"Oh, yeah. We're gonna make this guy cry from how we break his dungeon."
Mordred brought Persephone and Nyx back to the entrance of the hive before he began his new plan.
He first sent Nyx to scout all the areas of the hive that were attached to the tree to see if there were any bees guarding them. Using her stealth skill, it was not too difficult for the Banshee to do so.
Once the banshee returned, she tried to explain to Mordred the structure of the hive but did not do a great job at doing so. Even though she could speak using telepathy, the number of words she could use was very few.
Fortunately, after a lot of trying and a game of charades, Mordred understood what Nyx was trying to say. 'Some enemies!' to put it simply.
So Mordred began making his way to the other parts of the hive that were connected to the tree. There were a total of 3 parts of the hive that connected with the tree, 1 of which was where they entered the hive from.
Mordred and Persephone made their way to the 1st connection with guns in hands. The group met several individual bees along the way but they were quickly shot down in a small hail of gunfire.
It took them about 30 minutes to reach their target. This was the furthest and second sturdiest connector of the 3. This was a tall but relatively thin room that was 2 meters in diameter.
"So what's the plan exactly?" Persephone asked Mordred. He said that they were going to break the dungeon but did not give exact details on how.
Mordred ignored her and began getting to work.
Mordred went into the system store before purchasing 50, 1.5 pounds/.57-kilogram blocks of C4, blasting caps for each of them, superglue, and a detonator that was tuned into the frequency.
Seeing all the items in front of them, Persephone was even more confused and asked Mordred again but he once again ignored her. The witch pouted and decided to ignore her friend as well.
Mordred did not mind her cold shoulder and continued with what he was doing.
Mordred put the blasting caps in each of the blocks before putting super glue on one side of them. He then had Nyx use her telekinesis to place the blocks at the top of the ceiling and used to glue to have them attach the blocks to the roof.
Once the roof was filled with all 50 blocks, the team left and began making their way to the next connector. They had met more resistance than before.
Mordred and Persephone shared a look.
Persephone's said: 'They seem to be getting more active again. Whatever you are planning, we better hurry up.'
Mordred's said: 'I know. I would move faster but you are too slow. Invest in your physical stats more, hehe!'
The ice queen look returned to Persephone's face as the pair sped up to get to their next destination. When they arrived, Mordred and Nyx's actions were similar to the last place and were even faster since they knew what they were doing.
Within 3 minutes, they were making their way back to the entrance. Before they could walk far, they heard the unmistakable buzzing of mana bees in the area.
"Shit!" Persephone started before she shot her gun in a random direction, hoping to scare off the bees. Mordred did the same and fired in the opposite direction.
The buzzing seemed to decrease slightly but it did not sound as if all the bees had retreated. At most, the just fell back and were waiting for reinforcements.
But would Persephone and Mordred just wait around for them?
"We need to hurry. Now!"
The duo reloaded their weapons and began running as fast as Persephone could. While Mordred could outrun her, he would not abandon her in the hive full of enemies.
The pair met several groups of bees, the smallest consisting of 10 and the largest had nearly 30. The group was able to take them out but it was not easy. Persephone had to use a large amount of mana while Mordred was always on guard and ready to shoot at the slightest movement.
When they arrived at the entrance of the hive, they were drained. But Mordred knew he still had work to do.
Mordred purchased another 100 C4 bricks, blasting caps, and super glue. He then attached the bricks to the walls, ceiling, and floor near the entrance before attaching the blasting caps.
After admiring his handiwork, Mordred brought Persephone down to the edge of the 6th floor to be sure that they would not get caught up by explosion or any debris.
"Ok. Now that we have finished doing whatever you were doing, what the hell were you doing?" asked Persephone. She was more curious than frustrated as she had shown earlier.
'This guy keeps bringing out stuff I have never even heard of and is surprising me non-stop. I need some answers so I can prepare my heart for whatever he is about to do.'
Mordred lips slightly curved when he looked at her before returning to his usual apathetic appearance.
'I'm starting to enjoy keeping her in wonder. Maybe I am awakening something inside of me.'
Instead of directly answering her, Mordred instead asked a question.
"What is the deadliest sin in your opinion?"
Hearing his question, Persephone was confused but still answered. She knew Mordred's thought process was weird and she needed to play his way if she truly wanted to get her answers.
"Pride. Not only for others but for the person or demon themself. Pride will cause someone to do foolish acts in order to prove their superiority for the most part.
They will challenge others who are more powerful than them without careful planning, they underestimate their enemies and overestimate themselves, they refuse to acknowledge when they are in the wrong. The list goes on.
Followed up is wrath. Those guys are usually battle maniacs if they are on the better side of wrath or mindless killers if they are on the worse. If the are the latter, they are even worse than pride but if they are the former, they can be controlled or at least partially controlled."
Mordred nodded at her answer but looked at her as if she was also stupid.
"You are right yet wrong. Your assumptions about both are correct. At their worst, they are truly terrible but not as terrible as one other.
Sloth. Many people consider Sloth to only mean lazy but it can carry 3 other meanings. Being lazy is the best form of sloth.
1st: It can give birth to or be the result of other sins. I am mad at my father, therefore I will do nothing he says. I wish to have a mate, but instead of putting in the effort, I will rape someone or hire a prostitute.
These types of slothful people are the hardest to understand since they are so diverse. They could be so lustful that they end up doing nothing but have sex or they could be so slothful that they will simply settle for having sex in order to not be expected to do anything else.
2nd: People always forget this, the difference between being slothful and efficient is a thin line. By doing the bare minimum, someone can be slothful but by doing the bare minimum to succeed, they are efficient.
These types of slothful people are the second deadliest. They put in the minimum amount of effort to secure their victory and usually end up being the most intelligent. They will drag someone into a trap and kill them while using the fewest number of soldiers.
3rd: The ancient translation of sloth: Acedia. This means apathy or indifference for the world, other living beings, or even for the person who is embodying sloth themselves. This is often the deadliest form of sloth as it combines the ancient form of it as well as the efficient type.
They have no limits and no care while also being efficient about it. They will eliminate their enemies with no moral code or hesitation in the simplest manner possible."
Persephone felt enlightened when she heard his definition of sloth. It seemed to be correct for the most part and she had experienced the first two types while hearing tales of the latter pair.
'But why is he telling me this? Unless...'
Persephone looked at Mordred with shock in her eyes. She understood what he was trying to say but was about to ask him to confirm.
Mordred pulled out a small device and held it for her to see before flipping a glass lid at the top and pressing the button down. Within a second, a loud boom that shook the entire tree could be heard.
"I wonder, am I the Efficient or Acedia form of sloth for what I have done today."