mc-med Chapter 205: Queen Bee Part 1
Chapter 205: Queen Bee Part 1
Looking at the two Valkyries in front of me, standing between me and the Boss while saying they were going to defeat it in my place, only one phrase crossed my mind.
"Are you girls out of your minds?!" I was startled. "You girls can’t defeat it at your current levels—Hey, are you even listening?"
"Metal Charge!"
"Flame Sword!"
The answer to that question was a big no, represented by the two girls rushing forward and positioning themselves on opposite sides of the Queen Bee. Erina had reloaded her weapon, while Sarah brandished her sword, which was burning with flames.
"Hey, Sarah," Erina shouted to her rival. "Whoever lands the final blow on this thing takes the prize, all right?"
"It’s fine by me," Sarah responded, without taking her serious blue eyes off her target. "Just don’t come crying to me when I bring this monster down."
"How dare you, you plebeian?" The bee’s voice echoed in my mind, but it was directed at Sarah. "Such audacity should be punished by death!"
"Really? Try it if you want, Your Majesty," Sarah challenged the monster.
Sarah leaped towards the bee with her sword raised in both hands, her red flames ready to devour the giant insect.
"Protection." The bee activated her skill the instant Sarah brought down her weapon, aiming for the creature’s head.
"What?" Sarah looked confused when her fierce flames couldn’t get past the semi-invisible barrier in front of her.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Erina fired three shots at the bee, but all of them stopped in midair, hitting the barrier.
"I’ll have to go all out, then," Erina said, preparing a fourth shot. "Explosive Bullet!"
"Boom!"
Erina’s explosive magic power went straight towards her target. But just like Sarah’s sword, the attack stopped at the Queen’s barrier, which remained undamaged.
"What the hell?! What is that thing made of?" Erina said nervously. "Sarah’s sword was repelled, and now my magic damage too."
"You powerless humans stand no chance against my Protection!" the bee said. "No one weaker than me can break through my powerful defense, whether it’s magic power or not!"
"Damn it!" Sarah cursed.
"Now, I’m going to punish you brats for raising your weapons against me! Graviray!"
"Huh!" The bodies of my Valkyries collapsed to the ground.
"M-My body...! I can’t get up!" Erina said, lying on the ground.
Sarah tried to lift her face and glare at the monster, but on her knees with her hands on the ground, she could barely get back on her feet.
"That’s right, you brats! Your place is beneath my will," the bee said in an extremely arrogant voice. "But if you lick my leg and swear loyalty to me, maybe I’ll let you live as my servants."
Sarah managed to stand, her face furious at the queen’s offer. "In your dreams, bitch!"
"Such a filthy mouth we have here. If death is what you want, allow me to grant it to you. Consider it an act of mercy for you, you pest!"
I wasn’t going to stand there and watch that scene happen for another minute. With a calculated rage inside me, I ran towards the Queen Bee.
"Gravi—Waah!"
I didn’t give the enemy a chance to call out her skill again, interrupting the creature with a punch to the head. The giant bee was thrown several meters away from us by the impact, dragging across the grass and leaving a trail of dirt behind.
I looked at my own hand in surprise, not remembering ever having tested my strength with my bare hands. Surely, I was on a completely different level now compared to what I used to be.
"Are you two okay?" I asked them, without taking my eyes off the enemy in front of me.
"Huh, yes," Erina said. "My body just hurts, like it was pressed against the ground."
"I could barely do anything," Sarah said to me, frustrated.
"Next time, don’t get carried away by a competition, and listen to what I have to say," I said to her, but soon after, I sighed to let go of my annoyance. "Either way, I’m glad you didn’t suffer any significant damage."
The bee shook her head, still confused after the punch I had given her.
"That bee’s power is gravity magic. What she did to your bodies, making them heavier, is one of her skills. Not to mention, her defense prevents anyone weaker than her from even touching her."
"W-What?" Sarah became nervous when she heard that.
"That’s why I told you to just leave her to me," I said, still annoyed that I had been ignored earlier. "Out of our group, I’m the only one capable of facing her one-on-one."
[
Name: Richard Forster
Class: Valkyrie Tamer
Level: 37
Valkyries: 6/6
Health: 390 points
Mana: 215 points
Strength: 58 points
Defense: 20 points
Magic: 50 points
Agility: 30 points
Status Points: 0 points
]
[
Monster: Queen Bee
Level: 33
Health: 700 points
Mana: 300 points
Strength: 30 points
Defense: 40 points
Magic: 50 points
Agility: 30 points
]
Both in Strength and Magic, I was far above her magic power, so even a punch from me could pass through her defense without any problem. Even so, the same couldn’t be said for my Valkyries, which was why I had been clear when I told them not to fight this time.
’Frankly, I don’t see a problem with them being competitive, but being stupid is another story,’ I sighed. ’Well, there’s no changing what’s already been done. And in the end, I didn’t let anything serious happen, so I don’t think I should keep thinking about it. What mattered now is—’
"You insolent man! I’ll kill you! I swear I’m going to kill you and use your corpse as fuel for my offspring!"
The clearly enraged bee rose once again, glaring at me as her only opponent. She understood that the fact I hadn’t been blocked by her defense meant I was a real danger to her safety.
"I wouldn’t be so sure about that," I said to the creature in front of me. "I’m stronger than you."
"Don’t get full of yourself just because you managed to land a hit on me! I shall purge you! Graviray!"
The moment she called out her skill, I felt the air around me change, and the initial sensation was as if something heavy had settled on my shoulder.
That feeling soon spread through my entire body, and I could feel the difference even when trying to move my fingers.
My body had become heavier, and the ground beneath my feet seemed a little deeper than before, as if I was about to be dragged down to the core of the planet.
Taking a closer look, the grass within a radius of about 1m from where I stood seemed crushed against the ground. I wasn’t the only one affected by this skill; everything within the area around me was affected too.
"I see," I said to the Queen. "Indeed, hearing about it and experiencing it firsthand are two very different things. You truly have an interesting power."
Despite the gravitational force opposing my movements, I managed to force one step forward.
"Y-You can still move!" the giant insect screamed, in a mixture of surprise and panic.
Unfortunately, her skill seemed to work like some kind of umbrella, following me wherever I went, so it wasn’t as if I could escape it. Even so, I continued walking, moving forward towards the enemy obstructing my path.
"D-Don’t get any closer!!" she said, and I could start to see the panic in her black eyes.
"Why are you so scared?" I said playfully to her. "As you said, I’m just an insolent human. What harm would it do you if I gave you a few more slaps? It’s not like your HP would drop to zero just because of that, right?"
"I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about," the creature said nervously to me, probably referring to the HP. "But don’t think you’ll be able to defeat me so easily! Graviray!"
With that second use of the skill, I felt my knees threatening to give out, and I barely managed to stay on my feet. Not only had the gravitational force imposed on me increased, but so had its area of effect, crushing all the grass near me even more.
"Rick!" I could hear my Valkyries calling my name, followed by the sound of their footsteps heading towards me.
"Don’t come closer!" I shouted to them. "This fight is mine!"
It was hard to stay on my feet, my knees begging to rest on the ground right below me, but I knew that would be a path of no return. Considering my enemy, I would take several Gravirays to the head until my body was crushed to the point of mixing with the ground.
But I wasn’t going to lose, retreat, or be saved. This was a fight only I could fight, and because of that, only I could win. What would be the point of all my level-ups until now if I couldn’t even defeat an insect?