RinoZ
patreon
Chapter 1191 - Old Dogs, Old Tricks pt 3
🕑 Added 2023-07-07 07:29:22 +0000 UTC“Wipe that grin off your face,” Titus muttered.
“What grin?”
“That grin. It’s unprofessional. The troops expect a little more decorum from a Consul.”
“I’m not Consul any more,” Minerva responded, “so if I want to express my happiness, then I will.”
Titus rolled his eyes. A small part of him had hoped that the dignity Minerva had cultivated in the highest office in the Legion would have rubbed off on her, but alas, it did not appear to be the case. The moment she was freed from the responsibilities, pomp and ceremony attached to the role, she had reverted back to her more relaxed ways.
Part of him loved her for that, the part that viewed her as his wife and the mother of his children. The part of him famed for its iron disciplinarianism found it endlessly frustrating.
She got away with it due to being one of the best fighters ever to pull on a suit of Legionary armour.
“Fine, just make sure you’re sharp when we get out there,” he growled.
She rolled her eyes.
“You’re telling me to make sure I’m sharp? You haven’t sortied in two decades! I was out yesterday.”
“That’s why you’ll need to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to pick up the slack. It’s only the two of us going out, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll be counting on you to cover for my lapses then. I’ll be in your hands, Commander,” he snapped out a brisk salute and got punched in the arm for his trouble.
“So what else is new?” Minerva grinned. “Go jump into your old bucket of bolts and I’ll meet you out there.”
“Bucket of bolts?” he sputtered.
The Indomitable might have seen better days, but it certainly didn’t deserve to be disparaged like that!
“I prefer to call it ‘reliable and battle tested’”, he said sagely, but Minerva wasn’t listening, already having jogged down the armoury toward her own suit of Praetorian armour.
Unlike him, who had requested his old gear, Minerva had been more than happy to jump into a new berserker model. Adaptability was simply another of her strengths.
“Heading out for real this time?” Engineer Griner noted as he started to help Titus prep. A last second check over the armour, ensuring there were no obvious flaws, as well as a quick look over Titus himself. Exposure to the sort of mana levels that were needed to operate the Praetorian suits could have a devastating effect on a soldier, and the signs could appear out of nowhere.
When everything was cleared, Titus nodded in thanks and climbed up the back of the suit, sliding inside and closing it behind him. After a few moments to acclimate, he knocked on the side with his knuckles and moments later felt the burning cold of liquid mana running down his back and rising from between his toes.
A mix of nerves and anticipation rose in Titus as he felt the power rushing through his veins. Many times during the long years he had spent on the surface, he had yearned for this, but now that the moment was here, he felt a little trepidation. There was no help for it though, he was committed.
Not for the first time, he wondered why Minerva had used her authority to drag him back down here. Was it really just because she yearned for the good old days, the two of them fighting shoulder to shoulder in the depths? Or was there something else that she wanted?
Titus was under no illusions that he would be able to perform as well as he could in his prime. He may have gained a great deal of experience and levels since the last time he’d fought this deep, but very little of that was relevant to the type of combat engaged down here. The vast majority of the soldiers he met in the mess or passed in the halls were younger and hungrier than he. Deep down, he hoped he would still be useful.
As the liquid mana reached his neck, he knocked on the side and the flow reduced to a trickle and then stopped. After several deep breaths, he pressed his face to the plate and submerged his consciousness into the metal.
The Indomitable came alive as the will of the Commander suffused it. The right hand of the armour reached out to grasp the enormous metal axe standing beside it, Titus’ own weapon embedded in a slot on its side.
The demon contained within raged within the larger, Abyssal Iron weapon, thirsting for violence and blood.
With the left, the armour grasped hold of a weighty shield, embossed with filigree and the emblem of the Legion. Titus took a few steps to steady himself, then braced his weapons and moved to exit the armoury.
Again, most of the suits were already out, having sortied several hours ago, and Titus felt glad that he would no longer be taking up space without doing his share of the fighting. When he reached the exit, the port was already down, revealing Minerva’s berserker suit waiting for him outside.
“About time,” she remarked, twirling her twin blades in her armoured hands. “I was about to go hunting without you.”
“Then what would be the point dragging me down here?” Titus growled as he stomped out of the armoury and down onto the ground. Immediately, his eyes were treated to a sight he’d not seen for many years.
Glittering caverns of sparkling steel, molten iron that ran like rivers, trees of shimmering diamond, and above all, the oppressive weight that pressed against him.
“Welcome back to the seventh, darling,” Minerva teased.
Comments
Koala Man
and above all, the oppressive weight that pressed against him. ,, it’s a good hint at a gravity lvl
alt31415
Not to mention that each strata of the dungeon is A) a lot more dangerous and B) much bigger than the previous ones. I think it is, indeed, quite impressive.
Celeria Rosencroix
I concur. There's no reason to conclude that this is anywhere near their deepest point. It just happens to be where the two were stationed after years of inactivity. The fact that the two of them were placed on the 7th during a Wave is credit to the level of respect that they receive from the (new) Top Brass, but it doesn't indicate anything other than that's where they're comfortable placing their top level people while they get the rust off of them.
