We reach the area with indestructible flooring, and most of the important people are already there. There are even a dozen lynthari wearing the same black armor, each of them level over 200. Unlike most of the lynthari we met until now, they are calm and serious.
“How is it, Myrra?” I catch her to the side.
“Oh, this? This is nothing. Even if a hundred times more ants attacked, we would be fine, feral one, and soon all of them will be dealt with. We just don’t know what the intention was. Whatever it is, this means war.” Myrra is also wearing beautiful armor that I immediately identify as epic equipment, most likely mid-grade.
It's multiple pieces of armor that seem to be tailored for her, and she must have been wearing it under her clothes even as we went against the Living Tree.
“And the tree?”
“Soon, we will send scouts. They will use arrays all around the old capital and some that are even further, and try to find out where it is. Meanwhile, we did send more to all sides from Virelia, in case the calamity heads here.”
Her tail twitches, and even while talking to me, she listens to other people and lynthari talking around us.
“I will be leading our enforcers,” she gestures at the group of twelve lynthari warriors, all in black armor, “Obelia and Isola will be coming too, and even the other two members of the five guilds will send some elites while we keep some powers here. You are coming too?”
“Yes, me, Tess, and Lily.”
“I see, it's good to have a healer with us. Thalen is too important, so he will stay in the city.”
“Nathaniel Gwyn, can I have a moment of your time?” I hear a soft voice next to me and when i look, the matriarch stands there.
No one else seems to be able to see her, no matter if lynthari or human.
Out of nowhere expression on Myrra´s face changes and she leaves in the middle of the sentence to talk to other humans, the other lynthari unknowingly form a circle with me and the matriarch in the middle, yet no one seems to see us or realize it.
“You knew why they were coming to Virela,” I immediately throw at her.
There is no smile on her face, but her canines show, “Why do you think so?”
“You are manipulating people and lynthari in the city, and you hid all mention of the possibility of mind manipulation; that's why we didn't find any information about it,” they are all suspicions I came to over weeks and months, “That's why you’ve kept watch over us ever since we came. You and the ants both, for some reason, want people with abilities like yours.”
“You really are fun,” she smiles, and I don't even notice how but she stands in front of me, her nails against my neck, moving over it and even drawing blood.
A smile climbs onto her face, “The Colony has [Hive Mind] while my skill is [Kin Control],” she tilts her head and creates another scratch on my neck, “They don't enter my territory, and I don't poke theirs. But you and your guild ruined it. That black-haired woman seems to have a really irresistible skill. I wanted to slowly examine it, but I underestimated how much the Colony wants it."
I reach to grab her hand, but my hand passes through the air, and she stands a bit further away from me.
“You know, even though me and the Colony have skills that give us such immense power, we live in constant worry that someone with a stronger one will come, take over the network we’ve built, and destroy everyone connected to it.”
The ants never were after me; they sensed Sophie’s [Manipulation], the Twins’ [Connection], and Isabella’s [Empathy], all of them mind skills similar to theirs. They most likely went after Biscuit, and I still remember the huge number of ant corpses around him. Yet, he didn't seem to be their priority, and neither did Isabella.
Not killing them means that they want to use them somehow, probably to deal with the Matriarch and have an advantage over her or straight up evolve [Hive Mind] to take over. The Matriarch probably wanted to do the same; she just didn't expect the ants to get there without her noticing.
“You want to either kill or retrieve my group members.”
“Yes, leaving them with the Colony is too dangerous. But can you guess why I'm telling you all of it?”
“You are Eris, aren’t you?”
The matriarch's smile broadens, her sharp canines coming into view.
“As expected from my underling,” Eris appears from the rift. She waves and smiles at me and then takes a step towards the Matriarch.
When they touch, a wave of mana covers their bodies, and the figure of the Matriarch grows while Eris disappears, leaving behind a lynthari taller than the Matriarch, taller even than Myrra.
She has the same red hair as the Matriarch and Eris, but instead of one tail, she has two fox-like ones.
“You did it all for fun, didn't you?” I ask.
