Chapter 418 - Bee-connaissance in Force

All hostiles defeated. Emergency purification successful.

Reward: One epic Flower-type room feature choice

Belissar gathered with Duke Turuhave, Chief Rohsuak, the monster bee empress the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, and the healing bee queen the Second of the Sixth to discuss the end of the battle. The Tower had confirmed the shade’s defeat, but the wounded elf’s life still hung in the balance. All eyes watched the Second of the Sixth as she started to dance.

“Hunger infected fair one, but healing stings helped. Will heal if keep stinging.”

Duke Turuhave exhaled his breath.

“You have my thanks, Second Queen of the First Dynasty of the Sixth Spawner.”

Belissar furrowed his brow.

“Did the shade have poison?”

Duke Turuhave grimaced.

“No, it is the Hunger itself that attacked my warrior, as it infects all who come into contact with it…save for spawned monsters and sworn defenders, who are protected by their dungeon’s power. I had hoped that such protection would extend to the Silver Host so long as we fought within your dungeon. It worked for light contact, but apparently not for heavy wounds.”

He turned and bowed his head to the Second of the Sixth.

“And that is why I am truly grateful. It is most fortunate a healing monster can purify Hunger-infected wounds. The fair folk had no success with such things in the past, if it were not for your bees, my options would have been limited and…tragic.”

Chief Rohsuak crossed her arms.

“Our experience has been the same for those without blessings, it is fortunate we can now heal those wounds. Still, even though they can be healed, your warriors will be in grave danger fighting in a corrupted room without divine protection, won’t they?”

Duke Turuhave looked like he had bitten something bitter.

“I’m afraid…that is so. Should any of us be injured mid-battle, within a room claimed by the Hunger…”

Duke Turuhave closed his eyes. After a moment of contemplation, he let out a deep sigh and then continued with a quiet voice.

“…I cannot feed what is left of the Silver Host to the Hunger, it has claimed enough of us as it is. I am sorry, Tower Keeper, but it seems we will be unable to assist in the next stage. We may do you more harm than good should anything go wrong.”

Belissar shook his head.

“Could you guard the entrance to the corrupted room? The Tower said it might send out shades to attack us, it would be a big help if you could stop them for us. Then the Tower would protect you a bit and the Second of the Sixth can help anyone who’s hurt.”

Duke Turuhave gave Belissar a smile.

“It would be our honor, Tower Keeper. Leave your Tower’s security to us, I swear no shade shall pass through us.”

Chief Rohsuak nodded along.

“That would free us and the bees to focus entirely on the assault. Should we prepare to begin, Tower Keeper?”

Belissar rubbed his chin for a moment before he nodded as well.

“We can’t really contact Wardmaster Varilold anymore and we know Tarwantrad started her purification already. I think we should get started now.”

Belissar frowned.

“The question is…how?”

Chief Rohsuak crossed her arms again.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any advice. This is not a situation I’ve encountered before.”

Duke Turuhave shook his head.

“I am not aware of how the Circle addresses such things, if they’ve faced such purifications to begin with.”

The First Daughter’s antennae glowed, then drooped. She danced slowly.

“Asked bumble helper, says she doesn’t know.”

Belissar sighed. The problem was…they had no idea what was lurking in the corrupted room. So if the Circle and the fair folk didn’t have an answer, there was only one way to find out.

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“I guess we don’t have a choice. First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, do we have any scouts we could send into the room? It might be very dangerous…but we have to know what we’re dealing with.”

The First Daughter buzzed her wings.

“Fourth of Seventh wants scout, but already sent lots of bees with nice hive burner so shouldn’t lose more!”

That dance seemed more directed at the hive link than at him, from what Belissar could tell. But, a moment later, the First Daughter paused, then began dancing with greater speed.

“Second Third of First says can try! Says workers will live even if killed, so danger ok!”

Belissar’s eyes widened. That was right! The Second Third of the First now had reanimating workers! He couldn’t say they wouldn’t be hurt…but at the very least, they could come back as zom-bees even if they died. If there were any bees who could brave the danger, it was them.

And now that he thought about it, he had other monsters that could handle damage too! There were the beeswax golems! The First of the Fifth’s Fourth and Seventh Daughters each had one!

The problem was…both of them were using their golems, the Seventh Daughter as a hive for her slime bees, the Fourth Daughter to help her queen mother and queen sisters deliver swirled honey to the rest of the hive of hives. Since they only had one each…Belissar decided to stick with the reanimating bees. The beeswax golems would need to be rebuilt if they were destroyed, while the reanimating bees would remain regardless.

