Chrysalis

Chapter 43 Into the castle

There is a stunned silence around after the Gravity Bomb flickers out of existence. The first thing I hear breaking the peace is a *thud*.

Twitching to one side I notice that the priest has fallen to knees, followed by the rest of the villagers. The soldiers are looking at me strangely also, their faces set in cold masks behind their helmets.

I look at the Queen.

[What?]

She too looks at me with an odd look in her eye.

[Those gates were mana warded. Your spell should not have worked]

Mana warded, is it? Doesn't look like it was too effective. Maybe they needed to put on a second coat? At any rate, is it really ok for us to stand around here with our thumbs up our commercial districts?

[Shouldn't we be going inside?] I prompt the Queen.

The elderly woman shakes herself a little and regains her dignified poise before shouting her commands aloud to her soldiers.

Roaring their battle cry the Guards' charge through the gate, some members dashing into streaks of light as they deploy their skills to close with their enemies. The ringing sound of steel clashing with steel soon fills the air as the defenders rush towards their breeched gates.

With the Queen in their midst the townsfolk also advance but at a more measure pace. Several of the braver ones run out in small groups to support the soldiers already engaged in battle but the rest remain defensive postured, watching all directions for threats.

[Stay with me monster, we will storm the throne room and Royal chambers, I'm sure we will find the masterminds there].

[hmm] I grunt in reply.

Surely we won't find the villain sitting languidly on the throne, ready to lure us with talk before springing the final trap? That would be way too predictable…

As we path through the gates a team of townsfolk rush to block the entrance behind us with whatever they can find, loose stone, a cart, someone finds the royal coach and they push it into the gap before tipping it on its side. Those with spears of long handled pitch forks stand in rows, weapons at the ready. Hopefully it'll do to hold out until they can be reinforced by the Guard.

After passing through the gate there is a wide road that runs towards the main doors and loops back through an elaborate garden with imposing statues placed at regular intervals. The entire setup screams royal luxury. I can't help but eye the Queen with a little disbelief. In the middle of the city you really want to take up so much real estate with your driveway?!

It just seems like such a waste… Perhaps I'm becoming biased because my colony basically lives on top one another. Even Tiny, Vibrant, Crinis and I packed into our own little chamber is odd and luxurious by ant standards.

My Queen sleeps with workers walking on her back for goodness sake!

As I grumble internally the great doors open and a densely packed group of soldiers charge out, weapons bared.

Although they may be dressed like mercenaries, these fellows look anything but. Determined faces, coordinated movements, tightly packed formation….

Aren't these soldiers for sure?!

The townsfolk in front me freeze at the sight of this mass charge, they are absolutely no match for this kind of assault! Not giving them time to decide to flee I jump to the fore and counter charge!

Have I gone insane? Am I suicidal? Or have I got my Gravity Domain on the boil?

Gweheheh.

As soon as I put one leg through the castle gates I knew the fighting was going to get close once we got inside the castle, much like it is inside the Dungeon tunnels. Naturally I started to reconstruct my most potent close range spell. How was I to know that the enemy would deliver themselves to me before I even made it to the door?

As the men with their shields and swords raised charge towards me, blades beginning to shine as they prepare to unleash their skills I continue to pump my Gravitational Mana into the construct, pushing with all the force of my two brains!

Closer… Closer…

Gravity Domain!

Just before the soldiers reach me and slash out with their skills my domain expands in a flash, the dark purple hemisphere expanding out to encompass the soldiers before me. Some of them cancel their attack skills and raise their shields to defend whilst others grit their teeth, determined to see their strike through.

BOOM.

With an almost audible impact the crushing force of gravity falls on the soldiers like a hammer from heaven, pressing them to the ground. A few blasts of sword light are released just in time, slamming into my Diamond carapace and buffeting me about but my defences hold firm and only minor damage is inflicted.

In a wide circle with a radius of ten metres the trapped soldiers are pressed downwards by an invisible, irresistible force. Their movements are slowed and some are unable to keep their feet, driven down to their knees.

You should never skip leg day!

Shattering Bite!

I unleash my fearsome mandibles upon these foes as they labour under the effects of my domain magic. So long as I maintain the spell the fight is one sided. As if their arms and legs were impeded with massive weights, as if their weapons and shields were ten times as heavy, the soldiers movements become slow and painful. Mustering the stamina to activate their skills seems incredibly difficult.

Several soldiers are able to raise their weapons, or their shield, but never both. I run amok amongst them, snapping and biting at every opening I see, dodging away with ease whenever a soldier manages to muster a strike.

[You have slain level 39 human swordsman]

[You have slain level 36 human scout]

[You have slain level 37 human soldier]

[You have gained experience]

[You have reached level 15]

[Piercing chomp has reached level 8]

Muahaha!

It would have continued in this vain if the townsfolk hadn't for some reason become madly brave and decided to charge directly into my domain.

Who can say what madness possessed them? I personally suspect that the priest urged them to charge and assist me in battle since I had so successfully suppressed the foes.

Naturally the moment these brave and determined townsfolk charged into my domain they immediately fell flat on their faces, completely unable to stand up under the pressure of my spell. Idiots!

What's more they are now a target to those soldiers who can still swing their weapons. Rather than watch the townspeople be massacred whilst lying flat on their faces I sigh internally and release the spell.

These people really are a pain in the business district.