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Chapter 1668 - Serve the Path
🕑 Added 2025-09-04 02:00:06 +0000 UTCIt has long been assumed amongst the cults that Braxxin is a type of monster known as a titan, though we have no idea where in the Dungeon they may originate. More accurately, if they are known to any amongst the cults, they have chosen not to share it with this author.
Due to his tremendous height, there were many who saw the Ancient and survived to record it. Humanoid, with pale blue skin and a beard of frost, Braxxin’s height has been variously recorded as between one and five kilometres. The great crown of ice atop his head is reportedly a focus for his power, which soaks in all heat around him, creating an area of almost absolute zero.
Braxxin rose close to the city of Wellourn, now lost to time. Situated beside a great lake, the city was instantly frozen solid the moment he emerged from below the ground. Although the ruins have long since been cleared away and the dead laid to rest, the lake itself is still yet to thaw. Perhaps it never will.
- Excerpt from ‘Collective Wisdom of the Cults’ by Granin Lazus
It was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. This maxim had been well understood around Pangera for thousands of years, from the smallest of children to the mightiest of emperors. People were cautious by nature, hesitant to take on risk, loath to chance the worst case scenario, no matter how unlikely it might be.
If you had confidence in your purpose, surety in your footing along the path, yet others did not share your faith and barred the way, then perhaps this was not an impediment, but an opportunity.
An opportunity to seek forgiveness. A most holy calling.
Alir Vinting, Grand Priest of the Way, had cause to seek forgiveness many times in his life. He was a man of decisive action, unwilling to sit still when the path was clear in front of his feet. It was the reason he had risen so far in the church. It was the reason he would rise even higher.
The Church of the Path saw the ants for what they were, a spiritual test and resource to be exploited. When the Dungeon threw up monsters such as these, it was a cause to rejoice within the faith. The Dungeon was created to shape and mould the faithful, to provide for them and make them stronger. Within the nests of the Colony waited a harvest more rich than any in centuries, and it would be the act of a blasphemer, heretic and fool to leave it untouched.
Alir rose from the woven mat on which he prayed, his knees sore, as they always were after an hour of devotions, but he embraced the pain. He had endured far worse in times of penance and was accustomed to this daily ritual.
Out the window before him, he saw the brilliant, shining waters of the fourth stratum. Winds filled with the energy of light and life brushed against his face, and Alir allowed himself a small smile. He felt as if the Dungeon were affirming his mission, anointing his purpose.
“Have you finished your absolutions, Grand Priest?” a voice called softly from behind him.
Reaching down, he brushed himself down before turning to face the Deaconess Martha Scott. Plain of face, of middling height and unassuming figure, she nevertheless radiated a certain intensity, an outward expression of the iron faith that she contained within.
“I have,” he said. “Have any of the teams returned this morning?”
Straight to business as always, Alir focused on the matters at hand.
Martha shook her head.
“They have not, Grand Priest.”
Alir tsked and frowned. There were eight teams in the Dungeon right now, one of which should have returned yesterday.
“The delvers in this city assured me they were up to the task,” he said. “I remain unconvinced.”
“More will be coming,” Martha told him. “Three ships set out from the Silver City a week ago. It shouldn’t be long before they arrive.”
“We must be cautious,” Alir stated, nodding to himself. “Probe carefully. If the ants learn of our intentions too early, then the following steps become progressively more difficult.”
“What if they already have?” Martha asked, a little hesitant. “It’s odd for a team to be an entire day late returning from the Dungeon.”
“If they find us, then they find us,” he said. “I would rather operate in secret, but if I must walk in the open, then I shall. That’s why we’re here, after all.”
He gestured vaguely toward the mountain, but the Deaconess understood.
“Green Mountain doesn’t recognise the ants as a civilised race,” she said.
The kingdom of Green Mountain was a stubborn, traditional place. A firm martial tradition meant many of the youth here became delvers or enlisted with the Legion, who maintained a strong presence on the mountain. Recognising monsters as a civilised race? Never. Even the bruan'chii, children of the Mother Tree, weren’t welcome here. The Folk were barely tolerated and the Sophos were killed on sight.
