RinoZ
patreon
Chapter 1554 - Heat on the Platform
🕑 Added 2025-03-05 10:41:53 +0000 UTCBurn, baby, burn! Disco inferno, now burn, baby, burn!
Such a catchy groove it’s hard not to wiggle my capital investment portfolio as I launch a steady stream of Dragon’s Breath from between my mandibles. The fire roars out with all the intensity of a jet engine, blasting everything in sight and filling the air with a crackling, searing heat. The air close to the platform, that is. The air beyond the safe zone is as wet as a snotty-sneeze from a monster formed of nothing but noses. And it has a cold.
Despite the incredible power contained in the stream of fire, into which I’m pouring mana, along with the energy of the Altar, it’s hard to burn through the overwhelming wetness that we’re confronted with.
Well, it’ll have to do for the moment, since I’m running rather low on gravity mana and I’m currently stepping back a little from the front in order to let my carapace heal a little. Getting exposed to goop at a fairly constant rate, along with collateral damage from repeated use of the Starcrusher, has put a bit of a dent in my shiny carapace so I need a little break. Not just to keep myself fighting fit and ready to go, but to ensure that the healers don’t knock me out, drag me into a hospital bed and tie me down until I’m fully healed.
Honestly, I feel like the healers are eying me aggressively these days. I wouldn’t put an abduction past them. Not exactly sure how they’d do it, but I won’t ever underestimate what the members of my family can do. I’m deliberately not looking into the Vestibule to see what they’re thinking because, quite frankly, I’m scared to find out.
The healers are intense.
And they aren’t the only ones.
“How are you feeling?” Bertran asks. “Not asking for any specific reason. Just checking in, you know? You always want to beat the pan back into shape before you fire it.”
“Did the healers put you up to this?”
“Believe it or not, they didn’t.”
“Could you step back a little? I am blasting superheated fire out of my face-zone right now.”
“Ah, right.”
There’s a slight poke at my back leg, and I turn a little, playing the flame over a different undulating wave of mucus to see three smaller humans staring at me seriously. They don’t say anything, but they stare, menacingly.
“No, I’m not going to rest. I will soon, but not yet.”
I’m putting all six of my feet down on this one. Taking a break from the platform would put an insane amount of pressure on the battalions. I’m certain the ants would hold, but at what cost? I intend to save up my energy to unleash a mighty blast of gravity based magic right before I go for a nap, which will hopefully keep the nastiness back from the platform for at least ten minutes. I hope.
Allison, Trean and Emilia don’t seem all that pleased with my decision, but there’s nothing they can do about it. The torpor police haven’t shown up lately and the three of them certainly can’t take me down on their own.
If it weren’t childish and beneath the dignity of the Eldest, I’d stick my tongue out at them. Also, I don’t really have a tongue.
Ever since the Nave was attacked, the Templar have been even more attentive than they were before. They’re hovering around so much they might put Protectant and her siblings out of a job!
I haven’t been mothered this much since I last saw Mother. If they had antennae, I’d start to feel genuinely threatened.
“Just relax a little, all of you,” I tell them. “Yes, this is dangerous, deadly even. Yes I was attacked by some mysterious force that knocked you guys out on the spot and forced you to do battle in a semi-spiritual plane of existence that is housed, somehow, within my body. But it’s fine! Everything is going about as well as it can. I’ll get healing and rest, I promise.”
There’s a heavy silence for a moment, well, as heavy a silence one can get in a battlefield, before Bertran speaks again.
“You aren’t very good at reassuring us,” he says, scratching his head.
“Gah! Since when was it my job to make you feel better about worrying about me? How does that even make sense?”
“If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have become a god.”
A new scent chips into the pheromone conversation and Jern steps up beside me, Alis by his side. The matter of fact way he made the statement, along with the completely bland expression on his face, makes it hard for me to summon the energy to refute his ridiculous claim. No matter what I say, he’s going to keep on believing it.
