Chrysalis

Any conflict against demons within the third stratum is almost certain to end in failure. Not only are the native monsters resistant to, even empowered by, the conditions which are draining to almost all other life-forms, but the nature of the demon life cycle ensures that any long-term conflict will turn into a grind that cannot be won.

Over time, the larvae will mature and the demons will become the beneficiaries of a bottomless pool of fresh troops.

Even more difficult, is the disturbing nature of the third stratum in regards to warfare. This layer of Dungeon, more than any other, seems to thrive on chaos. The more fighting, the more carnage, the more it seethes. The mana thickens, the rate of larval spawn and development skyrockets. It’s as if the third stratum itself were a living thing, a beast that became invigorated by death.

Madness begets madness in the third. Leave the demons to their battles, it never pays to get involved.

- Excerpt from “Demonology” by Xinci.

Vibrant’s fighting style hadn’t so much evolved over time, as accelerated. As her Skills improved, primarily her “Dash”, “Charge”, “Lunge” and “Quick Chomp”, she’d been able to perfect her hit and run tactics to the point most enemies never got the chance to hit her back.

She ran forward, flickering over the landscape, mandibles flashing out to bite into the enemy, and then be gone, dozens of metres away by the time they recovered. A particular evolution in the approach that she loved was the latest leg mutation. Rather than simply increasing her speed, which had been her go-to approach so far, she’d decided to take an option that made the muscles and tendons inside the leg more durable to tension, effectively increasing her turn speed.

Now she could zip and zag to her heart’s content, moving so quickly that no enemy could possibly hope to track her through the battlefield. It was an incredibly fun way to fight, and she loved it.

“Hi-hi!” she called to her family as she raced forward, antennae waggling with joy.

The situation didn’t look great for the ants, they were being heavily pressured by the demons who continued to emerge from the tunnels below in a steady stream of flame, blades and teeth.

It didn’t rattle her confidence, though. As far as Vibrant was concerned, the Colony was invincible; a fight they were yet to win was simply a fight that needed more ants to turn up.

so this battle

thrummed with energy and she snapped her mandibles happily as she kicked things into high gear. To the observers, she simply vanished, one moment rushing toward the mob

CRUNCH!

snap that resounded like a thunderclap. A split-second later Vibrant reappeared, already a dozen metres away and turning back for another

blade demon reared back, bellowing with rage as a leg collapsed under his weight. Others reacted, turning back, faces twisted in anger,

FLASH!

She vanished.

CRUNCH!

reappeared, antennae blown back against her carapace by the force

her and she felt

With me?!

just to draw them a little further from the pack. The moment they were close enough to try and

BANG!

in her dust. They roared in anger, but it was

of light blasted by them, so fast they may have imagined it. But then came the

CRUNCH!

Those unfortunates felt a chill. The ant was simply too fast, they would never touch her. If they remained in the open

cut through their bloodlust, took root in them, the vision of being struck down by a blow that they couldn’t see loomed large in their