Chrysalis

Dig, dig, dig, dig, DIG, DIG, DIG!

The mountain shakes beneath us as a catastrophic BOOM rips through the nest and the temperature skyrockets again. The tunnel opening behind us glows brightly before the first hint of lava is seen.

[Invidia! Block it off, quick!]

Another BOOM shakes the stone around us as Invidia quickly weaves stone to protect us. Experience notifications are starting to pour in, but I don't have the time to pay them any attention. Instead, my focus is on pumping my jaws as quickly as possible.

Have. To. Dig!

My earth mana infused mandibles rip through the dirt and stone at incredible speed, but we have a long way to go before we reach safety. Just how powerful is this spell going to be? I knew it would pack a punch simply based on the amount of mana and complexity required, and I compressed all the energy I poured into it for good measure. Even so, this literal mountain-shaking response is more than I expected.

In fact, I so didn't expect it that I'm once again at risk of getting roasted by my own spell. I really need to work on this issue, I've come closer to ending my second life than my opponents have.

Enough thinking! More digging!

My face is on fire, even with the refreshing energy of the Colony rushing through my body. The combo biting doesn't stop, and Crinis does her best to sweep away the loose material and funnel it behind us.

[The sssstonesss won't holdsss!]

I shift my head slightly and I can see the "plug" that Invidia has been working on is starting to crack, the seams glowing bright as the rock heats up. Poor Tiny still has a foot on it, and he yanks it off as his skin starts to sizzle.

Ah, nards. This is going to get hairy.

[I'll help with the rock, keep pushing!]

I divert some of my minds to helping channel earth mana, hardening the layer of rock being pushed up behind us by the lava pressure. The only thing that gets us out of here is if we break through!

Chompchompchompchompchomp!

Come on!

My next bite slams through the rock and I feel the resistance break as I blow through into a tunnel.

[Get through! Gogogogogogo!] I roar at my allies.

I dive through the opening to clear the way and am immediately dived on by a dozen termites who start gnawing on my antennae and pulling at my legs.

I don't have time for you morons!

VOID CHOMP!

It feels like the muscles in my face are on the verge of snapping, but I unleash my potent bite and evaporate the offending cockroaches, only to find a hundred more in their place.

Because of course there are.

Their nest might be collapsing around them, but are they going to let the opportunity to gnaw on me pass them by? Of course not!

I wonder if the ka'armodo are still in control of them. Actually… it's possible the lizards have just abandoned ship at this point. Alternatively, they may be directing the termites to munch on me in an attempt to secure vengeance.

Either way, they aren't going to get what they want.

[Hustle! We need to get uphill.]

It's easy to tell which direction slopes upwards and we scramble to get to higher ground, pummeling any insect that gets in our way. Not a moment too soon, because only a few seconds after we clear our emergency tunnel, a burst of lava jets out of it, roasting all in the area.

Our little tunnel is now acting as a lava hose, more and more of the stuff beginning to burst out each passing second, the flow increasing as time goes by.

Just how much lava is coming out of that damn spell?!

RUMBLE.

At that moment, an ominous shake rattles through the mountain, sending the fine hairs on my antennae trembling. What the heck was that?

[Crinis… the fungus gardens were beneath us when we cast that spell… right?]

[I think so, Master.]

[And that fungus is… highly flammable… right?]

[Yyyyes… yes it is.]

[Plops.]

RUMBLE.

[MOVE IT, PEOPLE! SHE'S GONNA BLOW!]

Ignoring the termites who try to cling to us and pull us down, we push, shove and dash our way further up the tunnel. I frantically check my tunnel map, trying to get a sense of the fastest way to the surface.

[Here! Straight up!]

I rocket up the side of the tunnel and onto the roof before I slam my face into the ceiling and start chewing a new tunnel. The ground below us is steadily being covered in lava and the slower-moving termites are already aflame. Things are getting toasty, real quick.

[Get up here, Tiny!] I yell at the ape as I burrow into the new tunnel.

Face filled with concentration, the big ape leaps up and digs his thick fingers into the stone, Invidia clinging to his back as he hauls himself up behind me.

A blizzard of stone chips and dirt fills the space around me as I turn myself into a tunnel-digging threshing machine. If this entire mountain is about to go up in smoke, I don't want to be in it!

After a minute, though I swear I aged a hundred years in those sixty seconds, we crash through the last layer of stone. I immediately roll out of the way to see the mountain towering over me, and that thing is smoking.

I don't mean it's an attractive mountain, though I mean, I'm sure it's fine as mountains go. No, I mean it is literally smoking.

A second later, Crinis, Tiny and Invidia burst out of the tunnel and into the clear.

Then fire.