After collecting a few choice cores and chowing down on Biomass, all we could really do was shrug and get back to business. Even so, I can't help but feel like this incident is going to come back and bite me in the backside somehow. At least this time I can proudly wave my antennae and declare that it wasn't my fault! How am I supposed to know some random pride demon is going to get it in his head to attack me? There was clearly no getting out of that situation.

Now, where were we?

[How far are these tunnels, Al? It's getting hot out here!]

That's a lie. It's constantly been hot out here.

[If you find the temperature disagreeable then it may be a good idea not to descend any further. The heat will only increase.]

[I'm guessing that you don't have an issue with it…]

[The portion of my body that extrudes into this dimension is comprised of 65.37 percent heat energy. It does not bother me.]

[Invidia, when you evolve, try not to become a floating eyeball of fire, alright? If you really want to pick an element, do earth or something.]

[Hisss flame isss powerful. I wantsssss it!]

[It literally doesn't matter what he has, you'd have wanted it anyway! Just consider, alright? I don't want to drag this kind of heat through the entire Dungeon! I can't even sweat!]

Ants aren't particularly good at temperature regulation internally. Although some colonies are incredible at utilising the flow of air within their nests to control the heat, basically building automated air conditioning systems to make sure the inside of the nest is never too hot or cold and ensuring the air doesn't become stale. Pretty clever for creatures with a brain the size of a pinhead!

Of course, our eternal foes the termites are the best at this sort of thing. Those blind little bugs create enormous mound nests that can bring fresh air all the way down to the heavily protected nesting chamber of their massive, chonky queen.

[Alright then, where to now?] I ask.

[The entrance to the tunnels is this way.]

Al points a tendril of his ever-burning corona to our right and so off in that direction we proceed.

[We've come almost ten kilometres from Roklu already. Are entrances to the tunnels that rare? Seems like they might be more common.]

[There is much lava that flows eternally from hyper concentrated sources of fire mana between the layers. The tunnel entrances are gaps in the flow that are safe to traverse. Sparse.]

Interesting. We keep moving along and as we push our way through the ever-shifting carpet of infant demons I take a moment to talk to Protectant.

"Alright then Protectant, you may as well get out here and answer a few questions."

Her response comes to me as light as a breeze.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to! I'm not going to talk to thin air when I know for a fact that you're right here! Honestly…"

Somewhat begrudgingly, my bodyguard appears on my left. As usual, her posture is a little shrunk, as if she were still trying to hide despite being in plain sight. I wonder if they bother to train their stealth skills at all, considering they rely on a powerful organ to hide most of the time. Similar to Al, the organ in question subtly affects the minds of those around them, acting as a perception filter.

"So, what was that back there? The 'take down protocol'? This a change in the stated policy or something?"

She shifts uncomfortably.

"It's been decided that we'll be a bit more active from this point onward during combat. If we can end fights more quickly with a precision strike, and therefore cut down on the risk that you'll be exposed to, it will be beneficial in the execution of our duties."

"Not to mention it helps you guys get some experience and Biomass on the job," I approve, "I like it."

"It does mean that we expose ourselves more often, which many of us are not happy about…"

I dismiss those concerns with a flick of my antenna.

"You can't just sit idly by and hide whilst I get killed, right? You have to expose yourselves at points in order to perform your role at all. It's just a question of working out when and how much. I think this is a sensible shift. Keep up the good work."

Unused to being praised, Protectant stumbles a little before vanishing from my sight again. I meant what I said though, if they can be a bit more proactive, having these twenty follow me around won't be as much of a pain. It's nice to have more ants to talk to, for a start, something I can't really do if they refuse to show themselves most of the time.

Speaking of other ants.

[Alright Invidia, spit her out,] I sigh.

A moment later we are joined by a rather bedraggled looking hatchling. Brilliant gives herself a quick shake, much like a puppy would, to rid herself of the envy demon's excess saliva before looking around.

"Oo! What's all this?"

In less than five seconds, she's already spotted the carpet of demons crawling around our feet and pounced on one, holding down the struggling creature with her mandibles so she can inspect it more closely.

"Careful, you moron! These little things are dangerous to someone as weak as you!"

I almost spoke prophetically, an instant later the enraged little demon managed to free a claw and took a wild swipe at its captor, threatening to slice Brilliant's face in two.

SPLAT!

With one emphatic stomp, Tiny flattens the offending demon, scooping Brilliant up with one arm and placing her firmly on his shoulder in one smooth motion. That was close!

"You might be tier three compared to their tier one or two, but these little guys have much better body parts than0 we do. Better muscle mass, harder and sharper claws, tougher skin and bodies. Despite the gap in tier, they're still capable of slicing you up with ease."

The little ant clicks her mandibles in shock.

"Really? That's fascinating!"

"That's the difference between stratum at work," I grumble. "Only by upgrading our bodies can we close the gap. All that means is that you should consider yourself a tier one for the time we are down here. Absolutely everything in the third can kill you. If you're going to keep being stupid, then I'll stuff you back into the interdimensional mouth until we leave."

"I'll try to keep myself under control!" she gives me a quick salute with one antenna that I can't decide is sarcastic or not. I'm still thinking about it when Al pipes up.

[We've arrived,] the demon announces.

In the ground before us is something I wasn't expecting to see, a break in the endless carpet of infant demons. Instead of the rolling melee, a wide crevice in the boiling black rock of the Plains of Leng opens before us which the monsters seem to instinctively avoid, rolling away whenever they draw too close. The walls of the tunnel in front of us glow red as the potent fire mana in the veins that run through the rock flows unceasingly. I can already tell it's going to be absolutely boiling in there.

[Alright then, let's head on in,] I sigh.

At least we won't get caught up in any more bizarre fights between cities whilst we're down there.