Chrysalis

Chapter 604

When the itching finally fades away, Crinis peels herself off the walls and regroups back onto my carapace to reveal something I didn't expect to see. Protectant, her cover dropped without me having to drag her out of the shadows for once, stands right in front of me, in the centre of the room. Exposed to my senses, she wears a nervous air, as if the simple fact of been able to be seen makes her uncomfortable.

"Didn't expect to see you, Protectant. What's up?"

Her antennae twitch in surprise.

"The rest of the nest? The surface nest? The surface? About two hundred million tons of rock and soil? I don't understand the question, Eldest."

Sometimes I forget the ants aren't up to speed with the lingo.

"I just mean to see what's up with you. I mean - forget it. Why are you out of cover? I assume you have something to say?"

"Where have you been?"

The question is more direct than I expected, but it's pretty much what I thought she'd say.

"Right here," I'm still not going to bow down to these babysitters.

"We couldn't see you."

"I know, that was the point of Operation Blackout."

antennae go crazy with barely suppressed excitement. These damn security guards are as bad as the

need to

see her force her intrigue away in order to focus on the point at

a little privacy. You'll

us

to happen to me here in the nest? Forget it, you'll just need to cope. We're heading out to do some grinding deeper in the strata now. I want to make sure you and your team keep levelling and progressing your mutations. You can't protect

keep ten on you at all times,"

of getting stronger for

probably hunt in teams of five,

is the first to move, leaping to his feet from where he sat at the entrance to the chamber, his muscles bunching with excitement as he does his little gorilla boxing shuffle, throwing mini-punches into the air. The ape is pumped up and ready to fight.

and race through the nest, taking the fastest route through the mighty gates (still being reinforced) and taking new paths deeper into the strata. It's hard to move too quickly in the second strata, what with poisonous little barbs attached to almost everything we see. By now we've become far more comfortable traversing the tunnels and we need less breaks to heal Tiny after he stumbles into something else

we make solid progress as we descend, clearing out tunnels and stripping them bare of Biomass. The pure black mana pulses from the walls, filling the air like tar. I swear that it's getting thicker. Is there going to be another wave soon? Somehow I get the feeling it'll be harder to deal with this time, exposed to the second strata, and the third beneath it as we are now. If we can master the technique that Rylleh used to push the Dungeon veins out of their territory, we'll manage to survive it much better, I should ask how we're progressing with

need to focus on that. There's only me, my pets, my babysitters, and the need to smash as many monsters in as short as possible a time frame. We need dat sweet, sweet experience! Elemental constructs whizzing with mana, I step forward and unleash

In the third strata.

know what we're going up against?" Myrrin

resisted the

old man loves his secrets. Aside from the fact we're in the third strata, I don't even know where we are. I don't think anyone does. The commander is keeping

searing heat scalded their skin and the taste of

thoroughly drilled, to the point that when the commander strode back into the hall in which they waited, not a one of them moved. But the tension in the

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