The person looking for bees encountered the Three-headed Dog. The person looking for the Three-headed Dog encountered the bees.
Fate is truly unpredictable.
Wendy stepped forward to detoxify Semus, and the big man soon stood up again—he had only been stung once and wasn't seriously injured.
Rhode apologized, "I'm sorry, this is our mission. I didn't expect them to show up here."
Baggs thought about the swarm of bees and then looked at the dense group of purple insects and immediately understood what they were used for.
"Just our bad luck," he said, taking a sip of his drink, gesturing to Rhode, who waved it off.
"What's wrong with your arm?" Rhode noticed a piece of Baggs' arm armor was broken, and he was pouring liquor over it.
Baggs replied, "Got stung by a big bee, but I'll live."
"Seriously, you couldn't dodge it?" Rhode remembered that Baggs' Splitting Palm was known for its indestructible power and unpredictable movement.
If focused on avoiding, even Erza with her Flying Armor might not be able to scratch him, and with Celestial Wheel Armor shooting dozens of swords at once, he could handle it with ease.
Were those bees really that formidable?
Baggs said gloomily, "The thing turned into a flower beforehand, and while I was focused on finding the Cerberus near it, it suddenly got me."
Rhode asked, "Wait a minute, turned into a flower? Wasn't it using Concealment Magic to hide near a flower?"
"Is your eyesight that bad?" Baggs looked at Rhode strangely.
"The thing was quick. Someone with poor eyesight might think the flower is still there when it attacks, but I saw it clearly, it turned from a flower into a bee."
"..." So, it seems the two mages with Illusory Butterfly Wings saw it wrong?
Baggs pondered for a moment and added, "There should also be some Concealment Magic, otherwise, being that close, I shouldn't have been unaware."
Rhode nodded, trusting Baggs' judgment, as an S-Class Mage, his experience was trustworthy.
"Wendy, also help Baggs with treatment."
"Yes."
Rhode performed a Void Divination and discovered that the two bees were already near the edge of the reconnaissance area.
He asked the River Crab to follow and instructed the Void Nest Insect to search the mountain but refrain from disturbing any flowers or trees other than the Big Bees.
The Void Nest Insect emitted a few low murmurs, relaying Rhode's orders to the Void Worms.
The worms literally swarmed out, bypassing the few humans in front of them, and surged towards the north mountain.
Except for Rhode, everyone instinctively took a defensive stance, but fortunately, the worms just hopped past them without touching them.
For a moment, they looked like rocks standing firm amidst the purple tide, a spectacular sight.
After the worm army charged out, the three nest insects continued producing more, with 12 new worms joining the main force every 12 seconds.
Baggs stared dumbfounded at the receding purple 'tide,' taking a while to come to his senses, and said with an ugly expression, "I definitely don't want to be your enemy."
The previous small swarm of bees was already troublesome enough, and dealing with these dense insects...
Baggs felt he might start questioning if choosing the path of Splitting Palm was the right decision if he thought more about it.
"Mr. Rhode, what should we do next?" Lucy asked, now not very eager to get involved with the bee situation.
"Let's leave that to the Void Worms for now, and we'll search for the Cerberus, moving forward as we explore," Rhode said, looking at Baggs, "How about you guys? Need to rest first?"
Baggs looked at his two juniors, "Do you need it?"
"Absolutely not," Semus said, patting his chest, indicating he was perfectly fine.
Loka was more direct, "WILD~FOUR!"
Baggs stood up as well, "Then we're setting off too. Hmm... I feel like it would be bad luck to go the same way as them, so we'll head into the mountain on the other side."
"Yes, Brother Baggs!"
These three moved swiftly; by the time they had walked dozens of meters, Baggs turned back, "Thank you, little sister!"
The two juniors echoed, "Thank you!"
Wendy gave an awkward but polite smile.
In a sense, these three big brothers? Uncles? Seemed to fit well with their guild's style, probably good people?
Lucy curiously asked, "What kind of guild is the Four-headed Hound?"
"In some ways, they are quite similar to our guild, at the very least very lively," Rhode explained, "You should visit when you have time."
"...Maybe not." Lucy felt uneasy, having already gotten enough injuries from the liveliness of her own guild.
After officially starting the search, Rhode was vigilant.
Even agile fighters like Baggs could be ambushed; if he were a little careless, Wendy and the others could suffer severe injuries.
They proceeded cautiously, especially scrutinizing every Daylily they encountered at the foot of the mountain.
Rhode conducted Void Divination scans frequently and sometimes asked the Beaked Birds to probe the bushes with Flying Feathers.
Even with such strict precautions, a nearby Daylily suddenly transformed into a fist-sized bee, charging at Lucy without warning.
Buzz!
The bee's stinger aimed at Lucy's eye but was blocked by a thin Shield of Light, unable to advance.
Lucy was startled, literally jumping back more than a meter.
Rhode flicked his finger, shooting a golden Light Bullet.
The bee, hit by the bullet, fell to the ground, and its body vanished upon impact.
Carla witnessed the scene and asked, puzzled, "Did you use some powerful magic?"
Rhode frowned, "No, this move couldn't possibly compete with Baggs' two Splitting Palms, not to the point of completely making the body disappear."
Wendy remarked, "Speaking of which, we didn't see the bodies of the bees Baggs hit either."
Carla mentioned, "No one seemed to bring up this point before."
"Perhaps the village chief and Miss Phil thought the bees were burned to ashes," Lucy pondered while holding her chin, "And I feel like this way of disappearing is very familiar, like..."
Rhode and Lucy said in unison, "Like they were summoned by someone."
This way of vanishing wasn't like Star Spirits turning into starlight, nor like wild monsters disappearing after becoming transparent.
Based on this point alone, it should be a different type of Summoning Element from theirs.
Additionally, Rhode had a sense of deja vu.
Wendy asked, "But if someone summoned the bees, why make them attack villagers and mages?"
"We'll have to catch the culprit to find out," Lucy said angrily, "I won't forgive them for making those cute bees do such things!"
"..." Rhode was exasperated with Lucy; that bee had almost stung her in the eye, and she still thought it was cute?