The problem with trying to get my mandibles on these newly spawning monsters, is that they're rare and only just beginning to appear in these tunnels. There are plenty of areas within the safe-zone where they aren't appearing yet, and when they do pop up, the Colony is, of course, dealing with the problem as soon as they can.
What this means is that, even though I go looking for some monsters to chomp on, I can't find any. Though I search high and low, every time I think I've come across something to chomp on, the Colony has already swept in and dealt with the matter.
This level of efficiency is... good... I suppose... but now I have nothing to do except go and fight this stupid snake! Lousy Colony, being all super good at doing stuff all the time.
All I can do is sigh, give my antennae a clean and head off to let Solant know I'm on the way. She gives me a nod, but I can tell she was already aware it was going to end up like this. Know-it-all.
My suspicions are confirmed when I reach the lower levels of the safe-zone to find a medical team and a large battalion of ants ready to hold the line should the snake try and make it up into our territory.
Hey, if the monster wants to ram itself headfirst into the purified mana, then I'm all for it, though I suppose we'd want to minimise the damage a creature this size would inflict should it get in there, even for a few moments.
With a final wave of the antennae to the waiting ants, I head out into the toxic mana, making my way toward the vertical shaft I'd found previously.
Things are much as I remember them from last time, with the exception of the centipedes. CURSED CREATURES. They are, blessedly, still nowhere to be found, not having returned since my last visit. Now that I'm here, I enter stealth mode, as much as a monster of my size can. I pull my mana in close and tight, sticking to the walls of the shaft and keeping to the shadows wherever I can, and all the while, my senses stay sharp and on the lookout for goop-snake.
I might have to make my claws mutable in my next evolution, so I can be as mobile on odd surfaces as an ant should be.
Genius!
Actually thinking ahead for a change? Who would have ever thought that would be the case? Not me!
When the bomb is prepared, I open my mandibles and let it rip, empowering the spell as I do so. As usual, the devastating magic rips into existence, sucking in the air and stirring up a terrifying wind as it flies towards its target.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLL!
Enjoy, snake. I'll be back to check on you in a moment!
Just before I crawl into the small opening I made and prepare to dig myself in, the snake moves, much faster than I expected.
As the bomb hurtles towards its target, the snake does something I truly never expected to see. It rears up, opens its jaws obnoxiously wide, and unleashes a ball of massively condensed mana.
Oh no you didn't!