Chrysalis

"Look, it might not have turned out how you expected, but you've still done a lot for the Colony. You can't let this keep you down forever."

"…"

"I mean, is it really that painful? Being alive? You've given yourself a whole new opportunity to fight for the Colony and help your family. Think about all the difficult struggles and hard work that we have in front of us, you'll be able to be there and shoulder your part of the burden. You might even have the chance to face down an opponent stronger than yourself once more and… you know… die… again… over and over."

"Are you making fun of me Eldest?"

"Would I do that?!"

"Yes. The healers have been laughing at us for a week straight."

"Hey, I'm not like them, alright? I want you to be happy, I just don't want you to get killed trying to achieve that."

"What if that's the only way that I can achieve happiness?"

"Then too bad. You think we worked so hard to bring you up to tier six so you could go ahead and die after one battle? You must be outside of your head, Leeroy!"

THWACK!

to cheer me up?" she protests trying to

Oh, right.

not to get annoyed when I see you sulking. Your siblings are all working their butts off and you're lazing about feeling sullen because you're still alive! How

family in their

you were hatched exactly what I thought of that. Well, I suppose in the end you've got your wish, you'll

evolved. I can finally understand the waves of hilarity that the healers have been experiencing since the news spread. The idea that these particular ants, more desperate to sacrifice themselves than any others, have instead made themselves almost impossible

it's a powerful piece of work, a very expensive gland to be sure. From what I understand they didn't buy it but instead were offered it as part of the evolution they chose. As a consequence of so much value being put into this one element, the

much harder. The only way for them to be destroyed is if they are defeated too quickly for the organ to charge up. It takes time to build the energy necessary to 'resurrect' them from near death and return them to perfect health, the organ simply can't remain that charged permanently, it'd break down in minutes. The other way is to put them down again just after they heal, since it'll take much longer for the Phoenix Fire

problem is both of those strategies rely on overcoming the absurd toughness of the Immortals. Their carapaces are all highly mutated and the vast bulk of their stats are in Might and Toughness, making them extremely durable. On top of that, the armour produced by Smithant only gets better as time passes, making it even more difficult to actually put a wound on these ants! Killing them twice? Not

hilarious that this happened to Leeroy

continue to grow? I never would have thought it, but the Immortals have actually turned into a powerful and useful force for the Colony. I expect them to see a lot of deployment when we start expanding into

There's a ton of work to do and soon enough there'll be more fighting to do. If you keep wallowing in your own self-pity then I'm going to pick you up and drag you around the third stratum myself. If I even hear from someone that you've been slacking off then I'll

on the ground,

she starts to pick herself

her stand with a critical eye, one antenna still raised