Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

"Stephan, hold!" commanded Gareth as their group entered an open cavern filled to the grim with ants.

"Yes sir!" shouted Stephan, planting himself between the army of ants and his companions. A wall of ice expanded on both his sides to form a narrow and easily defensible pass.

"Daphne!" shouted Gareth.

"On it," said Daphne, holding a celestial chess board in one hand and a ruby staff in another.

"The heavens burn, and the lands break open.

"Cease your struggles and admit your crimes.

"Corrosive Meteor Shower!"

Balls of fluid fire rained down on the army of Gold-Plated Ants, melting limbs and entire ant bodies and forcing them into disarray. A chittering War Queen seated atop a mound in the center of the cavern quickly had her forces perform evasive maneuvers. Elites with shield-like protrusions on their arms jumped up to block the corrosive flames.

"Screee!" shouted the War Queen. The ant army formed a spear that charged at Stephan and pushed him backward. Stephan recovered, but not before a gap was opened in their formation, and ants poured around Stephan toward Daphne.

An arrow pierced the lead ant before they could reach Daphne and pulled their group together as a rain of storm infused arrows descended. "I'll take care of these stragglers," said Gareth. "Lawrence, Sorin, and Astley, it's up to you!"

Three figures shot past Stephan and cut down the ant army's front lines. Lawrence was the quickest and appeared beside an elite, stabbing it first in the leg, followed by its two right shoulders. He then stabbed ferociously into its abdomen and cut out its core before vanishing into the shadows and heading towards his next target.

Astley had chosen Lawrence as the target of her Doppelganger ability. Though she was only able to imitate 60% of his strength, this was more than enough for her to locate and dispatch 'nodes' in the army, drones and soldiers that served as relays for the War Queen to keep all her troops organized.

Sorin's task was crucial to defeating the army. Even now, reinforcements were pouring out from the ant hill at the center of the chamber with no end in sight. Daphne will run out of mana in minutes the way we're going. But that's more than enough time. One minute should do the trick.

"Lorimer, mount!" shouted Sorin. The rat jumped out of Sorin's pocket and grew to the size of a large horse. A group of ants attacked Lorimer's flanks as Sorin hopped on, but their claws and mandibles bounced off the rat's steely flesh without causing him harm.

"Python Coil." A poisonous serpent ten feet wide and several hundred feet long surged out of Sorin and melted most of the ants in a straight line. Only a few elites managed to survive the attack, but Sorin quickly cut them down with his soul-bound treasure, Nemesis, as he and Lorimer charged through the opening toward the War Queen.

"Screeee!" A sudden sonic attack struck Sorin, damaging his internals and attacking his soul. He resisted a portion of the damage thanks to his Ring of Mind Stabilization, giving him just enough time to dodge to the side as an earthen spike appeared beneath their feet, sending Lorimer flying into the air.

"Stop faking it and help me take care of these Queensguards," Sorin snapped at Lorimer.

"Reee!" The rat, who wasn't at all harmed by the earthen spike, shrank down to a more manageable size and shot toward one of the four guardians flanking the War Queen.

"Python Coil," Sorin said again, adjusting the composition of the poisonous serpent. A smaller serpent whipped out to coil around the four Queensguards and inject them with mana-binding toxins, making them easy prey for Sorin's ravenous companion.

The War Queen hissed as Sorin approached her, spear in hand. As a rare creature of Strife, she naturally recognized him as a powerful adversary and pulled out all the stops.

Clang! Sorin blocked one of the war queen's massive pincers with a gauntleted fist and used Adder Rush to twist around it. Another pincer smashed into the ground beside Sorin, sending him flying toward two smaller claws laced with deadly venom.

Sorin didn't hesitate to exchange blows with the War Queen. His spear pierced into her belly, and the two venomous claws dug into his chest. A paralytic I've never encountered before. Interesting. His body was temporarily immobilized, so he moved his head to the side, allowing the queen to bite down on his shoulder.

Unbothered by the large amount of damage he was taking, Sorin swept his spear out, barely catching the retreating War Queen. It's really completely different than an egg-laying queen. Sorin sent out another poisonous python barrelling into the army of ants bearing a blood-borne poison.

Ants exploded, sending tiny streams of life force to replenish Sorin's own energies. As they exploded, they spread the poison to their companions, who exploded seconds later.

"Scree!" The queen, sensing Sorin's damage, manipulated her troops and ordered them to retreat far away from the infected targets.

"Very different indeed," said Sorin, rolling his freshly healed shoulder. The queen's venom had already been converted to energy via Toxic Metabolism. "Submit or die."

"Scree!" hissed the War Queen. Likely a no, but Sorin was no expert on bestial languages.

Closing in on the War Queen was proving tricky, so Sorin used his Wraith Snake Boots to tear through space and appear just above his enemy. He slashed down with Nemesis, barely catching a vulnerable spot in the Gold-Plated Ant's thick exoskeleton.

Anatomy fully mapped. Optimizing poison mixture based on previous tests. Perfect test matches discovered. Adapting via Autogenesis.

The War Queen jerked as poisonous chains appeared inside her body and began consuming her from the inside out. Once again, acid was the solution to Sorin's problems.

Unfortunately, this War Queen has a few tricks up her sleeve. Unlike the ants it controlled, which had little to no individual will, the War Queen was a monarch who could sacrifice their lives whenever convenient.

