Chrysalis

The grind of an ongoing melee was a very different type of combat than the thrilling and domineering charge of the Immortals. The mass that had propelled them through the ranks of the enemy now bore down on their back. Leeroy welcomed it. It had taken her a long time to grow accustomed to fighting with a second shell, but once she had, once her armour wearing Skill had risen to a sufficient rank, she had come to understand its power.

The jaws of the termite foe, long, curved and sharp beyond belief were designed to find the weak points of an insect carapace, the joints between body segments, and sever them brutally. For the Immortals, such weaknesses did not exist. The joints that connected their head, abdomen and thorax were heavily protected by layers of enchanted and hardened metal that defied even the potent mandibles of their enemies.

They had no powerful magic. They could not blast with fire, or ice, or blow powerful gusts of air that would scatter their enemy. Nor did they have powerful streams of acid that would melt their enemies by the dozen. Their mutations and evolutions had driven them in a different direction and it was on those strengths that they now relied.

Their enlarged heads held dense muscles that powered their long, compounded mandibles and they leveraged those with devastating bites. Their legs were specially evolved and mutated to hold their immense weight and drive bursts of speed that allowed them to initiate small charges when given a breath of space.

Though they couldn't reach full speed, these smaller charges allowed them to throw their weight around, bashing into the termites around them, shattering formations and cracking their shells, creating weak points they could exploit.

Fighting in close quarters with Leeroy and her followers was like a human trying to contain a miniature Vibrant in their hand. Painful.

They bashed and crashed, bit and scrapped, stepping over the fallen and broken bodies of their opponents as yet more emerged from the hole in the tunnel wall to take up the fight.

Even with their thick, reinforced carapaces and sophisticated armour, the best that ant ingenuity could provide, they were not invulnerable. As thousands of termites surrounded their hundreds, it was inevitable that they would begin to take damage.

The first wound Leeroy took was close to her neck and she was glad for it. She'd gone too long in this battle without her HP lowering at all. Had her armour not stopped the pointed end of that barb dead in its tracks, she may have suffered a serious wound, more's the pity.

She battled on, her reserves of energy dwindling as she expended her stamina to bite and snap her way through the melee. As the conflict raged, her sisters and her suffered more and more harm. Vastly outnumbered, there was a limit to what they could do to defend themselves as they sought to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible.

Not that it mattered.

Those tier six members of the Immortals, inflicted as they were with the terrible curse of not properly reading their evolution options, felt the Phoenix Fire building within them. The more damage they took, the brighter it became until it raged within their bodies, a dense ball of energy just waiting to be released.

Still, they fought on. Dragging the enemy down with them kicking and screaming, buying as much time as they could for reinforcements to arrive so that this offensive could finally be repelled.

Finally, she could stand no more.

stumble. Before she could

own weight, she slumped to the ground as the light began to fade from her eyes. It was in these moments that Leeroy felt most at peace, and though she knew it wouldn't last, for a brief moment, she could embrace the illusion that at last she could rest, secure in the belief that

indulge in this fantasy before it was cruelly torn away. That cursed organ, deep within her carapace, pulsed ominously before the energy contained within flooded

her eternal rest to cursed, rejuvenated life in a matter of moments. Strength filled her limbs and Leeroy pushed herself

brunt of the enemy retaliation, not to

field, she saw that still thousands of termites remained to fight. Her siblings were hopelessly outnumbered still, and no sign of

hope bloomed in

cried and flung herself back into the

the tinder. Leeroy fought like a creature possessed of madness. No injury could stop her, no massed ranks could suppress her, she charged again and

her antennae had been torn off. One of her legs was broken.

termite live!

announced the arrival of more ants to the scene. Soon she was surrounded by fresh

Her heart sank.

She'd been so close.

patted her on the back.

the safety of the newly established ant lines. She knew it would be hopeless to continue fighting, she'd tried it before. She didn't want to

began to regroup, pulling themselves away from the fighting, dejected. Another opportunity lost. Another chance at eternal glory denied to them. For

Eldest

reached out to comfort those around her. A few required help to move, their armour having become so twisted it needed to be removed before they could rise. They set to the task sluggishly, all of their previous enthusiasm killed by the scorned

strange note she detected in the

leg extended and placed on the other's carapace. The steel of the fallen one's armour was so twisted, so tortured, there was no possible way she could stand, she would need help. Leeroy sighed and began to drag herself over. She

ant who had called her remained

that moment. A feeling she could not identify. A hope she

limping stride grew longer as she forced her broken leg to

it?" she demanded, not taking her eyes off her

she…" the ant