Chapter 681 - The Siege pt 26 (1/2)

RAGE! RAAAAAAGE! That d.a.m.ned worm! How could he do this to us?! After everything we did for him?! He's food. FOOD I TELL YOU! If I ever get my mandibles on that worm I'll feed him to the larvae myself! The mere thought of the brood being destroyed by the golgari makes the mana in my body boil like the lava I'm spitting out of my mouth. He let them in to the egg-laying chamber?! With MOTHER?!

I'm so d.a.m.ned angry I'm going blind! I'm going to bust a vein at this rate! Is that even something I can do? Perhaps I'll be able to manifest it out of sheer anger, at this rate, I can believe I'll make it happen.

I channel my anger into the only positive avenue I have available to me. Chomping like a fiend and blasting my enemies with bolts of lava to the face! All I get in exchange is about seventeen sword strikes to the carapace and I think someone kicked me… Since Vibrant and her crew had to take off, things have gotten tense here at this gate, and when I say tense, I mean, real tense. The Legion is pus.h.i.+ng us hard and the ant line has been driven back to within the shadow of the gate. Spells and arrows are smacking into the grand metal structure already, but so far the enchantments are holding steady and there's been minimal damage.

”Come on you slackers! Are you trying to live forever?!” an ant bellows from nearby.

”Victor! What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?!” I cry.

”Trying to sh.o.r.e up the line! We diverted a portion of the troops from the other front to here, but they haven't been able to make up the difference. We need to go harder!”

I check my menu for a second. I'm getting constantly topped off with healing, pumping my regeneration gland on cool down and the Vestibule replenis.h.i.+ng my energy. With all of the ants in the nest providing me with a portion of energy, I've been able to push well beyond the normal limits of my body, but even that has a limit. I've been chomping and throwing my weight around out here for a long time and I'm starting to feel it.

[Tiny! You got much left in the tank big guy?]

The giant ape has been giving his all in the fight since the very beginning and to be honest I'm not even sure how he's still out here swinging. In reply to my query, the exhausted and battered bat-faced gorilla flashes me a grin full of fire before he throws out another fist. I mean fist literally now, since he's long been out of the stamina required to activate his skills properly. His hands are a b.l.o.o.d.y mess by this point, but he doesn't flinch as he crunches his knuckles into the s.h.i.+elds of the enemy over and over again.

[Crinis?]

[I'm running low on my reserves of shadow flesh, Master! They've been targeting my limbs whenever they can see them.]

Dammit.

[Keep pus.h.i.+ng but don't take too many risks. I can't afford for you to take permanent damage.]

[You're taking damage…]

[What was that?]

[…]

That's what I thought. I let Crinis sulk on her own as she continues to operate as best she can. The Legion are a terrible matchup for her and she's done far more than I expected of her at this point. Instead of trying to saw the enemy apart, she's been disrupting as much as she possibly can, sneaking her tentacles out into the enemy ranks and grabbing ankles, shoving legs, doing whatever she can to blunt the offensive and help the front line hold up.

As I continue to battle with the Legionaries in front of me I feel another wash of healing flow over my carapace from behind as the healer who's been with me throughout the battle pops her head up once more.

”How's it looking?” she asks through the ma.s.s of scents.