Chapter 127: [Arc 4] Chapter 8: The Golden Hive

"Alright everyone, look alive. Time to take this forest down!!" - Garami

It's been two days since the first raid on this dim, grimy forest, and we're prepared for anything! The local market of the port town's prolly gonna stay empty of insect-repelling items for a while...but that's not my problem~!

"Okay, everyone knows their role?" I asked the other nine.

"One group led by Mira will go into the forest first and attract the bee's attention while the other group will sneak past their defenses and find the hive, use the most exploding- and burning attacks they have to do as much damage on it, then retreat without a hint of shame. Is that it?" - Alf

"Perfect!" I responded with a thumbs-up.

The plan is to steadily damage their HQ, or outright crush it if the chance comes up. I've already asked that merchant guy, and we've been given the okay to make a forest fire if needed. This place is created by the Haunt, so it never was a real forest from the start. No pain or tears if this gets turned into ashes. 

"Any more questions?" - Garami

"Here." - Karnel

I looked at Karnel, who had evolved into a Gargoyle after getting the last levels needed to evolve with my victory over General Bee.

...Honestly, this guy's body only turned a little "slimmer" and "gargoyle-like", with even his... body-color staying the same as before. Though, even if his face has turned into something like the gargoyles that one can see in some churches on Earth, he's just not looking scary at all. Is it his personality that's ruining the scare factor? 

"Shouldn't we ask mister Akemiyama for assistance with this? We have no idea how many Stunstinger Generals there is in this forest, so-" - Karnel

"So we're gonna potentially increase the death counts? No way. And the distraction team includes you, Mira, and Iron. Who's better for a distraction than this crew of barrier/Lighting masters?" - Garami

"...If you say so..." - Karnel

"However, the guy... rock... statue? Karnel has a good point. Remember that your lives are the number one objective here. Use those insect-repelling smoke bombs the moment you feel this is outta your league, report to the other team, then get outta there as if Death himself is after you. You guys copy that?" - Garami

"Loud and clear, boss!"

"...If you say so." - Karnel

Everyone answered positively, with only one worrywart holding them back. Eh, it's better this way. If I let only Mira decide whether they should flee or not, I may lose my Guild members for the first gold- and/or sword-related trap those bees could come up with... not that I believe they're that smart... they're not that smart, are they?

In any case, the plan's a go!!

---

"...No bees." - Lily (whispering)

"None at all." - Flint (whispering)

We ventured into the forest using my stealth abilities and the new equipment that's supposed to hide us. Not that I feel they're on the same level as my abilities. 

Lily and Flint are taking the vanguard position, our two residential pyromaniacs. The mid-guard is Revi and Noire, ready to support if needed. And I'm in the rear, watching out so any bees don't get the drop on us.

In the distance, we can hear large noises and flashes of light. The division group must be doing its job. However, I would believe that the bees would send out some scouts to check whether that's a trap or not, right? Maybe they're not that smart...

"Garami! We found a bee!" - Lily (whispering)

Way to go, destiny! Good timing to make me look stupid, you stupid idiot!!

Revi had captured a bee that was barely alive thanks to those "swamp-vines" of hers. And that's my method of binding creatures!! When did she steal that... 

In any case, this is one of those bees. But it looks kinda... listless? Oh, it's poisoned. That explains why it's got no pep... uh-oh.

I had the others hurry it up a little and after reaching the deeper depths of the forest we found... a purple fog and tons of bee-corpses. Like, a lot. 

"Did Garami's poison do all this?" asked Noire while covering her mouth and nose with a cloth.

"That's what it looks like. The lingering poison must have created this fog and killed the weaker Stunstingers." - Flint

Hmm? Then where's my bee-killing EXP? I demand EXP!!

That aside, the poison's done quite the job. Prolly even the stronger bees are on their last legs by now. We're fine because of our skills, potions, and equipment, but the monster-bees don't have access to the last two at least.

