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Chapter 1522 - Zombie Soldier
🕑 Added 2025-01-19 09:32:16 +0000 UTCLeeroy had never felt stronger. Power coursed through her immense frame. Her musculature thrummed with energy, her mandibles gleamed with indescribably sharpness. Her carapace… had not been improved at all. Why would she bother spending her precious evolutionary energy on it anyway? The Colony insisted on decking her out with increasingly more powerful armour after all!
Indeed, once Smithant had discovered her newly evolved form, Leeroy had been forced to sit and wait while she was measured, weighed, and a new suit of armour was painstakingly constructed, enchanted and fitted. All the while, the smith had muttered and mumbled in Leeroy’s ear, warning her not to do something stupid.
Of course she wasn’t going to do something stupid! She was going to do the smartest and best thing it was possible for an ant to do! Sacrifice herself for the glory of the Colony! And now, in her powerful, tier seven form, fully armoured and with her sisters by her side, she felt she could achieve an end truly worthy of the Colony’s investment in her.
“FORWARD SISTERS!” she bellowed.
“WE SEEK!”
“DESTROY THE FILTH THAT ATTEMPTS TO DEFILE OUR PLATFORM! RAISE THE RELIQUARY HIGH! ADVANCE!”
There was no glorious charge, no headlong assault into the breach, for that would be assured destruction, which was apparently not allowed. Instead, the Immortals marched out in their armoured glory, onto the platform, and pushed themselves to the frontlines.
The Colony was fighting a fully defensive war, which made heavy-assault troops of limited use, but while the Eldest was asleep, the Immortals would place themselves between their siblings and the danger thate loomed all around. Indeed, they would put their bodies on the line to the point they were no longer able, finally freed from their burdens!
Leeroy could feel her spirit fortified by the blessed presence of the reliquary, and she gladly pushed herself in front, right in the heart of the monster assault.
What confronted her was a wall of mucus, sludge and vomit. It looked like heaven.
“Get behind me!” she declared before throwing herself in front of a wave of slime being spewed forth by a worm-slug five metres wide. Despite being as resistant to acid and toxin as the Colony could make it, her armour still steamed under the onslaught and some leaked through to burn into her carapace.
Leeroy embraced the pain, welcomed it. The first tick of HP she lost sent a thrill running down her antennae. She was going to do it. Today was the day!
Snapping her mandibles viciously, she gripped the worm and heaved, pulled it back into the cleansed mana before she used her body to pin it down. The wretched creature writhed like an eel, but she held it firm, even while it disgorged acidic slime that sizzled and burned. When the monster had finally burned away, she turned to seek the next challenge, a fire burning in her heart.
In her heart, but crucially not in her Phoenix Flame Organ! Normally, whenever she suffered, whenever she took damage, the cursed organ was there, filling up, gaining power, just waiting for her to finally collapse so it could release the pent up energy and bring her back from the brink.
No, it had been completely replaced within her body, she was freed from that abysmal, cursed organ.
Now she was a Fallen Zombie Soldier! No longer inflicted with the dreadful Phoenix Flame Organ, but blessed with the Eternal Zombie Fungus, whatever that was.
It didn’t matter to her.
A massive turtle monster reared up from the river of slime, mouth agape with six, leech-like tongues spitting parasites everywhere.
“I’ll get it!” cried every member of the Immortals in range.
With her advantage in size and strength, it was Leeroy who got there first. She shouldered her siblings aside before leaping at the monster, trying to ram her face into its gaping maw. What better way to stop the parasite assault?
Of course, that meant the wriggling worms tried to force their way into her head, but they were sadly rebuffed by her armour.
“Too weak!” she cursed.
Her head was too large to fit into the creature’s maw properly, so she withdrew and started chomping furiously at the beast. More Immortals joined the fray, throwing themselves bodily in harms way in order to drag the monster into the cleansed mana, where they could pin it down as it was cleansed.
As soon as it stopped moving, Leeroy leapt to her feet.
