Chapter 730 - The flaming pillar

Why are the monsters of the third strata called demons? This is a question frequently asked of me by those unfamiliar with that particular strata, or less well read on monsters in general. It's a general misconception that it was the civilised races of Pangera that designated the monsters of the third strata as 'demons', as a response to the particularly intelligent cruelty inherent in the more highly evolved monsters encountered there. This simply isn't so. It was, in fact, the System itself that assigned the name of demon to those monsters, probably long before any surface being encountered and slew one.

As to why this may be the case? Ah, here we come to the crux of the matter. This question is the cause of much debate and speculation in the academic community even to this day, and despite what many of my colleagues believe, I don't think it will be possible to arrive at a conclusive answer.

Some posit the theory that the System itself contains a sense of 'good' and 'evil', and use the language associated with various Skills, Classes and monsters to support this idea. The argument has some merit, I admit. Various healing classes, or those with a predilection to endeavours that one can argue are for the immediate benefit of society, do in fact receive affirming and positive language in their descriptions as given by the System. Other classes that are… less savoury in nature, such as torturer, executioner or thief, are far less complimentary in the text, though it must be noted that neither does the language of the System strictly condemn such classes.

So it is by this argument that the most 'evil' of all monsters have been denoted by the System as demons, as they are the most deserving of this title. Others argue that this concept is inherently flawed, as all monsters from the Dungeon are, in essence, highly motivated killers. The less intelligent monsters may pose less of a threat than their smarter… colleagues… but the motivations of both are similar: kill, eat and grow stronger.

It's only the natives of the third strata, to my knowledge, that seem to enjoy what they do, even go out of their way to inflict pain, fear or terror in their victims. There have been numerous witnesses to testify that the demons will act like this even when preying on each other. And each demon will attempt to indulge itself according to their nature as described by their species. Wrath demons engage in horrific displays of anger and rage against those who they see have wronged them, Greed demons will go to absurd lengths to collect and acc.u.mulate that which they desire whilst delighting in the pain inflicted, Envy demons are known to strip everything from their foes, reducing them to literally nothing before dealing the final blow.

Why do they act this way? Why have they been named and designed to be this way by the System? In my humble opinion, there are none who can say for certain.

· Excerpt from Lecture Series "On the nature of Demons" by teacher Sooka of the Tempest Alliance.

I'm so damn tired. I need more ants nearby to fuel the Vestibule, the twenty bodyguards who have shadowed us down this far simply aren't enough to provide the kind of energy that I need. It's been two damn days and we haven't had much of a break in that entire time. Constant fighting for this length of time is enough to take it out of anyone, even a tier six, as it turns out. We did actually try to bury ourselves into a wall and hide from the wave for a while, but it wasn't too effective. I don't know if the monsters here are smarter or if our cores are just too easy to detect through a few metres of collapsed tunnel wall, but no sooner did we seal ourselves into a pocket of air that we'd dug out than the monsters started digging their way through to us.

Stop being so persistent! Leave us alone, dammit!

In the end we managed to get a tiny rest by digging further in and forcing the monsters to work harder to get to us, but it wasn't nearly enough to recharge the batteries. In truth, we should have turned around a long time ago, but I can feel that we're getting closer to the third strata with every step and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super interested in taking a peek. This is the new frontier! The next leg of the Colony's conquest of the Dungeon! What will the terrain be like? What sort of tunnels, what sort of mana, are we going to find? The sense of adventure is welling up within me and I cannot bring myself to squash it, despite the danger that pressing forward entails.

"Eldest, I must recommend against this course of action," I scent a killjoy from somewhere above me.

"Protectant? What do you mean?! Aren't you curious to catch a glimpse of the third strata? Not to mention the benefit to the Colony if we can block an entrance to our territory for as little as an hour!"

If we stop the flow of demons into the second strata beneath the Colony the pressure on all of the checkpoints above will diminish dramatically. It would achieve the goal of this expedition in one fell swoop!

"My only goal is to make sure that you remain alive," comes back the reply, "going further into the teeth of the wave isn't worth the risk."

"Be a lot easier if you lot helped out more," I grumble.

"We are helping more than you think. We've done as much as we can whilst also remaining hidden."

"You must be getting a hell of a lot of stealth levels out of this."

"… yes."

