[Floor: 1 of 2 . ] [Hornet nest . ]

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Meters appeared in his mind's eye, directing Clyde to where he needed to go . His first steps into the hive were met with surprisingly smooth wooden floors, but a weird interior . The walls of this place were made of wooden combs . Hornets didn't produce honey, they stole it—which explained why this place wasn't covered in it . The honeybee hive probably had the stuff everywhere . The lobby didn't have much going for it . Not even guards .

That wasn't the case for the second room . There were two .

"Oh my buzz, a man!" a guard yipped .

"Should we bring him to the queen?" the second guard said .

"Pssh, she has a pretty one already . We get to keep our pretty one . And I'm h.o.r.n.y as buzz!"

Neko loudly sniffed .

"Bugs . Can't stand them . "

"Look, he brought a kitten," the first guard said . "We can string her up and make her chase yarn b.a.l.l.s for entertainment . "

"Let's get rid of these intruders—I'm already wet," the second guard said .

Clyde shook his head, speechless . He did a.n.a.lyze the first guard, not surprised to see that they were stronger than Toru's kidnappers .

Hornet- NeeNee

Level: 53

Type: Monster

Work under: Queen Hornet .

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Special: l.u.s.tful sting . [Great chance to stun . Hornet may lose control and vigorously super-rape victims] .

Weakness: Fire, ice, lightning, wind, and l.u.s.t .

Resistances: earth, nature, forest, and volcanic .

Secret: stole a bottle of the queen's secret honey wine and keeps it hidden in a trap door beneath her bed .

[Your party has entered combat!]

Neko vaulted ahead of the others, attacking the nearest guard with claws and martial arts . Moving with the grace of a cat, she demanded blood . Chika's vanis.h.i.+ng stealth caught their eyes . And guard number one dropped like a fly .

The young man didn't bother to move—Neko pulled a dagger from a sheath on her belt and slit hornet's throat . The monster girl fell in a pool of her own blood .

"Kidnapping is what led to this," Clyde said without remorse . "I've got a party full of demons . You only gave them an excuse . "

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[Battle completed . Victory! Reward: 1000 EXP and $1000 . ]

Clyde strolled past them .

"Good s.h.i.+t ladies," he said . Chika and Neko smiled then hurried to his flank . And they said women weren't stronger than men . Clyde called bulls.h.i.+t on that all day . He'd not picture himself squaring off with the yandere, especially in her own place of power . The catgirl on the other hand was playful, but had power that probably matched Alice when deadly serious . h.e.l.l, even Alice held back .

At least he wasn't the weakest anymore . If he was going to continue to be team lead, he'd need to learn to control his abilities or get stomped into the ground . Did the others, "players," have special powers? Dark was a decent spellcaster, but there was no sign of it in him . Clyde would have to a.s.sume being the Stone in the stone-viper games meant more than he knew . And he didn't know much aside from what was told to him .

This dungeon was supposed to be very hard? Maybe for others without a strong crew .

The party mowed through at least half a dozen more guards before reaching a staircase . A barred staircase . With warded bars . Beside it was three empty honeycomb-shaped holes .

"A puzzle," Clyde said flatly . Clearly, something went into those holes to disable the wards . "Anyone here able to break the wards?"

They shook their heads . "Let's start searching the supposed keys . We'll start hearing Toru's shouting if we take too long . "

"I hope he hangs in there," Yuki said .

Clyde was glad that no one in his party dared suggested a split . That cliché would ensure either him cornered and captured or one of the others . It always happened .

Five minutes pa.s.sed and Chika spotted a strange indent in the wall, pushed it in, revealing a small hidden room . In it was a small chest and a pedestal . On top of the pedestal rested a bronze honeycomb . He motioned for one of the women to grab it while strolling over to the chest .

[You have found Honey Potion of Healing . Item cla.s.s: rare . ]

He warped the item to his inventory, gaining a fascinated look from Yuki .

