BXBX NOVEL Chapter 552 551: Monster Den (2)
They poofed into dust moments later, but I had already moved onto the next enemy, continuing to defend the Vampire that was inside a dome of rock behind me, waiting for her to emerge from the stone cocoon as a harbinger of fiery destruction.
A minute was an interesting unit of time due to how long or how short it could be depending on the situation you were in.
Forging or having sex made that seem minuscule and unimportant, and mere drop in the bucket of the time that you were spending doing something enjoyable and something you were focusing on; a minute there was short and quick, meaning you needed multiple minutes to make it worth while...
Battling or working out was a whole different beast, with a minute dragging on slowly behind you like a pair of ten tone manacles attached to your ankles, bogging you down in something that ate away at your mind and stretched out for far longer than it had any right to.
Right now, that minute that Leone needed to transform into her True Vampire form was incredibly long, especially as I weaved through a cluster of monsters, dodging attacks and wielding my blade as I attempted to strike back, wanting to clear away the horde around me.
The Goblins numbered in the dozens, the Serpents and Felines were a dozen each, and then the Avians numbered in the single digits, but made their presence more than known as mana infused feathers thunked into the ground beside me.
They weren\'t even the worst of this horde of monsters though, as the Ants easily claimed that crown as they swarmed me, their hardened carapaces and potent mana making them an enemy that took three to five hits from my sword to kill as opposed to the one or two that everything else died to.
That resilience was only further emphasized by how they moved strategically with the other monsters, never letting me land those three to five hits to kill them as they just pulled back and healed up from the Ant Queen\'s powerful support magics.
In other words... I was getting a little overwhelmed, but I was grinning all the same, enjoying this thrill as I pushed my body to its limits and tried to break past them, working Leone\'s Fire Cloak to its limits as I pushed harder and harder to kill more and more monsters in front of us, buying my buxom lover some time.
Ducking beneath the sharpened pincers of one of the Soldier Ants, I pierced my longsword through its thick carapace and skewered its head, smirking as I finally killed one of the Ants, though my celebration was short lived as I rolled to the side, avoiding a barrage of feathers that threatened to tear through my flesh.
Waving my hand, I snorted as I heard the Avian screech in pain as a chunk of stone slammed against its wing, breaking it and dropping it into the sea of monsters below.
My sword blocked the rudimentary cudgel of one of the Goblins, allowing me to flick the blade down and score a deep gash across its throat, dropping it to the ground and allowing another to take its place.
I cleaved through a few more before side stepping a hissing Feline\'s claws, my booted foot slamming into its chest and shattering its ribs as I kicked it away into a cluster of Goblins.
"Come on Leone! Any second now would be fucking great!"
My words were lost inside the various growls, hisses, screeches and grunts that filled the cavern, making me growl myself as I dashed forwards, slamming against one of the Serpents and throwing it off balance, providing me cover from the Avians that had sent another barrage of feathers towards me.
The Serpent didn\'t even have time to hiss before I cleaved it in two, blood spurting from its deep green scales and coating my arms and splattering against my cheek, making me grimace slightly.
I had no idea how Kat relished this... disgusting stench and feeling...
Spinning away from another Soldier Ant, I parried its serrated mandible and cut into its carapace, making it chitter at me before backing away, allowing a few Goblins and Felines to take its place as it found a new place to attack me from.
However, before the other monsters could begin to attack me again, the sound of the dome exploding drew the monsters attention, alongside with the ocean of mana that flooded the cavern as the Vampire inside began to bare her fangs.
The temperature burst into an uncomfortable, sweltering heat as Leone revealed herself to everyone, making the Ant Queen chitter in a mixture of caution and fear as it ordered its Soldiers back.
"Take a few steps back, Anput..."
My grin widened as I did what she asked, pulling away from the awestruck and motionless monsters as I took position to watch what was happening, wondering just what this normally passive and reserved woman would do now that she had entered this form of hers.
The gap between this and her normal self was always fun to see, so I rested my blade on my shoulder as I watched Leone raise her hands, sparks of flame bursting from her palms as she summoned her mana from her Core.
With more and more mana flooding towards her palms, the Ant Queen screeched in terror as it ordered its Soldiers forwards, but it was too little too late as a condensed stream of liquid fire shot from Leone\'s hands like a hose, splattering against monsters and stone and melting them both the exact same.
She braced herself and began to coat the entire cavern in this sticky, flaming liquid, causing most of the monsters to screech in agony while the cavern began to rumble, the loss of so much stone damaging its foundations and making everything unstable.
"Aim for the pool too Leone! Then the Queen!"
The Vampire nodded as she began to destroy everything in front of us, with the Ants dying first as the flames chewed through their carapace and gave them a painful death, while more of the cavern was turned into a scorched, melted puddle as she haphazardly hit everything.
I chuckled as more and more of the place was destroyed, before grinning wildly as I watched the Ant Queen and her eggs dissolve under the flames of Leone\'s spell, which coated the place and clung to everything it touched, spreading it further and further.
When the beam emitting from her palm began to falter, I rolled my eyes as I swooped forwards and caught the unsteady Vampire, sweeping her off her feet and rushing through the tunnels as I left the acrid cavern behind.
Looking into her deep crimson eyes, I smirked as I whispered "Say, how about I be your \'knight in shining armor\' for once, Leone~? Seems like quite the fun roll... especially considering the reward~!"
Seeing her blush despite having just massacred hundreds of monsters and caused catastrophic damage to their home was amusing, especially when that blush deepened as I blatantly groped her breast as I carried her, making her half glare at me as I squeezed that wonderful orb again.
"What, Princess~? I\'m just getting a... downpayment for my reward, alright~? Though, I expect to be paid in full when we get back to the Palace, alright~? Does that sound good~?"
Leone gave me an adorable pout as she smacked my chest once, only to wince slightly as she struck solid metal instead of flesh.
My giggling also made her pout deepen, but I ignored it as I dodged the various monsters and brought us to the surface, before orienting myself towards the mountain where we would meet up with Kat, Jahi and Nirinia.
For now though, it was just Leone and I, which meant I got to enjoy teasing this gorgeous Vampire all on my own for a little while longer~!