"In that case, let's get outta here-" - Garami

"What about the hive?" - Lily

"Let's observe the hive's status first before leaving. We have enough antidotes if things get troublesome anyway." - Noire

Eh? Wait, aren't they nervous about the poison? ...Did I make use of it so much that they aren't afraid of the stuff anymore? That's giving me some complicated feelings...

Luckily, it didn't take too long to discover the hive. As for the usual bad luck that accompanies strokes of good luck, the hive's six times as big as me. At least.

"How are we going to destroy something THIS big!?" - Lily

Let's see...

*Clank, clank, clank*

...that's not the sound of any beehive I've ever seen or heard about. Are there metal flowers in this forest? Wait, GOLD-flowers!? No, that's too stupid... silver? Maybe copper? Prolly not. That honey would taste the worst... for anyone except Mira.

"Hmm... seems tough to crack." - Lily

"And the entrances are likely to be located somewhere higher up. These are bees we are dealing with after all." - Noire

Right. And I can bet my lunch that they're gonna have guards there. Unless there's some back door, then we prolly gotta wait for the poison to finish these guys off... hope they don't adapt before then...

*CLANK!*

And right as I was gonna swallow my pride and tell everyone that we're leaving, Flint started to slash at the metal(like)-hive!

"Damn this thing, it's too hard..." - Flint

"Just what is it that you are doing?" - Noire

"Can't you see? I'm trying to make a hole in this thing!" - Flint

No... I don't think a sword will be able to cut through that. I Identified the hive, and honestly, even Mira will have problems with this one.

*Clank, clank, claclaclaclaclaclaCLANK!!!!*

You gotta give him points for trying though! Wait, couldn't this be a good training method for skills like [Swordsmanship]? Let's try it with the goons back in the Dungeon-

*CRASH!*

What the-?! He broke through! A huge overhead slash from Flint's odachi finally broke the metal-like wall! Or... should I say "melted" instead? It looks closer to that. And why's he running into the hive!?

"Ah... did he use [Anger]...?" - Noire

"[Anger]!? Why's Flint running [Anger]!?" - Garami

That's the evolved skill from [Rage], dammit!!

"Y-you see... Flint came to me once he obtained the Samurai class... something about a skill that allowed him to move as he wanted to due to a skill he obtained from the class... and [Rage] already improves your stats quite much, so... I thought it was a good idea to... I'msosorry!!" - Noire

Okay, calm down. Deep breaths... and stuff away that [Aura of Evil].

"Lily, keep this troublemaker here and guard the... entrance. Revi and I will go and recover the berserker-lizard." - Garami

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"Roger-dodger!" - Lily

And with that, Revi and I entered the beehive...whooooaaa... is this made by bees? Do these guys have a team of guys all equipped with the Architect class?

The reason why I'm in such awe is that this whole place looks like a palace made of gold. They even got super-duper detailed railings here!! Damn, maybe it's a miss to kill them all? 

"Isn't the poison much thicker in here?" - Revi

Oh, she's right. The golden interior gave me a small gold fever there... why's there poison in the hive of non-poisonous bees?

The answer to that lies in the river of honey down below. Don't ask me how the mass keeps moving. It's just as mysterious as the construct of the hive. Back to the point, the honey is releasing large plumes of purple gases, obviously poisonous. Something must have been mixed into the honey and some chemical-, or magical-, reaction happened, which turned the honey into a poison-spewing liquid!

Honestly, despite this being only my deduction based on what I could see while we're running through the hive, I can guess what happened here. That blast of poison must have leaked into this hive and polluted the honey river.

Don't know the specific cause for this, but the poison I released as an attack has become a component in this river of death. This explains the lack of EXP that I should have gained if the poison came solely from me. 

Well, it could just be my imagination running wild. Not that any of that matters right now. We gotta find Flint! And ban him from using [Anger] until he developed that Samurai skill further. Honestly, the idea's awesome, had those idiots evolved the skills in the right order.

