Chapter 548: An easy task
Malevolence watched how the carts were being pulled out of the mud from her new observation post—Ramwill’s helmet. From here, she could observe both her surroundings and Ramwill herself. Her personal guard was hovering nearby, slowly making the human used to bees with their constant presence.
‘This is Mother-Nature telling us that we shouldn’t be going forward… Nothing good can come out of a city,’ Ramwill was thinking.
‘It’s just rain. The Oracles have foretold it, and it won’t stop us from our goals,’ Malevolence messaged him.
This wasn’t the first time Ramwill complained. Eloquence had already told her that some inner whining was normal for humans’ thoughts—they thought all sorts of random things, and the important part was the number of thoughts and how they related to their actions.
Malevolence thought she should’ve just put Eloquence to watch this human, but…
He only listened well to her for some reason.
Even now, he jolted, and his thoughts stopped being so rebellious.
‘Grand Commander, but the cities… Are you sure you want to go there? They are cursed. Nothing but plagues and illnesses come from there!’
Malevolence huffed.
‘This is a false myth. The plagues and illnesses will pursue anyone without Father’s protection and immunising injections. If any of you will get sick, you will get them, too. You have nothing to fear.’
All of Malevolence’s humans were immunised, and there were plenty of dodos kept back in the Camp Big Bay. If need arose, the dragon riders could carry vials of immunising blood quickly over the continent to immunise humans, or they could be immunised with blood of other humans.
For now, Malevolence didn’t do it because she didn’t want to waste immunising blood on people who might still betray her (or not fall sick in the first place).
‘This Father of yours… He can’t be as powerful as Mother-Nature. She’s all the things alive, and she’s angry at us.’
Malevolence huffed.
‘Mother is much more than that, and she’s too far above any human to care about you. At least as long as you don’t try to attack the Bee Empire!’
On this note, the humans have successfully pulled the cart out of the dirt, and with some cheers, the caravan moved on.
***
They didn’t reach the mercenaries in time. Even after Malevolence’s army left the carts with some guards behind to rush forward on their own, they still got to the place late.
But not TOO late.
The bandits must’ve ambushed and attacked mercenaries in their own camp. Since the bandits had a two-to-one numerical advantage, this made the mercenaries’ positions even worse than they were. There must’ve been a hundred bandits, but only fifty mercenaries after both sides suffered losses.
The mercenaries had superior weapons, armour and skills, but were unprepared for a sudden attack. Plenty of bodies in mercenary armour were lying motionless between the broken tents and groups of fighting people.
When Malevolence’s people burst out onto the clearing between pillar mountains, the fighting slowed down for a moment as both sides noticed new people.
Someone shouted in Vardish language, and a few people turned to Malevolence’s army, shaking their weapons. In return, Malevolence’s people readied her own.
Ramwill—who carried Malevolence at the forefront of her forces—paused for a moment. He reached out for his crossbow, but upon seeing how tight the melee was—too tight to land precise shots into—pulled out a sword instead.
Now he was waiting for Malevolence’s orders, just like her other human Lieutenant and all the bees flying near.
“Both sides don’t know if you are an enemy or a friend and are ready to fight you if you attack, Grand Commander,” Agent Eloquence said, landing next to Malevolence on Ramwill’s helmet. “But mercenaries for sure won’t attack you first—they are too busy fighting for their lives. Save them, and you can surely ask lots of things in return! Like their patent… perhaps even their own loyalty! This is a good opportunity.”
Malevolence nodded.
It was.
“Soldiers of the Bee Empire! Engage the bandits! Don’t touch humans who all wear these similar blue shirts! Agents, direct Chief Warriors away from the mercenaries when necessary! Humans will stay behind and aim, but not shoot without my orders!”
Malevolence’s signaller spread her order to bees and humans alike. With a battle cry, the bees charged forward with stingers and rifles, leaving Malevolence behind.
This was not her preferred position, but it was good for observing the tide of battle. As expected, the bees that charged forward immediately achieved success: bandits could put nothing against their stingers.
They screamed in fear and pain as the rain of stingers poured at them, waved their swords or nearby cloth at bees to no avail, or outright ran—also uselessly.
A storm of stings and some pointed fire-spitting incapacitated, killed or killed dozens of bandits within minutes. Plenty of others began turning and trying to run away.
The size and precision of bees allowed them to do all that without accidentally harming any mercenaries, who watched their lethal effectiveness in shock and awe.
Some of the mercenaries who weren’t too shocked rallied and, with energetic shouts, began fighting twice as hard against the bandits. The tide of battle changed at the snap of a finger.
Then, following Malevolence’s orders, her humans began shooting at the bandits who tried to escape!
They couldn’t get all of them from their position, but those who weren’t shot by rifles and crossbows were chased by her Beemarines. With the top speed of bees, they could easily catch up with a human.
It was a completely one-sided massacre!
After just half an hour, there was not a single bandit left alive. Malevolence didn’t bother saving any of them, seeing too little value in any attempts to recruit them.
But after the bandits were dealt with, the swarms of bees and her human forces surrounded the surviving mercenaries.
Now that there were no other enemies, the mercenaries feared that the strange group would kill them too!