Chapter 135: The tenth hour.

The queen bee was not what people would imagine. Most insect queens have a large fleshy thorax while their head and abdomen remain normal. The sand bee queen was different.

Instead of being a large bulbous monstrosity, the sand bee queen was like a knight bee with a crown upon her head. When she needs to lay eggs, she has a bulbous attachment. This is saying that she can remove her thorax and enter a sort of battle mode.

Having to replenish the bees that Crule and the adventurers have killed, she was currently mass spawning eggs.

The eggs were brought to the chambers by the worker bees and fed. With one of the fastest metabolism seen on the planet, the bee matures in a mere hour. The sheer amount it eats is staggering though.

It would grow five time its original size and would consumer food equaling to nearly a dozen times their own body mass.

The bee that are born are immediately assigned a role. Most are born as workers, few were soldiers. Bees that took longer to grow become guard or knight bees.

It varies depending on the food the larvae consumers.

While the other adventurers were still preoccupied exploring the maze like hive, Crule and Ming pin pointed the strongest energy source and walked a straight line to it. They completely disregarded the sandy walls and just broke through them.

The walls are made of sand but are reinforced by the bee’s wax. This makes them not as tough but very durable. They can bend and stretch and will absorb most blunt forces. This also means they are weak to slicing.

Crule with his rotating dagger just drill holes in the walls.

Soon they reached the large chamber. Hundreds of worker bees were carrying eggs and the large queen was in the center of the room. It was mostly dark but a faint yellow light shined from the very top of the room.

The worker bees all suddenly turned and stared at Crule and Ming.

The queen also stopped and stared.

Although they were bugs, Crule felt like they entered at an inappropriate moment.

Ming just coughed.

The bee dropped what they were doing and all attacked. Crule quickly set up an aura shield around them.

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Since most were worker bees, they just collided with Crule’s aura and was consumed, flesh and all.

Hundreds of buzzing was suddenly silenced as the last bee rammed into Crule’s shield head first. The momentum carried the rest of its body into the open mouth of Crule’s aura after its head was erased.

The queen was still staring.

With a disgusting squelch sound, she pried herself from the attachable thorax.

Four sharp blade-like legs emerged. Instead of a powerful jaw or stingers, she has two holes at the ends of her arms. Immediately, two projectile stingers were fired from the holes at Crule and Ming.

The stinger hit Crule’s aura and was consumed but the force still push Crule back a little. He didn’t expect the projectile to have such force.

[Ming]: Want me to take it?

Ming smiled mockingly.

Crule frowned.

[Crule]: No, I got this.

He dispelled his aura shield and took out something that he hasn’t used in a while. The cannon Brigid made him. Its sleek black design glinted under the dim yellow light.

Ming’s eyes widened.

[Ming]: Going a little overkill aren’t we?

[Crule]: Hey, I gotta make a show somehow.

Crule smirked.

The queen bee was observing what the two were doing. Upon seeing the cannon, the queen was alarmed. It fired off more stingers only to have them hit a solid blood wall.

Ming had her hands out facing the queen.

[Ming]: Take your time. I’ll pin her down.

Crule reluctantly said ok.

Ming kneeled down on the ground and touched the floor. From her palms, countless gallons of blood poured out forming a puddle under her. From the puddle emerged a cage. She had the two knight bee corpses carry the cage and then dashed toward the queen with her poleaxe.

An intense fight ensued.

Ming dashed forth and used the momentum to bring the poleaxe down at the queen.

Testing the waters, the queen bee lifted her arms and two of her legs to block the blow.

Feeling the axe slowly slice into her exoskeleton, the queen made a quick retreat. The poleaxe slammed onto the ground, cleaving it and leaving a long scar. Using the sudden stop of her weapon, Ming catapulted herself at the retreating bee. In her hand was another poleaxe. The original one quickly dissolve and followed behind her as an orb of blood.

The queen bee was now vary of just how sharp the poleaxe was. She tried her best to dodge instead of block. Slowly being backed into a corner, the queen realized that she can’t just keep dodging forever.

Ming just kept dashing straight toward the queen over and over again using the momentum of her attacks. The panicking queen bee didn’t even have a chance to fight back.

Relying on the speed and agility her four legs give her, the queen bee moved left and right dodging Ming’s poleaxe.

With her noticing, Ming just suddenly stopped.

The queen took this chance and shot several stingers at her, but they were suddenly blocked.

Confused, she looked around.

It seems in all her dodging, she placed herself directly under the blood cage Ming formed at the start. The corpses of the knight bee were directly above her. It seems they dropped the cage on her. The blood cage quickly warped and stabbed deep into the ground.

In desperation, the bee repeatedly slash at the cage to no avail. Every time she manages to finally chip away a piece, it would repair itself.

Ming turned to Crule. She was sweating but it to her it was more of a nice exercise routine.

Crule had finish charging the cannon attached to his metal hand.

[Ming]: All yours.

She said with her usual smile.

Crule opened his eyes and smiled back.

[Crule]: Thanks.

He then pulled the trigger.