Chrysalis

Again?! I have to say, I’ve had enough of these waves. Each one is worse than the last. I mean, the Colony has been able to grow rapidly thanks to the injection of experience and Biomass, but the risk rises exponentially each time. This time, we’ll be fighting across four strata at the same time!

What a nightmare.

At least, if we can find ways to block off the ascent of the monsters here in the fourth, we lessen the pressure on our territory above.

Ugh. I just realised that this means I’ll have to take on more of those scum from the fifth. That poison is no joke! Countermeasures will need to be put in place… but I’ll leave the thinking to the smarter ants. When they work out where they want me to go, I’ll go and help as best I can. In the short term, that’ll mean taking on multiple tier eight demons, which is going to suck, but that’s the challenge I took on when I picked the evolution I did.

“Sloan! What the hell is going on up there?” I demand as I burst into the central planning chamber of the new fortress nest.

There’s a swirling vortex of generals, mages, carvers and shapers centred around the council member in the middle of the space. The moment I burst in, everyone freezes, staring back at me, their antennae drifting slowly from side to side.

“Ooookay,” I say. “Don’t let me… uh… interrupt.”

“Bit late for that, don’t you think?” Sloan said. “Welcome back, Eldest. I assume you’re talking about the situation on the third?”

“Y-yes.”

They’re all still staring at me, like mice looking at a cat, hoping they won’t be spotted if they don’t move. It’s unnerving!

“Uh. Brilliant popped out of nowhere and gave me a quick update, but I thought I should talk to you to get a clearer picture.”

information between strata, but far from the most reliable. She tends to miss details, or gloss

a mad scientist. There’s a certain level of genius there, but there’s a whole lot of… gaps? She’s going to be an amazing help

going to be turning herself inside out

chaotic,” she tells me, “demons are fighting all over the place. Even some

cities

to increase our garrisons and lean on our demon allies to try and keep the peace, which isn’t easy because they might turn

as to

there has to be an underlying cause. If we can work out what it is, then maybe we

and fighting up there to do much investigating. More to the point, I don’t think anyone knows where

Good point.

coming, that’s not likely

deadly. The

the spawn rate of those ankle biting little demons to get any higher? The entire floor of the place is a literal living carpet!

abandon the plains and do our

the tier

her mandibles in

reasons we don’t understand. The general consensus is that they’re gradually rising, though that may accelerate as the mana levels rise. We just