Chrysalis Chapter 1786 - It Just Doesn’t Stop

“Did Slizzl fail to handle the monster as we anticipated?” Thooza questioned, his voice trembling with unease.

For the umpteenth time that day, Fluzzl resolved that she’d make a meal of the incompetent slug at the earliest opportunity.

“I–” she sputtered, her composure fraying at the edges. “We’re both staring at the ant, aren’t we?”

How Thooza had navigated the brutal and perilous existence Krath endured from hatching remained a mystery. Nevertheless, despite how infuriating the slug was, Fluzzl’s true ire was directed at the ant, currently wreaking havoc and systematically destroying the Sludgeway, a vital artery her tribe had painstakingly constructed over a millennium.

“Has any news returned from the tribe?” she demanded, her tone sharp.

“We received word just a short while ago,” Thooza burbled. “They’ve instructed us to fall back to the chamber situated above.”

“And you’re only informing me now?” she hissed, molten fury mixing with the boiling acid in her veins.

“You tasked me with relaying messages to the scout slugs,” the smaller slug retorted, a flicker of his own annoyance surfacing.

Suppressing her temper with immense effort, Fluzzl swallowed her burning saliva and assessed their predicament. With the chaos escalating, the tunnels had descended into utter pandemonium. Faced with a colossal monster rampaging through the Sludgeway, she had expected immediate tribal intervention to neutralize the threat swiftly.

Upon further consideration, such a hasty response might prove disastrous. The Sludgeway passages were notoriously narrow and confined. Deploying a sufficient number of slugs to combat the ant effectively in such constricted spaces would be nearly impossible. Without a devastating, overwhelming barrage of firepower, the monster would simply regenerate, allowing it to continue its destructive path through the Sludgeway for days on end.

Perhaps, just perhaps, they had finally heeded her counsel.

“Very well,” she ground out. “Gather the remaining slugs and disseminate the order: we are relocating upwards. Ensure they understand the urgency. Once we depart, the ant will undoubtedly pursue us.”

“You believe it can track us?” Thooza asked, aghast.

“Obviously, it can!” she roared, her slender appendages flailing in her anger.

Swiftly, he managed to rally her loyal slugs and relay the critical message to the others within the Sludgeway tunnels: they were abandoning their post and retreating to the Slimeground chamber above.

Following her signal, the slugs moved in unison, ascending rapidly through the subterranean fissures. They utilized every evasive maneuver at their disposal to vacate the area, leaving the terrifying creature behind.

Exactly as Fluzzl had foreseen, the instant they vacated the tunnels, the ant’s attention shifted upwards. It paused, observing their ascent for a few moments before its powerful legs began to pound against the walls and its mandibles gnawed at the ceiling. They had less than an hour before it breached the Slimeground. The mere thought was chilling. The prospect of this venomous monstrosity burrowing its way into the secluded sanctuary of her tribe sent waves of scalding acid through her very being.

When she arrived at the Slimeground itself, a measure of her anxiety subsided. The Krath’lath had convened. Thousands of slugs were assembled in a vast circle, their gaze fixed upon the lowest depths of the Slimeground.

She located the tribe leader amidst a council of his most trusted and formidable warriors, positioned at the formation's heart.

“Krath’lath,” she reported, “the monster ascends behind us. Its arrival is imminent.”

Ferzzoz, a titan among slugs whose authority as Krath’lath had endured since before Fluzzl’s own hatching, acknowledged her words with a solemn nod.

“This creature regenerates more rapidly the more we assault it?” he inquired.

“Precisely.”

“Yet, it exhibited fear towards the Ancient’s Blessing?”

“It did.”

When they had unleashed the concentrated mana upon the ant, it had retreated in sheer panic.

“Understood,” the Krath’lath declared, his voice firm. “I abhor the notion of allowing the foul ant into my Slimeground, but if it is the price for its demise and the fulfillment of the Ancient’s will, I shall permit it.”

“Heed my words!” Ferzzoz boomed, his voice echoing across the assembled throng. “Prepare your arcane energies! The moment that wretched ant reveals itself, I want it submerged in an unholy deluge of filth, so potent it can dissolve the very essence of the fifth!”

With an unshakeable command over one of the most potent tribes within the fifth region, Ferzzoz’s decree was absolute. Instantly, the thousands of Krath mobilized, drawing upon the potent acid reserves cultivated within their bodies, poised to unleash its destructive force upon the monster the moment it appeared.

Sensing the nascent build-up of power, Fluzzl felt a surge of hope. Such a colossal concentration of mana would dwarf the feeble Doom Sphere she had previously hurled at the ant. There was no conceivable way it could withstand such an onslaught.

A palpable tension permeated the chamber as the Krath awaited their foe. There was no need for visual confirmation of the ant’s approach; its monstrous core pulsed with mana, radiating an intensity akin to a bonfire’s heat. Even without that, the seismic tremors that shook the cavern walls as it burrowed through the rock provided an unerring beacon for its location.

It was advancing… drawing ever closer.

Every one of the Krath became tense, ready to unleash their collected power the moment the creature's head appeared in the chamber. With such a vast amount of mana, it was likely the entire lower entrance to the Slimeground would be obliterated, along with a significant portion of the Sludgeway. A steep cost, but to fulfill the Ancient's wish and protect their territory, it was a price they had to be willing to pay.

Any second now… any second… any second…

Where in the world was the ant?!

Just before she could voice her thoughts, a brilliant beam of light erupted from below. It was narrow, no wider than a Krath, yet it shone with such intensity that it seared her eyes with pain.

“What is that?!” the Krath’lath roared, his voice thick with disbelief.

“It’s the ant!” she exclaimed. “It must have been hiding its mana!”

But what was its objective? She couldn't stare directly at the spell, yet she could discern that it wasn't targeting any of the assembled Krath. She herself was not enduring any negative effects, apart from a temporary blindness. There had to be a reason behind this action?

“Release your magic!” the Krath’lath commanded thunderously. “Destroy it!”

As the members of the tribe unleashed their power, Fluzzl gazed upward, far above, towards the very ceiling of the Slimeground.

The beam was diligently carving a deep opening into the roof.

“NO,” she uttered with a hiss.

When the beam abruptly ceased, she instantly observed the first traces of mucus beginning to descend. This was quickly followed by an overwhelming torrent.