It wasn't difficult to find Flint. We just needed to follow the path of burned bees... was that a General we ran past just now!? Damn, that former Goblin King-sword is awesome. In the hands of Angry-Flint, I mean.

Speaking of the angry devil, there he is. He's collapsed on the floor from sheer exhaustion. Is it me, or is he looking kinda similar to a balloon that's lost all his air? Ah, he's empty of SP... glad I dragged Revi alone.

"Hurry up and give him some stamina potions." - Garami

"Yes, yes. Flint, you should be old enough to know that going wild like that will not do you any good," Revi lectured that stupid lizard while handing him some recovery potions. Now that I think about it, why did he blow up like that? Is it because he couldn't cut up the hive...

That could be it. Like, in addition to the frustration of not being able to use the meteor back in Damavand. For Flint's own sake, plus for our future weapon plans, we need to find a way to melt that stupid meteorite...

While Flint was recovering, I took notice of our surroundings. There are no bees left alive, as those remaining here are prolly all reduced to ashes by now ([Anger] is damn scary), and those still alive are prolly busy with Mira and the others. Other than that, I would say that this part of the hive looks like the inside of a tower with no floors, and at the bottom is a huge pool with honey releasing poison mist. 

And then there's this suspicious doorway. To summarize its appearance, it looks like it leads to a castle's throne room? Complete with a set of huge doors. The castles in Damavand have the same construct, so I think I'm right here.

Hmm...maybe I can fulfill Ciara's wishes in clearing this Haunt with lightspeed after all...

---

Excuse me~(whispering). Any good bees home~?

Nope. Just a bigass, big-bad General guard of six, plus a Stunstinger Queen. 

I'm currently infiltrating the hive's "throne room" if it can be called that. Feels more like a breeding chamber for the bees, now turned into a bunker. The queen seems to have access to some healing skills, but the effect is less than impressive. The Generals are still at less than half of their best. Not that I wanna face seven C-rank monsters at the same time even then. Well, head-on, that is.

The bees hadn't noticed me entering the room thanks to my [Total Presence Concealment]... but that's something we can't have! Oh, Zahhak~. Get them!

A good number of two-headed Chaotic Zahhaks struck the first blow, critically damaging the Generals. Two of them had reacted faster than the others and used their bodies to shield the Queen. One of them died, while the other one's close to death. The remaining four didn't escape unscathed either, leaving only the Queen unharmed from the attack.

I dashed into the center of the room while the Generals were still confused and aimed at the Queen. As expected of Lighting attribute creatures, the Generals made a swift decision and placed a barrier of electricity in front of the Queen.

I immediately took a sharp turn and killed the mortally wounded General that was right beside the Queen (and outside the barrier) before fleeing out of the room.

Two seconds later and I could hear the angry... sounds of the bees left behind. I don't get why Iron and Flint need those taunting skills. You can make blockheads like these follow you without the need for them.

After reaching the "inverted tower"-area again, I hid my presence and leaped onto the roof. The Generals entered the room and were greeted by Flint's flaming odachi. He started to attack one of the Generals, who bravely fought back but the type disadvantage here is too big. It'll be dead soon enough.

The last three tried to stop him, but one was hit by my throwing dagger in the head and died. Another was caught by Revi's swampy vines and the last guy was blocked... by the reanimated corpse of the dead bee, dagger still in its head.

The living bee was taken by surprise, plus its stats are still weakened by the poisoned air, so a single attack from the undead bee was enough to kill it. Good necromancy there, Revi! Flint had taken care of his General by then, and the last bee met its end by the combined might of the Zombee General and Flint's odachi. The end.

Then came her majesty herself. She's casting healing spells on herself while moving and throwing large amounts of electricity at Flint. The Zombee General got blasted to bits when it used its body to guard Flint. Scary! Revi started to make walls outta swamp materials to protect them both, but one attack's enough to crush each wall. Time for the cavalry then.

