Fanatics aside, there's plenty of stuff going on and not much time in which to get it done. With so many ants furiously working, I decide the best place for me is out of the way on the surface.
Well, I say surface, obviously I'm not climbing all the way out of the Dungeon. I head up until I break through and find myself sitting under the shade of the enormous Mother Tree, her branches and canopy spread out above me.
The fourth stratum really is a beautiful place to be. The mountain islands that rise up out of the crystal blue waters tower impossibly high. In between, the floating islands, with their endless waterfalls, drift amongst the clouds. Clouds… this far underground…
It's a bit nuts.
Truly, the power of mana makes anything possible. These impossible mountains, with their crags and cliffs, their forest-covered slopes with rivers and valleys. From who knows how deep to touching the roof of the stratum kilometres overhead, each one is absolutely titanic. And there must be thousands of them.
I can only see a few from where I stand, but I assume that they go all the way around the world. The size of the place is just ridiculous. The fact that the Mother Tree managed to take over a mountain for herself, basically consuming it, is utterly absurd. A feat that the Colony will soon have to replicate.
Our first priority on this stratum will be to establish our own nest, which means we'll need to conquer a mountain for ourselves! One that we can shape as we please, and fortify until it becomes an impregnable fortress of doom.
Luckily, I have a mountain in mind, and it isn't far away.
The termite nest will soon be available. Free real estate, as it were. We'll have the added benefit of living directly under the branches of the Mother Tree, cementing our alliance yet further. We don't actually know how this area is oriented with the rest of our territory, which isn't a huge issue, but it's nice to have all of our land vertically integrated.
Once we have our own functioning gates, it won't matter, all of our land will be one hop away from all the rest of it!
Gweheheheh.
Speaking of gates… I wonder how Brilliant is getting on with it all? She's obviously made great strides in her knowledge of dimensional magic. I don't yet know if she has the specific Skill for it, but I'm super impressed with her ability to sniff out the secrets that have so far evaded us. There's been a team of the finest ant mages trying to puzzle out how gates work for months, but the little champion has made more progress in a matter of weeks!
Good to know my naming sense hasn't weakened. I was worried she'd let me down there for a bit, but she came through in the end!
She should be back here soon enough, I'll catch up with her when she returns. Which reminds me, I really should check in on Sarah. I hope she isn't taking the fate of Jim too badly. It really wasn't her fault, and was totally out of her control, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was beating herself up over it. She's too kind to not try and divert blame from others and onto herself.
Hmm…
I think there's some movement beneath me. A quick dip into the Vestibule reveals that there is indeed a lot going on down there. Plans are being laid, hospitals built, for ants and for humans, strategy hammered out. The scouts are having the worst of it. A wide scale skirmish is taking place as the ants push out into termite territory and start collapsing tunnels.
I can feel them now. Earth mages are straining to break apart the stone in a series of controlled collapses while scouts cover them with long-range fire. The scene is repeated in dozens of tunnels as the Colony seeks to enact this strategy before the termites, or more importantly, the ka'armodo, can react.
I try to keep tabs on the fighting beneath the ground for a while before a familiar face pops up not far away.
"Cobalt? What are you doing up here?"
The little carver sees me relax- I mean, working hard here and skitters over to say hello.
"Eldest, nice to see you contributing…"
"Watch yourself… I can put you back into training at any time I like."
"… contributing with such diligence and vigour."
"That's right."
I remember the twenty when they were just grubs. How dare they get so uppity with me! It's not like I didn't nearly get myself killed trying to save the situation down here.
"What's the story? Anything need building up here?" I ask her.
"Well, you did want us to magic up a gigantic bridge out of nothing didn't you?" Cobalt responds.
"Well… yes."
"Right. So I need to get measurements for the width and height so I can get an accurate estimate of the volume of stone required. Once I have that, I can work out roughly how much mana will be needed, which will tell us how many mages have to take part."
I stare.
"You can calculate how much mana is needed?"
That sounds… different.
She flicks her antennae dismissively, already looking out over the wide waters between us and the distant shore of the termite mountain.
"It's not that complicated. We know how much mana is required to create a cubic metre of stone, so if we can estimate the stone required, we can make the calculation."
"It's that simple?"
She clacks her mandibles.
"Well, no. Of course not. There are a number of factors involved that influence the result. Higher rank stone magic obviously results in a more efficient mana-to-stone ratio. Distance from the caster is another important factor, the further away, the more mana required. Not sure exactly why. Ambient mana has an impact, local affinity has a strong effect, proximity to other stone. That's an interesting one, actually. Creating new stone near older rock is much easier, but making it near newer rock, like something we conjured, doesn't have much of an impact. Other elements are important too, for example, creating stone and soil near water is more expensive."
…
"Sounds, actually very complicated."
"It's not that bad.…"
She already sounds distracted, calculating away in her head, which is impressive as hell. A few moments later, she clacks her mandibles again and starts to turn around.
"Alright, that's done."
"Already?!"
"It's just an estimate, I'm not being super precise. In terms of standard deviation -"
"Nope. Stop talking."
"Okay."
I sigh.
"I knew you'd all be smarter than I am, I just didn't expect the difference to be this wide, this quickly."
"Don't feel too bad about it, Eldest. We just want to make sure you can focus on the things you want to focus on."
"How long do you think it'll be until the attack is ready to start? I'm struggling to contain myself up here."
"You and most of the ants down there," she laughs. "Don't worry. In an hour, we'll be ready to go."
-x-X-x-
Under the soft light of the fourth stratum, with a soft mist rising from the glittering blue waters on the shore, the might of the Colony assembled. They had gathered in strength before, huge armies of ant soldiers, alongside smaller groups of human and golgari, but not quite like this.
Half a million ants emerged from beneath the ground and sorted themselves into neat ranks. They blanketed the shoreline. Between those inmoving chitinous frames, no trace of sand nor soil could be seen, they were so densely packed. In the lead stood a sparkling insect, enormous in size it loomed over the others of its own kind, a commanding presence that dominated the field.
Ten thousand support troops were spread amongst the ranks. Other races who had taken up arms alongside the Colony, ready to fight, ready to die, so that the ants would triumph. Within each group a robed figure walked, blessing each warrior and exhorting them to greater devotion in battle.
It was a terrifying sight.
Rassan'tep retracted his sight from the scrying array and sank deep into contemplation. That despite being so young, the Colony could already muster an army of this strength and size was worrying. Their growth was faster than even he had considered possible, and he projected it would only increase. To deal with this sort of power, the ka'armodo would need to commit a large force, thousands of their own number, with set'sulah War Dancer support and sand golems.
They had none of that here, only the termite Colony they had grown and fostered against all custom.
It was ka'armodo monster engineering against what a lone creature had been able to accomplish without training or assistance.
He wasn't confident that they would win. In many ways, it didn't matter. He was only interested in what Anthony would become from this moment on. Would the promising young monster die in the fighting, his rise to glory stopped tragically short? Or would he survive, and grow all the stronger for being exposed to the heat of battle?
He had to see.
[You seem excited, Master.]
The voice of Ammon'sil rang in his mind and the elder shifted slightly to better see his faithful servant.
[Is it so simple to tell? I would rather not have my emotions read so easily.]
[Not at all, Master,] the set'sulah smiled, [only those who have known you for many years would recognise that gleam in your eye.]
Satisfied, the great lizard shifted back and once more engaged with the scrying array. The grand sight of the massed ranks of ants, so neat they appeared to have been painted in place, once more appeared before him.
[What are your thoughts on the upcoming conflict?] Rassan'tep asked.
[It is not my place to comment.]
[It is, when I ask you to.]
[As you say. I worry for your kin, Master. They are confident in their abilities and in those of their creations, but I worry that they underestimate the foe before them. The Colony has shown that it will adapt, take risks, make decisions on the fly. Just because countermeasures have been prepared doesn't mean they will succeed.]
