The Queen Bee's wings were destroyed by the strikes delivered—not one, but two of them.
And the shockwave it released vanished instantly.
"Not yet, it's not over yet!"
Leaving the Queen Bee's wings pierced and shattered by Rei's earlier strike, he swung Death Scythe once more.
The blade, infused with magical power, slashed deep into the Queen Bee's body.
His previous strike had only managed to sever the Queen Bee's legs. But that was likely because the creature had still been able to evade, which was why the damage had been limited.
Compared to that earlier attack, this one came immediately after the Queen Bee's wings had been destroyed. For it, being struck in succession like this was likely completely unexpected.
"Gigigigigigi!"
Screaming in pain, the Queen Bee tried to crush Rei between the fangs growing from its mouth. It was probably not an intentional action so much as a semi-reflexive one—a movement born from the urge to eliminate the enemy that had inflicted so much damage.
However, Rei evaded the attack by leaping backward. And he did so while keeping the tip of Death Scythe's blade still plunged into the Queen Bee's body.
Naturally, this meant the Queen Bee's flesh was slashed open by the blade tip that remained embedded within it as Rei pulled away.
"Giick!"
That strike was apparently more painful than expected, forcing the Queen Bee to abort its fang attack partway through.
Moreover, in the next moment—perhaps having forgotten about Set entirely while focused solely on Rei—it was sent flying by a powerful blow from his foreleg.
The Queen Bee's massive body was hurtled through the air, making it obvious just how much force Set's strike had carried.
Set had been positioned on the opposite side of Rei, with the Queen Bee between them. With Set striking from that angle, the creature was inevitably sent hurtling toward Rei.
"Nice, Set! Multi Slash!"
Praising Set's quick thinking, Rei unleashed the Multi Slash skill on the Queen Bee.
Death Scythe's blade carved through the Queen Bee's body... and simultaneously, the skill's effect added four more slashes. Those cuts tore deeply into the Queen Bee's torso, and it collapsed onto the ground.
In that state, there was nothing more the Queen Bee could do. Even so, it desperately tried to attack Rei and Set... and then opened its mouth wide toward Rei.
Given the distance, a bite was out of the question. What was it trying to do?
Rei wondered that for a brief moment, but reading from the enemy's posture that some kind of attack was coming, he reflexively kicked off the ground and leapt backward.
The next instant, Acid Breath erupted from the Queen Bee's mouth.
This was not the kind of Acid Breath that the ordinary hornets Rei and Set had been defeating would release—it was an assault worthy of being called a strong acid.
The Acid Breath released by regular hornets was fundamentally not all that powerful. But being the Queen Bee, the acid it unleashed likely possessed far greater potency.
But in this situation, that attack is a mistake.
Rei thought thus from a safe distance, his gaze fixed not on the Queen Bee... but on Set, positioned behind it.
Whether it was the poison or the cumulative damage from Rei and Set's attacks, Rei couldn't tell. But the Queen Bee was now fixated solely on Rei.
Come to think of it, I think I've heard that insects don't feel pain, or something like that... Well, it's a monster, so it's probably not strictly an insect, and it wouldn't be strange for it to have a sense of pain.
Rei was able to stay calm even while watching the surrounding trees and grass dissolve from the Acid Breath, because he knew Set was behind the Queen Bee.
Set, for his part, took a few running steps, flapped his wings, and soared into the sky. Upon reaching a sufficient altitude, he dove toward the ground...
"Gurururururu!"
With that cry, he brought his foreleg down toward the Queen Bee's head—more precisely, toward its neck.
"Giick!?"
Struck directly by Set, the Queen Bee finally seemed to register his presence, but it was already too late. The Queen Bee could neither evade nor withstand the blow, delivered with the combined force of falling speed, the Bracelet of Herculean Strength, and Set's own raw power. Its neck was severed.
