Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 2: To Be A Hero
Chapter 3: To Blackwater
Chapter 4: Blackwater And Bullies
Chapter 5: Combat Evaluation
Chapter 6: Frame Perfect
Chapter 7: Ghost
Chapter 8: Friends
Chapter 9: The End...And The Beginning
Chapter 10: Necromancer
Chapter 11: First Fight, First Undead
Chapter 12: The Nexus
Chapter 13: Hunting
Chapter 14: A Crucial Hint
Chapter 15: Catching A Ghost
Chapter 16: Catching A Ghost Ii
Chapter 17: Vengeance
Chapter 18: Chosen Undead
Chapter 19: Valera
Chapter 20: Getting Ready
Chapter 21: Phantasmal Mask
Chapter 22: A Pack Problem
Chapter 23: Raising The Alpha
Chapter 24: The Geist
Chapter 25: Geist Hunt
Chapter 26: The Settlements
Chapter 27: The Odinsons
Chapter 28: Gang Wipeout
Chapter 29: Gang Wipeout (2)
Chapter 30: Loot
Chapter 31: Investigation
Chapter 32: Investigation (2)
Chapter 33: Ghastly Preparation
Chapter 34: Trial Quest 1
Chapter 35: Clearing The Trial Quest
Chapter 36: Clearing The Trial Quest 2
Chapter 37: Clearing The Trial Quest 3
Chapter 38: Secret Boss
Chapter 39: Secret Boss Ii
Chapter 40: Secret Boss Iii
Chapter 41: Flergan The Zealot: Youll Also Like
Chapter 42: Becoming A Lich
Chapter 43: The Death Lord
Chapter 44: Ritual Of Eternity
Chapter 45: Planning
Chapter 46: Planning 2
Chapter 47: Variant Nest
Chapter 48: Clearing The Nest
Chapter 49: The Bloodspitter
Chapter 50: Sudden Attack
Chapter 51: The Chrysalis
Chapter 52: Chrysalis 2
Chapter 53: Raising The Chrysalis
Chapter 54: Alchemy
Chapter 55: {A Meeting To Be}
Chapter 56: Meeting In The Red Circle
Chapter 57: Meeting In The Red Circle 2
Chapter 58: An Experiment
Chapter 59: An Experiment 2
Chapter 60: The Final Phase
Chapter 61: Disaster
Chapter 62: {Seth Solar}
Chapter 63: {Seth Solar 2}
Chapter 64: Calm Before The Emerald Storm
Chapter 65: {A Certain Report}
Chapter 66: The Party Begins
Chapter 67: A Night Of Dying
Chapter 68: Acquiring The Editor Sample
Chapter 69: {Unending Misery}
Chapter 70: {One By One}
Chapter 71: {Volantis, The Tyrant Of Bone}
Chapter 72: {Volantis, The Tyrant Of Bone 2}
Chapter 73: Loot And Summons And More
Chapter 74: {Red Circle Defense 1}
Chapter 75: {Red Circle Defense 2}
Chapter 76: {The Final Act}
Chapter 77: Dying Sun
Chapter 78: {The Oceans Call}: Youll Also Like
Chapter 79: {The Oceans Call 2}: Youll Also Like
Chapter 80: The Finale Of Vengeance
Chapter 81: The Finale Of Vengeance 2
Chapter 82: {Dance Of Duels}
Chapter 83: {Dance Of Duels 2}
Chapter 84: Final Duels And Ascension
Chapter 85: Ascension 2
Chapter 86: A Farewell
Chapter 87: The Rise Of A Lich
Chapter 88: Return Of The Lich
Chapter 89: Learning Spells
Chapter 90: Exterminating Pests
Chapter 91: New Mount
Chapter 92: Return Of The Lich
Chapter 93: Connection
Chapter 94: Sky Fight
Chapter 95: Corpse Nova
Chapter 96: Ruler Of The Storm
Chapter 97: Holding Out
Chapter 98: Minuteman
Chapter 99: Resolve
Chapter 100: Knightly Intervention
Chapter 101: Art Of Battle
Chapter 102: Incident Of A Certain Flight
Chapter 103: Incident Of A Certain Flight 2
Chapter 104: Incident Of A Certain Flight 3
Chapter 105: Theory Of A Soul
Chapter 106: Meeting Minuteman
Chapter 107: Twin Wills
