Chrysalis

After being hit with literally dozens of gravity bolts, the pride demon's powerful leap takes him practically nowhere, dragged back down to the ground by his own mass. How do you like that, fool! Smoked by the power of gravity! Man, I cannot wait to get my hands on that gravity skill!

Having had my fill of throwing spells at them, I charge, dashing toward our foes, my legs a blur. Unhappy with the treatment her tentacles were given, Crinis is already unwinding more, snaking them through the air toward the pride demon as the confused monster tries to understand why he can't move the way he wants.

Behind him, one of his allies, a strangely serpentine demon, raises itself up, a powerful aura of healing magic gathering around it.

"Exterminate the healer! Rapid take down protocol!"

I'm so surprised to hear the pheromones that my grand charge almost collapses on itself as my legs come within a hair's breadth of tangling against each other. I manage to correct it in time, and hopefully nobody noticed. From thin air, Protectant appears already descending upon the snakish demon along with six of her fellow bodyguards. Before the poor creature can even complete casting the potent healing spell it had been preparing, the seven ants rip into it, their combined weight driving the monster to the ground where it's finished by their mandibles.

A moment later, the ants are gone, leaving behind nothing but Biomass.

That was… different.

In another second, I collide with the pride demon, the force of my charge ripping the monster from Crinis' grip and sending him a dozen metres away, sprawling in the searing stone of the third stratum. Hundreds of little infant demons skitter out of the way as I advance on him, my mandibles gnashing. Behind me, Tiny and Invidia continue to rip into the remaining opponents, the combination of the big ape’s awe inspiring offense and the envy demon's perfect support magic (and explosions) being far too much for even their tier six foes to deal with.

Even as I approach the fallen pride demon, my mental constructs do not cease their work, spinning together a dizzying barrage of mind magic packets to fire across the bridge my opponent so foolishly didn't cut off when he had the chance. It's such a strange feeling, to be concentrating on what I'm doing, focused on my approach, on my mandibles, on charging up an omen chomp, whilst at the same time I can feel my brains working, churning away on so many other tasks. My sub-brains are propping up the constructs, whilst the constructs utilise their own functions, as well as drawing on the physical brains that maintain them to weave dozens of threads together at the same time.

It's bewildering, confusing, elating and intoxicating all at the same time.

[Prepare to get chomped, demon!] I holler as I bear down on my demon opponent.

to his feet, none of the grace or power one would expect from one of his kind present as the lingering effects of the gravity magic he was struck by continues to weigh him down. As a result, the following confrontation is laughably one sided. With a snarl, the demon slashes toward me, arm aglow with the light of the Skill in

maximising the thickness of my carapace at the point of impact. The impossible speed of my reactions allows me to adjust my position at the very last possible moment, giving the demon no chance to shift the strike. Even with these preparations the claws dig into my precious diamond

advantages, there are limits to how well diamond from the first stratum will work against claws from the third. Stupid

but demon flesh isn't

Omen chomp!

dark light manifests itself as my jaws

Combo!

pump my mandibles, the muscles in my face screaming as my stamina plummets. Omen chomp after omen chomp cuts into the pride demon until the fight has left him.

was that about?!] I

I can answer

get used

point, but do you

eye? This request. Unusual. Yes… I can do

So he does.

GANDALF! OPEN!

to myself, twitching on the ground. The horror. The sheer horror of it. I couldn't even close my own eyes so I couldn't see

never do that again,]

[Your request is noted.]

you could explain what happened here? Why did these guys decide to attack us out of nowhere? The pride demon mentioned something about