“Yes,” the voice now is a bit different than either of them, a skill that allowed the Matriarch to split her body into two. “You know, I really like humans. That’s why I made all these rules, that’s why other lynthari like to observe you as well, affected by me.”
She is now much stronger than before. Her mana is wild and dangerous, her body bears tremendous strength, and each of her movements feels like those of an apex predator. A strength fitting for someone leading the 4th Calamity, the lynthari race.
“Underling,” she says, a word sounding weird coming from her, “I kept this,” she shows me a toy I bought for her at the auction. “You still somewhat irritate me, but you are fun and kind in a weird way; you remind me of someone I used to know. It’s silly, but I like you treating me like a kid; it made me remember times when I was young. When nothing mattered, and I could just explore the world, laugh, and have fun. I miss that.”
She touches my shoulder, “Go and save your friends, and in so doing stop the Calamity from evolving." Taking two steps back she looks at me questioningly.
“For me to do that, you will need to cancel your weird field, boss,” I tell her.
The shock on her face is quickly replaced by a smile, and she laughs shortly, “Make me proud, my dear underling,” the field that made others unaware of her crumbles, and she says one more word, unfitting her majestic appearance, “nya.”
Obelia leads, closely followed by Isola and a few more elites from the big guilds. A bit further, Myrra runs with twelve enforcers, and behind them, our small group of three.
We are heading towards the old mines, and the array that leads to the heart of the colony, the lab where the Calamity was created to serve as a bioweapon during the war.
This floor is called Waning Realm, meaning a realm that used to be powerful, and now is just a shadow of its glorious self; a realm defeated by the invading lynthari, and in the war, both sides suffered terrible losses.
Dead Absolutes and Champions, destroyed cities, and terrible Calamities used for the war.
No matter how we look at it, the lynthari are invaders here, yet can they be blamed when the current generation has no idea, when only Eris, the Matriarch, knows about it?
It's for other people to deal with, for me, it doesn’t matter, and I'm not a person to decide. And to be honest, I don’t care. Right now, I just want my group members back, to fulfill the promise I gave to Izzy, and to save them.
It doesn’t take much longer, and we reach the mines and, moving as quickly as possible, we reach the door and then the room with the array.
Obelia and a few of her guild members quickly get to work activating it, and I observe our group.
A hundred or so lynthari and people. One of the strongest from Virelia, and the array even has to be changed a bit to transport everyone.
A few lynthari work with Obelia, using some items that even Obelia looks at with surprise.
I watch them work and wonder if that will be enough. Even though this is probably what Eris has wanted to do ever since we found the array and where it leads. A quick and deadly force of elites sent to deal with the core of the Colony. A queen, a strong ant that leads them all. Whatever it is.
There must be someone like Eris, an ant that similarly controls the Colony through [Hive Mind], an ant that got terrified by Sophie’s [Manipulation], most likely, and now wants to use it to strengthen itself.
I turn to Tess, “Try to calm down; your mana is seeping out.”
Her expression is proof of her worry and impatience. I'm sure she’s constantly checking the number of members of our group in the Community, hoping it doesn’t go down.
Instead of answering me, she nods and clenches her teeth, and I can see her mana slowly calming down.
So, I check the gear I have with me. My newest epic weapon, the Tree Obliterator 9000, may not be very useful there, since it's designed to be effective against a single, large target, and will take some time to activate. I also have a few mana batteries, the one I got from the Arcane Archer included, and some upper-grade rare armor I got from the auction. An orb filled with thermal energy floats near me, and I continue to fill it with more. My mana is full; my reservoir is full.
Tess's [Stormcrown] is also floating over her head, and she keeps storing Primordial lightning inside it. She has two epic items on her, the Abyssal Anchor and the spear we just bought not long ago.
Lily also has an epic bow with her, the one we got from the Arcane Archer, and multiple pieces of mid or upper-grade rare equipment.
As I try to move Lily approaches me and puts her hand on mine, “Nathaniel,” she says and she slips the crown into my hand. The one we got from the 3rd floor.
