RinoZ
patreon
Chapter 1534 - Location of the Detonation
🕑 Added 2025-02-04 06:41:07 +0000 UTCExtending outwards from either side of my head, two massive mandibles of darkest light form. They stretch so far to my left and right they cover half the front of the platform.
My stamina drops perilously low, and I start to panic about just how much energy remains in the Altar. There’s millions of ants in the fortress at this time, not to mention all those at the very depths of the fourth, all within range of the Vestibule. With so may providing their will, the Altar is refilling quickly, but will it be enough? It’s not like I have long!
The soldiers to my left and right shrink back from the chomp, expectedly so, and I realise I really should have told them what I was going to do. Wait, they’re pulling back in such a neat and organised fashion… did… did Solant include plans in her formations for this sort of thing? I bet she did! Dammit, I’m not that predictable!
No matter how much I wish it wasn’t the case, a spark of light flares between my mandibles and I can’t help but flinch back.
No.
Nonononono. Not yet!
Regardless of my wishes, the light takes shape, forming a sphere that begins to expand. Already I can feel it crackling with suppressed power and it’s going to get a heck of a lot bigger than this.
Come on… it’s going to be fine. I’m sure of it.
“Good luck, Eldest!” the ants tell me from their new positions, well back from the danger zone.
“You can do it!”
“Work hard!”
“If you injure yourself, I’ll poke you in the eye, idiot.”
That last one had to be a healer.
“Oi! Who do you think I’m doing this for?” I yell back.
The monsters of the fifth are surging forward now the front line has pulled back, but in truth, I can’t see them at all. The sphere of light continues to grow, rotating slowly, the glare it emits blinding me completely.
It grows, and grows, and when I start praying by the mighty beard of Gandalf himself that it stops, it doesn’t. If the original starcrusher produced a sphere the size of a beachball, this one is more like a room.
With my claws dug into the platform, I can barely resist the drag effect from the mini-star, even though it isn’t aimed at me. I can only imagine the nightmarish scene in front of me as the torrent of monsters and mucus the fills the tunnel is being sucked towards my face.
Then, with ponderous, creeping finality, my mandibles begin to close, the enormous jaws of darkness closing alongside them.
Fearful, I check the Altar, and shudder at the pitiful seeming amount of energy inside. Come on now, a normal starcrusher is enough to cause me serious problems, this thing is going to leave me a smoking wreck! I need more energy than this! I need it full, preferably!
For the first time, I wish the torrent of Will flooding through me would flood just a little more rapidly.
I resolve to empower my carapace at the last possible moment, and then realise that moment is rapidly approaching. Too rapidly!
The jaws swing shut with inevitable force, everything they touch is caught and dragged with them, pulled towards the star which is already beginning to crack.
At this moment, I angle my head and concentrate, forcing the energy emerging from the sphere away from me, directing it outwards and away. It’s not a foolproof method, but it works enough that it's certainly worth doing on the odd chance it saves my head from exploding.
The screaming of the monsters, the piercing din of battle, none of it means anything to me, the only sound I can hear is the shattering of the star.
With the finality of a guillotine, my mandibles slam shut.
Broken beyond repair, leaking shafts of searing light, the star collapses on itself. Then breaks.
I pour every drop of energy within the Altar into my carapace, which starts to hum with resonating energy.
The world is consumed by light, then by darkness.
Uh…
… Hello?
Did… did I die? Again!? Come on, man! I knew I was going to get myself killed at some point, but I really thought it was going to be a gravity bomb, not a freakin’ chomp attack!
I was still secretly hoping there might be elf girls somewhere in this Dungeon! My secret desire kept locked away deep within my heart! Or maybe elf ants would be better?
How would an elf ant even look? Pointy antennae? How does that make sense… we already have pointy antennae.
“... can you… catch… scent?”
Huh?
“Yes? Is this ground control?”
“No… moron… foolish… waste… brainless… kick… head!”
Hmm….
Now that I think about it, I am in a great deal of pain.
Like… ouch!
I startle back to awareness, sensation from my body returning with agonising rapidity. Everything hurts, especially my head.
“I can’t see!” I exclaim.
“You don’t have any eyes!” someone grumps at me.
“Huh, I can understand you better now.”
“That’s because your antennae are growing back.”
“Oh.”
I trigger the regeneration gland and almost sigh with relief as the cold liquid sloshes through my system, repairing my internal injuries and helping piece me back together.
“How’d the chomp attack go? Was it effective?” I ask.
“You can see for yourself in a minute,” the healer grumbles. “I’m working on your eyes.”
Come to think of it, the light is returning gradually. For the next few minutes, my eyesight slowly returns, and over that time, I wonder why the heck I’m not hearing any fighting.
When my sight returns, I no longer need to wonder.
The tunnel.
The slow moving tidal wave of mucus.
The endless horde of monsters.
They’re all gone.
Well… not gone, just… not as close any more.
In front of me lies a scene of utter devastation, a massive spherical chunk carved out the rock. Even now hunks of molten stone drip and sizzle around the edges of where the explosion was.
