Chapter 2921 - Chry 128

Things were in a precarious state amongst the tribe. Zluth was struggling to contain the rage that boiled away inside him, bubbling alongside his internal acid. The ants had vanished once again, enraging all of the Krath who were denied their opportunity to rend the invaders limb from limb.

It was clear the monsters were planning something, coming in, testing the waters and then leaving again. They were studying, learning, preparing for the time they could move into the fifth stratum in force.

That much was obvious.

Zluth was determined they would rue the day they ever dreamed it would be possible to enter this place. The fifth was reserved for the krath, and them alone. Living creatures from above or below, be they monster or sapient, had no place in this world of toxic perfection.

"Zluth, I see you have survived the breeding season."

Zluth turned an eye stalk to see Goszi sliding up behind him. He quieted his rage at having one of his kind at his back. Generally, it wasn't a safe place for anyone to have a krath, fellow tribe member or not, but he wasn't as wary around Goszi. The other Krath was ageing, his slug flesh growing pale as his acid became less virulent. It wouldn't be long until he was fed to the young, possibly only a few more seasons.

"I managed to keep my stalks down," Zluth burbled.

"I'm surprised you managed it. The Krath'lath was determined you would father her brood."

Zluth shuddered.

"You mean she was determined to consume my flesh."

Anything could, and frequently did, happen during the courting rituals. A dozen males had been consumed over the last three days alone. Soon, the eggs would be laid, and not long after, they would hatch, bringing another swarm of raging Krath for the tribe to feed. This time, Zluth had escaped the clutches of the Krath'lath, but she would surely try again next season, unless he managed to divert her attention to someone else.

Goszi slid up beside him, maintaining a respectful distance so the two didn't unnecessarily aggravate each other. Zluth had found a neat cranny that overlooked the Blubbeast pits, where concealed from view, he could watch the massive creatures wallow in their filth, chomping on the detritus the tribe saw fit to feed them.

"What do you think of these… ants?" Goszi said, his voice sounding as if it were summoned from the depths of a swamp. "What do you think they are trying to do?"

Zluth shuddered with rage. The thought of the invaders was enough to make his slug-flesh crawl.

"I think they are doing what everyone up there hopes to do: find a way through the fifth. They won't be allowed. This is our place, and none are able to tame it."

"You think the plan put forward by the Krath'lath will work, then?" Goszi asked, his stalks leaning toward the other Krath. "You think her rude welcome will be effective?"

There was something in his demeanour that sent warnings blaring through Zluth's head. This crafty old slug was up to something.

"It should," he replied carefully. "I haven't seen anything to suggest it wouldn't."

"Gugugugugugug," the other Krath laughed. "There's no need to measure your words so carefully. I agree with you, it should work."

"Then why are you here, asking me about it?"

"Because a smart Krath is always willing to explore the possibilities. If the Krath'lath were to fail… then what might happen?"

Zluth narrowed the eyes on the end of his stalks.

"She would lose support amongst the tribe. Maybe even enough to topple her from her position."

No doubt that would result in her being consumed. The thought of the potent acid the Krath'lath had built inside herself caused Zluth's mouth to water. If he could refine that for himself…

Imagining that liquid fire permeating through his flesh sent a tingle running through his body. However, if she failed to repel the invaders, and if she lost support, who was to say that Zluth would be the beneficiary?

"I know what you're thinking," Goszi smirked, "but what if I told you there was a way that all the benefits would fall on you?"

Zluth gnashed his teeth.

"I would be interested," he snarled. "I would also be suspicious. Why would an old Krath come here, looking to whisper such things to me? What do you stand to gain, Goszi?"

Every Krath was out for themselves. That was the first, second and third rule of the tribes. Goszi spread his spindly, clawed arms wide.

"I'm just an old Krath. A few more seasons and I'll be tossed into the pits, down there with the Blubbeasts. All I want is to live a secure life for a while, and a strong Krath'lath could do that."

"You could take your chances in the wilds," Zluth pointed out.

Gozsi pulled a face.

"My odds of survival out there would be low without the support of a tribe, and you know it. Even if I did manage it, that's not much of a life to live, now is it?"

Zluth supposed it wasn't. Eking out a living with the other outcasts in the swamps, or in the depths of the acid lakes, where other Krath didn't bother to go was… a desperate and miserable existence, to say the least. Even the tribes, with their endless backstabbing, betrayal and senseless murder, were preferable to that.

"And exactly what sort of sway do you have with the tribe?" Zluth asked pointedly. "An old slug on the verge of being feed isn't the most persuasive voice to have on my side."

"Gugugugugug," Gozsi chuckled, "you aren't wrong. Listen to me for a moment. I've been around for a while, and I know just what poison to drip in which ears to make these miserable slugs happy."

He leaned closer and began to whisper, and Zluth found himself leaning in as well, his needle-sharp teeth revealed by a widening, savage grin.

-x-X-x-

After recovering from my mutation session, the gang and I head out to get some practice with our new abilities. We need to get accustomed to things before the invasion starts, and that time is rapidly approaching.

Every time we return to the Colony, the staging grounds are more and more full. Battalion after battalion of ants, along with the auxiliaries who are mixed in with them. I'm not entirely comfortable with those antennae-wearing priests being included with the troops, but Solant isn't wrong, they provide a boost to all the ant and non-ant troops so long as they're fighting together.

She's determined to push for full integration of the non-ant troops into her forces, and she'll drill them until they collapse on the verge of death if that's what it takes. After the first week, the coordination between the groups is already looking good, but is the perfectionist satisfied? Of course not. It's a good thing the humans, golgari, ka'armodo and others are plenty motivated; otherwise they wouldn't make it.

For our part, we help clear out the lower tunnels, fighting off the monsters native to the fourth, under the watchful eye of the Legion, of course.

They still haven't given up on their mission, apparently, not that I expected they would. It soon becomes a common occurrence for us to turn around and find Legion observers watching from further back in the tunnels. Every time I leave the nest, they try to track my movement, but so far, they haven't actually attempted anything.

Just in case, the Colony is sending observers as well, though they seem to think I haven't noticed them. Soon enough, I'm going to be just as heavily observed as The Queen. She's active in these tunnels as well, hunting for her own Biomass and lending her strength to the family. I can't lie, she's kicking a fair amount of monster backside, but I can't help but worry. That's my mother, dammit! That's all of our mother!

Spiritually, if not literally.

It wasn't that long ago when every ant in the Colony was her child, but now that is most assuredly not the case. The other Queens, who evolved specifically for high-quality egg production, rather than a mix of egg-laying and combat like Mother, produce far more offspring than she does, and there are so many of them that her grandchildren outnumber her own children hundreds to one, if not thousands at this point.

A month passes since the last mission to the fifth as Solant continues to mass her forces and prepare every aspect of the invasion. The highway from the fortress down to the staging ground is constantly filled with ants and others, hauling food, supplies and everything else I can think of as the population at the foundations of the fourth continues to rise. When the time finally comes for me to report to the front, I'm practically bursting with excitement.

I've waited way too long for this!

The fifth might be the worst place in all of Pangera, but my spirit of adventure is demanding I plunge into the unknown! Also, the hook in my guts that is the Call has been growing more relentless lately. As much as I don't want to admit it, the pain of it is not a non-factor when it comes to my eagerness to descend.

Tiny, Crinis, Invidia and I emerge into the now vast set of chambers beneath the fortress, and I resist the urge to rub my antennae across my eyes. What I'm seeing is no illusion, and I still can't believe the transformation that's taken place down here.

Where once the forward base was a relatively small thing built into the wall, it's now expanded to a booming fortress of its own. There are tens of thousands of non-ant troops housed there now, and the surroundings have been enormously changed as well. There are a thousand battalions of ants here now, a full million individuals. Possibly the greatest army of monsters in the entirety of Pangera.

To house such an absurd number of ants, vast dorm chambers have been constructed, each one stacked on top of the other in close proximity, layered like flaky pastry.

There's so much movement it almost breaks my many lenses trying to track it all. Even my antennae are twitching out of control, there's just so much scent and so many intersecting pockets of gravity.

[Let's head down and see where Solant wants us to be,] I tell the others, and we make our way to the main thoroughfare that cuts right through the heart of the entire operation.

Of course, the traffic here is insanely intense. The entire complex covers several square kilometres at this point, and the bulk of that area is directly adjacent to this one road. Thankfully, it was built wide enough that having Tiny and myself walking down it at the same time doesn't create a traffic jam.

It does cause other problems, though.

