Level Eater

Tatsuro carefully cast a detection spell to ensure there were no unexpected surprises, confirming nothing was present. He then partially destroyed the nest and stored it in his [Item Box]. Afterward, he dismantled it further, extracting only the honey and completely incinerating the unnecessary nest.

"Hmm, it's a bit more chaotic than I thought. Makes it hard to use [Level Eater]" (Tatsuro)

"We have plenty of them, so why not try it when we're down to the last one? There should be one there too" (Ai)

"Ah, that's right. I really want to get some SP from that one" (Tatsuro)

The "one" they were referring to was Bipris, a monster that belonged to the higher species of Depris and served as the Queen Bee in their territory. If the territory expanded, the Queen Bee would increase in number and manage the Depris in different sections. However, within this particular range, there should only be one. It was undoubtedly the largest nest in this area, and Tatsuro's detection magic indicated that a significantly larger creature was present there.

Therefore, leaving that nest for last, they proceeded to attack the others one by one. Due to the low intelligence of the monsters, they easily emerged from their nests when provoked, making honey collection relatively straightforward. At present, they were left with only the nest containing Queen Bee Bipris.

After causing such a commotion, Tatsuro expected some response and observed from behind tall plants. However, it appeared that they hadn't raised any alarms, likely because they had quickly exterminated the surrounding nests before any reinforcements could arrive.

"I thought it might turn into a chaotic battle at some point, but I didn't expect they still haven't noticed us after collecting honey" (Tatsuro)

"I guess they don't really care about the worker bees, fundamentally" (Ai)

With that bittersweet observation in mind, they focused on the final nest. First, they prepared an iron box to accommodate one of the Depris they had created in advance to absorb SP.

Afterward, Tatsuro subtly manipulated the airflow with wind magic to draw the Depris flying around closer to them. He used Ai's whip to capture one of them at a distance and placed it inside the box, making sure to keep it from making any noise by burying it in the ground using earth magic. He continued capturing other Depris, putting them in the box and burying them in the ground.

As they were doing this, one Depris from the nest poked its head out, noticing that there were none around. It called a few others, and they began to search the area. Realizing that they would eventually be discovered if they stayed put, Tatsuro decided to take the initiative.

"For now, we have enough Depris. Let's get started," (Tatsuro)

"Sounds good. Then it's my turn!" (Ai)

Ai controlled her whip and took down three of them. Meanwhile, Tatsuro called Jeanne to disrupt the airflow in the vicinity with wind magic. He also fired lasers to provoke the creatures inside the nest, encouraging as many Depris as possible to come out.

"Wow, they're coming out like crazy," (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, it's one thing when there are just a few, but with this many, it's kind of gross" (Ai)

Until now, there had been no more than a hundred Depris at once, but now around a thousand of them had quickly found Tatsuro's group and attacked. However, due to the disrupted airflow in the area, they were struggling to fly in a coordinated manner.

"Well, there's no helping the numbers," (Tatsuro)

"That's right!" (Ai)

Ai switched to her jewel sword and unleashed a technique to shoot her magical power. Although she could only send out a small amount, and it didn't have the slashing attribute, its power was still overwhelming for lower-tier monsters.

She bombarded them with clumps of magical energy, hitting all of them and knocking them down one by one. Tatsuro wasn't about to be outdone, so he created a large fireball and directed it at the Depris, using Jeanne's wind magic to propel it.

They tried to escape from the approaching mass of flames, but their wings couldn't catch the wind properly, and the flames quickly consumed them. Even though they had already reduced the numbers to less than half, there were still nearly five hundred bee-sized Depris flying around, presenting a formidable sight.

"Just a little more, let's keep it up" (Tatsuro)

"Yeah. By the way, do you think the Queen Bee will show up soon?" (Ai)

"There's a reaction from inside, but no sign of movement yet" (Tatsuro)

"She's quite carefree" (Ai).

Despite their bewilderment at the seemingly immobile Queen Bee, they focused on the immediate threat in front of them. They continued to reduce their numbers in a manner similar to before, and the count entered the single digits.

At that moment, Cardina sensed the Queen Bee, who had been holed up in the nest, beginning to move.

"Pewee!" (Cardina)

"She's coming" (Tatsuro)

"High-ranking personnel on duty!" (Ai)

Before the boss emerged, they took down the remaining worker bees. Now, they had to wait.

However…

"She's not coming out…" (Tatsuro)

"We're waiting here, so hurry up already." (Ai)

Five minutes passed, and the Queen Bee kept advancing into the nest and then stopping, not emerging. Tatsuro began contemplating whether they should physically shake the nest to force her out. Just when they were about to consider that, the Queen Bee finally poked her rear end out of the nest.

"Her rear end?" they both questioned, puzzled.

Without understanding her intent, they watched as the Depris extended a tube from the part where her stinger was and shot something white and spherical, about the size of a soccer ball, in all directions. There were so many of these spherical objects that they blanketed the entire area in white, making it impossible to count their numbers.

