(43)

(43)

Nestra reveled in the slaughter. She tore through soldier ants while they were stuck maneuvering to box her in. She knew how they fought. If the foe was fast, they would first try to position themselves better to come on from all directions. She knew it, and played with it, but they didn’t. They couldn’t learn. They lacked the reason that made fights with Fox Mask so fun. It was the second patrol now that didn’t require her to use momentum because they were just that predictable. The next acid ant aborted its attack rather than hitting its comrade, which let Nestra close in for the kill. She dodged the charge of a bulldozer ant before striking its abdomen. Blueish lymph exploded from the wound.

She wasn’t sure what to call those. They were the size of a minibus and armored at the front. Charger ants? Siege ants? Brute ants? Maybe charger ant was okay. She dodged its awkward mandible strike as she killed the last two warriors. Chargers really struggled with lateral attacks.

She dropped under another strike, then jumped on the beast's head. A downward execution destroyed its brain.

It fell dead with a loud thud. Once again, victory was hers. It wasn’t a very good one but that was fine. Delayed gratification!

“Now where was that scout?”

The deep jungle of Varang guild’s portal world buzzed with activity. The smells were all over the place, but at least the stifling heat didn’t bother her at all anymore. She batted a large red wasp to focus on her quest.

She needed herself some of that stinky pheromone for her master plan.

***

The hive was under attack. The ants knew it because of the many trails carrying the scent of alarm. Scents were their speech, and the words carried by many trails spoke of death. Many deaths. A few subtle touches spoke of a bipedal intruder with a very sharp tooth, who wielded magic. Other details were scarce.

Like a single entity, the ants left their tunnels to wage war upon the invaders. They gathered in legions of warriors protecting squads of acid throwers, in turn supporting mighty chargers. Their paths carried them out of the dense forest and into the ancient section, where the sun could almost be seen above the giant boughs of ancient trees. The light gained a grayish quality. Sometimes, the bark of those titanic trunks bore deep claw marks.

Still, the stench of scout hemolymph nudged them forward. Eventually, they came across a strange shape covered in thick air. Snores made the ground vibrate. It was huge, several times as high as a large charger while still lying on its side. Humans knew that creature as Deathpaw, one of the city’s deadliest sub-guardians.

The pheromones led here.

The ants attacked.

***

Nestra watched the battle unfold from her hiding spot far above ground. Chargers managed to catch the massive owl bear creature in the small of the back, and the cataclysmic shock made her think it might have been rendered paralyzed. It was not. The creature, though in pain, bounced to its feet. With a roar of fury that could be heard across the portal world, it lay into its attackers. Limbs flew. White ichor covered the ground as the creature carved a path of devastation across the open ground.

Nestra wasn’t getting any energy despite being the instigator here. That was fine. She’d been maxed out after the fourth patrol anyway, though interestingly, each ant subspecies had brought something different. Awareness for the scouts, acid resistance for the acid ants, power and physical resistance for the chargers, all of the ants also provided some measure of toxin resistance as she’d been expecting. This part of the jungle had a lot of poisonous stuff in so she’d been hoping they were poison related. If not, she would have just looked for another species.

But not the whip scorpion. Fuck that thing. Ambushes were fine, but throwing its babies at her face? Gross. Rude. They weren’t even cooked yet.

Speaking of sub-guardians, the owl bear was absolutely wrecking the ant army. Nestra judged it was a very weak B-class, yet even covered in foes and bleeding through its resilient fur, she knew it could just squish her down with a hand. She wasn’t fast enough to reliably avoid it yet.

It was kind of exciting. She really wanted to kill it, though she was taking a big risk sneaking into portals nowadays. She would return here though, one day. Maybe even legally if the guild accepted. They tended to be very protective of their portals, but it was the second time in a row both of those sub guardians had been ignored. Maybe there was a possibility here.

Nestra turned and raced towards the nest. She already had her target for this raid.

***

Finding the nest wasn’t that hard considering it was a massive earth mound in the middle of a gap in the forest, all the nearby trees having been reduced to dry, mangled trunks. The sky above was blue-gray. Its strong light had baked the packed earth into a cracked mountain covered in strange excretions. It was half a daunting, gothic citadel and half a huge pile of shit.

Now to get inside. From her vantage point near a ruined branch, Nestra could spot several monumental entrances even now swarming with workers and various combat models. If the entrance portal was south west of this here and the exit far to the east, then the anthill’s main entrance aimed south while the eastern gates saw the most activity, as that was the direction of the owl bear’s lair.

Meanwhile, the north and western sides had much less traffic and Nestra knew why: that was where the boundaries of the world made foraging more difficult. Maybe. She wasn’t sure about portal ant ecology. In any case, that was as good an entrance path as any.

