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BD - Chapter 341 - Bee Protected
🕑 Added 2025-12-03 20:05:01 +0000 UTCStarami walked through an Underway tunnel with a scowl on his face. His troops stopped to salute him but he did not bother to reply.
“Captain, why are the lot of you running around like headless kobolds?!”
The captain held his salute.
“My lord! We’re searching for the tunnel General Rippotis used to escape!”
Starami held his head and groaned.
“Useless.”
Then he stepped over to the part of the tunnel he very distinctly remembered General Rippotis coming and going from. It appeared as a solid wall at a glance but a Tower Lord blessed by the gods was not so easily fooled. He inhaled and then unleashed a breath of fire all along the wall.
There was a noise like cracking glass and then the wall crumbled, revealing a wall of glowing wards behind it.
Starami turned and glowered at his troops once more.
“Captain, you are aware we are dealing with the fey, yes? And yet, you were deceived by a simple glamour! Keep your wits about you or you will end up as a pixie’s pet! Now, bring down these wards and get a move on! Time is ticking, we must not let General Rippotis leave this place!”
Starami didn’t bother waiting for the captain’s reply as he backed away to a safe distance. Fey wards did not break quietly and who knew what was waiting for them on the other side…
***
The alliance began their final preparations as Queen Vanieskon announced her glamour had been broken. With the shortcuts allowing movement between the Tower and the sigmaka, the sigmaka no longer needed to hold back the bulk of their forces. As such, Fourth Queen Pezuya, the sigmaka’s warrior queen, arrived to take over for Second Queen Berbiya, bringing along with her significantly more sigmaka warriors than originally planned. The fair folk, meanwhile, were busy doing everything in their power to turn the purified area into a death zone, building traps and casting wards all across the forests and ruins.
Belissar, meanwhile, rearranged his Tower rooms for the coming fight. On General Rippotis’ advice, he placed the battle Fairy Grove as the first room, followed by the Abyssal Trench. General Rippotis warned that Starami would have Water mages among his Dragon-aligned Tower Guard who may be able to traverse the deep seas and would even be capable of transporting other forces across, so Belissar couldn’t rely on the Abyssal Trench to stop them entirely. Still, it would significantly slow down transport and communications, especially with the mana storm making it far more dangerous to traverse.
The general warned him not to place it first, however, because Belissar’s own monsters and allies also couldn’t fight within the room and it would be dangerous to let Starami occupy the entrance of the Tower unchecked. So, they would start off with the Fairy Grove, which would be the hardest room for Starami to control that Belissar’s forces could also fight in without issue. The Fairy Grove’s effects would also assist in concealing shortcuts and make it harder for Starami to fully contain an emergency purification, should one occur during the fight.
Still, it was everyone’s hope that the Belissar’s Tower wouldn’t be besieged in the first place, so for now, Belissar prepared his forces to intervene should General Rippotis fail. The pixies, with Tamosmed’s help, had prepared a whole new batch of bee armor, of a brand new design as well. Since the majority of Belissar’s bees would not have pixie riders, they abandoned the full saddles used by the Order of Hive and Stinger and instead made simple sashes that could easily clasp around a bee’s torso for the barrier enchantments. For the sacrificial enchantments, they used little brooches that could pin right onto the sashes.
And they had prepared a lot of brooches and sashes. There wasn’t enough for every single bee in the army, but there was enough for all of the evolved types, with some to spare for some of the soldiers and sprayers.
And so, monster bee knights, captains, lancers, glaivers, archers, battlecasters, sprayers, and soldiers all flew into the pixies’ Apiary and landed, then the pixies would wrap the sashes around while guiding the each bee through the blood compacts with the sacrificial artifacts, after which the bee would take off to be replaced with the next. Belissar watched the process with a smile on his face.
“Tower Keeper, could we have a moment of your time?”
Belissar turned around to find Queen Vanieskon, Henilett, and Tamosmed standing behind him.
“Gladly, what do you need?”