“You’re really annoying sometimes, Jern, anyone ever told you that?” I say, almost clacking my mandibles in irritation only to realise at the last second I’m still blasting a mega-powered flamethrower out of my face.
“Alis tells me that every day,” he shrugs, which earns him an elbow in the guts from her.
“That’s mainly because she’s had a crush on you for years and you’ve never realised,” I reply.
Jern’s eyes go wide and Alis blushes furiously. Bertran coughs, but the three kids just keep glaring at me.
Ha! Take that, Jern. Now you’ve got something else to think about other than annoying me. I win!
All I have to do now is make it to my next break, then I can collect the armour Smithant promised me. I’m looking forward to seeing what she cooked up.
Comments
DrDankness
Casually utilizing his powers as a god to play matchmaker.
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Roombot
I hope they get together. They’d be a great pair
Anthony Romanov
I kinda see that the Queen would transition to Healer class and healer cast would rally behind the Queen. And be "if you don't listen and get healed! I tell Mom!"
Anthony Romanov
It had to be done. Jern would never figure it out and Alis would never say it out loud!
LobskiTheMagicLobster
Becoming a god on accident is really easy fsr. Smh
TheShadowSlayer_
Uh, forgot about the language barrier. It's so inconsistant what is understandable speech, what is mind bridge, and what is pheremone. Nevermind that Rino somethimes gets it mixed up himself.
alt31415
Even better since he can't understand what Isaac and Morellia say to each other without a mind link: language barrier. Every time Isaac gets punched Anthony's like "Damn what'd he do? Insult her mother?"
Roombot
The queen would definitely roll down there and whack him if she heard about it and nobody could really stop her
Roombot
Yeah Anthony, if you didn’t want templars fussing over you why’d you become a god eh? EH?!
Brian Schwab
Yeah I agree normally. Which is why I mentioned if some ant or even one of the other people/guests of the colony let it slip around her, they might not be able to stop her from going herself. They where never able to stop her from hunting, or even fighting in some of the wars or on the third stratum. They have only ever been able to try hiding things from her or be able to persuade her to limit it a bit and then throw as many resources into defense around her or to clear the threats in her path as they could manage and/or get away with as she marches to wherever she darn well feels she is needed most, even if that’s to put herself at risk to protect her children, or give any of them (or especially a certain shiny troublemaker problem child) a good thwak and a lecture.
Brandon14754
Oof, Anthony like a tired 5 year old
Enzo Elacqua
No shot they bring the war queen down, way too dangerous
Enzo Elacqua
Pretty sure their connected to his vestibule which makes looking into their thoughts fairly straightforward, while the other two are just blobs of people which Anthony has never been great at
TheShadowSlayer_
On one hand, funny as all hell. On the other, he understands Alis and Jern but not Isaac and Morrellia?
Deathburn
Eh, I think he's cheating a bit by having access to his mind via the nave
Chiara C
Yes but also, how bad are you at reading signals when Anthony has to explain them to you?
Shimelton
Not cool Anthony. Not cool.
Brian Schwab
With Anthony being so stubborn about resting and his mention of mother, I now almost want to see them bring the war queen down to both discipline him and take over on his platform for a bit to reduce casualties. But I don’t know if the colony actually would or not. Maybe if someone let slip to the queen what Anthony was doing, she would do it herself. That I could see.
Deathburn
The healers: ey, the fuck is the eldest doing?
Ian Jones
It's the only way for him to stick out his tongue, by doing it verbally ha ha
Ether's Blessed One
Right, Anthony would know all the secrets due to the Nave. The Government definitely want to have this mutation if they can.
alt31415
Lmao Anthony the revealer of secrets.
Cindermoth
Anthony casually throwing Alis under the bus
Nathan Emerson
Typo: Honestly, I feel like the healers are eying me aggressively these days. Should be eyeing.
Deathburn
Anthony exposing her like that in front of her and her crush is really funny for some reason
