1456 The Rescue Mission! II

"Both of them are capable fighters who have demonstrated a high level of prowess in the heavenly plane's tournament...They can handle themselves." Captain Charleson defended, his arms crossed above his chest in composure.

"Whatever strength they possess, you know damn well it will be for naught against the real monsters inside the beast kingdom." The vampire woman scoffed.

"That's enough, Bella." Captain Frederick called with a solemn tone, "Charleson will hold responsibility over his own squad. Let's start moving, it won't end well for us if we lose the daylight and rescue no one."

Everyone put matters at rest for now and began their mobilization through the breathtaking fantastical jungle.

While it looked beautiful from the outside, the dense canopy overhead hardly allowed any sunlight to penetrate, making the air somewhat tense.

"Communicate only through telepathy from this moment on.' Captain Quentin delivered a message to everyone and they responded with head nods.

'Looks like discipline runs deep in the law enforcement department. Everyone is maintaining a loose formation able to cover all corners and help anyone in distress.' Felix commented as he analyzed how the squads were moving and behaving.

Because he and Ravager were new to the whole scene, no one had told them about the formation, making them seem out of place.

'Let's do this.'

Felix recognized his true position in the formation and slowly adjusted his footsteps until he fit perfectly into it akin to a jigsaw puzzle piece.

'Ravager, walk ten steps behind Hazel and maintain the same speed as her.' Felix sent a private message.

'Hmmm?'

Ravager was first confused. But, when he glanced back at him, he realized that he was the only one who seemed to be moving randomly, he understood that the position given to him by Felix was his true place.

'Much appreciated.'

He gave Felix a slight head nod and did as he was told.

'He has good eyes indeed.'

'He might not be so bad after all.'

'To figure out we are moving in a formation and adjust to it almost instantly, he sure is an interesting newbie.'

Captain Charleson and the rest of the captains noticed the sudden change in formation almost immediately and figured out that it was handled by Felix.

'Hundred points.' Captain Charleson reached out to his device and added points to Felix's name without saying anything.

Since everyone else kept their mouths shut, nothing seemed to have changed from their entry point.

.....

One hour later...

'This is it. The heart of their territory. Keep your comms clean and maintain a tight formation. We get in, rescue the soul flames, and get out.'

Felix could see the sudden shift in mindset of his companions as even the captains looked more serious than ever.

He could see why this area was marked as a death zone.

The trees seemed lifeless, sapped out of any soul in them while the ground looked rugged and moistless like it hadn't rained here for years.

In reality, it rained almost every week, but the Rapid Killer Bees were known to devour anything with a substance of life.

As they progressed, a sudden humming of bees was picked by the ones with the most sensitive ears.

'Captain, we have movement ahead of us.' Hazel warned.

She was a wind elementalist, allowing her to pick the tiniest movements in the air from a far, far distance.

'Nidam, scout ahead.' Captain Charleson ordered.

'On it.'

Nidam threw the turned-off cigarette butt on the ground and transformed himself into a shadow...Then, he merged with the trees' shadows and disappeared.

Everyone came to a sudden halt, awaiting his Intel.

A few moments later, he popped up from the ground again and shared, 'There is a small Killer Bee swarm moving in our direction.'

'We can't waste time avoiding any swarm we meet, but we have to eliminate them in a single go and without raising any noise in the slightest.' Captain Bella uttered.

'Indeed, if we don't kill them all right away, with their overwhelming speed and agility, some of them will get out and alert the hive.' Captain Charleson agreed.

The humming grew louder, evolving into an aggressive drone, making everyone get extra tense.

'Leave it to me.' Captain Bella separated from the group with a single silent dash. No one chased after her, knowing that she was more than capable of pulling it off.

As she weaved through the trees, Captain Bella was forced to stop and hide behind a giant boulder after the sky above her seemed to have turned dark.

