Selene questioned Itsuo who was frozen still as he look straight to the cave entrance, but the way he stares at it seemed like he was actually seeing other things rather than the entrance itself.
"We're going to enter another cave again...?"
Itsuo mumbled as he continues to see the reoccurring event that happened back then in the goblin territory. Seeing that terrifying moment right between his eyes, he began to think how he and Selene are going to enter a dangerous territory without someone as powerful as Christa to help them.
'How are we going inside without getting trapped like back then? How are we going to get that honey and get out of the cave safely?'
Then, the voice of Selene calling Itsuo's name over and over rang over his head as it gets louder by the second.
"Itsuo... Itsuo... Itsuo...!"
After a few times Selene spoke his name and shaking him away from his thoughts, Itsuo finally regained his senses back to the reality.
"S... Selene, what's the matter?"
"What's the matter? You're drifting into space. What's happening to you, Itsuo?"
"S-sorry, I was just thinking how to enter this dangerous cave..."
Itsuo spoke in a faultering tone. It was then Selene realized that Itsuo still remembers what happened yesterday when they went to the goblin territory inside a cave that made him afraid of the cave.
'So he still remembers it, huh...'
Selene performed a serious expression on her face as she gathers up her courage, she grabbed Itsuo's hand as she leads the way inside the cave.
"S-Selene, what are you...?"
"We don't have time to be afraid of something that happened yesterday. We need to get the honey and save your Mother. That's why we have to hurry and get inside, do you understand, Itsuo?"
"W... Wait!"
Selene pulls Itsuo by hand and went inside the cave. Much to her tight grasp that Itsuo felt like she's crushing his arm, he also felt her hand trembling in fear. It's not just him, Selene is also afraid of entering the cave due to the thing that happened in the very first quest they took. Even so, she pretended to be brave, she musters up her courage and pull Itsuo inside the thing that they both fear.
"Selene..."
Doing this, Itsuo felt bad for showing his weakness on Selene, but at the same time, he gains a sense of respect towards her for facing off her fear just so they could get the thing that would save one's life. But more than that, a more pleasant and warm feeling started to grow ever bigger inside his heart. Itsuo released himself from Selene's hand and took a few steps forward as he began to take the lead on the way inside the cave.
"Itsuo...?"
The two stopped from taking a step as he turned around on Selene.
"Let's be careful going inside and not get trapped like last time, I'll lead the way."
"Itsuo..."
Her expression that shows her fear and tension was replaced with assurance, confidence and relief.
"Okay, let's go and get that honey."
The two proceeded to go deeper as they challenge the fear that's been troubling them since. By the time they got even deeper inside the cave, the people defending the city from the Wither Bees have began to clash with one another. With the melee fighters who switched with the long range spell casters and archers and the Wither Bees attacking the humans individually, two sides began to drop in numbers. But the Wither Bees countless waves and powerful stings that pierce the people to their deaths seemed to be the one in favor of the battlefield.
"Do not faulter! Kill every single one of... Them..."
The commander that leads the vanguard found himself in a corner after five of the Wither Bees sets their sights on him.
'Crap, I got five on me, I can't fight them all alone, I'm going to die!'
The commander that ordered the people to not faulter against the killer insects is the one faultering and cowering in front of the Wither Bees. Just then...
"Haa!!"
Suddenly, a powerful wave of fire sets the killer insects ablaze and died in the process.
"Fire...?"
"Hey..."
A resounding voice of a man could be heard as it spoke to him.
"You're... Prince Edle!"
When he turned around, he found the Prince of Reilaea standing before him as the fire enveloping his hand gradually disappeared.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes! Thank you for saving me, Prince Edle."
The Commander lowered his on Edle as he quietly averted his eyes at the commander and stared at his hand that he used to fire the flames earlier.
'Since I just learned how to use magic a few days ago, every time I use my magic, it drains a lot of mana inside me. And so I thought that until I fully mastered controlling my magic, I should only use my flame whenever it is actually need. But the situation we are in makes me want to see how far I can go with the strength I cultivated for the past few days, I'll set aside my thoughts and fight with everything I could in this time.'
Kaien arrived at the scene, delivering the news of their unit scattering around the area to help defend the city.
"Prince, our unit have spread throughout the area to help the vanguard fighting the Bees."
Edle nodded at Kaien as he turned his eyes on the commander once again.
"Hey, you can still move and run, right?"
"Y-yes."
The commander stood tall before the Prince as he replied. Edle then pulls out his sword out of the sheath as he gave the commander an order.
"Good, call the people standing by in the rear point and tell them to come here and fight. It's better to fight all at once than to keep our at a disadvantage in numbers."
"Understood!"
