Chrysalis

[How's it going over there Tiny? Crinis?]

[We'll win, but it's going to take time!]

[Take care and make sure of it, we don't need to rush!]

I don't think… although, looking at Grokus as the massive demon looms over me, that I'll be able to finish this quickly. If the gravity bomb doesn't manage to inflict massive damage on him, then I have no idea what will! I pull back a little from the city lord, giving myself room to plot my next manoeuvre. The area where I bit him has already healed, if I damaged him at all.

[You're actually a tough nut to crack, aren't you Grokus?]

The huge demon swings his body around to face me head on.

[Food is strength in this world. How can anyone be stronger than me? I've been consuming hundreds of Biomass a day for longer than you've been alive, and you want to challenge me? You're weak! Just another snack!]

find a tier eight demon and you can impress them

his mutations are all maxed out, but imagine if he'd spent all that time practicing his Skills instead of sitting on his backside eating. He'd be so much more powerful, pushing his abilities to a new rank, training new Skills that might help him in this fight. Instead all he can do is endlessly brag about how much food he's consumed.

taunt him as we once again draw closer to one another, the ground shaking with every step, [all that food that you've wasted will

come over here and we can see if I wasted it

me down to the ground, every second that passes makes my gravity bomb stronger, it's already growing dense enough that he must be able to sense it. That much concentrated mana

moving with that deceptive speed. I lower my centre of gravity and prepare to dodge, waiting for my antennae to tell me how he's going to reach for me. The closer he gets, the sharper the pain in my stomach becomes, the acid boiling away as thoughts of food swim in my head, threatening to drive my consciousness away and turn me into a ravenous beast. I resist it, but I can tell that

That's why I can't see anything! The moment

of my size isn't easy and my muscles and joints scream as I push them to their limits as that giant hand reaches for me, growing so large as to almost

cut into my diamond carapace. This is first stratum versus third after all, I can't expect too much. As

low under that arm and locking my mandibles into place. Hopefully this

OMEN CHOMP COMBO!

them shut five times in a second before I jump away, not giving the huge demon a chance to recover his balance and grab at me again. The five chomp combo is just about as much as I can manage at the moment. Luckily I have so many ants within range of the Vestibule in order to top me off, otherwise I'd

tier above me, fine, but there's no way he can take FIVE

you realised your place yet, insect?] Grokus practically purrs in my mind, [if you're smart, you should crawl back up to where