Conquering the 4th Basement Level (1)

A massive hornet scout approached and reported to me.

"Found. Surrounded. Complete."

On the day of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hornet raid, roughly three hornet kingdoms had survived the bombardment by sheer luck.

I had already turned the healthiest hundred of them into allied soldiers using the authority of Mega Hornet's stinger, Empress's Pheromone.

It was the result of investing two recently acquired skill points without hesitation.

"Where is it?"

"This way."

The hornet scout took flight.

I urged my bee mount forward and followed.

The moment I moved, the forty-odd Devil-Bees that had survived the raid and the sixty newly recruited ones formed a protective formation around me from every direction.

After flying for several minutes, the scattered hornet scouts began to gather.

Their numbers swelled to several hundred.

Even this force was an army no creature in B4 could ignore.

Yet it still wasn't enough for the opponent we were about to face.

Ultra Fly.

A god-like being that had split the skies of B4 with Mega Hornet.

Now that Mega Hornet was dead, it was the undisputed god of the skies.

And right now, I was trying to hunt it.

Soon after, I arrived at the site where my forces had surrounded the prey.

A gigantic dragonfly sat resting on a distant rock.

No matter how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I looked at it, it didn't seem like a living creature.

More like a sculpture.

Or CG.

Even then, my eyes struggled to grasp its true size due to an optical illusion.

Yet the dragonfly, as large as a Boeing 747, was undeniably real.

It sat only a few hundred meters ahead of me.

At that moment, Ganeungi, now transformed into an entirely different being called the Firefly Spider-Bee, approached me.

"Your Majesty. Operation. Preparation. Complete."

"This is your and your children's first battle. Think you can handle it?"

"Practice. Time. None. Direct. Combat."

"So you're saying it's impossible?"

"Possible. These children. Honeybee. Blood. Flows within."

Ganeungi spoke as if reciting a mantra, then flew into her swarm with a serious expression.

Three thousand bees identical in appearance to the three-meter-tall Ganeungi, yet only one-third her size, greeted their mother.

With Jang Sara's help, they had completed their emergence process in just three days instead of the normal twenty-one.

Though I called them children, each was a queen who had grown up feeding on royal jelly.

Their first battle awaited.

Whether they succeeded today would decide the outcome of this trial.

I raised my hand.

Ganeungi immediately issued orders to her children.

"Bee ball. Form!"

The newly born bees suddenly began forming a scrum.

A bee ball.

A hemisphere created by bees under attack.

A weapon symbolizing the unity of honeybees.

The fact that these newborn bees could construct it without any training proved that honeybee blood truly flowed in their veins.

Then Ganeungi gave a new command.

"Rage. Gale!"

At her order, the queen bee ball began to move and then shot upward at tremendous speed.

It seemed Mega Hornet's skill Rage Gale had been activated.

The new bees, combining the collective nature of honeybees with the aggression of hornets, made a spectacular debut.

Ultra Fly, which had been resting while ignoring the movements of ordinary insects, began to react by raising its wings.

Normally, dragonflies can see not only straight ahead but in every direction except directly behind them.

Thirty thousand ommatidia covering their entire face allow them to scan the skies for predators and prey.

That is why dragonflies are not easy to catch.

Depending on the species, most that can be caught by hand are already old and weak.

However, this Ultra Fly had no natural enemies in B4 except for Mega Hornet's legion.

Whether due to complacency or its sheer size making it sluggish, its reaction speed was noticeably slower than that of ordinary dragonflies.

Then I saw Ganeungi, flying high in the sky, begin to dance.

"Thread. Fire!"

At her command, a single thin white thread shot out from the bee ball with a sharp thwip.

Soon two, three, four threads followed.

Before long, countless threads launched, merging into what looked like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one massive rope.

Except for a few dozen that fired slightly early or late, three thousand threads erupted almost simultaneously with tremendous force.

Ganeungi danced again.

"Bee ball. Rotate."

The new bee ball began to spin.

The threads shooting from their abdomens twisted like ropes, growing stronger with each rotation.

Of course, as they twisted, the threads grew thinner.

Still, compared to their original thickness matching the size of the massive bee ball, they remained unimaginably thick.

Probably the thickest spider silk in the history of this planet.

Ultra Fly sensed danger and beat its two pairs of enormous wings to take flight.

Yet dodging the white ropes descending diagonally from above proved difficult.

Thud—

The thread stuck to the giant dragonfly's wing.

Spider silk is tougher than steel.

People might argue that it tears easily when touched by hand, but that is only because the spider silk we encounter daily is extremely thin.

At the same thickness, spider silk is stronger than steel.

In other words, a one-meter-thick spider-silk rope is tougher than a one-meter-thick steel cable.

What would happen if you wrapped a one-meter-thick steel cable around the wing of a Boeing 747 attempting takeoff?

Of course, no one actually conducts such an insane experiment.

But someone is conducting the experiment of wrapping a one-meter-thick spider-silk rope around the wing of a colossal dragonfly attempting takeoff.

The Tower.

B4.

Riding atop a bee mount……

That someone is me, Hwang Geumpa.

The bee ball of the newly emerged Firefly Spider-Bees began its dive.

Since the startled Ultra Fly had already begun ascending by beating its wings, the bee ball's dive closed the distance rapidly.

And then.

The queen bee ball began circling around Ultra Fly.