[Dammit, Tiny! Do you have to think about punching everything?!]

A ghostly fist comes flying at me.

[Oi! I saw that!]

At least he has the grace to look guilty.

I was initially excited after mutating my eyes. Being able to see 'intent' was an interesting idea, and as soon as it was done, I realised exactly what it did. My antennae can let me see the future, just a smidge, but that is of the movement that is definitely happening. What I can see with my eyes is the intention to move. It has to be more serious than just thinking about it, and it only works for strikes, but it's still pretty nifty.

The first intent I saw was ghostly fists flying out from Tiny to smack into walls, rocks, the ground… pretty much everything.

Which was fine… except it never stopped! He's thinking about punching stuff all the time. Every ant that walks past us, every single one, ghost fist. He sees an uneven bit of ground? Ghost fist. Invidia lands on his shoulder? Ghost fist.

Anything moves, in any way? Ghost fist.

It's absolutely exhausting!

I carefully avoid considering what Crinis thinks about doing to me. There's no need to open that can of worms.

I find Solant in the central command, which is lucky since she's usually out and about sticking her little antennae into everything.

"Hey there, little general! Are we about ready to get this show on the road?"

"If you mean, invasion into the fifth, then yes. We will begin marshalling in the morning, which should take four hours or so, then we will attack. I hope you've been over your instructions."

"Of course I have. You gave them to me weeks ago."

"When did you read them?"

"Well… yesterday."

"Go over them at least another ten times. We can't afford to have any flaws or delays in our plan of attack."

"Ah, so you noticed as well."

"Not me," she denies, "Coolant was here a few days ago."

Makes sense. The mage ants have been keeping track of these sorts of things for a while now.

It's only faint, but the mana has just begun to creep up again. The next wave is still a long way out, but it's building. If we don't secure our place in the fifth before it hits, we are going to be so, so dead.

-x-X-x-

Well, let me say this, Solant really does know how to host a get-together. I get the best view, because, as usual, I'm the lucky chap who gets to go down the tunnel first. Which means I'm right in the middle of the staging ground as the full invasion force takes shape around me. As Solant had predicted, it takes hours for everyone to get into place, not just row after row of ants, but the allies going down with them, the wuffers, the carvers and all the materials they need to construct the nodes as we go.

I've only taken a glimpse at the full extent of the plans Solant has laid out, but even that was enough to give me a headache. As I look out on all of these individuals, I know that Solant has given each and every one of them extremely detailed orders, down to the minute of execution.

This whole thing has been planned down to the seconds. Good thing I gave Invidia and Crinis the schedule, otherwise I'd have no chance of keeping up.

There's a whole lot more wuffers here than I expected. I don't know how the core shapers are managing to pump them out, but whatever they're doing, it's working. The ones who saw experience in the fifth already have evolved a step as well, which puts them at tier six.

Each of them represents a massive investment of resources from the Colony, and we absolutely can't afford to let them be caught by the enemy. Of all the things that this invasion plan focuses on, the safety of the wuffers is of the utmost importance.

When everyone is assembled, it's a fearsome sight. A million ants, each in perfect formation along with our allies, united in purpose. Their Will flows into me, filling me with their thoughts and expectations. Each of them believes in the absolute victory of the Colony, and that thought pours into me over and over again, until our success becomes inevitable in my mind.

There's never a time I'm more frightened of the Vestibule than when such large numbers of ants are so in sync. Their Will forms such a raging torrent it almost washes my own thoughts away.

"You ready, Solant? Let's do this!" I exclaim.

My core is thumping with energy, and the energy is pounding throughout my carapace.

Despite everything happening around us, Solant is perfectly calm; not even a twitch of her antennae betrays a hint of nervousness.

"It's not time yet, Senior," she tells me.

"When will it be time?" I demand.

She confers with an ant beside her.

"One minute and nineteen seconds," she tells me.

"Dammit!"

I'm starting to feel a little self conscious standing here with over a million individuals looking at me. Surely we can go? The wait for the final minute is almost unbearable, but I master myself, and the seconds tick by.

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin the invasion," Solant announces calmly.

"Whoo!"

I practically dive over the edge and into the tunnel to the fifth, freefalling for a dozen metres before I slam my legs into the rock wall, gripping tight to slow my descent.

"Not much for inspirational speeches, are you?" I call back to Solant.

"Not necessary," she dismisses the thought. "Good luck, Senior, I'll see you soon."

Like a good general should, Solant is going to make sure everything is going off without a hitch in the staging ground and trust that those of us leading the charge know what we're doing. I mean, she should have confidence; she made everyone drill and practise this a thousand times.

Like the leading drops at the crest of a wave, I throw myself down the tunnel, an impossible pressure following in my wake. The poisonous muck of the fifth grows larger in my vision, but such is the overwhelming power flooding through my Vestibule, I don't even care.

Barely slowing myself at all, I hurl myself down into the filth, dropping into the fifth like an ant-shaped missile.

And of course, the welcoming party is there in full force.

The filth in the tunnel has been thickened, to the point it's almost flooded with mucous. As soon as I land, I can barely move as the toxic goop begins to gum up my joints and push tainted mana into my body. I can already feel monsters swimming through the gunk, approaching this apparently vulnerable prey with malicious intent.

Is that you, slugs? Well, I appreciate this welcome so much, let me give you a gift!

HOOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLL!!!!

But I'm so generous, one is simply not enough!

HOOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLL!!!!!

The wuffers and first wave of ants are already descending down the tunnel and I plan to welcome them with a fully clean landing zone. We aren't mucking around down here!

The bombs rip through the mucus and detonate a few hundred metres away, the powerful vacuum force dragging the sludge away from me. This stuff is so dense and thick with mana that those two weak bombs won't be enough to clear everything at once, but it's going to be a heck of a start.

Ghostly lines of assault appear before my eyes, and soon after, my antennae begin to tingle as invisible enemies still attempt to strike me.

Good luck!

The Altar flashes with power within me, and all that energy floods into my carapace. The Gravity Compressed Diamond pulses once, then explodes with light, blasting back every attack. After the initial burst, it continues to pulse as the Will soaks into the diamond.

You think you can put your filthy claws on this magnificent beast?! Nonsense!

In the distance, the two gravity bombs peter out, the gravitational mana within having been consumed. But that's totally fine.

HOOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!!!!

HOOOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!!!!

Plenty more where those came from! Gweheheheheh!

I hope the slugs, if they are out there, are enjoying this opening act. Because the Colony is coming soon, and things are going to get messy when they arrive!

-x-X-x-

"What is happening?!" the Krath'lath screamed.

The acid and fury bubbled throughout her slug-flesh, causing it to sizzle and pop at the edges.

The pain only sharpened her rage. The surrounding Krath leaned back from her, unwilling to fall prey to her wrath. They too felt the mindless rage of their kind rising. The ants were coming! Finally, they were coming!

Each and every one of them needed to suffer in the acid pits for this invasion! And yet. And yet!

"Something is consuming the Acid Mucus, Krath'lath," Goszi reported.

The old Krath had positioned himself wisely, staying as far from the tribe leader as possible while still remaining in the chamber. Two bulging red eyes turned on their stalks to face him.

"I can see that," the Krath'lath bellowed. She pointed with one of her spindly limbs. "Is that a whirlpool of mucus!?"

It was. From their position close to the ceiling, the Krath were able to look down on where the giant ant had fallen. As part of their welcome strategy, the Krath had diverted several mucus rivers into this tunnel, flooding it with the highly toxic and acidic substance.

But now, it was being drained away, sucked into… something that they couldn't see. What could possibly consume so much of the dreaded stuff? Already, the level in the tunnel was half of what it had been only a few minutes ago.

From the depths of the muck, they caught an occasional burst of the most horrific sound, a scream of hunger so dreadful it put the burning in their own stomachs to shame.

"Have any of the needle-eels poisoned that insect yet?"

"They can't penetrate its shell." Again, Goszi made the report, but from an entirely different position. As the Krath'lath had raged through the chamber, he'd moved carefully to maintain his distance.

"How is that possible?" The Krath'lath raged.

"Apparently, it's too hard for the eels to get through," the old Krath replied.

"HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?" she screamed back at him.

Those eels were notorious for their ability to puncture just about anything. Every monster, no matter how thick their shell, lived in fear of these eels! Once they pierced through, they would inject their digestive enzymes into the prey, liquifying it from the inside out. A terrible way to die, and a fitting end for the leader of this invasion.