Hunting the ants out of Green Mountain was perfectly legal, even if some communities on the fourth would find it distasteful. The ants learning what they were doing would simply make it more difficult to probe the edges of their territory, but not impossible.
After all, the tunnel networks beneath the mountains were vast and incomprehensibly tangled. The local delvers had access to detailed maps and guides that had been constructed over thousands of years, the ants did not. Even if there were millions of them, it would take years to find every path into their lands.
More tests were needed, more elixir was needed. A single ant was able to produce so much. If Alir could replicate that extraction, he would be able to prove what a golden hoard that ant nest really was. Would the Silver City deny him then? He didn’t think so.
“The path lies clear before us, Martha. A difficult road to walk, with trials and tribulations aplenty, but vast, vast rewards at the end.”
The Deaconess bowed low.
“Praise the Path.”
Comments
Mandarin
Let the foul tainted and misguided blood of these path following FILTH flow in endless rivers to show all that the colony is a holy sanctum compared to the dogged backwater ideology of the church of the path. May their souls be rent apart in glorious visceral brutality. For that is all they deserve for their blasphemy
Fred Bright
Bad time for a two front war, but I suspect Solant is prepared...and that Brilliant will have some sort of mana protection / transfer device that allow the higher tier ants to head up and trounce the Church in the upper strata...hmmm, do they deserve Leroy's ministrations?
Andy Weng
I can’t wait for the war between the Church and Colony to be written. I imagine the fights in territories to be like the excerpt on chapter 863, 999
Hayden Leech
Tier 7 beings can’t exist in the fourth stratum. They starve. Like how the Krath can only push up into the fourth during monster surges. But a Krath will never see the third stratum. This battle will be fought in the fourth.
Gavin Wayne Pitcher
Green colony incoming
KingGoomba
I would love to see a tier 7 The Queen join the fight once she finally finds out what they want to do to her children
Nathan Patrick
Given what happened to Jim, I would not be surprised if The Colony takes a priest in the future to perform their elixir ritual on them and show The Path how terrible it is/that The Colony are also capable of it.
Jon Wolfman
The thing about paths is they always lead to somthing. It could be a game trail to water or a den. A city or a town. Or a bunch of 'priests' locked in mandibles with the life slowly fading from their eyes.
Logan B.
The dude reincarnated your city's guardian diety... and he was WEAKER... and you wanna peck at them on THEIR turf?
Dan K
Hmmmm seems like this Green hill place isn’t going to exist for much longer…
Ruwa
Im pretty sure the church will be destroyed very very soon
Michael Williams
I seem to recall in one of the small stories at the start of chapters that it was set in the future and the ants were attacking the silver city? Perhaps this is what sets this off and a teir 8 anthony goes back for revenge.
Pockman
Bayne really got lucky by learning his lesson quick before he did any real damage
Avery Guidry
DamnAnt
CentaureHeart
Thinking that using tunnels is the thing that's going to give you a trump card against ants.... I don't think that dude has met ants before. Solant is either going to map all those tunnels within a month (tops) or just make their own tunnels and collapse the rest.
Twin
Imagine the ants catching the priests and preforming a live demonstration of essence extraction to show people how its made. I imagine not many would like the essence seeing how its gotten.
Chien Do
Time for the promised war with the Silver City I guess. Time for the Church to be the one giving forgiveness, not the one seeking it.
Napalm078
'An opportunity to seek forgiveness. A most holy calling.' *raises eyebrow derisively* 'The Church of the Path saw the ants for what they were, a spiritual test and resource to be exploited.' D:< DIEEEEEEE!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THE CHAPTER.
David Eddy
Bring the Beyn!
David Eddy
I can’t think of a good swear/ant name combination because the Path makes me too angry…but she would be speaking my language right now!
Ben
One of the historiant intros did say the colony was known for extreme kindness if kindness was given and extreme wrath if not
Roombot
I hope all this resolves before Anthony even wakes up. That’d be hilarious
Anthony Romanov
Oh he misspoke. He meant Black Clanking Mountain!