Chapter 108: Into The Bunker
Chapter 109: Portal Girl
Chapter 110: The Final Plan
Chapter 111: Leaving Minuteman
Chapter 112: To Battle
Chapter 113: {Holding The Wall}
Chapter 114: {Culling The Weak}
Chapter 115: Undead Assemble
Chapter 116: Camaraderie
Chapter 117: Formations
Chapter 118: The Humans Strike Back
Chapter 119: The Perfect Moment
Chapter 120: King Of The Oceans
Chapter 121: From Despair, Hope
Chapter 122: The Legion
Chapter 123: The Battle Rages
Chapter 124: A Storm Is Coming
Chapter 125: Spirit Boundaries Activated
Chapter 126: Bring Down The Thunder
Chapter 127: Bring Down The Thunder 2
Chapter 128: Raising Merman
Chapter 129: Valeras Merits: Youll Also Like
Chapter 130: Valeras Merits 2: Youll Also Like
Chapter 131: Valeras Merits 3
Chapter 132: Restoring Seismic
Chapter 133: The Connector
Chapter 134: Danger
Chapter 135: Sudden Attack
Chapter 136: The Counter
Chapter 137: The Final Fight
Chapter 138: Attack, Attack, Attack
Chapter 139: Beatdown
Chapter 140: Quest?
Chapter 141: Contingency
Chapter 142: All Out
Chapter 143: Bear Witness
Chapter 144: Observation
Chapter 145: In The Zone
Chapter 146: Draconic Might
Chapter 147: A Bloody End
Chapter 148: The Voice
Chapter 149: Survival
Chapter 150: Seismic
Chapter 151: Tag Out
Chapter 152: Game Over
Chapter 153: Aftermath
Chapter 154: Sponsor
Chapter 155: A Deal
Chapter 156: Sentinel
Chapter 157: Hat Trick
Chapter 158: Corruption
Chapter 159: Exposing Hat Trick
Chapter 160: Times Up
Chapter 161: One Last Trick
Chapter 162: Last Stage Planning
Chapter 163: Superior Halo
Chapter 164 - Standing By Haven
Chapter 165 - Rebuilding
Chapter 166 - S Rank Encounter
Chapter 167: A Deal
Chapter 168: Hear Me Out
Chapter 169: Imprisoned
Chapter 170: Another Round Of Questioning
Chapter 171: The Colonel
Chapter 172: Second Deal
Chapter 173: Company Politics
Chapter 174: The Unending Thread
Chapter 175: A Crypt
Chapter 176: Until Next Time Crypts.
Chapter 177: Pale White
Chapter 178: Volantis
Chapter 179: Volantis (2)
Chapter 180: Into The Crypt
Chapter 181: 22
Chapter 182: Into The Nexus
Chapter 183: [Bonus Chapter] Into The Nexus 2
Chapter 184: Complete Overhaul
Chapter 185: Bors The Giant Blacksmith
Chapter 186: Fixing Volantis
Chapter 187: Second And Fourth Deathguard
Chapter 188: Volantis Restored
Chapter 189: [Bonus Chapter] Worthy
Chapter 190: Orcish Might
Chapter 191: [Bonus Chapter] A Hard Headed Counter
Chapter 192: Burning Agony
Chapter 193: [Bonus Chapter] A Worthy Rage
Chapter 194: Boundary
Chapter 195: Top Of The Necropolis 1
Chapter 196: [Bonus Chapter] Top Of The Necropolis 2
Chapter 197: Diving Into The Chrysalis
Chapter 198: The Depths
Chapter 199: Warmth
Chapter 200: Love And Fear
Chapter 201: Boundary Overcome
Chapter 202: Boundary Details
Chapter 203: Resting
Chapter 204: Love, Past And Present
Chapter 205: [Bonus Chapter] Love, Past And Present 2
Chapter 0.1: Last Updated
Chapter 0.2
Chapter 206 Love, Past And Present 3
Chapter 207 Love, Past And Present 4
Chapter 208 Ambition And Training
Chapter 209 Learning
Chapter 210 Mana Flow
Chapter 211 The Chrysalis’S Talents
Chapter 212 Shaping
Chapter 213 Competition