Before she could unleash her rage, the leader of the tribe was distracted by a new development at the opening to the fourth stratum.

Large… pipes… were lowered down into the sludge. The moment they made contact, the metal began to hiss and steam, then rattle as they appeared to suck the mucus up and into the tunnel above.

The Krath'lath considered what she was seeing for a moment, her eyes sizzling on their stalks as she bottled her anger.

"They're going to feed the mucus to their… pets!" she roared. "Destroy the pipes immediately!"

One of the Krath dove down into the river, extending his body to slip through the gunk at incredible speeds. Rapidly, he sliced through the thick sludge, expertly dodging the darting eels as he made his way to the pipes. Mere moments before he reached them, he exploded upwards out of the river and slammed into the rock ceiling of the tunnel.

There he remained, pressed against the stone so hard he flattened out to only a few inches thick, wrestling against an invisible force holding him in place. Every watching Krath shuddered in rage to see one of their tribe caught, eyes bulging on the ends of their stalks.

Then it appeared.

Rising up from the sludge, its carapace pulsing with dark purple light, the massive ant made its presence known. It stared straight up at the slug caught on the rock and began to clack its mandibles mockingly.

Unable to escape, the Krath did as all his kind would do: he ruptured the acid glands deep inside his body with one claw and laughed mercilessly as his flesh was eaten away.

"GUGUGUGUGUGUG!" he bellowed, before he was gone. Even then, his liquid remains were left behind, still stuck flat to the roof.

The ant clacked one more time before it sank back down into the sludge, seemingly unaffected. When it was completely gone, whatever invisible force had trapped the Krath was released.

Before any of them could react or comment, Zluth burst into the chamber.

"It's coming," he roared. "Get clear!"

A blue glow began to suffuse the entrance to the fourth, and shortly after, a thick… syrup of blue mana began to descend into the fifth. Where the blue mana touched the existing atmosphere, it hissed and frothed audibly, as it clashed with the existing mana.

As soon as the blue mana appeared, so too did the ants.

Only a dozen at first, but another dozen quickly followed, then another. More pipes descended from above, secured by the ants who attached them to the roof of the tunnel, then guided them down into the sludge below.

"Do it NOW!" the Krath'lath screeched.

Several Krath raced away while the rest seethed, audibly sizzling with rage. The blue mana infuriated them on a fundamental level. Its mere existence was incompatible with the slug-tribes and it had no place in the fifth!

More and more ants poured down the opening as the blue mana expanded to fill the space. Every second that passed, they established more pipes and began syphoning the mana of the fifth upward at faster rates.

There was a change in the air, and the Krath turned as one, eyes curving into wicked half-moons as they anticipated what was to come.

They could smell it before they could see, a wave of rot and toxin that rushed down the tunnel so fast it blew their eyes back. Further down the tunnel, a tidal wave of hissing red mucus raced towards them.

They had intended for the ants to establish more of a presence before they unleashed the wave, but the insects were moving too fast. This ought to slow them down.

Zluth leaned forward, eagerly anticipating the moment the ants would be swept away. However, where he expected to see panic, to see the insect monsters rushing to escape, they only continued to work, never pausing in their tasks.

The giant ant appeared once more, rising up to the surface of the muck, clacking its mandibles in a slow, sarcastic rhythm.

Suddenly, Zluth had a bad feeling.

He eased further away from the Krath'lath.

-x-X-x-

The Krath'lath couldn't wait to see the ant melt into goop once the tide of red mucus arrived. Seeded with the incredibly potent red-rust moss, it was capable of dissolving even the Krath. The ant wouldn't stand a chance.

"Clack all you want!" she screamed down at it. "You'll be soup soon enough!"

And she would feed the muck to the Blubbeasts, letting them grow fat on the Biomass!

The big ant couldn't hear or understand her, but it paid no mind to the Krath who watched from beyond its reach, focusing all its attention toward the oncoming wave. The smaller ants continued to ignore the approaching disaster, rapidly establishing their platform as the blue mana continued to expand further and further.

Already, some of the needle-eels had perished trying to fling themselves into the evil mana. The moment their elongated bodies touched it, they began to boil away, dissolving to nothing before they had gotten further than a few metres. It was disturbing to see, and it only strengthened the hate boiling within the Krath'lath. It was the enemy that was supposed to melt in this place, not the other way around!

Her eyes turned back to the big ant as it opened its mandibles wide. She leaned forward, wondering what it hoped to do. Perhaps she would get a proper glimpse of the magic it had been using before?

Gugugugug. If it wasn't capable of eating away the regular mucus, how could it hope to match the weight of this oncoming wave?

She saw the ant brace itself and mocked it in her heart. Then—

HOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLL!!!!

Like a raging demon, the spell erupted from before the massive ant and screamed down the corridor. The Krath'lath was forced to use her foot to grip onto the stone platform tighter as the air around her was whipped away, pulled towards the orb of darkness even as it sped away.

"What is THAT?!" she tried to roar, but the howling wind snatched the words straight out of her mouth.

Down the tunnel, the darkness raced until it met the oncoming wave and vanished inside. Immediately, the horrific sound was cut off, and the Krath'lath felt a surge of contempt. That feeling rapidly vanished as chaos exploded down the length of the tunnel.

The oncoming wave was immediately obliterated as a sphere of pure nothing expanded to fill the entire width of the tunnel. A ripple raced through the air, then blasted past the watching Krath, followed a second later by a raging wind that put the earlier gale to shame.

As one, the Krath flattened themselves down, compressing their slug flesh to its most dense as they pressed their bodies against the stone. The drag of the screeching wind was one thing, but there was another, even more frightening pull that threatened to rip them from their perches and send them hurtling down the tunnel and into the void.

Even the giant ant had vanished down into the thick mucus again, no doubt to anchor itself against the forces it had unleashed.

On and on it went, the Krath'lath going so far as to fully retract her stalks lest they be ripped away by that invisible force. Which meant she was totally blind as the spell rampaged. Even if she couldn't see, she could feel the impact of that dread magic. The stone groaned and shuddered beneath her, jumping and rocking as sections were torn away and consumed.

When it finally ended, the gathered slugs slowly expanded themselves to see what had happened.

What they saw… was ants.

Hordes of them. Had they shielded themselves from the spell somehow? With rising anger, the Krath'lath watched as more and more of the creatures descended into the fifth stratum, pouring out of the vertical shaft and dropping down. The blue mana had spread much further than before, burning through the remaining mucus and reaching the tunnel floor. Ants swarmed over the exposed ground, already building, shaping, constructing, as other, larger monsters defended the expanding border of the blue mana in rows.

Then the giant ant was there, looking up at them, those giant mandibles clacking ominously. It shouldn't have known they were there, shouldn't have been able to sense them at all….

Had it heard her scream?

"Move!" Zluth bellowed, darting away from the ledge, the old slug Goszi not far behind. The others were a beat slower, and the Krath'lath a beat slower still.

She nearly paid for that hesitation with her life.

The ledge shattered as giant mandibles formed of light sheared straight through the rock, barely missing the end of her body as she sprang away, launching her slug-flesh through the air and into the narrow exit. A loud, irritated clack resounded from behind her, and she extended her stalks to see the massive ant looking up at her. From behind the enormous creature, she could see the soft, wobbly monsters that Zluth had described being lowered down from above, ready to take their place and spread more of their poison through the fifth.

With a hiss and a spattering of potent acid across the stone, she retreated down the narrow tunnel, compressing her body to squeeze through.

On the other side, she found the rest of the Krath gathered, spitting with rage and burbling to each other in furious tones.

"It won't be long until their filthy mana fills up the tunnel and spills into this space," Zluth declared, extending himself upward to be more visible to the others. "We can't remain here for long."

"WHAT?!" the Krath'lath roared. "You want to leave? With invaders pushing into the tribe's territory?"

"Our first plan was a failure," he said, then paused just for a moment so everyone could recall just whose plan that had been, "so we need a new one. There are too many of the filthy monsters for us to attack them haphazardly."

"If we retreat to the tribe now, who could say how much progress they will make before we return?" the Krath'lath demanded. "We need to take action now."

She could see the other slugs were swayed by both points of view, and that only made her angrier, but also more wary. Zluth… her guts still ached to consume the acid inside him, more potent than many in the tribe had realised. Was he making a power play? She bared her fangs almost against her will. Should she eat him now?

"It is the Krath'lath who leads the tribe," Goszi cut in, hawking a gob of mucus onto the floor which bubbled as it ate into the stone. "She will decide our next course of action."