Queen Vanieskon gave him a sly smile and shook her head.
“Nothing, Tower Keeper. We are here now to fulfill one of our promises to you.”
She motioned to Tamosmed. The black elf was carrying a sack on his back, he now brought it forward and gently placed it down, then removed its contents. Belissar blinked.
Tamosmed had laid out a set of black and yellow armor, much like that of the Order of Hive and Stinger. Only, this set was human-sized.
“Scaling up purely aesthetic pixie armor into a usable piece took some work, but I managed. Here, try it on so I can make the final adjustments. Also, none of us had a Blessing of Bees, so the enchantments are barebones for now, just the standard protection setup. We figured it’d be best to let you and your bees work out that part.”
Belissar grinned.
“No, this is amazing! Thank you all!”
Tamosmed helped Belissar put on the armor while noting areas where it didn’t fit well. In the meantime, he and the two pixies explained the armor’s enchantments to Belissar, as well as empty slots left for future enchantments. Belissar noted with glee that there was even a space on the helmet for Niobee to ride on.
He glanced up at her once he had finished putting it on.
“What do you think?”
Niobee buzzed.
“King shouldn’t fight, should stay safe!”
Belissar blinked and then chuckled.
“Yes, I will, as much as I can. But if I had to fight…then what do you think?”
Niobee stopped buzzing and stood still for a bit, then carefully stepped out her response.
“If helps King stay safe, then good. Can fit here, watch over King. That good.”
Belissar smiled and then turned to Tamosmed.
“Well, looks like you have her approval. I like it too.”
Tamosmed waved his hand in front of his face.
“This is just our first attempt. Wait until we figure out your bee magic and how to integrate it into the armor. We’ll make something much better then.”
Queen Vanieskon stepped in.
“And we will absolutely ensure you live to see it, Tower Keeper Belissar. With that in mind, we’ve prepared many sacrificial artifacts for you. Let’s set them up now, if you don’t mind?”
Belissar agreed and called over a bloodsucking bee to help with the process.
And so, Belissar and his bee army armored up with as much protection as the pixies had been able to prepare. They were as ready for the fight as they could be.
There was only one thing left to do before it began.
***
General Rippotis inspected his troops, split into two groups of six riders each. The two squad leaders stood at attention with resolute expressions…but the riders behind them fidgeted and openly frowned. The general kept his expression calm, but inwardly he wanted to shake his head.
It couldn’t be helped, most of his riders here were young, several of them had just finished training. All of his veterans had either deployed to the Grand Subjugation or were guarding the Tower against the Hunger. He had brought along this bunch to get them some experience, but he had not expected to fight a war.
But now, this bunch was all he had to stop a full assault by a Tower Lord.
“Rider Rekletos, something on your mind? Speak freely.”
The new recruit jumped at his direct address. The young man held his tongue for a moment, so the general gave him a reassuring nod. He finally began to speak.
“General…are we really going to fight alone? Against an entire army? Shouldn’t we let the subhumans…err, beastkin and fey fight? In fact, why are we helping them against ourselves?!”
No one else spoke up, but General Rippotis could tell the others all agreed. Even the two squad leaders furrowed their brows. General Rippotis crossed his arms.
“Tell me, riders of the Dragon Banner Army, what is the mission of the Dragon Banner Army?”
The riders glanced around at the sudden question. The two squad leaders, on the other hand, stood at attention and immediately replied.
“Honor the gods and defend humanity!”
General Rippotis frowned.
“What was that?”
The other riders fell in line. This time, when they all joined the squad leaders.
“Honor the gods and defend humanity!”
General Rippotis nodded.
“The gods have involved themselves in this matter more than any other since the day we first received the Towers. The God of Fire has commanded me directly. The God of Light broke her silence and commanded Oracle Heigiosa. Their intentions are abundantly clear. For the sake of humanity, in the name of the gods, for the sake of the entire world, we are to bring peace between ourselves, the beastkin, and the fey. No inhabitant of this world is to spill the blood of the other any longer, not until the Hunger itself is defeated. So says the God of Light herself, she who saved humanity and the world!”