"What a great idea you got there, Prince Edle Q. Reilaea."
A deep, resonant voice Edle and Kaien heard earlier rang in their ears once again. Taking the commander in shock with his mighty presence, his mascular and palpable look that he gained after years of venturing through countless dangerous quests and adventures, as well as his manly voice that fits perfectly to his manly figure. The commander immediately knew who the man was.
"That's... The Demon Slayer, Sieghart!"
"You again."
The man along with the other four adventurers approached Edle and Kaien. The Prince who people bow down to has his head held up just so he could look into Sieghart's eyes directly.
"It is a good idea if the people is at a advantage and is actually winning, but this situation doesn't fit your plan."
"What do you mean?"
"Just look at the number of the Wither Bees soaring through the sky and killing all your soldiers and Adventurers."
The Knight Guards and Adventurers continues to fight the insects bravely. But as the Wither Bees loses one of them one by one, the side of the humans are also losing more than they imagined. It was clear that the humans are at a disadvantage.
"Since most soldiers of Reilaea have disappeared out of nowhere along with the late King, the Kingdom that was once one of the strongest Country in the world have dwindled in strength."
Edle and Kaien frowned as Sieghart mentioned the late King - Edle's Father.
"Wither Bees may only be on par against Gold ranked Adventurers, but they are quite dangerous when they move in a pack, especially with this abnormal number of them right here. Speaking of abnormality, do you want to know why I told you to stop the people from attacking these Bees?"
"..."
The two young men quietly listens to Sieghart's words.
"It's not just this abnormal horde of Wither Bees appearing out of nowhere all at once, these things are usually known to go out hunting aggressively and individually, if they see a prey, they would immediately throw their stings or flew at them like a meteor falling from the sky. Yet, these insects did not bother attacking the people until they are attacked."
Edle looks at the insects with the words of Sieghart stuck in his head, he watched one of them died by one of the soldiers, then in that instant, the other Bees came to kill that guy. The same thing began to repeat on the other soldiers.
"These things didn't want to lose their family or kill the humans in front of them, these guys just wanted to pass by and fly peacefully, it's like they are trying to migrate to a new home. But everyone failed to noticed an animal's behavior, because everyone perceived them as Killers and not the same living being like us humans who just wanted to live like us."
"Are you saying that we are the Killers and not them?"
Edle tilted his head downward.
"No, I'm not saying that we are killers, but I can't deny that we do the deed. People kill to survive, to live, so is the monsters and other living beings. Killing has always been a part of this world, killing is something we cannot avoid. But sometimes we fail to notice things because our instincts takes over us. But it can't be helped, mistakes are also a part of our world, mistakes is what also makes us humans. It's also up to us to right the mistakes we made ourselves."
"I didn't expect to hear those kind of words from you, Sieghart. I feel like you're getting out of your character."
"Right? He's trying to act mature and dependable in front of the kids."
'Kid...?'
Edle muttered in his head as Eileen spoke and the Elven girl followed suit. The other two guys have started laugh on the sidelines as well.
"Huh?! Why are you guys laughing? Was it that weird to hear that from me?"
"No no, not at all. It's all good."
"Anyway, what should we do?"
One of the two guys holding a bow and the other with two gauntlets spoke and asked Sieghart.
"Isn't it obvious? We'll right what the people did wrong."
Inside the cave, in the deeper core of the territory of the Wither Bees, Itsuo and Selene finally reached the place they were looking for, however...
"This is it... The hive..."
Itsuo and Selene peeked inside at a large room made by thick wax that was built by the Mother Bee as their hive, the surrounding is filled with holes that are filled with honey from the Wither Bee. But what really caught their attention was the enormously big hexagon hole that was conveniently placed right in the middle of the room where a giant formation of wax was formed and attached to the ceiling and the ground.
The fragrant smell of the honey that is coming from the giant hole soothes Selene and Itsuo's minds. It's magnificent smell gives off an impression that the honey was stored inside the hole not too long ago.
"It smells so good, I feel like I'm eating it just by looking at it."
"This must be it, the honey of the Mother Bee. But it's strange, It's too quiet in here and I don't see any bee or the moth..."
Itsuo's eyes suddenly widened, he then grabbed Selene and forcefully pulled her around a hidden corner.
"W-what's the matter...?"
Itsuo gestured Selene to keep quiet as he began to sweat in an incredible degree, his heart had also started to pound so fast and loud that Selene could hear it beating. Then, with his trembling hand, Itsuo pointed Selene a spot that made him shake in fear. When Selene followed the direction Itsuo's finger pointed at, a petrifying sight of an enormous creature brutally eating a live Wither Bee strucked Selene in horror.