The words of the old slug brought the attention back to her, but she was too surprised to respond immediately. Goszi had spoken for her? That was unusual for him…. What was his scheme?

Her eyes narrowed; she had to think quickly.

"We will marshal the forces of the tribe for an assault! We will hit them from multiple sides, but we must do everything we can to avoid that large ant."

Her flesh still crawled as she thought of the strength of its magic.

"We unleash our crafted monsters, our Blubbeasts, and support them from the rear. We give these invaders a taste of true Krath might!"

The others bared their fangs and hissed as they thought of crushing the insects. The Krath'lath turned her gaze toward Zluth.

"We will need someone to keep a close eye on the enemy as we prepare. Zluth, stay as close to them as possible and watch. Do not return to the tribe; I will send someone to gather your report."

Zluth spat and nodded his stalks, showing no sign of fear, but she knew he must be trembling down to his foot. Her orders were practically a death sentence. He had to stay close to the ants until she sent someone to speak to him, but that slug would never come.

She thought of the giant ant crushing a member of her tribe against the rock.

A shame she wouldn't get to feast on that potent acid, but a dead rival was a dead rival.

-x-X-x-

A truly transparent effort. Zluth could have almost praised the Krath'lath for how blatant she was, but it was difficult when the treachery was aimed at him. He controlled the frothing rage that sizzled through his veins along with the acid. Before his departure, he'd exchanged a look with Goszi. So far, things were moving along the path the old Krath had envisioned.

The Krath'lath was vulnerable, her initial plan a total failure. Now she was desperate, lashing out and ordering a full assault. If that too were to fail, then she would be toppled from her position and consumed. All he had to do was make sure he was there when it happened, so he could get himself a taste….

Until then, he had to at least appear as if he was doing as he was commanded, otherwise his tribe would eat him for being so obviously disloyal. Which meant he had to go back and monitor the ants.

Compressing himself, Zluth began by moving away from the ants' point of ingress. Once he'd put some distance between them, he doubled back, using every trick he knew to mask his presence and trail. He'd almost been caught by these filthy ants before, and he couldn't allow it to happen again.

They'd been bringing in the wibbly abominations when he'd fled, which meant the area of blue mana would have expanded significantly. Calculating this, he re-entered the tunnel occupied by the enemy at what he believed to be a safe distance.

It was not a safe distance.

When he peeked his eye-stalks out into the open space, he was met with a wall of blue mana, oozing toward him and burning away the natural mould, moss and slime as it advanced. It was only metres away and filled with ants, bustling here and there.

He snatched his eyes back into his hiding place and swiftly retreated, cursing internally. How had they advanced so far, so quickly? That point had been the very limit of the space they had filled with their corruption the last time they'd visited. Were they planning to expand it even further this time?

Moving swiftly, he zipped through the narrow network of minor tunnels and emerged into a blooming patch of sickly, purple moss. Quickly mottling his flesh to match the pattern, he cautiously extended his eye stalks to peer down the tunnel.

Yes, he had outpaced the ants, their poisonous mana was several hundred metres away now, but that didn't mean he shouldn't be cautious. Suppressing all signs of his presence, he flattened out his body and approached ever so slowly, using every crevice, patch of slime and mucus to hide his passage.

As he drew closer, he became more and more disturbed by what he saw.

There were so many ants. The last time they had come, there had been thousands of them. Industrious and swarming, they had filled the corrupted area of the tunnel, always in contact, always connected to each other. But this… this was absurd!

The entire tunnel was ringed with them! On the roof, the walls and floor, many ranks deep. As the blue mana expanded, they advanced, powerful, larger-built ants in the front, smaller ones in the back. As they moved forward, they extended their pipe network at the same pace, new pieces laid down as quickly as the blue goop oozed forward. In the distance, Zluth could still see the tunnel entrance and the steady flow of ants moving through it. He watched as more and more came through, constantly expecting it to stop, or at least dwindle, but it never did.

More ants came, more of the blue blobby monstrosities in a never ending stream until Zluth felt his eyes were about to pop on the end of his stalks. How many were coming through?! Already, they had to have reached more than ten thousand, and there were no signs of them slowing down!

The mana advanced, and Zluth was forced to retreat, getting further from the entrance to the fourth as the ants expanded their control of the tunnel. It was all happening so fast, he couldn't believe what he was seeing!

He could see the ants already at work on another of the nodes he had witnessed before. Already completed plates of enchanted metal were brought forward just as the stone had finished being shaped. In minutes, it was all slotted together, with pipes extended from underneath into the channels that were already prepared. Soon, the pipe network had been connected and pushed out into the unclaimed territory. A few seconds later, a blobby mass of disgusting creatures arrived and was put in place, followed a few seconds later by the flow of fifth stratum mana through the channels. The dreadful monsters chuffed and wibbled as they were fed the mana of the fifth, happily consuming it and emitting the blue abomination around them.

It had taken minutes. MINUTES!

There was construction taking place further back as well; the ants were shaping, sculpting, reinforcing the stone, bringing down strange metal lattices and enchanted beams of glittering steel. With rising horror and rage, Zluth began to realise just what he was looking at.

This was no test incursion, no practice run. This was the real thing. The ants felt they had learned what they needed to, and now… now they were moving in. None of this was temporary; they intended to stay!

Anger and hate so pure it caused the acid to sizzle and pop in his veins flooded through Zluth, but he suppressed it just enough to avoid revealing his position. Not that his efforts at stealth seemed to matter. The ants were so preoccupied with their tasks they paid little mind to anything else. Any monster that attempted to challenge the wall of blue mana was set upon by hundreds and hundreds of ants. Without mercy or remorse, the insects piled onto any threat, using their numbers and overwhelming might to eliminate the threat in a matter of seconds.

And still more were coming.

It never stopped. It wasn't going to stop.

Zluth realised several things at once as he continued to back up the tunnel.

First, the Krath'lath was going to fail. Even if she marshalled the entire tribe, it wasn't going to be enough to dislodge these ants.

Second, this incursion was going to send shockwaves through the entire fifth stratum. There would be a gathering of the tribes soon, and he was going to be there, as the new Krath'lath.

-x-X-x-

Things have been going well so far. As expected, the Krath had something waiting for us, but the Colony had trusted that I'd be able to deal with whatever they conjured up. I feel like the amount of faith they put in me has only gotten higher after word of the incident at Greystone had gotten around.

Our evil, maniacal opponents will have cooked up something truly despicable, but the Eldest will take care of us, we can just carry on as normal!

I mean… it worked out, sure. I'm just glad the slugs hadn't managed to think up something I couldn't throw an empowered gravity bomb at. Thankfully, most of the problems posed by the Dungeon can be solved by a black hole.

Whoa there! Stop that line of thinking! It's exactly those sorts of thoughts that get me in trouble when I start flinging around super powerful bombs all willy-nilly and nearly get myself compacted!

Yes, Anthony, most things can be destroyed by a black hole, including yourself!

[Hey Tiny, I'm going to the south side now. You and Invidia need to head to the north. Alright?]

I get a thumbs up and ghost fist for my trouble.

[Dammit, Tiny! Try and keep your intent under control!]

Believe it or not, ghost fist.

I sigh and turn around. It's not like there's anything he can do about it now. As far as I know, Tiny's been flinging his intent at everyone and everything since the day I met him. I don't even have a full understanding of what intent actually is.

If I were to try and phrase it, I'd say it's something like halfway between a thought and an action. Just thinking about chomping isn't enough to fire out intent, you need to visualise it, have the feeling and willingness of chomping, then it'll happen.

Tiny is just so obsessed with hitting things that it's basically all he does. Is he actually going to hit that ant? Absolutely not! Does he imagine doing it? How would the punch feel snapping through the air? Does he picture where he would aim, just what would happen as his fist impacted the chitin?

Yes. Yes he does. And he does the same thing for rocks, water, strong gusts of air and everything else you can think of. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that's probably why his punching Skills have been rocketing up in Levels. Seeing him in a fight is even more bizarre with this new mutation. Tiny is so good at firing off his intent, and can do it so quickly, that he flings out four ghost fists for every real punch! What's more, to any monster sensitive enough, they can sense them! I've seen monsters flinching away or dodging punches that aren't actually there and I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

"Eldest, nice of you to join us at this late hour."

I look down at Brendant who is busy leading the charge here to the south, confused. Realisation hits me a moment later when I notice the enchanted time-keeper she has attached to one of her front legs.

"How late am I? A few seconds?"

She clicks her mandibles irritably.

