Fated Antagonist

85. Colony vs Colony, Part 3

My pets, my friends and comrades, leap to respond to my call. Tiny, who has held himself back only through the power of my direct command to this point, launches forward with catastrophic force, jumping high before landing amongst the termites like a collapsing meteor. His bellowing war cry reverberates off the stone walls before it rises in pitch and becomes as sharp as a lightning strike, stunning all who hear it. Well, not me, obviously, but the termites, despite being hard of hearing, are still affected.

The stillness only lasts for a second before they begin to writhe and gnash once more, but that second was more than enough time for Crinis to perform her dark work. I asked her to hide amongst the shadows before the battle began, and now the shadows are everywhere. Ant and termite are piled into a great mass four or five figures deep over a massive area that stretches from the wall to the tunnels, hundreds of metres in every direction, so much darkness into which she can slide.

In that moment, when all were still, she emerged, tendrils pushing their way up from below, slipping out of the shadows and winding their way around a target. The barbed teeth emerged to scrape and grind at the chitin shells of the termites, condemning them to a terrible fate. Even worse were those who fell victim to her invasive cilia, the ghostly vines twisting through the physical realm to bring madness to her victims. Those termites who succumbed to her power became ravening creatures of desperate fear, lashing out at friend and foe alike.

BOOM!

I honestly can’t tell if the first explosion was caused by Tiny’s fist or Invidia’s mind, but they began to ring out so fast that it hardly matters. A steady stream of detonations rocks the chamber, until the air is thick with smoke and a faint thrill of electricity tingles across my antennae.

“ROAR!”

THUD!

Unable to hold back any longer, it seems that Sarah has also decided to join the fight. Luckily, I can see behind a lot more clearly than I can see forward, otherwise she might have landed on my back legs. Covered in her glittering armour, she cuts an impressive figure, and she is massively heavy! After launching herself from the wall, she plummets like a stone and lands heavily, smooshing everything underneath her into a thick paste.

Nasty!

She doesn’t seem to care, though. Her blood is up, and the Asura Bear is not here for friendly conversation. Without so much as a ‘hello,’ she rumbles forward, her lips drawn back in a fearsome snarl, her eyes tinged with red beneath her helmet. Not a good sign. If she’s already losing herself to the rage, then I can easily imagine what’s going to happen when she gets to fighting. Not much I can do about it right now, there’s still a battle to win, after all, but I will certainly file that under ‘issues I need to check on later.’

With a string of interventions from powerful, tier six allies, the ant cause has rallied once again in the face of the termite flood, and with these points of immense strength to rally around, the soldiers gather up and push into the enemy’s ranks with relentless force. Mandible meets mandible in all-out, brutal combat as the two ancient enemies face off against each other in this most unlikely battleground.

What was an endless war of mindless savagery in miniature on Earth has been recreated here in supersized fashion as thousands of insects the size of cars slam into each other, attempting to tear limbs and sever heads. It’s horrific, but I’ve no time to take it all in, all I can do is destroy the enemy, then find the next one. If I keep doing it fast enough, eventually we’ll win.

Despite the danger, I run up alongside Sarah, and with her help, drive deeper into the termite horde, relying on the broad swipes of her claws to keep me from being overwhelmed. Although not much time has passed since their grand charge, Leeroy and the Immortals have changed the landscape of the battle for the better. Yet, they have already been left on their own for too long.

I’m not even really that concerned that the termites will have killed them—those idiots are too dumb to die. No, I’m worried they’ll be pulling some shenanigans in a foolish attempt to achieve their long-cherished dream of gloriously sacrificing themselves for the good of the Colony. I will prevent it from happening at all costs! You’ll live forever, Leeroy, my stupid sister. Forever, dammit!

DOOM CHOMP COMBO!

My mandibles snap back and forth rapidly, the dark jaws of pure energy slamming shut with tremendous force on everything in front of me again and again. My energy drains dramatically, but the forward space clears, and I push into it to find a circle of shining metal-clad figures battling fiercely despite being surrounded.

“Tch. The Eldest is here,” someone complains.

“I knew it!” I bellow at them. “Glorious last stand, my business district! Every one of you idiots is getting out of here alive. Got it!”

“…Fine.”

CRASH!

A massive detonation of electrical energy briefly whites out my vision, and when it returns, I find Tiny standing next to me with a broad grin and a fierce light of joy in his eyes.

[Don’t have too much fun,] I warn him. [We need this over with sooner rather than later.]

My first friend in the Dungeon gives me a quick thumbs up before he engages in the fight once more, his fists blurring as he snaps out punches faster than I can see.

“Well, that’s just great,” another Immortal complains.

“Shut up or I’ll bring Invidia and Crinis over here just to make certain that nothing happens to you!” I snap at them.

These morons!

“Now fight, or I’ll personally make sure you never see combat again!”

That lights the fire in them, and they redouble their efforts to fight off the termites. Every few minutes, one of them collapses, either from exhaustion or their wounds, I don’t know, but it matters not, bright light explodes from the downed figures, and soon enough, they are standing again, back in the fight.

My face is aching and my brains are tired, yet still the fight goes on until finally, it’s over. I chomp my mandibles shut and blast the monster before me with a spear of ice, only to find nothing standing behind it when it collapses.

“The termites are retreating!” Leeroy sounds partly happy, partly sad.

It’s true. Their shadows are still vanishing down the tunnels, heading back to their nest, leaving us in possession of the field and more Biomass than I can poke a stick at.

“I suppose we should get Vibrant to tail them, at least for a little while.”

“YOU-GOT-IT-SENIOR-BYEEEEEEE!”

“Be careful! They’ll be back soon! Vibrant?! Dammit.”