Basil jumped out of its fortification and was heading directly to the Sikara Mother. His sight was almost red by the Fury that was coursing through him. Three Tanks and two guardians, the White ones, formed a barricade to impede his advance against their mother. The parasites got occupied with the other bugs. These children of her would defend her until the end. Their mother was behind them, looking at Basil directly in his eyes. She knew this creature was the author of the death of her spawn. She wanted it dead.
As a way to help her children against this assassin, the Sikara mother began to form a sphere of mucus with her mouth and spit it towards her guards, permeating them.
Spikes made of roots began to form in each of them, making them look like a mix between a porcupine and beetle. The Tanks were covered in the front with these spikes and around, creating a crown so that no one could trespass them. The Guardians got them everywhere in their bodies as a means to attack their enemy with better efficacy.
All their eyes turned red like their mother, instead of the black color of their siblings. They got transformed into a royal guard of some sort. Their pincers became serrated and more dangerous, and they were more coordinated in their patterns. The three tanks stood in front, and the guardians began to flank Basil.
Basil was confused. These bugs were constantly launching themselves at him. Now they were waiting for him to do something, the mother was only looking at him, clicking her pincers in anticipation, after a moment she decided it was time and bit with force to make a strong sound.
The Guardians attacked at the same time, and Basil was bemused by their action. He tried to evade them, but their spikes elongated and pierced his scales, reaching his flesh. Basil let out cries of pain. He attempted to contort to bite one of the bugs who hit his body. He could not grasp them, and the Tanks were beginning to get near to finish him off with their pincers.
Basil's eyes began to glimmer with a red tint. He was furious and wanted to get out of this place. He bit the spike that he could reach, dug his claws in the uneven floor, and pulled the tip out of his body, letting the blood flow.
The bug Guardian tried to get down to the floor in the air, but Basil had a firm grip on him with his mouth. The other Guardian tried to help his brother push the spike deeper in the enemy's body, but the lizard couldn't permit that. Basil used the bug's brother as a mace and smashed him against the other, making them bleed with the spikes they used to attack him.
The little Lizard let out a cry in defiance of the blasted bugs. That was the signal the Tanks needed to smash their mother's enemy. They were ramming their bodies against Basil, each from a different direction.
Basil was quick and evaded the first to get to his side. He mounted atop of it, and the Tank continued his ram as a way to avoid the creature from getting a grip. One of his brothers accompanied him and tried to help him, but Basil was not letting go.
He was at the far end of the Tank, and the other was trying to bite him off his brother. Basil dug his claws again, but this time in the bug's shell, and started to climb the carapace to get atop the Tank to kill it like his brethren.
Basil bit the top of his head, the Bug let out a Screech and died still running. Basil jumped to the side, so his brother could not stop in time and pierced his shell, impaling it. Basil took advantage of that and climbed the stuck bug to kill it the same way. The mother looked horrified. Only one of his sons left to protect her because the others killed the parasites who desecrated her child's bodies.
The Selajivi were enraged at the wall of bugs that stopped their advance to the Breeder. Having that body would help them get better hosts with time. They were breaking, slashing, and smashing all in their way but still were not near it.
The creature that disturbed their nest was battling a better version of the bulkier bugs. They wanted all, but one parasite, in particular, desired the creature's body. Something remarkable could put it ahead of the hive; that's why it was hidden, only looking at the battles and the deceased.
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Basil was getting tired of evading the Tank and the Sikara Mother, too. She called her son with a screech, dropping another mucus ball above him. The Tank began to tremble and screech in pain. He was starting to grow in size, and more spikes were covering his body. Its shell was getting shattered by the rapid growth and could not cover all the flesh inside. Two eyes bulged at a random place in its head, and all looked at Basil with evident hate.
Basil was unsure if he could kill that thing with the strength that remained in him but still waited for the creature to attack. He was going to kill the Mother even if he got torn to shreds.
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Evalyne was panicking in her room. Her Lizard was nuts, madness controlled him, and if he survived this, she would do everything to make him stronger, even if she needed to sell her hair. That thing was precious to her species because it marked how much energy you could control.
Her hair was important in her culture. It could be considered an organic battery, core, or something else for lesser species, depending on what use they could give it. For her race, the Avashtara, it was a symbol of power, knowledge, and longevity.
Hers was reaching her hip, and cutting it was a complete disgrace in her culture because it means you lost yourself in the Void of things. It is not a matter of pride but self. Each strand of hair has knowledge accumulated by the Ashvatara, so losing it is akin to losing memories, But Evalyne didn't care by now.
She knew perfectly the remaining stamina that remained in Basil and couldn't dare to open the screen to check. Mardok and the others saw all of Basil's maneuvers to survive this trial, and they were Shocked. They felt in tune with the little guy. These were the trials that decided if you were a survivor or fertilizer for others to grow.
"That wimp is a rough bastard." — Uttered Bik.
"That's rich coming from the roughest bastard." — Replied Mardok.
"You can shove your sass up your..." — Voiced Bik with animosity.
"Gentlemen, be quiet. I am trying to see how he is going to get out of that situation." — Requested Dusanog.
"He can't, Dusanog. He got marked." — Answered Moraeus.
"What do you mean, Moraeus?" — Replied Dusanog with some preoccupation.
"That thing is a Sikara Mother. Those things charge their eggs in pheromones so strong you can't wash nor mask it by any other scent. I always betted a creature would die when they eat their eggs, and most of the time, I won some energy in those bets. The only way to survive is to kill the Mother or be killed by her spawn." — Said Moraeus.
"So... he is fucked?" — Asked Bik.
"It would seem like that, and we all know that he is low on stamina by now, if not critical. He must have used his reserve evading the Sikara Tank. Even I didn't know those things could be ascended like that by their Mother, and I hunted a lot of those things when I was still a Ranger in my planet." — Said Mardok.
In the screens floating in the center of the room, they could see Basil trying to see a way to beat it.
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The Tank was getting mad and out of control at this moment. It attacked indiscriminately, be it friend or foe, but his objective was clear: killing the lizard. Basil was exhausted, and he could not find a way to get on top of the thing. "How do I kill that thing..." Basil began to arrange something. That's when it occurred to him, "if he attacks everything now, what if I put it against its mother?"
Basil had a plan, and he didn't need to lay a claw on the Thing. It was almost flawless. The only thing he needed was to fool it. Basil began to run to random places in the little arena they created, making it run towards him to evade it in time so that it could crash against the wall or the other bugs.
There were a lot of its brothers impaled in its spikes and parasites as well. The mucus was dropping to the ground. It was time, and Basil began to run towards the Mother. The mutated Tank couldn't permit that and charged towards him. That's what he wanted.
The mother was surprised at seeing the Lizard coming directly to her. Was it giving up? No, wait, she realized too late, her son was coming straight at her and couldn't stop its momentum. The fluids of her spawn filling the floor.
Basil slipped between the legs of the Mother as she tried to smash him to no avail. The creature was quick, and she could only see her son coming at her. A
Basil looked at his work with pleasure. The giant bug was still twitching, so he needed to finish what he started. He climbed atop and ripped its shell to eat the mutant's and mother's flesh and brain.