Belissar and the bees got to work immediately. The Flower Meadow queens gathered up their soldiers and arranged their formations outside the Tower’s gate. The Apiary workers flew to each of the Pit Traps, ensuring the Sticky Honey Traps inside were stocked with mad honey. Belissar himself checked the kindling down in each of the Pit Traps before starting a campfire at the Apiary entrance.

Satisfied that everything was prepared, he called out to all his bees.

“Everyone ready?”

Niobee flew next to him.

“Ready!”

He could see through the Tower sight the different bees all dancing their salute, indicating they were ready. He blinked a bit as he realized he was “seeing” things in multiple places at once. His Tower sight was apparently not limited to a single place?

His head started to hurt a bit once he became aware of what he was doing so he shook it and cleared his thoughts. The Tower being capable of more than he ever imagined was nothing new at this point, so he put it aside. He would experiment more with the Tower sight later, for now he had something more important to focus on.

“Ok, I’m starting things up then.”

He thought about speeding up the purification once again...

Please purify core before initiating early purifications. Core corruption currently at 15%.

Attempt core purification?

Belissar nodded as he indicated that he would.

Please select percentage of corruption to purify:

1%/15% - Minor purification required

Contrary to his expectations, the purification did not start immediately, and he was instead confronted with another choice. Belissar found he could adjust the first number from anything between one and the total corruption percentage. The purification required part changed when he passed twelve percent, going from minor purification to “minor+.”

Belissar rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment, before moving the number all the way to fifteen percent. On the one hand, he was a bit wary of taking on a purification he hadn’t encountered before. On the other hand, his bees and traps could handle a minor purification with ease, and Belissar believed they could even deal with another initial purification level threat if it came down to it. “Minor+” didn’t seem that much worse than minor and so hopefully would still be weaker than the initial shade. Belissar thus felt it was worth the risk to deal with all the corruption in one go.

Minor+ purification attempt commencing.

Belissar once again felt the cold of the Hunger pass through the Tower’s mana, sending a shiver down his spine. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to that feeling. But he noted with satisfaction that the tendrils of Hunger creeping along the walls of the core room now fully receded, coalescing at the Tower’s gate once more. But this time, the Hunger split into two separate spheres that eventually formed into minor shades. They let out a roar in sync.

Minor+ purification begun. Remaining hostiles: 2

Belissar narrowed his eyes. He had not expected multiple shades. There were only two and they were still the smaller shades from the minor purification, but it was still a situation his bees hadn’t faced before, so he didn’t know if they were fully prepared for this. Still, the purification had already begun, so all Belissar could do was trust in them.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The soldier bees dove down from the sky, stinging one of the shades on the back and then breaking off. Only one squad had prepared to dive, so only one of the shades was attacked in the initial assault, but that was fine for their current plan. The attacked shade snarled and ran after the soldier bee squad, and the other followed close behind it.

And, as planned, the first shade ran right over a Pit Trap and fell with a yelp, getting coated with sticky mad honey down at the bottom.

But the plan only accounted for a single shade, and the other was far enough behind to skid to a stop just before the pit. It snarled and backed away, watching the soldier bees flying in the air all around it.

Belissar frowned. Under normal circumstances, he would light his torch and rush over to set the Pit Trap on fire. But now, he couldn’t. Even if one of the shades was trapped, the other was still a threat.

The soldier bees dove down to attack the shade but it was prepared and leapt to the side to evade the attack. And, worst of all, the shade didn’t chase the bees as they flew off towards the next nearest Pit Trap. It remained by the first Pit Trap, pacing back and forth along the edge as it kept watch on the bees above.

With that plan having failed, the bees adjusted their formation and moved to fight the remaining shade directly. Bee squads began diving in quick intervals. The shade managed to dodge the first and was about to swing its tail when the second squad arrived. The shade was forced to redirect its attack to ward off the second, only for a third to land some stings on its back.

It snarled and let out a breath of black mist, but the soldier bees were prepared this time and all managed to evade. And this time, only the closest bees scattered, while the squads furthest back moved down towards the ground. They would not allow the shade to break the encirclement.

But once again, the shade did something unexpected.

It glanced down into the Pit Trap and found the other shade trying and failing to climb out. And then...it jumped down into the pit. It began using its tail to scrape honey and kindling off its staggering comrade.

The bees gathered around the edges of the pit but did not attempt to enter. With two shades in such an enclosed area, there was little chance they could evade counterattacks. Still, this was the moment Belissar had been waiting for, so he stuck a torch into the campfire and took off running once it was lit.

In the meantime, the shades began stabbing the wall of the Pit Trap repeatedly with their tails, as high as they could reach. One of them jumped up and stuck their front paws into the two indents, just managing to hold on. Belissar’s eyes widened as it was about to pull itself up further.

The bees reacted, however, and a squad of soldiers swooped down to sting the shade’s face. The shade snarled and lost its grip, tumbling back to the bottom. Belissar gulped and picked up his pace, trying to reach the pit before the shades escaped.

The one that had fallen barked at the other swaying around from the mad honey. The other shook its head and jumped up itself. Its aim was off and it missed the footholds entirely. It made another attempt, but its hold was too shaky, and it fell. It was not until the third attempt that it managed to get a grip.

The bees began to dive once again but the shade at the bottom unleashed a breath of black mist over the other. The bees were forced to break off their attack while the shade itself was unaffected by the mist.

Belissar skidded to a halt as the shade pulled itself up and leapt to the top of the pit, just barely managing to grab onto the ledge.

The bees looked at one another. One among their number buzzed and danced, and then they sprung into action. A squad dove down towards the shade.

Black mist erupted from the pit as the one at the bottom again covered for the other, but this time the bees did not turn around. They flew through the mist with their stingers forward, relying on momentum and gravity to carry them forward even as the attack sapped their strength. And so they managed to plunge their stingers into the shade.

The shade roared and whipped its tail around...which was a mistake. The move unbalanced the partially intoxicated beast as the soldier bees slammed into it. The shade teetered over the edge...and then fell back. There were two yelps as it landed on top of the one still inside.

Belissar took his opportunity and sprinted the rest of the way, barely skidding to a halt before the pit. He was about to toss the torch in when he froze.

The squad of soldier bees were still stuck on the shade. Having been weakened by the black mist, they now struggled to free themselves. One of them glanced up at him.

She danced a salute, as well as she could with her abdomen locked in place. But her intentions came through to Belissar just find, and his heart constricted within his chest. But even as he hesitated, the two shades untangled themselves, and began to tear at the bees.

Belissar closed his eyes and tossed the torch into the pit...

“I’m sorry. And...thank you. I won’t forget you.”

He could still see through the Tower sight, however, and so he caught one last, satisfied dance from the soldier before she disappeared into the flames.

All hostiles defeated. Purification successful.