While staying out of the Queen's line of sight on the roof, I started to use [Liquid Control]. The target? The poisoned honey down below. Poison's practically the only thing I have a talent for moving with this skill, and the poisonous parts of the honey did originate from me, so... success!

The honey moved like a living being up the inversed tower. The Queen noticed the strange event, but a little too late. It tried to make a barrier of electricity, but the skill failed from the shocked look on the Queen's face (and that's something coming from a bee), and it was covered by the poisonous substance.

"Okay, that's good. You can take its healing skills now," I told Revi after getting down from the roof. 

The real MVP here would be her. Being able to steal the skills of the Queen without it noticing is a big help in defeating it. I found that the Queen had several Wind-based skills as well when I Identified them. Something that could blow away the wave of honey if Revi hadn't taken it. 

And with this, everything should be... not returning to normal?

"Garami, think you can get rid of all the honey from the basin down there?" - Flint

Okay... I used [Liquid Control] to its fullest and emptied the large pool by moving the honey into other rooms of the hive. Revi made walls so that the basin wouldn't be filled up again. Soon after, the basin was emptied as requested... what's that down there?

"I knew it. That's the Haunt's Core." - Flint

"How did you know?" - Revi

"This hive should be in the middle of the forest, and while my head was clouded in anger, I did take note of where I was going. This place is in the middle of the hive, which means that it's essentially the most central part of the Haunt. It was mostly guess-work though." - Flint

"...That's a skull." - Garami

"I know, but all Cores of a Haunt is some sort of old and broken item, or as in this case, the remains of someone or something. No one knows why." - Flint

Huh, weird. Nothing a little [Chaotic Bullet] can fix. 

The bullet of light and dark struck the honey-colored skull right on, shattering it to pieces. Then, an earthquake shook the hive. Hey, is this like in those old movies... RUN!!

We ran out of the hive, picking up Lily and Noire at the entrance. After a mad spurt, we were out of the forest and greeted Mira's group who had reached the exit before us. Not long after that, the trees that made up the Dim Forest started to collapse as if unable to withstand their weight. Eventually, nothing remained of the Haunt.

...Seriously, Dungeons are better. Even if my level has grown to stupid-high heights thanks to this. 

Yeah, stupid-high. And somebody was saying that D-ranks had it difficult in gaining levels! Hah! ...Better focus on classes and skills rather than levels, or else there won't be any good evolution options when I reach the level cap. *Sigh*...

---

Skill List:

Attack Skills: Magic Skills: Crafting Skills: Active Skills: Passive Skills: Resistance Skills: Perception Skills: Leadership Skills: Elements: Monster Skills:

Title List:

Hunting Titles: Status Titles:

Description:

A Stunstinger Queen is a bee monster that commands the many lower-ranked Stunstingers in a hive. It is the sole ruler of its society and will stay so until its death. When it dies, a candidate for the throne will be granted the opportunity to evolve into this race and take the former queen's place.

Stunstinger Queens are behemoths when it comes to both breeding new monsters and being a monster in itself. Even though they are protected by their elite guards, the Queens are flying tanks that could crush a village on its own with its powerful Lightning-abilities.

Appearance:

Stunstinger Queens are, like the other members of the Stunstinger family, ginormous bees with lightning-shaped stripes across their bodies, and like the D-rank bees and above, the Queen has several extra limbs that end in a stinger. The Queen specifically has a much larger abdomen compared to other Stunstingers, and it possesses twelve wings that it uses to fly. 

Abilities:

Stunstinger Queens are natural owners of the Lightning attribute, allowing them to use powerful and close to instantaneous attacks and defense. The Queen is especially well-versed in Lightning Magic, along with Wind Magic and Healing Magic, making its presence even worse in a group fight against Stunstingers.

Also, the Queen's ability to birth a new Stunstinger Larvae can bring a future Monster Stampede, so any adventurers are to report to the closest Adventurers' Union if they discover a Stunstinger hive. 

Revi's comment: That's not so useful when you are on a continent where the Union's got no authority on.

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