Under normal circumstances, Set would have added the Power Crush skill to the mix. The reason he didn't this time was likely a premonition that doing so would undoubtedly crush the Queen Bee's head entirely. That was precisely why he had chosen to sever the neck with his foreleg claw instead.
That the Queen Bee was a High-Rank Monster was certain. Given that, its head had the potential to become a valuable material. The fact that Set had enough composure to think that far ahead was itself proof that the Queen Bee hadn't been a serious threat to him.
Then again, the Queen Bee had been forced to inhale a substantial amount of poisonous smoke while still inside its underground nest—smoke generated by burning wood that Set had infused with Poison Claw. That was poison from Poison Claw at Level 6, surpassing Level 5, where skills underwent dramatic enhancement. Having been exposed to it for an extended period, there was no way the creature could have remained in sound condition.
If anything, the fact that it had still been able to fight Rei and Set to some degree in that state was impressive.
"Phew. Thanks, Set."
With the Queen Bee dead, the Acid Breath quickly dissipated. Rei glanced at the scene, voiced his gratitude to Set, and then spoke with concern.
"By the way, Set, are you alright? The Acid Breath, I mean."
Set had severed the Queen Bee's neck while it was still spewing Acid Breath. Since the acid had been coming from the creature's mouth, it wouldn't have been strange for Set's foreleg to have come into contact with it. That was what Rei had been thinking, but seeing Set looking completely fine—or rather, looking at Rei as if wondering what on earth he was worried about—Rei was relieved that there was probably no issue.
"Getting the Queen Bee's head is a big win. Heads often become important materials."
Muttering that, he stored the head in his Misty Ring. Even for a Queen Bee, once its neck was severed, it couldn't possibly remain alive.
No, if it were an A-Rank Monster, it wouldn't be strange for it to still be alive for a bit even after decapitation... Actually, no, that's probably wrong?
While sorting through his thoughts, Rei tried to extract the magic stone from the Queen Bee using a dagger, but...
"No good."
With an ordinary dagger, no matter how much force Rei applied, he couldn't cut through the torso or extract the magic stone. Left with no choice, he switched to his Mithril Knife and removed the magic stone from the creature's heart.
"At this rate, yeah, it's hard to judge."
Rei still couldn't determine whether this Queen Bee had been an A-Rank Monster or a B-Rank Monster. Even so, the reason he went ahead and extracted the magic stone was because he judged it was probably—truly probably—not an A-Rank Monster. This was something close to pure intuition on his part. Still, considering the situation, he felt reasonably confident he was right.
...It was also true that he had expected a monster this powerful would almost certainly either strengthen an existing skill or grant a new one through Beast Magic.
At any rate, having extracted the magic stone, he couldn't just leave the Queen Bee's corpse lying there, so he stored it in his Misty Ring as well.
"If possible, I'd like to secure the hornets that are probably still inside the nest too. ...But that's probably difficult."
To retrieve the corpses inside the nest, they would first have to enter it. Fortunately, since the Queen Bee had come out on its own, there was no need to dig through the ground. But the nest was currently filled with poisonous smoke. Even using Wind Hand, it was uncertain whether they could clear it out—and given the size of the hornets, the nest was undoubtedly massive. Searching through it on foot would be a hassle. Furthermore, even with Wind Hand, there was no guarantee they could eliminate every trace of the poison, or that the smoke hadn't seeped into the nest walls themselves.
That said, it wouldn't be surprising if there were hornet monsters in there besides the ordinary ones and the Queen Bee.
It was a shame, but Rei decided to firmly put the matter out of his mind and move on. Pushing his luck here and ending up affected by the poison was no laughing matter. If that was the case, there was no need to think about it any further.
It was only natural for Rei to think that way.
"Alright then, we've taken down the Queen Bee, so let's head back to the hidden base. Considering today is still the first day, the results are excellent."
"Gururu!"
Set purred as if in agreement.
