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Chapter 1512 - Unexpected Visitor
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 04:36:02 +0000 UTCWhen I ‘wake up’ from my Torpor, Crinis, Tiny, Invidia and I spend a pleasant time chatting and catching up with each other. Everyone has struggled to some extent over the last little while. Defending the platforms has been a gruelling task and none of us is so powerful we can comfortably shrug off the increasingly dangerous environment.
Tiny’s had a hard time, since he has the shortest range of all of us, if we discount his ability to shoot lightning. Blasting things with large amounts of electricity has always been his least preferred method of doing things. After all, why not use the electricity on your fists, then punch and zap things at the same time?
The big ape mimes for us how he had to fight, ducking and weaving as he dodges imaginary blasts of slime and mucus, occasionally unfurling his wings for a dramatic leap into the sky before crashing down with mighty blows. It becomes clear just how hard it’s been for him. Fighting at such short range, and with such pitiful defence, he was constantly forced to dodge and move to avoid being deluged with slime. Once monsters got close enough to the blue mana he could finally unleash strikes from his hands, pummeling them into oblivion, but the closer the monsters got, the more he had to dodge.
No wonder he’s so irritated.
Invidia, of all of us, had the easiest time. He’s been putting his combustion magic to good use, exploding swarms of enemies one after another from a safe distance. Even taking into account the capacity of the fifth to eat away at mana, his mind is so powerful he could still force his spells a good distance into the toxicity, far enough he was never in any real danger. However, even his brain has been pushed to the limit after fighting for such an extended period of time, and the monsters of the fifth have been unusually resistant to going boom.
Considering how squishy they are, I would have thought they would suffer a lot from his power, but with their layers of slime and resistance to fire, they’ve been able to avoid being burned as well as absorb the concussive force of his spells. So he had to work twice as hard to get things done.
Crinis… poor Crinis, has had it the worst of all of them. She literally has to reach out and touch her enemies to hurt them, which is a bad idea in the fifth. She’s more than happy to demonstrate how her fights went, showing us she would drag monsters into the blue zone before… doing what she does. However, every bit of her Dark Flesh that was exposed to the fifth had to be cut away, lest the corruption spread throughout her entire body. Her body is closer to pure mana than the rest of us, and as it turns out that makes her more susceptible to the fifth.
So she’s had to cut loose a heck of a lot of her own flesh, which means getting fed a lot of Biomass to help her get it back. I give her a pat with an antenna, proud of what she’s been able to accomplish. The poor thing. She’s fighting hard even though conditions are so against her.
Naturally, she uses that as a chance to try and sneak inside my leg and I have to shake it until she can’t hold on any more. Honestly….
Sarah is a lot less forthcoming about her experience, but judging by the dewy-eyed looks she’s getting from Odin, who still follows her around, she unleashed some rather spectacular violence out there.
We sit and chat until eventually someone comes to find me, that person being Solant, of all ants.
“Shouldn’t you be busy right now?” I ask her.
“On the contrary,” she replies coolly, “with the outer defenses complete and the fortress functioning correctly, there is a rare opportunity for me to step out of the command post.”
“And you spend this precious time talking to me? I guess… I’m honoured?”
“No. I was passing by and picked up a message that was being delivered, so I thought I would do it myself, since it has the potential to be something interesting. There is a visitor for you.”
“First, ouch. Second, a visitor? Who is coming down to the fifth stratum to visit? It’s an absurd suggestion.”
“Someone you may remember. I’m told you had dealings with this person during your tour of the fourth stratum. A mage from the Silver City.”
My blood begins to heat up at the mere mention of that place, but I push my anger aside and think. A mage from the Silver City? There’s a few that I met, but one in particular comes to mind.
Rathwyn Werilos. Seemed like a reasonable sort of person, even tried to talk me out of fighting the dragon, as I recall.
“Alright then,” I say, picking myself up. “I’ll go and meet them. Where can I find them?”
As it turns out, the usual protocols for welcoming and housing guests aren’t in place yet. Who would have thought, since we’ve been literally fighting for our lives we haven’t had the time. As a result, our guest has been housed close to the top of the fortress, just inside the entrance. With Solant helping, it isn’t hard to get some rooms allocated and I head over there to meet the mage when they make their way down.
Sure enough, Rathwyn wanders around the corner, his eyes lighting up when he sees me outside his room, but I’m surprised to see that he hasn’t come alone. In fact, there are four other mages who’ve tagged along for the ride.
What the heck are they doing here?
Comments
Gonvas
Rammon is far above T7 Anthony. Even if Anthony was surrounded by all ants, he doesn't stand a chance. That "only" makes the Vestibule's regen stronger and Altar refill faster. Rammon seemed pretty casual when he almost one-shot Anthony (if enemy can kill in one hit, doesn't matter the amount of regen Anthony has). Anthony has ways of killing Rammon but they take a lot of time to charge and are easily detected. They can't be deployed in the middle of a fight with a T9 xD I expect the sack of the Silver City (not exactly razed to the ground xD) to happen when Anthony is a T8. Almost like the last tour in the 4th before he descends further.
Brandon14754
Tolly in 10 years time is from the silver city but seems to hold no negative feelings to the colony and acts like they hardly know the colony in such a way that to me implies the sacking of the city isn't for at least another decade
alt31415
Rammon also didn't know anything about Anthony, and Rammon explicitely stated he didn't want to kill Anthony and would use the 'minimum power' his orders would let him get away with. No dice.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
ZaneofBane
I think he does. He didn't have many ants with him, so his vestibule was useless during their initial fight. He also wasn't fighting, but trying to pass Rammon to save his sister, so he wasn't focused. He also didn't know anything about Rammon prior to that fight. He entered that fight in the worst circumstances and a rematch would have been closer to even, even before he entered the fifth. I think Anthony with a full invasion force to feed him energy would have a minor advantage at the moment, considering he made him revive once despite having the worst handicaps.
Gonvas
The dragon illusion was only up at the start of the fight. By the time Anthony used his gravity bomb it was already clear Rammon was a bird.
alt31415
Probably not for a while. Remember, Anthony doesn't currently stand a chance against Rammon.
Ether's Blessed One
Right, when will be the time for the silver city and the church of the path to razed to the ground again?
alt31415
It was, but Rammon started the fight in the disguise of a dragon.
Hayden Leech
Dragon? I thought it was a Phoenix .
Xzeno
A phoenix in the shape of a dragon, and I believe Anthony thought it was a dragon up until he managed to kill it the first time and then it was reborn
Ruwa
Going to be one hell of a shit show if the silver city tries anything. Anthony won't be playing nice if they try, and with his new spell I'm pretty sure the Phoenix will truly die next time
alt31415
My guess is they're here to see what the Colony's accomplished. And I can't wait to see this 'mana generator' power on.
Huy Ngo
When next chapter 😭, can’t wait.
strainge guy1
It says fighting the dragon, but it was a phoenix
fair3238
I really hate how fast my reading speed is, which means back to waiting. TFTC
Shaitan
I really want to see the city try and finagle a share of the fortress and get told to jump off a cliff.
Grey Knight Lord
So the mages are here to see if what the colony claims is true that they intend to cleanse the 5th.
Rahsheem Reid
The infamous triple chap