"Six."

"Oh no! Six seconds! The entire plan is going to unravel now, dammit."

I took a little extra time to berate Tiny and now here I am, getting berated. Brendant is in no mood for my flippant attitude.

"The plan that Solant has concocted requires precise timing, and we are getting further behind thanks to me having to explain this."

She flicks her mandibles at me as if to say come on, Eldest… and I am suitably chastened. I begin to stride forward.

"Alright then, let's get moving."

Without hesitation, I plunge through the expanding wall of blue mana and into the poisonous atmosphere of the fifth. This is a dangerous part of the plan. Well… all of the plan is dangerous, we're invading the most inhospitable environment in the Dungeon, but this is a tricky bit. We're building and fortifying as we go, but we don't have completely reliable data of what the terrain is like out here. We're already pushing into an area that we haven't reached before.

Up ahead lies a large tunnel junction where the mucus river will follow a split down to a lower level, and as we approach, I can hear the screams and roars of many monsters getting a whiff of our invading blue mana.

This is what I'm here for, after all. There are many combat-ready and capable ants here, but things will progress faster and safer if I handle as many crazed monsters hurling themselves at our expanding safezone as possible.

As I take up my position, there's already a monster running towards us with murder in its eyes.

Well… I wouldn't say eyes. Or… running.

I'm looking at it directly, and even I'm surprised. It's an egg. Well, it looks like an egg at least. A giant, sickly yellow egg is rolling towards me, but as it moves, I can see sections of the shell cracking open to reveal a writhing mass of grasping hands within.

Why does every monster in this stratum have to be so weird?! In the fourth, I might have had to fight dragons, but I'd rather that than bite into this stupid egg thing!

With a feeling of resignation, I charge through the muck of the fifth to take on the monster before it gets too close to the advancing line of ants. Rather than latch on with my mandibles, I launch a blast of roaring Dragon's Breath toward the advancing egg.

Sadly, it doesn't seem to have much of an effect. The egg continues to roll toward me, several segments of the shell glowing hot and smoking. In fact, it speeds up, heading straight at me!

Geh. Guess I don't have a choice. I pull back my mandibles ready to bite, but just as I lunge forward, the egg explodes!

Yellow goop and grasping hands fly into the air, and at the same moment, I feel something stir up ahead. There's gravitational waves from many sources approaching.

"It's an attack!" I roar.

-x-X-x-

The 'yolk' of the egg reveals itself to be even more disgusting than what I had supposed. As the ant line behind me prepares for battle, the goop sprayed into the air turns out to be an entire colony of semi-liquid grasping hands. They flutter through the air before raining down onto the ground. I get a particularly bad feeling about these hands, so I flex my legs and use an empowered dash to get the heck out of there.

Instead of landing on my carapace, the wriggling hands land on the floor of the tunnel, and that's where the true grossness is revealed. Like writhing noodles topped with a grasping claw, they latch onto the ground and start pulling themselves towards me. What's more, they're fast, way faster than they appear they should be.

With a rising sense of ick, I prepare another wave of Dragon's Breath and unleash it against the oncoming spaghetti swarm. It's much more effective than it was against the egg, and I gleefully cook the pasta with the roaring jet of pure flame.

It goes well, at least I think it does, right up until I feel an unbelievable pain latch onto my side.

How in the heck?!

Tilting my head, I can see one of the horrible things has managed to grab hold of me. Instantly, it starts pressing itself against my carapace, burning and melting into the diamond.

Ha! You think you can burn through my gravity compressed diamond that easily? You're dreaming! Except, I realise rather quickly that isn't what the noodle arm of doom wants at all. After flattening itself out, it starts sliding across my carapace toward the nearest joint. The moment it arrives, it starts trying to burrow into the gap and burn its way inside me!

GAH! That's disgusting!

Dragon's Breath!

Hot! Hot!

Note to self, do not set yourself on fire. Thankfully, my gambit appears to have worked. I don't detect any trace of the evil goopy thing that tried to slip its way inside my carapace.

Seriously, the monsters in the fifth are just… the worst.

I'd expound upon their many disgusting attributes, but something else demands my attention. Ahead of me, the many sources of waves I detected have resolved into a massed charge of terrifying-looking monsters. Unlike the earlier assaults we suffered from the random Dungeon spawns of the fifth, many of these monsters share a type.

These aren't spawns, these are most definitely crafted pets.

Casting my senses forward, I seek out any trace of the slimy foe, and to my surprise, I actually find them.

The Krath are here, they're actually here! So they weren't content with just skulking around and watching their feeble plans fall to bits! They summoned a little gumption and came out in the open! I really didn't think that was in their playbook.

I can barely make them out. The crafty, slithery slugs are doing their best to hang back and stay hidden, but they're definitely there.

Well, since they've come out to say hello, I might as well greet them properly!

HHHOOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLL!!!!!!

The gravity bomb screams into existence once more and rockets forward. All the investments I made in my gravity specialisation are really paying off right now. As the raw gravitational energy of the bomb makes itself felt, I benefit in multiple ways, my carapace soaking it in, and my gravity mana gland, now formed of Resonant Well Stone, turning that energy back into mana, helping recoup the cost of the spell.

Without these sweet, sweet synergies, I wouldn't be able to fling so many bombs around, but with them, I've got enough in the tank for a few more!

The bomb expands, roaring into life and ripping that section of the tunnel to shreds. However, between the wind, toxins and mucus that whip through the air to be consumed, I can see something rather unusual.

The manic charge of the beasts has halted in its tracks, the Krath coordinating the charge having retreated and ordered their pets to back up with them.

With the black hole screaming its fury into the tunnel, I watch with utter amazement as the Krath turn their monsters around and leave.

Oi! Get back here!

Have the lousy slugs already decided they don't want to have anything to do with me? I almost feel insulted. Get back here and fight, you miserable sacks of slime!

But they don't. Now that they realise I'm here, and still packing plenty of heat, they just back off, leaving me feeling a little irritated. I mean, not being attacked is a good thing, right? Except I can guess exactly what the Krath are thinking. They want to avoid running headfirst into the big, bad ant, which means they'll just attack somewhere else, if they aren't already. Lousy sneaks.

As much as I'd like to run off to the other side of our expanding mass of blue mana, I can't! Solant has a plan, and that plan requires me to be here, protecting the front as it expands. Besides, if I were to leave, who's to say they just wouldn't come back and attack here?

As if on cue, more weird native monsters show up, rushing toward the Colony lines with mindless rage in their eyes, spewing poison from every orifice.

Which means Tiny is going to have all the fun punching slugs on the other side of the tunnel.

Dangit!

-x-X-x-

The giant, bat-faced gorilla turned away from the small, slightly uneven section of dirt he'd been picturing himself punching and saw the first of the attacking monsters begin to charge. Excitement sparked in his belly, along with actual sparks, but it was a mild sort of interest at first. A few beasts, most of which would be blown apart by the friendly one before they even reached him, weren't something to get too worked up over.

But then, something amazing happened.

More monsters emerged! Not only did they emerge, they charged! Right before Tiny's widening eyes, a full assault materialised as if from nothing. He was so happy.

Energy surged through his bulging limbs as lightning began to crackle all over his body, the pleasant tingling sensation it brought only further lifting his mood. Some of the beasts were massive, little more than huge mouths propelled by fat, crawly legs that belched yellow gas from vents along their bodies. Hitting them was going to be so satisfying!

Filled with joy, Tiny pounded his open palms against his chest, beating out a war-rhythm as he bellowed his challenge at the horde.

All around, the ants readied themselves for battle, the lines of little ones clearing space around Tiny's feet and giving him room to punch in.

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the tunnel, blue flames belching outwards, dust, rock and mucus flying everywhere. Tiny leaned forward, concerned the friendly one had taken out one of the big monsters, but grinned when he realised they were fine.

[I will leavesssss the fat onessss for you,] the friendly one declared, placing a mini-hand on Tiny's impossibly broad shoulder.

The big ape gave his little friend a thumbs up and extended a finger to rub him on his lid, at the top of his eye. Invidia had always been helpful, but since evolving, he was so… so nice! Such a good friend.

Turning his attention back to the oncoming horde, Tiny hooted with joy as he judged the time had almost arrived. Drawing back one arm, he compressed the power of his lightning, then sent it blasting forward along with his fist.

A bar of lightning arced through the air, sizzling with energy before it fell just short of his target, blasting the rock and sending dust flying.

So close!