“Ok, if she can afford to risk some workers, then can we ask the Second Third of the First’s hive to scout the corrupted room?”

The First Daughter danced a salute then relayed his question to the Second Third of the First. Belissar did not need to wait for her to relay the reanimating queen’s response.

“YES! WILL DO! WILL PROTECT KING, PROTECT HIVE OF HIVES!”

Her enthusiastic dance hit Belissar both as a Tower message and as a hivelink dance. He couldn’t help a smile. He really could count on the bees for anything.

The Second Third of the First led her entire hive to the battle Bog, flying as fast as she could.

This was it. This was the moment she had longed for. This was the moment where her efforts would be put to the test. She knew now that she didn’t need to live up to the First Third of the First’s achievements, but she still couldn’t help but hope to protect King and the hive of hives like her predecessor had.

This was her chance to do just that. There was a new kind of danger that the hive of hives had never faced before, that even the King, with his vast and unfathomable wisdom, had no knowledge of. Just like the invasion the First Dynasty had faced, just like the battle the First Third of the First had fought. And now, just like the First Third of the First, the Second could brave the danger on behalf of the King. She could be the one to reveal the new danger, she could be the one to figure out how to fight it, and, if need be, she could be the one to sacrifice to stop it.

Only, there would be no sacrifice, thanks to her new evolution. This time, no hives would perish, even if the invaders could wipe out entire swarms at once. This time, not a single worker would be permanently lost, no matter how dangerous the enemy was. The Second Third of the First’s workers could sacrifice like her predecessor’s had and carry on regardless. Her hive could reveal the danger without making King sad.

If all went well, that was. Her hive now arrived before the entrance, where the enemy had run rampant and claimed an entire room of King’s realm. Just like in the final day of the First Dynasty.

The queen of the Second Dynasty would not let it end like the first. She turned to the bee that had started it all, the bee that could not die…for she already had.

“Go.”

The zom-bee stumbled through a salute dance and flew forward, saying from side to side and dipping up and down as her wings beat out of sync. She passed into the black entrance.

There, the Second Third of the First beheld an abomination. Gone were the flowers and trees of the Fairy Grove, black stalks with no petals rising in their place. Gone were the vibrant colors pulling in her workers, now replaced with a carpet of black that made her buzz her wings. Gone was the mana of the room that made bees lost but never hurt them, now replaced with a noxious mist that flooded even the zom-bee’s antennae.

Even the cutes she warred against had not ravaged the flowers to such an extent. The queen buzzed her wings, nearly ordering her hive to attack in sheer fury. But that was the instinct her predecessor had overcome when she devised the rotating squad attack, so the Second Third of the First controlled herself as well. She focused on her zom-bee, who seemed to be unharmed as she swayed about in the air.

So far, so good. The zom-bee even approached one of the evil mushrooms, the cutes beyond the cutes, and had not been attacked yet. She ordered a squad of workers forward, to begin scouting out the rest of the room and prodding the cute mushrooms to reveal their attacks.

They succeeded in that…but not as the Second Third of the First had hoped. The workers flew into the room and towards the cute mushrooms…but then they hit the mist emanating from the stalks. They started twitching and fell from the sky as the mist attacked them. The workers hadn’t expected the danger since the zom-bee was fine and had dove right into the mist, their small bodies succumbed quickly.

But a moment later, their bodies twitched as her hive’s mana surged through them. The workers rose once more, joining their zom-bee sister, and then resumed their mission as if nothing had happened. Now, like the first zom-bee, the mist no longer bothered them. The cute mushrooms didn’t so much as twitch as the zom-bee workers landed on them.

The Second Third of the First duly reported what had happened to the hive of hives, though she could feel the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter and King himself watching her workers through the hivelink. It was truly fortunate they had asked her hive to scout, the Fourth of the Seventh may have lost many workers if her hive had tried instead.

Instead, some of her workers had become zom-bees, but her hive had suffered no losses. The hive of hives had suffered no losses. She focused on the King…and he was not sad.

The Second Third of the First could not help a happy dance. She had done it, her hive had completed a dangerous mission and revealed a major threat to King and the hive of hives…and had done so without making King sad. Without losing entire hives and dynasties.

Now, truly, she saw her path forward. Now she saw how she could contribute to the hive of hives and carry forth the legacy of the Third of the First, in a way no other hive could. Now, for the first time since her birth, she was glad that it was her hive facing the enemy instead of her predecessor’s.

Because even a new invasion could not kill bees that were already dead!