Chapter 214 Returning To The Crypt
Chapter 215 Nomads
Chapter 216 The Nomad Chiefs
Chapter 217 Negotiating With The Chiefs
Chapter 218 Negotiating With The Chiefs 2
Chapter 219 Negotiating With The Chiefs 3
Chapter 220 Agreement
Chapter 221 Blackwater Students
Chapter 222 Stick And Carrot
Chapter 223 Technos
Chapter 224 Okeanos’S Quest
Chapter 225 Maze
Chapter 226 Invincible Formation
Chapter 227 First Trial Quest Revisited
Chapter 228 Flower Fight
Chapter 229 Training Payoff And Meeting With Z
Chapter 230 Meeting With Z (2)
Chapter 231 Blackwater Allegiance
Chapter 232 [Bonus Chapter] Eileen’Sconversation
Chapter 233 - Stay And Fight
Chapter 234 - Megaloptera
Chapter 235 - Megaloptera 2
Chapter 236 - Megaloptera 3
Chapter 237 - Clint, The Unbreakable
Chapter 238 - Infiltration
Chapter 239 - Desmond
Chapter 240 V-Parasite
Chapter 241 Feast
Chapter 242 Feast 2
Chapter 243 Feast 3
Chapter 244 Feast 4
Chapter 245 Feast 5
Chapter 246 Ln Sync
Chapter 247 - Explore Time
Chapter 248 - Samples
Chapter 249 Lnstinct
Chapter 250 Name
Chapter 251 Road Trip
Chapter 252 ’Cops’
Chapter 253 Diamondback
Chapter 254 Lnterrogation
Chapter 255 Settling Down In Redrock
Chapter 256 V Correspondence
Chapter 257 V Correspondence 2
Chapter 258 Ready To Go
Chapter 259 Randall'S Repairs
Chapter 260 Resolution
Chapter 261 Last Dream
Chapter 262 An Unseen Cold
Chapter 263 An Unseen Cold 2
Chapter 264 An Unseen Cold 3
Chapter 265 Unanswered Questions
Chapter 266 Emergency
Chapter 267 Airbird
Chapter 268 [Bonus Chapter] Clint'S Job
Chapter 269 Seraph
Chapter 270 Cure
Chapter 271 Expectations And Rewards
Chapter 272 More Loot
Chapter 273 Immortal Advice
Chapter 274 Resolve To Fight
Chapter 275 Simmering
Chapter 276 Trial Quest
Chapter 277 Demons
Chapter 278 The Grinner
Chapter 279 [Bonus Chapter] Greater Demon
Chapter 280 Greater Demon 2
Chapter 281 Greater Demon 3
Chapter 282 Insight
Chapter 283 Defense
Chapter 284 Defense 2
Chapter 285 Deimos, The Dark Eye
Chapter 286 Deimos, The Dark Eye 2
Chapter 287 Power Of The Sun
Chapter 288 Power Of The Sun 2
Chapter 289 Third Trial Quest Rewards
Chapter 290 [Bonus Chapter] Final Round Preparation
Chapter 291 Final Prep: Necropolis
Chapter 292 To Take A Tome
Chapter 293 Night Parade
Chapter 294 Stranger
Chapter 295 Familiar Faces
Chapter 296 Judicata
Chapter 297 A Stranger'S Offer
Chapter 298 The Hearing Begins
Chapter 299 [Bonus Chapter] The First Vote
Chapter 300 Second Vote, First Offer
Chapter 301 [Bonus Chapter] Second Vote, Second Offer
Chapter 302 Sentinel
Chapter 303 Sentinel Vote...?
Chapter 304 Attack On The Judicata
Chapter 305 Rescue
Chapter 306 Rescue 2
Chapter 307 [Bonus Chapter] Aftermath Of The Judicata
Chapter 308 The End Of The Attack
Chapter 309 Settling Down
Chapter 310 Vexa'S Merits
Chapter 311 [Bonus Chapter] Project Arachnophobia
Chapter 312 New Laboratory
Chapter 313 Learning Room
Chapter 314 [Bonus Chapter] Spider Bait
Chapter 315 Back To The Nexus
Chapter 316 A Deal With A Demon
Chapter 317 A Reasonable Understanding
Chapter 318 The Forest
Chapter 319 A Trapped Spider
Chapter 320 Capturing The Spider
Chapter 321 Mollusk Hunt
Chapter 322 Mollusk Hunt 2
Chapter 323 Winding Down?