Ben
Think it’s time for Beyn to purge the heretics…
Theweird12345
Dark Anthony
alt31415
I mean, assuming it can be. Monsters are fundamentally different biologically.
Anthony Romanov
Oh ignorance is such blessing and ever strangling curse. Does he not know just how feared Monster Ants are. You kidnapped just one Ant on diplomatic tour! And Anthony totally flipped his business end and that was AFTER he wiped out a MOUNTAIN. Anyway the priest is just a Fool. He should have at least got more information on Colony beforehand.
alt31415
It's important to remember that, while it happened rarely, Anthony DID get biomass from eating humans...
alt31415
Who tf is gonna take up that bounty?
alt31415
It is just you.
alt31415
"Hunting the ants out of Green Mountain was perfectly legal" - I think the ants may disagree with that notion. After all, you CANNOT allow people to think they can get away with murdering your people and harvesting them for parts...
Bobbj
Yo are these chapters getting shorter or is it just me?
Anthony Romanov
Hey we got our own Priests!
Koala Man
Them taking one ant set Anthony right off tap, I kinda hate to imagine what them getting their hands on another would do . It seems like the colony in the 4th is huge already but just imagine an upside down pyramid which means there’s soooo many more ants that can be brought to bear when things in the 4th kick off. The original satellite nests must have innumerable satellites of their own by now ,, etc etc .
Scott Faulkner
follow up he finds out and quick
Scott Faulkner
Translated from power hungry maniac to English: My position and wealth have allowed me to Fork around a great deal without anything happening to me. I therefore trust that I will never find out as they say.
Shaitan
Yeah, the priests and green mountain are gonna have a bad time
Roombot
Hasn’t casus belli just been established? The church of the path is a political entity and its priests are hunting the colony. That’s an act of war right there.
Roombot
Impossible! They’ll never figure out the—-they mapped the tunnels in less than a day.
Roombot
Welp, Green Mountain is gonna get crusaded first methinks
Brudog2
I hope they put a bounty on the paths priests like the centipedes
SaltyVigilante
oh yeah, the tunnels are so labrynthine...what ever will a race of excavators do?
Shimelton
Silly priest. A Path may be walked in both directions. Beware the stranger you meet traveling towards you.
Cylar
Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. Or should we say Anthony’s Wrath does.
Buck
Time to conquer Green Mountain, kill all the Path clergy and their supporters, destroy the places of worship and then repeat at every place where they exist!!
Chimurry Al
A mere coincidence the Colony have few millions ants and others, trained and level up army divisions, free from the fifth first phase conquest... +The Nameless...
KooZnack
WE CALL FOR A CRUSADE!!!! DEATH TO THE PRIESTS!!!!!
Codered999
Verdant Anthill
Rekcus
Kill the priests, teach the delvers tunnel ball and then ransom them back to the green mountain.
clovis
I both love and dread where this is going. Through conflict The Colony shall rise up, as it has been hinted at before in the limited mentioning of the sacking of the silver city. However casus belli is needed, so it will be interesting to see how this arises. I have a feeling Anthony will be big mad when he wakes.
Ether's Blessed One
Presgard di Hellis. Blast these heretic with your Lightning ⚡. Again burn the damned Silver City and it's heretics.
Boss Man
I can’t wait for Anthony’s rematch with the giant chicken over Silver City.
James Seymour
I wonder what green mountain will be called after all this is over
Zielscheibe
Brilliant should simply show that she had already understood the extraction,their big secret and apply it to him.👹
Huy Ngo
I got too used to long chapter 😭
No_Creative_Name
And this is how the Path somehow ended with a precipitous fall. Pity.
jeffrey niski
Oh Lord. They need to all be exterminated.
shawn B
Ugh I hate the church of the path so much
Hayden Leech
I really hope the colony is disappearing hostile delver teams lol.
NyxWell
DEATH TO THE PRIESTS