[You are speaking most carefully,] the ka'armodo noted. [You can come out and say it. Hubris. Overconfidence. Arrogance. Pride.]
Each word emanated powerfully from the ancient creature, an ocean of contempt behind them.
[The curse of the old races has shown its face again. Just because we ruled this world once, does not mean we don't have to fight for it now. The Colony is young, ambitious and rising quickly. My kin here think they are the same, but the difference is stark.]
He observed the ants carefully, noting the various castes and their disposition.
[The Colony is hungry, but for survival, not glory. They seek to build, not to maintain. The youths who were sent here… they see themselves as chosen, and special, instead of manipulated and abandoned. When cold blooded and logical thinking is required, they have allowed themselves to grow too heated.]
In the distance, there was movement. Thousands of ants stepped forward with unnatural precision. Mages, each and every one of them. Minds in perfect sync, they began to draw and shape the mana around them. With so many mages working together in perfect harmony, a vast amount of energy was able to be moved, a veritable storm of mana forming across the shoreline.
Rassan'tep watched carefully as the bridge began to take shape. It was crude in form, but well suited to the task, he had to admit. Sturdy, dense, compacted, the bridge was almost a kilometre wide. They even went to the trouble of anchoring it to the lake bed, extending pillars downward before the waters grew too deep. The great lizard hummed in approval. If they were nothing else, the ants were solid builders.
Gradually, the bridge extended and the ants began to advance in blocks, the mages at the front, along with Anthony and his small retinue.
At the current pace, it would take them little over an hour to complete the work, if they remained uninhibited. Of course they weren't.
Rising from the fungus coated forest, spheres of potent energy began to rise. They hovered in the air briefly, condensing, before they were suddenly fired in a high arc. Dozens of shots were fired at once, the combined efforts of nearly all the ka'armodo who remained on the mountain.
Of course the ants were prepared.
Shields sprung into existence, one after the other, covering the bridge for its entire length. Rassan'tep didn't even need to reach out with mind to see the spells of his kin were under assault before they crossed the halfway point, the mana being siphoned away.
The level of cooperation shown by the Colony was staggering.
With so many mages at their disposal, they were able to distribute roles and allow each ant to focus on just one task. That in itself wasn't impressive, but the way they worked so seamlessly together without communicating left him in wonder.
The bridge building never stopped, not for a moment. The shields continued to be created and reinforced, the moment one fell, it was replaced. There were even whole batteries of mages just reaching out with their minds and pulling in all the ambient mana they could, making it available to the others to utilise. Selfless, relentless effort. That was the defining trait of the Colony.
When the bridge reached the halfway mark, there was a pause.
The barrage from the ka'armodo continued, the ants held it at bay, but did not advance. A chance for them to replenish their energy? Allow the ambient mana to restore itself?
Perhaps.
He cast his eye across the field once more. Tens of thousands of ants now packed the bridge, but curiously, it wasn't full, not completely. A curious thing, he hadn't believed the ants would be concerned with overcrowding.
Then something changed. The massed ranks of ants split down the middle and stepped to the side, clearing a narrow pathway through the centre to the tip of the bridge, where Anthony awaited.
They were making way for something? Or someone?
From beneath the soil, amongst the gargantuan roots of the Mother Tree emerged a column of steel clad ants. Hundreds of them, each encased in powerful, ornate armour that shone with a mirror polish. With solemn and implacable steps, they marched steadily forward as Rassan'tep watched with keen interest. Then something different appeared.
Carried on the backs of ten ants came… a tomb? Four burning torches adorned it. Gold and precious metals covered it in elaborate filigree. Carved into the face of it in excruciating detail was the face of an ant, and though their expressions never shifted, somehow Rassan'tep felt a sense of overwhelming… relief, and joy, and freedom…
What in the name of the Demon God was going on down there?
-x-X-x-
Cardigant, the one who fell, and in falling, achieved true immortality. Her existence, or rather, the lack of ongoing existence, was something amazing to the Immortals, something precious.
It was, Leeroy decided, something that could not afford to be lost.
She and her sisters had come so close to losing hope! They had come within an antenna's width of letting go of their dream. The rejection of their creed by the Colony, the ire and condemnation of the Eldest, the crushing failure of their tier six evolution, all of it had piled up to become a weight that was almost too heavy to bear.
Then Cardigant had done as they had done, she had gone into battle. But then she had done the miraculous. She had sacrificed her life, successfully!
It was a revelation! A confirmation! A resuscitation! All that Leeroy had dreamed of, all that the Immortals had dreamed of, it was still within their reach! They only had to stretch forth with their mandibles, grasp the sword of the enemy, and pull it into their own faces.
They would not lose their way again. She refused to let them! And so, something had to be done.
"Wait a second." Smithant lowered her tools and looked at the crowd of anxious, heavily armoured ants crowded around her anvil. "You want me to what?"
"It's very simple," Leeroy said impatiently. They couldn't afford to waste time! "We want you to create a permanent metal container to store the body of our beloved, fallen sister for eternity. That's not hard to understand!"
Smithant stared hard at the council member, observing the maniacal, fanatical gleam in her eyes.
"W-why?" she asked flatly. "I can make something like that, sure, but why should I? It's a waste of materials and a waste of my time. I'm supposed to be down here to help repair and upkeep your armour, not making elaborate boxes for you to store dead family members in. I'm terribly sorry for your loss, I mourn this fallen sister along with you, but let it go. Let her return to the Dungeon and let's get on with things."
Leeroy was frustrated. She wasn't one for words, normally, and had no idea how she could communicate just what she wanted, just what they felt.
"Smithant, this might be hard to believe," she began, "but we aren't sad that our sister has fallen, we are happy. She wanted this, we all want this, but she succeeded. We want to carry her with us, always, so that we never forget that we can succeed too."
She stared hard at the smith, trying to help her understand just how important this was to them.
From Smithant's point of view, they just looked insane. They had compound eyes, they were always looking in all directions, it's not like they could actually stare at one thing. All Leeroy was doing was leaning uncomfortably close, to the point she might soon catch some red hot tongs in the eye.
"All right, all right! Back up a little would you, you moron! So, what, you want me to encase Cardigant in a… in a what? A box made of metal?"
The Immortals considered it for a long moment.
"A nice box?" one of them suggested from the back.
Smithant glared at them.
"A nice box?" she demanded. "Nice how?"
Another moment of silence.
"It should be decorated…" one of the giant, steel-clad ants offered.
"Maybe… it should look like Cardigant?" another said.
"Maybe some words of encouragement should be put on it? That might be nice."
"Oh! We could make it portable! We get sent to a lot of different places after all.… I wouldn't want to leave her behind."
There was a general chorus of agreement to this.
"Make it so we can mount it on our backs then?"
More agreement.
"Maybe some of those nice vine carvings? They look nice. You know the ones that curl around themselves?"
"Good idea."
"I like the vines…"
"Very appealing."
"Anything else?" the smith grated.
Another long pause.
"Maybe some scent baskets, so we can spread messages of comfort when we carry her."
"Flowers?"
"Put her face on the front?"
"Make sure to include the armour in some way!"
"Oh, yes. The armour is important."
The Immortals had grown attached to their metal shells after all this time. It was a love/hate relationship, to be sure.
"Some lights? Maybe? Something subtle…"
"It should include her core, obviously."
"Obviously!"
"We can't recycle her core!"
A hammer came crashing down on the anvil, silencing all with the resulting clang.
"You want me to enchant it?!" Smithant bellowed, her pheromones blasting away the others' words in an instant. "Just how much time do you think I have to spare?"
She clacked her mandibles harshly.
"Even the raw materials needed would be immense. There's no way!"
Leeroy leapt forward and banged her face onto the stone floor, followed by all the others. This was how the humans apologised, apparently.
"Please!" Leeroy begged. "We will help! We'll source all the materials ourselves. If you do this for us, we'll never complain about having to wear your armour again. We swear!"
"We swear!" the rest chorused.
