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Chapter 1061 - Colliding Waves pt 4
🕑 Added 2022-10-21 09:18:43 +0000 UTCThe Queen recoiled as the heat flared, searing her carapace and burning her sensitive antennae and eyes. The demon roared, tongues of flame lashing the flair as healing magic flowed over the Queen once again.
Around them, the Colony and demons continued their ongoing battle. Dramatically outnumbered, the demons struggled to make any headway against the massed ranks of ants who bombarded them with acid and spells, yet the arrival of the tier seven demon had complicated the situation to no end.
Advant ground her mandibles in frustration as the stalemate continued. The Queen could withdraw if she wanted, even a tier seven wouldn’t be able to punch through the formation they’d assembled before she managed to get away, but the burning aura the monster projected was a wonderful counter to the Colony’s numbers.
If their mother was to fall back, it would cost thousands of lives to bring this demon down without her. So she stayed. Yet it was difficult for the ants to support her in this battle. So potent was the fire that emanated from the demon, even Advant couldn’t get within fifty metres of it without beginning to take serious damage.
If she were to draw near enough to actually bite it, she would likely be burnt to a crisp a few seconds later. And would she even damage it?
The only reason the Queen had been able to hold on was due to her healing magic, but that had a limit.
“Mother! We need to retreat!” she implored the Queen once more.
The Queen didn’t look down.
“I will not allow my children to die in my place,” she said calmly.
“If we take any longer, then even more powerful demons may rise from the depths! If that happens, then we all will die.”
If the tier eight demons climbed out of that hole in the ground, then maybe not even an army of hundreds of thousands of ants would be able to defeat them. Certainly, the Queen would refuse to leave, probably ordering them to flee while she tried to buy time, but she would fall instantly.
Then Advant and her siblings would charge in to avenge her, leading to innumerable casualties.
She desperately cast her thoughts about, trying to find some way to avert this disaster. All around her, her siblings fought against the demons who continued to rise from below in a neverending tide.
Artillery spells and huge blasts of acid rained down from above, wreaking havoc amongst the demon ranks, yet still that burning demon stood tall. The unnaturally searing heat that surrounded it acted as a perfect shield against acid attacks, evaporating even the most dense barrage with ease. Their spells also seemed to do less than they should, as if the flame burned their mana away.
A sufficiently dense and powerful enough spell would surely punch through, but the Eldest wasn’t here to deliver their strange, horrific purple spell.
She couldn’t hesitate any longer. Advant made her decision.
“We will charge together,” she told the Queen. “We must defeat the demon as quickly as possible and then retreat in good order.”
“You mustn’t,” the Queen said, “the heat will destroy you.”
“I will not stand by and let you die in my place, just as much as you won’t allow me to do the same. So we go together, and whatever happens, happens. Are you ready?”
The mother of the Colony wasn’t happy about it, but she could see the sense in her daughter’s words.
“Very well, child,” she said. “Gather the others behind me and I will shield them as best I can.”
Advant bit back her protest and nodded. This was as good a compromise as she would get, so she would take it.
“Quickly!” she called the others, spreading her scent as wide as she could. “Gather behind the Queen! We will charge the monster and overwhelm it so the Colony can retreat. Somebody contact the mages and coordinate their artillery with our charge.”
As efficient as ever, the ants scrambled into position with their customary rapidity. In less than a minute, the long range firepower was being concentrated on the giant demon as the ants formed a column behind the Queen.
“Stay close to me children,” the Queen said, her scent determined. “I will shield you from harm.”
“FOR THE COLONY!” Advant roared.
“FOR THE QUEEN!” The others roared back, their collective pheromones spreading like a tidal wave across the ant horde.
Once more the flame-wreathed demon bellowed its fury. Heat radiated from the beast beyond that of a hundred smelters, enough to sear and crack even the Queen’s thick carapace.
The space between the charging ants and the roaring demon flickered.
A giant ant appeared, sprawling onto the ground and sending thousands of demon larvae flying as it skidded to a halt, face buried in the rock.
“Holy moly!” the Eldest groaned. “Brilliant, are my insides back on my inside?”
