Antelligent Design

113. C’mere!

Putting the servants on the defensive is only phase one of the plan, and it appears to be working. There are five here at the moment, and possibly more still in hiding, but so long as we’re careful, we should be fine. It’s rare that every mage comes when I turn up. In fact, the one time they did, we just turned around and ran off. However, it seems the Lizard Wizard can’t spare them and that remains the only time I’ve seen all of them in the field at once, luckily for us.

[Don’t let yourselves get roasted,] I warn my pets.

I wouldn’t put it past either of them to go too far and try to tank a few spells in order to help me. It’s a wonderful spirit. I’m just not willing to risk the health of my pets for something as small as this. If this attempt doesn’t succeed, we’ll try again until either we succeed or die trying.

[I’m being careful, Master,] Crinis assures me.

[Grrrrr,] Tiny grunts.

Time to put more pressure on these mages!

I continue to blitz around with Dash, which rapidly drains my stamina. I don’t have much of a choice. What with the fireballs and infernos that are being conjured around me. Even so, I manage to find the time to squeeze off a cheeky shot from the business district. A bit of guerrilla marketing, if you will.

POW! POW! POW!

All three shots hammer home onto the hastily raised shield of one mage who has the enjoyable experience of their line of sight being covered with a sticky, adhesive acid that begins to bubble and hiss as it eats away the magical protection that surrounds them. Nasty!

Another mage hampered. Another step closer to the ultimate victory. Now for the next one. Rolling underneath a jet of flame, nearly catching my own antennae on fire, I spin expertly and fire once again.

POW! POW! POW!

Three more blasts of acid, one more inconvenienced mage!

The mage servants are having a hard time maintaining their barrage against the imminent threats to their lives. The pressure has begun to ease off wonderfully, allowing me to comfortably fire my last three shots.

POW! POW! POW!

With three mages tied down by acid, and Tiny and Crinis occupying one each—Crinis extends even more tentacles, completely covering her victim from view—that leaves me with just one mage with an unobstructed view of the fight. Let’s call that mage, Biomass A. Even with the hood up and full body robes preventing me from seeing them directly, I can tell that Biomass A is feeling nervous as I alter the angle of my run and close in on them.

My antennae tingles and I jump high just in time for another jet of flame to pass underneath me. Close, but no cigar! I wonder why these mages rely on Fire Magic so much in fights like this. They clearly have other options, but fire seems to be their go to. A question I’ll never get answered, I suppose. Ah well.

Once I get close enough, I put my two sub-brains to work. Filled with malicious intent, my smaller minds begin to activate the External Mana Manipulation Skill they’ve become so familiar with over the last week or so, and begin to try and drain away the Mana that sustains the barrier around my friend, Biomass A.

The body language of my target becomes frantic the second the mage feels what I’m doing. They desperately attempt fending off my physical body as well as the intruding tendrils of my sub-brains that are busy deconstructing their spell.

Gwehehehehe… Yessss. Struggle all you want. It won’t help, my dear friend, Biomass A. I shall taste the sweet, sweet experience that is contained within you nest-attacking slaves soon enough!

I mean, I kind of feel sorry for the Setsulah on one claw. They don’t really have a choice in what they get up to, magically bound slaves that they are. Ultimately though, what does it matter? Willing or not, they’ve been doing their darned best to kill me. I’m certain they’ll do the same to the colony when they get there. Heck, they already did it to Liria and all of its people!

Uh oh. Here we go, then. Big daddy—or mommy, I shouldn’t assume—Lizard Wizard is getting mad now that I’m directly attacking its servants. The storm overhead is brewing and it’s looking like a big one.

CRACKLE!

Powered by magic, the dark clouds form out of thin air at a ridiculous speed. It won’t be long before the lightning starts to rain. Fortunately, this time, I came prepared.

Rushing from their hiding places come Isaac and his crew, each wielding metal spears they’ve diligently been practising throwing for the last few hours. Like a hunting party of angry tribesmen, they loft the spears over their shoulders as they run, and hurl them high into the air with mighty roars. The weapons arc gracefully through the sky before they thud into the dirt, standing tall and upright as convenient lightning rods.

The storm churns and I can almost feel the Ka’armodo’s agitation as it stares down at a small field of newly sprouted metal poles. At this sort of distance, you can’t control the lightning too precisely, can you, Mr. Lizard? No, no, you have to use this big overhead mess of a spell, and although you might get through to me eventually, how much time do you think you have?

My pets persist on aggressively battering their respective targets, but it’s me who draws the ire of the lightning. By circling and tormenting my target, Biomass A, I appear to have angered the Wizard Lizard deeply. Which means Tiny and Crinis are able to torment their own victims in lightning-free peace.

BOOM! BOOM!

Lightning stabs down from the sky, and thanks to the spears, things are made more difficult for the Ka’armodo. Sometimes, the lightning falls close to me, but other times, it jags toward the spears and discharges all that energy straight into the ground.

I continue to run circles around the mage, ripping and tearing at its barrier with my minds and even chomping on it to test its strength. The entire engagement has only taken a minute up to this point, and things are rapidly coming to a head.

This is a smash and grab tactic. We’re here for a good time, not a long time.

C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon!

Target me! Fire at me!

It’s only a matter of time!

Another five seconds pass before Crinis’ voice rings in my mind.

[Master!]

Nice!

I turn and sprint away from the fight, the lightning bolts falling around me. Jump left! Roll right! Stop for a second! My concentration is pushed to the limit avoiding the furious barrage from the skies whilst putting distance between myself and the fight.

After all, I’m the distraction in this fight, and it appears my plan has worked perfectly!

[Are you ready, Crinis?] I yell back to my pet.

[Ready!] she declares, holding her prize high, wrapped in her tentacles.

Gravity Mana floods into my mandibles from my Gravitational Magic Gland and causes them to glow with purple energy.

[Now, Crinis!]

On my signal, Crinis opens her tentacles to reveal the Setsulah mage servant she’s successfully dug out of the ground, still encased in its light shield. We’d suspected, and later confirmed, the shield roots the mages to the ground somehow, but with sufficient arm, or in this case, tentacle power, we figured they could be dug up. We just hadn’t tried it yet.

And now that they were airborne, they could be pulled.

Focusing on my Gravity mandibles, I reach out with the energy, latch onto the shield and pull.

YOINK! COME HERE!