Smithant looked out over the hunched forms of the Immortals, irritated beyond words. These idiots took up so much of her time, and were such a pain in her carapace, she almost took a savage glee in making their armour as durable as possible, just to ensure they would survive.
Which… come to think of it… gave her an idea.
"Alright, fine," she said, "I'll make your fancy box, with vines and smoke and all the other nonsense. I'll even make it with the finest materials, the highest quality metal, and I'll contribute cores to ensure the enchanting works flawlessly. In fact, I'll do the inscribing myself."
The Immortals looked up with overflowing joy in their eyes.
"Really?!" Leeroy said.
Smithant nodded.
"Really."
And she did just what she said. The box she constructed took an absurd amount of effort. Her apprentices worked (almost) around the clock as the entire Immortal battalion scrambled to fetch everything they needed whilst Smithant laboured over an anvil.
The finest layered steel, shaped and decorated with her own expert mandibles. What she built was a wonder of engineering, a majestic feat of skill and craftsmanship that was, ironically, perhaps the finest piece of metalwork in her career to date.
When at last Cardigant's body was laid to rest and sealed inside, every Immortal turned out to watch the ceremony. The lid closed and locked into place, never to be opened again, then Leeroy stepped forward and placed the celebrated ant's core in the elaborate mount that had been prepared for it.
The second the core clicked in, the enchantments came to life. The Immortals celebrated wildly as they felt the reassurance of their dear, departed sister wash over them.
Smithant snickered.
She just knew those idiots were going to carry that thing into battle. With the myriad of defensive auras she'd packed into the thing, she may just have ensured that none of them would ever get a big fancy box of their own.
-x-X-x-
"WE ARE BATHED IN HER BENEVOLENT LIGHT!"
"WE SEEK!"
"WHERE SHE HAS LED, WE SHALL FOLLOW!"
"WE SEEK!"
"ETERNAL REST! ETERNAL GLORY! IT IS NOW HERS! SOON, IT WILL BE OURS!"
"WE SEEK!"
The column of Immortals continued to march through the ranks of ants who had parted for them. Towards the front of their formation, the Reliquary of Eternal Rest was borne upon their backs, its sacred smokes infused with pheromonal messages of hope and comfort.
"Death is near! Glory to the Colony! The end has come! Death is near!"
The waves of pheromones rolled over the ants to either side, who rolled their antennae and clacked their mandibles, unimpressed.
Leeroy continued to exhort her followers all the way to the head of the column. By the time they reached the end of the bridge, the Immortals had been whipped into a frenzy, their hearts surging with devotion to the Colony and eyes ablaze with a desperate need to lay down their lives.
The Reliquary had a multiplicative effect on the eagerness of the Immortals. They were so eager to fly into battle their armour rattled on their backs.
Of course, it wasn't possible. The bridge hadn't been finished yet.
The steel clad column came to a halt with surprising discipline and the Immortals sat, lowering their bodies down to rest, though, sadly for them, not permanently.
With their shock troops in position, the Colony once more got to work extending the bridge. Earth magic churned once again as thousands of minds linked together to work the energy that suffused the air. The bombardment continued as they worked, but it had become clear that the ka'armodo lacked the firepower to break the Colony's defences.
The bridge inevitably completed its journey, connecting to the termite mountain and terminating on the shore. The ants looked out over the unbroken fields of white fungus, but there was no sign of their enemy.
Which meant it was fire time.
Leading the fire mages, an ecstatic, almost rapturous Propellant stepped forward.
"Ant mages! Prepare to burn! Burn it all! ALL OF IT TO THE GROUND! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Fire exploded in all directions, setting the fungal forest ablaze. Huge orbs of pure blue flame were lobbed further up the mountain, starting spot fires that rapidly spread. In a matter of moments a raging inferno blazed across the mountain.
The Immortals braced themselves, waiting for any response from the termites, but none was forthcoming. Which suited Propellant just fine.
"More fire! MORE! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!" she raged as she launched more and more flaming missiles deeper into enemy territory.
For over an hour the fire burned, sweeping over the fungus with breathtaking speed. Pillars of flame roared dozens of metres into the air, the ashes burning so hot they started new fires wherever they landed. When the fuel had burned itself out, all that remained was charred ground that still sizzled with remembered heat. In the distance, the smoke still billowed up into the sky, the fungus burning over the horizon.
But the silence was deafening. The Colony had expected to see the enemy boiling out of their tunnels to fight, filled with rage and ready to defend their precious garden. Instead, the mighty column of ants looked out over a barren field, devoid of the foe they sought.
Leeroy stepped forward.
"Let's go," she said.
Determined, the Immortals began to march. With luck, none of them would return. The Reliquary of Eternal Rest marched with them, the peaceful gaze of Cardigant upon their every step.
With their heavily armoured shock troops in the lead, the rest of the army followed behind, flowing over the landscape like a natural disaster. The formation continued to be a tight column, the troops on high alert. This was not friendly territory; the ground did not belong to them.
Every lump of dirt, every rock, every smouldering tree could conceal a tunnel or cavern filled with termites. Mages extended their senses as far as they could, even going so far as to harden the ground beneath them as they marched.
Still, the termites did not emerge.
The ka'armodo clearly held their charges on a tight leash. They would hold their monstrous army at bay until the ants had been drawn as far forward as possible.
Despite knowing this, the Colony advanced. Their resolution did not waver. They would see the enemy destroyed here today, regardless of the tricks and stratagems. When the battle was done, one insect would reign supreme.
Tense and alert, the army marched all the way to the mouth of the termite nest itself. Although repairs had been made, signs of the damage caused by the Eldest could still be seen, the horrific power that they had unleashed had scarred the mountain itself.
It was here that the enemy finally made themselves known.
Massed ranks of termites, thousands upon thousands, filled the wide nest entrance. Blind faces and long mandibles rose high as the ants came close enough for them to scent.
On both sides the rage began to build, mandibles clacked with piercing force, the sound echoing off the rock. Neither side could tolerate the other. Neither side would tolerate the other.
When they were a kilometre apart, the Colony came to a halt, the long narrow column beginning to redeploy. Mages continued to firm up the ground and sense whatever they could of the tunnels beneath.
Results were sketchy, they weren't able to detect anything clearly. The ka'armodo had been busy, working against them to ensure they wouldn't know where the surprise attack would come.
No matter, this was also within their expectations. In this, the final confrontation, nothing had been left to chance!
The two armies faced each other across the open ground. The ants quivered with excitement, ready to unleash their wrath upon the termite foe.
At the head of the column, the Immortals quivered even more intently, to the point their armour rattled against that of the soldier standing next to them. The constant drum beat of metal on metal filled the air, a deafening din that set every antenna on the mountain to quivering.
"Damn it, Leeroy! Knock it off!" the Eldest complained.
Having completely lost focus at this point, the leader of the steel column took that as instructions to charge.
"LEEEEEEEEROY!" she screamed.
-x-X-x-
Rassan'tep watched with cold, reptilian amusement as the armoured shock troops of the Colony dove forward, seemingly at random. He had hoped the stand off between the two sides would last longer so he might further study the ants and the disposition of their forces. Knowing what he did now about them, it was far easier to recognise the amount of thought and effort they put into all they did, and the selflessness with which they acted.
Even at rest, the column had been busily working. Vast flows of mana were constantly being channelled, energy sucked in to replenish the stores of mages who never ceased to manipulate the earth and stone around them.
Wary of ambush, they firmed the ground in stages as they had marched, the front ranks performing the initial hardening, the second condensing that, the third starting a new layer, and so on down the line. By the time the final ant had crossed a patch of ground, ten metres of compressed stone were left beneath them.
When they had stopped, face to face with the termite forces, the practice had only intensified; even now that the two sides were starting to converge, thousands of ants continued to work on the rock beneath them.
