Chrysalis

I don’t even need to look to know where we’ve landed. Before sight returns to my eyes, I heave a sigh of relief.

Through my Vestibule, a torrent of energy floods in. The Nave hums with power, and soon enough, the Altar begins to rapidly fill. That’s not all. My fatigue washes away, my acid and regeneration gland replenish at absurd speed, allowing me to trigger another wave of healing that makes my body thrum with vigour.

That crazy little ant actually pulled it off. She told me she was getting close to mastering dimensional travel, that the Colony would soon have gates, but her ability to pop in and out of places was growing stronger all the time.

Before, she was able to take me along with her, but now she can bring along a few more for the ride.

Tiny, Invidia, Crinis and Al have all made it back safely through the dimensional jump. We’ve arrived back at the top of the third stratum, between two cities held by the Colony. Safety.

Of course, us five weren’t the only ones Brilliant managed to bring back.

Not far away, Torrifex, Somonax and Pyrixan stand enraged and confused. I can’t blame them for that, being whipped through dimensions is more than a little unnerving. Disorienting doesn’t really cover it either. If I were to describe it, I’d say it’s kind of like having your brain pulled inside out and then snapped back the right way. It’s going to take them a moment to recover, and I’m glad for it. I need to get some HP back.

Of course, I’ll be able to fire the regeneration gland every minute or so, considering how many ants are around. There are millions of them, and they aren’t even that far away.

In fact, there’s several hundred thousand arrayed all around us.

making their presence felt. I’m too far away to hear the command be issued, but

take aim, and fire. Huge jets of concentrated formic acid rise into the air, then hang for a moment, before they begin to descend. I wouldn’t describe it as a rain of acid necessarily, or even a deluge. It’s

can orient themselves, megalitres of formic acid crash down on their heads, obscuring them from sight. Quickly followed by the

had enough in the tank, the Colony could probably produce an ocean of the stuff here and now, but sadly, the scouts who specialise in this sort of long range bombardment can’t keep it up

distance, still hoovering in mana and churning it through constructs, preparing my

welcome will certainly hurt the massive demons, but I don’t

rise as the dark liquid stirs ominously. More and more bubbles rise, and soon, the entire

by a cloud of acidic gas as the fluid in contact with the shield itself is immediately vaporised. I can already sense the surging ash within the flames. The three

trio emerge into the open, their suffocating auras batter into me, even more intense than they were before.

his skin shifting and bubbling as the fire within him rages out

transformed into a column of pure ash, the aura of destruction emanating from her is so thick even the acid vapour is dissolved to nothing as it

thick the air around her has become tainted red. Each of

demons, almost all

range, they unleash their fury, a torrent of fire and ash and rage that covers the

eight, being besieged by thousands of weaker monsters must be a massive pain in the backzone. After the torrid fight

pour out their firepower, I watch carefully for any hint of motion. My brains feel like they’re melting, pushed to the limit, each of my

hard to control as I pack more and more power into it. To provide enough power, I had to create a gravity mana construct, and that thing is positively humming with all the raw mana

the Altar, watching as the precious, precious energy refills rapidly. With this many ants around, I’m practically overflowing with