General Rippotis scowled.
“But the former lord Starami now defies us. He ignores the authority of the High Council, he ignores the very word of the gods! He now seeks to bring death and destruction to this place, to start the very war the gods commanded us to stop! Will you, soldiers of the Dragon Banner Army, let him? Will you let one of our own spit in the face of the gods? Will you let him bring the wrath of the fey against all of humanity?”
The squad leaders saluted.
“No!”
The riders followed along, though they still hesitated. General Rippotis unleashed his mana, bursting into flames. Raklasi responded, rising onto his back legs. The dragon spread his wings and let out a roar, shaking the soldiers in front of them. Their wyverns all lowered their heads before the mightier dragonkin.
General Rippotis made a small smirk.
“And what does the traitor bring against us? A mere army? Hah. Raklasi and I have faced worse before. I’ll show these rogues what it means to stand against the Dragon Banner Army. You boys and girls just follow along and watch our backs.”
The riders saluted. The squad leaders barked an order and the riders began preparing to mount their wyverns as well. General Rippotis made a small nod. New though they may be, they were soldiers of the Dragon Banner Army. They’d do their part.
General Rippotis was about to mount Raklasi himself when he noticed a visitor approaching. He walked over and inclined his head.
“Tower Keeper Belissar, may I help you? Forgive me, but we are short on time.”
Tower Keeper Belissar approached, surrounded by an escort of soldier bees, though two of the bees were notably different sizes from the rest. One of them was even the size of a large dog, maybe larger! Tower Keeper Belissar furrowed his brow.
“Right, I’ll be quick. Since you might have to fight together, I wanted to introduce you to the bees in charge of the bee army.”
He pointed to the big one.
“This is the First Queen of the Second Dynasty of the First Spawner, we call her Firstborn for short. She’ll be leading the bees from the front.”
He then pointed to the next biggest one, about the size of a forearm.
“This is the Fourth Queen of the First Dynasty of the Second Spawner, we call her Fourth of the Second. She has overall command of the bee army today.”
Both of the bees began to dance, the one called Firstborn taking the lead.
“Will be ready to fight when need.”
General Rippotis watched as the Firstborn danced, her steps sure and steady. He watched as all the bees in the area looked to her and followed her lead, even the other queen, dancing a salute together once the Firstborn concluded her dance. He understood, he knew exactly what she was, regardless of whether he knew her species name or not.
She was the general of the Tower Keeper’s army, and one who led from the front. General Rippotis couldn’t help a small smile. So, this is what a queen commander looked like when fully unleashed. He gave her a salute.
“General Rippotis of the Dragon Banner Army and the Tower of Fire. It’s an honor to meet you both, queen commanders of Tower Keeper Belissar’s armies. I do not plan to lose today, but I’ll be counting on you if the worst occurs.”
The Firstborn replied with a salute dance of her own.
“So long as fight for King and hive of hives, hive of hives will fight for too. Will protect, together.”
General Rippotis couldn’t help but stare for a second. A monster…was fighting to protect? More and more he wondered if he should let his own bees loose after all.
But there was no time to be surprised. After the greeting, General Rippotis mounted his dragon. Then, dragon, wyvern, human, and bee all took to the skies together, exiting the Tower and taking up their positions in the purified area.
And so began the final wait, as Starami’s forces continuously struck the wards in the Underway below…
Author’s Note:
The cover art is relevant once again! King has bee armor! King looks more bee-like! Amazing, incredible!
Well, it was made by non-bees, so King and the hive of hives will have to make it even more bee-like someday, but it’s a good start!
And obviously you should have let the queen commanders loose, silly non-bee! You know how much easier this would have been if we had two firstborns? We would have crushed the Hive-Burners and the Hunger by now! Ugh this is why you are not best dungeon master! At least try to go fight for the hive of hives, or something not silly. Ugh.
Anyways!