Nestra cloaked herself in shadows, her Skin growing a diaphanous cloak to blur her form. It would help but not much. Ants relied too much on their sense of smell. According to manuals she’d found online, there were only two ways to assault a hive: the turtle mode with an earth mage as support, or the sudden strike option. That was practically Nestra’s middle name. Nestra Sudden Strike Palladian, the top-level financial auditor and ant hunter extraordinaire.

Very pleased with herself, Nestra slowly moved across the clearing, making sure to stay high to avoid being spotted. She progressively moved lower across desolate branches. Fortunately, the ants didn’t seem to have good eyes, or at least they didn’t react to her presence. They lacked flying predators, for sure, or they’d be more careful.

Nestra found the entrance she wanted. Even though the traffic was as slow as it would get, there was still a regular stream of creatures heading in and out, carrying anything from fruit and carcasses to large leaves. This was it. As good a spot as any.

Nestra jumped. She hit the dirt at a dead sprint, pushing forward past the stream of workers. Most of them seemed to ignore her but she didn’t stay to check. This world’s sun beat on her back like a physical weight until she dove into the cavern. Immediately, darkness returned, and the air smelled of the pungent musk of ants rather than dry dust. The walls were wet dirt covered in secretions that adhered to it like glue, solidifying into an organic mortar. It was mildly disgusting. She didn’t slow down. There were warriors in the next chamber, but she was past them before they could react, down a path that led down.

She just kept running. Eventually, there was some sort of alarm with workers scrambling here and there, but by then she’d found what she was looking for: an egg.

A large, bacille-shaped transparent orb as large as her arm. A shadow rested in its crystalline depths. It was carried by a worker emerging from a downward tunnel. This was it: the grand prize of her resistance-grinding expedition.

The path to the queen.

Nestra rushed ahead. The tunnel she was following descended in a slow spiral into the bowels of this world. It was narrow enough that she only came across workers and the odd surprised warrior, but soon a new problem emerged: a green mist that covered everything. It left a sour film on her tongue. Strangely, the shadows seem to grow deeper. Her stomach lurched.

Poison, for sure. She soon came across a chamber filled with workers waving their abdomen in the air. A greenish liquid emerged from a gland situated near the butt. What an interesting defense mechanism! Wouldn’t help them, though, Nestra thought as she blitzed past the gathering and into the deeper tunnels. It was completely dark now, but that wasn’t an issue for her. Narrow paths meant that larger specimens like the chargers couldn’t get in. She only stopped when she came across a butt.

A large butt.

Technically on ants, it was called an abdomen but whatever. That butt was glowing and pointing in her direction. It was also so large it covered almost the entire tunnel. She ran back just as the thing lit up like a Christmas tree, all in greens and reds.

“Shit.”

With a massive pop, the ant sprayed the tunnel with incandescent goo for several meters. A wave of intense heat washed over Nestra, who rolled and stayed near the ground. The hot wind and an acrid stench washed over her. Her eyes teared up.

Then she was back again. The heat was nothing, really, and her body actively fought the toxins. It made her a little nauseous though, so it was time to get this thing moving. Nestra jumped between puddles of foul-smelling liquid before using momentum, reappearing beyond the blockade.

The body of the ant was rather small. She killed it with one blow, feeling a fresh influx of power fill her. Toxin resistance and sensory resistance. A very nice haul. She kept going.

Raiding high C-class worlds was amazing! She wished she could bring Helena here so they could fight back to back against the horde, collecting power and possibly large cores as prizes. Another bombardier ant met the same fate as the previous one, though this time, Nestra didn’t wait for it to fire. She used momentum to move past it before delivering another swift death.. Her steps carried her deeper and deeper, past panicked workers carrying eggs to branching paths. She was on the right track! Excitement filled her chest. This was it. Many of the defenders had been driven away thanks to the lure, and now she was going to kill another powerful sub-guardian. A near or at B-class creature that would make her stronger. This was the life.

The tunnel widened so she slowed down and coated herself in shadows. It opened onto a massive, artificial cavern of packed earth. Bioluminescent mushrooms bathed the large space in a deep blue glow. Workers clung to the walls and ceiling, moving food in and carrying eggs out. The hatchery; finally.

The queen occupied a large section of the room. Her abdomen was a large, distended white sack of grotesque proportions plopped like a fat pillow but the thorax and head were more menacing. Tendrils emerged from the back of her skull, an indication of mental power. It was pretty rare around here. It was also useless against her. Truly a good matchup.

Unfortunately, the queen’s compound eyes immediately landed on her. She wasn’t fooled by the shadows. That was okay. Her bodyguards looked interesting. They were black, thin, and upright on their four hind legs with scythe-like extensions instead of forearms. There were three of them.

