The Queen-fly
All those present were struck with fear; they had not expected to encounter a queen fly on the battlefield. According to the books, only a Rank B or higher could handle a Queen fly. Everyone present was the lowest of the low, Rank-E, all with the Evo-cap less than 10. The queen fly would turn them into a feast should the battle continue, and judging from its first attack, this beast had some form of intelligence.
"We're all going to die," One of the boys cried in pure terror,
"Run for your life…" Another cried dropping his weapon but he was interrupted,
"Hold your ground, men." Adewale cried from within the dust of the aftermath of the attack. The last order he gave saved all their lives, throughout the entire ordeal, he had kept his eyes sharp and prepared for the next attack. "I said it before and I will say it again, we are all going home pick up your weapon and fire"
"Sir!" they all replied with far more confidence than before.
"New skill squired: Characteristic leader" Adewale heard and scowled at the swarm, he knew that this task was going to be difficult. What he had not counted on was the fact that this level would have a final boss, and like in most video games, the last boss would be 5 times stronger than the rest of its pawns.
"How are we going to handle that thing fearless leader?" one of the boys close to him asked,
"We need to separate it from the rest of the swarm!" Attah voiced,
"Shield," Adewale commanded; that same instant, the Queen-fly launched the same attack on them as before. Luckily, the shield was used, so they were all unharmed. The others attempted to kill the Queen-fly with their rifles, but it was a waste of effort; the Queen-fly was cunning enough to use all the other lower-ranking flies as a meat shield.
"A stalemate" Adewale Voiced, "One in which the other is looking for a weakness in the opponent's defence"
"So what do we do?" The boy who erected the shield voiced,
"The war ends the moment either I or the Queen-fly dies" Adewale scowled, "If we stay here and do nothing we will definitely lose"
"The S-ranks are coming," Ọṣẹ Ọladapọ said; the moment they get here then, the battle is decided.
"So we have two choices," Attah observed, "Wait for the S-ranks or deal with the Queen which we have no hope of beating."
"Your call boss," Lakan said, addressing Adewale. "Whatever you order is what we will do"
Adewale gazed at the battlefield, seeing the corpses of all the predator flies they had vanquished and then he looked at the corpses of two of his fallen comrades. He looked at the sky and saw all the flies being shut down because of his ingenuity. It would be better for them to wait for the S-rank Ẹṣọs, but the mulling feeling in his heart told him the obvious truth. If the S-ranks arrive, their interest wouldn't be in the pieces of meat meant for disposal, such as the E-ranks; no, their goal would be the Reptile king. Anything else can go to hell.
"We're killing that Queen-fly!" he voiced with authority.
"Sir!" They all chorused,
Adewale came up with a plan and instantly initiated it; the plan was to lead the fly away from the rest of the swarm; since it was intelligent enough to pinpoint the leadership chain of command, he theorized that the fly would concentrate its attack on him. He decided to use himself as bait; he ran away from the defence formation towards an evacuated building. As predicted, the swarm angled in his direction, and his instincts told him that the Queen fly was preparing another flame attack; Adewale was pleased with the training he had endured for the past few days. Combined with the knowledge of his previous life, he was practically unstoppable.
"They are going after him", Attah cried, "Now, Lakan!" he prompted.
That moment, Lakan used the Taunt skill; all the minor Predator-flies abandoned the queen to charge the party left behind; the Queen-fly tried to call them back but failed; Adewale had boosted Lakan's taunt skill by 200%. The lightning attack that followed nearly wiped out the rest of the Predator flies; the Queen-fly cried out in rage and made a move to attack the squad that Adewale had left behind.
"What is the matter your majesty?" Adewale taunted, "I thought you wanted to kill me?"
The Queen fly screeched in defiance; then it charged towards Adewale, intending to tear him to pieces. Adewale ran into the large building, hoping that it was not a warehouse, which gave the Queen-fly too much space for mobility. Luckily, his guess was right; the corridors were narrow enough for both him and the Ẹbọra to pass through but restricting enough to give him a field advantage. The moment the Queen-fly reached the entrance of the building, she blasted the place with a large stream of fire. Adewale had already cut the corner, so he was unharmed; as soon as the attack ended, he found out that he had an opportunity to mock his foe.
"Are you sure you are smart enough to kill me?" He cried from his hiding place.
The Queen screeched and then forced its way into the building, overcoming its fear of restriction; Adewale smiled in triumph by forcing it to follow him into the building he had, taking its wings off the board. The next part of his plan was to lead it into a trap. He might not have any offence skills, but he had one thing that his Junior Secondary School security education teacher taught him. "The greatest weapon in any battle is your head."
"Thank you, Mr Olusanya", He whispered; those words were beginning to bear fruits. He charged towards the staircase and then stopped; he was making too much noise, so he took off his boots and kept on marching towards the higher floors.
The Queen-fly squealed in defiance; the centre of the weak human's defence was that little cub. If only the first attack had worked, she had perfectly concealed herself behind her drones, and when she had attacked she was sure she had caught them all by surprise. So why are things going terribly wrong? The last settlement they had attacked was easily destroyed by the sight of her royal visage, but this place was different more than half of her royal army were killed by one weak human's intelligence. Then, for some cursed reason, the remaining half abandoned her to charge towards their deaths; that human cub must die should it ever grow up to become a full-grown adult. It might mean the extinction of her colony.