Chapter 324 A New Challenger
Chapter 325 Boss Geist
Chapter 326 To The Death!
Chapter 327 Worthy
Chapter 328 Etal Reversion
Chapter 329 Execution
Chapter 330 Boundary
Chapter 331 The Entity
Chapter 332 The Entity 2
Chapter 333 Arcadia
Chapter 334 Ceasefire
Chapter 335 Support
Chapter 336 Lightspeed And Valkyrie
Chapter 337 The President
Chapter 338 The President 2
Chapter 339 The President 3
Chapter 340: The President 4
Chapter 341: Spider Mining
Chapter 342 An Inheritance Issue
Chapter 343 [Bonus Chapter] An Inheritance Issue 2
Chapter 344 An Inheritance Issue 3
Chapter 345 Hammerhead Meeting
Chapter 346 Hammerhead Meeting 2
Chapter 347 Despair, Ye Mighty
Chapter 348 A New Party
Chapter 349 A New Party 2
Chapter 350 Relationship Progress
Chapter 351 The Soulmonger
Chapter 352 A Sudden Intrusion
Chapter 353 Mel Morales
Chapter 354 Omega
Chapter 355 Three Minds, Three Directives
Chapter 356 Machines And Demons
Chapter 357 Mysteries Of Birth
Chapter 358 Scrapheart
Chapter 359 In The Future
Chapter 360 In The Future (2)
Chapter 361 Plans
Chapter 362 [Bonus Chapter] Plans (2)
Chapter 363 Balar, The Eyed
Chapter 364 Feather'S Meeting
Chapter 365 Raid Plans
Chapter 366 Clint'S Decision
Chapter 367 Assassination
Chapter 368 Healing Procedure
Chapter 369 Preparing For The Aa
Chapter 370 The Journal
Chapter 371 The Journal 2
Chapter 372 Heist Planning 1
Chapter 373 Heist Planning 2
Chapter 374 Journal Entries 1
Chapter 375 Journal Entries 2
Chapter 376 Journal Entries 3
Chapter 377 Panopticon Cure
Chapter 378 Panopticon Cure 2
Chapter 379 [Bonus Chapter] Panopticon Cure 3
Chapter 380: Panopticon Cure 4
Chapter 381: Appraisal 1
Chapter 382: [Bonus Chapter] Appraisal 2
Chapter 383: Appraisal 3
Chapter 384: Appraisal 4
Chapter 385: Dragon Strategy 1
Chapter 386: Dragon Strategy 2
Chapter 387: Dragon Strategy 3
Chapter 388: Heist Intrusion
Chapter 389: Heist Intrusion 2
Chapter 390: Heist Intrusion 3
Chapter 391: The Dinner Incident 1
Chapter 392: The Dinner Incident 2
Chapter 393: [Bonus Chapter] The Dinner Incident 3
Chapter 394: The Dinner Incident 4
Chapter 395: The Dinner Incident 5
Chapter 396: Breaking In
Chapter 397: [Bonus Chapter] {Shuten Doji}
Chapter 398: Happiness
Chapter 400: {Usurper}
Chapter 399: {The Search}
Chapter 401: {Aftermath}
Chapter 402: {Oni }
Chapter 403: Happiness 2
Chapter 404: {To The Vaults}
Chapter 405: {Subject 6A }
Chapter 406: {Break In}
Chapter 407: {Twin}
Chapter 408: A Dream
Chapter 409: A Dream 2
Chapter 410: A Dream 3
Chapter 411: A Dream 4
Chapter 412: Dream'S End 1
Chapter 413: Dream'S End 2
Chapter 414: Raid'S End 1
Chapter 415: Raid'S End 2
Chapter 416: Raid'S End 3
Chapter 417 Raid’S End 4
Chapter 418 Meteor Labs Demolition
Chapter 419 The Return
Chapter 420 Down To Earth
Chapter 421 Lab’S End
Chapter 422 Unsealed
Chapter 423 Cycle Of Life And Death
Chapter 424 Restored
Chapter 425 Swords
Chapter 426 The Monk
Chapter 427 Split
Chapter 428 Sheathed
Chapter 429 Blackwater Plans
Chapter 430 Blackwater Plans 2
Chapter 431 Blackwater Plans 3
Chapter 432 The Convoy
Chapter 433 Infiltration
Chapter 434 Suspicion
Chapter 435 Intrusion
Chapter 436 Necromancer Vs. Capo
Chapter 437 Necromancer Vs. Capo 2
Chapter 438 Necromancer Vs. Capo 3
Chapter 439 Necromancer Vs. Capo 4
Chapter 440 Warehouse Raid
Chapter 441 80%
Categories Genre: All, Fantasy, Ongoing Status: Ongoing ______
Total Chapters in book: 443
Estimated words: 749807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3749(@200wpm)___ 2999(@250wpm)___ 2499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 749807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3749(@200wpm)___ 2999(@250wpm)___ 2499(@300wpm)
