Chapter 634: 634

As I continue to squeeze and crush the mana together, squeezing my minds to the breaking point as I do so, Invidia floats forward, delighted to be finally let off the leash . Not just a little let off the leash either, totally free of my many restrictions .

He’s a powerful monster in his own right, this little demon, I only managed to defeat him based on a superior knowledge of jumping . Now all of that power is directed towards the defensive line of the Legion as they await my spell .

It starts with explosions, as it usually does . The tunnel is suddenly rocked with detonations that shake the dust from the stone roof and pierce the oppressive dark with light for just a moment .

BOOM! BOOM!

The little ball flits gleefully in the air, his two long, stick-thin arms dangling down past the wide Cheshire-grin that appears beneath his body .

[Even if you want to keep it . I wantssss your life!] He purrs .

His eye flashes bright with green energy as mana begins to accumulate within the orb . Explosions continue to burst against the shield wall as the envy demon prepares his most powerful attack . The speed he pulls it together still puts me to shame, as his eye is filled to bursting with mana before I’m even close to completing my Gravity Bomb . One more evolution and I’ll show you! Damn eyeball .

Ignorant of my own envy, Invidia grins widely before he darts forward and unleashes a terrifying ray energy . The eye beam of death lives again! Even focused on my own growing ball of doom, I take particular interest in watching the Legion deal with this situation . The mages brace hard, more barriers springing to life even as they reach out with their minds to break apart the magic . The beam travels so quickly, they don’t get much time before it impacts their shields, shattering one after the other until it crashes into the front line of soldiers .

They brace hard, each one supporting the Legionaries around them, their defensive shields coalescing into one defensive line . The green ray hits home and tries to drill through, a piercing whine rises in the tunnel as the two forces contest each other . Finally, the beam scatters across the face of the shield wall and disperses having failed to break through .

“Bring the artillery!” I call to the ants around me, causing them to shift .

The Legion is still outside the range of most soldiers, but the scouts who’ve evolved for range will still reach with their acid at this point . Anything we can use to put the heat on them will help, even if only a little . In a few seconds time, the acid barrage begins to fly over my head, forcing the Legion to defend against the sizzling liquid as well as Invidia’s magic .

I don’t have the minds to pay attention to them anymore, all of my focus is invested in the slowly rotating sphere of gravity magic . It has darkened almost to pure black as I pour every last drop of mana I can get into it until I feel as if I’m trying to squeeze a brick inside another brick, or a thought into Tiny’s mind .

All four brains are aching, screaming even, but I keep forcing . I need this one to be big, I’ve no doubt that the Legion will be more capable at repelling magic than even the Kaarmodo and its servants . Once I can’t take anymore, I open my mandibles wide and unleash the beast .

I immediately get a surprise . Turns out even the second strata can get darker . When the ball of magic appears, that familiar, spine tingling shriek fills the air .

HOOOOOOOWLLLLLLLLLLLL!

All the air in the tunnel is pulled into the sphere as it travels, vanishing into the impenetrable depths as it goes . Drained as I am, I can see the wall of Legionaries concentrating as they tighten their defence to prepare for the storm .

Prepare all you like, if that thing hits home, you’re going to be in trouble .

The moment I release the Gravity Bomb, I feel the tension rise in the enemy . They could feel the build up of the spell, they could tell what sort of thing I would be throwing their way . But I highly doubt they could have predicted just what the bomb can do!

I grip the floor tightly with my claws, making sure I’m not sucked forward and Tiny has to reach out a hand to snatch Invidia out of the air, lest the demon be dragged into the maw . The pull of the sphere is so strong, and it hasn’t properly detonated yet!

I’m almost a little fearful of the effect .

Almost as if to allay my fears, I feel a host of minds reach out to break down the spell, ripping into the mana and dispersing it as best they can before it slams into their ranks . Good luck to you, I know as well as anyone how hard it is to break apart compressed mana . Still, they manage more than I expect in the short amount of time they have . They frantically tear away at the gravity bomb, reducing its power by half when it finally impacts .

There’s a flicker in the darkness and the ball is gone, replaced with a large sphere of slowly rotating pure black that begins to try and drag in everything it can touch . It lasts for only ten seconds before the mages manage to break it down and disperse the spell, but the damage is done . When the bomb is gone and some light returns, we can see the Legionary line is in shambles . Heavily wounded soldiers are being picked up and dragged away as quickly as they can manage whilst others step forward to brace their shields towards our position .

I’m almost tempted to try and launch an offensive as they retreat, but I resist the urge . We aren’t prepared for that, no need to snatch a defeat from this victory . The Legion pulls back to nurse their wounds and adjust their strategy as the Colony clack their mandibles . They won’t be so bold as to advance right into my face without properly accounting for my spells now, which means a slower advance, which means more time for the Colony .

I’ll take it .