Chrysalis

Chapter 917: Colony v Colony pt 1 (of two hundred)

The rate the termites emerge from the tunnel continues to increase as the first to emerge begin to charge against the fortifications we have erected.

“FIRE!”

The order ripples through the line, causing mages to unleash their spells and others to let fly their devastating acid barrage. Naturally, I do both, raining hell using my acid and blasting out fire and ice spells utilising the omni-elemental construct. Ha! With my multi brain setup, coupled with my growing mastery of mind magic, my capacity to unleash hell from range has increased many fold! I can be pumping out multiple spells at a single time, using more than one element! The fluency and power of my casting has also improved! Even at this speed, I can compress these spells to increase their destructive impact!

I’m not quite the one ant army that I’d like to be, but I’m making great strides! The notifications start to roll in as I pummel the termite horde, but they don’t stop coming.

From atop the wall, a veritable deluge of ant ordinance has been unleashed, the flat, clear space in front has been lit up in the literal sense of the word, thousands of ants pouring out as much damage as they possibly can.

But it isn’t enough.

The tide of termite reinforcements continues unabated! The rate they push through the tunnels has risen to the point the cockroach descended bugs are emerging piled high on each other, reaching almost halfway to the top of the tunnel! Forget thousands, there are tens of thousands of them! I can only hope that there aren’t more, since we have no idea how many are actually coming! Not that it matters, I suppose, our only course of action is to keep pouring it on!

The barrage continues unabated as the ground before us becomes a writhing carpet of dead and dying termites covered by the still living ones crawling over their own, jaws gnashing furiously as they attempt to reach us. The flood of numbers has outstripped our ability to kill them much faster than I anticipated. The termites are tough, well designed monsters, not the usual trash that would undoubtedly fill a social insect Colony like this in the wild.

Their carapaces are tough, made from much better materials than our own, what’s more, they each carry a regeneration gland, to keep them in the fight longer. I’m certain that even now there are termites beneath that mass of still charging creatures who are healing, stitching themselves back together to get back into the fight. In only twenty seconds, the tide of termites slams into the base of the wall, sending a shockwave through the structure that rocks it beneath our feet.

“BRACE!”

The order comes rolling down the line and the response is immediate, mages stepping back and switching from direct fire to combined, arcing projectiles as a line of soldiers steps forward. Climbing over each other, the termites rise like a wave to reach the top of the wall and then the hard stuff begins. My minds continue to spin as I produce spell after spell, rattling them out at more than one per second even as my acid continues to fly and I ready my jaws.

The first termite to reach me is almost mad with rage, its long, sharp jaws quivering in anticipation as it lunges forward across a mound of its own kind to snap at me. But it isn’t to be. My jaws, locked in position for several seconds, snap forward with the inevitability of a mountain collapsing, the dark mandibles of pure energy manifesting around them and extending the bite by several metres.

DOOM CHOMP!

Crunch!

The hapless termite is helpless to fight back against the overwhelming power of my strike and so are the three behind it, but they are quickly replaced. All along the wall a similar scene is played out as the strongest soldiers of the Colony, including Vibrant and her squad, meet the encroaching wall of termites face to face.

The scent is overwhelming as the termites blast their fury and rage into our faces whilst my siblings, willingly or not, are unleashing the battle pheromone, urging all around them to greater heights of savagery and action. All I can see is a press of termites in front of me and still the actions I need to perform don’t change. Spell, spell, CHOMP, spell, spell, CHOMP!

When the wave of termites reaches over my head and threatens to overwhelm me I lock my mandibles in place and summon my stamina from deep within.

DOOM CHOMP COMBO!

I unleash three, rapid bites, crunching through the opposition in front and cutting the termite offensive here in the centre of the wall, but only for a moment. If the middle is faring this poorly, I hope the sides are doing better…

“We’re getting pushed on the line. Fight back! Scouts to the front!” comes the call.

The scouts, who to this point had been responsible for unleashing an acid barrage over our heads cease firing and step forward, climbing on top of the soldiers in the first line to add height and more chomping power. Despite being ‘scouts’, they are still the second strongest caste in the Colony and their aid comes at an opportune moment.

Work the jaws, work the brains, work the jaws, work the brains.

It’s no longer possible to see the tunnels through which the termites are coming, so I can only hope that the reinforcements have slowed.

Snick!

A termite sneaks through my guard and snaps its jaws shut around my foreleg before I can lift, too busy dodging the bites from other foes. Immediately I feel a pull as the termite tries to drag me off the wall and into the writhing mass of insects in front of me, certain doom.

Not gonna happen, buddy!

DOOM CHOMP!

I lunge forward once more and cut through the enemies in front, freeing myself but the creatures I destroy are quickly replaced, the mound of Biomass in front of the wall now acting as a ramp that only continues to grow.

“WE NEED CLEARANCE IN FRONT OF THE WALL! STEADY!” I blast all around me to carry my words further. “Get ready for the charge!”

Stepping back, I raise all three legs on one side of my body and stomp down as hard as I can, sumo style, then repeat the action three times.

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!

The signal causes the carvers hidden beneath me to blast the section of wall outwards in a catastrophic detonation, revealing that the upper four metres of the wall here in the centre were completely hollow. And, I mean, we had to put something in there…

“WE SEEK!”