"A last hunt. I will do a last hunt here now," Viola Ren declared to the man who served as the representative and leader of the survivors.
"Madam Viola, why are you saying this? You know if you leave us here we will die," the man pleaded, his voice trembling with desperation.
"I have other plans in my life. I am not a public servant," Viola declared pridefully, her chin lifted high as if the very idea of staying to protect them was beneath her.
The man fell to his knees and begged her to stay, even grabbing her foot in a final act of supplication. Viola kicked him away in utter disgust at such weakness. She looked down at the gathered survivors with contempt, swearing at them under her breath for being so frail yet so greedy for salvation by someone stronger. She mocked them openly, saying she was still doing them a favor by killing the most powerful monster in the central East before she left.
Hearing those words, the leader looked up at Viola with a mix of fear and resignation. He asked if she was truly sure about fighting that monster the Infinity Hive Mother. The SSS-class behemoth ruled over the monsters across the central plains and even parts of the middle East.
"That'll be my last hunt here. Then I will continue my journey toward the easternmost. No matter how good you people are, you still disgust me," she said in a prideful voice that left no room for argument.
---
The hunt for the Infinity Hive Mother began in earnest.
The SSS-class monster lived deep within a massive beehive structure that rose like a grotesque fortress from the ruined landscape. The main problem was the countless guardian bees that swarmed protectively around it each one a deadly B-rank or higher threat armed with venomous stingers and acidic projectiles.
The only weakness Viola could identify was fire. But she was a wind magic specialist. She could not use flaming magic directly. Instead, after careful preparation, she located a deposit of molten lava from a nearby fissure and used buckets to transport it. Channeling her flux and wind magic, she controlled the flow of the superheated liquid, spreading it strategically around the base of the hive.
With focused wind pressure and precise flux infusion, she caused the lava to evaporate rapidly, superheating the air and creating streams of molten vapor. She poured even more of her inner flux into the mixture, transforming the attack into something masterfully scientific and magical. The combination created a devastating inferno of superheated gas and flame that rose upward in a controlled storm.
The attack began. The thick mucous coating the beehive resisted the initial heat, but Viola increased her flux input dramatically. The mucous layer evaporated in seconds under the intensified assault, exposing the structure and its inhabitants to the full fury of her creation. Flames and superheated wind tore through the outer layers.
The real brutal fight then erupted. Guardian bees poured out in a black, buzzing swarm, enraged by the damage to their home. They attacked Viola from every direction, stingers thrusting forward and acidic spit raining down. Viola moved like a tempest, her wind magic creating barriers and cutting gusts that sliced through clusters of bees. She punched through the swarm with scaled fists, crushing exoskeletons and scattering bodies. Venom splattered across her armor, but the S-class scales held firm.
Deeper inside, the Infinity Hive Mother emerged a colossal, pulsating queen whose body was a nightmarish fusion of insect and otherworldly horror. It unleashed waves of drones and a corrosive mist that ate away at the ground. Viola dodged and weaved, using wind bursts to propel herself around the massive creature. She landed heavy blows on its armored segments, cracking chitin and drawing thick, glowing fluid.
The fight was exhausting and savage. The Hive Mother summoned more guardians while launching sticky webs that slowed Viola's movements. She tore free with raw strength, countering with concentrated wind blades that carved deep gashes into the queen's body. At one point, a swarm overwhelmed her momentarily, stingers piercing gaps in her armor and injecting venom. Pain flared through her, but she refused to yield. With a roar, she unleashed a massive flux-enhanced tornado of superheated air that incinerated dozens of bees and weakened the queen further.
The final exchange was pure brutality. Viola climbed onto the Hive Mother's back, dodging its thrashing limbs, and drove her armored fist repeatedly into its vulnerable core. The queen screamed, the sound vibrating through the entire hive. With one last, desperate surge of power, Viola shattered the central core, killing the Infinity Hive Mother.
Every guardian bee in the vicinity collapsed as their queen died. The fight was over.
Viola Ren stood exhausted as fuck, bloodied and injured, her armor cracked in several places and venom burning through her veins. Still, she forced herself to collect the monster cores from every significant kill especially the massive, glowing core of the Hive Mother. These would fuel her evolution.
She sat down heavily, preparing to consume the magic cores and refine their flux. But before she could begin, a flying axe hurtled toward her head. Even in her exhausted and injured state, her reflexes saved her. She dodged at the last moment, the axe embedding itself in the ground nearby.
The attacker stepped forward. It was the leader of the survivors the same man who had begged her not to leave is now here to steal the valuable magic cores she had just fought so hard to obtain.