Chrysalis

"ROOOOAAARRRRR!"

A leg shaking bellow rocks the ground, followed a moment later by a giant, winged ape leaping high into the sky before crashing back down on the road beside the building I'm on, crumbling a few walls in the process. I'm beyond caring about the property damage at this point, all that matters is securing Brilliant, the rest we can deal with later.

Hopefully.

"GET BACK HERE, HATCHLING!" I rocket my pheromones forward, blanketing the area with my order.

"No!" my antennae pick up her much fainter reply. "I'm going to see it for myself! You can't stop me anymore!"

"WANNA BET?!"

Her path zigs and zags, crossing between buildings, between demon legs and underneath foundations. I can see her now, everywhere she goes her head ducks this way and that, her eyes taking in everything they see with a feverish, almost vacant stare. Likewise, her antennae are going crazy, whipping this way and that so fast it almost appears as if they'll lift her into the air like the blades of a helicopter.

Like a dog with its head out the window of a moving car, she's going crazy from the stimulation of so much new information rushing into her brain at once. I should have known bringing an ant so curious that she would conduct her own tour of the Colony as a grub to an entirely new stratum would be way too much for her to handle. For some reason I thought that after evolving and becoming more intelligent she'd have a better grip on it. Turns out that I was more than a little wrong, I think it actually made it worse.

But I'm gaining ground. With her Skills as low as they are, even if she trained Dash as hard as she did, there's no way she can match my speed. No matter how slippery she is, there's no escape for her now! The nearer she draws, the more I tunnel in until there's nothing I can see but the little ant speeding through the crowded traffic beneath me, no matter the destruction and chaos that is being sown behind.

Closer, closer, CLOSER!

She's practically below me now, her little legs a flurry of movement as she ducks and weaves as only an ant can, flickering from one point to the next. But I see her!

[Crinis! GO!]

At my order, she rockets forward, a writhing mass of barbed limbs that clutch and tear at the buildings as she descends to the ground level, proppeling herself forward until she's right on the heels of Brilliant, her tentacles reaching forward to snatch the little thing into the air. From above I have an almost perfect view of the limbs stretching through the air, seeking, homing in and grasping… nothing.

Somehow that little weasel manages to slip through a gap that I don't believe even exists and rockets up the side of the large building in front. Ha! You think Crinis is the only pet I have at my disposal?!

[Tiny! Invidia! Go!]

With a green flash, Invidia materialises a solid platform in the air in less than a second as Tiny bounds high into the air, both feet slamming into the shield before Tiny uses it to propel himself to even greater heights, homing in on Brilliant like a hairy ballistic missile. Just to ensure the capture, I race up the side of the building so close behind the little monster that I could almost reach out and snatch her up with my mandibles.

Just. Another. Second!

CRASH!

After soaring through the air, Tiny deploys his wings of shadow, now supported by his much stronger bones and capable of holding more weight, which is lucky since he weighs a heck of a lot more now than he used to. After gliding for a few moments, he slams into the side of the building, raining rubble down on me as the wall collapses under the force of his impact.

Cracks spread like spiderwebs beneath my legs and I have just a moment to think 'well…. Nards' before I'm falling through the air, Brilliant in the air just above me before we impact the ground and I lose sight of her.

Dammit! Gotta get my legs under me! I scramble and scrabble at the air for a few moments before I manage to right myself after a little rocking back and forth. The first thing I see is Tiny, hunched over on the ground next to me.

[Tiny! Did you secure the package?!]

His tightly wound frame unwinds bit by bit until a hand emerges with a thumb proudly extended into the air. A moment later, he stands tall to reveal Brilliant clutched tightly against his chest. The little ant struggles valiantly against his iron grip, but to no avail.

"No! Let me go! I want to see! I want to know! YOU CAN'T HOLD ME FOREVER!"

"Is that what you think?" I ask with a soft scent as I creep closer. "There are things in this world that you've never dreamed off, little one. If needed I'll weave a prison for you out of the fundamental forces of this universe! You really think you can escape me?! I can sense your thoughts! I can smell your impulsive little mind! I'll bury you under the weight of a thousand tons of mass if you think you can walk away from me!"

[Masssster.]

[What is it, Invidia? I haven't finished venting at Brilliant yet!]

[There issss danger here… open your senssssses.]

What does he mean? Turning around to better see what lies behind, I finally notice the all-out brawl that has erupted in our wake. Several fires already rage between the piles of rubble where fallen buildings have collapsed into each other, dotted by demons engaged in what appears to be all out warfare.

[I guess that might be a problem…] I mutter to the fluttering demon.

[Not that. Turnsssss.]

Wait, what?

Suddenly I realise what he meant. From behind, namely, from within the large, final building that we demolished, a powerful aura is surging. When I switch on my mana sense, it becomes clear that a tier seven core is inside, and that its owner is not happy.

[This wouldn't happen to be the residence of one Mongu'nin, would it?]

[I believe it isss so.]

[Right. LET'S VAMOOSE! Tiny! Do NOT let go of Brilliant even for a second, we are getting the hell out of town!]

[Wheressss do we go?]

My mind races.

[Down! No way I'm going to try and bust through Grokus' compound with all this going on. Let's find a way through the plate and climb down the pillar!]

A giant flaming eyeball appears out of thin air next to me.

[I might just so happen to know a way down.]

[HOLY MOLY! Stop with that already! Are you going to show us the way now, or are we going to negotiate? Spoiler warning, we don't have time to negotiate!]

[I will show you. I think leaving town will be… wise.]

Behind us, the rubble explodes outwards, showering us with stone and debris as a truly massive demon bellows to the heavens with rage.

[Let's SCOOT!]