Antvance into the Unknown

7. I Spied the Spider

Tiny is more than happy to abandon his post for something more exciting, and I think Crinis is just relieved she’s able to return to me without something dramatic occurring, such as me being sucked through a black hole into the hundredth stratum, if that even exists.

With the gang assembled, we set off into the deeper tunnels, and it rapidly becomes apparent that things are starting to heat up within the frozen spaces of the second stratum. Monsters are fighting everywhere. Shadow beasts in various states of evolution and all sorts of other critters fill every nook and cranny we come across, either fighting or consuming the Biomass of the opponent in the fight they’d just won.

When we slide close to an Expanse, the number of monsters we run into climbs even higher until there’s a full-on mob we need to physically push through to move forward. We aren’t interested in getting into an Expanse, I know how crazy those places get during a wave, all we want is the experience.

Which we take, obviously.

Between the four of us tier five monsters—Invidia is already tier six, but anyway—we’re able to sweep away the opposition without too many issues. The only real problem is fatigue, since it’s taking a fair bit of effort to scour the tunnels of hundreds of monsters, and the farther we move from the nest, the less power I receive from my Vestibule.

About halfway to our destination, we end up having to ‘pull over’ for a break. I dig away a section of tunnel wall and seal it back over behind us so we can rest relatively free from the disturbance of the wave. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to do that for all of us, and let me tell you, it is quite eye opening just how much larger the chamber must be now that we’ve all evolved to this point. Crinis isn’t much of an issue, being a blob that can compress herself, and obviously Invidia keeps the vast bulk of his mass tucked away in a pocket dimension, but Tiny and I have become fairly sizeable. Things have really changed since he was little and used to ride around on my back.

I did also have to make room for my twenty babysitters, since Protectant insisted they come in with us. Irritating!

It does make me wonder, with the tier six evolution coming up, just how large am I going to get? As large as the Queen? Maybe… It’s going to be weird if I end up that size; some of the tunnels won’t even be large enough to contain me…

Eh, I’ll worry about that when it happens.

After a very welcome and overdue period of torpor, I rouse the gang and we head out once more. I need experience, which means we need to find as many higher tier monsters as we possibly can, and I can remember one such creature we’d found who managed to escape my grasp. That’s right, it’s that darn mama spider! I hadn’t wanted to pursue her into her cave of death last time, but I’m confident we can handle anything she might throw at us now!

The time for the domination of the eight-legged is nigh! Down with the arachnid! Gwehehehehe!

Thanks to my Tunnel Map, I know exactly where that tunnel is located, and we make our way there, fighting every step of the way. Rather than dive into the Expanse, we skirt around the edges until we locate the point I think is closest to the spider’s lair from the outside. Of course I’m going to dig through! Can you imagine fighting over those webs during a wave? No thanks! Once I have a rough idea, I use my Mana Sense and get some help from Crinis to guide my efforts as I start digging down to where the lair is.

Submerging myself within the ant zen, time passes swiftly, and before I know it, I can sense the looming Mana of the spider boss somewhere in front.

[Alright, team, time to put the plan into action. You know what to do?]

[Yessssss.]

[Yes, Master!]

[HRAAA!]

[Good. Get ready!]

I reach within, ensuring all of my minds are working in concert on the task of bringing forth the dark purple Mana that sits next to my core. More and more energy is extracted as I compact it until the most deadly spell I know has been formed. The Gravity Bomb is taking shape!

Naturally, we retreat farther back down the tunnel to a safe distance, and though I don’t think it’ll do much good, I do my best to mask the Mana I condense. The spider will probably work out that we’re coming, but if all goes according to plan, it won’t be able to escape.

[Fire in the hole!]

So saying, I unleash the slowly rotating sphere of nigh-on black Mana. The moment it impacts the end of my narrow tunnel, it expands to its full size and the horrifying pull makes itself known. Rock, earth, and cobwebs fly into the singularity and are crushed and smashed to pieces. Despite being able to see the destruction, there’s no sound other than the howling wind, as if what happened in the sphere occurred in another universe. We wait out the spell in grim silence until it flickers and vanishes, leaving behind rubble and a ball of extremely dense detritus.

[Go! Get in there!] I shout and immediately Dash!

Tiny and Invidia are right behind me, with Crinis riding along on my carapace. There’s a dense nest of webs woven on the other side of the section of tunnel we blasted open. At least, it was dense. After the bomb, a huge section has been utterly obliterated.

[Invidia!]

The demon lets his magic fly.

BOOM! BOOM!

A chain of explosions rock the tunnel ahead, blasting at the walls the spider has made her home. The webs are strong, super strong, to the point where a huge amount of effort is needed to destroy them. The rock that they rest on, however, is just plain old rock.

BOOM! BOOM!

Sections of tunnel wall collapse with a thunderous roar, dragging down the web and making a mess of what was only moments ago a spider paradise. That’s right, spider, all that you love shall be turned to ash! This is your punishment for the sin of too many legs!

After a minute of destroying her nest and blocking the exit, the spider mama has had enough. With a deafening screech, her bulbous form rockets out of the depths of her nest and into our waiting arms.

A deathly chill of poison spreads out from her abdomen as she appears, tainting the air and causing the micro hairs on my antennae to shrivel the moment she draws close. I knew this monster would have some tricks up her sleeve. Let’s see if it’s enough to save her!