Greyg
It’s unlikely they haven’t ventured deeper just establishing a lasting presence on a floor is daunting some floors are so difficult no one even tries like with demon cities (they evacuate when it’s dangerous no one tries to build a lasting presence) or the poison/rot. The legion likely dives deeper on a crusade when no wave is happening (the wave creates a need to be defensive). No one has stated the legion doesn’t have deeper bases this is simply a base on the seventh we have little scope on the true size/depth of the planet or the legion or the other races said to live deep like the sophos. We know the legion dislikes the sophos and has tried to eradicate them and others so i assume the legion has dived deeper in pursuit of those civilizations.
ManguKing
I dunno why, but I don't find it that impressive that the deepest the legion has made it is down to the seventh.
alt31415
I mean, if the theory that Gandalf is actually Oden, Father of Monsters (and possible the first Ancient ever) holds, he might be fine. Gandalf/Oden doesn't seem to mind his sass too much.
stubs
diamond is formed from carbon submitted to intense pressure. Ofc being a fantasy setting it can be completely unrelated as well, and level four had diamond centipedes too.
alt31415
... how does diamond make you think gravity? If anything it makes me think of that Living Mountain ancient.
stubs
maybe, maybe not. The diamond trees made me think that
Greyg
Doubt it
stubs
Looks like 7th level is a gravity level
Riley, Glutton of All the Foods
As I mentioned previously, this is chapter 1191, and the chapter before this is 1190.
JollyRodger
Yep,... it's hard to argue that logic. Considering that some of the ancients may have only woken up a couple times since the last cataclysm, what's not long for an immoral? I'm more concerned about how Anthony will act towards the ancients when he finally meets them. His disrespect towards them is growing currently, openly mocking them, the more he is pulled down strata
alt31415
Well, 'there isn't much time' might need to be taken with a grain of salt coming from the uber-ancient... uh, ancients. "There isn't much time; you only have a mere fifty years to do what we want!"
Celeria Rosencroix
I understand what you are saying, but the urgency with which the Ancients are pushing for another member and the fact that Granin suggested things were accelerating rapidly make me feel that it will be soon. I certainly won't say that it will be *super* soon, but "there isn't much time" is something that's been coming up a lot, recently.
alt31415
I don't think there's any CHANCE the Ancients reach the surface in the 4th wave or even the 5th wave. This current one is just enough for a few of them to even wake up. Hell, Anthony with his much weaker core could barely manage the 2nd stratum mid-wave.
Celeria Rosencroix
Not 100% sure, but my guess would be the 9th Stratum. If that is the case, there's a good chance that we'll actually see them at the end of this "Old Dogs, Old Tricks" series, which would seem appropriate, given the fact that they are probably not going to reach the surface during *this* Wave, but might during the next one.
Celeria Rosencroix
During the flashback chapters that saw witness to the assault on the Mother Tree.
alt31415
JFC how deep ARE the Ancients?!
Rahsheem Reid
When did we see that armor on the 4th?
Celeria Rosencroix
To be fair, I think that if a more seasoned legion had actually been sent in, the Colony would not have been able to stand up to their forces in that first confrontation. Titus was noting that apparently the lack of experience on his troops parts was resulting in unnecessary casualties and losses in momentum as he was watching from the command post, and if he had actually been able to properly participate in that battle, there certainly would have been no chance the Colony would have survived. It was a very close thing, even as things turned out *with* his hands being tied. Even though the attack on the first gate took a lot out of him, if he'd been able to go back out and do the same to the second, the fighting would have been pushed deep into the nest, at the very least, and even the Colony (or Anthony in particular, I think) were of the opinion they simply couldn't bring the proper numbers to confront the Legion in the more confined spaces that tunnel fighting would have entailed, given how robust the Legion's defensive game was. But I do agree that after that point it became much more unlikely for the Old Races to be able to bring enough to bear to take the Colony on, that high in the Dungeon. The Legion in particular is stretched far too thin to realistically do all that much in such a confrontation, and given their focus on the lower layers, none of the Old Races will be able to put priority on higher level security in much the same way. I *do* think that if The Colony were to attack an actual settlement on the 4th, though, they'd get an anvil dropped on them. There is no way that they could currently get away with, for example, attacking the twin cities that represent humanity's Heart Gold and Soul Silver capitals (though it is implied that eventually the lower city of the two will fall to them, or to a coalition that includes them, given The Dungeon War may well be a World War between the Old Races and the New; such things are unclear and shrouded in the mists of far off possibility, though: it'll be multiple decades in the future that those events happen, and perhaps even half a century, given the journal entry from a general who is commenting on those events, 35 years into said war, and the fact that no major conflict seems to be happening during Tolly's time).
Celeria Rosencroix
Yeah, it's sortof looking like each of the strata (or at least all of those after the 1st) are somehow influenced or themed based on one of the Ancients. The 5th was specifically noted to have been, earlier in the story, and it's even suggested that it used to have mana of an entirely different sort, before it was corrupted. I wonder if it's actually entirely the case that the Ancients are influencing those strata, though, or if it wouldn't be more correct to suggest that the strata determined to some extent what the Ancients would become, given they had to have spawned *somewhere.* I mean, I don't think the Demon God, Arconidem, necessarily terraformed the 3rd to shape it to his liking. It's probably more the case that he was just the most powerful demon to emerge during the earliest points in that layer's history, and because he got an Altar, he was able to shape the existences of the trillions of demons that spawned there from that point forward.
