The Antventure Begins

95. Anthony’s Fight

This is it. To save as many members of the colony as possible, I have no choice but to fight.

Come on then, Bear. Let’s see how you go!

Pushing off all six legs, I leap high onto the bear’s back. These stupid Earth Bear Tyrants are a pain in the neck to kill with their innate toughness and regeneration. I was able to kill one before I evolved, so I’m sure as heck going to kill one now!

Mandibles fiercely glowing, I crunch down on the bear’s back.

Piercing Chomp!

The Mana charged mandibles, powered by every ounce of strength I can summon from the musculature of my face, dig deep into the bear’s hide.

ROAR!

Enraged by this sudden strike, the Earth Bear Tyrant twists, trying to see what creature dared to strike at it in such a manner.

It’s me, fool!

Piercing Chomp!

[Piercing Chomp (II) has reached Level 5.]

Unrelenting, I draw out yet more Mana into my mandibles and chomp again, my jaws penetrating ever deeper into the bear’s indomitable hide.

The bear is seriously angry now. Not to mention in severe pain. My second Piercing Chomp has rendered the bear even more vulnerable to my jaws. In response, green energy flashes through the monster’s hide and the wound I’ve caused visibly closes before my eyes and the bear reaches back to try and claw me from his back.

Not happening, Yogi!

Focusing my Will, I draw out more Mana from my core, forcing it into my mandibles until they hurt.

Crushing Bite!

This time I target the wound I’ve already created. At first my mandibles thunk into the fur from before first slowly, then with increasing speed, tear through the muscle and start to crush the bone.

Ha! Take that!

My victim bellows in pain and throws its body to one side, rolling onto its back to throw me off or crush me.

I’m too quick for that! Leaping high, I launch myself from my perch, landing on the ground nearby. As soon as my foe has regained its feet, I charge in fearlessly. You won’t get the time to regenerate, bear. You’re mine!

Surrender your Biomass to me.

My mandibles are aching from the sheer amount of Mana I’ve forced into them, but I don’t stop the flow, instead I increase it. Unseen by my opponent, I fiercely bite down on a back leg, crushing the muscle in my vice-like mandibles.

The bear staggers, the wound crippling.

It brings terrifying teeth and claws to bare but I’m already gone, circling around with my greater mobility and jumping onto its back once more.

Crushing Bite!

Before the wound I’d previously caused can heal over I bite again. Tearing open the gash and ripping into the soft tissue.

Again!

Crushing Bite!

This time my mandibles shred deeper, dealing critical damage. The bear slumps to the ground and I bite one last time to finish it off.

[You have defeated a Level 8 Earth Bear Tyrant (III).]

[You have gained XP.]

Having defeated the bear, I slowed the flow of Mana, not wanting to exhaust it so early in the battle. A high amount of Mana is unnecessary for most foes. Of all the creatures I’ve met, only these damn bears have been able to display such a tough defence!

Who’s next?

The maelstrom of battle surrounds me on all sides, my compound eyes giving me a near three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the chaos.

Isolated duels and mass battles are occurring everywhere, and now the wave of ants has crashed into the fight. Hundreds of workers, biting furiously and tearing at every limb they can get to. Acid rain still falls from above, splashing over every monster, seemingly regardless of friend or foe.

The damage is starting to pile up. Many monsters are looking the worse for wear just from the sheer volume of acid being projected by so many ants.

Come on, Anthony! This battle has just begun.

I turn to a monster who has its back to me and charge, mandibles wide.

[You have defeated a Level 2 Infant Garralosh.]

[You have gained XP.]

[You have defeated a Level 9 Decaying Death Rabbit (II).]

[You have gained XP.]

[Crushing Bite (II) has reached Level 8.]

Gah! Those Death Rabbits still taste disgusting.

Surrounding the Death Rabbit is a horde of the smaller Blood Tooth Rabbits. Having defeated their evolved defender, I descend on them like thunder. Every snap of my jaws sends another rabbit to the beyond.

They pepper me with bites, extended fangs screeching against my Diamond Carapace.

[Exo-Skeleton Defence has reached Level 4.]

[You have defeated a Level 3 Blood Toothed Rabbit.]

[You have defeated a Level 2…]

[You have defeated a Level 3…]

[You have reached Level 5. One Skill Point awarded.]

When I can see no more rabbits, I scope out another large monster to target. They are the greatest threat to the workers. The more I can take out the better!

There’s a titan-croc currently duking it out with a dog-snake. The snake is massive, probably an evolved version of the smaller kind I’d seen earlier. It’s snarling, wolf-like head darting here and there, snapping with bone crunching force at the croc, who rips back with its own fearsome crocodile teeth.

The snake’s long body coils and whips around as it moves, crushing smaller creatures under its bulk with every twist. The body must be at least twenty metres long. At its thickest it’s almost as thick as I am!

Sorry, snake, you’ve got to go.

Snapping and biting, I force my way through the battle towards my target. This is going to be tough, but I’ve got to try! If it’s left alone, something that large will just roll over the hatchlings without even having to think about it.

Dodging left and right, lashing out with my mandibles, I begin to draw out the gravitational energy, letting it flow from the Gravity Magic Gland, and then compressing it into a tight ball of death.

The Gravity Bomb!

To try and handle this violently fluctuating energy in the midst of a battle is going to be tough. Hopefully it doesn’t spin out of control and kill me!

I almost can’t take a step without running into another monster, each one of them is red-eyed and ready to fight to the death. The fervour of the fight has infected them with unstoppable bloodlust.

Moving inexorably forward, I get battered and bitten, slashed, and belted from all sides. I can’t react and respond to every strike. The majority of my focus is being dedicated to handling the growing Gravity Bomb in my throat, gaining energy and density with each passing second.

Snapping left and right, I bisect a centipede and shear straight through the leg of a Wolf Dragon before continuing on. I can’t afford to stop for a second, as the Gravity Bomb grows larger, more and more of my attention is required to contain it.

The mass of energy is starting to rotate faster as it greedily sucks in all the gravitational Mana I can provide. Holding nothing back, I draw out every drop I have and send it circling into the Gravity Bomb.

Suddenly, it undergoes that qualitative change I observed last time, changing from an ultra-dense fog into a seamless sphere, so dark as to almost be black.

Just in time, I can’t hold on any longer!

I’ve reached within twenty metres of my chosen targets. The fearsome snake has wrapped itself around the titan-croc, constricting its arms and savagely biting its constrained prey.

Perfect for me. Feel the wrath of Anthony!

Opening my mouth wide, I release my grip on the Gravity Bomb. It blasts out, filling the air with a piercing wail. Even through the din of monstrous battle, the Gravity Bomb cuts with ease. The horrific, high-pitched shriek assaulting every monster’s ears.

The dog-snake immediately sees the source of the noise and tries to disengage itself, but the croc, ignorant of the danger, seizes on its opponent’s sudden attempt at retreat. Titan-croc latches on with its claws and bites the snake, locking them both in the path of the bomb.