Chapter 1621 – Eternal Search

“Sisters! We arrive now at the final battle!” Leeroy called, her voice ringing out within the darkness. Her precious siblings were around her, even if she couldn’t see them. They were a presence that she could never deny, a wordless embrace she would never refuse. “The enemy has taunted us for so long, thinking themselves outside the reach of our mandibles. They were fools, the Immortals can charge anywhere!”

“WE SEEK!”

“Deep in the heart of the stratum. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, the poisonous filth of the fifth all around us. What better place for us? What more could we possibly wish for?! Our enemies yearn to bring us death! I welcome it!”

She felt the rising hunger of the Immortals around her. They still burned for sacrifice, she did too, and this was a golden opportunity. As the last of the healers in front of them left the shadow realm, Leeroy began to gather her strength in her legs.

Within her body, she felt the fungus awaken, stirred to life by the aura of battle and struggle. Soon, it too would be unleashed on the battlefield. Like her, it hungered for sacrifice.

The Eldest had been right. This was the right evolution for Leeroy and her sisters. She had chosen wisely. She stepped forward, ready to emerge.

“Sisters! What is our purpose?!” she roared, then charged.

“WE SEEK!” they answered her as one.

The full might of their armoured column advanced, slowly at first, but with a gathering momentum. They burst out of the darkness and found themselves in a bewildering scene.

The walls of the heart shuddered and thundered around them as blue mana warred with toxic and foul energy all around them. The Eldest was down, surrounded by healers, their eyes burning with inner suffering.

Leeroy suppressed a twinge of jealousy and focused on her mission. She was here to fight, and to find her ending.

The Immortals crashed to the ground, their feet deep in the rising liquid-mana, and continued their charge, speed and power mounting by the second. At their head, Leeroy wore her new armour, forged by Smithant over the last few days. Cunningly concealed holes allowed the fungal fibres that now twisted around her carapace to wind their way about the armoured plating as well, while several gaps at the back gave room for the mushrooms that poked through. To her left and right were the only other tier seven Immortals, flanking and supporting her, their armour mirrored to hers.

Casting about, Leeroy found the enemy, high above, warring with the guardians and shadows. The nearest foes were at least two hundred metres up, the bulk of them were five times that far. Weighed down by their armour, the Immortals weren’t built for climbing or fighting in the air. They were made to smash into their foes headlong and fight to the bitter end.

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So that’s what they were going to do.

“Ignite the road to the beyond! Hoist the Reliquary high!” she roared.

“Ascend!” the Immortals chanted back at her.

Not all of the Immortals were Soldiers, though that caste made up the bulk of them by far. There were mages, carvers and others along with them, all part of the armoured charge. They had made sure that there was nowhere the Immortals couldn’t go in search of their final rest.