The dragonfly twisted its body and tried to charge toward the bee ball.

An unbelievably agile movement for its size!

But in the next instant, it was forced to turn its head away.

Rain.

Rain was falling on the dragonfly's eyes.

The rain of hornets.

After becoming my subordinates through pheromones, the hornets had become the most loyal soldiers imaginable.

Their desperate struggle was proving devastatingly effective in this unprecedented aerial battle unfolding in B4.

While the colossal dragonfly dodged the hornet rain by flying erratically, Ganeungi and the new bees' ball had already completed three full rotations with almost no resistance.

In the sky, a massive spiderweb encircled Ultra Fly like the circular smoke trail left by a jet performing aerobatics.

When the queen bee ball finally accelerated to one side, the enormous web was pulled taut.

Keh-heh-heh-heck~

The giant dragonfly screamed.

A rope comparable to one-meter-thick steel had bound its transparent wings, which were far too thin for its massive body.

Yet the god who had once ruled half of B4 would not be caught so easily.

Tatatatatatatata—

As it thrashed and beat its wings, the steel-like threads threatened to tear apart.

What terrifying power.

"……!"

The now even larger Ganeungi flew toward me.

"Dragonfly. Too strong. Decision. Required."

I hesitated.

"Plan B! Decision!"

Plan B presupposed the sacrifice of many new bees.

Of course, with Jang Sara's help, the bee colony could be restored quickly.

But a commander cannot treat allies like mere pieces on a board……

At that moment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ultra Fly rotated its massive body and began circling toward the new bee ball.

The hornets and queen bees fought desperately to block it, but if this continued, the new bee ball would soon be torn apart and devoured by the colossal Ultra Fly's jaws.

I had to decide.

"Fine. Execute Plan B!"

"By your command!"

Ganeungi immediately flew toward the bee ball and ordered her daughters to carry out a suicide attack.

Yet her daughters showed no hesitation whatsoever.

The queen bee ball soon began a dangerous maneuver.

Instead of fleeing, it flew close to the dragonfly's head, as if taunting it to catch them.

The colossal dragonfly poured all its magic power into pursuing the bee ball.

At this rate, the bee ball would be caught.

When Ultra Fly's head closed to within a few meters of the bee ball, jaws open wide……

Another volley of spider silk erupted from the bee ball in unison.

The target was the dragonfly's eyes.

But the dragonfly seemed to have chosen to simply barrel through.

Spider silk?

No matter how tough, it lacks penetrating power……

My physical defense should be more than enough……

That appeared to be its thinking.

Paaah-chaaah-aaang—

Yet the threads pierced deep into the spherical surface of Ultra Fly's enormous eyes.

Kii-hyah-aaah-ak—

Ultra Fly thrashed its colossal body, desperately trying to tear out the threads embedded in its eyes.

Still, the threads would not come free.

Now Ultra Fly began fleeing upward at tremendous speed.

Still, the threads would not come free.

It must have been baffling.

No matter how powerful the adhesive at the thread tips, shaking and flying at this speed should have dislodged them.

Yet the threads originating from the bee ball refused to detach, stretching longer and longer.

The bee ball was now wrapping the colossal dragonfly's body with a one-meter-thick spider-silk rope that had grown incredibly long.

The sight of it unfolding at high speed was so spectacular that even I, who hated taking photos, wished I could record it on video.

Finally, under Ganeungi's command, the bee ball wound itself dozens of times around the fleeing Ultra Fly's body.

The colossal dragonfly could no longer tear the threads away with brute force.

Perhaps the three thousand hooks embedded too painfully in its eyes made pulling them out unbearable.

Wrapped in spider silk, Ultra Fly's speed and maneuverability dropped dramatically.

Moreover, its eyes were now completely bound, rendering its once-proud omnidirectional radar useless.

"All units, full assault!"

At my command, every attack unit—from the hornets to the queen bees and Devil-Bees—concentrated their firepower.

The target was the dragonfly's wings.

Normally, this would have been impossible.

Merely approaching would have sent the hornets flying from the storm created by its wings.

But now, bound by spider silk, everything had changed.

The wings' speed had fallen drastically.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

The attackers continuously punched holes into the giant wings.

Slowly, Ultra Fly's two pairs of wings grew ragged.

Of course, there was no decisive blow.

The wings were simply too large; the hornets and queen bees could only inflict superficial wounds.

The Devil-Bees focused their attacks on the wing nerves with malicious precision, but even that would require three to four hours to have any real effect.

I changed my orders.

"Everyone, hang onto the wings! Stop beating your own wings and add your weight!"

The attack units now clung to Ultra Fly's wings.

With thousands of giant bees hanging on, the colossal dragonfly's wingbeats slowed even further.

Even so, the wind remained strong enough to fling the hornets away if they didn't cling desperately.

I sensed that my time to act had come.

"12 Bytes! Let's go!"

Kweee-eeek~

The bee mount waiting at a distance began chasing after the fleeing Ultra Fly.

It gained altitude to secure the advantage.

Ultra Fly's broad torso came into clear view.

I drew my main weapon for the first time in a while and gripped it tightly.

I had poured every last gram of the remaining two hundred grams of adamantium into coating the pickaxe.

Concentrated solely on the sharp edge of this sacred spade.

That would be enough.

Enough to punch a hole through that monster's chest.

Without hesitation, I leapt down from the bee mount.