“I - I think so, Eldest,” a small ant said, gripping onto the back of the other for dear life. “At least mine are.”
“Didn’t you say this would be safe?”
“I didn’t not say it wouldn’t be unsafe.”
“... I’m going to throw you in Invidia’s mouth and leave you there for a hundred years,” the Eldest declared flatly. “In fact, a hundred might not be enough.”
The little ant waved an antennae weakly in protest.
“I don’t think you quite appreciate what an incredible feat I just achieved… Eldest. Most would say I have done… the impossible.”
“Just get off of me would you? I feel like my guts are about to be yanked out of my eyeballs.”
The little ant released its grip, rolled to the side and thudded into the ground.
“Good enough.”
The Eldest groaned as they forced themselves to their feet, then gave their antennae a quick clean.
“Right then. Mother, wonderful to see again. Have you been well?”
One of the Queen’s antenna twitched and the giant ant, far larger than the mother, flinched backward.
“Just trying to be polite! Show some respect and all that. Okay, deal with the demons first, chat later. I get it.”
The enormous, dark coloured ant turned itself to face the fiery demon.
“You guys can leave now,” the Eldest said. “This won’t take long.”
“Are you sure?” Advant asked. “You are the same tier. Shouldn’t we work together to bring it down?”
The Eldest chuckled, the scent of amusement spreading far and wide.
“I mean, technically you are helping just by being here. How many of us are around here right now?”
“Maybe two hundred thousand.”
The Eldest crouched down, bracing its legs, then exploded forward. The rock cracked under the force, sending shards flying as the giant ant rocketed forwards.
Mandibles peeled back, glowing with terrible purpose.
The demon screamed in rage, then brought both arms down as the air itself ignited and burned.
The jaws closed.
Advant couldn’t describe it later when asked. A terrible silence fell upon them. Then a terrible roar.
And the demon was gone.
Comments
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Grey Knight Lord
According to Granin when a monster not expected to get far makes it they are rewarded for it. Tiny is the first Lightning Fist Ape to make it to tier 6 and now seven. Mythic core plus that, Tiny become strong bat monke.
Grey Knight Lord
According to Anthony Grokus had a core just barely better than Anthony. Grokus must have been like many demons to not get perfect core early as a larva. Unless a demon like Invidia who was raised as a larva by Golgari expert shapers, their potential suffers.
Grey Knight Lord
So slow.
Grey Knight Lord
Tier 6 according to Granin is the tip of the ice berg. Where Monsters start to transcend.
Koala Man
I’m keen to see what she goes for in her next suite of upgrades, full war queen style
MrrC
She's no longer strong enough for the threats the colony faces
LuffyBR
Indeed you have a great point. Chances are high of you being right.
LuffyBR
Didn' t remember, thanks
Koala Man
It was so close with The Queen , I’m guessing The Queen is going to go for upgrades next.
ZaneofBane
Silence and then a roar is how the gravity bomb's always been described. So, I don't think it's a doom chomp alone. I suspect he's able to infuse his mandibles with enough gravity magic now to emulate a gravity bomb.
Marter
Yeeees mooore iii neeed🧿
LuffyBR
Grokus was a T7. Also, remember that demons turn intelligent at tier 6. This means that they can plan their evolution, differently of when they were dumb. In some chapter was stated that Grokus mutations were at max in T7 and that he knew that this would make his next evolution stronger. Furthermore, Grokus gave Anthony a run for his money exactly because his core was stronger, Anthony himself senses that. Not by much, but it was stronger.
Rahsheem Reid
Yeah I agree. After reading again it’s written like Anthony wont be working hard w the t7 demon.
Rahsheem Reid
The statement still stands no matter the affinity Anthony could very well make it so the decay/rot is not affecting his crew.
Pastor Joubert
Ima junkie, I need my gravity magic fix
Nathan Quitugua
True but demons also just get insanely bad after a couple of tiers just on species traits alone. The grudge demon and grokus are fairly decent examples. Considering grokus gave Anthony a run for his money and they were both T6 at the time right? Or was Grokus a T7?