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"Let's go look for the other hidden chambers," Clyde said .

It took less than ten minutes to locate the rest of the metals, but as soon as they were set in place, the bars dropped .

[Floor: 2 of 2 . ] [Hornet nest . ]

There were a lot of guards and workers . Perhaps thirty, forty, maybe fifty, all carrying out their day to day lives without any worries . A few of them even looked in their direction, winked at Clyde, and then continued on . Others went into rooms, lounged about, or chatted and boasted . And most of it was about who could capture the heart of a man first or bedroom techniques .

A worker hornet dressed in a silky robe that clung to every curve approached them, bowed, and seemingly smiled warmly .

"Our queen wishes to speak with you . Please follow . "

She stepped into Clyde's personal bubbled and said, "do you want to have dinner with me later? I taste delicious . " She grinned at the young man's laugh .

"Yeah, you can back the h.e.l.l up, s.l.u.t," Chika said . "He already has a reservation elsewhere . "

The hornet harrumphed .

"How rude . Whatever, follow me . " She muttered a few choice things about a certain silver-haired girl as she led them . No one attacked nor look threatening . Only two guards were armed, and they stood in front of the queen's door .

Clyde and his party knew to keep their guard up as they stepped past the door .

A naked Toru was tied to the wall by what looked a giant strand of golden taffy . His eyes blazed with defiance . Two guards had spears and l.u.s.ty eyes trained on him . One of them was openly drooling .

"Alright, get him down from there," Clyde said without increasing his tone . The two guards simply turned to him, eyes widened, delighted to see another man . "Do you monster girls ever do things the civil way?"

"Ah, you mean boring and human? Nope, it's not in our blood," said the hornet guide . "Our queen should be out in a bit . Please wait patiently at the table . If you want to talk about being civil, then have honey tea with us and chat . We can work something out . " She entered another set of doors .

"Toru, you really are unlucky," Clyde said .

"Tell me about it," Toru said, his voice resigned .

"We'll go ahead and get you down," Clyde said . "Kil—"

A hornet that was clearly the queen walked in followed by two servants . She sat at the table and gestured for the others to take a seat . They didn't .

She was a curvy woman with long blonde hair and large red eyes . Eyes that were part human, part hornet . Large b.r.e.a.s.t.s and a h.e.l.l of a lot of cleavage set the tone of the large room . Her silky see-through dress drew Clyde's eyes for a least a few seconds . Enough to glance at the lingerie underneath . Yep, it was time for him to get out of here .

"Let's get to the point," Clyde said, annoyed at the cliché, "release my friend there and I won't have to burn down this place . "

The queen smiled .

"Manly bravado, oh how I missed that," she said . "Would you like to visit the insides of me? I haven't had proper s.e.x in years and our hive is dwindling . We need men to inject their seeds into us . Well, I do . "

"Then why don't you go to the city and ask for volunteers?" Clyde said . "Set up advertis.e.m.e.nts or something for ma.s.saging services . "

"You know we can't do that and especially not in a forest that belongs to…her," the queen said . "Don't try to shove your human logic onto us . But…you know what you can shove into me . " She stood . "So enough of the pretenses . You can join your friend or trade s.p.a.ces with him . One of you will be staying . I'm looking for a husband . " She smiled, fondly . "Of course, we are hornets . And do things differently from our honeybee cousins, but you'd enjoy every moment of it . "

"You're mistaking if you think we're going to stand by and let you make demands," Yuki said . Purple aura blasted around her . "You have no idea who you're dealing with . "

The queen snarled .

"You don't scare me, demoness . I carve up your kind for breakfast . "

She stepped forward . Her guards ran in front of her .

"Kill them . And detain the man . I will be violating him, a lot . We'll see which will make the better husband . "

Clyde equipped the wind blade . Three-day training camp my a.s.s, he thought . f.u.c.k this . Day one and he was already face to face with a dungeon boss .

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