Treant Giant

One after another they crawled out from each flower that budded from the vines.

Some of them crawled along the vines as if to guard it and some was in the air.

The only difference from the ones on earth was their size and instead a glowing blue appearance.

From afar they looked like a bunch of glow worms in a dark cave.

The surrounding monsters who hid in the dense trees of the floor started to get attacked, seconds later they either ran or died.

Looking at this scene, the party including the knights took only a moment until they snapped put of their state.

Passing them was the group of adventurers that came out from the cluster of trees that the Treant emerged from.

"Run! Run!" (Adventurer)

"Everyone! Lets go back.Move! NOW!"(Commander)

Without any questions, they ran back to the exit that was 50 meters away from them without looking back.

In a moments time just 50 meters to the tunnel.

'Bzz!'

A wasp trailed behind them. Around 100 meters away it was behind them. Behind it was 12 blue wasp. The stay behind groups speed compared to the 13 wasp was for every 1 meter they made, the wasp made 15 meters.

For the group, 1 second turned to an hour as they felt that their lives was really in danger this time. No confidence and no dignity. They just wanted to reach the exit. So, they let go of their swords and staffs and finally, Jen, Mark, The commander, Eri, Rei, Kari, Shiroe,Touka and Haruna sensei heard a rumble and the sounds of rocks fall near the entrance.

When they stopped running and looked back at the tunnel entrance behind them, there were no wasp that followed them.

What they saw was boulders that covered the entrance.

It took a few moments until they realized they were safe.

After that they flopped down on the ground or still stood panting to catch their breaths.

Finally, their breathing became calm and the sound of panting was no more.

Another sound replaced it.

"Sob, sob"

When they looked at the source behind them, there was Haruna sensei sobbing on her knees looking down .

The group thought that she was crying either because of relief or shock.

Touka moved towards her. In an assuring tone

"Haruna sensei its okay now, were safe lets-"(Touka)

"THAT'S NOT IT!!!!"(Haruna sensei)

She shouted out while still looking down.

Surprised to hear her shout, the group wandered what was wrong.

Jen realized what was wrong.

There was one person missing from the group.

"Ken..... kun."(Jen)

"What about Ken? Oi ken come ou-?!"(Mark)

Mark also realized it.

"He.... he saved me! B-because i-i was slow.... he, he 'sob, sob, sob, sob...." (Haruna sensei)

What they learned from her after that was while she was at the back of the group and when she thought everyone already got there she saw him beckoning her to come, Kenshin stayed behind to wait for her and when she reached him he pulled her along sprinting towards the exit. After they reached the tunnel mouth, Kenshin gave her a push and she kept running thinking he was right behind her.

When they heard her, they all went silent.

For 30 minutes they stayed silent.

The one who broke the silence was the Captain.

In a lower voice from his normal one

"Mark, stay with me, Jen take Haruna-dono and the rest of the heroes and go back to Palami castle. Mark and I are going to find the body and at least we can give him a proper burial. Its the least we could do."(Commander)

Jen without question followed the order and took the group who were without will left, just followed silently as they experienced the first casualty in their group.

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In one of the densely packed group of trees, meter long wasps were flying around here and there, flying under and over branches.

Their fast speed that was fully displayed when they chased the group didn't show as they had to be careful of the tight space of trees.

They were searching this difficult terrain that didn't provide enough space to display their speed.

What they were looking for was what caused the wasps that were sent to kill the group of Knights and children escaping through the exit, to die.

It could have been a monster that killed them but they knew that it was not, it was a human that killed them.

Somehow they knew.

One wasp was hovering in the air somewhere in the forest.

What it was doing was looking around for the human that killed a group of its kind.

Why it was here in this spot?

It was because it came across a chemical that it recognized.

It was a chemical that was discharged after a wasp was killed so it would mark the cause of its killing.

The chemical that it followed strangely stopped as if the thing that carried the chemical flew away.

A pheromone.

Looking around the area where the scent of the pheromone stopped, it saw something out of place from the trees, rocks and grass.

What it saw was a piece of cloth dangling above it on a tree branch.

It went closer to it to investigate.

'BUZZITT!

It sounded like the cry of a wasp dying.

It came from the direction where the other wasps were searching

It turned around, flew into the air, then zoomed of to the direction of the sound.

