Queen Bee's Fall and the Spirit Egg
Whirrr!
The queen bee's compound eyes fixed on Zeon as her wings buzzed furiously.
She knew.
She knew that this man named Zeon was the one who had inflicted devastating damage on her swarm.
The queen bee was a monster, but she possessed intelligence close to that of a human.
That was why she wasn't charging blindly like Goduwon had been—instead, she was cautiously probing her enemy.
Zeon found it fascinating.
Even facing this colossal monster, a massive queen bee, he didn't feel overwhelming fear.
Though he had awakened not long ago, he had battled countless monsters.
The foes he had fought were in no way inferior to the queen bee.
In fact, some surpassed her in individual threat level.
What made the queen bee terrifying was her ability to command an uncountable horde of bomb bees.
But now, with most of her subordinates lost, she wasn't so dangerous.
This wasn't arrogance on Zeon's part.
He was colder and more rational than anyone right now.
Skills were the blossoming of an Awakener's innate talents.
They evolved when conditions, timing, effort, and intuition harmonized.
Early Awakeners had all discovered and developed their skills that way. But as time passed and experience accumulated, efficient methods for skill progression emerged.
It was like formulas had been created.
Most Awakeners followed these paths because they minimized waste.
But this approach had a major flaw.
Adhering to set formulas limited creative thinking.
Once you believed the formula was the most efficient, there was no reason to explore alternatives.
Zeon was different.
He was the only Awakener who wielded sand.
It was an uncharted path.
So he had to think desperately and forge his own optimal growth method.
Through that effort and contemplation, Zeon had gained an unshakeable, ice-cold judgment in any situation.
Of course, Dayton's "guidance"—which was really just watching from the sidelines—had played a part too.
I've got the type advantage here.
The problem was how to safely rescue Har, who was clinging to the queen bee's underbelly.
Killing the queen bee meant nothing if Har died in the process.
It was like Zeon had been handed a handicap.
He sketched a plan in his mind.
As the image of rescuing Har solidified, the queen bee could no longer hold back and launched her attack.
Shing!
Her massive body hurtled toward Zeon at near-sonic speed.
In an instant, Zeon erected a sand barrier.
Taller and thicker than any before.
No matter how mighty the queen bee, crashing into a wall that dense would deal serious damage.
But no impact rang out.
Just before collision, the queen bee anticipated it and veered off course.
She came to an abrupt halt, then shot straight up vertically.
Shwoom!
From high in the air, glaring down at Zeon, she plunged like a meteor.
The first strike had been a feint; this was her real aim.
But Zeon didn't panic.
This was within his calculations too.
"Tch!"
Kwarrr!
The sand near Zeon's feet compressed and fired at the queen bee.
A high-pressure Sand Blaster.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The blasts hammered her body repeatedly.
Each hit rocked her enormous frame.
Individually, the Sand Blasters weren't devastating. But they were enough to disrupt her balance slightly.
Her flight speed slowed just a fraction.
In that gap, Zeon used Sand Step to slip out of her trajectory.
Shwoom!
She grazed past him by a hair's breadth.
In that instant, Zeon unleashed a Sand Missile.
Boom!
The explosion struck the egg Har clung to.
The shock dislodged both egg and girl.
Perfect!
Zeon grinned.
The thrill of his mental image becoming reality sent shivers down his spine. But it was too early to celebrate.
His mana had hit rock bottom.
The price of unleashing skills nonstop.
Kieee!
The queen bee shrieked in fury at losing her egg and the girl.
She dove back in to reclaim them.
No trace of her earlier cunning remained. Impatience had burned away her reason.
Zeon murmured quietly.
"Sand Mixer!"
A flash erupted from Elura's Tear at his neck, instantly refilling his depleted mana.
In that moment, a massive sandstorm engulfed the queen bee and spun at blinding speed.
Kwaaaa!
The whirling sand ground into her.
Kieee!
The queen bee screamed, thrashing to escape the Sand Mixer. But Zeon skillfully manipulated it, trapping her perfectly.
Her wings tore free in the vortex, her shell shattered.
As her cries echoed, the surviving bomb bees flew in to rescue their queen.
Some attacked Zeon; the rest dove into the sand trapping her.
That's when Goduwon snapped to his senses and loosed arrows to shield Zeon.
Boom boom boom!
Bomb bees exploded around Zeon nonstop.
Thanks to that, Zeon could focus and maintain the Sand Mixer.
