The veterans who were easily overwhelming the bees looked in awe at Ming. The situation quickly turned in their favor as the corpses piled up. Soon there were more guard bee corpse fighters than there are live ones.
Ming released her control on the bees and they collapsed into a pile of broken bodies. The remaining veterans nodded. Some even gave Ming a thumbs up.
The veterans now split into groups of two to four and dove into the hive.
Being split up was better as to divide the hive’s defenses across the entire dune.
Crule and Ming declined any offers to join other groups and dove in themselves.
[Crule]: Nice job. I got that all recorded.Crule took out a crystal.
Ming smiled.
[Ming]: Might as well take this opportunity. [Crule]: Ha, some may say you’re a necromancer now. [Ming]: The less they know about our powers, the better.Crule nodded. He could feel two individuals watching their every move.
The bees inside the hive were mostly worker bees. The soldier bees were sent out to attack and the guard bees were mostly killed.
The main danger inside the hive was the knight bees. They protect the queen and the eggs and were the strongest of the bees. The knight bees were more humanoid and on their four arms were razor sharp protrusions. Their legs are extremely powerful and they jump like a cricket. On top of their head was a thick domed exoskeleton with an extremely sharp stinger. The poison secreted from it was a strong neurotoxin that can cause death immediately. It would stop the heart of most large creatures.
The veterans who struggled with the guard bees would stand no chance if they were to face on by themselves. This was why they grouped up before entering. Perhaps with some lucky, they will only face one or two and be able to take it down before more shows up.
Very quickly a dark shadow buzzed from the sandy walls and stopped in front of Crule and Ming. It was a knight bee flying gallantly with its arms crossed. Two stingers the size of human heads mounted on the backside of each of its hands.
Crule and Ming got into a battle stance. The knight bee made a buzzing noise and charged forth. It kicked at Ming but she blocked it with her blood shield. It force however, pushed her back, away from Crule.
It seems its intention was to split the pair.
Ming was blasted back and through a hole that suddenly opened behind her.
She landed in another room and was now faced with two knight bees.
[Ming]: Ha, they underestimate me.The bees hive mind learned how dangerous Ming was from the fight with the guard bees outside. They singled her out and placed two knight bees to deal with her.
Ming, who normally doesn’t use weapons, formed a poleaxe using blood. The blood quickly solidified into a reddish brown metallic substance.
With a quick twirl of the poleaxe, she readied herself.
______
In the other room where Crule was left alone with the first knight bee, a fierce close ranged combat persisted. Barely using any aura, Crule fought the knight bee with physical prowess only.
He knew that his body is still young. He still had to train it to once again have the strong sturdy body he’s used to. His muscle strained as energy washed over them countless number of times as Crule pushed them to their limits. This continuous refinement slowly strengthened his body.
The number of times Crule got hit was countless. But soon none of the hits could draw blood anymore. His skin was as tough as steel and with an extremely thin layer of aura, Crule could fully block the knight bee’s stabs.
The same old ridiculing smirk appeared on Crule’s face.
The knight bee was getting impatient. Compare to the other bees, the knight bees have both the hive mind as well as their own individuality. This means they had personalities too. At this moment, the knight bee really wants to stab Crule in the face.
______
Ming was spinning her poleaxe around her body. The two knight bees kept trying to get close only to be immediately repelled by the poleaxe. The speed of which the poleaxe was rotating was started to cause blades of wind to spawn and slice the surrounding. The sandy walls of the dune that was reinforced with bee secretions was starting to crumble under the maelstrom.
Droplets of blood flew off the bladed edge of the poleaxe landing on the knight bee’s body. Without them noticing, the droplets of blood crawled into crevasses in their exoskeleton.
This was Ming’s usual fighting style. Performing acrobatically amazing physical moves to spread her blood then suddenly activate it when they least suspect it. Those who do not know her power have no way to counter it. Her blood can even drill into aura armors.
The knight bees were immediately turned into pin cushions. Ming laughed and converted her weapon back. The knight bee corpses then stood up. They were now under her control.
[Ming]: Now let’s get back to Crule.The bees follow her like bodyguards.
______
Meanwhile, Crule was still toying with the single knight bee. He was feeling the effects of muscle training and was starting to feel sore.
[Crule]: Let’s end this training session.Crule covered his metal hand with his aura and dash forth with blinding speeds. The fatigued knight bee didn’t dodge in time and was his square in the abdomen by Crule’s fist. The fist penetrated the bee like a block of gelatin.
With a fist sized hole in it, the bee crumbled to the ground.
Crule shook his hands a couple times to get the blood off then retracted his aura.
Just as he finished, Ming showed up with her two new bodyguards.
Crule smiled as usual.
[Crule]: Shall finish up here? [Ming]: Yea, I’m getting kind of hungry.Ming runs up and hugs Crule’s arm.
They walked forward to the center of the hive where a strong energy source would be felt pulsating.
