Fated Antagonist

37. Assault on Orpule, Finale

With the demons high overhead, the only way the Colony could reach them was to unleash their best spells and acid blasts, doing everything possible to force the demons down, or at least drain them of mana so they were no longer a threat.

As I watch, it appears to be working. The demons use shields to block attacks as they move their stupid discs around, dodging the worst of the largely untargeted barrage, but there’s just so much stuff being thrown at them that they can’t possibly dodge it all.

As I lay here healing, I do my part to contribute to the struggle, hurling Gravity Bolts by the dozen at the demons, hoping to snag them and force them to come down to our level. At the very least, it’ll become harder for them to keep themselves in the air if they get heavier. Fairly soon, Tiny returns to my side and I don’t waste any time repeating the order that I gave to Crinis to him as well. When Invidia pops up, worn out from helping my siblings shield themselves, I tell him too.

[You are not allowed to die before me. That’s an order.]

Invidia doesn’t react outside of a slow blink, and Tiny just looks confused, but that’s fine. As long as I’ve given them the order, they’ll have to obey it.

[Alright then, Tiny, we have an issue that you can help me with. Invidia, try and help heal Crinis up, and grab her some Biomass… actually, hold on.]

“Someone go and get Crinis Biomass. She needs to regenerate.”

“Er… Is that⁠—”

“Yes, I’m talking to you, Protectant! Get it done! I’m hardly going to be going anywhere right now, am I?”

I waggle my broken legs in the air for emphasis. A few moments later, I’m confident they are gone.

[Alright then, here’s the deal. I’m going to lighten myself and Tiny is going to throw me into the air so I can bring the demons down to ground level. Make sense?]

[Master! No!]

[For all we know, they are just holding their ground up there until they charge up another doom ball and obliterate this entire plate. They were surely going to blow up half of it with the last one! I can’t reach them from down here, but from up there, I can.]

[How are you going to land? I can’t catch you again, and you’re already injured!] Crinis protests vehemently.

[Bit of food into you and you’ll be back to catching ants in no time,] I reassure her. [Besides, we have more help this time. Invidia can slow me down with barriers, and Tiny can catch me in his big, beefy arms, right?]

Tiny nods seriously and flexes. Invidia blinks once.

[See? No problem, I’ll be fine.]

Crinis is obviously not convinced, but I need to do something to bring this situation to a swift resolution. The more time passes, the more advantageous this will be for the demons as they recover their energy and possibly wind up for another strike.

Working fast, I take hold of my Gravity Mana with my minds. Inverting spell patterns is a tricky business, but there are a few cases where I know how to get it to work, and the Gravity Bolt is one of them. I blast myself with the modified spell over and over again and notice with surprise how my antennae can feel the gravitational field around my body beginning to shift. This gives me rather precise control over how much of my mana I need to use.

After all, I still need to fall. If I get it wrong and start floating, I’ll be in serious trouble. I’d rather not spend too much time drifting through the air in front of Brixin and her crew if I can help it!

Once I get the balance right, I turn to Tiny and give him a nod. With a broad grin, the giant ape slaps his massive hands against his chest to warm himself up before lifting me with a two-handed grip. I can tell from the look on his face that I’m lighter than he expected, but it’s still awkward to get a decent grip on me.

[Alright then, Tiny. I want you to fling me straight up as hard as you can. Got it?]

[Hrm.]

[Don’t forget to catch me when I come down.]

And by that delightful blank stare, he’s already forgotten…

[Okaaaaay. Now!]

With a tremendous rush of force, Tiny leans back then throws both his hands up, propelling me straight up into the air like an insectile missile. The force of the air pressure flattens my antennae back to my head, and my eyes blur. Beneath me, the plate plummets away, becoming uncomfortably small as I look down on the battle still raging there. Despite the insanity, my minds are working overtime, preparing the barrage of spells I’ll unleash the moment I reach the apex of my flight.

Holy moly, I am going to come down hard… I hope those two are up to the task.

Probably the only entity more surprised than me to see a giant ant rocketing up above the plate is Brixin. Her face is a twisted mask of pure rage as I reappear before her in the air once again. It’s tempting to reach out with my mind and say something pithy, but I suspect she might use that link to obliterate my consciousness. Resisting the urge, I unleash a barrage of magic directly into the faces of the demons before they have a chance to act.

Condensed Gravity Bolts fly out with pinpoint accuracy at the same moment a domain snaps into existence, encompassing all three of the tier seven demons.

Down we go!

Taken by surprise, they fail to dodge the initial barrage, and once the domain expands to encompass them, they find themselves suddenly so much heavier than they were a moment ago. I can practically feel the confusion that rolls through them as they encounter Gravity Magic for likely the first time. The bolts that hit them did no damage, but then there’s this other strange effect. Do they defend themselves or not?

Their hesitation allows me to land a few more bolts before my upward momentum spends itself completely and I start to accelerate faster and faster toward the ground. With focused rage, Brixin extends an arm toward me that erupts in a jet of ashen fire that licks against my left-side carapace.

“YEEOUCH!”

Thank goodness for the Vestibule. I trigger my healing gland again as I continue to blast out Gravity Bolts, holding onto the domain as long as possible to apply as much pulling force to them as I can. The moment I drop out of range of Brixin’s flamethrower, the other two join the party, flinging a horrendous array of spells at me, which I find myself in a poor position to dodge, so I don’t.

I once again pump my mandibles full of Gravity Mana, exhausting my reserves in the process, reach out to the three figures, and YOINK!

Already so much heavier than they had been mere moments ago, the additional force of the mandibles pulling them has a much larger effect that staggers the powerful tier sevens atop their discs.

I manage to pull them down. Not by much, not nearly all the way to the ground, but as I sail out of their reach, peppered by the few spells that manage to find my falling self, I can tell I’ve done enough. How do I know? Because of the absolute torrent of firepower unleashed by the Colony that sails past me.

Suddenly, the sky is alight with fire and acid that engulfs the demons above in a never-ending stream of death that rises from over ten thousand mightily ticked-off ants far below.