Chapter 158: Chapter 158

But the Third of the Sixth was not the only one about to fly to their destiny. The joint hive of the Orchard was a flurry of activity. A large group of bees gathered at the front of the hive, including several newly born soldiers and a new communer, a contingent of workers, and all of the scouts who normally would have spread out beyond the Tower. And, of course, the two queens and the communer. The communer was scrambling around the ground, moving as fast as her legs and wings would carry her as she kept brushing different bees with her antennae.

The Fourth of the Seventh followed her.

“Workers to build mini-hive?”

“Have honey for trip?”

The Fourth of the Seventh crawled over to a piece of honeycomb, which was being tied by many smaller ropes to the worker bees.

She paused midair as the sun beat down on her for the first time. She trembled a bit as the mana of the Beyond crashed against her body. There was no warm, gentle suffusion as what happened with the King’s mana, but a chilly wind battering her body without passing through. But within that current came a counter. The King’s mana passed through her once more, a small river of it flowing out from the Tower and to her, buffeting her against the cold and callous mana all around her. With that Find your next favorite novel on NovelHub today!

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There was no neat and orderly division of rooms here, no entrance ways to pass through. A field of flowers stretched right out into a forest of trees, like a Flower Meadow surrounded by Orchards, only with their trees far more densely packed. The Fourth of the Seventh’s mind raced at the idea of the rooms just…bleeding into one another, mixing together with no barrier.

And then, she turned around and glanced her home for the first time. She wondered why the King called it a tower, and now she knew. Her home was a mighty pillar, a tree towering into the sky but made of stone and wax instead of wood. A glowing light nearly as bright as the sun adorned its roof, spreading its light and mana out into the Beyond. Upon the walls was a golden banner with a diligent worker gathering nectar from a flower, which the Fourth of the Seventh instinctively recognized as the symbol of the Queen of All Bees.

Truly, the King was great to have build such a thing.

But her workers were starting to tug at her so she shook herself and turned in the direction the scouts indicated. Because soon she would have plenty of time to observe and explore the world around her. But first and foremost, she needed to prepare a new hive, a place where her scouts could rest and replenish themselves. And now that she had experienced the cold of the Beyond herself, she was all the more determined to grant her loyal workers as much of the comfort of home as she could. So, she set forth, following after the scouts as the soldiers took up a formation around her.

They flew through the forest, trees so tightly packed that their leaves blotted out the sun, creating dim and dark places even in the middle of the day. The Fourth of the Seventh watched as the world shimmered and faded all around her as she passed through shaded areas. It was fascinating, but it was only the beginning.

Soon, they arrived at their destination and the Fourth of the Seventh beheld something entirely knew. Structures made of stone, stones she knew had not been scattered randomly. They had been placed with purpose, hinting at a grander structure that may have once towered over the land. It was even vaguely reminiscent of the King’s constructions, only far less grand and in a state of decay. She wondered who built it and what sort of hive it may have housed.

But now, it would house hers. This was the place the Firstborn’s scouts had discovered mana flowers in the past. As such, it would make an ideal location for a new hive. The concentration of mana was denser here than anywhere else the scouts had identified thus far. That would make the hive more comfortable for the monster bees, as well as assisting with the production of honey. If they were lucky, maybe there’d even be more mana flowers around.

Likewise, the structure itself provided an ideal location. The scouts led the Fourth of the Seventh to a sheltered alcove on top of the one of the rock structures where the rocks blocked the wind on three sides. The Fourth of the Seventh landed in the alcove and paced about it, examining every inch before turning to her workers. She began to dance.

“Looks great! Let’s get to work, then!”

Her workers and saluted and construction of the mini-hive began.

Somewhere else far, far away, Ruckanos stood imperiously at the edge of their camp as the scouts returned. They had set up in a small forest clearing, hidden from the Tower in the area by the trees.

The scouts shook their heads.

“No settlements near the Tower, sir.”

Ruckanos sighed and shook his head.

“Well, let’s forage what we can, then.”

A wyvern could fly far and fast, a species that in the wild was known to spend nearly all of their time in the air. But even they required food and rest eventually, so Ruckanos was forced to put down whenever they found a purified area. Ideally, they would find a settlement of relatively civilized folk who they could…persuade to offer supplies. Unfortunately, they had no such luck yet. Records of past Grand Subjugations indicated that beyond the boundaries of the Conclave, the vast majority of Towers were small and their purified zones unoccupied by civilized people, or even subhumans.

And were he a normal Grand Subjugation participant, this would have been a great find. A small Tower would be relatively easy to intimidate…or conquer. But Ruckanos was no normal participant. He had been chosen by the gods for this mission, and he would not waste time on any Tower but the one he was seeking. The gods demanded thus.

Additionally, his force was quite small even as far as the initial scouting wave was concerned. If they wanted to have the strength to deal with the target Tower, they could not afford any casualties enroute. So, he would ignore this minor Tower for now, and content himself with the bounty of its territory. Assuming there was any bounty to find. An isolated Tower was not guaranteed to have any edible flora or fauna dwelling in its territory at all.

Just then, he heard a buzzing. A bee flew past his face, landing on a flower a short distance from his feet. He scowled and pulled back the mana he had subconsciously stirred up. For some reason, despite their isolation, every single purified territory they had landed in had bees. In the past, he would have blown away any such creature that dared approach him, especially the ones armed with stingers. However, this was to be a long journey where preserving their strength was critical. Ruckanos could not permit himself any unnecessary expenditure of any resource, including his own mana. So, he just kept scowling and backed away from the creature.

If they at least had the decency to offer up their honey, he might have forgiven them. But, for some reason, his scouts had failed to find a single beehive in any of the purified territories despite the constant presence of the workers. But Ruckanos shook his head and cleared those thoughts. It was a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things. Such paltry creatures paled in comparison to a mission from the gods, so he’d treat them as the gods did…

Later that night, one of Ruckanos’s entourage walked over to his wyvern. He glanced around before opening the pack, and slowly removing some of his provisions. After a bit, he found something he had not packed at all. A small beehive, covered in wax. A big bee poked her head out of the hole, the queen herself if he wasn’t mistaken.

“Hello little bee. We’re leaving tomorrow so don’t send out your workers, ok?”