Rocketing behind an outcropping of stone to dodge yet another of those fierce blade lights, I rotate my body, ever so slightly, and let rip with the fire. A jet of pure orange flame roars out behind me, pushing back the darkness for a brief second. I see glimpses, flashes of detail. Then the dark returns.
I’ve seen enough!
[Invidia! I need barriers and mental distractions! Pile it on!]
[Their mindssss are like stonessss! I sssshall take them regardlessss!]
[What do you mean, stone?] I cry, but the little demon doesn’t answer, already pouring his considerable mental might into slowing our enemies.
What I saw in that brief flash didn’t fill me with joy. Rather the opposite. Large bodies wrapped in steel and stone. Some sort of armoured suit? In the brief glimpse, I spotted runes and the telltale signs of Mana flowing through the materials. Whoever they are, they are rocking some high-end tech! I think Smithant would get quite a bit out of a conversation with this lot.
CRACK! BOOM!
If they didn’t try and kill her on sight, that is!
[How are we looking, Invidia?]
[Almosssst!]
Almost? When it comes to magical mind warfare, this demon is a freak! What’s going on? I let my other constructs disintegrate and pull together some Mind Mana, scrabbling my way around corners, using the deadly vegetation of the second stratum to cover my retreat. Once the Mana is ready, my sub-minds weave together a bridge and start extending it to the nearest attacker.
I sink my mind deep into the Meditation Skill, trying to let my emotions fall away so I can focus. My minds drink in the calm that follows, the ragged edges vanishing as my nerves fade away. Even so, I feel a ruffle of unease as the Mind Bridge fails to latch. I don’t have time to examine how or why, I just get a vague sense of the spell slipping off their mind instead of snapping into place as it should.
Some sort of mind defence enchanted into their helmets? Holy moly, I didn’t even know that was possible! Who are these people? Well, if I can’t slow them down with Mind Magic, I guess they’ll have to settle for the finest produce found in this stratum.
POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!
A rapid-fire cannonade erupts from my back zone, the new scattershot mode engaged, causing a wide spray of acid to blast everything within twenty metres behind me. It doesn’t slow them. I can feel the dense Mana powering their suits flowing unimpeded as they employ their movement Skills to rocket through the tunnels, their forms a blur in the dark.
That doesn’t stop me, though. With its new properties, my acid doesn’t need to make a splash—heh—the moment it connects. It’s yet to show its true power!
POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!
The barrage continues as my pets and I tear through the tunnels, our foes hot on our heels. I don’t know how much of what I fire is connecting with our pursuers, but it doesn’t matter. I know that some of what I fired hit home, and as long as a little bit did, they’re going to experience the magic of my acid.
I keep firing until I have nothing left in the tank.
75. The Welcome Stranger
Those chasing in my wake don’t appreciate my gifts. Angry shouts are heard and a torrent of blade light explodes, shattering the stone and sending shards bouncing from my carapace. I don’t think they like my souped-up merchandise. They’ll like it even less soon enough… Gwehehehe.
Wha—!
BOOM!
My senses tingle and my legs fire before I understand why, just in time to avoid a fireball that streaks beneath me, searing the fine hairs on my legs before detonating against the tunnel wall in front of me. My vision becomes filled with smoke and dust, my antennae muddled by the residual heat. Even so, my future sense sends flashes of sensory input into my mind, and I leap to my left, just in time to avoid a glittering broadsword that slices down.
Clang!
The blade flashes before my eyes and pierces deep into the stone between my mandibles, slicing through the stone as if it weren’t there. Holy heck! My mandibles flex and snap shut with concussive force.
Doom Chomp!
The dark jaws of energy manifest and close with brutal swiftness. Irritatingly, the blade snakes up from the ground and draws a shining arc in the air that my jaws crunch down on and stop. They just blocked my Doom Chomp with sword light? Is that even a thing?
Turns out, it nearly is, but not quite. After a moment of strain, the light shatters and my jaws complete their path, crunching shut. But holy mcjiggers is that armour tough! Like clamping my mandibles down on a rod of reinforced concrete. What the heck is that stuff made of?
Regardless, I wasn’t able to penetrate the bulky suit in my first bite, but the person wearing it doesn’t look comfortable. With a heave, I lift them from the ground and spin my body to one side, tossing them directly back into the path of the oncoming pursuers.
And they’re gaining. It looks like there’s ten of them, and with this one making the sacrifice play to hold me up, they’ve closed the distance to just a dozen metres. At this sort of range, they can Dash to cover it in an instant. If I turn my back on them now, I’m going to take a heck of a lot of shots from them before I get far. We might have to stand and deliver.
[Form up! Crinis! Time to peel off and get busy. Tiny! I want you on the front line making a mess, just make sure you don’t die. Invidia, you’re on support. You have permission to bring the boom if necessary.]
That bulging eye flashes green and curves with delight.
[Yesssssss,] he gloats.
“Protectant and company, I want you in the back. If you try and step out against foes like this, you’ll get cooked. Your Skill Levels aren’t high enough. If you think you have a chance to pick off one and take them out of the fight, go for it. No chances, though, operate in two groups of ten.”
Luckily, I can think at my pets and speak with pheromones at the same time. Instructions relayed, I turn to take up the frontline position against this obstinate foe.
[Sse Se Se Ssssse!] Invidia chortles to himself with a sibilant hiss as I feel the prodigious power of his mind go to work.
He’s been banned from using his explosive magics since he tends to suck up all the experience when he deploys it. Finally let off the leash, the mad little eyeball is drawing out enormous flows of Mana, spinning together deadly flowers that he scatters amongst our enemies.
Now that I face up to them, I wonder again, who are these people? These armoured death soldiers of doom? They sure as heck don’t look like any golgari that I’ve ever seen. So, who are they? Is this just a hunting team on a delve? They seem a little too well-armed and armoured for that. The massive plates of living rock and steel that make up their suits are impressive as hell, every inch appears enchanted to the brim. And their weapons are just the same! Two even sport massive tower shields that positively hum with Mana. This lot are of a way higher league than what we’ve seen before.
Tiny, Crinis, and Invidia begin to make their presence known. Here in the depths of the second stratum, Crinis is at her most powerful, the thick Shadow Mana allowing her to manifest her tentacles almost anywhere she pleases. As she rises from my back and begins to take her true form, dozens of twisting limbs break away and slither through the air, only to vanish into the darkness. Tiny unleashes his lightning across his bulging, muscular form, his roar of defiance shaking the ceiling.