Ants fell by the dozen as the War Queen pulled life force from her soldiers. They were immediately replaced by fresh ants from the hive. "It's too bad for you that I can change my poisons at will," said Sorin. "Autogenesis." The poisons in the War Queen's body lowered in potency as they morphed into a poison that focused on disabling body functions.

Sorin redoubled his attacks with Nemesis, and this time, arrows infused with wind smashed into the Queen. The situation was under control, and Gareth had joined the fight. The interruption in her rhythm was just what Sorin needed. He closed the gap and had Nemesis transform into a pair of twin daggers that carved pierces off the War Queen's exoskeleton for Gareth to target.

To kill it, most people would need to exhaust their army, thought Sorin as he danced around the queen. Striking the queen was difficult, but thanks to Gareth's timely arrows, he was able to inject a small dose of corruption into the creature. But there's one thing I can try. If I interrupt her control, she won't be able to sacrifice its minions to recover damage.

The corruption he'd injected her with was naturally Strife. Directly controlling the corruption was unnecessary—the moment Strife detected a competing force in the War Queen's body, it immediately attacked, neutralizing the War Queen's most potent abilities.

Autogenesis.

The poisons in the queen's body shifted once more to produce aggressive acitoxins. The War Queen's body began to deteriorate, and this time, it had no way to heal the damage.

"Screee!" The War Queen, now realizing that doom was inevitable, sent a final command to the army of ants. Their eyes turned red, and they began consuming energy at an unsustainable pace.

"They're going berserk!" Sorin warned. "Retreat!"

Lawrence and Astley pulled back and joined Stephan and the rest of the group. The armored bear was swinging wildly at the berserk ants, and scratches were beginning to appear on his armor.

I need to end this quickly. It wasn't just the normal soldier ants that went berserk but the queen and her Queensguard. In their case, their defenses saw a huge boost that prevented Lorimer from biting through. Sorin was on his own.

Blood flow has increased significantly. Toxins are being generated in the War Queen's flesh, breaking down unnecessary restrictive tissues. Sorin jumped back as a pincer cut down towards him, and the War Queen closed the gap. It's fast. Much faster than I can react to!

Sorin leaped to the side, suffering a cut on his rib cage that tore straight through his leather armor. He used Adder Rush to twist as the War Queen's mandibles bit down towards him and lashed out with Nemesis. This time, the soul-bound spear cut through the Queen's exoskeleton like a knife through butter.

I see what's going on. It adapted its physiology. My initial model is basically garbage. Adjusting model. Adjusting dose in response to physiology changes. Increased poison resistance confirmed. Optimal toxin for survival case identified as three-star poison, Three Beat Kill.

Sorin immediately adjusted his poisons via autogenesis and began counting. One. He jumped up to avoid a low blow. Two. He used his spear to deflect an upward strike. Three. The War Queen jumped in for the kill but suddenly froze for a single second as Three Beat Kill worked its magic.

If used on a weak Flesh-Sanctification cultivator, Three Beat Kill would halt all bodily functions for a single second, effectively shocking the body to death. In this case, the poison only worked its magic for a fraction of a second, but this was enough for Sorin to safely land and inject another dose of Three Beat Kill.

One. Two. Three. The Queen was too fast to avoid, but interrupting her movements every three seconds was enough of an advantage for Sorin. Poison accumulated in the Queen's body until finally, the War Queen collapsed. The second she fell, the berserk army of ants fell with her.

"I can't believe this isn't even the boss," said Lawrence, wiping green blood off his daggers. "Isn't this supposed to be a small-scale dungeon?"

"It's one of the bigger basic dungeons out there," answered Sorin as he retrieved the core from the War Queen's body. "Do you guys mind if I keep this? I have a use for it." It was difficult to find nourishment for a queen ant, and a core from the same species would likely be useable after some alchemical modifications.

"We'll deduct it from the party loot at the end," said Gareth. "What, no retort, Stephan? Did Sorin beat you so bad you won't even speak up to weak little archer?"

"Can it, Gareth," said Stephan. "I'm only following your directions because they're tactically sound."

"Our fight was a draw, for the record," said Sorin.

"That's right, it was a draw," said Stephan.

It had not been a draw. Stephan greatly cared about his reputation now, so Sorin had intentionally held back. Sorin knew it, and Stephan knew it as well, which was why their aggressive companion was now quite keen on solid teamwork and sound tactics.

They cleared the battlefield with wish-fire before proceeding into another cavern network. Sorin led the way using a small compass and stopped when they arrived at a branch in the tunnel system. "These are the coordinates Elder Marik obtained. Lawrence, care to search the place? And Astley, please do your thing. Use this divine crystal as an offering." It was one of the three crystals he'd been awarded for his services in Delphi.

"We'll see how far this gets us," said Astley, pulling a portable altar to Lord Hope out of her Hero Medal. "If it were within a few weeks of their passing, I'd be able to call back their souls from the underworld. The only thing I can do for you is a Time Shadow Ritual, which is brutally expensive. Do you have the approximate time and date of death?"

Sorin handed her a jade slip with the details. "Please expand your search to a week prior to see if you can find anything suspicious. I refuse to believe a dungeon of this caliber could hold back an adventuring party with two experienced plague mages."