Crown of Eternal Vigilance (Epic): This finely crafted crown used to be seamlessly linked to the Saint, but now bears an imperfect connection to a novice healer, enabling the wearer to receive healing powers from them.
After examining it I look at her. “Just in case,” her eyes are determined.
“Miss Myrra, we are ready,” Obelia stands up from the array and, taking a few steps, she hands an item used to activate it to Myrra. “They might detect us the moment we pass through, so we should immediately shield ourselves so they can’t do so accurately.”
“Obelia, do you know why we haven’t dealt with the Colony as of yet?” Myrra asks instead, putting the item away and fixing her armor.
Twelve lynthari elites, the enforcers, surround her, doing the same, and dozens of skills activate, strengthening their bodies, and making their mana flow.
Every one of them is much more dangerous than Elydor, either at or way over Isola's level of strength, not only in pure level but just sheer amount of experience and control over their skills.
After Obelia shakes her head, Myrra continues, “The Colony and even their leader aren't that strong or high-leveled. Their advantage is the insane numbers and cooperation they have through [Hive Mind]. Not even once were we able to push deep enough into their territory to be able to deal with their leadership, but now? We will enter the heart of their territory, we will do what we have to do and then we will use this,” she shows us a small sphere of brilliant blue light.
She continues, “This is a return sphere made by the Matriarch herself. It's only one way and it will create a rift to take us to the place the sphere was created, to Virelia.”
Myrra puts the sphere under her armor, “We have one hour before the sphere dissipates under the spatial defenses the Colony set up, so keep that in mind.”
Enforcers step into the expanded circle, all sorts of effects sizzling across their skin, tails moving calmly, and ears perked up. Tall with great equipment just a step away from epic, they look imposing.
“One hour should be enough to have some fun,” Isola steps inside the circle as well, seemingly not intimidated by the lynthari. Tattoo-like circuits appear across her skin and start shining.
“Let's not waste more time,” I too step in, closely followed by Tess and Lily.
Following suit, the rest of our group falls in, and Myrra’s eyes meet mine.
Then the array activates, and with the sensation of falling, the scenery around us changes.
We reach the area with indestructible flooring, and most of the important people are already there. There are even a dozen lynthari wearing the same black armor, each of them level over 200. Unlike most of the lynthari we met until now, they are calm and serious.
“How is it, Myrra?” I catch her to the side.
“Oh, this? This is nothing. Even if a hundred times more ants attacked, we would be fine, feral one, and soon all of them will be dealt with. We just don’t know what the intention was. Whatever it is, this means war.” Myrra is also wearing beautiful armor that I immediately identify as epic equipment, most likely mid-grade.
It's multiple pieces of armor that seem to be tailored for her, and she must have been wearing it under her clothes even as we went against the Living Tree.
“And the tree?”
“Soon, we will send scouts. They will use arrays all around the old capital and some that are even further, and try to find out where it is. Meanwhile, we did send more to all sides from Virelia, in case the calamity heads here.”
Her tail twitches, and even while talking to me, she listens to other people and lynthari talking around us.
“I will be leading our enforcers,” she gestures at the group of twelve lynthari warriors, all in black armor, “Obelia and Isola will be coming too, and even the other two members of the five guilds will send some elites while we keep some powers here. You are coming too?”
“Yes, me, Tess, and Lily.”
“I see, it's good to have a healer with us. Thalen is too important, so he will stay in the city.”
“Nathaniel Gwyn, can I have a moment of your time?” I hear a soft voice next to me and when i look, the matriarch stands there.
No one else seems to be able to see her, no matter if lynthari or human.
Out of nowhere expression on Myrra´s face changes and she leaves in the middle of the sentence to talk to other humans, the other lynthari unknowingly form a circle with me and the matriarch in the middle, yet no one seems to see us or realize it.
“You knew why they were coming to Virela,” I immediately throw at her.
There is no smile on her face, but her canines show, “Why do you think so?”
“You are manipulating people and lynthari in the city, and you hid all mention of the possibility of mind manipulation; that's why we didn't find any information about it,” they are all suspicions I came to over weeks and months, “That's why you’ve kept watch over us ever since we came. You and the ants both, for some reason, want people with abilities like yours.”