Tatsuro had a bad feeling and immediately tried to use fire magic to burn away the white spheres. However, just a moment before that, the Depris emerged from the spheres simultaneously. There were so many of them that it was evident they outnumbered the previous thousand.

"Jeanne! Restrict their movement with your wind magic!" (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"I guess we should have taken them down before she showed up." (Tatsuro)

"Coincidentally, I was thinking the same thing just now" (Ai)

Despite their frustration with this unexpected turn of events, doing nothing would mean becoming prey to the venomous stingers of the thousands of enormous bees. Tatsuro quickly used wind magic to create a powerful gust and attempted to gather them into one place to defeat them. However, something changed in the Depris' movements.

While they should have been utterly incapacitated by Jeanne's wind magic and unable to move properly, they suddenly started flying more freely, albeit slightly clumsily.

"What's happening?" (Tatsuro)

"What's going on?" (Ai)

"Probably that Queen Bee, she seems to have some kind of magic similar to wind magic. Other than me and Jeanne, the magic is being used from the nest." (Tatsuro)

"So…" (Ai)

"Yeah, it doesn't seem to be true flight, but they can move almost like it. At worst, we might have to give up on that nest and the Queen Bee." (Tatsuro)

As they discussed this, the Depris, now able to move freely, began to surround Tatsuro's group, creating a meat wall blocking their path to the Queen Bee. Meanwhile, Depris attacked from all sides, and Ai used her jewel sword while Tatsuro launched several giant fireballs to cooperate in taking them down. However, the sheer number of Depris was overwhelming.

In addition, the situation was about to get even more complicated. Cardina, who had been on alert in the vicinity, suddenly shouted as she looked in the direction of the nest.

"Piiiii!" (Cardina)

"Damn it! Ai, while they're keeping us pinned down here; the Queen Bee intends to escape." (Tatsuro)

"What should we do?" (Ai)

"We can't let her escape after coming this far. I'll create a path to the nest for a moment, so carry me through it!" (Tatsuro)

"Understood!" (Ai)

After receiving Ai's straightforward response, Tatsuro left her and Jeanne to deal with the approaching Depris. While checking the information sent by Cardina, he fired a laser beam with a diameter of about two meters toward the Queen Bee with the force to destroy the entire nest.

As a result, the wall of Depris, composed of flesh, opened up for a moment. Ai did not miss the opportunity and grabbed Tatsuro, jumping into the hole.

"Waaaah!"

"Ai, knock it down!" (Tatsuro)

With a nod in response to his words, Ai struck the nest with a heel drop before it could be taken away. Tatsuro's laser hit the nest that was already emerging, creating a huge hole. Even so, it attempted to escape with the broken nest. The Queen Bee, which had previously only shown its rear end, could not resist coming out.

The Queen Bee had a red body and was much larger than the Depris. Its lower body was unusually large, making it nearly incapable of moving, let alone flying.

As Tatsuro observed this, he used detection magic to predict the emerging position and had already activated [Level Eater] with precise timing. The Queen Bee did not realize it and leaped into the air in a fit of rage.

——————————–

Level: 31

Skills: [Egg-laying], [Slave Egg-laying Lv. 6], [Flight Lv. 3], [Airflow Manipulation Lv. 5]

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([Airflow Manipulation]! So this was causing the interference! My top priority is to take care of this.) he thought

Unaware that her skills were being detected and her levels drained, the Queen Bee attempted to use all the Depris, her slaves, to eliminate Tatsuro and his companions. However, Tatsuro retreated, absorbing levels while using a combination of wind and fire magic to burn the entire area extensively.

The Queen Bee attempted to halt the damage with her [Airflow Manipulation] skill, but it was already rendered ineffective. Helplessly, the flames consumed her slaves.

"She's really, really angry now." (Ai)

"Yeah, but there's nothing she can do anymore." (Tatsuro)

——————————–

Level: 31

Skills: [Egg-laying], [Slave Egg-laying Lv. 0], [Flight Lv. 0], [Airflow Manipulation Lv. 0]

——————————–

Since Tatsuro was currently unable to level up, he saved the regular levels for Ai and swallowed the black sphere. The Queen Bee, having lost all her skills, attempted to fly, but her massive body was initially designed to rely on her skills for flight. She could barely hover a millimeter above the ground.

Unable to fly and without her skills, she crawled away in a desperate escape attempt.

Not intending to let her get away, Tatsuro gave chase, but the remaining Depris made a last-ditch effort to defend their Queen.

"They're in the way!" (Ai)

"Ai, I'll deal with the small fry. Finish off the Queen Bee!" (Tatsuro)

"Oh? I got it! Here we go" (Ai)

Ai said as she readied her jewel sword, which had been swinging to defeat the remaining Depris. She then rushed forward, keeping her gaze fixed on the Queen Bee.

While she advanced, Tatsuro cleared away all the stray embers.

"With this, it's over!" (Ai)

She swung her sword down from above, and Queen Bee Bipris was cut in half, taking her last breath.

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