Celeria Rosencroix
Praetorian Armor has been demonstrated to be able to be used at least on the 4th. I would suspect that's the upper limit, though with the way the soldiers inside them are essentially drowning in mana, it's hard to say. They probably get more powerful as they go further down, as well, though, given the way legion suits work: they absorb the ambient mana like monsters and run more efficiently the higher the amount of mana available, unless the suit's mana circuits are at capacity (in which case they will have to be occupied with venting mana, presumably causing a disruption that could be deadly mid-fight). Given this is a Wave, it should be noted that the seventh is almost certainly far more deadly than it otherwise would be, by the way. Most likely, you should actually assume that the monster activity would be more comparable to the 8th or even the upper-most parts of the 9th, so their *actual* potential for fighting monsters in those things must be insane. Monsters at coming from lower strata obviously have a major advantage, but given the compounding nature of power in spawns and higher tier monsters at lower levels, I'd say it's *probably* the case that normal monsters of 1st through 3rd tier on the 7th have equivalent power and durability to a 5th or 6th tier from the 3rd, with 4th or 5th tier being where monsters of 7th through 8th tier from that stratum would sit. Given this is a Wave, they will have to be *constantly* fighting those monsters, and given it's only the two of them, they will have to be comfortable killing them en masse. Given that fact, and the fact it is likely the case that there will be more powerful monsters from lower levels or monsters that have already evolved from previous waves that will be showing up randomly out there because they either want to get more powerful or want to flee to higher levels for safety, the two of them are *probably* capable of comfortably facing a monster equivalent to of a Perfect 7th or 8th tier evolution from the 1st through 3rd tier in a one on one fight, and could kill one with relative ease by working together, though I suspect if they faced a 6th or 7th tier either naturally from the 7th or from the 8th, they might have to flee until they have the reinforcements required to assure their safety via overwhelming numbers. Considering the power scaling of the series, then, I would have to say that either of them would *at least* around as powerful as Anthony is, presently, though I am not sure they'd have anywhere near the endurance he has. It is quite possible they'd be capable of beating him as far as attack potency is concerned, and I suspect that Minerva would, at this point, have a good shot at beheading Anthony before he got a chance to react (though he has a lot of defensive features that would at least *attempt* to prevent that). All of the above is obviously going to be somewhat premature, insofar as we haven't actually seen them fight as of yet; however, given the way that monster evolution and strata material bias work, I think all of my considerations are reasonable and conservative. It's quite possible that they are actually even more powerful than I have suggested, and that they *could* actually be fighting in the 8th if they weren't both rusty from multiple years of not being as deep as they could be and not operating their highest end gear. In which case, they would have to be something like 10-100 times as powerful as my estimation above would suggest (or, at the very least, they would have to have been in when they were in their prime).
Jac Onue
They most likely can beat tier 8 demons at the 7th strata. The bigger question is, can they use the praetorians in the higher stratas (like the 3rd)?
Stile The Fashionable
If they stood no chance they would have been dead already. The legion tried & failed. They basically have a ceasefire. they gain more causality with each sorte with the limited men they have as not many people survive the mana bath. They don't get many volunteers. The lizards tried too but failed twice. & after this wave, the ants will be a full force of reckoning. Don't forget that Smithant is uncovering the Legion armor enchantments. They already caught up it's a matter of surpassing.
Thunderhoof
I'm not talking about anything. I'm asking if they can beat the tier 8 demons. I mean does being in the 7th strata makes them the hot stuff? Or are they just fighting low level monsters in the 7th.
Gopard
Huh? What are you talking about? This is the LEGION not the "Colony" if you're reffering to the chapter where Torrifex(the first of the tier 8 demons) "destroyed a fortress", that was NOT the Legion either! It was some other faction something connected to some kind of Academy of magic or something, I think! (The last bit I'm not 100% certain, so to figure WHO EXACTLY Torrifex murdered there you'd have to go back to the chapter it happened in...!) :)
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter!
Zerdiron
Yeah but they can't bring their Big hitter this high, with mana density. The colony is fairly safe against equivalent tier.
Thunderhoof
Bruh. They're at the 7th but can they beat 3 tier 8 Demons?
Grey Knight Lord
It has always been naive. The Colony still stands no chance against the old races and factions. They are speed running while everyone else have been building up over centuries. They are deep in the dungeon while the Colony is still playing on the first 4 strata’s.
Koala Man
Oooooh
Jayson Legott
Damn…the seventh! Maybe asking for a full confrontation between The Colony and The Legion is a bit naive at the moment.
Grey Knight Lord
1st Strata: Land of Beasts 2nd Strata:Sea of Shadow 3rd Strata: Demons 4th Strata: Life 5th Strata Toxin 6th Strata: Unknown 7th Strata: The Strata touched by Rigorite The Mountain Breaker.