They charged her on the spot. They were pretty fast too.

“Hah! A challenge!” she said in Aszhii.

Nestra blocked the first one. The shock of the blades made her drift back in a shower of dirt. Strong! A wave of something crossed the cavern then. It felt like someone was screaming inside of her head. The bodyguard stopped moving.

Nestra beheaded it. The other creatures had stopped moving as well, if only for an instant. She’d most likely been targeted by a psychic attack. The queen screeched in rage. Did she expect Nestra to be debilitated by mind magic?

“If yes, you’ll have to do better.”

She was catapulted against the wall by an invisible force.

“Ooof!”

Her back smashed against hardened earth with a resounding smack. The power was so intense it crushed her in. She couldn’t breathe.

Then the queen’s psychokinesis released her. She dropped down.

“Okay,” Nestra wheezed.

The two other bodyguards charged her. They relied on their speed to try and catch her in a hail of blades. She had to avoid them and counter with violent blows in order to not to be caught by their speed. It was fun! Well, fun for a little while but it was clear they weren’t really fencing with her. Instead, they were using one of three patterns they could perform very fast at random. It was a familiar technique for primitive creatures. Kinda boring.

The air shook in front of her. Nestra used immovable to dig in, the wave of energy failed to pin her to the wall this time. She pointed her fingers at an attacking guard, triggering a void bolt.

The dot of potential energy was swallowed, or rather, dispersed until it was nullified. Magic resistance? Huh. The air shook with another mental screech.

Nestra infused herself with void electricity. Her brief burst of speed let her back one of the bodyguards into a corner while the other made for her back. She released the electricity just as it tried to strike, paralyzing it. Not negation then, more an ability to avoid directed spells? The brief opening was all she needed to cut a second bodyguard in two. Not super resilient, those.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The third managed to slice her calf, using the strike as an opening. Nestra retreated with a hiss of pain. Smothering the bodyguard’s head with shadows did nothing. Not reliant on sight? Interesting. Now that it was alone, though, she fought it fairly a little more. She was interested in the patterns. Blocking those ultra fast strikes by remembering them herself and countering afterward was thrilling. Soon, the last one’s carapace showed several gashes leaking blue hemolymph. As it started pattern three again, Nestra countered,severing both forearms in one, masterful stroke.

The thing tried to bite her. She punched it by reflex. Hah! A wide strike later, and it was cut in two. Just in time to be sent tumbling by another mental attack.

Nestra stood back up under the murderous glare of the queen.

“What next?” she goaded.

The sybillant Aszhii words resounded over the quiet cavern, and now Nestra could hear a deep rumble. It was coming from, well...

Everywhere.

“Uh oh.”

A torrent of flesh and chitin burst out from every tunnel. Workers. Warriors. Spitters. Chargers. Even those weird bombardiers. Every ant variant flooded the cavern, going straight for her. The tapestry of squirming flesh was so dense she couldn’t even see the queen anymore.

“Right.”

Nestra legged it the way she’d come. A bolt killed a charger blocking her path, then she bounced from side to side to avoid others as they smashed across the cavern, uncaring of anything in their way. The carnage was absolutely wild.

Some of the workers tried to stop her by grabbing a limb and pulling to allow larger things to take a bite but it was easy to twist and send them crashing against other insects instead. Nestra used momentum to cross the last few meters and then it was a complex dance to carve through weak specimens while watching her back. Nestra fought like a whirlwind, each strike killing or maiming C-class monsters, leaving behind mangled corpses. Ahead, a bombardier killed a dozen workers to block her path. She dodged the initial spray then pushed through the acid-covered path. Her Skin let her know its displeasure by wriggling a bit.

She was where she wanted to be anyway. Nestra activated pass-muraille. Her body slipped through the walls of the tunnel down and back into the queen’s chamber.

“Wait, how do they know that?”

“By inferring from their core-repair research, I assume? In any case, it is a distant prospect. Now, let’s see how your Aszhii self is progressing.”

“By the way have you cooked with my brother?”

“Baked, and yes, and delaying the knife-throwing will not save you.”

“Aw.”

***

Mazingwe didn’t spar with Nestra since it would have devastated the building, but he did push her to her limits. Reflexes with knife throws, mana perception, repeated uses of her skill, bench pressing and arm wrestling, the tests lasted for an hour and by the end, Nestra felt ragged.

It was only okay because Mazingwe didn’t look like he was enjoying himself.

“Please... no more!”

“Perhaps a few more uses of precision? Try to hit my corneas.”

“No!”

“And here I had a maple syrup-glazed doughnut with real Canadian maple syrup.”

Hot damn.

“Three times and not one more,” Nestra offered.

“Agreed.”

