Chrysalis Chapter 1749 - Unwanted Developments

Morrelia realized that Commander Chyron along with the rest of the legionaries would refuse to confess it, yet the feats accomplished by the Colony in the fifth stratum were astonishingly remarkable. Numerous kingdoms, empires, and alliances had tried and failed in the past to achieve the same thing. The challenge proved too overwhelming, and the expenses were impossible to maintain for any substantial advancement.

Anthony and his kin might be the sole group able to muster the ridiculous dedication needed to complete the task, and they were indeed succeeding at it.

Despite their immense strength and hidden knowledge, the Abyssal Legion had never conquered the fifth stratum. They managed to adjust to its conditions, set up their bases, and even penetrate it—feats no one else had accomplished—but now the ants vastly outnumbered them there.

“This ant is getting out of hand,” Chyron remarked, pulling Morrelia’s focus to the moment at hand.

“Anthony?” she asked for confirmation. “I mean, the target? We’d been told he—it would prove tough to monitor.”

“I honestly can’t decide if the beast is just a scatterbrained fool who stumbles around, or a cunning trickster aiming to mislead us,” Tribune Aurelis grumbled. “Does it truly think we’ll buy that it just forgot to mention heading off to assault another stratum?”

Morrelia felt silently assured that this was precisely the situation. From what she’d seen, Anthony tended to brush off anything that irritated him, and she was certain he viewed his Legion watchers as a nuisance. For starters, Solant had imposed them on him against his will. He probably saw the agreement as beneficial for his Colony, or he wouldn’t put up with them whatsoever.

However, she merely responded: “It doesn’t matter either way, does it? Our task hasn’t changed.”

“That’s right,” Chyron confirmed, her gaze stern. “At this pace, we can be sure the ant will reach the sixth stratum. It’s our duty to prepare the Legion for the timing and location of that event. The issue we face is, precisely how powerful will this ant become by then?”

Chyron observed the massive ant striding ahead of them with icy, appraising eyes, allowing Morrelia and her fellow tribune a brief pause to ponder her words.

In truth, the devastation Anthony wrought upon the Judgement Battalion was utterly staggering. He withstood an outrageous barrage of attacks, letting nine thousand battle-toughened Dungeon soldiers pummel him, only to emerge almost unscathed. Such resilience and recovery were outrageous, even for a tier eight mythic.

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Fortunately, Anthony himself appeared oblivious to just how phenomenal his evolution had turned out.

“If he hits tier nine, the Legion might struggle to handle him,” Chyron whispered under her breath, facing her two Tribunes directly. “Praetorian Armour is formidable, able to fight even in the deep layers, but that ant must not be permitted to double its strength. I’m confident it will triumph against the Krath as it did prior to evolving, yet we need methods to limit its XP and Level gains. I expect you both to devise a plan and update me the moment it’s ready.”

Morrelia and Aurelis exchanged wary glances. They harbored no fondness for one another, and true teamwork between them was still scarce.

Ultimately, they vied against each other for advancement on the Officer’s accelerated path, a pursuit Aurelis had vowed never to abandon.

“Of course, Commander,” Aurelis declared, delivering a crisp salute before Morrelia could speak. “We’ll deliver a strategy to your desk by day’s end.”

Morrelia was taken aback. They would? Precisely how could they stop Anthony from pursuing his whims? He’d stated outright that no one could dictate his destinations or actions. The only voices he’d heed belonged to his family, and they were improbable to urge him to curb his activities in the fifth.

On the contrary, they’d encourage the reverse.

Morrelia was well aware that Solant had spent days urging Anthony’s return to the fifth, eager for him to bolster the Colony’s weakening defenses.

“We will do our best, Commander,” she stated resolutely, offering her own sharp salute.

Chyron inclined her head, demanding no less from them, before resuming her march, the trio still following the beast dispatched for their extermination.

What was once a slim possibility now seemed unattainable, and Morrelia couldn’t shake a sense of relief about it. Anthony had demonstrated that five thousand Legion soldiers wouldn’t suffice to slay him. To fell him, greater measures would be required.

And should he evolve once more? What force could possibly overpower him then?

Morrelia quelled a tremor. Tier nine monsters were legendary entities to Dungeon veterans. Barred from ascending to the fourth, they were virtually unknown—unimaginable titans of might that no human could rival. In the lower depths, the Legion’s elite clashed with such horrors.

Before long, Anthony might join their ranks below.