When it arrived, what it saw was a wasp with its transparent wings mangled and twisted. Its body covered in green slime that was its blood. Puncture wounds showed in its head.

It was dead.

The wasp went to the other locations where the other wasps were searching but saw them with the same states.

It started moving again but towards its nest, the Treant to warn the others.

Then....

'whop whop whop whop'

'thud!'

'BACHING!'

Now on the floor it lay there, without life, its wings tied by a rope with two weights in each end.

Its head, plugged by a dagger.

'guchi!'

It was retracted by a hand that belonged to the figure that killed it.

That figure was no other than the one who slaughtered all the wasps.

Behind a hooded cloak, he stood there without emotion was Kenshin.

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Hours ago

In front of the floor exit, Kenshin who made sure Haruna sensei exited the floor to the tunnels.

He was pushed forward by an unexpected kick, he performed an aikido roll.

A rolling technique that decreases the risk of injury rather than a normal forward roll.

Quickly getting up, he faced the culprit.

Haruna-sensei.

She casted something on the ceiling of the entrance with the expression of a crazed person that would kill anyone to live. A hysterical grin on her face was seen by Kenshin as she mouthed,

'Become a distraction for me!'.

The ceiling of the tunnel formed cracks and collapsed.

Kenshin, for a second, paused at the scene he just witnessed.....

But, he didn't waste more time giving it anymore thought.

He was aware of the wasp that went after him and the other wasps behind it.

Kenshin threw something at the wasp, the shape of a cuboid.

When it hit 'poof'.

Black dust dispersed

The wasp was still alive but now on the ground.

Its body stretched, and its jaws writhed

What that black smoke was nothing special, it was just ashes that came as a product of a fire, contained by paper.

'GACHIN!'

The wasp now lay dead with a hole made through its mouth.

Now, Kenshin, with both left and right hands, armed with throwing knives, threw a knife at the nearest wasp that headed towards him but, it dodged by going to the right narrowly avoiding hitting its wings....

'SHHHHHUUNK!!'

'SHHHHHHHUUNK!

As it avoided the the knife, a second knife found its way through its mouth.

No targets missed.

The first knife lodged itself into the the head of a wasp behind it.

3 down, 10 to go.

The fourth and fifth were entangled with bolas just after the third one died.

the sixth managed to close the gap and used its stinger on what it thought was Kenshin but it was actually pelt from a giant black wolf.

Kenshin had thrown up the pelt to cover the wasp and moved to the side and stabbed the confused wasp.

The seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth surrounded him then, all wasps from four directions charged, with their giant stingers pointed at him.

Maybe thinking Kenshin would dash back, the other 3 Wasps aimed behind him.

Kenshin chose to dash forward to the Wasps on his left, nearest to him, adjusted his hips so it would face the wasp directly, footing with the right foot forward and left foot stretched, then used his the back of his hand to guide the direction of the stinger slightly so it would miss him as he rotated 180 clockwise while still maintaining form.

After that, three stingers pierced the wasp as it was in their path.

They were stuck to the wasp they involuntarily killed.

'pak'pak'pak!'

Seventh down

Three left.

Two of the remaining three hovered at top and bottom.

The bottom one that was also closes approached Kenshin hovered along the ground.

It aimed at his stomach.

Within a meter away it would have killed Kenshin, that was if Kenshin hadn't rolled on his back and kicked the wasp's stinger up.

'Thud!'

Then a 'pak!' happened.

The wasp Kenshin kicked up was stung by the wasp that was hovering above that aimed at Kenshin.

Eleventh down.

The twelfth wasp that was on the ground with its stinger stuck in the body of its comrade was stabbed.

'Gachin!'

Twelfth down.

The thirteenth that was just behind stopped when he saw its groups numbers decrease too quickly.

When it tried to run away,

'Shiik!'

No more wasps were left, for now.

----

After that, wasps came finding bodies of other wasps, but strange it was as some seemed to be missing stingers and venom sacs gone.

It was now Kenshin's counterattack.

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

Hours passed

Only one percent of the wasps were left.

When the wasps sensed that the pheromone that was applied to a wasp's stinger was near used, they went to the location of the stinger only to sense another pheromone laced stinger just in another location.

This happened over and over not knowing they were being manipulated to go here and there to be picked off one by one.

Only 20 remained now as the flowers stopped releasing anymore wasps.

The next phase of the plan was initiated.