Will the new armor for bees and King keep them safe? Will the silly non-bees manage to protect the hive of hives? Will the Firstborn have to show them how to fight in a non-silly manner? Tune in next time, to find out!
Comments
Durphymcbob
And Rippotis and The first born finally meet! It's good to see that Rippotis has respect for an allied general, and could see his queen commanders following a similar path. That defentily will be small talk between bellisar and Rippotis during celebratory dinner wanting to learn more about the firstborns species. He probably would also love seeing 2nd of the 6th, they probably eventually will have to retreat and any injuried surviving humans and wvyrens, as well as Raklasi, as well as himself being healed by 2nd of the 6ths seeing a monster who's interested purpose is to heal the wounded and seeing just how effective having the bee soilders and other combat bees supplementimg the wyverns, would probably be the final straws that convince him to start properly integrating queen commanders into the dragon banner army.
AEgamer1
Possibly, but TBD. He's the most likely candidate, but General Rippotis's Tower was also one of the very first, so might not have a conduit to begin with. I'm thinking that conduits aren't strictly necessary, they just vastly decrease the authority required to create a tower. Light, when initially intervening and creating the towers, probably just made them outright, so the first few likely never had conduits in the first place.
TheLostGolem
Hmm. The armor might have been made by non-bees, but I can't help but think that the Order of Hive and Stinger certainly must have had Bee blacksmiths who designed it. Also, silly non-bee Rippotis. Of course you should let your bees loose. Everything in your tower would go much better.
Durphymcbob
Thanks for the chapter! The tower is now properly prepared to the seige! The bees have armor and enchanted brooches! And the king the evil one might get a new name soon because he made the king Chitin! It will.keep the king safe from enemies. I do have questions about it thought you said that it was purely aestistic pixie armor upside and made into something usable. Is the normal pixie armor not really usable as armor? Most just a stylized base to but protective enchantments on? But if that is correct bellisar's armor is probably made from light weight Mythril probably. To actually defend him. It's also quite good that their is blank room to add more enchantments, that probably will become to job of the Hive of the fallen, and beero to do. He might also get some more generic flight speed enchantments that are usually put on pixie armor once he figures out how to make wings. If that itself is not the enchantment put into the armor. I mean making a wing of mana is kinda the first step of the wingless bees evolving into a battlecaster.
Pyronite_OD
Icalos, I have a question. Is Raklasi the conduit of Rippotis's tower?
Black Esper
And future enchants include wings and a stinger 🐝😀
Black Esper
The Tower Lords have strict rules against monsters outside the typical "be hunted to give experience" use? They use human soldiers to defend against the Hunger. Monsters are at most used as mounts.
Lisa
Pretty sure the God of Dragons is keen to have his “survival and rule of the most powerful” philosophy applied across World One, with the assumption that his physical and magical might will put his followers on top of the rest.
Pyronite_OD
Does he look like the title page of the Royal road BD
Fernando Oliveira
Thanks for the chapter. Battle for the future relations between fey, beast in, bees, and humans draws near. The general and his two squads stand ready. One dragon in and twelve wyverns ready to attack as soon as the traitorous starami emerges from the underground. The bee army is poised and ready to intervene should they need to retreat. And the purified lands have been turned into a death trap against our enemies. I'd feel sorry for them but they chose to blindly follow starami against the very gods that have blessed them with their continued survival. Gotta be curious what's going on on the divine side, the humans are probably in chaos and I doubt this would be possible without some gods supporting this coup.
Lisa
TFTC! Why is Rippotis so surprised that a monster general wants to protect her Tower and people? He was surprised at how intelligent even normal bees are. Does he think Tower monsters are mostly mindless fighting brutes who don’t understand the concept of caring or protection? Even perfectly normal animals can understand that. Do none of the monster mounts he breeds ever protect their riders? Or does he think they only do that because of training and don’t actually understand or feel protective? Weird.
Coleman
The time is nigh, the place is here, the armor is fly, there’s nothing to fear.
CataFlan
TFTBees!
