Chapter 214: Chapter 214

Belissar grit his teeth as he glanced at the three fallen bees but he tore his eyes away. He knew deep down they were unlikely to win without casualties, but he still had hoped to do so. Unfortunately, the Tower Guard were indeed not to be trifled with.

Worse still was that the humans did not fight like the Hunger did. The shades of the Hunger were relentless. Sure, they might try to bypass a fight when they could, but they always continued moving forward at any cost. Not so with humans, apparently. These ones fell back into the tunnels the moment they saw the bee army…and between the Tower Guard captain’s sword and the mages’ wind and fireballs Belissar didn’t feel safe letting the bees pursue them into the tight corridor.

Luckily, though, they just said their plan out loud where Belissar could hear it, so he knew they planned to press forward. He frowned at that, but relayed their intentions to the Flower Meadow queens and Chief Rohsuak. He then turned to the karnuq. They were all standing in the Orchard, right before the wall of shortcuts.

“Could you help us out? It looks like they’re going to use some big fire spell to try and push through?”

Chief Rohsuak made a predatory grin.

“Oh, are they, now? Worry not, Sacred Den Master. I’ll handle it.”

She began laughing as she began to munch on mana honeycomb. Belissar kept rubbing his chin, though.

“Also, that Tower Guard captain at the front seems pretty strong, fast enough to hit my bees midflight. Any ideas on how to deal with him?”

Chief Rohsuak just smiled and turned to Metsaitti. He sighed and began to roll his shoulders. Then he straightened up and struck his spear into the ground.

And, coincidentally, right into one of the Pit Traps strewn around the Flower Meadow that Beero and the others were using for cover.

He fell with a crash and was coated by the Sticky Honey Trap below. The Apiary soldiers, hovering above the battle in wait, began to dive even before he rose to his feet. He raised his shield up as he saw something diving down towards him…only for a small sliver of radish to bounce harmlessly off his shield. ŘἈƝǑ฿ЕS

At least until it hit the honey.

The wounded guard stood in the tunnels with his wyvern. He turned to the augur next to him, the two of them having been left behind on the death charge. The guard shrugged.

“I guess this is it.”

The augur sighed, letting the weight of his age pull his shoulders down.

The guard drew his sword with his one good arm, preparing for the end. But just then, he saw a flash of golden light from his bag. He turned to look.

“Hm? Is that you, little…”

Before he finished, a swarm of bees exploded out of the top of his bag and filled the tunnel.

The queen heard fires roaring and humans shouting and the buzzing of wings. Before she could react, though, she found herself once again before the Queen of All Bees. But this time, the Queen of All Bees did not dance herself. In front of her flew four queens with all of their hives. The four queens extended their stingers and sounded the attack, and all four hives flew forward.

The queen needed no encouragement as she returned to the world. She immediate spread as many attack pheromones as she could. Her hive burst out of the bag in a raging swarm and flew down the tunnel. She ignored the two humans behind her in honor of the one who had carried her here and instead flew forward.

And there, she saw him. One of the evil humans, the one who had stood tall above the rest on top of a mighty steed. The one who led the others on that fateful day. He, or maybe she, must be their queen!

So, this queen knew exactly what to do.

As she flew forward, her vision shifted one more. She felt, rather than saw, the four queens with the Queen of All Bees, as if they were flying with her. A surge of mana pulsed out from her and filled her workers, driving them to fly faster than they ever had before.

The visions faded just as her hive burst out of the tunnel…

Ruckanos fell off his wyvern as a truly massive bee collided into him. He rolled along the ground, groaning as he tried to rise to his feet. His eyes widened as he took in the scene before him.