Rip and tear. Rip and tear. Rip and tear.

Holy moly, I’m getting sick of all this ripping and tearing!

The stupid demons are endless! I’d go so far as to say that the demons start coming and they don’t stop coming! It’s not even that there’s just an endless sea of demons swirling around us, it’s the percentage of those that are overwhelmed by the big daddy demon and come wading through their kind to get at us. And maybe that’s only one percent of every demon we see, but that still adds up to INFINITY demons.

Even I’m getting tired, and I’m basically immune to fatigue, for now at least. The further we plunge into the third stratum, the further from the Colony we get and the more tenuous my link through the Vestibule becomes and the more nervous I get.

I’ve been kind of hoping that I’d connect to the ants below me, in the fourth, since I know our territory is roughly vertical as it descends, but I’ve got nothing yet. We’ve known for a long time that the third was deeper than we thought, but this is getting ridiculous.

So far, we’ve descended four times, and everytime we get down a layer, the mana gets thicker and the environment more unwelcoming.

[Just how deep does this place go?] I complain to Al. [If it gets any hotter, my cooling enchanted rings are going to melt off!]

The giant eyeball of fire stares at me. I can barely even feel the heat coming off him at this point, it doesn’t make any difference when the ambient temperature is this high.

[I do not know precisely how deep the third stratum goes, as I have never exited it into the fourth. We are almost as deep as I have ever been, however.]

Well that’s something at least. To be honest, I probably don’t want to go much further. We’re too far from the Colony for the Altar to be as useful as I need it to be. Only the support of Tiny, Crinis, Invidia and Al gives me the confidence to venture this far out, but that faith is starting to wane.

I can endure the constant barrage of attacks pretty well, the others, not so much. And the heat is literally melting Crinis, she’s barely able to keep her form together on my back, dripping down my sides like an oil stain. I’m having to maintain a mini ice domain just to keep her going.

[Do you still have the trail?] I demand of the demon.

His eye flashes.

[I have it.]

We didn’t come this way on a hunch, we did manage to get ahold of Torrifex’s scent. Al and Crinis were the ones to detect him, getting a whiff of his mana on the edge of their awareness. Unfortunately, the big coward is still retreating, probably to meet up with his nefarious siblings.

They won’t get away. I’m going to flatten those tier eight demons if it’s the last thing I do!

The air is thick with ash and smoke. Lava flows are everywhere. In some places, they still jet up into the air, hundreds of metres high, before falling back to the strata floor. This deep, with the mana so dense, everything I hate about this place is magnified.

[Oop. Look out, Tiny, I think there’s another one coming up.]

The ape turns his head with interest, despite the sweat dripping from his matted fur. Poor guy. As we run, we see yet another abandoned fortress.

They’ve become more and more common as we’ve descended, which makes sense, since the juicier resources of the stratum are to be found deeper down. Clearly, whoever owned these places has decided that it wasn’t worth defending them in the current climate, and fair enough too. Built into cliff walls, or atop jutting peaks that thrust up from the plains, these are often intimidating-looking fortifications, possibly housing gates and precious resources that are now swarming with demons.

At least the little monsters aren’t spawning on them, but the more advanced ones are climbing up there to do battle with each other and get a quiet moment to evolve. Two objectives rather at odds with each other.

To keep Tiny’s mood up, I’ve been letting him go and have a nice therapeutic rampage when we pass close by one, just so he can vent his frustration.

All this running with too little battling isn’t good for the big ape’s mood and it’s a real downer when he starts pouting all over the place.

[I think we’ll cut close by this one,] I tell him, [so go and have some fun. Invidia, back him up, would you please?]

[I willssssss.]

[FIGHT!] Tiny cheerfully announces before he starts bounding off, electricity sparking from him.

I watch him go before turning my attention back to our surroundings. There’s nothing here right now, but that could change in an instant, need to be alert.

[Do we think they’re on this level?] I ask Al.

[It is… possible,] he returns, and that’s the best news I’ve had all day. Climbing down those damn pillars is an absolute nightmare.

[Alright then, we’ll continue our sweep. Let’s hug close to this fortress so we don’t get too far apart. How are you doing, Crinis?]

[I’m… just fine, Master.]

[Rubbish. You’re struggling, and that’s fine. Let me know if I can do more to help. Are your senses still sharp?]

[I’m keeping… an… eye out.]

[Excellent. That’s all you need to do, alright? Don’t tax yourself.]

She wouldn’t even have that ice domain if I hadn’t just gone ahead and done it without asking her. Suffering in silence is the Crinis default, and it’s a habit I hope she grows out of. Everyone needs help. Heck, I need it all the time.

Hopefully, we track those damn demons down soon, because I am building a lot of pent up rage myself, and I can’t wait to unleash it!