Holy moly.
Comments
Roger Mayol
Sorry for writting here, but it's possible that the chapters 1525 to 1529 aren't allowed to be read?
taukid
It's like Deku at the start of MHA, just blows himself up with his own attacks
Grey Knight Lord
He has said that in his Tier 8 evolution he plans to reset his eyes and legs as they have been his biggest weakness points. I hope he refers his Brain Cortex, nerves or muscles
DrDankness
At this point he needs something to replace his fragile eyes. Tbh he probably needs something that can outright absorb gravity mana.
alt31415
He literally picked one of the strongest possible materials to reinfrce his face and body with.
TheLostGolem
I'm just imagining Leeroy finding out about the event and falling into despair that she couldn't be there to 'hold off the monsters' long enough for Anthony to finish the skill. Also conveniently being in the way of said skill when it went off.
DrDankness
He really needs to reinforce his face and body at this point. Having moves so powerful they are literally self-destructive is going to limit his options oddly enough.
Bethany Bluebird
I'm not sure about that... it seems like he was having a hard time thinking properly for a minute there. I'm thinking his main-brain took some SEVERE damage, and the backup-brains were running the show for a minute while it was being pieced back together...
Hughes Andrew
He just blew up his eyes and antenna.
Bethany Bluebird
Did... did he *literallly* blow his own head off there?? Like. Did he have yo regrow his whole ass head??? BADASS. Come on man you can't just keep making things cooler and cooler like this it isn't FAIR! Bet the Legion is... not pleased.
alt31415
... no, Moby Dick.
Buck
In that case, the Dungeon is screwed.
Buck
“Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan”? 😂
alt31415
Zluth, witnessing this: "TO THE LAST I GRAPPLE WITH THEE! FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE!"
Gabus Deux
What if, following the theme of gravity his build has, when he puts enough power into the starcrusher it collapses into a black hole instead of supernova-ing? Like, a REAL black hole not an artificial one
Brian Schwab
Godard, that is all true, but I still find it funny sometimes.
Anthony Romanov
Well healer ant knew what's going to happen. And as Anthony kinda knows what Colony is doing, so too ants in his space kinda know what Anthony going to do. Such as backing away or ducking/borrowing to avoid Anthony's ideas!
Anthony Romanov
They gave up. Their commander has come to terms that best they can do is monitor Anthony. Those leaving dealing with Anthony to legion in deeper levels of Dungeon.
Anthony Romanov
Well Anthony has Several BRAINS. Too bad those are Anthony's brains so they provide MOAR Options 🤯🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
Gopard
He's also the biggest threat to the Colony... Imagine Solant didn't predict this? Anthony would have literally murdered a huge chunk of the Colonie's defenders with this attack... He even THOUGHT that he "HAS TO WARN HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS BEFORE USING THE EMPOWERED STARCRUSHER" and then just proceded to ignore that thought and go through with it knowing this would likely kill most of the surrounding Ants if they didn't realize whats going on!
Gopard
No the Healers NEVER told him to do it though... I assume even Solant didn't WANT him to do this in such a haphazard manner... Anthony just refuses to grow a brain and actually think about consequences... How can someone literally (quote from last chapter) think "Hmm If I activate this here I would probably be fine with a healthy dose of empowered carapace but all the others would need to get a healthy distance!" and then just what NOT TELL ANYONE he is doing his attack? Was he TRYING to murder the entire defense force alongside the monsters? More and more the comedic relief of "For some reason so many characters in this story selectively have an IQ of 23 for certain situations" is getting a bit boring to me. Especially because it doesn't really seem to have consequences anymore...
BelligerentGnu
Ah, one of the few ant flaws: blatant hypocrisy. Yes, yell at him for doing the thing you just yelled at him to do.
Bettafish
Soooooo how are the legion feeling about the their target just kinda dropping supernovas?
xXChrisdogXx
Yeah, you'd think if Solant can account for the attack in the first place she would definitely account for that too
Loulatsch
Well the two real threats he faced was garlosh and morellias father both times he nearly died because of them not himself
Sneaky Duc
I mean he still has most of his face, I think
Brandon14754
is it bad that I now sorta hope one of the ancients is an ant with sharp antenna?
Brandon14754
this fortress has a radius of 20km and only 8 exits there's probably a few km to the next exit and a chance the legion are on the exact opposite side of the fortress... the krath on the other hand
Tyrunex
Two things. First anthony needs a helmet with build in Sun glasses. Second the legion must have witnessed that through the gap from top to bottom
Melody Haren Anderson
I mean honestly, he's kinda almost always been his own biggest threat. How many times has he almost killed himself with his own skills or magic?
Grey Knight Lord
Wow, guess Anthony deep down is an Elf Guy. Can’t say I blame him and Star Crusher really is a OP move. Levels, levels, and more levels
Rick Delallata
Tactical nuke inbound!
KingGoomba
How will handle it at a higher tier, he needs to build himself some protection from his own skills
Ashborn99
Wow
Cinnamon Toast
Anthony actually is the biggest threat to himself in this stratum isn’t he
