It’s such a strange feeling, to be concentrating on what I’m doing, focused on my approach, on my mandibles, on charging up an Omen Chomp, whilst at the same time my brains are working, churning away on so many other tasks. My sub-brains are propping up the constructs, whilst the constructs utilise their own functions, as well as drawing on the physical brains that maintain them to weave dozens of threads together at the same time. Without my coordination cortex, it probably wouldn’t be possible at all.
It’s bewildering, confusing, elating, and intoxicating all at the same time.
[Prepare to get chomped, demon!] I holler as I bear down on my demon opponent.
As best he can, he gathers himself to his feet, none of the grace or power one would expect from one of his kind present thanks to the lingering effects of the Gravity Magic weighing him down. As a result, the following confrontation is laughably one-sided. With a snarl, the demon slashes toward me, arm aglow with the light of the Skill in use.
Already forewarned, I twist my body to the perfect angle, maximising the thickness of my carapace at the point of impact. The impossible speed of my reactions allows me to adjust my position at the very last possible moment, giving the demon no chance to shift the strike. Even with these preparations, the claws dig into my precious diamond carapace.
For all my advantages, there are limits to how well diamond from the first stratum will work against claws from the third. Stupid Dungeon prejudice! I call foul!
Well, he might be able to carve grooves in my carapace, but demon flesh isn’t so hard that my mandibles aren’t able to do some work.
Omen Chomp!
The dark light manifests itself as my jaws close on the pride demon.
Combo!
Activating the Crunch Combo Skill, I rapidly pump my mandibles, the muscles in my face screaming as my stamina plummets. Omen Chomp after Omen Chomp cuts into the pride demon until the fight has left him. Along with all life…
[Now what the heck was that about?] I demand broadly.
[I believe I can answer your query.]
This time, I don’t even flinch when Al appears. Just goes to show you can get used to anything given the chance, even flaming eyeballs of death popping into existence at the drop of a hat.
[I know you’re more fire than eyeball at this point, but do you ever close that thing? Can you blink?] I demand.
[You desire that I close my eye? This request. Unusual. Yes… I can do this.]
So he does.
[HOLY MOTHER OF GANDALF! OPEN! OPEN IT!]
A moment later, I come back to myself, twitching on the ground. The horror. The sheer horror of it. I couldn’t even close my own eyes so I couldn’t see it…
[Please never do that again,] I plead.
[Your request is noted.]
[So,] I say weakly, trying to dismiss that image from my mind, [you thought you could explain what happened here? Why did these guys decide to attack us out of nowhere? The pride demon mentioned something about a war…]
[You recall our earlier discussion, where we talked about demons and their obsessions?]
[Yeah?]
[Many of these obsessions require violent expression. Murder demons, slaughter demons, cutting demons, massacre demons, death demons, blood demons, torture demons, blade demons, bone demons—]
[Okay. I think I get the picture.]
[In order to give these demons an outlet, it is common for neighbouring cities to arrange a formal war. This also doubles as a means by which the cities can compete for territory and settle grievances. If memory serves…]
I get the distinct impression that Al is somewhat like an elephant. I can’t imagine this eyeball ever forgetting.
[…Roklu had organised a war with our nearest neighbour some time back. I suspect that this pride demon saw us traversing the plains heading in the general direction of Orpule and believed we were a secret strike force directed to attack the city.]
[That’s nonsense! Just the five of us, attacking an entire city? It would be suicide! And what the hell were the five of them doing out here in the middle of nowhere when there’s supposed to be a ‘war’ going on?]
The eye flickers with amusement.
[I believe they were the strike force directed to attack Roklu by surprise.]
That’d be right.
126. A Demonic Crack
After collecting a few choice cores and chowing down on Biomass, all we could really do was shrug and get back to business. Even so, I can’t help feeling like this incident is going to come back and bite me in the backside somehow. At least I can proudly wave my antennae and declare that it wasn’t my fault! How am I supposed to know some random pride demon is going to get it in his head to attack me? There was clearly no getting out of that situation.
Now, where were we?
[How far are these tunnels, Al? It’s getting hot out here!]
That’s a lie. It’s constantly been hot out here.
[If you find the temperature disagreeable, then it may be a good idea not to descend any farther. The heat will only increase.]
[I’m guessing you don’t have an issue with it…]
[The portion of my body that extrudes into this dimension is comprised of 65.37 percent heat energy. It does not bother me.]
[Invidia, when you evolve, try not to become a floating eyeball of fire, alright? If you really want to pick an element, do earth or something.]
[Hissss flame issss powerful. I wantssss it!]
[It literally doesn’t matter what he has, you’d have wanted it anyway! Just consider, alright? I don’t want to drag this kind of heat through the entire Dungeon! I can’t even sweat!]
Ants aren’t particularly good at temperature regulation internally. Although, some colonies are incredible at utilising the flow of air within their nests to control the heat, basically building automated air conditioning systems to make sure the inside of the nest is never too hot or cold and ensuring the air doesn’t become stale. Pretty clever for creatures with a brain the size of a pinhead!
Of course, our eternal foes, the termites, are the best at this sort of thing. Those blind little bugs create enormous mound nests that can bring fresh air all the way down to the heavily protected nesting chamber of their massive, chonky Queen.
[Alright then, where to now?] I ask.
[The entrance to the tunnels is this way.]
Al points a tendril of his ever-burning corona to our right, and so off in that direction we proceed.
[We’ve come almost ten kilometres from Roklu. Are entrances to the tunnels that rare? Seems like they might be more common.]
[There is much lava that flows eternally from hyper-concentrated sources of Fire Mana between the layers. The tunnel entrances are gaps in the flow that are safe to traverse. Sparse.]
Interesting. As we push our way through the ever-shifting carpet of infant demons, I take a moment to talk to Protectant.
“Alright then, Protectant, you may as well get out here and answer a few questions.”
Her response comes to me as light as a breeze.
“Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to! I’m not going to talk to thin air when I know for a fact you’re right here! Honestly…”
Somewhat begrudgingly, my bodyguard appears on my left. As usual, her posture is a little shrunk, as if still trying to hide despite being in plain sight. I wonder if they bother to train their Stealth Skills at all, considering they rely on a powerful organ to hide most of the time. Similar to Al, the organ in question subtly affects the minds of those around them, acting as a perception filter.