Chapter 237: The Queen of Hornet Defeat

Gideon had fought more aberrants than he had met people since the apocalypse began.

Every one of them shared the same instinct. Once they chose a target, they pursued it until either they or their prey died.

Even the Verdant Devourer had continued fighting despite suffering fatal wounds.

This queen was different. The moment she realized she could no longer win, she chose to retreat.

She had abandoned pride for survival.

His gaze followed the crimson glow flowing along the edge of the Unbreakable Sword before drifting toward his free hand.

The Pyro coating the blade peeled away on its own, gathering into itself as though guided by instinct.

Within seconds, the familiar crimson sphere hovered above his palm once more, no larger than an apple, yet dense enough to distort the air around it.

Gideon looked at the fleeing queen, then at the tiny sphere.

A grin slowly spread across his face. "I think I’ve got one last shot."

With a flick of his wrist, the crimson sphere vanished.

There was no explosion or flashy blazing trail. Only a crimson streak that tore through the blizzard faster than the eye could follow.

The queen sensed danger and twisted her massive body, but the movement came a fraction too late.

The sphere slipped through the wound Gideon had carved open with the Unbreakable Sword and disappeared into her thorax.

For a heartbeat nothing happened. Then countless crimson cracks raced beneath her frozen armor.

The queen exploded.

The entire upper half of her thorax burst apart from the inside as compressed heat erupted in every direction at once.

Chunks of frozen chitin, shredded flesh, and green blood scattered across the sky while both wings were blown clean off her body.

The enormous carcass immediately lost all lift, tumbling end over end before crashing into the canyon with enough force to shake the surrounding cliffs.

The deafening impact echoed across the White Death.

"Holy shit, that’s insane..."

Even Gideon hadn’t expected that much destructive power. After all, the queen and the usual hornets he fought were different.

Without wasting another second, Gideon made his way toward the canyon floor where the queen’s corpse had crashed. He jumped from one jagged ice outcrop to the next, every landing perfectly controlled despite the unstable terrain.

The moment his boots touched the ground, he accelerated into a sprint, weaving through shattered ice and scattered debris as he searched for the fallen queen’s body.

A queen-class core alone would be worth risking his life for, not to mention whatever other materials could be harvested from a body that size.

Yet halfway there, he noticed the battlefield had become strangely quiet.

The surviving hornets no longer moved with the terrifying coordination they had displayed moments ago.

Workers wandered aimlessly through the snow, bumping into one another before changing direction for no apparent reason.

Scouts circled overhead in uneven patterns, occasionally colliding midair as though they had forgotten how to fly in formation.

Some stood completely still beside shattered pieces of the queen’s corpse, twitching their antennae in confusion.

None of them attacked.

It was as though the invisible thread connecting the colony had been severed the instant their queen died.

Without a queen, they weren’t an army anymore.

They were simply thousands of individual aberrants, each acting on instinct, incapable of functioning as a colony.

Gideon tightened his grip on the Unbreakable Sword and continued toward the queen’s corpse.

"As expected of insects... Cut off the head and the body forgets what it’s supposed to do. Well not my problem anymore."

After he arrived, the notification from the system suddenly chimed in, something he rarely heard the more he leveled up.

[Congratulations, you killed an SSR Frost Hornet Queen!]

[Rewards:]

[1x SSR Frost Hornet Queen Core]

[25,000 EXP]

[120x Frost Hornet Queen Carapace]

[8x Queen Wing Membranes]

[2x Queen Venom Sacs]

[Rewards have been stored.]

Another window followed immediately.

[Level Up!]

[Level 38 → Level 39]

[Charisma: 1290 → 1350 | Strength: 1255 → 1315 | Endurance: 1280 → 1340 | Speed: 1255 → 1315 | Defense: 1250 → 1310]

[Passive Skill Acquired:]

[Thermal Equilibrium (SSR)]

[The user’s body continuously adapts to extreme temperatures.

Fire and ice damage received is reduced by 30%.

Environmental heat and cold have greatly diminished effects.]

Gideon’s smile widened. Just one more level, and his Safe Zone would level up as well.

Although the system’s maximum level was seventy-five, meaning he still had a long way to go, reaching level thirty-nine was another step closer to his goal.

For now, he was more than satisfied.

The newly acquired passive skill was already proving its worth. Despite the relentless blizzard, he could feel warmth spreading through his body.

If anything, the thick winter coat he wore was beginning to feel a little too warm.

"Good. This’ll be incredibly useful whenever I have to fight in places with extreme temperatures." He chuckled. "This system really is the best."

Unfortunately, he couldn’t celebrate for long.

The surviving hornets were still flying aimlessly across the battlefield in complete confusion.

They weren’t attacking him anymore, but there was no guarantee they would remain that way.

Worse, another group of aberrants could appear at any moment. He had already hunted enough for one day.

Gideon walked over to the queen’s enormous corpse and began carving through the ruined flesh with the Unbreakable Sword until the massive SSR core was finally exposed.

There was no point preserving the body. Transporting something this large was impossible, and only the core held enough value to justify taking it.

"If Dahlia or Jade saw this, they’d definitely scold me for ruining the body." He let out a helpless laugh. "They’d probably call it a priceless treasure."

Not long afterward, he finally retrieved the core and stored it inside the system inventory.

Without wasting any time, he hired fifteen armed personnel through the system before gathering them in front of him.

"You fifteen, listen carefully. Split yourselves into two groups. One will be the hunting team, and the other will be responsible for foraging."

He pointed toward the confused swarm still circling overhead.

"The hunters will eliminate as many of those giant hornets as possible. As for the foraging team..."

He turned toward the massive wall of ice in the distance. "Behind that wall are countless hornet corpses. Recover every core you can find along with any valuable materials, especially the fangs, wings, carapaces, and venom sacs."

His eyes slightly turn to the queen corpse, "you can also try to forage this one if possible. Once you’ve gathered everything, transport it back to Cinders of Dusk."