Eagerly, he drew back for another try, but then paused, confusion and sadness welling up from within. The charge had stopped. But… but they were outside punching range… why would they stop?

The huge mouth-beasts, and other, squishy-looking creatures rose up, and Tiny could sense the power they gathered. As one, the monsters leaned forward and unleashed blasts of thick goop which flew in a graceful arc toward the ants' position.

Tiny wrinkled his nose in disgust as the awful stuff flew towards him. He raised both hands and unleashed a blinding flurry of punches. The air warped in front of him for a brief moment, bent out of shape by the speed of his fists. Light exploded outwards as each of his blows launched a fist of light out of the safe-zone. His aim was unnerving, each punch connecting with a different blast of goop and annihilating its momentum, sending the stuff sizzling to the tunnel floor.

Even then, there were so many globs that dozens still made it through and entered the safe-zone. The moment they contacted the blue mana, they popped and sizzled, the dense mana inside fighting to overcome the purified energy provided by the wuffers.

All of this was greatly upsetting to Tiny. He wanted to punch, but the punching bags didn't want to get close enough….

No matter how much he wanted to leap out of the safe-zone, he knew he couldn't. He'd been ordered to stay in the blue… which meant he couldn't leave. Stupid orders….

[Don't even put a finger out there,] Crinis snapped at him. [You know what will happen to you.]

Tiny rolled his eyes. She was too good at working out what he was thinking. He always wondered how she managed it.

Just as he was growing more disgruntled at the situation, a ray of light shone through the darkness in the form of a little ant tapping him on the leg with her antenna.

He looked down and felt the touch of the ant's mind against his own.

[We are going to perform the burst manoeuvre. You will have twenty seconds to perform an offensive assault.]

Upon hearing this, Tiny frowned, thinking. The ant looked up at him patiently. Suddenly, the big ape blinked, smacking one fist into his open palm.

The burst move! He remembered that one!

Satisfied he knew what was happening, the little ant nodded and skittered away as Tiny began to limber up. This was going to be exciting! Clearly, his siblings had also been given the same message, as Crinis' pesky warnings rang in his head shortly after the ant had left.

[Remember, we don't get much time! Very, very little. So don't waste any of it with your silly flexing and posing.]

Flexing and posing were not silly, they were dignified and sombre expressions of power and physique! However, Tiny was forced to agree that a quick attack was not the place for such a thing, so he signalled with a thumbs up.

[I will givesssss you lighting laterssssss,] Invidia promised and Tiny gave him a broad grin.

Truly, appropriate lighting, the odd fire and a climactic explosion were the perfect backing to complete a flex routine!

Filled with good cheer and a building, wrathful energy, Tiny was bouncing on his feet and swinging at the air as the ants prepared their confusing, dizzying formation. With so many circles moving one way or another, Tiny found watching them made him feel a little sick, so he carefully averted his gaze as they began to march.

Even if he wasn't watching, he could feel it. The blue mana pulled back slightly, and more was pulled out from behind as the ants manipulated the energy, causing it to pulse back and forth.

It was like waves, Tiny thought. They started small, but the ants, who were clever, could turn small waves into big ones, and big ones into a huge one.

The enemy continued to launch their acid towards the ant lines, but Tiny and the ants just retreated further down the tunnel, letting the blue mana pack together even tighter.

In only a few minutes, it was ready, and Tiny was covered in thick ribbons of lightning, his eyes burning red and fists pounding on the rock by the time the ants finally let it blast forward. In an instant, the blue mana exploded outwards, a dense wave of power that rolled over the poison of the fifth and blew it away.

Like a shot, Tiny was off, bounding over the ground as a blur, his sister Crinis slipping through the shadows all around him and his brother (and good friend) Invidia flapping by his side.

In moments, they had reached the enemy lines, who recoiled in fear from the surging blue energy, their lines dissolving into chaos.

Tiny pulled back his fists.

This was going to be FUN!

-x-X-x-

Zluth had known the Krath would refuse to attack the giant ant, so he'd repositioned himself on the other side of the tunnel. He'd had to dodge several members of his own tribe on the way. The Krath'lath still had sway amongst the members of the Slee tribe, and he couldn't be too careful.

Still, it was necessary that he be able to truthfully claim he had done the task assigned to him. So he slithered down the tunnel, using his cunning and guile to evade the ants and his own kind in order to arrive at the other side of the invaders' advance.

He had expected the Krath'lath to fail in her assault. The Blubbeasts and various pets painstakingly raised by the tribe would go to waste, and perhaps some of the Krath would be caught in the mess as well.

What he saw exceeded his expectations many-fold.

The surge of blue mana had been so potent, so rapid, even he had almost been caught up in it. For a moment, the acid had congealed in his flesh as the blue menace had raced towards him. Only by squeezing himself back into the tunnel and fleeing did he manage to survive.

When the corrupted mana retreated, he cautiously emerged once more, extending a tentative eye-stalk into the open to see what had transpired.

It was a catastrophe. The gathered strength of the Slee had been obliterated in less than a minute. Amongst the carnage, he could see several of his fellow Krath, broken and burned by the toxic power spread by the invaders.

Despite the catastrophic loss for his people, Zluth felt a surge of triumph. The Krath'lath, even if she had survived, was finished. He would need to rejoin the others soon to ensure he secured himself a taste of her despair. It would be easy, after that, to position himself as a potential replacement. If Goszi followed through on his intentions, then he had a good chance to seize that position.

The blue mana had retreated after that disastrous surge. In fact, it had retreated further than where it had started. Clearly, that blast of mana had weakened the amassed energy, and now the ants worked to build it back up again. Confident in his analysis, Zluth crept out into the tunnel, sliding down the wall and onto the floor.

It felt… so strange. The strands of thick mucus that should have hung from floor to ceiling… gone. The thick layer of slime that should carpet the tunnel floor… gone. Everywhere he looked, fungal blooms and gardens of mould that had been so poisonously vibrant only minutes ago now lay withered and dead, choked to death by the mana of the ants.

The fury that thumped eternally within his slug flesh roared to new heights as he witnessed what the ants had planned for his home. They intended to kill everything, to change it. As he slithered over the lifeless tunnel floor, Zluth was repulsed by what he saw and felt. This must have happened in the past, there had been many attempts to tame the fifth, but he'd never beheld such an appalling scene with his own eyes.

Deeper in the tunnel, the ants were regrouping themselves. Some of their pipework had been lost during the surge, but they had components ready to replace it. It was difficult for Zluth to see all the way back to the entrance; there was so much activity in the corrupted space that picking out individual details was almost impossible. It appeared as though the ants had already put in place a… ramp… or moving platform system to ferry things down from above. In fact, it was possible they had already taken steps to widen the entrance.

Taking advantage of the space afforded by the ants' momentary withdrawal, Zluth crept closer, keen to see just what was happening in the heart of the invasion. It wouldn't be long until the blue had spread so far he'd never see it again until the monsters had been utterly defeated, so he had to seize this chance.

Using all his guile, he slipped closer, though it was difficult given how barren and lifeless the tunnel had become. Eventually he managed to find a crack running along the roof of the tunnel, and he squeezed himself into it, travelling as quickly as he could.

Once he judged he was close enough, he extended a single stalk and twisted it around to look in the right direction.

In an instant, the acid froze in his veins, then heated to a roaring sizzle as the rage ignited within him.

They had expanded the entrance. There were now two moving platforms ferrying things down to the tunnel floor from above, and it would soon be four as a swarm of ants worked to chisel the opening wider, but that wasn't what outraged the Krath.

There were humans coming down. Armed and armoured, they moved in concert with the ants, rushing out into the tunnel and forming up battle lines. Robed figures with bizarre appendages poking from their heads took positions amongst the ranks of insect monsters, their hands raised or heads bowed low.

There were golgari there as well, and bruan'chii, and ka'armodo! As he watched, oblivious to the approaching wall of blue mana, Zluth's mind churned. Just what was he witnessing?!

All of these factions, aligned in purpose?!

Of course! It all made sense now. The ants were not the leaders of this expedition, they were a creation, a tool, wielded by the sapient races from further up in the Dungeon against the fifth!

This wasn't some random monster invasion, this was a unified effort, an alliance of kingdoms, seeking to crush the fifth once and for all!

Snapping back to himself, Zluth retreated along the crack, then forced himself out and began to race away.

He had to catch up with the rest of the tribe. The Slee alone would not be enough to take on such an opponent! The Krath would need to unify for the first time in centuries!