______
LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 443 Page No. 442 Page No. 441 Page No. 440 Page No. 439 Page No. 438 Page No. 437 Page No. 436 Page No. 435 Page No. 434 Page No. 433 Chapter 51: The Chrysalis
Chapter 51: The Chrysalis
In the next moment, Aldrich and his undead found themselves in a sudden free fall. Aldrich immediately gathered his bearings and looked around to see any surfaces to hold on to.
He could see they were surrounded by large walls of rock, but the walls were far away and the tops of the walls too high up to grab, at the very least needing a fifty meter jump up.
Good thing two of Aldrich's undead could fly.
Fler'Gan grasped Aldrich while Stella held both Valera and the bloodspitter lizard to stop them from falling any further.
"Head back up there. And what was that, Stella?" said Aldrich, remaining calm.
"This thing's a Chrysalis!" said Stella as she made her way up with short bursts of explosions trailing down from her feet.
"…" Aldrich had no idea what that was. It seemed to be a Variant whose existence was too hidden for him to know from Net surfing.
"Most of the time, the planet kinda just coughs out nests at random. It's a real passive and random process," explained Stella. "But there are special variants out there that can make entire nests themselves.
A variant that can make a nest is called a Chrysalis, and they're real fuckin' dangerous because once they register you a threat, they'll use everything in the nest to kill you. That includes tossin' out waves of variants at you on top of warping you away here and there to death traps."
"So it tries to defeat us by dropping us from great height? Is that all it can do?" said Valera.
As if to challenge her words, a sudden pulling pressure stopped everyone from moving upwards.
Instead, it overpowered any form of flight and drew them down, into the bottom of the deep chasm. It was a pull akin to magnetism that ignored the effects of gravity and resisting force. No matter how much Stella or Fler'Gan struggled to move up, they just kept falling down at a steady pace.
A pace slower than falling, but going downwards nonetheless.
"You had to say somethin', huh?" said Stella to Valera with a shake of her head.
"A living nest, is it?" said Fler'Gan as he took in his surroundings and started to think. "Then is it not possible to defeat it by creating mass amounts of environmental destruction? If these walls and rock are part of the creature, then I believe it most prudent to simply drill an escape through its body."
"Nah." Stella shook her head. "It ain't like that. Only a few parts of the nest are legit parts of its body. Plus the nest is its own dimensional space. Bigger in the inside than on the outside. Who knows how much rock you gotta blast through to get out?
And the Chrysalis can keep warpin' us to different areas, stoppin' us from ever leavin' if it got really serious.
Normal AA protocol says to clear a Chrysalis Nest out, you need a team with warp powers to get out in case things get bad, location trackin' to get a hold of its brain, and then enough firepower to bore through the layers of rock and walls probably guardin' the brain."
"Brain? Like a monster core," said Aldrich.
"Yeah. It's real similar."
"The only issue is we don't have scanning as good as that, especially not for Alters," said Aldrich. He opened up his inventory and put a lingering gaze on the Sign Stone he had from clearing the first Trial Quest.