I don't want to reveal to Protectant and her crew that I do, in fact, know exactly what they've been up to. Their thoughts and desires, their Will, has been flowing into the Vestibule, being enhanced by the Nave, and giving me a window into their activities. What they want, what they do and how they do it, aren't really mysteries to me anymore, especially when I'm actively paying attention. I'm sure the information I can glean from an individual ant when I focus on them would be overwhelming were I to try it back in the nest, but it's fairly trivial for me to do so here, with only twenty of my siblings within range.

"Make sure you keep getting levels," I urge them all, directing my scent widely across the ceiling where the rest of them are hiding, "I know you've been working hard to level up. A bit more of a push and you'll reach tier five. Let's do it!"

If all of them reach tier five at the same time my pets reach tier six, my group will have reached a much higher level of power, making us a mobile fortress that the Colony can fling at our enemies. Certainly we'd have been able to hold at the Siege far more effectively.

"Anyways, we're pushing forward again!" I declare. "We aren't going home until I catch a glimpse of the third strata. If you want to go back, then push forward even more aggressively!"

I can feel the curses ringing through the very souls of the defender squad above me, each of them raging that the target the Council wants them to keep alive is so determined to seek out danger at every turn. Not my fault, team. I'm not the one who tasked you with this impossible mission, so if you want to complain then go back and yell at the ones who commissioned you in the first place. Having reaffirmed my desire to push on, the group girds themselves and continues to press onward into the teeth of the endless flood of monsters. The deeper we go, the more necessary it becomes for the bodyguards to get involved, working in groups to knock monsters off balance, put damage on targets from range with coordinated acid barrages, or use magic to thin out the weaker opponents. It makes a noticeable difference and my pets and I keep moving forward.

The first thing I notice is the heat. The irrepressible cold of the shadow sea gives way ever so slightly, the faintest hint of warmth brushing against my carapace. Thank goodness! The temperature was getting so low that my legs were on the brink of locking up. The more we move, the warmer it gets, and the fewer shadow monsters we see, as if they are actively avoiding the heat. Which makes sense I suppose.

[Crinis, are you feeling alright as it gets warmer?] I ask, concerned.

[It's uncomfortable,] she admits, [but I'm fine.]

[Good, we can press on then.]

Down we go, further into the depths. Eventually we come across something I didn't expect to see, a thick wall of fog blanketing the way forward. We walk cautiously forward, testing our footing and stretching our senses as we go, even as monsters and demons swarm around us. Every time I move my leg forward, the rock gets hotter, until it reaches a near scorching temperature that thankfully does no damage, though it stings. Tiny is particularly uncomfortable and I can sense him hopping from foot to foot as we fight our way through the fog.

It lasts for perhaps a hundred metres of tunnel, and when we emerge on the other side, the Dungeon has completely transformed. No longer are we surrounded by the dark and cold, instead, a wall of heat boils the moisture from my eyes and bright red light emanates from veins that flow through the walls like branching lines of pure magma. Far more shocking than this is the scene that opens up before us. The tunnel continues to slope down, forming a ramp to what I can see is a flat pillar. Not far ahead, the walls of the tunnel drop away to reveal a huge expanse of open air that frankly defies belief. Keen to see more, we barrel forward, slamming monsters out of the way, even knocking them over the edge to fall to the depths.

[Hold them off,] I tell my pets, [I want to take a look.]

As Crinis, Tiny and Invidia move to defend me from the monsters, I move to the edge of this ramp and look over the edge, my mind freezing at the impossible sight. The floor… is so… so far away. What am I even seeing? Even in the Dungeon… this surely can't be possible…

But the evidence of my eyes cannot be denied. The ramp we stand on connects to a pillar of fiery rock that rises what must be ten kilometres from the floor. It's hard to make out, but as far as my eyes can see, the rocky ground flows with lava, fire and a writhing carpet of monsters that flow toward the base of the pillar. The pillar itself is covered in monsters, clawing their way upward, even as they fight each other every step of the way. These are the demons who've been reaching us in the second strata, those few who survive the climb. In the far, far distance, when I strain my eyes to their limits, I can make out another towering spire of stone that looks as if it holds up the sky itself.

So you're telling me that the entire surface, and the top two strata, are being held up by these columns?! Surely not, right?!

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