The two-night, three-day time limit wasn't a concern now that they had found the hidden base. The remaining requirement was defeating at least two A-Rank Monsters, and they had already taken down the Giant Wolf. In other words, Rei only needed to defeat one more A-Rank Monster within the remaining time to pass the Promotion Exam.
That said, as the Giant Wolf had demonstrated, A-Rank Monsters were not opponents that could be defeated easily. Rei spoke about it casually, but in actual combat, they were unquestionably fearsome enough that one had to be prepared to risk their life.
Rei understood that perfectly well, but putting on a grim expression wasn't going to change anything.
"So with that said, let's give it our best for the remaining two days. I'd love to take down an S-Rank Monster if possible, but... I think that's probably a stretch."
"Guru..."
Set let out a cry as if agreeing.
An S-Rank Monster was classified as such precisely because it was stronger than an A-Rank Monster. Thinking about it that way, if they were to encounter one, Rei wasn't entirely sure how they would win.
They say dragons live in the Forest of Magic, so if we're talking about S-Rank Monsters, that might be the worst-case scenario.
Dragons were arguably one of the strongest species in Elgin. Of course, creatures like Wyverns were an exception.
At any rate, while pondering such things, Rei set off toward the hidden base with Set... but before that, he decided to put the Queen Bee's magic stone to use. He understood that this was the main event of the encounter.
That said, going by the Queen Bee's attack methods... it'll probably strengthen Acid Breath.
With that thought, he gave the magic stone to Set...
[Set has acquired the skill "King's Intimidation Lv.4"]
The familiar announcement echoed in his mind.
"This is... well, it's called a Queen, so I can buy it. And King's Intimidation is more practical than Acid Breath anyway."
This was undoubtedly an unexpected stroke of fortune for Rei. Between Acid Breath and King's Intimidation, there was no question about which was harder to acquire—it was the latter, without a doubt.
"Gurururururu!"
Set seemed to understand that as well, letting out a joyful cry.
Stroking Set, Rei basked in the satisfaction for a while... and once he had calmed down sufficiently, he set out for the hidden base.
Strangely enough—truly strangely—here in the Forest of Magic, Rei and Set were able to navigate as if they intuitively knew exactly where the hidden base was. Originally, both of them had somewhat directionally-challenged tendencies. Because of that, Rei had expected they might get lost while traveling through the Forest of Magic.
"Well, it's convenient, so I guess it's fine. It's probably some kind of Zephyle Clan technology or something. Or am I overthinking it to wonder if maybe we could have found the hidden base right away even without being carried there on that Black Snake?"
For Rei, not having to worry about getting lost before reaching the hidden base was incredibly convenient. So much so that he found himself strongly wondering exactly what kind of technology was at work.
"Gurururu? Gururu!"
Set let out a cry as if agreeing. What Rei was feeling, Set was likely experiencing just as keenly. That was precisely why being able to travel through the Forest of Magic so effortlessly was so welcome.
"By the way, the fact that not a single monster has shown itself... why do you think that is?"
"Guru?"
Rei had fully expected monsters to appear and attack them on the way back to the hidden base, but nothing of the sort happened... and before long, they arrived safely at the barrier concealing the hidden base.
[Set]
Water Ball Lv.5, Fire Breath Lv.4, Wind Arrow Lv.4, King's Intimidation Lv.4 (new), Poison Claw Lv.6, Size Change Lv.2, Tornado Lv.4, Ice Arrow Lv.5, Optical Camouflage Lv.6, Magic Eye of Shock Lv.2, Power Crush Lv.6, Sense of Smell Enhancement Lv.4, Bubble Breath Lv.1, Crystal Breath Lv.1, Earth Arrow Lv.2, Power Attack Lv.1, Magic Reflection Lv.1, Acid Breath Lv.1
King's Intimidation: Can intimidate and freeze the movements of enemies weaker than oneself. Even against opponents whose movements do not freeze, it can reduce their speed by approximately forty percent. However, it has no effect on opponents equal to or stronger than oneself.