"Yes, Father!" Bloodimina replied, smiling. "We will attack with music."
The Vardish army was about to be shocked speechless.
Until now, the entire bee army I brought was hiding in leaf-covered trenches to the side of the path leading onward. The trenches were hundreds of meters long, and it took a while to dig them, even with some help from humans.
The trenches were a couple kilometers away from the left flank of the marching army, which sounded massive, but didn't feel like it when a random perimeter rider could just step on us by accident. And because of how small the trenches and the bees were compared to humans, they had zero idea we were there!
I also knew that the charging army of Warrior Bees will cross this distance within minutes and will still have enough energy to fight.
Now Bloodimina ordered her signaller to give out a telepathic message to the officers. Shouts of commands flew over the long trenches, and were soon joined by the sounds of drums.
Instead of combat signals, the drummers were beating a swift marching melody to inspire the soldiers into battle and to intimidate the enemy. There was a drummer for every hundred soldiers so everybody could hear the music, and this meant that 4000 drummers were playing at once.
When our attacking swarm flew up, it was incredibly loud!
Meanwhile, I turned on the "Titan Slayer" title, which was another large reason I was here, leading this army. Immediately, my base stats were boosted by 30%, and every other bee in the line of sight got a 15% boost.
It was like a second wind under our wings!
"Spread the formations!" I ordered. "Let's not give them any chances to strike at us!"
I was flying slightly ahead of everyone, carrying a large bright banner with a sun-like symbol of myself in the left pair of hands. Bloodimina was right next to me, as well as our personal guards and an elite Beemarine squad.
Following my orders, the cloud of soldiers spread around somewhat, so that there was a meter or two of free space around each bee. This only made our swarm look larger and scarier.
The nearest humans paused in their march, turning their heads toward the sound, only to gasp and pause in shock.
Our army was advancing upon them like a storm with thunder and lightning!
The nearest horses, spooked by our approach, jolted away, making their riders grab onto them in panic. The soldiers on the ground began shouting in an even more unfamiliar language than Naregan one, and the army's march slowed down and began to stop entirely.
A few musketeers raised their muskets and shot at our formation. The bullets swished through our lines, each the size of an entire bee.
But thanks to our dispersed formation, most of them hit only empty air! A few unlucky girls were swept away by the massive bullets, but it didn't stop our advance.
From the perspective of humans, it was as effective as shooting at water!
After a few more shots, the soldiers stopped doing it. Some tried to pull back, some hurriedly reached for their short swords instead of muskets.
Soon, only one kilometer was between my army and the Vardish soldiers—we were close enough that I could hear these humans' thoughts.
'What *are* those? Insects?'
'Why is there this diabolic sound? What is this?!'
'I don't know what to do… Are those like the cursed locusts? I heard they can eat a man alive!'
'Are these things attacking? They are… They are!'
The confusion and growing panic were the best accompaniment for our attack!
"Bring them all down! Kill, blind, maim, destroy!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "For the Empire!"
"FOR THE EMPIRE!" The surrounding soldiers echoed.
I flew slightly ahead to have a clear view of humans. The swarm was still far away, but I could already shoot.
Hell, I could've started shooting earlier, but it was hard to aim from there. Now, though…
I lined up my stinger and tensed a muscle in my tail. The next moment, my stinger flew like a bullet to the face of a soldier almost a kilometer away—one of those who shot at our army earlier, and who was currently recharging his musket.
The stinger hit him right in the cheek.
〔You deal 46 damage. The target is poisoned!〕
'A shot for a shot,' I thought with a smirk as the soldier screamed and fell, holding his cheek.
My stinger already grew back by the time I lined another shot. A moment later, one more soldier fell in agony.
〔You deal 51 damage. The target is poisoned!〕
Soldiers near the fallen ones shouted in even more fear and confusion, and each of my stinger-shots only added more of that.
The 7th tier of the shootable stinger gene and the 5th tier of the detachable stinger gene turned me into a flying machine gun! I killed enemy after enemy, and we didn't even reach them yet!
But my girls didn't want to be outdone, of course.
"Let's show them!" Bloodimina shouted as we became only a hundred meters away from the enemy. "Father slays enemies, so will we!"
Then the true slaughter began.
The army of bees crashed into the army of humans, and the soldiers immediately went for their targets—their eyes and their faces. While humans reflexively waved their hands, the Warrior Bees spat flaming liquid into their eyes and shot venom bolts between their open jaws.
Although the targets were much larger, they were as weak against the army of crusaders as insects they were used to fighting.
Small, agile, and enhanced by my title, the bees cut through the humans, leaving only dead or crippled people in their wake. Many soldiers turned away to run in panic, which only made them easier targets.
But we weren't advancing without a purpose. Up ahead, I saw the silhouettes of our targets.
Fire and gunpowder… if humans thought they were done for, they didn't know it all yet!