"I'm over here, Your Majesty!" she heard and charged towards the source of the sound; the Queen-fly might not be able to comprehend human language, but she does know when she is being mocked; it is the same expression on all human faces. The queen busted into a large room and then charged towards the source of the sound, the painful aspect of being an Ẹbọra is the fact that human technology was a mystery to them. The Queen reached the centre of the office but failed to locate her prey, "I'm right here, Your Majesty", Adewale mocked, using the building's crystal-powered public announcement system.
The sound of her prey's voice coming from all over the room startled the Queen, which prompted her to spill forth another stream of fire from her mandibles. The trap had been sprung, Adewale smiled. "Are you sure you can hit me?" he voiced again, mocking the confused queen, and in response, the queen went berserk. Striking at anything it came into contact with, including the pillars of the building, which gave way to her razor-sharp limbs. The building caught fire from her attack and in an instant, the room was set ablaze. Adewale quickly charged away from his hiding place, which happened to be the control room, knowing full well that the building would soon come crashing down.
"Not bad for someone whose Evo-cap is 1" He voiced with a smile, "True power cannot be found in the Evo-levels.".The excitement of victory so enthralled him that he let his guard down. As he ran down the staircase and cut the corners he forgot to be cautious, which was why the Queen was able to ram into him before he could even notice its presence.
"Kai!!" He growled in a chagrin tone, "How could I be so careless?" The only reason why he wasn't dead was because he was pushed along the corridor; the Queen of the Predator-flies was a little worse for wears itself. It had no abdomen, two of its hind legs were missing and it only had one segmented eye.
"You are persistent", Adewale commented, grasping his rifle firmly, happy that the weapon was not knocked away by the impact.
"WAAArrrrrrrr!!!" The king-sized insect screeched defiantly. Adewale would have landed a few rounds on the evil insect but the feeble structure told him that the wisest cause of action was to run. So he turned to run in the opposite direction, and the enraged Queen -fly followed with ill intent.
********
Outside the battle continued, although at a more controlled pace. Without the queen to govern their actions the Preditor-flies were easy pickings for the young Ẹṣọs, and their numbers had dwindled. The S-rankers had also arrived along with another specialist with sophisticated weaponry. The reinforcement was warmly welcomed by the boys, but they were also worried about the one who had helped them to survive the day's ordeal.
"Alright, you Cockroaches!" The Commander declared, "Order up!"
All the boys obediently marched towards the commander. Lakan and Ọṣẹ were the only ones who stood at the entrance of the building, waiting patiently for Adewale to arrive.
"You better not die" Ọṣẹ grumbled,
"Common Adewale!" Lakan voiced, he was genuinely worried about the one who commanded them.
"You two!" The commander yelled, "Get over here now!! That burning building is about to collapse"
"Yes sir!" They both replied, but they hesitated. They were reluctant to leave Adewale alone; Lakan was about to charge in to save his friend when they heard his voice from within.
"Is anyone out there?" Adewale shouted,
"We're here!" Ọṣẹ responded with a tone of excitement.
"Get ready it is still after me!" Adewale screamed,
In response Lakan and Ọṣẹ readied their weapons in preparation for the Queen-fly, 8 seconds later Adewale shot out of the building and in toe the Queen-fly. As soon as they laid their eyes on the king-sized insect, they pulled the trigger, emptying several rounds on the queen, killing it in the process.
"New skill acquired: Master strategist, the ability to imbibe tools found within the immediate environment with elemental qualities and turn it into something useful"
"Thanks," Adewale said with a tone of genuine gratitude.
"You bastard," Ọṣẹ growled, "What kept you?"
"Sorry," Adewale replied as he signed in relief. "It was a very demanding Queen"
"Is that a Queen Predator fly?" The commander inquired with awe in his eyes,
"Yes sir!" Adewale replied,
"Alright boys," He commanded, "Get back in the transport you need rest from this ordeal, the monster crystal cores will be handled by the cleanup crew"
As they journeyed back to the base, all the boys nodded and bowed to him in respect. Others thanked him with a smile; his Evo-cap might be one, but he had more than proved himself worthy of their respect.
"Do you think they will reward us?" Attah inquired,
"No!" Adewale replied, familiar with the mannerism of those with corrupt hearts. "The commander is going to take credit for the kill of the Queen of the Predator-flies, and as for the meat from the Reptile-king that will be distributed among the nobles of Ọlọrun-ṣogo, nothing for the residence of Suru-lere"
"You are right," Lakan said, "Monkey De work Baboon De chop" He looked down gloomily at his feet.
"Let us eat and rest for tonight", Adewale encouraged, placing a comradely arm on Lakan's shoulder. "There will always be a solution to this problem."
The attack on the shelter of Lagos started in the early hours of 2 am; the guards in charge of the defence of the shelter commenced the attack using the crystal cannons to keep the Reptile king at bay for more than 2 hours. The reinforcements gathered from the recruitment centre arrived at around 3.30 am in the early hours of the morning; the recruits were able to see the enemies because of the crystal-powered luminance lights placed at various parts of the wall for security purposes. The first wave of the flies was annihilated at around 7 am dawn; at that time, the Queenfly had not revealed itself. The battle between Adewale and the Queen lasted for 20 minutes, in which he played tag with the monstrous insect. To be honest, he simply kept her off the battlefield by controlling her movements using the public announcement system while he sat safely in the centre of the building.
The battle ended at around 5 pm; they were all exhausted, especially those who spent the whole day shooting down the predator flies. The number of recruits that the nobles of the shelter had expected as casualties was far less than what they had expected; this was a result of Adewale's quick thinking. Thus, the Reptile King attack had come to an end, with the number of casualties being 8 from the city night guards and 3 from the recruits.