“You really are fun,” she smiles, and I don't even notice how but she stands in front of me, her nails against my neck, moving over it and even drawing blood.
A smile climbs onto her face, “The Colony has [Hive Mind] while my skill is [Kin Control],” she tilts her head and creates another scratch on my neck, “They don't enter my territory, and I don't poke theirs. But you and your guild ruined it. That black-haired woman seems to have a really irresistible skill. I wanted to slowly examine it, but I underestimated how much the Colony wants it."
I reach to grab her hand, but my hand passes through the air, and she stands a bit further away from me.
“You know, even though me and the Colony have skills that give us such immense power, we live in constant worry that someone with a stronger one will come, take over the network we’ve built, and destroy everyone connected to it.”
The ants never were after me; they sensed Sophie’s [Manipulation], the Twins’ [Connection], and Isabella’s [Empathy], all of them mind skills similar to theirs. They most likely went after Biscuit, and I still remember the huge number of ant corpses around him. Yet, he didn't seem to be their priority, and neither did Isabella.
Not killing them means that they want to use them somehow, probably to deal with the Matriarch and have an advantage over her or straight up evolve [Hive Mind] to take over. The Matriarch probably wanted to do the same; she just didn't expect the ants to get there without her noticing.
“You want to either kill or retrieve my group members.”
“Yes, leaving them with the Colony is too dangerous. But can you guess why I'm telling you all of it?”
“You are Eris, aren’t you?”
The matriarch's smile broadens, her sharp canines coming into view.
“As expected from my underling,” Eris appears from the rift. She waves and smiles at me and then takes a step towards the Matriarch.
When they touch, a wave of mana covers their bodies, and the figure of the Matriarch grows while Eris disappears, leaving behind a lynthari taller than the Matriarch, taller even than Myrra.
She has the same red hair as the Matriarch and Eris, but instead of one tail, she has two fox-like ones.
“You did it all for fun, didn't you?” I ask.
“Yes,” the voice now is a bit different than either of them, a skill that allowed the Matriarch to split her body into two. “You know, I really like humans. That’s why I made all these rules, that’s why other lynthari like to observe you as well, affected by me.”
She is now much stronger than before. Her mana is wild and dangerous, her body bears tremendous strength, and each of her movements feels like those of an apex predator. A strength fitting for someone leading the 4th Calamity, the lynthari race.
“Underling,” she says, a word sounding weird coming from her, “I kept this,” she shows me a toy I bought for her at the auction. “You still somewhat irritate me, but you are fun and kind in a weird way; you remind me of someone I used to know. It’s silly, but I like you treating me like a kid; it made me remember times when I was young. When nothing mattered, and I could just explore the world, laugh, and have fun. I miss that.”
She touches my shoulder, “Go and save your friends, and in so doing stop the Calamity from evolving." Taking two steps back she looks at me questioningly.
“For me to do that, you will need to cancel your weird field, boss,” I tell her.
The shock on her face is quickly replaced by a smile, and she laughs shortly, “Make me proud, my dear underling,” the field that made others unaware of her crumbles, and she says one more word, unfitting her majestic appearance, “nya.”
Obelia leads, closely followed by Isola and a few more elites from the big guilds. A bit further, Myrra runs with twelve enforcers, and behind them, our small group of three.
We are heading towards the old mines, and the array that leads to the heart of the colony, the lab where the Calamity was created to serve as a bioweapon during the war.
This floor is called Waning Realm, meaning a realm that used to be powerful, and now is just a shadow of its glorious self; a realm defeated by the invading lynthari, and in the war, both sides suffered terrible losses.
Dead Absolutes and Champions, destroyed cities, and terrible Calamities used for the war.
No matter how we look at it, the lynthari are invaders here, yet can they be blamed when the current generation has no idea, when only Eris, the Matriarch, knows about it?
It's for other people to deal with, for me, it doesn’t matter, and I'm not a person to decide. And to be honest, I don’t care. Right now, I just want my group members back, to fulfill the promise I gave to Izzy, and to save them.