Despite the somewhat surprising initial charge, the rest of the ant column moved with incredible coordination and efficiency. All along the formation, large groups of ants broke off and advanced to a new position. The giant ka'armodo was fascinated to see some groups simply flow through each other and it took him a moment to realise the ants had simply climbed over each other without breaking stride, something his people would certainly struggle to do.
In fact, having even a single ka'armodo step on another would be such a breach of protocol the entire concept was almost entirely alien to them.
Before the armour-clad heavy ants had reached their target, a massive volley of acid and magic was on its way. The termites seethed with blind rage under the direction of Rassan'tep's people. He knew they wanted to attack, to boil out of the nest and destroy the insect army that had appeared before them, but he also knew they would be prevented from doing so.
Which of course meant that the rain of acid fell upon the packed ranks of termites, burning their carapace and causing them to twitch and clack their mandibles with intense anger.
The current breed had been protected against acid damage, but not completely, the Colony would still exact their toll.
And the firing was so disciplined!
Thousands upon thousands of ants in neat ranks, taking turns to fire. First the ants in front, followed by those behind, all the way back through dozens of ranks, separate volleys of acid rising high into the air and arcing down to fall amongst the termites.
The spray of loose droplets in the air painted an almost artistic picture, the sheer volume almost enough to summon a rainbow on its own.
From high in the mountain, Rassan'tep was able to magically extend his view across the entire field of battle. A top down perspective that gave him an enviable seat for the upcoming spectacle. Of course his role was to provide intelligence to his people in order to aid their efforts in directing the battle, but he largely left that to the set'sulah.
Unlike those who he reluctantly called his allies in this conflict, he was convinced the fight was lost. Indeed, his main priority in the battle was to witness a potential Ancient on the rise.
He leaned forward eagerly and turned his mind's eye to the collision off the two sides.
Despite their overwhelming numbers advantage and tightly packed ranks, the termites were not equipped to receive a charge as devastating as this. When the lead armoured ant rammed into the first termite, the latter was sent flying, soon joined in the air by the next in line. Chunks of chitin exploded into the air as carapaces were simply shattered under the force of the impact. It was thunderous, and it didn't stop there. Though impossible to consider, the steel ants almost accelerated as they threw themselves deeper into the enemy army. Despite the ferocity of their assault, they were still a narrow front, a blade that had stabbed deep into the body of the termite army.
Now the Colony's own acid barrage fell on them, so deep had they gone.
Rassan'tep was confused. Were they ever going to stop?
The answer, apparently, was no. Further on they charged until finally they ground to a halt, their momentum exhausted. Surrounded on all sides by enemies, there were now tens of thousands of termites between the armoured ants and their allies.
An interesting decision, and not one he could make much sense of. The ants must surely have a plan, all of their actions were so deliberate, yet what it was he could not fathom. Despite being so young, there were aspects to the Colony that the old one just couldn't understand. The strange, ornate thing the amoured ones carried with them into the heart of the termite army was another such thing.
But where was Anthony?
Along with his pets, he had not joined the headlong charge into the mouth of the nest, but had instead employed a more measured approach. Alongside a vast frontline of powerful soldier ants and sapient allies on foot, the massive, diamond covered ant strode forward without fear to engage the scattered termites left in the wake of that impressive charge.
When the two sides met, Rassan'tep had a good idea how it would go, and he felt as if his people weren't going to like it.
-x-X-x-
Having the collective Will of over a hundred thousand sentient creatures flowing through you at once is... heady stuff. When all hundred thousand of them are baying for the blood of their ancestral enemies... it's... difficult to stay level.
When Leeroy rocketed off like an idiot it was all I could do not to race in after her. If I'd actually joined in on the predictably suicidal charge of the Immortals I might never have lived it down. The last thing i want is for more of my siblings to join that stupid death cult. I can't believe they carried their dead sister into battle... in a casket that spread pheromones saying "death is coming!"
I mean, that's just not appropriate. The fact that Cardigant probably wouldn't mind doesn't matter in my books. Where's the respect?
I keep a steady stream of nonsense thoughts buzzing through my head as the front line of troops steps forward to engage the termites. The flood of Will pouring into me feels like a hive mind right now, the intent is so unified. It's like an angry god is poking me right in the brain, demanding I kill termites.
I'm going, alright? I'm going!
Despite my best efforts to remain in control of myself, I find my mandibles quivering with eagerness. Resolutely I pull them back and lock them into place as we continue our steady march forward.
The termites wait to receive us, thousands upon thousands of them piled up in the entrance to their nest. Even without the ka'armodo controlling them, they would still be here ready to receive us, they know, deep down, what it means when the ants come knocking on the nest.
That's right you blind cockroaches, either you fight us off or we bring the whole thing down on your heads! The nest, the brood, the queens, none of it will remain!
Not the kings either, I suppose, though the idea of kings is just... weird. I mean... what for?
No, Anthony! Don't dismiss your own original gender as useless, even casually! Don't forget your essential man-ness. Just because male ants are effectively useless and die almost immediately after they pass on their genes doesn't mean you can throw away your inner self!
Bah! Like it even matters. It's time to fight!
The nearest termite looms large in my eyes, rage and hate burning in every inch of its carapace and I leap forward, jaws ready to bite. That's exactly how I feel about you, bud!
CHOMP!
My mandibles snap forward, filled with the anger of a hundred thousand ants and my foe reels back, or tries to, with the barbs of my jaws still stuck deep in its carapace.
Gweheheheh. No escape for you, my friend.
Which is when Tiny jumps over my head and lands on it, crushing the termite beyond recognition.
[Oi! That one was mine!]
[RAAAAA!] he bellows with his mind and body at the same time.
The light of battle is burning in the big ape's eyes already, no point wasting energy talking to him. I'll just move onto the next one to vent the fury of the Colony that flows through me!
Except when I turn and move around Tiny's giant frame as he begins to hop lightly on his feet and unleash his devastating fists, I find Crinis is busy stuffing termites into her mouth whilst she drills into the minds of others and turns them against their foes.
Dammit!
[What's wrong, master?] she asks innocently.
[... nothing.]
I can't really complain, it's a battle after all. I'm just overflowing with this energy and I need to get rid of it!
No problem. Tiny in front of me, Crinis on the left, I'll just turn to the right.
BOOM!
An explosion rings out right next to me, vaporising a host of termites right in front of my face.
[Yesssssssss,] Invidia purrs, pleased with himself.
I can see the little demon behind me, his one eye glowing bright green, curved with glee. That little goblin knew I was going for them and is extra happy because he got to take them from me!
Argh! I can't take it anymore!
[You guys fight here, I'm going to make sure that Leeroy is alright!]
[Wait, Master! That wasn't the plan!]
[Plans never survives contact with the enemy, Crinis. This is the wisdom of the ancients. BAI!]
So saying I clack my mandibles with glee, duck around Tiny and accelerate madly.
Gweheheheheh! They won't stop me now. Bring on the termites, I'm ready for them! In fact, I don't even have to reach them before I start fighting...
I quickly charge my mandibles with a burst of gravity mana and yoink a nearby termite straight into my waiting jaws.
CRUNCH!
I toss the Biomass to the side and burst headlong into the termite ranks, glorying in the scrape and clatter of their mandibles on my glorious carapace.
Yes! Bring it on, all of you! I'll take on ten thousand by myself so come and get it!
VOID CHOMP!
The foes gnashing in front of me are shredded in a couple of seconds as my most powerful bite is inflicted on them. Before that dreadful power, their meagre defences cannot hold.
My stamina takes a massive hit with the use of the skill, but in the blink of an eye it starts to rocket up again. The vigorous will of the Colony is flooding through me, it's impossible to be tired!
You termites are in real trouble...
Filled with vim, I begin to lay about me with mandibles and acid, tearing through the termites with wild abandon as they rush forward, biting madly. They try to latch onto my legs, to find the joints in my armour, or pull my antennae off, but I simply cannot be stopped. Every time they dig chunks out of my carapace, I repair them, the regeneration gland filling up so quickly I can trigger it with absurd rapidity. The small injuries they inflict on me just don't have time to add up before I can wipe them away, and I don't ever have to stop.