As he fled, he turned one stalk behind him for a final glimpse at what they faced. The reinforcements were endless. Every time one of the platforms came down, it was loaded with people, ants, and supplies. Unloaded in seconds, it would vanish back up into the tunnel, then reappear again seconds later with another full load.

Before he escaped into one of the narrow off-shoot tunnels, he'd already lost sight of the entrance. The ants… no… the invaders… had already blocked his view with walls.

It would take days… perhaps weeks to bring the tribes together. Just how established would the invasion become in that much time?

-x-X-x-

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Isaac roared, though he felt as if he needn't have bothered.

The targets of what his mother had lovingly called 'motivational yelling' were a squad full of human couriers, carrying supplies for the ant builders. Even before he'd opened his mouth, they were hauling backside just as quickly as they could, almost running with heavy burdens slung over their shoulders.

Well, he was here to make sure the supplies moved according to schedule, and by the plops of the pious, that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Rest when you're dead! Drop off that gear and get back to the lifts! GO! GO!"

Again, he needn't have bothered. The men and women carefully dropped their burdens in the predetermined positions and then turned and sprinted back to the entrance, ready to collect the next load. Each and every one of them had a look of such focused determination on their face that Isaac was slightly taken aback. How many times had he seen such single-minded focus in anyone? Not many!

Even scarier, was that he could easily understand what motivated them. Somehow, that tricky little general, Solant, had forged such an incredible sense of purpose in everyone taking part in this invasion without ever saying a word.

She didn't have to.

The extensive drills, the manic attention to detail, the exhausting standards of perfection, all spoke of just how serious, just how consequential this mission was, better than any motivational speech could hope to. With the next load of materials came another squad of couriers, already loaded up, and they too began to sprint the moment their platform touched the ground.

Deciding he didn't need to worry about ensuring those ferrying supplies needed motivating in the short-term at least, Isaac turned his attention to his fellow ant riders.

"Brindle! Make sure you aren't obstructing the path! Keep your damn eyes peeled! Remember where we are, we could be knee deep in the plops in a second down here!"

"Aye, captain!" the normally reticent ant-rider snapped back.

He and his partner repositioned themselves slightly, ensuring they didn't block access for the couriers and actively watching the walls and ceiling all around them.

More supplies were rushed in, and soon a steady stream of smallish ants began to arrive, easily identifiable by their odd front legs and claws. These were the carvers, ready to begin the great work. Among them was a seldom sighted, though expected face: Tungstant, one of the leaders of the caste.

She rushed forward along with the rest of her kind, each carrying pre-built components, ready to be slotted in with the rest for the mighty construction they were about to undertake.

"Ready to build?" Isaac asked, attempting to inject some levity into the moment with a broad smile and a stroke of his fine moustache.

"No," Tungstant snapped back, her antennae practically vibrating with tension. "Trying to construct a completely sealed nest in an active warzone while surrounded by hostile, absurdly hazardous mana is completely impossible!"

Holding his smile in place, Isaac absorbed the blast of pheromones as Cavalant shifted beneath him.

I told you to keep your mouth shut around the carvers, her posture shift told him.

Already the carvers were getting to work, a torrent of mana being summoned and driven into the tunnel rock around them. Holes were drilled, gleaming, enchanted beams were installed and then sealed in, plates with complex enchantment arrays were locked into place in a grid pattern, and then, finally, they got to work tunnelling down.

As space opened up, the blue mana sank down into it, thickening and growing more dense as it went, the enchantments lighting up as they made contact with cleansing energy.

"You seem awfully keen to get to work on a task you consider impossible," Isaac observed, not willing to learn his lesson.

"We're the carvers of the Colony," Tungstant snapped back, her eyes focused in every direction at once, supervising the work of all the members of her build team. "We do the impossible on a regular basis. Now be quiet and let me focus, this is difficult work."

Finally deciding to take that advice, Isaac and Cavalant took a few steps back and Isaac returned his attention to the tunnel. Here in the heart of the blue, they weren't expected to see much trouble, but that didn't mean it wouldn't come anyway. In the distance, he could see Anthony taking a rest, purging himself of the corruption that had no doubt built up within his body after his last foray out into the gunk.

For several minutes, the carver team, and others just like it, worked furiously, preparing for the next stage of the invasion/construction. Human and ant teams worked without pause, ferrying pre-made construction materials to the site in an endless stream as, little piece by little piece, the grand edifice began to take shape.

"Breakthrough in two!" Tungstant announced suddenly, and her cry was echoed down the line of building teams.

"Two here as well!"

"Three minutes!"

"Slackers! Two, here!"

"One minute!"

And, of course, just in time, wave after wave of troops arrived, along with accompanying packs of wuffers, along with more build teams carrying everything they needed to establish more purification plates.

"Get ready, you lot!" Isaac called, using his voice this time. "We are going down in the second wave! Remember the plan!"

With grim expressions, the ant cavalry gathered themselves behind the ranks of front line troops.

"Breach!" Tunstant roared.

"Breach!" from the next team over.

"Breach!" a moment later from the rest.

Slowly at first, then in a flood, the blue mana rushed down the tunnels and burst into whatever lay below. The lead teams gave it a moment to push back the toxic atmosphere, then plunged into the tunnels themselves.

Isaac watched as thousands of ants raced down into the darkness, and could only shake his head. How could he possibly have imagined himself being in this position? Yet here he was all the same.

"We are right in the plops now," he muttered.

When he thought of just how deep the plan called for him to go today, he had to brace to stop himself from shuddering. Gradually, the ranks in front cleared as the troops advanced below, and far too soon, it was his turn to advance.

"Alright, lads and lasses," he bellowed, "into the deep we go!"

With a roar, both vocal and pheromonal, the ant cavalry charged into the depths.

-x-X-x-

"There isn't time! We need to abandon the Slimeground!"

"Are you a traitor to the tribe? We fight!"

Zluth could hear the heated argument even before he arrived. He'd pushed himself to the limit to race back through the twisted and narrow gaps between the tunnels, and even so, he'd barely returned ahead of the flood of deadly blue mana that had begun to fall deeper into the stratum.

He burst into the opening, only a few hundred metres from the hidden entrance to the tribe's home, to find a large gathering of Krath, almost the entire Slee tribe, furiously arguing the next course of action. Surprisingly, the Krath'lath was still alive, swelled up to her largest size as she attempted to intimidate the others into submission.

As he approached, he could smell the fear, rage and desperation in the air. It was a heady mix, and dangerous as well. This many of his people together, with this heightened atmosphere, could lead to the destruction of the tribe as they frenzied and destroyed each other until only a few remained.

Although it was perilous, this was also a moment of opportunity. Boldly, he pushed himself into the middle of the gathering, a thick trail of slime left in his wake.

"The ants are coming," he announced loudly, causing eyes atop their stalks to turn towards him. "They've begun tunnelling directly down towards us, spreading the blue mana down as they go. It won't be long until they reach this place."

"That's impossible! There's no way they could know where the Slimegrounds are hidden!" someone protested from nearby.

"They don't," he replied confidently, "but it won't matter. They are simply digging down over a wide area. Unless they stop before they reach us, they'll be here in a matter of hours."

"You appear now. Where were you with this intelligence when our tribe fought the invaders directly?" the Krath'lath spat, acid bubbling from the surface of her flesh. "Our beasts were destroyed, our warriors poisoned, while this coward huddled in the crevices."

It was an attempt to turn the ire of the tribe away from herself and onto another target, but it was weak. She'd reminded them of the failed attack herself.

Zluth drew himself up even taller, not retreating from her larger form in the slightest.

"I was scouting, alone, as my Krath'lath had ordered. I'm surprised you have even shown your face here after the disaster you've caused. The Slee tribe has never been weaker than we are now, without our pets, with only immature and undeveloped Blubbeasts, and now forced to flee our Slimegrounds and face the wilds alone! You have brought the tribe to the brink of destruction!"

The stench of rage and fear only intensified with his words, escalating the tension to the brink of disaster. The Krath'lath sensed it too, spreading her many, stick-thin clawed arms wide as she opened her maw to reveal her needle-pointed fangs. Several nearby Krath moved back from her, wary of her fury, but many others did not, which Zluth noted with glee. The fear of her was failing. The rest of the tribe knew exactly who was to blame for this latest failing.

"My only mistake was in trusting the information my scouts had provided," she hissed, slithering towards him, her eyes bulging red and full of menace. "Had we known the ants were capable of spreading their poison as they did, we would have succeeded in driving them back!"

