Chrysalis

After brooding and swatting at demons who manage to draw close to me for a few hours, I call my three associates back and we start to make our way home.

It doesn’t look like that big brute is going to be coming back anytime soon, so it’s probably a good chance to regroup and refresh. Tiny, Crinis and Invidia each look worn out and battered in some way. Tiny has scratches and wounds all over the place, his fur matted with ichor, and I can tell he’s exhausted, despite the grin of satisfaction on his bat-face. When Crinis glomps onto my carapace, her lack of weight indicates that a ton of her shadow flesh has been burned through. Even Invidia, whose core is usually bursting with mana, is dim in my sight, wearily pulling in ambient energy to replenish his stocks.

The three of them have worked hard.

[Good job, everyone. I hope you were able to get a few levels out of that. After a quick break, we’ll be back at it, so make sure you don’t waste your time. Mutate anything you need to, check for Skill rank-ups and get some rest.]

They each acknowledge me with a tired wave and we start the trek back to Roklu. I handle the overflowing demons by crushing them with my domain. It’s so nice to have this spell supercharged by the Altar. The larvae beneath me are completely unable to rise up thanks to the gravity pulling them down, so they’ve no choice but to sit on top of the mana veins that birthed them until I’ve walked past. Of course, once I have moved on, there’s a small explosion behind me as all the larvae who’d been smushed together are finally free to tear clear and start chomping on each other.

As we travel, I can’t help but think back to my fight against the tier eight. Neither of us had gone all out in that contest, I’m convinced of that. If I’d had enough gravity mana, I could have used an empowered well to try and squish him flat, but at the same time, I’m convinced the demon didn’t show what he had.

It feels like all monsters get a specific advantage as they evolve, and I’m no exception. My Altar, Nave and Vestibule combo makes me far more powerful under the right conditions, namely having a ton of my family around. The demon… Torrifex, I think he said his name was, showed overwhelming combat strength, but nothing much outside of that. Not until he managed to slip away at the end, at any rate.

I need more info on these tier eight demons. There are another two like Torrifex, and if I can learn what tricks they have up their demonic sleeves, I’ll be in a better spot to counter them.

I know who I can ask as well, but for now, I have other priorities.

to mutate my most important organs, the

absolute mess. Even here, in the heart of the Colony’s power, the sheer number of demons is overwhelming. Dotted about the place, fortresses filled to the brim with ants fire down on the swarming demons, sniping the more evolved ones from the crowd and blasting the weaker ones when they threaten to surge against

to be working at full blast as well. Patrols march along the edges and guard the collection stations, ensuring that the enormous structures aren’t damaged from

an island amidst a sea of chaos. The mighty walls stand against wave after wave of demons

a gate that they could open, but the demons

Invidia, though, he just flies. The

“Welcome back, Eldest!”

“Not slacking, are you?”

and sensible idea

to my siblings as they welcome me back, exchanging a few antennae slapping high-fives as

tier eight demons! Don’t compare me with you lot, sitting up on a

mage who commented on resting. She’s already gone, sucked into the shadows. Rest in peace. Then get back to work, shiny and

anyone's way as I head deeper into the fortress. It takes ten minutes for us