So long as the Colony is with me, I won't ever stop!
-x-X-x-
"Eldest! What are you doing up here?" Leeroy complained.
"Hah. Thought you had a nice final stand setup here, did you? You thought you'd run far enough from the rest of the Colony that we wouldn't be able to catch up and keep you alive? You should know better by now, Leeroy."
"But don't you need to rush deeper into the nest, Eldest?" she asks, hope still alive in her scent. "We can hold this position… against overwhelming odds, even! Yes! We can stay here, battling to control the mouth of the nest to protect you… until we fall one by one, tragically!"
Wow, she worked that up in her head quickly.
"No chance, Leeroy. I came up here strictly to keep you and all your followers alive. None of you are going to die while I'm here," I tell her firmly.
"Dammit."
"This sucks!"
"Ruining everything…"
"I was feeling good about today…"
"Hey! Shut up over there! You think I can't hear you? Don't make me walk over there!"
"Would you kill us if you did?"
"What? No!"
"Dammit..."
"... you people need help. I'm going to get on that after this battle, you've had your fun. Now get back to fighting termites already. You're slacking."
"... fine," the Immortals grumble and turn back to fighting, but it's easy to see that the fire has gone out of them, which is madness.
Here we are, deep in the entrance to the termite nest, their scent trails are all around us, along with literally tens of thousands of them all around us, climbing up the walls, and there are for sure thousands upon thousands more beneath us.
If you aren't pumped up for this then what the hell are you after?!
I mean… I know what the Immortals are after, but I can't comprehend it, so I can't understand their lack of gusto. It's not a problem though, I've got enough pep for all of us!
Let me at 'em!
Turning my back on the sulking corps of Immortals, I rush toward the outer edge of the formation and run right over the top of the armoured soldier in front of me, throwing myself into the waiting jaws of the frothing termite horde like a billionaire duck launching into a money collection.
Even before I land, the dark purple mana expands around me, the gravity domain revolving into existence to pull the termites down before I even land. WIth plenty of brain power to spare, I pour all of my mental energy into compressing the mana as tight as possible before I release it and it's pleasing to see the insects beneath me wobble under the additional pressure.
And then I'm there, crashing into their lines, my jaws snapping and crushing as I raise my business district high and blast the surroundings with a healthy dose of the Colony's finest produce.
Eat acid you suckers!
As much as I want to let rip with my elemental magic, I have another use for that, but I won't get the chance this soon in the fight. I'll have to get a bit deeper before I can extract maximum value from those spells.
For now, it's up close and personal termite squashing action.
An exterminator is required and I am here to answer the call! Unrestrained, I unleash all of my pent-up rage upon the enemy, channelling the intent of my entire family into my mandibles as I rip my way through the bugs in front of me.
With the sheer volume of energy flooding through me I can void chomp regularly, every bite enough to smash ten termites at once. In the distance I can see the rest of the Colony pushing forward, grinding down the enemy and rolling them back towards where the Immortals and I are fighting.
I don't understand quite why the ka'armodo had their slave monsters build the entrance to the nest so wide, the wide path and high ceiling only narrow deeper in as the opening fades into darkness. Down there somewhere are the queens and brood chambers and we won't leave until they are naught but ruins.
I bite and bite as the termites throw themselves against me, climbing atop one another to take their shot, but with a hundred thousand members of the Colony in the area, I cannot be denied.
No matter how long I fight, I don't tire, and no matter how many small wounds they manage to pile up, I can heal them. In fact, the more I fight, the more energised I feel as the Colony seizes the upper hand and triumph surges in every member of my family.
As I chomp, I keep one brain sifting through the impressions I get from my siblings through the Vestibule and I can tell that the battle is one sided so far. Against the might of this many ants, supported by their loyal militia of sentient buff givers, our enemy is completely out matched.
This is the Colony in its strongest form, you wood chomping morons! Did you really think you could stand against us?
Muahahahahahaha!
I keep merrily throwing myself into the thick of the fighting, as the main Colony force continues to draw closer. Just when I think I'll have another five minutes to keep chomping away, I turn around to find a large pack of ants have arrived nearby.
"Wha- where the heck did you come from?" I demand, surprised.
"OhheyEldest! Hi-hi! Howarethingsgoingoverhere? Wethoughtwemightpopovertoseehowyou'redoing?"
"Wait, what? I thought you came over because it was part of the plan, I was just shocked you managed it without me noticing."
She stares at me. I stare back.
"You… are here because of the plan… right?"
"OfcourseIamSenior,don'tevenjokeaboutitanywayI'mgoingtofightsomemorebyeeeeeeeee"
"How do you manage to accidentally follow the plan?!"
I shake my head in despair. I worry about this family sometimes. Most of the ants are straight down the line, but every now and again we get a completely nuts one and they lead a heap of others astray.
It would be great if I could find the root source of the issue and stop it from happening anymore, but no matter how much I think about it, I just can't identify where these nutters are taking their lead from. The leadership at the top of the Colony is rock solid… for the most part.
Could it be mother? She is a bit of a weird one… perhaps she's passing on those strange instincts to the eggs?
I should ask her next time I see her. For now I have a battle to win.
-x-X-x-
Sloan watched the fighting from the backlines, though she desperately wished she could surge forward to battle alongside her siblings. As the general in charge of the field, she couldn't afford to be so selfish, but with the hated nemesis of the Colony so close, it was hard to hold herself back.
Her mandibles itched to crush the termite foe.
Alas, she was more in control of herself than some idiot like Leeroy. Her fellow generals had to bake a reckless charge from the Immortals into every plan. In fact, it was getting to the point that if they didn't dash forward blindly, the entire battle plan would be ruined.
Luckily they'd timed Vibrant's assault to bail out the heavy armoured ant brigade before they were in too much danger. Even the Eldest had rushed forward to ensure they wouldn't come to harm, another show of just how much the most powerful ant cared for even the dumbest members of the family.
With a flick of her antennae, the general pushed such thoughts away and focused on the struggle.
The front continued to advance as the Colony and their allies pushed into the jaws of the termite horde. The enemy packed the entrance to their nest, uncounted thousands of them and more arriving from the depths every passing moment. However, it didn't seem to matter how many termites arrived at the front, the concentrated power of a hundred thousand ants was simply too much to be overcome.
Overlapping auras from the generals supported the frontline troops who utilised their well drilled techniques to form an unbeatable wall of mandibles. Frontline healers kept the troops fighting in top condition, or pulled the heavily injured back for emergency treatment.
Teams of mages and scouts laid down an irresistible barrage of fire support, a rain of spells and acid that wreaked havoc deeper into the nest. In the second row, the humans with their spears and the robed ones who accompanied them spread their buff across as wide an area as possible, reinforcing the Colony's advantage in quality over the enemy.
Protected in the heart of the ant formation, a dedicated core of carvers, the most expert earth mages in the Colony, worked tirelessly to reinforce the ground on which the ants stood, burning through mana at a furious rate.
"I like what I see," she announced to the team gathered with her in the command post. "We are grinding the termites down quickly enough, we should hold the mouth of the nest within the next thirty minutes."
Despite their superiority in weaponry and tactics, it would be foolish to rush in and overextend themselves. The disciplined ranks of soldiers were making steady ground, shoving back the enemy and gaining ground one metre at a time.
"What are our concerns? Threats?" she demanded of the others.
"Assault from the flanks," one general offered.
"The formation can absorb it," she refuted the suggestion.
They weren't so foolish as to leave the weakest ants in the centre unprotected.
"Tunnel collapse," another said.
"How are we looking?" she turned to her chief carver advisor.
"The stone is holding strong," Tungstant replied. "They would need to collapse half the mountain to destabilise the ground we stand on. They don't have the minds for it."
She nodded, satisfied.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Magic assault from the ka'armodo."
