Chrysalis

It needed to be tested at some point, and what better time than now? I've increased Gravity Magic to the second rank thanks to all my stuffing about with Gravity Fields, and the bomb was always going to be on the list of things that I want to see how the Altar interacts with.

As it turns out, quite well.

As the spell is unleashed and I activate the Altar of Self, I'm rather startled to feel all of the gathered energy drain out of it.

All.

Not a single skerrick left. As it is usually wont to do, the Gravity Bomb soaks up every drop of power it can get, and when it does, it goes absolutely nuts.

HOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWL!

The air screams, and I mean SCREAMS. I didn't put anything like my full reserve of gravity mana into this thing, and it sounds an awful lot like some of the biggest I've ever cast.

I, of course, do the sensible thing and sprint away like my life depends on it, which it likely does. Despite the fear of my own mortality this spell always seems to invoke in me, particularly when I'm near it, I keep a close eye trained on the ominously dark sphere as it streaks away from me into the teeth of the oncoming horde. Hordes.

The two armies had been running toward each other, ready to fuse into an even greater mass of slavering destruction, but the flight of my friends and I has changed their trajectories. Like murderous puppies chasing a toy, the lead demons in both groups have angled towards us and led the rest of their fellows to follow in behind.

So it is that when the Bomb strikes, it detonates right in the faces of the frontrunning monsters from two armies, both of whom are leading their allies into danger like twin pied-pipers.

I'd love to be able to dump some more Will energy into a super-dash, but I don't have the juice! This far down, it'll take probably an hour to refill the Altar all the way, there just aren't enough ants nearby!

FWOOSH!

When it impacts, the dark sphere of the Gravity Bomb expands rapidly in the swirling vortex of nightmarish doom that I've come to expect. Except that it's larger. Significantly.

Holy moly!

Like a dark god brought to life, the bomb grows to its full, horrifying size and begins to do what it does best: drag in and annihilate everything it can touch.

The force it exerts is horrendous, as is the noise. The two demon armies behind me are immediately lost in the haze of ash and dust as the air fills with debris and demons. Monsters are being yanked off the ground and hauled into oblivion, I can see their shadowy forms spinning through the air before they vanish beyond the event horizon.

Only Gandalf could possibly know how many demon larvae are getting swallowed by that thing….

As I flee my brave little heart out, I marvel at the sight of the bomb. It's so large, I can clearly make out its slow revolutions, and the ash-filled atmosphere of the third stratum is allowing me to witness another new sight. I can clearly see the path the air is travelling as it spirals down into the heart of the void, a vast, sweeping descent that spins around and around, curling more and more tightly to the bomb as it descends.

[Keep running, Tiny! Don't look back for a second!]

I make sure to put that little extra emphasis that a genuine order gets as I yell at him. This is not a time I want him to indulge his curiosity!

The drag of the bomb, even as far from the epicentre as I am, is absurd. I grip the ground with my ant-claws with every step, cursing my immense mass.

Dammit, Anthony, why did you go and have to make yourself so damn chonky?! You'll have to be twice as far from every bomb from now on. No, three times as far!

My heart can't take this stress….

It's passing, though. With every step, the grip of the gravitational pull lessens, and several dozen metres in front of me, my friends must be well in the clear. I always feel a moment of panic when Invidia is too close to these things. He's so small, and not a particularly strong flier, it wouldn't take much for him to be dragged away and lost.

Just to be safe, we keep on running. Better to put all the distance we can between us and the demons for when all of this blows over. When the dust settles, I don't want them to have even a sniff of us.

Behind us, the high-pitched shriek of the wind has been joined by a dull roar as the bomb drags in everything it can touch and crushes it. The horizon behind us is looking dark indeed as even the light seems to be struggling back there. Such a horrendous power I've unleashed. What would happen if I put all of my Gravitational Mana into it as well?

I shudder to imagine. I mean, I'll have to try it at some point, but I shudder just the same.

Whatever the Altar has done to the spell, it seems to have given it more staying power to boot. We're kilometres away when it finally flickers and fades, the ensuing quiet all the more jarring after the din and terror unleashed by my spell.

I can't see what's left of the two armies, and I'm not too keen to rush in and fight out either. Judging by the sheer volume of notifications I've received from poor old Gandalf, I've chopped through thousands of demons with that one bomb. I almost feel I should apologise to my pets. After all the effort they've put in, I've managed to get just as much experience as they have.

We find a large mound of stone jutting up from the plain and use earth magic to burrow into the side, sealing it off behind us as we settle in for a bit of rest.

[Right then, that was a bit of a surprise, I wasn't expecting a second army to just appear out of nowhere. Everybody alright?]

All three give me an affirmative and I nod appreciatively.

[That's good. I suppose we'll need to be more careful as we hunt around this layer, as it appears there are multiple demon hordes running about the place. We can tackle one of them quite safely, but if we get pincered by two again, it may not turn out as well as it did this time.]

[That spell was very impressive, Master. Won't you be able to do it again?]

Crinis sounds quite proud of me as she asks if I can replicate the feat, which leads me to brag a bit.

[Well, it was rather potent, wasn't it? Possibly the biggest I've ever cast. To answer your question though, nope, not for a while. And firing off a spell like that leaves me a bit vulnerable afterwards, considering the total loss of energy. As cool and amazing as it is, I'd honestly rather not have to do it again. An eye catching event like that might draw attention we'd rather not have.]

[As you say, Master.]