Chapter 177 177 Pitiful Tamer



Although Zach didn't want to force these people to fight for him, they didn't have any other choice. There was no time to waste since the servants were cutting down the trees very fast. The destruction of their natural habitat was bound to anger the beasts living within it someday.

Instead of waiting for the beasts to attack first, Zach felt that it was only right to tell these beasts that the island belonged to someone else now.

Zach had thought of everything there was to consider. He had not only equipped the people he brought with him, but also geared them up to the point that the beasts would barely be able to get past their skin even with their most pointless attacks. With the protection of the suits, they could easily wade deep into the center of the forest and exterminate any unwilling beasts no matter the kind of situation that might present itself to them in the future.

Diana and her soldiers stood tall and resolute, like a mighty oak tree standing firm against the wind. They adorned their special protective suits, resembling armored knights ready for battle, their suits gleaming like polished silver under the dappled sunlight.

As they ventured into the depths of the forest, the air grew thick and heavy, wrapping around them like a suffocating blanket. The soldiers pressed on, their determination burning bright like a flickering torch, guiding them through the shadowy wilderness.

With each step, the ground beneath them seemed to tremble, like the heartbeat of a slumbering giant awakening from its deep sleep. But Diana and her soldiers remained steadfast, their resolve unyielding, like a mighty river carving its path through solid rock.

As expected, they soon encountered some wild beasts blocking their path. 

The soldiers moved with the grace of agile predators, their movements fluid like a flowing river, swiftly and tactfully driving the creatures away. Their protective suits acted as impenetrable shields, shielding them from harm like a fortress guarding its occupants from the outside world.

Most of the beasts that the team encountered were made up of common and easy to come across beasts like the snake type beasts, centipedes and some other strangely mutated ones that weren't especially harmful. But that didn't mean that the soldiers let their guard down. Their leader had given severe instructions and whosoever had the guts to be lax would definitely be punished later on.

Neither the wild beasts nor the scarily mutated creatures could bar their way as they exterminated until they had to burn corpses to move further ahead.

But following right after the force of beasts was a huge swarm. The swarm was a looming green figure in the distance but as soon as it began to grow larger in the eyes of the soldiers, it became a poisonous plague heading straight towards themselves.

There were thousands of poisonous wasps in the swarm and anyone that fell into the range of the swarm would undoubtedly end up in a precarious situation. The soldiers even wondered if there would be anything left of their bodies by the time the swarm crossed completely. If any of them fell into the swarm, death would be the sweetest release considering that if they didn't die by the thousands of sharp stingers stabbing countless times into their bodies, they were probably still going to die by the poison within these stingers.

The swarm soon descended onto the soldiers but surprisingly not a single one of the soldiers deserted their post or ran away or even turned his backs on to his comrades. Diana especially admired them for that. They put all their trust into their master who gave them the protective suits.

Thanks to their master's kindness, the wasps were unable to break past the first layer of their skin let alone poisoning them. The stingers were rendered completely useless by the protective clothing.

Once the soldiers were sure that they were safe even amidst the swarm, they grew bolder and two of them who were carrying something akin to a spray can on their backs and had a pipe like thing in their hands took the lead. They began to spray the whole cylinder worth of insecticide that they had already prepared to be used in this situation. 

They already knew that the insecticide was an especially effective method to immobilize any insectoid beasts even the poisonous wasps were no exception to that.

The spray spread itself around like an atomizer and very soon all the wasps were either wobbling in the air, suddenly dipping down from the air or were already lying on the ground writhing in pain. Unlike the Iron Mantises, the insecticide was especially effective against the wasps due to their lacking overall power as compared to the iron mantises.

The soldiers brought out a nozzle from his bag and attached it to the end of the spray mechanism which increased its overall range by passing the spray through a narrow passage way. It not only allowed the two soldiers to cover larger portion of the swarm, but also allowed them to hit their targets precisely with the spray. The rest of the soldiers didn't stay idle and took care of the wasps that were still in their senses or were close to death already.

Once the wasps in the back noticed the end of their comrades, some of them began to diverge from the swarm in order to save their lives. Survival instinct was a basic quality ingrained in all living beings after all.

Diana took care of most of the wasps and ordered her soldiers to move forward saying, "We have to completely eliminate these beasts from the forest. They are a plague that would never end if we let some of them escape today. It would only bring about a disaster later on. So those spraying insecticides make sure to get each one of them. Marksmen, take care of everything that escapes these two."

The bees found the wasps retreating in their direction and began to panic. It had to be known that these bees were behind the poisonous wasps on the overall power spectrum. Even the number of the beasts was far ahead of the number of bees ever after so many of them had been mercilessly slaughtered by Zach's soldiers.

The bees that were no longer connected to the queen began to panic while the old Tamer couldn't control them as precisely. His spirit was limited and could only convey some broader intentions to his beasts instead of micromanagement of each individual bee.

While the old Tamer was struggling to regain control of the wild bees that were indiscriminately attacking everything in their path, he tried to converge most of his mental strength towards the queen bee in order to complete the taming process a little faster using the larger portion of his strength to grease the process.

Some of the bees were using their stingers to pierce through the tree trunks or the stones in their paths. They were out of their wits when faced with the swarm of wasps and since they were unable to run away due to the old tamer's control, the only option left to them was to find a way to kill their way through. This led to their indiscriminate assault which was basically an unconscious response when faced with mortal danger.

The old Tamer grew more cautious of the sound he had been hearing earlier. It gave him an unprecedented sense of horror and fear but he hadn't caved in. The panicking bees only further reinforced his belief and he put all his effort into communicating with the queen bee and left the other bees to their own devices as they couldn't run away even if they wanted to.

The wasps made no sound as they swarmed towards the old Tamer from behind him. Even the bees weren't able to make him realize the danger that was heading towards him without a sound.

The Tamer was caught completely unawares by the mass of wasps. By the time he understood what was happening to him, the wasps were already closing in on him as they completely ignored the incoherent group of bees. 

He released all his magic power to enhance the mental link between him and the bees but the number of the bees was still too much for him. The full body impenetrable defense he had in mind using the bees as the shield proved to be very draining. He couldn't control the floodgates of mana that opened in response to his will. The bees greedily sucked in his energy in order to fight back against the wasps but it was a losing battle to begin with. The wasps on the island had already mutated and were far too strong for the bees to handle on their own.

They were bypassed by the wasps easily and the old man couldn't bolster his defense in time. Before he could even try to escape, the wasps stung him full of holes. 

His weak body wasn't capable of withstanding such an all out attack and faltered the very next moment.

The toxins from the wasps began to take effect and the hallucinations proved to be far deadlier than the force behind the stings. The things he abhorred, monsters that made him scared as a kid, abominations that could scare his very soul out of him, all became real within the blink of an eye.

The old tamer closed his eyes to escape from the nightmare but the visions couldn't be blocked. Everything was happening in his mind after all.