Chapter 1572 – Welcome Home

Moving through the Dungeon during a wave wasn’t something Goszi ever expected he’d have to do again. It certainly wasn’t something he’d had to do since he was a much younger slug.

His first problem had been getting off the fortress at all. Being able to access the outside wasn’t the same thing as being home free, oh no. The gap between the fortress wall and the rest of the fifth was substantial, much too far for a neat jump. He’d been forced to do something he really hadn’t wanted to, which was climb high up the wall, then throw himself off. With enough forward momentum, he was able to reach the other side… eventually.

It wasn’t a journey that he liked to remember. If it weren’t for the thick layer of mucus coating the wall, he never would have survived. As it was, he nearly died. Not enough to keep a good Krath down. After climbing back up, he’d managed to find a likely crack in the wall and sneak away, making it deeper into the tunnels and further from the cursed ants and their delicious snacks.

As much as he would like to credit his incredible wiles and experience, Goszi was just lucky. Incredibly lucky. After the third time a monster had simply stepped over him, not bothering to lean down and inspect his compressed and camouflaged form, he was beginning to think something strange was going on.

After all, what were the odds that he’d been able to escape from the ants at all? Not good. Not good in the slightest. It felt as though someone or something was tipping the scales in Goszi’s favour, and he had some suspicions as to who.

Was Theorazzn really able to influence events on the fifth stratum from all the way down, wherever it was that Ancients lived? If someone had asked him a few days ago, the old Krath would have said of course not. Now? He wasn’t so sure.

Regardless, he was no longer quite so shocked when he managed to find the Krath outpost without being eaten a dozen times over.

And, of course, Chozth was extremely pleased to see him.

After being thrown down to the floor, much as he’d expected, it took a few moments to realise that the powerful Krath’lath, sliding towards him, mouth open and flesh sizzling, intended to eat him without a word being exchanged. If he was going to live, he was going to have to speak up for himself.

“The singing,” he burbled, face still pressed into the ground. “I found the singing.”

For a terrifying second, he thought that Chozth wasn’t going to stop. The red rage in her eyes was all-consuming, and he could feel the acrid sting of her breath on his skin before she finally paused.

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“The what?” she rasped, still too consumed by anger and hatred to process his words properly.

“The Ancient commanded and Goszi has listened. I found the singing.”

Her arms lashed out, painfully squishing him down to the rocky floor of the chamber as her loyal followers watched on.

“And you’re a loyal servant of the Ancient, are you, Goszi? You’re barely a Krath.”

“I am as I was born,” he forced out.