Chapter 1649 – Solant Surveys

The fifth stratum was changing. Tended by the healers, the heart had survived its purification, rotten and slime-covered flesh giving way to healthy red muscle that now pumped stronger than ever. But that wasn’t the only change.

Filled with a deep sense of satisfaction, Solant looked down into the depths of the lower chamber. The whirlpool had finally faded, a sign that perhaps Theorazzn’s contamination was no more, and now fully half of the chamber was filled with placid waters. Except, it wasn’t water, nor anything like it, but pure, liquid mana. Cleansed by the wuffers and condensed via some means only Brilliant understood, the stuff was so concentrated and powerful that even now, it still hadn’t fully dispersed.

It didn’t hurt that the fortress had once again opened the channels, though in a vastly reduced capacity from before. A trickle of liquefied mana continued to flow into the heart, but it wouldn’t be enough to maintain the level of liquid below. With every second that passed, the mana was breaking up and filling the air, a cloud so dense that Solant could almost see it with her own eyes.

Ba-thump! Ba-thump! Ba-thump!

The walls of the heart shuddered around her, contracting and expanding, pumping mana throughout a vast swathe of Dungeon. The vibrations that filled the chamber were so potent they sent the fine hairs on Solant’s antennae quivering, a disorienting and uncomfortable sensation, but one she could tolerate to be here and watch her plan unfold.

Already the change was happening. Scouts had begun to sweep the tunnels surrounding the heart as they filled with pure mana, wiping away the corruption and filth that had infested them for so long. New monsters were starting to spawn, creatures devoid of the toxins and mucus that had pervaded the fifth for so long. This heart, this section of the fifth, had been taken back from the Krath, and from Theorazzn, the first true victory over the corruption in thousands of years.

As the architect of this triumph, Solant allowed herself a few moments to feel pleased, but only a few. They had no idea how many hearts remained, but there would be hundreds, perhaps thousands, if not more, and she had no doubt the slug tribes would unite against them, desperate to push back the invasion and reclaim what they saw as theirs and theirs alone. The challenge would be brutal, but the Colony would overcome, of that, she was certain.

[I never imagined this would be the outcome of your invasion.]

Commander Chyron stepped up beside the ant general, her eyes roaming over the pure red flesh of the heart. Solant clacked her mandibles in amusement.

[You thought we would fail? That the fortress would crumble and all of us die? I find it odd those were your beliefs, seeing as you chose to join us inside the fortress walls.]

[I did think that,] Chryon readily admitted.

[But you had a way out.]

[I always leave a way out for my soldiers. They are too precious to be thrown away.]

[In that,] Solant mused, [you and the Eldest find much common ground. For my part, I knew we would be standing here, looking at this sight, having this conversation.]

[Your foresight extends so far? Is that what you would have me believe?] Chyron asked, cocking one brow.

[I cannot see the future, but I, much like the Legion, understand where wars are won. On the training ground. In the foundries. In the preparation and logistics. I was ready for this conflict, and the Krath were not. The result was always likely to tilt in my favour.]

Chyron nodded thoughtfully, looking down at the little general.

[You’re an interesting ant,] she said finally. [Of all the ants I’ve spoken to, you seem to be the only one with an ego. Does it feel strange to be so different from your siblings? Some might look at you and think you are the wedge that will split your family apart.]

Solant waggled her antennae as she considered the question.

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[I am different from the others,] she acknowledged, [but only because that difference is something that the Colony needs. I and the other champions each provide something the others lack, a point of difference, a new perspective. Brilliant, with her endless thirst for knowledge, Vibrant, with her boundless energy and optimism, me, with my bottomless hunger for victory. We push the Colony to act differently, poke holes in an otherwise uniform shape, letting in new ideas and ways of doing.]

[So you know what you are. Champions, unique and special monsters, born with advantages that others don’t enjoy.]

[We all know what we are,] Solant confirmed. [The Eldest was involved in teaching all of us, and they have instilled us with an understanding of our responsibilities.]

[And how did they teach you?]

Solant clacked her mandibles, amused.

[They beat me.]

Chyron glanced down at the general, then nodded. That would indeed be a lesson for the little perfectionist.

[I tried to poison them,] Solant added, casually. [Sadly, my methods were ineffective.]

[You regret not being able to poison your leader?] Chyron asked carefully.