David Burchfield
Ya it has been specified that because of the way things work on the 3rd stratum very few if any Demons have optimized cores.
Navdeep Sugandhi
mandibles, inner plating are also gravity related
Greyg
Tier 7 demon food pellet
LuffyBR
If I am not wrong, tiers mean little in power, what really matters is the core strength. Tier only indicates how many evolutions a creature had, and this generally determines the strength, but one thing is still different from the other. That is why by a bunch of factors (perfect evolutions and etc...) we have someone like Anthony that is far above average.
KingGoomba
My theory based on those last couple lines. Anthony can now do a black hole suction and ate the demon whole
LuffyBR
Yeah, I am seeing some people saying about grav chomp, but I think it was just void chomp + a boost in the skill provided by the Altar of Self.
LuffyBR
6? I remember the mana gland, main brain, carapace and antenna. What are the other two?
Gonvas
With 6 organs related with gravity his chances have increased greatly.
Grey Knight Lord
It was stated that when a monster has many types of mutation that have a certain mana type they More likely to get the affinity. Now with three Gravity mutations let’s hope.
Victor Desantiago
Ha! The queen was going to wack him and he got scared. Better fight demons than angered mother
Nathan Quitugua
True...but I thought the mythic grade was more or less geared towards rating core strength and not really tier
Grey Knight Lord
Anthony is a Mythic rank monster. That demon most likely is not one.
Kale Daley
I hope he gets access to actual gravity magic this tier. His current applications of the mana type are cool enough with access to its full abilities it should be awesome 😎
Gonvas
No Nathan. This is what we know so far: 1st stratum doesn't have a specific mana affinity. 2nd stratum has shadow and death mana. 3rd stratum fire and ash mana. 4th stratum life mana. 5th stratum decay, rot and decomposition mana.
Nathan Quitugua
Ehh...I think that's shadow mana. But every so often it probably births a creature from that strata just cause it's somewhat similar. But I think the stratums are non-specific for the 1st, shadow for the 2nd, fire for the 3rd and life for the 4th... and if the pattern goes... its death mana for the 5th
Gonvas
Death mana is from the 2nd stratum xD
Andrick
Additionally, he overloads his core. The other tier seven may be just a normal tier 7 this would potentially make Anthony several tiers greater. I’m not sure how it goes. Is it Normal, rare, special, something then mythic? 🤷🏾
Nathan Quitugua
True...but he also forced them to undergo maxed evolutions as well. Im pretty sure the pets he has are probably the apex examples for thier species.
Samuel Lim
Pseudo tier 8
Elmithian
His boost from the colony is also probably raising his actual stats up to potentially mid tier 8
Elmithian
Remember, he is getting an INSANE boost from the colony itself. Remember the organs he has that specifically gives him power the more ants or believers are around.
Rahsheem Reid
I imagine titus cursing very loudly when he gets news of all this. I also imagine Granin giving a long whistle when Anthony is finished evolving.
Rahsheem Reid
Lol might of just been dash and doom chomp
Rahsheem Reid
Interesting too see that he is so so so so op. Once tiny and crew hit t7 that is going to be interesting. Especially in the 5th. Anthony having mastery over gravity would be a huge help in walking around if he can push the death mana out of his atmosphere.
Nathan Quitugua
Well...now we all know that Anthony isn't even at peak t7 right now and can absolutely paste another t7 with little difficulty. His growth from the system is exponential with each tier on top of the extra growth from trying to perfect each stage beforehand and pushing past his limits for each one. Then add in the bonus for being an ant species.
Rahsheem Reid
Gravity mandible? Oh wowzerss
Ian Jones
He just popped up and decided to do a disappearing act on a tier 7 demon. Solid execution
Gonvas
Holy sh*t
Koala Man
😳 gravity bomb chomp , I’m loving the sneak peaks at Anthony, it’s Heaps fun
Nicholas Pankratz
Anthony showing his POWAH!!! Love that Brilliant was able to bring him so swiftly in to save the day. She truly is a smart little cookie
wave_emoji
Thanks 🌊