That was his get out of jail free card to teleport away when something went wrong. But would he use it now?
Did he have to?
"We wait this out for now. We aren't in immediate danger. The speed of a fall like this shouldn't do any damage to us." Aldrich said this but kept himself wary, ready at a moment's notice to warp out to the Nexus using his Sign Stone. He could also choose all of his undead to come with him remotely, so it did not matter too much if they were separated either.
"Look. It would appear that a mere leisurely fall such as this was not our intended method of demise," stated Fler'Gan as he gestured down.
Below, the fall ended into a large pit of whirling sand. Aldrich could spy several ants and lizards within it, but they were not guards. No, they were struggling for their lives. They tried to move out of the sand pool with desperate struggles, but the sand was soft, breaking apart under any amount of weight and sucking them in.
Quicksand.
On top of this, the sand pool created strong spiraling currents towards the center that sunk those unfortunate enough to be in it even deeper. When an the ants and lizards fell down to the center of the spiral, a large stake of sand solidified into rock skewered them all, impaling them before sucking them in.
"Antlion," said Stella. "Creates these sand traps. Usually has an anti-flight ability of some sorts. Then guts whatever reaches the center of their trap with sand spikes."
"What rank of variant is this?" said Aldrich.
"D+ rank," noted Stella. "It ain't that impressive on its own. Its just hard to reach it through the sand because it creates a natural sort of insulatin' barrier. Most likely, this variant's what the Chrysalis chose as its dedicated method of killin'.
Chrysales, once they get woken up, don't like usin' their warpin' or changin' their insides too much.
Costs too much energy.
So, usually, they'll warp intruders into a trap they've set up. Usually with variants that they keep nice and fat and happy to do their biddin.'
"A symbiotic relationship," said Aldrich. He looked down at the sand pool drawing ever nearer. They were now thirty meters above it. "But this isn't much of an issue, is it? You have the firepower. Just go down and use your Bunker Buster on it."
"Yeah, but then I gotta drop Valera and this lizard, and then they'll get caught up in the blast-," began Stella.
"Throw them to me. Fler'Gan will carry us all," said Aldrich.
"I am afraid my back will give out from such strenuous physical activity," said Fler'Gan. "My elderly form simply lacks the muscular strength to hold all of you together."
"Don't worry about that." Aldrich casted [Negative Surge] on Fler'Gan, boosting his physical stats for ten seconds.
[-15 Mana]
[Mana: 183/183 ] 168/183]
"Oh? I have not had such strength in fifty years!" Fler'Gan's mouth tendrils quivered in delight. "I feel as light as the day I was birthed from the Elder Brain!"
"Give them to me. And go," said Aldrich. "Show me as much destruction as you can. Blow this thing up."
Stella's eyes alighted with a glint of pure excitement. Her body started to shine, her veins becoming visible through her skin as they gleamed orange.
"Off you go to your boyfriend." Stella tossed Valera to Aldrich, and he grabbed her by the waist under the crook of his arm. Then Stella tossed the lizard, which Aldrich too grabbed the same way.
"B-b-boyfriend!?" Valera looked up at Aldrich with a blush and then looked at how she was being carried. It looked like she was being carried unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes.
"Sorry, but I have to carry both of you. If it was just you, I could have done better," said Aldrich. This was just the easiest way to carry her since his other hand was occupied with the lizard.
Valera glared at the headless lizard. "I will remember this…," she said under her breath.
Stella went straight down, a comet tail of light trailing behind her as she neared the whirling sand pool. She thrust her hands out in front of her.
"Bunker Buster!" she shouted, her whole body turning blindingly bright before she detonated right above the sand.
There was first a burst of incredibly blinding light, then the deafening sound of an explosion followed by a mighty shockwave that sent everyone hurtling upwards.
The chasm shook and trembled from the blast. The explosion blasted away all of the sand below, scattering it against the walls like Moses had parted the red sea. And in the middle of this uncovered sea of sand was simply a gaping, smoking crater.
Standing in the middle of the crater was Stella triumphantly holding up the charred remnants of the antlion's head. The head was as large has her upper body with one remaining mandible that could easily have chopped a man in two.
