Chrysalis

When the tide turns, it turns quickly. Sarah has taken immense damage with her reckless fighting style but all that happens is she goes harder. With literally dozens of healers lined up behind her it doesn't seem as though she's going to have any trouble maintaining her HP either, no matter how much pain the demons try to rain down on her. Unable to stand up in front of her, unable to bring her down, the line eventually cracks as the enraged bear slashes and tears at everything she can reach. She really is a powerful creature, possibly the strongest that I've ever seen from the first stratum barring the big croc herself.

The moment there's a hole in the line, the ants start to pour through it, wrapping around the demons on either side with expert precision. Sarah of course, is rather oblivious to the trouble and simply rushes forwards, trying to catch the opponents who are now fleeing from her. With the battle on the verge of being won by the Colony there's little point holding back anymore and I reach out with my senses, trying to grasp hold of Brixin and her allies the moment they reveal themselves.

Which turns out to be now. From high above a dense sphere of mana forms, crushing in on itself until it glows bright in my minds like a star. Almost as soon as it appears it begins to drop, rocketing down towards the clustered ants on the edge of the plate.

Aha! So they wanted to annihilate us from above as we were cramped and vulnerable. If only we hadn't been able to anticipate such an obvious move!

"SHIELDS UP!" comes the call that rattles the antennae of every ant in the city.

Dozens of mages leap to the task of weaving barriers above whilst they simultaneously reach out to try and snuff the incoming ball of condensed mana. Each of my mind constructs is bent to the task, having dropped the domain the moment it wasn't needed, spinning shields and tearing chunks out of the spell above us with frenetic energy. I can feel so many minds around me doing the same thing, including Invidia and Al, which leads me to feel confident that we'll be able to deflect this spell no problem.

Except, that doesn't appear to be the case…

Barrier after barrier gets thrown up and mana is stripped from the giant ball of flame at an accelerating pace as it descends toward us but I feel powerful minds still pumping the spell with mana, weaving vast amounts of fire mana every second. But how is that possible?! Are they literally up there riding the damn fireball down towards us? Because that would be metal as all heck.

No, don't think about that now! I can't allow my siblings to be roasted! We need victory here!

I'm already working as hard as I can, and so is everyone else, but I can already tell that we won't be able to dissipate the spell before it reaches us, not even close. Which means the barriers would need to hold, which I'm not sure that they will. If nothing is done, then a lot of my family members are going to get snuffed out right here. I can't allow that!

But what to do? There's little time until we're all bathed in this dark fire, perhaps ten seconds at best. Not enough time to whip together a gravity bomb, not enough time to try and climb up there and attack the demons responsible for the spell directly, perhaps Vibrant could… no, she would need to run to the pillar, climb up it and then jump off. That's too much, even for her. I could reach out to Al, but the fiery eyeball is already throwing all he has into defence. Which is rather a lot, by the by, he's putting more shields in place than ten of me could…

That doesn't leave many options! My main mind spins as the flames grow larger in my vision. I can sense the demons now, riding down atop the fireball. I can even feel their gravitational fields, weak as they are. With the spell between us, I don't see how I can possibly get to them in time.

[Master!] a voice rings in my mind.

[Wha-? Crinis?]

[Run through!] she urges me and I spin in confusion for a brief moment.

Then I notice what the heck she's talking about. Right behind me my most horrific helper has poured all of her shadow mana into a black void on the ground as is currently trying to pull me towards it with her tentacles. There's a second where I wonder if she's trying to save my life by helping me escape, but I don't think so. Crinis has grown protective of the Colony over our time together, almost as much as me, so I doubt that she'd give up on all of the ants here.

Deciding to trust in my friend, I rush forward and throw myself into the darkness. For a disorienting moment I'm absorbed into a real of perfect shadow before being spat back out again.

Aaaaand I'm falling.

Where the heck did she send me?! What shadow did she use as an exit!? It takes a frantic second for me to get my bearings and when I realise where I am I can't help but unleash an evil chuckle.

Gweheheheh.

Crinis! You genius! With a giant fireball being formed by the tier sevens above it, where would a shadow be cast? Why, above them, of course! Right beneath me are three powerful demons, including Brixin, each of them focused downwards on the dread ball of doom they have created. It must have cost Crinis just about everything she had in her to create a portal of this kind of distance, including almost every drop of mana inside her core. I have an idea what her limits are and moving something like me this far is something I had assumed was far beyond her. Transporting her own shadow limbs about the place using her shadow magic is one thing, a humungous ant is quite another.

I can't let this opportunity go to waste! With only a few seconds left before the spell hits the ground, I need to do everything I can to stop them from reinforcing as soon as possible! But what kind of mischief can I get up to in just a few seconds?