"Shield batteries standing by?" She turned to Coolant.
"Ready and waiting," the mage replied, calm and collected as ever.
"Unseen termite variant?" another offered.
"Can't be accounted for at this time," she said.
When no other suggestions came forward, Sloan nodded to herself and turned back to the fighting. Of course, each of these ideas had been hashed out extensively during their planning, but it helped to try and poke holes in the strategy as the battle continued. There was a chance they might spot something they had missed now that they were here watching everything unfold. If they detected their own weaknesses before the enemy did, it could be a turning point as they resolved issues even as their opponents sought to take advantage.
The grind of war continued unabated as the minutes ticked by. Two hundred metres in front of her the soldiers ground on, biting, shoving, grappling, taking hits and giving them right back.
The humans stepped forward, spears in hand to thrust into the gaps and inflict whatever wounds they could. In truth, their presence was far more valuable for the aura provided by the priests, but even so, they were stalwart warriors who did not flinch in the face of the enemy horde.
Sloan and all her generals watched intently as the battle continued, the flow continuing to be in their favour. Indeed, the command post had to be moved forward a hundred metres in order to keep up with the troops as they pushed deeper.
In fact, the Colony had been so successful at claiming ground they had driven the termites deep into the mouth of the nest, the bulk of the fighting now under the shadow of the mountain. The leading ants had already set foot below ground, starting to advance into the first of the enemy tunnels.
At that moment, something changed.
A deep, resounding crack was heard, setting every antenna` to wiggling with vibrations. Sloan's head snapped to the mountain from where the sound had reverberated.
Another crack, so loud it sounded as if the world itself was being snapped in half, followed by a profound rumbling. It was difficult to see what was happening at first, and the ants packed into the command post strained their eyes to see what was happening.
It was difficult to spot, since the movement was simply so large. Eventually, it became clear what was happening. The mountain itself was shearing in half. In mere moments, millions of tons of rock would fall, not only on the ants, but on the still battling termite forces as well.
"Countermeasures!" Sloan roared and the ants around her scrambled to obey, the orders rippling through the army in seconds.
The rumbling grew deeper and more intense as an entire mountainside began to fall, the tip leaning precipitously forward as it tore away. In the mouth of the nest, a hundred thousand ants looked up to see a literal mountain collapsing on them, yet none moved to run or flee.
Instead they waited, as thousands of mages strained their minds to breaking point, the mana whipping through the air like a hurricane.
-x-X-x-
Overhead, the rock face of an entire mountain rushed down to meet them, the roar of tearing stone deafening to all in the mouth of the nest. Advant looked up, her mandibles set in grim determination. What happened next wasn't up to her, but she would believe in her sisters.
"Ignore the mountain!" she spread the message with confidence. "Drive the enemy back into the nest! Push!"
As good as her words, she dove back into the conflict, mandibles snapping. She used her mass and thick carapace to bully and shove at the termites, breaking up their line and knocking them off balance with sheer strength.
Even blind as they were, the termites could still detect something was wrong, Advant could see it in the way their antennae twitched frantically. The air was thick with rival pheromones as they blasted each other. They wanted to rebel against the control that lay over them, wanted to defend their nest, protect their queen, repair the damage, but they couldn't. The lizards wouldn't let them.
The Colony general almost felt sorry for them. The termites were little more than slaves, denied their natural patterns of behaviour and forced to throw their lives away in an attempt to bring down a superior insect.
Of course, there was no pity for the termite scum. They had to be eliminated, there was simply no other choice.
Up and down the line, the ants continued to push forward, heedless of the collapsing mountainside dropping on their heads. Bite, push, charge, pull back, bite. They fell into the repetitive pattern of insect warfare, willpower and grit were more important than skill in this contest.
BOOM!
She heard a mighty eruption, followed by a colossal shower of dirt launching into the sky at several points behind her. She didn't react or turn, but her range of vision allowed her to see the enormous spires rising into the sky.
As a front line soldier, she hadn't been party to the full plan, but she trusted her siblings. There was no way that Sloan hadn't accounted for something like the lizards trying to drop the mountain on them.
Fuelled by thousands of combined minds, eight spires of condensed stone grew upwards, rapidly sprouting trees of rock that raced into the sky. As the frontline pushed ever deeper into the falling mountain, the huge rock projections of the Colony's mages drove straight into the falling mountain.
Advant ignored it all. The stone screamed above her head, sheared stone began to rain down as splintered chunks of rock broke off from the main body. Anything large enough to damage the ants fighting beneath was deflected with shields or broken apart with other magic. All the while the pillars continued to expand and push deeper, seeking to hold up the mountain.
"Push!" she roared at her troops and they responded admirably, driving into the teeth of the enemy. They were inside the nest now, the path sloping down sharply, plunging into the dark below where thousands more termites awaited them.
Above, pandemonium reigned as the Colony mages strove to hold back the heavens. It was more than an avalanche, overhead it seemed as if the sky itself were falling.
But they didn't waver.
Down came the wall of rock, impaled upon the mighty pillars the mages had erected, still it fell. The closer it came, the slower it fell, but still it fell.
Until a vast field of purple light flickered into existence around the Eldest.
It quickly expanded, overtaking the already deployed gravity domain, which faded away, rising high and encompassing the falling stone in a heartbeat. Immediately, the speed of descent slowed, their imminent crushing held off a moment longer.
Time that the Colony put to good use.
More pillars thrust upward from the ground, stone taking shape in seconds to rise and support the mountain further. The existing structures branched out and expanded further, desperately seeking to hold the weight.
Advant felt her heart lighten as the Eldest acted to save them, deploying their own mana to hold back the mountain.
Or perhaps… her whole body felt light?
She was caught in the field too! In fact, if she didn't grip the ground tightly, she might just lift into the air!
"Eldest?!" she demanded, worried.
"I can't direct this all that well!" the large ant called back. "But they better hurry up, I can't hold it for long!"
Despite having no talent for magic — she didn't even have the mana sight skill — Advant could feel the vast rush of energy channelled by the Colony. An invisible tornado of raw power whipped around her and the other soldiers, who did their best to ignore it and focus on the fight.
The humans weren't so dedicated, but she appreciated the grim determination on their faces, even if their faces had turned pale and their eyes wild. Just like the ants, they held the line as the world came crashing down above them.
An ocean of mana swept around them, manipulated by sixty thousand mages working in perfect harmony. Formed and shaped with the will of the Colony, the energy flooded into the ground, strengthening the pillars and branching out within the collapsed stone above.
The rock came lower and lower, so low that Advant had begun to crouch unconsciously as she shoved and bit at the foe in front of her.
Then it stopped.
With a lurch that could be felt in the ground beneath her feet, the falling mountain crunched, creaked and then stilled. A few moments later, the energy of the Eldest vanished as the giant ant slumped to the side.
"Eldest!" Advant called.
"Hey, no worries," the Eldest wheezed back, "give me a few seconds and I'll be right as rain. Just cooked my brains a touch. That was rough."
Somehow, her siblings had done it. Even dropping half the entire mountain on them hadn't been enough to stop the Colony from advancing. Pride and triumph surged in her heart. When they worked together, nothing could stop them, there was nothing that they couldn't achieve.
"PUSH FORWARD!" she roared once more. "Their tricks will not avail them!"
"Let's go again! LEEEEEEROY!"
"Damnit Leeroy! Not you!"
-x-X-x-
It is difficult to say how the Colony's attitude to the pets raised by the eldest came to be what it is today. There was always a level of respect afforded to them, naturally; they were allies and assistants to the Eldest, and therefore allies to all of us. Some of the dignity and power of the most august ant, the first among equals, attached itself to them.
But that began to change as we and they continued to develop. Our society grew more sophisticated, our understanding of pets and their attitudes more developed, and at the same time, they were changing. They grew stronger, learned, fought, evolved and with the astonishing level of freedom and independence that the Eldest fostered in them, they began to interact with us in new ways.
