[I'm not here to pick sides.] I angrily hissed at her, no longer bothering to pretend. [I'm only honouring the will of a friend.]

[Friend?] The queen's tone was full of ridicule. [You are something like a pet, fun for only a while. As soon as he gets bored, he will kill you and offer your body to me.]

[My children could betray, and attack their own queen, in favour of a new one - what makes you think he is any different? What makes you think he will hesitate to kill you?]

Like the missing piece of a puzzle, it finally fell into place and I understood the nature of her demise. The bloodstained room wasn't something that simply existed as an accident. Her words echoed with a bitterness and loathing that was difficult to ignore and I truly felt sorry for her.

Unfortunately, we had run out of time.

As if someone had thrown a switch, the entrance to the hidden chamber burst open and the swarm of hostile wasps flooded in.

Previously they were twenty, but a few more had joined since then.

With the timely distraction, I quickly sped towards the lizard and stabbed it with the [Pain Toxin] from my stingers to release it from her [Coercion].

It was just a desperate move and I wasn't sure it would be enough to break it out but luckily it worked! The lizard's grogginess faded and its eyes regained focus as it looked around with renewed fright.

The Queen who had been preparing to release another windblade at me, switched targets and immediately swept past me, flying towards the oncoming wasps.

I realized that her willingness to adapt to situations was what led her to survive for so long in the hive that was completely against her. In an instant she understood we needed to cooperate if she wanted to survive this without Ekharkai by her side to help.

The harsh buzzing of wings resounded throughout the chamber as the first squadron of wasps appeared around the bend. Numbering five and packed tightly in formation, they sped through the round of pillars, surrounding the Queen from every angle.

The Queen seemed unfazed and began to spin her body while extending her clawed arms, releasing a massive windblade in a sweeping arc that tore through their tough shells and the surroundings walls unhindered.

Unlike a perfect circle, the attack from her spinning form stretched out like a warped ellipse, increasing its range and slicing through everything in its path.

Purple blood splashed across the chamber walls giving it a more ominous impression.

The whole squadron was rendered incapable with a single attack as the wasps went down with guttural cries of anguish - with some missing limbs, some whole chunks of their thorax and vital parts - others their head.

She slowly came to a stop and looked around with derision. The hidden chamber lost its guise as the surrounding pillars were damaged and the walls were painted in purple like a scene from Armageddon.

I gave the lizard some instructions and immediately hurried in another direction without waiting for it.

I quietly slipped into the shadows of the frozen corpses with [Stealth] and [Silence] activated. But the Queen noticed me and let out a loud screech as if she was cursing me for not joining her in battle.

Hmph. Did she really think I would assist her even though she was about to kill me just earlier?

Although I said I was there to help her, that was before I knew her character.

Now… I'm not so sure.

As expected, the Queen immediately turned around to attack me, but I stayed still. And right then, I heard a sharp screech that drew the Queen's attention back to the entrance.

A large hunter wasp burst into the chamber followed closely by ten more wasps. Answering the cry, several more wasps flooded into the chamber, gathering around the hunter wasp.

All their eyes were focused on the queen and the massacre surrounding her, before rushing towards her with blind fury until they besieged the queen.

I was surprised to find the queen frozen in shock. Like a deer caught in headlights, she continued to stare even as the wasps made swipes at her. Each one drawing blood as more and more gathered to surround her in a death trap.

I watched everything from the shadows and wondered what the heck was happening to her?

Was she scared by their large numbers?

No, that was highly unlikely based on the power she showed earlier. Even if she couldn't defeat them all, she shouldn't be in such a miserable situation.

So, what happened?

At this time, I saw the large hunter wasp deal a powerful blow to the Queen's shoulders that severely injured one of her arms and sent her crashing to the ground.

The other wasps immediately swarmed her with their large numbers, stinging and clawing repeatedly in a frenzy that nearly ripped her to shreds.

Damn it. Was she trying to lure me out by appearing weak and helpless?

No, she wasn't the kind to use such self harming tactics. If anything, exposing my position and dragging me into battle was much easier to do.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Silence: LV6』has become『Silence: LV7』〛

So the only plausible reason might be... trauma?

I felt it was ridiculous but it made sense.

The Queen must be reliving the flashbacks of her battle which led to her current damaged state.

I couldn't care if she could snap out of it or not but I have no interest in staying around to watch her get pummelled either.

I was better off taking this chance to grab the lizard and getting out of the chamber before it was too late.

Just then, my mind was flooded with a familiar numbing sensation that dissipated just as quickly as it came.

〚『Obsidian Horn』has neutralised the effect of low level『Coercion』〛

This again, I scoffed.

But then, I looked back worriedly and spotted the lizard lurking in the shadows far away from the queen. So far he was unaffected by her [Coercion] and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him grab a wasp that strayed too close, finishing it off silently by tearing off its head with a swift bite.

The longer we stay here, the bigger the chance of getting dragged into the fight and the smaller the chance of surviving.

On the other hand, the wasps that were focused on shredding the queen had slowed down, their frenzied blows pausing like stop motion before they could hit.

Just as I noticed that, all the wasps swarming the Queen were blasted away with a strong gust of wind and the queen slowly emerged from their midst.

Despite their combined onslaught, she didn't have any major injuries other than one of her damaged arm that lay limp. She grabbed the closest wasp with her remaining arms and, mercilessly pulled out its stinger from its abdomen with her bare claws.

The wasp let out a loud screech and dropped to the ground, rolling around in pain, as its lower abdomen, was in a bleeding mess.

As if the spell was broken, the wasps regained their senses and took off after the queen, trying to swarm her once more in a hysteric rush of attacks.

The large hunter wasp tackled her into a pillar, disrespectfully ripping through her wings with its barbed claws as the other wasps followed behind.

The queen ignored its attacks and grabbed it with two of her arms before pulling it back to face her. And while she looked straight into its eyes, raised her other clawed limb and pierced through its thorax with enough power to impale its core in one motion.

Purple ichor sprayed out from it and coloured the other wasps surrounding her, causing them to pause in terror.

And before they could snap out of it, she slashed through with sweeping wind blades to throw away the wasps attached to her and the moment a gap emerged, she rushed out of the swarm, her blood spattered form appearing like a death god.

I was stunned for a moment by such a quick and ruthless dominance and couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she was actually severely injured. So, I ignored the possible consequences and aimed appraisal at her.

The queen reacted with an irritated grunt but did not pursue it any further.

--------------

LV28 Horothia Decoris |Damaged Core|

Specie: Ailith Vespoidea

HP: 142/295 Defence: 218

MP: 100/196 Intellect: 115

SP: 98/212 Magic: 146

Attack: 285 Agility: 240

Skills:

?????: LV:? ?????: LV:??

--------------

I was shocked, her HP, MP and SP stats were all less than half and I was sure she didn't use all those in this battle. The reason was clearly the |Damaged Core| displayed beside her name.

I appraised the wasps that pursued her, the lowest being a LV13 and the highest a LV17. The sole reason they could keep up with her was due to their numbers and because she was wounded and not in her best state.

Although the queen appeared volatile and ruthless, her stats revealed the opposite. It was only a matter of time before her remaining stamina was exhausted and she became powerless.