The party started moving toward the hive cautiously. Forests were always dangerous, so it was good to remain careful; otherwise, you would not even know how you died.
Their steps were slow and silent so they would not alert any beasts. Soon, they saw the first hive on a tree. The hive was three meters high with a radius of two meters. Rahul ordered the nets to be hung between the trees in the air to restrict the movement of the bees. The nets were made from special black spider threads that were sticky and durable, strong enough to trap the bees.
Four mages were standing around the tree, while the rest stood behind the mages fifty meters away in a square formation. Their job was to use wind-type spells to control the movements of the bees and prevent them from escaping.
Then two nets were thrown directly onto the hive to trap the bees along with their home. It worked well, and many cloudy bees were trapped with the hive, unable to fly. Rahul quickly used fire magic to attack.
"Fire Ball!"
A ball of fire fell onto the hive and incinerated the bees, but this angered the scattered bees that were outside the attack range.
"Wind Cannon!"
"Air Burst!"
The four mages cast wind spells against the bees to hinder their agility and disperse the smoke. The bees struggled against the storm of wind just to fly, which made them easy targets.
Princess Rose was not standing silently either. She shouted,
"Burning Air!"
It was a supportive spell that heated the air to a very high temperature. Now the bees were not only defending themselves against the storm but also against the intense heat.
Within a few minutes, the fight was over. They stored the honeycombs. Some bees were still present inside them, but it was not a problem because they were not fighters.
The honey of the cloudy bee was very precious. It could cure the venom of many creatures and was extremely important in medicines.
They used the same strategy for the next four hives and succeeded without any casualties.
They rested for thirty minutes and then started moving again. After one hour of walking, they came across a massive hive nearly thirty meters high on an enormous tree. The tree itself was around three hundred meters tall and spread across an area of about two hundred and fifty meters at the center.
Rahul said, "It is the hive of the Green Cloudy Queen Bee, and there are approximately one million bees. We need to change our tactics."
Rose nodded. "Yes."
The initial plan would remain the same, but they were going to add some precautions.
First, Rahul ordered the nets to be set. Then they created hideouts using earth barrier magic in case something went wrong. Long-range attackers like mages and archers were positioned near the barriers so they could hide quickly if needed. All of this was done silently without alerting the bees.
The battle began when the nets were thrown onto the hive, followed by all kinds of attacks without restraint. Thousands of bees died in the sudden initial assault. But after that, the real battle began.
The bees were not dying silently. They maneuvered between the attacks and sprayed acid through their pincers.
Hundreds of bees found a path through the attacks and closed the distance. They rushed toward Rahul to devour him.
Rahul quickly cast a spell.
"Fire Barrier!"
A spinning sphere of fire surrounded Rahul and Rose at the center, incinerating all the bees that entered it. After ten seconds, the barrier dissipated, and Rose instantly cast another spell.
"Sharp Air Whips!"
Many cutting blades of air shot outward and sliced through the bees.
The battle had been going on for ten minutes, but there was no end to it. For now, the situation was under control, but this was not a permanent solution. Soon they would become exhausted, and the nests controlling the massive number of bees would eventually be destroyed.
But Rahul had already planned for this moment. Now it was time to execute it.
The Green Queen Bee was growing irritated as she watched her army die. The next step was to use her anger.
Rahul took out a jar, slid open the lid, and poured some honey into his mouth right in front of the Queen Bee. The smell of honey attracted the bees, and they all began attacking Rahul along with the Queen Bee. They were unable to resist their instinct for honey, and the mages also helped by pushing the bees toward him.
Rahul started running, defending himself while luring the bees away. As he ran, he continued casting spells.
"Fire Burst!"
"Fire Wheel!"
After running for four minutes, he reached an open field where he had nothing to defend himself with. But there was no need to defend.
When all the bees reached the open field, Rahul activated a trap. Many powerful wide-range spells that he had prepared before the battle were suddenly triggered.
"Fire Tsunami!"
A sea of fire erupted across the field.
The grass burned instantly.
Trees crackled as the flames rose high into the air.
Thousands of bees fell from the sky like burning rain.
The Queen Bee was also among them.
After the Queen Bee died, the remaining bees scattered and escaped. They did not try to continue fighting because their hive had been destroyed.
Just like before, they stored the honey. There was a massive amount of honey inside the enormous honeycomb.
The bees were not very strong. The king had sent them on this hunt so they could practice and learn to lead battles. This was not a one-on-one fight; it was a strategic battle.
But suddenly, a fierce roar echoed through the forest.
From the sound, it was clearly a bear—but not an ordinary one.
This was completely unexpected.
The team began to panic.
But there was someone who was happy.
And who else could it be but Monty?