Aldrich had Fler'Gan drop everyone down where it was now safe.
"Excellent work." Aldrich nodded to Stella and had her put the antlion head down. A grave marker floated over it. "Serve."
[-5 Mana]
[Mana: 168/183 ] 163/183]
[Zombie Antlion Level 15 raised]
[Units Controlled: 19/22 ] 20/22]
Aldrich took the reanimated, twitching head of the Antlion and then used its mandible to hook it into an exposed part of the lizard's back, locking them together so that it was easier to carry them both.
"All in a day's work," said Stella as her light died down and she flipped her hair, resetting her manic, explosion loving grin into something more calm.
"I must agree with the master. Your capacity to enact destruction is formidable. I like it," said Valera.
"Least there's one thing we agree on," said Stella.
"Indeed. Such power coming from not a trace of mana. Unfathomable," said Fler'Gan. "Are you certain you do not wish to undergo any experimentation?
Once I have my laboratory set, I can even ensure that the process is utterly painless. You will be unconscious even, if needs be."
"Sorry, but I'll pass again," said Stella. "The idea of bein' unconscious with you just made the whole, uh, 'experience' seem a lot worse."
"The fight's not over," said Aldrich. "Stay focused, all of you. Stella, you're the most experienced at dealing with variants out of all of us, and I'm giving you full reign over your memories to remember anything related to this chrysalis thing.
How would you suggest dealing with this? Or getting out?"
"We could try to blast our way out of here, but the issue is we got no way to tell where to direct our firepower to get us out. Plus, like I said, the inside of a Chrysalis Nest is way bigger than the outside.
Granted, a Chrysalis that can only host D rank variants is probably not gonna be that big, but it isn't a certainty either." Stella paused. "Or we could wait it out. It's tryin' to get rid of us cause' it thinks we're a threat to it. But if it knows we aren't, it might decide to go dormant again and let us leave.
This whole warpin' and changin' its insides thing costs a hell of a lot of juice. I doubt this thing can do it much more."
As if in response to Stella, the surroundings warped into a blur again.
"You just had to say something, hm?" said Valera, mimicking what Stella said to her before.
Stella sighed. "Guess we're even now."
They were warped into a much tighter space. A spherical cavern of strange red and pink rock that looked strangely organic. The cavern's walls were grooved and ridged, and when they undulated like a living organ, that was when Aldrich realized - this was not rock, this was flesh.
The cavern's walls contracted and started to slowly squeeze inwards, attempting to crush everyone.
"It's tryin' to eat us whole!" said Stella. She started to glow. "I'm gonna blast a hole right through this damned thing!"
"Wait, young one," said Fler'Gan. "Our powers are far too destructive and this space far too confined. The Elder and the knight will be caught in the crossfire."
"He's right," said Aldrich. But without firepower to drill out of here, what could he do? He again hovered his attention over the Sign Stone in his inventory.
But he held off on using it even now.
"ORAA!" Valera dropped her shield and slammed a massive punch against a stomach wall. Her fist caved in a great crater in the rocky flesh, but it healed immediately.
"Unless you get the Chrysalis brain itself, its core, punches ain't gonna' do anything," said Stella. "This thing's committed completely to killin' us, no matter how much energy it takes."
"Tell me, Stella, are these stomach walls connected to the Chrysalis?" said Aldrich, his mind racing.
"No, don't think so. Chrysales tend to hide their core out in brain chambers separated from their stomachs," said Stella.
"But say that the Chrysalis was a human being. Would you say that this stomach chamber is connected to its brain in the same way that a human's stomach is in the same body as their brain? That they're both part of the same body?" said Aldrich.
"Yeah. I'd say so. I've heard tell of some heroes poisonin' the stomach chambers to get the brains to freeze up, so seems like it," said Stella.
"Good." Aldrich held up his lantern and cast the light towards the stomach walls.
This Chrysalis was too big and healed too quickly for conventional damage to deal with it.
But what countered regeneration better than instant death?
Total Chapters in book: 443
Estimated words: 749807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3749(@200wpm)___ 2999(@250wpm)___ 2499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 749807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 3749(@200wpm)___ 2999(@250wpm)___ 2499(@300wpm)
______