Chapter 1715 – Escalation

[Master, the nameless have found something. A large ambush. Hundreds of delvers have gathered and laid traps for you. Would you like me to reach out and destroy the FILTH?]

[Uh, no, that’s quite alright. Just let me know where they are and I can take care of the rest.]

[… Fine.]

I mean, I suppose I could let Crinis loose, but that would involve unleashing horrors beyond imagining upon my foes. I don’t think there would ever be peace between the Colony and its neighbours if that happened.

There has to be a peaceful resolution. If we can’t keep devoting our antpower into the fifth, then we will lose everything that we’ve managed to win down there. Once that war has been won, we won’t have to sit on our hands and treat enemies like Green Mountain with such a soft touch.

Until then, these matters need to be resolved peacefully. The worst possible result would be dragging the Colony into another major conflict. We simply can’t afford to divide our focus right now.

Well, hundreds of delvers, wanting to meet little old me? I was wondering if more of them might start gathering together. Spread out over so many tunnels, it took a while for them to gather together properly. I’m sure a lot of them are starting to head back to Green Mountain, which makes it likely this ambush will be the last I have to deal with in the short term.

Once I’ve finished taking care of this, it’ll be time to start chasing down the stragglers and scooping up as many as we can get our mandibles on.

Gweheheheheh.

Thanks to the nameless and Crinis, I know exactly where this ambush is located, so I engage submarine mode and start zooming through the tunnels, floating through the air while being pulled forward by a gravity well.

It took surprisingly little time for my vestigial legs to grow out to full size after I blew mine up using an empowered Dash. I’ll need further mutating to prevent every tendon in my legs from snapping simultaneously the next time I try that. Though it was useful to learn how the vestigial legs actually worked. The damaged legs were basically jettisoned, like a lizard detaching its tail, then the new ones started sprouting out immediately. It feels a little weird knowing that I have a full set of reserve legs growing inside me, but considering how fast they were able to grow out, I think the triad made a good choice.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Once I mutate them, I’m sure the time it takes for them to grow to full size can be cut even further. Eventually I might be able to lose all of my legs and have a brand new set in under a minute. Wouldn’t that be a thing?

As I drift through the tunnels, heading towards the planned ambush, I consider what my best course of action is.

So far I’ve been able to dominate all of my encounters against the delvers with relative ease. None of them have been able to stand up against the empowered Gravity Domain, nor have they been able to do any significant damage to me.