Martin didn't need NukEncore's scream to understand how badly the battlefield had turned against them.
A massive mini-boss loomed over everyone, rising from the flooded tunnel as if the nest itself had grown a spine and decided to crawl out. Her body was plated in wet, scale-like armor, each black segment catching blue-green light from the water below. Thick legs pressed into the stone hard enough to crack it, while her mandibles curved outward like executioner's blades.
Poison pulsed beneath the shell around her abdomen, glowing faintly through thin seams as egg sacs throbbed against her armored body.
Hatred burned through the queen's stare. She looked at every player in the chamber as if she recognized them as invaders, thieves, and food all at once. Yet every step around the eggs carried careful restraint, even as the cluster split open and spilled more monsters into the flooded nest.
