Chrysalis

The closer I look, the more certain I am. It isn't much, a scratch under any other circumstances, but considering that Grokus has managed to keep himself entirely pristine for the duration of this fight, something has definitely changed.

[You know, I don't think I will, surrender that is. I have a suspicion that things might just be turning to my advantage.]

[Nonsense,] the huge demon scoffs, [unless you have another of those spells in you, then it's merely a matter of time before you are devoured from the inside out.]

[You so sure about that? Your left claw isn't looking its normal self.]

I can almost see the massive city lord hesitate for a moment before he raises the claw to inspect it more closely. Sure enough, the damage has not been fully healed, a split running along the topmost digit.

[Impossible!] he gasps before he can stop himself.

[Not healing as much as you'd expected eh? Perhaps something has gone wrong?] it's now my turn to taunt the much larger monster as my brains race to think of what could possibly have happened.

[Tiny, scorch him! Give him a blast of lightning!]

All too happy to unleash violence at the slightest provocation, the ape lets loose an arc of lightning that plays across the city lord’s flank, burning a groove in him and filling the air with the scent of sizzled Biomass. Crucially, the damage remains, healing, but far more slowly than before. An idea begins to take shape in my mind and I can't help giving voice to it.

[You've always been eating Grokus, eating and eating away, but where has all the Biomass gone? You really expect me to believe you've just been racking up thousands of Biomass points for no reason? I don't believe it.]

him through my

storage, don't you? You've been packing it away into this regen gland for decades and then pretending you were invincible. Every time you get damaged in any way, you heal up in an instant and pretend you were never hurt in the first place. You can depend on your impressive bulk to prevent you from having anything too critical being wounded in one shot, and your aura does the rest of the work, since you can outlast your opponents based on your bank

circle around the big demon as I lecture, expounding on my

gravity bomb spell. Not only is the damage outrageous, but it sits in place for an uncomfortably long time. You were regenerating the entire time, weren't you? That must have sucked. Like, that must have really sucked. The moment you healed, it was all ripped away just as fast. How much Biomass did you chew through in the duration of that spell? Must have been a lot. Must have been ALL of it, in fact, because as of right now, you aren't

face him

fact, right now you're

flexing his massive claws as his jaw works, chewing over my words in silence. Which is right when I take a massive hit of damage. I stagger to one side as it feels as if my stomach has ripped itself open, triggering an emergency release of regeneration fluid. Despite the added energy

the city lord still manages to sound as pompous as ever. [You may have worn through my reserves with your magic, but I am still standing, and so long as I am you will continue to suffer. Unless you can finish me off in the next few minutes,

stiffen my legs to hold my

case if I was here by myself, but I'm not,

to the

"GET HIM!"

within range of my pheromonal cry and they

each and every one of them rushes forward heroically and a rain of acid and spells falls

to the hidden signals emanating from my antennae I watch the now desperate city lord like an ant-hawk. When he swipes at me, I'm more than ready and dodge appropriately, closing

Grokus!] I bellow as

I remove his ability to harm them. Without the use of his arms, he has only his aura to rely on. Which will work, given enough time. I mean, we're racing against the clock

Pour it on!

the fight with gusto, ripping and tearing, punching

this!] Grokus bellows in my mind. [I have ruled for hundreds of years! I will not be brought down