The Battle of Wills has ended

The Winner is: [Core]

The Core was unsure of what had transpired at that moment. At the same instant, it had started up the process, it had ended. Barely, it had been allowed to envelop the Queen’s soul in its White Mana, making sure nothing could get out. It hadn't even truly started to pull, the inside itself ejecting itself towards the Entity. Why this was, there wasn't an answer to.

No hesitation had been had, and no inner mind had been created. The Core could only assume it was something that the attacker always had. It had never tried it from such a view. Perhaps it was only a distortion of time for the defenders, making it all seem so quick to the Core while it in actuality was longer than anything else. It couldn’t have imagined the Queen to have given up easily, after all. With how much had been gambled on the event, it knew that she would have given up a fight. Yet… to not even be shown the true inner workings felt like cheating. Everything had been a tad easier than expected. And the Core knew how suspicious that sounded, knowing what consequences would come from such a statement.

‘Well now… It seems that you have won this battle, little rock,’ the Queen said, seeming calmer than anything. There was no spitefulness, no hints of anger, and certainly no passive-aggressiveness. Instead, she was calm in her words like one who knew their fate beforehand. ‘I am not sure how you accomplished such a feat but I will not try to take it away from you. Kill me as you please. I am sure you have waited for this moment in a while.’

Behind the Queen, the Core could see the larger [Worm] starting to crumble, the connection to its Monarch having stopped completely. It seemed that even such a mighty beast was dependent on its leader, the source of its abilities. It might have been able to resupply itself yet the skills to do so had not been it's own. While such an issue was likely annoying for the creator, the Core couldn't help but be a little happy about being on the other side of the issue. None of its creatures would stop their functions with its death, after all, though it never wanted to see physical proof of such a scenario.

Putting its focus back on the defeated monarch, the Core couldn't help but feel happy yet again, knowing it had triumphed against all odds. Outside of its Domain, lying on the ground in a small heap of Dark Mana was the Queen in all her glory, too weak to reform herself. Even the Energy holding her together wasn’t her own. It was supplied by the Entity willingly. Yet the moment it withdrew even the smallest amount, the Queen would vanish from the mortal world, unable to supply herself for any amount of time. She was well and truly in the Core’s control. Which was why it had to ask one simple question.

‘Do you not remember what I originally hoped for, Mother Carapace?’ the Core sent out as a question, knowing the Intelligent Ant had no trouble hearing it. Even that small twitch of Energy flailing around upon impact with the body was something that slightly amused the Core. While not obvious at the start, the Queen had been forced to blind herself, lest the Mana-Cost would be too high to keep up. Even talking had to have put a strain on the Mana-Foundations.

‘That memory must have forsaken me as well, little rock,’ the Queen sarcastically retorted, still having some edge to her, even if she had grown more peaceful with the recent times. ‘Do tell what exactly you dreamed would happen.’

‘I will, little ant,’ the Core said, fully aware of how it must have agitated her to be called such a thing. And while it was not one to hit those already on the ground, the Entity couldn’t help itself. Especially not with the next line on the way. ‘I wished for a scenario where neither of us would die.’

‘Oh, yes. I do remember you talking on about such a thing when we first came in contact with each other,’ the Mother of many Ant stated, clearly not as happy about reliving that moment as she had previously. At that time, she could have likely killed the Entity without the largest amount of effort put into it, the Core still not having learned many of the essential skills for surviving the ordeal. ‘You wanted to build a side-tunnel for my kind, coincidentally leaving my entire army free to be crushed under tons upon tons of stone that couldn't be escaped from. How peaceful ideas you had.’

‘It’s not like you would have succumbed to such an attack,’ the Core pointed out, very much remembering the last few minutes of fighting. Tons of stone did nothing but force the Queen to make herself another body.

‘But my children would have,’ the Queen pointed right back, thinking of everybody but herself. ‘While strong in will, none would be strong enough in their bodies to get through such an experience alive. And being alive was the only thing I needed them to be. Killing you was the only way I could be sure that some would live.’

‘You forget so many things nowadays. First what I have said myself and then what you have said mere minutes ago. Perhaps you should have your mind looked at when you get the time,’ the Core said, finally getting over to the point where it could reveal its plan. While talking casually with its enemy was quite fun, it knew that it would have to move on soon. With each passing second, a certain screen was beginning to get more and more prominent. The [System] didn’t like to wait around for the Entity to get ready.