Explosions boomed relentlessly from within the sand.
The sound of bomb bees detonating as they were shredded.
The blasts ravaged the already weakened queen bee. The loyalty of her minions was wounding her instead.
Crack!
Finally, a massive hole punched through her head.
Sand burrowed in, devouring her brain and organs.
The high-speed vortex was now stained crimson with blood.
"Okay! That's enough."
Zeon cut the skill.
He sounded calm, but his face was ghostly pale.
His mental strength and mana were utterly drained.
Thud!
As the Sand Mixer stopped, the queen bee crashed to the ground.
Her state was pathetic.
Her head was gone, her body scored with deep sand gouges. The wings that enabled her flight were obliterated.
An ignoble end for the monster that had ruled the Black Forest for so long.
"Har!"
With the threat gone, Goduwon rushed to his daughter.
"Daddy?"
Har looked at him, clutching the egg.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"
Har answered strainedly.
Goduwon's gaze shifted to the egg in her arms.
"Why are you holding the queen bee's egg? Drop it now."
"It's not an egg."
"What?"
"It's not one the queen bee laid."
"How do you know?"
"I just know."
"What?"
"This child called to me."
"The egg called you?"
"Yeah!"
Har nodded.
While playing near home, she had felt a powerful pull.
The egg was calling her.
Drawn by it, she had wandered right to the queen bee.
Bomb bees had attacked along the way, but for some reason, she was unharmed.
The egg had protected her.
Goduwon eyed the egg in her arms with renewed curiosity.
A faint blue glow emanated from it.
Same shape as the egg, but no shell—like compressed blue light in a sphere.
One existence sprang to mind.
"Could it be... a spirit egg?"
His wife had once said this land was too damaged for spirits to live in, so none existed.
Yet she had hoped one would be born someday.
Out of curiosity, Goduwon had asked.
"How are spirits born?"
"From nature's winds and their own will to exist. Add human or elven longing, and a spirit is born somewhere. Primordial spirits start as eggs, feeding on life's desires until they hatch."
So this spirit egg in Har's arms must have hatched itself in the queen bee's nest for survival advantages. And it called to Har.
Because she's a half-elf.
Elves were born with strong spirit affinity. With no full elves around, it chose the half-elf Har.
"Yes! This is definitely a spirit egg."
"A spirit egg? So a spirit hatches from inside?"
Zeon stared in wonder.
In a world ruled by Awakeners, spirits wouldn't be out of place. But Zeon had never even heard the word.
Har held out the egg to Zeon without a hint of wariness.
"Wanna touch it?"
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah!"
Zeon cautiously placed his hand on the spirit egg.
A strange warmth bloomed in his palm.
It traveled up his arm to his heart.
"Urgh!"
At the odd sensation, Zeon pulled back. Har smiled and said,
"It says thanks."
"Who? The egg?"
"Yes!"
"You can hear the egg's voice?"
"Yeah! It was born in the queen bee's nest and waited a long time for someone to hear its voice."
"And that was you."
"Yes! It said when big brother leaves, there'd be no more chances, so it called desperately."
"Hm."
Har answered innocently.
Zeon saw no lie in her eyes.
Then Goduwon seized Zeon's hand.
"Truly, thank you! Thanks to you, I saved my daughter and can revive the Black Forest. It's all because of you. I don't know how to repay this debt."
"No need. This is plenty."
Zeon glanced at Elura's Tear around his neck.
The more he examined it, the more incredible it seemed.
An item that fully restored mana once a day.
It freed him from mana worries.
That alone was reward enough.
"Let's head out now. If we don't make it back by morning, Dayton will ditch me."
"Why not stay here? It'd be a hundred times better than following that lunatic. You might not know, but traveling with Dayton is suicide."
"I know."
"Then stay?"
"Still going."
"Why?"
"Just stubborn like that."
Zeon laughed.
That's all he could say for now.
Goduwon looked at him with pity for a moment but didn't press further.
He coveted Zeon's power, but with the bomb bee horde wiped out, the biggest threat was gone.
The Black Forest without bomb bees was eerily quiet.
The massive shadows of charred trees created an otherworldly scene.
Just having shade from the sun gave the place value.
But it wasn't for Zeon.
The sun-blasted desert sands suited him better.
As they exited the Black Forest, Dayton greeted them cheerfully.
"You're late, you bitch!"
That damn old bastard!
Zeon smiled back.