Leave The Monster Alone

And thus they made their way to their first location. The swarm of bee monsters loomed all over them like a dark cloud. It looked menacing and it looked terrible. Should they attack any normal base they would be near-impossible to overcome.

However, now Mark and Alan had to face them because they had created this situation and they were responsible for it's resolution as well.

Besides, Mark really wanted the reward promised to him.

"I can see the swarm and there really are a lot of them" the number had been more than what Alan had been expecting to meet with. He had thought that there would be close to 500 of these monsters but they seemed to be in the thousands.

And they felt like they were still multiplying in number through their queen which was likely in the centre of this swarm.

"We can drive them away with the smoke but the window of opportunity would be too small for us. Take the chance if we get one" the worst thing about the fire and the smoke was its ability to burn the skin down.

For all its durable functionality, the fire was one thing it was not super-resistant against. You could feel the heat through it as well as the smell of the smoke. 

"Should I throw it out? I'm much more resistant than you" while this was true, there was a small problem in that logic and by that Mark meant a big problem which would not allow them this luxury.

"You are resistant to the poison but not to the sting itself. There are too many for you to take on alone" if this had been Kuro he might have allowed this to happen but not for Alan who was still visibly human.

There were some things they should avoid at all costs and this was definitely a situation that called for that. Not to mention, there was only a limited supply of those grass so the window of opportunity was really small.

"Hopefully this will still work" Mark prayed in a low breath before he crawled out of the divine skin slowly. He made sure he was only halfway out before he got the mint out and lightened it on fire.

The smoke burned fast and he threw it at the densest part of the swarm. It hit and the smoke spread around fast. In a matter of minutes, the bees had descended onto them with a ferocity unknown to man.

The skin kept them safe for the time being but it did not stop the physical collisions of the bees with their bodies. They were jolted all the way around because of those bees and it did hurt. But it was a better alternative than being stung by those bees all the time.

"Alan, can you spot the queen bee?" The translucent material of the skin as well as the huge bodies of these bees obstructed Mark's vision but hopefully not Alan's. There had to be another alternative to his small faults there.

"I see something,'' Alan whispered as he concentrated. Even with all this jolting around, he could see the target clearly and he did not like what he saw. "Not good news at all. The queen is likely in a cocoon-like structure which is being transported by the worker bees" so the queen was protected?

Well, he should not have expected anything different since this was how it all ended. Every time a new boss monster appeared, it was stronger than the last one and had worse conditions.

"I'm assuming we cannot just shoot it down?" Mark asked his gun at the ready. He would shoot if the need arose but he was not sure if there would really arise any need. The cocoon was a protective structure after all.

"I'll try to shoot it before those monsters go back to surround it. But it would be better to think of an alternative. Just in case my attack failed" Alan took aim and shot in quick succession. However, it was all futile. 

Forget about making it to the end, it did not even get past the huge swarm of monsters around them. Even if it did, the worker bees and the drone beads would have stepped inside to stop them. This was a burst then.

"Mark, any other ideas?" Mark was thinking but it was hard to do when surrounded by these monsters who wanted to kill you or to make you a slave of their queen.

"I'm looking. There had to be a way around all this" what could work on these monsters? Weapons were a liability right now and so was the inability to truly hurt their queen. What a mess.

"There is pesticide storage a little further away. Think it works on these monsters?" Alan asked as he scouted the map as well. The monsters had retired to their original post, having decided that these people were harmless and not food at all.

The monster forces just patrolled outside their area which barely missed Mark and Alan's frozen bodies.

"I might have a can or two with me. We can try it right now?" Mark had never been happier to have raided a super mall beforehand. He had a few cans and he took out two.

The next unfortunate monster coming their way was sprayed with half a can which made it twitch and fall down. The huge body fell down with a thud and there was material that was gained. The body in front started disappearing as well which meant it had died.

"Still works fine. But we barely have enough between us here and we cannot carry it along with us" So this plan was a bust as well? Alan didn't think so.

"We should check the factory out. They have transportation trucks with the pipe and hose to spray on the fields generally. If this one had them too then we really lucked out here" this was a nice idea on paper and likely the only one they had.

But there was no harm in checking the palace at all. The system had no new message or instruction which meant they were free to improvise right now. 

The only problem they had was the location of the factory outlet for that storage. It was on the other side of the swarm and they had to crawl through the swarm.

Mark heard a small crunch at his next step and he looked down to see a small insect body that was dead. So not all the monsters had transformed yet? Or were the new monsters born as normal insects first and then transformed?

This was a huge what-if and one Mark was sure Rika would appreciate picking apart. He just stored the bigger and smaller bodies inside his system and tried not to feel like a creep at that time. 

Alan also passed him a look but he understood why the other had done this particular action. The next step was crawling beneath the swarm which was not as successful as one would think it to be.

The monsters buzzed around and they slammed into them at full speed. The pain was real but it was something they would be able to overcome in a short amount of time.

Beneath them were the dead bodies of small insects and there were a lot of those which were worrisome. Where were all these coming from and did they have to worry about it at all?

"Keep going. We're almost there" Alan pushed him forward which was the best motivation he had right now. The assault felt heavier on him than Alan who had superpowers and a killer physique. 

And they finally exited the area which made the monster back off from their persons. 

"Let's hurry. For all we know, we might be on a timer already" Mark could not help but feel like this all of a sudden. There was no reason to feel like this right now but he could not help himself.

"Mark, I think we are being followed by those monsters" Alan tensed and so did Mark. If they were being followed then it was likely the bees or another monster.

"Run" Alan did not wait to hear anything else, he ran. Mark followed behind him and he caught up with the other. Bees were buzzing behind them and following behind them but why?

Were they not out of their area already?

"They marked us. I don't know how but they marked us by something" Alan could not smell anything but that did not mean the bees could not. They ran on different wavelengths of pheromones.

"This way" Mark pulled Alan after him as he took the next turn. It was a sharp turn to take and the bees lost them.

"W-We need to make sure they don't follow till everything is read here" and the factory came into view. With the bees lost, they did not wait a single second to enter the factory. They had a lot of ground to cover after all.