In all the surrounding noise, I didn't catch who was shouting, but I turned my head on reflex.
While Beemarines were distracted and overwheld by enemy numbers, a lone wasp hid in the shadows near the ceiling, and then decided to attack the spectators instead of her intended opponents.
She was flying right at !
〔Wasp〕
〔Health〕: 11 / 12
〔Stamina〕: 9 / 14
〔Species〕: Wide-Winged Beewolf Wasp
〔Age〕: 54 d
〔Remaining lifespan〕: 31 d
〔Attributes〕
> Strength: 14
> Agility: 47
> Endurance: 12
> Defense: 9
> Intelligence: 3
> Perception: 42
〔Special abilities〕
Flight II, Paralyzing Stinger II, Claws III, Sharp Fangs II
〔〕〔〕〔〕
As I looked into the wasp's angular face with red marks over her eyes, a mory flashed in front of my mind's eye.
A wild, untouched yet by the hands of the industry, forest. A giant wasp-woman charging at with murderous intent…
Things didn't seem to change at all back then.
All my guards were too distracted by the fight of the Beemarines to react in ti. In this mont, it was only and the wasp, and it was already almost there, about to make a knife-sized hole in my innards.
But back then, I at least had a hamr! Now my fists clenched on empty air.
I didn't carry a hamr around, because I never had to fight since that one encounter! And those things were heavy.
'Wait, you still have a knife, Nectus! Get it—'
"Father!"
Too late—the wasp was there. Several bees were already on the way to intercept her, but they'd be too slow to save my guts.
At the last mont, my reflexes finally kicked in and my body moved.
I crouched on the ground, so low that I almost kissed the cave floor.
The wasp was too close to change her trajectory in ti and flew over my head—so close that her feet touched my hair. The next mont, she slowed to a halt and swiveled around; my closest defender, Bloodhero, was still only preparing her attack.
I jumped into the air like a spring, putting all the force of my montum into…
"FALCON PUUUUUUUUNCH!!"
The wasp turned to face just in ti for my fist to greet her jaw. With a loud crunch of bone, several teeth flew out of the wasp's mouth.
〔Critical hit! You deal 6 damage!〕
The wasp fell to the ground, staring dumbly into the air for about one nanosecond before she was sward by a dozen furious bees that were shouting so loudly I couldn't make out a word.
They, unlike , *had* hamrs. That wasp was going to beco a pulp.
While the Warrior Bees clamored all over the cave, gathering into a massive swarm centered on , I gracefully landed on the ground and nursed my fist. It took much less damage than the wasp, but I felt like it would bruise.
Bloodhero shouted, trying to bring her Warrior Bees to order, but she was so angry herself, half of her words were about killing soone. It did no good.
'Shit… I shouldn't have thought that having so many Warrior Bees around will be a suitable replacent for dedicated bodyguards! Bodyguards that won't be distracted by fights around!'
This reminded that there were *fights around*.
I swiveled toward the improvised arena, fearing what I could see.
All my daughters were so focused on the dangers to my life, that nobody thought to look at the Beemarines. And if Beemarines got distracted, too, they could easily end up dead!
To my relief, they were still fighting. In fact…
"Father had defeated a wasp with bare fists!"
"Sisters, we can't let him down. We will show our worth!"
With these shouts, to my astonishnt, the fighting Beemarines began throwing their hamrs at the wasps they were fighting!
The hamrs dealt plenty of damage, even when thrown. But it was still no good reason to throw your main weapon at the enemy!
The Beemarines clearly thought otherwise.
As if possessed by so frenzy—or a brain-worm, if you asked !—the Beemarines flew at their enemies with nothing but bare hands.
Bare hands!
I grabbed my head in horror.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIIIING?!"
My voice was barely audible over all the surrounding shouting. Either way, the Beemarines didn't listen.
In front of my eyes, Destroyer sat over a wasp's shoulders, cutting it with the spikes on her armor.
First, she tore off the wasp's antennae and plunged her fingers into the wasps' eyes.
Then, while the blinded wasp screeched and thrashed in pain, Destroyer, ignoring the wasp's clawing at her, grabbed the enemy's head and snapped her neck.
And nearby, Destroyer's sister tore off a wasp's wing and stomped on its head and neck while it was down.
The cave was thick with the scents of blood and dead wasps. But soon enough, the sounds of bone crunching and at smashing beca quiet.
5 Beemarines stood in the center of the cave over the bodies of 9 dead wasps. Each of the Beemarines had scratches and scrapes and were covered in unidentifiable blood; armor on many of them needed repairs. But even the most wounded of them lost only 5 health points.
At this point, Bloodhero finally brought the swarm of Warrior Bees around to order.
"Father! Father, I—I have no excuse for this! There's no way I should've let anyone attack you on my watch, but in the end, you had to defend yourself!"
From Bloodhero's face and voice, she was barely holding from dissolving into tears.
Normally, this alone would've made feel sympathetic—but right now I myself was barely holding from vomiting, which greatly reduced my ability to feel anything good.
All this gore…
More importantly, these events showed so glaring problems in the education of the Beemarines. And despite how disastrous it all went, I was glad that I saw them act like this here, instead on a battlefield against a real enemy.
"Bloodhero… clean things up here. We are going back to Hive Supremo. Then , you, and those 10 Beemarines will have a long and important talk."
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