'How unpleasant.' She uttered with a disgusted look at the sight of a swarm of giant killer bees descending, their enormous wings casting menacing shadows over the forest floor!

It was an threatening sight, one that could send any seasoned warrior running in fear. But Captain Bella stood her ground, her demeanor calm yet fiercely determined.historical

As the deafening buzz grew louder and the swarm drew closer, she took a deep breath, her fingers flexing in anticipation.

Closing her eyes, she began to channel her energy, her fingers moving in intricate patterns. The ground beneath her trembled as a force began to pull at the very essence of the swarm. The bees, initially in an organized and threatening formation, began to lose control, spiraling towards one another.

Bella intensified her focus, her brows furrowing with concentration. As if caught in an unseen vortex, the swarm began to converge into a single, dense mass. Their buzzing grew frantic, a chaos of confusion and desperation!

The once-giant swarm was now a tight, pulsating ball of bees, their wings and bodies crushed against one another!

'Implosion.'

With a final flourish of her hands and a deep exhale, Captain Bella unleashed the full energy of the gravity clutch!

The ball imploded in silence, making it impossible for even noise to escape her gravity clutch.

When the dust settled, there was nothing left of the swarm but the echoes of their final buzz.

'Path is clear.' Captain Bella reported.

The rest swiftly grouped up with her and commanded her with head nods after seeing the aftermath of the swarm.

Then, they continued treading forward but this time, Nidam was sent ahead as a permanent scout.

'Another small swarm ahead.'

'One medium-sized swarm to our left.'

'Three swarms are grouped up near each other.'

He kept reporting back to them and they acted properly based on the information.

'We are getting a bit too deep.' Captain Charleson frowned, 'How did the hunters and law enforcers make it this far? Something isn't right.'

'I think so too.'

'The hive's heart should be merely a few kilometers away. It can't be possible for such weak hunters to make it this far while being chased.'

The others agreed with his assessment as they knew that the Killer Bees were merciless and would never allow anyone to get this close to their hive without a fight.

It didn't take them long to confirm their hunch.

'What the hell...'

Nidam almost popped out of his shadow-form from shock the moment he arrived at the hive's heart and witnessed the ludicrous scene before him.

The spirit flames of the hunters and the law enforcers were all gathered under a gigantic leafless tree with a freaky living bulge on its trunk!

The living bulge was made out of thousands upon thousands of killer bees stacked against each other, making it impossible to even see the hive!

The entire area surrounding the tree wasn't peaceful in the slightest. There were many more bees of all sizes, flying around the hive akin to army drones.

This entire scene sent shivers down Nidam's spine as he realized a horrifying truth he didn't dare to accept.

'The Queen's intelligence has increased again!'

Without an ounce of hesitation, he returned back to the squads and reported everything he had seen.

No one believed him at the start, but seeing his fearful expression made their hearts sink to the bottom of their stomach.

'I can't believe this. The hive's queen has become smarter again and understood that we will be coming to retrieve the spirits flames, making her use them as bait right under her hive.' Hazel commentated with a slightly freaked-out tone.

Almost everyone gulped a mouthful in anxiety at the implication of this scenario. They were already under the impression that the hive queen's intelligence was improving with each confrontation.

But, they never expected her to reach this level, where she could even predict the future and plan to the hive's benefit.

'Do we retreat and ask for reinforcement?' Captain Thornhack asked...He was the freaky purplish captain with long arms.

'No, numbers are useless against the killer bee hive.' Captain Frederick shook his head, 'The Queen's telekinesis prowess is powerful enough to splatter us all into a paste the instant we step near the hive.'

'He is right, this is a rescue mission for a reason and not an extermination mission.' Captain Charleson agreed, 'We have to think of a method to retrieve the spirits' flames without engaging with the queen.'

'How exactly can we do that?' Captain Bella uttered with an irritated tone, 'None of us can handle her telekinesis prowess and it will be near impossible for someone to sneak past her detections and retrieve the spirits flames.'