bother them endlessly with questions about everything they do or say?"
"Don't you do that already?"
"That's not the point!"
Beyn's face has turned a touch red by this point and Isaac takes a moment take the in the whole man. It was more than a little unusual for him to this fl.u.s.tered and Isaac could see he looked tired, worn out by some internal struggle. Though every instinct in Isaac's body screamed in warning, he reached out a hand and gripped the insane priest on the shoulder.
"Are you alright man?" he asked, "you don't seem like yourself."
Sometimes it was easy to forget how young Beyn was. He normally moved and spoke with such purpose and determination that the normal hesitance and vulnerabilities of youth were invisible in the man, burned away by the heat of his conviction. In this moment, Isaac was reminded that he was, in fact, the older of the two of them. The priest was a young man, fresh out of church training and settling into his first post when the last wave had occurred, catapulting him from that humble life into something entirely different.
"I- I'm fine," Beyn replied, blinking in surprise as the anger and frustration just seemed to leak out of him, leaving him looking more like a confused young man than Isaac had ever seen him. "I think... I think I'm just tired. There has been so much to do."
"It's not mana sickness is it? Have you been back to the surface recently?" Isaac said.
Beyn shook his head slowly.
"No. No, I'm fine. l'm being careful."
"So, what is it?" Isaac looked at him carefully, trying to encourage him to open up.
The priest spoke hesitantly at first, then with growing passion as he went on.
"There is just so much to do," he sighed, "the antmancer class is a brand-new revelation, but the speed of our progress, our levelling, has fallen dramatically since the siege ended. I have tried to explain to the faithful that a class such as this is hard to train, and likely powerful as it advances, but they hunger so desperately for the next improvement, the next chance for the System to illuminate this glorious path. They take risks, they push too hard and no matter how I try to warn them, their eagerness and enthusiasm overtakes them. Several members of my church have been sent to the surface for healing and extended rest over the last week, their own actions slowing rather than speeding their progress. I find it hard to blame them, since I too share their desire for that next great leap."
"The antmancers have been joining in on all the patrols," Isaac protested this idiocy, "every single one of them. In terms of hours on duty, they exceed every single one of the guards, even the trainees we took in from Rylleh."
What a pain in the plops that'd been for Isaac. As the citizens of the underground city had grown more and more accustomed to life under the 'rule' of the ants, the more they had grown to like it. To the poor and working people, the Colony were liberating heroes. When Isaac had formerly opened the ranks of the guards to volunteers after the siege, there had been a flood of applicants. It was a good thing the Colony had decided to foot the bill, since Isaac wouldn't have the first clue how he would even attempt to pay them all.
Here's hoping the Colony never actually found a use for all the gold they'd found.
"Yes," Beyn agreed, "but to them this simply isn't enough. And the new members of the flock are often misguided and need a great deal of teaching, lest they do or say something that tarnishes the image of the Great One and undoes our work spreading the word. This has been a nightmare to manage and it has been some days since last I slept."
The priest rubbed his eyes and Isaac got a clear look at how lined and webbed with red they were.
"By the Path man," Isaac cursed, "how the hell are you on your feet? You need to get your arse to bed!"
"Don't curse," the priest admonished with a faint smile.
"I'm serious man!" Isaac said. "Even the Colony has a mandatory rest rule."
Beyn blinked.
"I'm sorry, what?" he said.
"You didn't know?" the head guard was shocked. Normally the priest would be the first to know anything about the Colony. "The, uh, Great One, mandated rest for every member of the Colony. I think they were sick of Colony members trying to work themselves to death all the time, so they implemented this rule. They're pretty damn serious about it, I've seen ants dragged kicking into the shadows to rest before."
It was such a strange and horrifying sight that Isaac shuddered upon recalling it. There was something so disturbing about the silent screams which seemed to emanate from that ant as it was slowly pulled into the darkness. It was chilling on a level he didn't quite understand. He came back to himself and turned his attention to the priest. For whatever reason, the mad fool was suffering and perhaps he, Isaac Bird, could be of assistance for once.
Instead, he turned his face back to Beyn and is was if he had stuck his head too close to a furnace. The priests eyes were blazing with passion, a fire roaring so bright that it appeared as if it would turn the tears running down his face to steam.
"The kindness of the Great One," he whispered reverently, "the ineffable wisdom!"
"Ah plops," Isaac muttered.