Invidia just glares and unleashes his creations.
From the darkness comes a shout of warning, and in a flash, the figures Dash together, huddled behind the two shields that unleash a burst of radiant light before…
BOOM!
The magic of Invidia strikes home and further shakes the tunnel. To my shock, the barrier of energy the shield soldiers erected manages to hold strong against the spell. Brandishing their shields high, the two step forward in unison, pushing their barrier forward as the others fan out behind them.
The longer I’m part of this conflict, the less I like how it’s going. At the very least, I can take some comfort from the sight of the acid I fired growing on them. Not in an emotional sense, but in the literal. Clumps of acidic, sticky goop cling to their armour where it sizzles and steams, eating into stone, metal, and Mana alike. Given enough time, it’s sure to wreak havoc with their enchantments.
My sub-minds are busy, frantic even, spinning together an Ice Magic Construct and continuing my attempts to latch onto the mind of one of these attackers. Whatever they’ve done to their helmets, it’s still working, the spell just slides off them without taking hold. We’ve got to learn how to do that!
Ah well, if the Mind Magic won’t stick, let’s see how they like shards of ice with a side serving of my mandibles!
DOOM CHOMP!
Rearing back, I put my carapace into it this time and force my will into the energy flowing out of my body. The dark mandibles manifest, only flatter, built for impact. The two shield bearers step forward, fearless, the dome-like shield enveloping them still. You want to underestimate this ant? You won’t be the last!
CRACK!
My jaws strike home and once again come to a stop, forcing me to strain against the force. Unwilling to allow me to attack their shield, the two soldiers and those behind them lash out, weapon strikes and spells zipping through the air toward me.
Fortunately, I’m not alone. In a heartbeat, multiple shields condense in the air before me, snapping together from the ambient Mana. It isn’t enough to hold back the strikes sent my way, but it’s enough to dull them. When they finally reach me, the blows dissipate against my Diamond Carapace, barely scratching the surface.
I retaliate in kind, spears of ice forming around me that I send zipping through the air as I clench my face zone, trying to shatter this damn shield!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions ring out, and I can’t be sure if it’s Invidia at work or Tiny. More and more stone dust trickles down from the ceiling, some of it into my eyes as the repeated detonations shake the Dungeon.
[Scum! How DARE you strike Master?]
Crinis has had enough. From every surface of the chamber springs a forest of barbed tentacles, each one seeking a target to dismember like a limb-seeking missile. Put on the defensive, the enemies scatter, lashing out with their weapons to try and thin the sheer number of grasping vines. Even now, they’re not panicking, and that bothers me more than it should. And will this shield break already!
From the back of the tunnel, behind our enemy, a noise grows in strength, sinking my heart. More are coming. When the first one steps into view, illuminated by the glow of fire and lightning, I swear that I sense something familiar. Armoured like the others, but with two wickedly curved blades, one held in each hand, the figure rushes forward to help their comrades, armour igniting into a burning red, like the fury of a berserker made manifest.
That’s exactly when Protectant decides to strike.
76. Hat’s off to You
The approaching, red-armoured figure clearly hadn’t expected to be descended upon by the heretofore hidden ant squad. Even I was a little shocked, to be honest, and I’d known they were there the entire time. I’ve looked a little deeper into the methods that Protectant and her squad uses to keep themselves from being noticed, much to their discomfort. I’ve come to believe the council hasn’t asked them to ignore my instructions explicitly, but trained them to think that protecting me from myself is literally half their job.
Which hurts. It’s probably fair, but it still hurts.
Even when I ask them to do, or not do, certain things, they look at me askance and I can almost hear their internal dialogue, wondering if I’m about to get myself killed.
And their stealth organs are an incredible piece of work, some of Gandalf’s finest. It’s an immensely powerful application of Mind Magic. One that infiltrates passively, slipping through any defence I’ve seen and making the recipient ignore their presence. Even for me, when my Vestibule is clearly receiving energy from the twenty super spies, it won’t let me pinpoint their existence, because my mind doesn’t want to acknowledge that they’re real.
There are limitations, of course. If they get too close, if they intrude on another creature’s senses too much, then the charade falls apart. With a high enough Will stat, the effect can also be resisted, somewhat. The other cost is that purchasing the organ basically sucked up all of the evolutionary energy they had available when they went from tier three to four, leaving them with comparatively low stats.
Even so, working together in a team of ten, they leap from concealment to seize upon this eager figure, one who’d run too far ahead of her group and thus made herself vulnerable. Protectant and her group meld into my perception, already leaping to strike the strangely familiar figure.
A two-weaponed berserker? I know one of those. But why would Morrelia be here trying to kill us? And surely all berserkers use two weapons, they don’t seem like the defensive type. I mean, they wouldn’t be berserkers if they were, right?
This internal monologue continues as the figure is brought to the ground, wrists seized by two separate ants as the others swarm atop the armour, biting and gnawing as they try to penetrate the thick plate.
“Protectant!” I holler. “Get the helmet off!”
My pheromones flood the room and reach the group instantly. They react instinctively, leaping to follow my directions as they use their mandibles to pry at the helmet, trying to rip it clear.
The other soldiers don’t respond well to one of their own being jumped. On either side of the shield bros, two pairs form up and activate a new type of Skill. Movements so in sync, they almost look like robots, the four bring their blades down in a shining arc, the weapons swung so quickly I can’t see them move. What’s more shocking, is the blade light merges, forming together to create a single beam that slices right for me, thicker and more threatening than before.
Two of these beams are aimed at me, one from each side, and I have so little time to react. Luckily, Invidia is there for me, his shields snapping into place a moment before those deadly arcs of light hit home. But they don’t hold. The concentrated sword light bursts through the shields and slams into my carapace, digging into the diamond coating and forcing me to release my grip on the shields.
That hurt! Not wanting to take any chances, I pump my system full of regeneration fluid just as my antennae register what Protectant is telling me.
“We have it, eldest! The helmet!”
Nice! Held in readiness all this time, the Mind Bridge I’d formed snaps into place on that now unprotected mind. I push hard with my Mind Mana, flooding their mind with my own consciousness. Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?
Wait a second… This mind feels familiar.
[RUN!] Morrelia screams at me.
I snap the connection.
[We’re getting out of here, people! Back up now, now, now!]