"Are you ready, Princess~?"
Smirking back at Leone, I chuckled as I saw her roll her eyes at my words, before she blushed as I added "Remember, we have a lot~ riding on this Monster Den, alright? I even got Jahi to agree to it as well, so~! Let's not mess this up, hmm?"
My smirk widened as I stepped closer to the Vampire, admiring her rosy cheeks and sparkling red eyes that widened as I pulled her closer.
"Though, don't think that I wouldn't mind us losing, my dear Leone... The sight of you being treated like that would be oh so~ delectable..."
I licked my lips before giving her butt a playful squeeze, enjoying the way her entire body jolted at the action, these last few days of no action between us making her as sensitive as possible...
In other words, our regal Vampire was as horny as the rest of us, which made it far too easy to lean forwards and steal a kiss - tongue and all - from her as she stood there, trying to get her emotions under control.
Giggling, I pulled away and sauntered over towards the Monster Den, listening to Leone 'angrily' growl to herself before scampering behind me, trying to get back at me for what I had done.
Sadly for her, I slipped from behind the tree line and took hold of my metal rod, shifting it to a longer two handed sword that balanced speed and power on a thin line; not quite an Estoc, but longer and thinner than a longsword.
As the monsters turned towards me, I coated my body in a thin sheen of Metal Mana as well before dashing forwards, a grin tugging at my lips as I sent some mana down towards my boots, which activated the enchantment that Kat had given to me.
My speed was boosted as small wings fluttered from the heels of my boots, making me more agile as I dashed through a cluster of Goblins, my blade slashing out far too quickly for them to react and severing their heads from their bodies in a single swing, leaving nothing but bodies in my wake.
Leone strode out into the clearing as well, her hands creating elaborate symbols in the air as she cast her spells into the crowd, aiding me in clearing out the entrance of the Monster Den.
Neither of us were adept at sneaking into places like Kat apparently was, so we still needed to face this Monster Den head on and take care of everything above table, but that wasn't an issue for either of us, especially now that we were utilizing our skills that we were adept in, instead of trying to become proficient in something else.
I had enjoyed utilizing a variety of weaponry over the last few days, but now that we were heading out into the Monster Den that held a high level, powerful monster, we weren't taking any chances.
Besides, a longsword in hand felt just correct to me, providing that perfect balance of speed and power, cutting edge and sharpened point...
Especially with all the small buffs I was receiving from the various pieces of enchanted gear that I had on, as well as the Fire Cloak that aided me a little as well.
Cutting down the various monsters in front of the Monster Den entrance was easier than before, especially since we didn't have to worry about them splitting their aggression between multiple targets.
Instead, they were focusing on just me as I took the vanguard position, while Leone remained just behind me, shielded from harm as I killed everything directly in front of us.
The descent into the Monster Den was uneventful as well, since we had quickly killed everything up on the surface so quickly meaning that everything below had no time to prepare for us, with some of them not having heard us at all.
Just like we had done the first time we had come here, I plugged up the various entrances with thick slabs of stone laced with some Metal Mana and bought us some time to reach the sludge pool down at the bottom of the Monster Den.
Anything that came out of those entrances were slashed into pieces by a quick flick of my longsword, or a firebolt to the face from Leone.
Reaching the bottom of the Monster Den was easy enough, and once more we found ourselves in front of the large pool where the Goblins and other weaker elites crawled out of, which was being fed by those disgusting organic tubes that belched mana and more sludge into the pool, refilling it.
In the back was the large Ant Queen surrounded by her eggs and Ant Soldiers, which all turned to look at us as we entered the bottom of the Monster Den.
Flicking the blood and gore from my blade, I glanced back at Leone and gave her a nod, receiving confirmation from her as I watched the Vampire close her eyes and begin to concentrate on shifting into her True Vampire form, so that we could easily destroy this Monster Den with her insane magical prowess.
It had to be done now instead of before we entered because the Ant Queen might be hyper sensitive to mana or something, which would make this much more difficult if the Queen had time to prepare adequate defenses against us - even with Leone's increased firepower, the thought of blasting through this Monster Den with a horde in front of is didn't sound the most... ideal.
Albeit it was a fun idea, but...
That meant that I needed to hold firm for around a minute in this position, with the monsters streaming towards me to try and defend their Queen.
Taking a deep breath, I stared at the oncoming horde of monsters and raised my blade, pointing the tip at the rushing Goblins and Serpents as a grin spread across my lips, the adrenaline beginning to pump through my veins as I entered another glorious battle against worthy opponents.