“THE SEARCH GOES ON SISTER’S!” she cried.
“WE SEEK!”
For hour after glorious hour it continued. Leeroy through herself at every enemy, no matter how wretched or foul. She shielded her siblings by putting her body in harm’s way time and time again, letting her armour and carapace be the bulwark between her sisters and harm.
They forced healing on, of course, which she begrudgingly endured, but even that wasn’t enough.
Her muscles ached and tore. Her armour was melted, dented and rent. Her helmet was split. Her carapace was gouged and scratched. Her HP… was falling lower and lower.
Many of her fellow Immortals had already been consumed by the cleansing fire. Dragged clear by the rest of the ants, they had arisen, fully rid of the toxic influence of the fifth and healed of all their injuries. Re-armoured, they were made to return to the fight fully fit and healthy, a dreadful state of affairs.
Leeroy’s heart wept for them, even as she rejoiced for herself. It wouldn’t be long now. She was right on the edge. Soon, the healers would demand she retreat for healing, but not quite yet. They didn’t know she could no longer revive, and so they would allow her to stay in the fight, even as she grew weaker and weaker.
This was her chance!
All she needed… was the right fight…
A shattering roar split the air as a massive monster breached the surface of the slime river. Formed of slug-like flesh, it reared up, virulent slime dripping from every inch of its body, and opened its maw wide. Row after row of serrated, needle sharp fangs bristled within, along with a burst of dense, toxic gas. The creature lumbered forward, propelled on two tree-thick stumps it used for arms and it’s long tail.
Leeroy… wept.
Comments
Jonathon Noha
WE SEEK MORE CHAPTERS
TheLostGolem
For real
DrDankness
I SEEK RESOLUTION
Moonspike
You fools! You are feeding the monster! He gains sustenance from our suffering.
Runaway_Cactuar
It's like watching a train crash in real time. I love it ❤️
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
alt31415
Or imagine as someoen else guessed... her Hp goes negative
alt31415
That'd be glorious
Anthony Romanov
"Long live" is such insult to Immortals
Anthony Romanov
WE SEEK!
DrDankness
I'm curious as to what Rinoz cooks with the Immortals. YOU HAVE BEEN TEASING US FOR OVER A MONTH NOW. PLEASE GIVE US SWEET RELEASE.
Ruwa
Willing to bet the fungus literally prevents her from dying and either starts to heal her when she reaches zero hp or just keeps her at zero but still alive
Zizawah
“Leeroy through herself ….” Should be “threw” Love your stories!!! Thanks so much!
Hayden Leech
Wonder if this zombie fungus can spread taking control of other life forms, basically giving Leroy minions to command. Last of us anyone?
Greyg
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, is an insect-pathogenic fungus. Self inflicted cordyceps turned into a symbiotic parasite keeping suicidal ants alive is just funny
Narasan
Leeroy "too stupid to die" jenkins. I would love a picture of her lying depressed on a battlefield, after victoriously failing to be defeated.
Buck
Could this be Leeroy’s long awaited moment of self-sacrifice?!! I think not. Long live the Immortals! TFTC!
Ether's Blessed One
Right the chapter for this evolution was 1509.
DagNabItAll
WE SEEK!
Kail311
I can't believe you'd cliffhang Leeroy's glorious death like this! Haven't they waited long enough!? Lol, but seriously, I wonder what the details of the zombie fungus organ are, obviously it's a revive of some kind but "zombie" implies undeath so maybe they continue to fight after reaching 0HP and can be healed later by laughing but still snarky medics.
Rick Delallata
That would be fantastic
Anthony Romanov
Zombies are known for absurd strength so I guess she will grow stronger as she becomes more zombiefied🧟🧟🧟
Ether's Blessed One
Oh you're going to weep Leeroy. But for what you were thinking. You can't die if you are already dead. Hahaha. I can already hear the Eldest's cackling. Gwehehehe.
Brian Pierce
It's gonna let her have negative health