She had her prize with some really nice coffee. Mazingwe served it with milk, cardamom, and cinnamon. He called in Qahwe. It was very nice.

“Normally, I would add sugar, however the light bitterness of the unsweetened Qahwe offers a better match to the glazed doughnut. In my own modest opinion, of course,” Mazingwe said.

“Hmph!” Nestra replied with much enthusiasm.

“I notice that you seem more comfortable in your demon form than in your human one. Have you grown more used to it?”

Nestra took a moment to reply since she didn’t want to speak with a mouth full. Mazingwe was patient anyway.

“It is my true body. The human skin is nice, and I’m used to it, but it’ssss not me.”

“Your diction has improved a bit.”

“Yes. The teeth are very sharp. It took some getting used to.”

“Do you often stay in your true form then?”

“When I am with you, on a lone raid, or when I am with Sereth or my sister.”

‘Hmmm. I see,” Mazingwe said, making a note on his datasheet. “It appears your mental health has drastically improved following your awakening. We will keep monitoring it, of course. Raiders are typically under a significant amount of stress while the loss of friends always taxes the heart. It is no weakness to ask for help when it becomes too much. The battle of the mind is just as important as the battle of the bodies, yet it is often neglected. Your family and I are here for you.”

“Thanks Mazingwe, it means a lot coming from a first gen.”

The doctor nodded, swiping something on his datasheet.

“You may not be human, Miss Palladian, but you are my patient. Now that you are in a good mood, let me quickly go over your test results. You are at the very top of C-class... in every category according to human standards..”

“That’s good.”

“More than good, considering you are still in the early stages of C-class if I understand correctly. It makes your people truly terrifying. Most humans specialize but you won’t have to. You can play any role, even that of a tank.”

“Well there aren't a lot of us so I guess it offsets our abilities?”

Once again, Nazingwe nodded.

“I have the impression from Sereth that gray demons can be loners, however I have also noticed that you cooperate well with Valerian and your sister. It could imply that human-born gray demons conserve our species’ pack bonding tendencies.”

He leaned forward until Nestra felt the full weight of his attention on her.

“There might come a day when it matters, for both of your species. You are the only one for now, Miss Palladian.”

“Sereth also likes humanity.”

Mazingwe marked a pause, and Nestra got the impression he was searching for the correct words.

“Sereth is... not unlike a tourist. He likes mankind. He clearly holds great affection for his girlfriend, yet he remains... a very old warrior. You do realize he’s older than any human alive, right?”

“Oh...”

“Warriors like him can compartmentalize their emotions, and as sad as it would make him to leave in a rush or... other options, he would probably do it. He is here for you.”

“Yeah.”

“It might be up to you to represent mankind in the future. I am sorry for placing this burden upon your shoulders...”

“It’s ok. I like it here. All my friends are on this planet.”

“Thank you, and now for the second unpleasant thing...”

Nestra felt blindsided. Bad news? With my doughnut?

“As you may recall, I have full access to the Pandora database, the repository of all known monsters and all the information available on them.”

He hesitated.

“Except for the market rate or edibility of their body parts.”

“Bah. It’s fine. I’m always up for testing edibility.”

“Hmmm yes, perhaps you should improve your toxin resistance first. But I digress. The Pandora database records who’s accessed specific pages for the sake of helping team coordination. For confidentiality reasons, the option to check it is left only to those with the highest levels of clearance. I am one such person.”

“I knew you were famous as Dawn Spear but not that famous.”

“I fought alongside Riel, Miss Palladian. In the evacuation of Mogadishu.”

“Damn...”

It was like talking to a living legend.

“If you will stop interrupting me... I wanted to inform you that another person recently consulted the ‘cacodaimon anthropomimesis’ page. Yours, if you recall.”

“Who?”

“Shinran.”

Nestra dropped her half-eaten doughnut. Thankfully, it landed on her plate.

“I must commend you for keeping your mask and full body suit on at all times, however I suspect Shinran has identified Crescent as a gray demon. My understanding is that Seth made the cost of messing with you quite clear, but I would strongly advise you to expect some form of interference. Keep an eye out and expect him to do something.”

“Damn.”

“Do not be alarmed. Shinran strictly respects his own rules...”

Mazingwe frowned, which pushed Nestra to ask the burning question that had been on her mind for a long time.

“Why are all high gleams so scared of Shinran when he’s a damn bonze that heals people for free?”

“Let us just say that while Shinran is a calm and contained person, nobody who ever saw him fight would believe that is all he is.”

“So he fights like a monster?”

Mazingwe flinched.

“His... brutality... is something to behold. Hopefully, you won’t. Not for a very long time. That was all, Miss Palladian. Do not be afraid, but remain vigilant.”

“Okay...”