Again, she tried to deflect the blame. Someone would have to pay for the failure that had occurred today, and every slug in attendance knew it. With one eye, Zluth sought out Gozsi in the crowd, who caught his look and nodded slightly. He was ready.

Acid burned like fire through Zluth's body as he prepared himself. This was the moment; if he was successful here, he would become the leader of the Slee, but if he failed, he would be consumed instead. If Goszi was legitimate in his offer of support… he had a good chance.

"This is why you are a failure, not only as Krath'lath, but as a Krath!" he roared, and the crowd hissed at his declaration.

The Krath'lath surged forward, maw wide, but the tribe was there, throwing themselves on her and pulling her back. They wouldn't allow her to simply devour the challenger to maintain her rule. It was the most devious and cunning Krath who led, not the strongest.

"Why would you risk so much, an all-out attack, draining the strength of the Slee, when you knew so little? The ants moved quickly, and you panicked. Overconfident and uncautious, the opposite of a true Krath'lath!"

"We are the masters of this domain!" she roared. "Would you have us sit to the side and allow them to invade? Take what is rightfully ours? You have proven yourself to be a coward over and over again!"

"You call me a coward, when I have spent more time at the edge of the invasion than any other member of the tribe? How close were you? When the mana surged forward and our warriors were poisoned, where were you standing, Krath'lath?"

He didn't wait for her to reply, instead turning his attention to the surrounding Slee.

"It's a good thing I remained at my post, because I have learned the true extent of what we face! With a more wise and cunning leader, we could face the onslaught with our full strength, but instead we are diminished due to the rash, idiotic commands of this fool!"

"What do you mean?" Gozsi demanded, sliding forward out of the crowd. "What do we face?"

The Krath'lath remained pinned to the ground, thrashing and growling, unable to control her rage. Zluth felt a surge of triumph as he delivered the terrible truth.

"Once the ants had fought off the tribe, their true masters began to descend into the fifth," he spoke boldly. "Human soldiers and mages moved among them without fear."

The atmosphere amongst the gathered Krath instantly changed. A monstrous incursion had changed to an invasion by the humans? Was the Child Emperor behind this?

That was much more serious.

"But that's not all," Zluth continued, snatching their focus back to himself in an instant. "I saw golgari amongst them as well."

The Empire of Stone as well! The Krath hissed, fearful.

"And ka'armodo, and Folk, and the bruan'chii!" he declared finally.

There was silence as the Slee processed what they had heard. Had the entire world united against them? Would this be a war for the very survival of the fifth?

Eyes, red with incandescent rage, turned toward the Krath'lath, still held down by fellow members of her tribe. In the face of such raw anger, even she was able to seize control of herself. Finally, Zluth saw it, the fear in her eyes.

"I will lead us into the wilderness," Zluth declared. "Only the gathered might of the tribes will be able to stand against this enemy. Gather what you can from the Slimegrounds, but we have only a short time before we leave."

Some of the Slee had already turned to race back into the hidden home of the tribe, whereas others waited, knowing what would come next.

"Now let us dispose of this fool," Zluth declared, teeth flashing in an evil grin.

-x-X-x-

I just can't believe how terrible it is down here. Well, I can believe it, but just when I think the fifth can't get any worse, it somehow manages to find a new low. We haven't even managed to dig that deep into the stratum, maybe a kilometre, and already things are going to plops, as Isaac would say.

"What is that, Brendant?"

"What do you mean, Eldest?"

"I mean, what are we looking at?"

"Isn't it obvious what we're looking at?"

"Indulge me."

"It's a lake of acid."

"Why is there a lake full of acid?"

"Because there is? I feel like you're asking the wrong ant, Eldest. We can get Brilliant to try and explain the origins of this lake."

"I don't think that will be necessary, I'm just getting depressed."

In front of me, directly below our position at the ceiling, the offensive body of not water bubbles away menacingly, oblivious to my mounting disapproval. Tiny turns to me and raises an eyebrow.

"No, Tiny, you can't punch it."

He looks sad. I'd kind of hoped that raising his intelligence would lead him to consider other solutions, ones that didn't involve his fists, but alas, all that seems to have happened is that he can now think of more things to hit. Rather than watch the steady barrage of ghost fists flying from Tiny to the acid below, I turn toward Solant, who has finally descended to lead from closer to the front.

"Did we know this was here?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"We weren't able to sense this far into the stratum, but such obstacles weren't unanticipated."

"You thought we might run into an entire lake of acid?"

"I tried to anticipate many different eventualities," the small ant demurs.

After digging down through a few levels of the fifth, encountering several of the massive, kilometre-plus wide tunnels we'd found so far, we eventually broke through to this mess. It's a massive lake filled with a thick, goopy mess of bubbling, acidic snot.

I hate it.

To make matters worse, there's clearly a heap of monsters inside it. We can see them wriggling and writhing down there, the surface of the lake shifting unnaturally as they shuffle about below. A few have tried to break the surface, perhaps sensing the cleansed mana above their heads, and from what I saw, they looked like nothing so much as… mucous crabs, I guess I would say, even if I hate that phrase.

It's not even possible to guess how deep it is, since the acidic goop is so thick you can't see more than a millimetre into it!

"So how are we going to get through this mess?" I ask with a sigh.

"As quickly and as safely as we can," Solant replies.

I notice that she won't give details unless I actually press her for them.

"Care to explain?"

It's almost like she's irritated at having to tell me the plan! She's asking for a thwacking, I tell you.

"Ultimately, this invasion is a war of mana against mana," she says, launching into a rather more expansive explanation than I was asking for. "The natural mana of the fifth is completely toxic to us, making it the strongest weapon the fifth has against us. Conversely, the opposite is true. The mana produced by the wuffers is anathema to the natives of the fifth, and is our strongest weapon against it. We don't need to go down and fight the monsters beneath us."

Oh, thank Gandalf. If someone was going down there, I know who it was going to be.

"All we need to do is convert the lake into purified mana. The cleansed energy will do the work for us."

"Solant, you know perfectly well what my next question is going to be. Why the heck do you insist on making me ask it?"

"I don't know what you mean…."

"Like heck! Fine! HOW are you going to convert it? If we try and pipe that stuff up, it's going to eat into the material and break everything. If we actually feed it to the wuffers, it might melt through them as well!"

Solant sighs.

THWACK!

"You are pushing your luck, little general."

"That wasn't necessary," she says, rubbing at her head with one antenna and glaring up at me.

"I disagree."

"Fine. You are correct, it would be risky to try and pipe something this caustic directly to the wuffers. So we will use a different approach. Which is!"

She hastily continues as my antennae twitch again.

"Which is to say, we will use some enchantment arrays designed by the mages to condense and thicken the mana the wuffers produce before sending it down. It will be a war of attrition between the competing energies, but we can bring more firepower to the area if needed, while the lake can't."

"Huh, it sounds interesting. I suppose this is the stuff you were talking about?"

"Just so."

A large gathering of mages and carvers descend the vertical tunnel above the landing area which had been carved out of the rock. Even the stone is faintly toxic in this accursed place, eating into the ants' mandibles and forcing them to seek healing after digging for too long.

Even the sanctity of ant zen has been tainted in this place!

As I ruminate on just how much I don't like this place, the rest of my family has gotten busy. Over the next ten minutes, an astonishing amount of construction takes place, clearing an area and getting what appear to be very sophisticated arrays set up. When completed, they look like a series of stone rings, each engraved and set with powering cores, stacked on top of each other with a couple of inches of space between. A dozen of them are put together in short order, while the carvers get to work creating a wuffer platform.

It doesn't take long for the wibbly-wobbly little things to be in place, the pipework necessary to feed them installed and the process to begin. I watch, fascinated, as the wuffers begin to do their thing, but the blue energy is fed directly into the condensers.

They aren't very large, but once this newly made blue mana touches them, the constructs pull the energy inside, acting like a storage tank. The individual rings begin to pulse in sync with each other.

I can sense the mana inside thickening, growing more potent with every pulse. When the appropriate density is reached, the mages activate a secondary set of mana pipes, directing the energy down through the opening in the floor and into the acid lake below.

Immediately, a furious hiss resounds as the first of the blue mana comes into contact with the lake, the two energies clashing, each trying to consume the other. As all the condensers reach maximum capacity, more mana begins to flow through the channels laid into the ground, and the fierce noises from below intensify.

Peeking over the edge, I can see the surface of the acid lake has begun to boil and churn.

"This might take a while," I observe.

Solant doesn't seem concerned.

"We have seven more arrays we can deploy. We will get through eventually."