The Shadow began to contact… some ants… in clandestine ways, seeking to assist in their task and develop their skills, teaching them the ways of the darkness.
The Storm would often go out of its way to help hunters in need, sharing food and protecting them from harm. Many would tell stories of the Storm descending from above and smashing foes to bits, before being patted on the carapace and fed Biomass.
The Eye was much less inclined to interact with the Colony at first, its taciturn and hoarding nature precluding such activities. But with time, this changed. When the Colony had something to teach, the Eye would always appear, ready to learn, and exchange knowledge in return.
We called them Guardians for a long time, as they protected and defended the Eldest from harm, but in time they grew into that name, and became defenders of us all.
- From the notes of Historiant.
[Holy moly! There's a ton of the buggers,] I exclaim to my pets.
[Perhaps the ka'armodo were holding back their true numbers to prevent losing too many in the collapse, Master.]
[That makes a lot of sense, Crinis. Good thinking.]
I notice the dark tentacles flail wildly for a moment before they steady and go back to extracting their terrible toll on the enemy.
She's getting much better at taking compliments, it's good to see.
And she's likely right. Now that their whole "cutting the mountain in half" strategy has failed them, the lizards seem to be getting desperate. From out of the deep tunnels an absolute tidal wave of termites is breaking, climbing up all of the walls and launching themselves at us with unbridled ferocity.
To make matters even more interesting, they burst out from side tunnels as well, rushing into the flanks of the Colony formation, much as we'd predicted. Even if it's all within expectations, that doesn't mean we aren't almost entirely surrounded by a ravening horde of termites on their home turf.
It's the final gambit of the ka'armodo, they need to drive us back or drag us down, and fast.
Naturally, I feel delighted to disappoint them.
[Tiny, time to go loud. Light 'em up. Invidia, you go second. Once that's done, we dive.]
[RAAAAAAH!]
The big ape's mind and body harmonise and he unleashes a mighty bellow with both, exploding with electricity before hurling it around him in deadly bolts. The sheer amount of juice Tiny can output nowadays is slipping right off the scale and he takes full advantage of the wattage, unleashing a devastating electrical storm that savages the termites within the narrowing tunnel entrance.
If they had wiring in this place, it's wrecked now….
Filled with fury and glee, my first ally in the Dungeon throws himself down the tunnel, bursting everything around him with punishing bolts of lightning that sizzle through the air, leaving a sharp tang on my antennae. All around, termites are dropping like flies, zapped right in their big dumb faces by a massive, gorilla shaped zapper.
I plunge forward to join the ape in his mad assault, Void Chomping whenever I need to clear space in front of me as Crinis and Invidia rush along behind.
It's all going great for Tiny, he's having the time of his life, roaring and smiting as he goes, until it all comes to an abrupt and sudden end. It's obvious he hasn't been keeping track of how much he had left in the tank as he suddenly runs out of spark mid-leap and lands in the centre of a termite cluster. He immediately becomes covered in a gnawing pack of bug monsters, the confused expression on his face covered by termites.
Crinis comes to his rescue, her tentacles snapping out, dozens at a time to wrap around the offending enemies and rend them into bite-size delectables.
Which means it's now Invidia's turn.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Repeated explosions rock the tunnel entrance as the envious little demon, his eye flaring a bright green, begins to unleash his pent up frustration. What could be more painful for an Envy Demon than to watch someone else get all the experience and glory while you've been ordered to sit and wait?
That's why Tiny always goes first.
Filled with ire and the need to satisfy his obsession, Invidia explodes into action, with explosions! The tunnel descending down into the bowels of the nest before us is lit with repeated detonations. The termites have thick carapace and can take an unusual amount of punishment for their tier. Each time the demon casts his spell, he doesn't actually finish off that many of them, but he often dislodges their grip, sending them tumbling down into the darkness, scrabbling at each other and clearing our way forward.
I quickly check behind me to see the Colony fiercely defending the ground they've taken in the nest entrance, but halting their advance for now. Even Leeroy, somehow, has restrained herself and the Immortals hold position on the front line, several of them igniting into glorious, healing flames.
It's time to finish this war.
[Give it to them, Invidia! Let's see the laser!]
[Yesssssssss!]
A lance of pure green light blasts through the darkness, annihilating every termite it touches. We follow along as he flutters ahead of us, the deadly beam of destruction both lighting, and securing our descent.
When he finally runs out of power and the power of his eye fades away, the four of us pull together and continue our trek into the heart of the termite nest. The Colony is depending on us to finish the fight and I'll be damned if I let the family down.
-x-X-x-
Down in the darkness we plunge. It's strange. Normally this kind of environment would be so familiar, so welcoming to me, it's a social insect nest after all, but it just… doesn't. Instead, it feels alien, and twisted from everything it should be.
There are no comforting pheromones of my family spread across the walls and floor, no warm messages or encouragement or friendly reminders to get some rest or they'll come for you. Instead there's an omnipresent, suffocating stink that coats my antennae and makes me twitch in discomfort. The design of the nest is also not what I would expect. Despite being similar(ish) creatures, the construction of an ant nest isn't all that similar to a termite nest, depending on the variety of termite and ant you choose to compare.
The flow of air through the tunnels isn't what I would expect, the complex ventilation systems these cockroach descended mugs build are all about temperature control, ensuring that exactly two places inside their fortress are always kept at the perfect temp: the fungus garden and the queen's chamber.
Which means if I follow the warm air current… I should be able to find the royal family…
And of course, the other unwelcoming and disconcerting aspect of this nest is the neverending hordes of termites and their desperate attempts to rip me limb from limb. Naturally, that goes without saying.
The four of us continue our push, advancing steadily into the nest and refusing to allow ourselves to get surrounded. With the Colony warring on the surface, the termite forces are divided, allowing our small team, with its overwhelming, concentrated power, to dive deep without being overwhelmed.
[Crinis, do you sense anything?] I call to the writhing mass of tentacles flowing along behind me.
[I sense too many of them to be sure of anything. They're all around us, the disgusting filth! How dare they lay a single claw on Master…]
[I mean… we are trying to kill them.]
[Our cause is just!]
[Going to leave that well enough alone. How about you Invidia?]
[Thisssss wealth. I shall havesssss it all!]
[I mean… what wealth? Are you talking about the Biomass?]
That bulging eye glitters, darkly.
[Yesssssss.]
[We don't have time to eat! We need to find the queen's chambers, dammit!]
[I will havessss them too,] he assures me quietly.
[Just look for concentrations of mana, would you?]
I turn to Tiny. He looks back at me.
[Just punch stuff, Tiny. You're doing good,] I sigh.
He grins and continues to do just that. I know I can't depend on him for anything requiring any more brainpower than that. I swear to goodness I'm going to force him to raise his Cunning to 30 on the next evolution.
[Master! I think I have something, another hundred metres down, on our right.]
[Any idea what it is?]
[I can't be sure, but it feels heavily warded. I can't stretch my shadow sight into the chamber. Perhaps the ka'armodo have shielded it?]
Sounds promising. Maybe we'll find what we're looking for, or maybe we'll find the ka'armodo themselves. I'm totally happy with either outcome, if I'm telling the truth.
I've got words for those ka'armodo…
[Bomb out! Pull back, people!]
As the crew ducks behind me I unleash the gravity bomb i'd been preparing with a flex of my will. The small sphere of slowly rotating doom howls down the tunnel, dragging termites to their unfortunate crushing demise. That'll slow the speed of reinforcements from this tunnel at least.
[That's the last of the gravity mana for the time being,] I warn the others. [I spent almost all of it on the mountain thing.]
If only the Vestibule could help recharge my mana, but alas that would completely break the thing. Having virtually endless amounts of stamina and replenishing my other organs, such as acid and regeneration, is already bonus enough.
[Once the bomb vanishes, we'll need to rush forward. To try and get some depth. I don't want to be left hanging onto the wall here any longer than we need to.]
