It's a comforting thought that here, even two strata out of date, my mandibles are still capable of getting the job done.

OMEN CHOMP!

With a crunch that reverberates off the walls, the dark mandibles of manifest energy slam shut, causing devastating damage to the poor demons caught within. Before the caster demon can even begin to weave a spell to heal or defend, the bodyguards are already in action, appearing from thin air to execute their devastating takedown strategy once more, leaving no opening as they remove a single demon from the equation.

With no proper front line to hold down the fort, there is little the remaining demons can do, too busy fending off the myriad of tentacles of Crinis to properly protect themselves from Tiny as the big ape wades forward, his mighty fists almost appearing to vanish as he unleashes a blistering combination of punches that shatter the air with powerful bolts of electricity.

Just like that, the fight is done.

I really do wonder if it's too easy? Are these demons weak? Are we strong? Being equal tier, they should have the advantage over us considering the gap between strata. We might have upgraded various parts of ourselves, but we can't hope to match up with them, who are made of better stuff from the moment they were spawned.

I suppose some of the difference can be explained by the difference in evolution. I get the feeling, watching the little ankle biters go at it, that most of them don't evolve with complete cores every step of the way. Their struggle is so desperate that they likely evolve the very moment they feel that they can, particularly in the first few tiers.

Still, it doesn't seem to add up. To sort out my confusion, I turn to the burning corona of all wisdom, Al.

[Is it just me, Al, or are we dealing with these groups of demons a bit too easily? They're tier six after all.]

The demon wobbles in the air for a moment and I just know he's considering what information he'll extract from us as recompense. Luckily, I'm yet to draw on my secret reservoir of media from my previous life. Outside of Tolkien, I'm yet to detail any sort of fiction at all! I have enough juice in the tank to keep this going for a long time to come.

[It is a mistake to think that all demons are created equally,] the floating eye informs me, [some are weaker than others and there could be any number of reasons. Age is a major factor, which directly affects the strength of a demon's Skills and mutations. But in this case, I simply think that you are being underestimated. Most demons have a poor opinion of the monsters who spawn higher up in the Dungeon, generally for good reason. For the most part, they are much stronger than monsters like you. When these demons see you, they simply don't see a threat, which is leading them to fight poorly.]

[Makes sense I suppose,] I muse, [it would be like a human seeing a sheep jump up and offer to wrestle. The demons down here probably never even see a first stratum monster, let alone have to fight one. Far from having their guard up, they practically have their pants around their ankles.]

[Speak to me of these… pants.]

For the rest of our journey back to the plains of leng, I explain the concept of pants to the giant flaming eyeball, who takes quite an interest despite not having any legs.

[Why would some of these pants be… buttless?]

[I'm going to be honest with you, I never did find that out. All I can tell you is that such things do, or did, in fact, exist.]

[Fascinating.]

[I guess so? To be honest, I find the variety of demons on this stratum to be far more fascinating.]

[I have lived with them my entire life. I long ago learned as much as I could of my kind. I do not believe that I know all, but that which I can learn in this place, I have.]

That tickles my interest a little…

[So you do actually think that there's demons you haven't met? I mean, types of demons? I would have thought that there wouldn't be much you haven't run into by the time you reach tier seven.]

The big eye flutters in the air as if laughing.

[No. I do not venture to the deeper places in the land of demons. I prefer to stay in an out of the way location like this, someplace I can lay low. Inconspicuous. This means that I have not encountered the most powerful and most dangerous of my kind.]

[The tier eight demons?]

[Exactly so. Few and far between they are. Even tier seven is rare enough that one must travel far and wide to see even a hundred, and I am certain that more than a hundred varieties exist.]

[I wouldn't be surprised judging by the sheer scope of tier six demons that I've seen.]

Soon enough we reach the surface and once more find ourselves ankle deep in infant demons. As the little biters skitter to the side, we begin the trek back to the base of the pillar that supports Roklu. By the time the city once more comes into sight, it's clear that something major is going on up there. The fire and smoke I remember from when we left is still present, in fact, it's a lot stronger if anything. Also, it's hard to tell from here, but I feel as if there's something different about the pillar?

Yeah, there definitely is. As we continue our march back toward the city, the picture becomes clearer by the moment. Just above the city, a huge floating disc of energy is hovering, much like the one we saw the first pride demon and his posse riding on, but significantly larger. Judging by the flashes of light and abundant smoke, demons on the disc are busy exchanging spells with others in the city below.

As if that weren't enough, there appear to be huge threads anchored to the city from kilometers above, descending down from the city. It's hard to make out from here, but I get a sneaking suspicion that the Colony is involved, probably climbing down to the city using this method that they've devised to avoid relying on the pillar.

Fast! They're acting way faster than I expected them to! To put all of this together in such a short time… I don't doubt the nameless ones have been busy over the last few days!