NOVEL NEXT Chapter 96: Queen Bee
"Do it one more time. The slime still has some water residue left, right?" Aria asked the little girl.
Alena nodded, commanding her puppet to do the same thing as before.
"Silver Slime, shoot!" Alena called. The slime responded by opening its mouth and releasing a water cannon into the tree's core.
The crystal was now melting in a visible pace, much faster than before.
Aria was able to track down the queen's movements, struggling inside the tree to avoid the water burst. It was feeling uncomfortable and scratching all over the place. The silhouette started to become visible to Aria, and she smiled.
"It's fine if you waste all your mana! Focus it on this one strike!" Aria knew that they had to take care of the queen in a short period of time. Since the queen was confirmed to be an insect leader; meaning that it was from the same species it governed over, it would mean that the crystal water and Ilyin's ice attacks worked well against it.
Crystallized monsters had a perk. In the first place, there was a specific lore that told the story of these monsters and how they came to life.
The lore went as such: in the past, when strong monsters gathered to battle for a mysterious power source that caught the desires of all, they fell prey into a condition that would render them and their offspring forever weakened. They had stepped into the wrong lands and as a punishment, got a sinister effect that would burden them. It was named [Crystallized]. The [Crystallized] effect had placed a seal for their abundant powers. It also caused them to have a weakness towards other objects that had the [Crystallized] element. The [Crystal Water] was one of the examples of it.
This endangered them as they would be immobilized temporarily in a dire situation. In turn, the condition gave them a blessing. Once their [Crystallized] effect faded, they would regain their original power back. Considering their raging state, it should be noted down that they will perform to their maximum capabilities, pushing aside all sorts of other conditions and going on a rampage. If you are too slow in defeating them, then once they enter this particular period, it would be extremely dangerous.
Knowing this fact, Aria was slightly reluctant on proceeding to harm this queen unless she was absolutely prepared.
She didn't have a good grasp on how strong it was, and worried if her strength wouldn't be necessary. If so, then she had to prepare for a backup plan strong enough to take something of its caliber.
[Dungeon Boss: Crystallized Insect Queen
You have freed the Dungeon Boss, Crystallized Insect Queen from its resting space, waking it up from its slumber. It has noticed your presence. Due to being exposed to the [Crystal Water]'s elements, the Dungeon Boss will enter the weakened period in a short minute. Due to agitation, the Dungeon Boss has entered the <Mad> state. Defeat it to survive and return to the real world.
Clear Conditions: Slay the Dungeon Boss, <Insect Queen>.(0/1)]
Insect Queen | Lv. 37
HP: 27000/27000
Rage Bar: 100/100]
'Starting at 100 Rage, huh.' Aria glared at the status bar.
'Level 37.. That's pretty rough.' Aria gritted her teeth, thinking that things would be severely inconvenienced for her.
The Queen was a horrid mixture of bees, ants, wasps, and other insect types. Its beady emerald eyes were textured just like a bee hive, as they bore themselves into the humans in front of it, flapping its wings and getting ready to fly off. Gaining flight advantages would have severe effects to the battle's outcome.
Aria couldn't let the queen take off, or it could delay their fight and lower their chances of winning.
"[Water Blade]!" Using Dianthe's power, Aria aimed at the insect's left wing, hoping for the membrane to fall apart.
Sadly, the Queen's wings were laced with the same attribute that covered its whole body, enhancing the toughness of her physique. Unless this particular material was removed, it wouldn't be melted with just simple attacks.
A [Water Blade] wasn't going to penetrate it anytime soon.
Aria knew that she had to use the [Crystal Water] attack once more to injure the queen.
"Alena! Your slime, can it do one more attack?" Aria asked.
"I.. think so? It might be hard, though.." Alena answered with uncertainty flashing by her eyes. She checked her condition and knew that she could make it, but there was suffering to come right after being launched.
"We'll attack her wings using the leftover water, then I will strike it using my sword after that. I just need it to lower down and not fly away," Aria instructed.
Before using up every last bit of the Crystal Water, Aria had taken away some of the portion and transferred it into her own water bottle to prepare for the worst.
They had been rained on by Crystal Water thanks to Dianthe, so their clothes naturally got wet. The water was drained from the clothing and put into another bottle that they stored away. Thankfully, they did that. Aria was relieved. If not, they would lack a substantial amount of the necessary liquid and be cornered.
This bottle was kept by Aria, left untouched by their former movements.
"Silver Slime! Absorb the water!" Alena commanded.
'Just ordering it to attack isn't going to cut it. The Queen may dodge it if it's in form of a cannon.. If so..' Aria thought.
Aria halted their actions. She conveyed what she thought to Alena and had her stand by with her slime.
The Queen looked down onto the pair and noticed that Alena was doing something strange, coordinating with the Silver Slime. Perhaps also noticing that Aria had significantly more power than the child, she sought to attack Alena first. The slime was in her sights, but Alena attracted her more.
Aria had a little laugh of victory internally once she tracked down this action the queen made.
'That's going to bring you to your demise!' Aria celebrated.
Alena was still inferior in all departments compared to the Queen, but she had a decent grip on safety and caution.
The art of blocking and dodging strikes was a horrifying thing if used right.
Before the Queen could reach Alena, Aria threw her sword over to the girl and rushed to pick up the silver slime, taking it away to a safe distance.
She had prepared the girl for this situation, because she knew that those like the queen would always want to eliminate the weaker ones first to make the fight easier.
The Queen was locked onto the little girl. Unluckily for her, the strike was not going to land on the child. Instead, Alena dodged to side locked the monster in place because the queen stabbed her claw to the ground, narrowly missing Alena's lithe body. She ended her role off by stabbing the sword into the Queen's stomach. The sharp [Halvargg] was lodged into the hard material at least five centimetres deep.
Although the flesh couldn't be reached- which meant that no damage was done, Alena had momentarily stopped the Queen in its tracks. Not to mention, Aria also covered [Halvargg] in [Crystal Water] ahead of time, making it penetrate the carapace easier than just raw contact.
Aria threw the Silver Slime at the Queen's wings at full speed. In seconds, the slime had splattered itself onto the flailing Queen. Due to carrying the Crystal Water, some spilled and was already affecting the Queen's [Crystallized] status, worsening her condition.
"Now! Engulf her!" Aria exclaimed.
Alena did exactly what she was ordered to. She commanded the little creature. The silver slime grew in size and started covering the Queen's wings, lathering it with its expendable surface. More of the Crystal Water came in contact with the Queen.
The System's notifications popped up right after sensing the queen's state.
[The Insect Queen is experiencing sluggishness after being rid of the [Crystallized] status. Its body will be more permeable and prone to damage for a set period of time. Following the same period, its senses and agility will decrease temporarily.]
[The Insect Queen has stored away large amounts of energy for a long time in its resting state. It has used the energy overflow to charge itself and can now bypass its status conditions. The [Sluggish] effect has been halved. The period of time in which the status conditions is in effect is decreased by 25%.]
'Outrageous.. but it doesn't really matter.' Aria commented as she saw the queen that had been shaking around in pain slowly started to recover some of its fighting quality.
All Aria needed was the debuff, any sort of negative impact on the enemy so that she could make up for the large gap of levels and raw power. The rest will be covered by her magic and skills, just like what she did before.
Aria constantly had to tread on the thin lines of life and death. What was one more wager?