‘And you seem to forget who was in power not that long ago as well,’ the [Queen of Hollows] answered back, though she didn't seem to mean it, as if she wasn't truly sure how long she had been at a disadvantage. The Entity couldn't say either. ‘But, do tell what I have said as well, with how perfect that memory of yours is.’

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‘My memory might not be as perfect as you think, but I do remember vividly that you promised not to kill at the end,’ the Core said. The Queen grew still for a moment before a realization set into the ant’s mind. She was remembering that moment as well. ‘You would instead take all of my energy and grant yourself full dominion over my mind and soul. But, well, it seems that those roles have been reversed. Do you wish to become my underling, former Queen?’

‘We both know I don’t have a choice on the matter,’ was all the Core got in response. Which was quite humorous seeing as it was the truth.

‘Oh, how right you are on that. I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer either way.’

You have been granted the [Soul] of: [Mother Carapace]

How do you wish to proceed?

Absorb

Command

The Core focused on [Command] and watched the process begin anew. All the energies floated back to the Queen in full and with more than what there had been to start with, some of the Entity's flying with it. There wasn't enough for it to truly begin to worry but the amounts were still high enough to notice. Not the like the Entity cared too much, just happy to see it work.

And work it did. As a display of true miracles, the Black swath of Mana began to float up into the air, forced by the newer Mana to take form yet again. The Darkness greyed out as the new colours came in. It wasn't allowed to absorb and instead forced to assimilate with the new. And the effects? They were greater than anything the Core had ever witnessed before. Unlike earlier restorations of her body, the Queen did not turn [Undead] again, instead of reverting to a healthy and alive Ant. It looked painful but there were no shouts that would indicate it was such a thing. Whether that was due to a higher pain tolerance or something else, the Core was not entirely sure. It just knew that the Queen had been reformed.

Yet there was more than just her original body, the Entity’s influence clear to see. Right in the middle, just a bit farther above than what the other Ant had theirs, were the central Mana-Node. It was what allowed the Core’s influence to flow through so strongly, every part of the underling's body interacted with in some form because of it. With the Mana-Node placed down, the creatures were totally and utterly susceptible to the Core’s wishes, unable to disobey or do anything other than what had been required of them.

‘How do you feel?’ the Core questioned, unsure of how the process had gone. The [System] had shown no further hints towards more interference, the prior screen being all that been seen. Yet the Queen starting to stand up yet again showed much promise, even if it was with shaky feet. Perhaps being [Undead] for so long would leave one unaccustomed to the feeling of organs? Or maybe the pressure of another presence constantly being beside oneself was the true cause.

‘I feel compelled to not try and kill you this very instant,’ the Queen said, radiating power once again. Yet the amounts… they were so much less than what had been witnessed before. Was she holding back or had new limits been inforced on her? ‘But the System doesn’t allow me to. Congratulations, little rock. You have now gained an underling who is actually more powerful than you. Or is meant to be more powerful than you. I can’t seem to access most of my resources at the current moment.’

… That did not sound good. Looking deeper into the Queen’s body, which was met with no resistance other than vocal complaints, the Core couldn't find anything directly wrong with the composition. The [System] had handled the creation of the body perfectly, yet something was wrong when put beside the expectations for the creature. Perhaps it was less a biological limiter and instead one put upon it by the same system that had created it? Since the Core was meant to look at the [Status Screen] of the ant anyway, it decided to get it over with that instant.

Character Screen

Name:

Mother Carapace

Gender:

Female

Level:

9

Class:

Necromancer

Race:

Giant-Ant

Title:

Dungeon-Boss

Health:

180/180

H-Regen:

0.12/sec

Mana:

170/170

M-Regen:

0.13/sec

Stamina:

150/150

S-Regen:

0.14/sec

Cost:

XX MP

Basic Stats

Strength:

22

Wisdom:

16

Vitality:

17

Intelligence:

13

Dex:

14

Willpower:

10

And therein lay the problems faced so suddenly. The changes were able to be seen in that same instant. The Core had initially thought nothing changed to the level remaining unchanged yet the moment it looked at it in a more general fashion, more flaws became obvious. First came the [Class]. What had previously been the class of [Leader of the Colony] had changed over to the class of a mere [Necromancer]. While the Core perhaps hadn't witnessed the newer class before, it was obvious that the more general wording left much to be desired. Though… the newer [Title] was quite interesting to see. Putting more focus on the title, the Core was granted a description for it.

Dungeon-Boss

A being made by a mighty Dungeon-Core, meant to be the last step between it and the Enemy. A Dungeon-Boss is stronger and rarer than the average Dungeon-Born, and it embodies these traits with greater power than anything else.