[We will have all their secretssssss,] Invidia purrs.
Down in the darkness, the mad shrieking of the air and the panicked chittering of mandibles can be heard. We cling to the wall, our claws, tentacles and fingers lodged deep into the stone to prevent being pulled down into the crush.
When it fades away, we leap down, throwing ourselves out into the almost vertical shaft and plummeting through the air. The termites behind us thrash wildly, but catch themselves before they join us in our fall, putting a gap between us and them.
We drop for dozens of metres before we catch hold of the wall again, our huge mass causing us to carve deep grooves into the rock as we arrest our descent.
When we finally stop, I look down and see the tunnel network below us boiling with termites. They're furious. They're desperate.
They're afraid.
I can practically smell it on them. I recognise that terror in their eyes, because it's exactly what I've seen in my own siblings when the Queen has risked herself in battle.
We're close!
[Go crazy guys, we aren't far from the target!]
In response to my call, my three pets unleash their best and most powerful skills upon the hapless termites. Even if some of them are tier five, even if they've been able to mutate multiple organs, none of the bugs can stand up to the power of a perfect tier six monster.
Tentacles lash, fists fly and explosions roar as the surging masses of termites are beaten back by a devastating barrage from my allies. With the limited time I have, I cast about with my most tenuous sense.
If there's one thing I know about termite queens, it's that they chonky, among the largest of all social insects. Interestingly, they aren't born that way, in fact termite queens are essentially a normal member of the colony, and when they die, they're replaced by another who takes up the role, unlike most ant colonies who die along with their progenitor.
But once they do take up the role, they undergo a transformation, their gaster swelling and lengthening to ridiculous proportions, over ten times the length of the rest of them. All that space is taken up with thousands upon thousands of eggs which are born at a rate of one every three seconds. If I understand the Dungeon and monsters at all, those queens are going to be even bigger than they should be compared to the soldier termites we see, and pumping out eggs even faster than that.
All of that concentrated heft must generate some potent gravity, and I'm gonna find it!
It's not easy. The walls around me are alive with gravitational pulses from hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of individual creatures. They pile on top of each other and swarm all over the place, sending out strong signals that muddy the waters…
Aha!
[I have them! It's close!] I tell the others.
-x-X-x-
Big 'ol chunk of mass, surrounded by many more, smaller chunks of mass. Huge amounts of toing and froing. It has to be the queen's chamber. There's no way the termites would allow egg production to cease, not even during a crisis. Especially during a crisis.
How is a social insect supposed to overcome its challenges? With overwhelming numbers! I didn't come here with a half of a million of my own siblings because I love their company!
Although I do…
[Can you sense it Crinis?]
[I can't… this whole area is shielded.]
My shadowy companion of death and darkness sounds frustrated, unusual for her, but I can understand it. For someone who started off completely blind, Crinis has evolved to the point where she's possibly the most visually acute of us all. She can't see light, but she can see mana, and shadows, and use both to 'see' through walls and deep into solid rock. Not being able to look at something right in front of her face must be a weird sensation.
[It's fine,] I assure her, [this is it. We just need to dig our way through. You three keep them off of me and I'll take care of the rest.]
Zen of digging, activate!
Not that I want to actually relax here, that would be profoundly unwise, but I do need to get my dig on in a serious way. I aim myself in the direction I need to dig and begin to pump my mandibles with furious energy, ripping into the stone. Haha! Making good progress here. At this point in my journey, I can cut through regular stone like it's butter. I'm just too strong and too heavily mutated to be resisted when it comes to digging!
THUNK!
Ouch! That is to say… unless you go ahead and heavily reinforce the rock. That one chomp has set my entire face to wobbling. What the heck did they do to this stone?
I scratch and scrabble at the wall to clear some space and get a good view before I set my antennae to tapping and my mana sense probing.
Holy moly! They've done some work on this… in fact… I'm not even sure what it is that they did. It's not condensed rock, that'd ping my gravity sense due to how much heavier it is. They've done something else entirely… this is a different type of rock from the stuff surrounding it. It's chock full of mana, I can tell that much. In fact, it's likely to be a big part of why Crinis can't see beyond this point. The enchantments they've used may even be plugged into this material itself.
Behind me, my three friends are desperately trying to stave off a ravenous horde of termites and are bound to succumb if I take too long. The sound of skittering legs and gnashing mandibles is almost deafening in the narrow confines of the tunnel. I have to work fast!
Without a second thought, I pump earth mana into my mandibles, vastly increasing their cutting power, lock my jaws into place, and let it rip.
CRUNCH!
Oof! I… I did it! A little bit! My mandibles have managed to rip two long grooves out of the mysterious stuff, but I haven't been able to rip through it like I would have liked. I could get through it like this, but I don't have the time to waste. I have to roll out the big guns!
VOID CHOMP COMBO!
I brace myself and unleash my most potent bite eight times in rapid succession, draining my stamina to almost nothing. In fact, by the time the last bite slams shut, my vision nearly blanks out for a long moment. Thankfully I have a half million ants close by and in seconds I can feel my strength returning.
[Master, are you all right?]
[I'm fine, just a little winded,] I tell her. [I've cleared the way, let's go!]
I jump through the opening I created and feel my pets following along close behind. What I see spread out before me is a scene from a horror movie.
We have indeed breached the inner sanctum of the termites, and boy oh boy, have they been busy. The chamber itself is large, over a hundred metres across and completely lined with that strange stone. Opposite from us I can see a weird sort of observation chamber shielded behind a shimmering pane of glass. It's currently empty, but I can easily imagine that this is where the ka'armodo conducted their experiments and modifications on the queens.
And queens is the right word.
Below us are six, SIX, heaving, pulsating, white blobs of insane egg production. The queens are massive, their abdomens swollen to over twenty metres in length. A constant stream of termites rush into the chamber, delivering ton after ton of precious Biomass farmed in the caverns below to the royal majesties who are spamming out eggs at a stupid rate.
How can I know that? I can see it!
Behind each of the six queens is a freakin' queue of workers waiting to grab the next clutch and let me tell you, those lines are moving fast. Forget about one every three seconds, this is more like three per second! Times six!
There must be millions of termites packed into this nest! Just how many workers do they have tending to the fungus?!
It has to be a lot to maintain the kind of production I'm seeing here….
The ka'armodo must really have lost their minds. Imagine if this had gotten out of their control, which it most likely would have. This colony of termites would have been a plague on the fourth stratum. With the start the lizards had given them, along with the power they would have gained from annihilating the mother tree, it would have been a nightmare to get rid of them.
[Master!]
[Oh, shoot!]
No time to get distracted. We have entered the very heart of the nest and the termites are not happy. Sensing that their precious queens and brood are at risk, they are going absolutely mental. Even the much smaller worker termites who swarm all over the chamber are posturing aggressively at us, trying to jump up to our level and bite at my legs.
[Stick to the plan, people! We need to drop down a level. Tiny, I need you to punch a hole in the floor, do you think you can manage it?]
BOOM!
[Nice! Down we go!]
The four of us jump down, Crinis clinging to my carapace and Invidia holding onto Tiny's back. We pass the queens, who chitter menacingly at us, though I'm not particularly threatened since… they literally can't move, and drop down to the level below, which happens to be filled with angry termites.
[Crinis, take care of crowd control!]
[Die, trash!]
[Oookay. Invidia, focus on barricading us in and I'll get to work on the spell.]
Eye ablaze with power, my little demon puts his overwhelming mental powers to the task and begins to create thickened barriers of stone around us even as Crinis slides into the shadows and starts to annihilate the worker termites. Tiny busies himself smacking everything nearby, but I notice that even his unbreakable fist is suffering after blowing a hole in that rock. His bones haven't broken, but the poor guy's fingers have certainly seen better days.
I'd heal him if I could, but I have to focus all of my brains and every drop of mana I have on this next spell.
Things are about to get… volcanic!