On the other hand, while the chaotic mob of bees raged in disarray, the bear, struggling to pull away from the grasp of their majesty Queen, something inexplicable occurred that was left unnoticed by the keen senses of the frenzy insects.
A thick, venomous liquid began to leak from Queen Bee's abdomen, pouring into the bear's mouth like forbidden nectar.
"Let go of me—ugh!" he gasped, the bitter substance forcing its way down his throat.
Gulp.
Gulp.
Several times, the bear's throat moved up and down. His body acted out of his will and couldn't stop swallowing what the wicked bug was feeding him.
Even when it started feeling his throat parched and burning as though the fire had taken root inside it. Until its body writhing in searing pain. Muscles twisted grotesquely, the thick fur covering its whole body gradually receding, and in an agonizing instant, the great, hulking beast that caused so much destruction was no longer seen.
"This is…" Nimue covered her mouth in surprise as she saw a much smaller figure that was so familiar.
In its place lies a man—still bearing the faint remnants of his former monstrous form, his crimson hair flowing long and smooth, and bear ears perched on his head. Yet despite his human appearance, the wild blood-curdling dominance still gripped his eyes.
"You vile witch!" It snarled violently towards Nimue. "What have you done to me?!"
The bear choked, clutching at his burning throat, his entire body shaking.
Hovering in front of him, the small bee, barely three feet, watched with a strange satisfaction as the man's legs buckled beneath him and he collapsed, his eyes rolling back as darkness swallowed him.
As his consciousness slipped away, he could hear a faint, sinister laugh, accompanied by the image of her tiny face contorting into a smug, dark grin.
"I swear! You won't get away with this! Damn... it all..."
From the shadows, the sound of buzzing ceased. The horde of enemy beasts, once a swirling mass, began to scatter across the forest.
In any case, Nimue couldn't care less about the lives of those midgets at this moment. Her tiny wings beating with frantic anticipation, hovered above the fallen man.
"Whoa! Did I... really take him down? Oh, oh my! I knocked a big bear down in this tiny form!" She squealed while brimming with so much pride.
Still, her excitement was short-lived. She tilted her head, her curiosity piqued.
"But this was unexpected. This bear—he turned into a man... Hmmm..." She pinched his prominent nose and prodded his well-defined jawline, to check for signs of life.
"He doesn't look bad for a crude, wild beast," muttered Nimue and shamelessly inspected the man's body like a fine specimen before the actual experiment.
"Oh~! He's pretty well-endowed down there." The little bastard whistled while poking the poor man's member like an amazing spectacle.
If only the bear was awake, he would've drowned and coughed out blood in anger and shame.
"Not bad, not bad..."
"The butt is thick... back okay!"
"Arm and muscles good. Hmm not too shabby. If he behaves well... Hehe! I could keep him to carry this 'Great Dragon's' toes," Nimue smugly flipped her non-existent long hair, completely forgetting her current midget form that wouldn't even require the bear to lift a finger to carry.
"Anyway, did my power change him... or is this place some kind of otherworldly beastman realm?"
The thought stirred a flicker of hope within her. If this were another world of beastmen, would there be dragons and mythical beasts here as well?
If that's so, then, perhaps she could find a way to return to her own world and revert to her original body!
Life as a tiny insect wasn't something she could endure for long—danger lurked at every corner and Nimue, though she didn't want to admit her glaring weakness in her current plight, wasn't confident how long she would last.
"Not when I have an entire group of small lives to consider. I don't have a choice but to make use of that man thoroughly—"
Her musings were interrupted when she turned toward the beastman and what she saw almost suck the life out of her small body.
"Yaaah! Stop that! Oh my god, what are you doing, biting my prey? Shoo, shoo! Ah! You can't kill him, not yet!"
Nimue groaned in frustration. For just a moment, she'd looked away, and now her precious captive was being assaulted by a swarm of young, misguided bees.
"Shouldn't you all be out there drinking nectar or something? Stop sucking his blood, you're not a damn malaria carriers!!"
In a feat of rage, Nimue swatted the bloody bees away like swatting houseflies.
Don't tell her... Are these bugs carnivorous?!
The thought of controlling a bloodthirsty swarm of meat-eating bees made her stomach churn. The world seemed intent on testing her sanity.
Ugh!
"Dragons may have their brutal side, but we're not blood-sucking vampires! Even if you want to eat fresh meat, do it with class. Just look at how dirty you are! You're tainting my dragon's graceful image!" she snapped, exasperated. "You lot need some manners!"
"Besides…" She pointed at the unconscious man, her tone firm.
"That man is mine! No one kills him without my say-so. Now carry him to the new hive."
Reluctantly, the bees slowly back off and obeyed, though their hesitation was evident that they didn't like the bear at all. That's why they tried to gnaw his distasteful hide while he was lying defenseless. Nimue sighed deeply, glancing at the growing number of dead bees littering the ground.
"These bodies will attract more predators. We can't stay here long." She muttered to herself, a shadow of worry crossing her face.
"We can't afford another fight... Not now."
She was still so new to this body, still so small and fragile. It was already a miracle that she could still fly at this point thanks to her draconic power. She couldn't risk overexertion—her insect form couldn't handle much more strain. Her heart pounded as she quickly issued orders.
"Take some scraps from the enemy bees, and then we move. We don't linger."
"My queen? What should we do with those?" A curious little worker bee asked.
"What do you mean, what? We're using them later to bait fresher ingredients, obviously!" Nimue replied and rolled her eyes before muttering to herself. "If you want to eat good food, carry them yourselves!"
Meanwhile, the group of little bees looked at her weirdly and confused.
To bait fresher ingredients?
Will flowers start moving and offer nectars on their own if they lure them with bloody corpses?
But then, her impatience grew as she noticed the bees freezing in confusion.
"Stop dawdling!" she snapped, wings buzzing in annoyance. "If you're done, let's go! I'm so tired!"
And with that, Nimue took off, not hearing the murmurs of her exhausted swarm behind her.
"Has… the queen gone mad from being tossed around in that cocoon?" Someone blurted out unwittingly while looking at the distant figure of their queen.
"Everyone, this is a huge problem! Oh, our poor innocent queen. She must have seen the bear eating meat, and now she thinks it's okay to do the same!"
Hearing this, a tight knot was in everyone's heart as they feel conflicted for their pitiful leader's ignorance.
First, she kissed that smelly mongrel and declared the beast as her property. Now she was copying his savage behavior? What next—would the next generation of bees grow matted furs and claws?
"Sisters, should we just... get rid of that bear before it gets worse?" One of the workers murmured.
The truth was, none of them could understand what had possessed their queen. She was totally different from her predecessors!
But they were all too terrified to question her. In the end, they could only blame the bear for sullying the new queen's first memory for appearing in front of her first upon clawing her way out of its cocoon.
Besides, if it wasn't a matter imprinting that influenced her oddity, then what is?!
Even if it meant the bear's presence was unbearable and would pose a danger to the colony, no one could defy her words. Not when she's their only hope of survival.
Regardless, henceforth, though for reasons that had nothing to do with his behavior, the poor bear found himself caught in a web of confusion. Successfully earning every bee's hostility not due to his previous massacres but for the most unexpected reason.
"No matter what, we cannot let Her Majesty mate with that hairy beast!"
"Right, we cannot defy the Queen and go for the kill but we can still castrate him! Protect the bee's lineage!"
"Protect the bee's lineage!"
"Protect the bee's lineage!"
"…"