I direct my attention to my green-eyed friend.
[Invidia, Al is going to make a force platform, or something, and he says you need to help him out. Make it happen so we can get to the city and support the Colony, alright?]
[It shallll be donessss.]
I screech to a halt and the eyeballs confer silently. Then a shimmering disc of Mana solidifies in the air before us. Scanning it with my senses, I can tell a tremendous amount of energy has gone into its construction.
[Wow! You can manipulate this thing with your mind?]
[I can,] Al confirms. [Although shifting it with so much mass upon it will strain me greatly. With the assistance of… Invidia, I will be able to manage.]
[Alright then. On we go, Tiny!]
The big ape and I move swiftly and jump onto the platform which sinks a little under our weight. I shouldn’t be surprised, the two of us combined must be well above ten tons. In fact, I don’t want to know how much I weigh, I feel like it would be hard for me, a former human, to accept that my body is now so massive an elephant would run in fear if it saw me on the scales.
Not only am I huge by any standard of earth animal, I’m also significantly denser, due to the System allowing monsters to pack their muscle fibres closer together than would normally be possible. If I ever reset my musculature, I can only imagine how tightly packed it’ll all become. The weight to performance ratio will be insane. Well, even more insane.
Honestly, the physics and biology of how an insect the size of me could possibly be running around isn’t something I remotely pretend to understand, such things were completely impossible on earth, so I’ll just keep handwaving it away and saying Mana is responsible.
Since it probably is.
With Invidia lending his considerable brainpower to managing the disc, Al is able to lift us bulky monsters, and the disc rises into the sky. Slowly at first, but with growing momentum, we float upward to the city above. It’s a strange sensation and not a little unnerving. I can partially see through the disc, which doesn’t help things. Luckily, if I tilt my head back a little, I can barely see what’s going on at my feet zone, so I can distract myself and avoid thinking about the ground which is steadily vanishing beneath us.
It’s a long ride up, even though our speed continues to rise. The closer we get, the more I can detect the acrid tang of a formic barrage in the air. Smells like the Colony has subjected the city to a massive bombardment of acid to soften it up for the full invasion. What’s more, the number of ants within range of the Vestibule climbs the closer we get. The energy of thousands, tens of thousands, pours into me, washing away my fatigue, clarifying my mind, and easing the ache in my tired muscles.
With this much power flowing through me, I’m unbeatable!
Or at least, it feels that way.
[Tiny, Crinis, Invidia. When we get up there, we have only one objective: help the Colony conquer the city as quickly as possible. That means going after the heavy hitters, of which we have two main targets. Grokus and Mongi… guy. Let’s call him Mongo. Both are tier seven, which is higher than us, if I need to remind you. When facing either of them, we need to proceed with extreme caution. Gang up on them. Kick them from behind. Strike from the shadows. I don’t care what sort of nasty tricks we need to use, we use them and get the job done fast!]
[I believe I may be of some help in this,] the detached voice of Al breaks into my mental communication.
[Oh?] I eye the big eye. [You really want to get involved? I thought this was exactly what you didn’t want to get involved in.]
[On the contrary, this conflict could result in an outcome, the only outcome, that will allow me to remain here in peace. Grokus dethroned and replaced by not Mongu’nin. For this, I will lend my support against Mongu’nin, though I cannot defeat him alone. Against Grokus, my strengths will not be as effective, I will be of little use there.]
[How so?] I find that a little confusing.
[He is highly resistant to Mana. Most spells will simply wash off his bulk.]
[That… is inconvenient. In that case, I’ll send Invidia to team up with you. Tiny and Crinis can come with me. Divide and conquer.]
We wait out the rest of the ride in silence, the city growing larger each second. When we crest the edge, a scene of complete chaos is laid bare before my eyes. A deluge of acid has poured across the streets, causing steam to rise from every building as it’s chewed away. From the four massive cables the Colony has embedded in the rock, an endless swarm of ants leap into the city, forming a boundless wave of gnashing mandibles and hardened chitin.
Filled with the vibrant call of their spirit, I leap onto the acid-covered stone, my body overflowing with the Will of the Colony.
“FOR THE COLONY!” I cry, spreading the call of my pheromones far and wide.
I can scent the war cry echoed throughout Roklu as tens of thousands of individuals take up the call, soaking the rock in the indomitable will of ant-kind.
135. Battle in the Streets
Grokus had known something was brewing in the stratum above. A pesky colony of ants led by an unusually large specimen, he hadn’t thought it would be anything he couldn’t manage, but this? This was absurd!
The constant rain of acid began soon after the spears plunged into the rocky disk, coating everything, including himself, in the burning liquid. It wasn’t enough to damage him, but it was certainly enough to tick him off. How long had it been since he’d actually been personally attacked? A hundred years? This entire situation was ridiculous! But it wasn’t too late to turn it to his advantage.
“Where is that filthy human, Alir! Why has he not responded to my summons?” he demanded of the air.
He was in a bad position right now, but with the support of the Church of the Path, everything could be salvaged. He did not underestimate the strength that the church could bring, far from it, he held high expectations. As chaos reigned all around him, Grokus counted down the long seconds as he impatiently waited for news of the priest.
With disaster looming larger and the demons falling into disarray, he’d grown irritated enough that he’d begun to stir himself at last, shifting the weight on his ponderous legs that hadn’t seen daylight in over a decade. He was about to take his first step when a Mind Bridge reached out to him from across the city. Recognising the mental patterns of the human, he allowed the connection.
[It has taken you some time to respond to my call, priest.]
The city lord allowed his mind to rumble with the undertones of the displeasure he felt. He may be the supplicant in this situation, but he still demanded the respect a demon city lord was due.
On the other side of the connection, Alir Vinting rolled his eyes within the inner sanctum of his temple. Push had come to shove and now he wanted to beg a favour. The greed of a demon like Grokus was only to be expected, really, considering what he was.
[Things have been rather hectic, as you might well imagine,] Alir responded dryly, not bothering to mask his dislike for the touch of the demonic mind against his own. [How might I serve you, O child of the Path?]
Grokus grit the teeth in both his mouths at the open mocking, but swallowed his anger down to his belly, where he allowed it to simmer.
[I had hoped your hierarchy would have a response to the deal I proposed,] Grokus said. [It seems that the time is ripe for a harvest as the insects have delivered themselves to our doorstep, saving you the trouble of hunting them.]
Alir tried not to yawn in case it was somehow transmitted across the bridge.