It doesn’t take much longer, and we reach the mines and, moving as quickly as possible, we reach the door and then the room with the array.
Obelia and a few of her guild members quickly get to work activating it, and I observe our group.
A hundred or so lynthari and people. One of the strongest from Virelia, and the array even has to be changed a bit to transport everyone.
A few lynthari work with Obelia, using some items that even Obelia looks at with surprise.
I watch them work and wonder if that will be enough. Even though this is probably what Eris has wanted to do ever since we found the array and where it leads. A quick and deadly force of elites sent to deal with the core of the Colony. A queen, a strong ant that leads them all. Whatever it is.
There must be someone like Eris, an ant that similarly controls the Colony through [Hive Mind], an ant that got terrified by Sophie’s [Manipulation], most likely, and now wants to use it to strengthen itself.
I turn to Tess, “Try to calm down; your mana is seeping out.”
Her expression is proof of her worry and impatience. I'm sure she’s constantly checking the number of members of our group in the Community, hoping it doesn’t go down.
Instead of answering me, she nods and clenches her teeth, and I can see her mana slowly calming down.
So, I check the gear I have with me. My newest epic weapon, the Tree Obliterator 9000, may not be very useful there, since it's designed to be effective against a single, large target, and will take some time to activate. I also have a few mana batteries, the one I got from the Arcane Archer included, and some upper-grade rare armor I got from the auction. An orb filled with thermal energy floats near me, and I continue to fill it with more. My mana is full; my reservoir is full.
Tess's [Stormcrown] is also floating over her head, and she keeps storing Primordial lightning inside it. She has two epic items on her, the Abyssal Anchor and the spear we just bought not long ago.
Lily also has an epic bow with her, the one we got from the Arcane Archer, and multiple pieces of mid or upper-grade rare equipment.
As I try to move Lily approaches me and puts her hand on mine, “Nathaniel,” she says and she slips the crown into my hand. The one we got from the 3rd floor.
Crown of Eternal Vigilance (Epic): This finely crafted crown used to be seamlessly linked to the Saint, but now bears an imperfect connection to a novice healer, enabling the wearer to receive healing powers from them.
After examining it I look at her. “Just in case,” her eyes are determined.
“Miss Myrra, we are ready,” Obelia stands up from the array and, taking a few steps, she hands an item used to activate it to Myrra. “They might detect us the moment we pass through, so we should immediately shield ourselves so they can’t do so accurately.”
“Obelia, do you know why we haven’t dealt with the Colony as of yet?” Myrra asks instead, putting the item away and fixing her armor.
Twelve lynthari elites, the enforcers, surround her, doing the same, and dozens of skills activate, strengthening their bodies, and making their mana flow.
Every one of them is much more dangerous than Elydor, either at or way over Isola's level of strength, not only in pure level but just sheer amount of experience and control over their skills.
After Obelia shakes her head, Myrra continues, “The Colony and even their leader aren't that strong or high-leveled. Their advantage is the insane numbers and cooperation they have through [Hive Mind]. Not even once were we able to push deep enough into their territory to be able to deal with their leadership, but now? We will enter the heart of their territory, we will do what we have to do and then we will use this,” she shows us a small sphere of brilliant blue light.
She continues, “This is a return sphere made by the Matriarch herself. It's only one way and it will create a rift to take us to the place the sphere was created, to Virelia.”
Myrra puts the sphere under her armor, “We have one hour before the sphere dissipates under the spatial defenses the Colony set up, so keep that in mind.”
Enforcers step into the expanded circle, all sorts of effects sizzling across their skin, tails moving calmly, and ears perked up. Tall with great equipment just a step away from epic, they look imposing.
“One hour should be enough to have some fun,” Isola steps inside the circle as well, seemingly not intimidated by the lynthari. Tattoo-like circuits appear across her skin and start shining.
“Let's not waste more time,” I too step in, closely followed by Tess and Lily.
Following suit, the rest of our group falls in, and Myrra’s eyes meet mine.
Then the array activates, and with the sensation of falling, the scenery around us changes.
