"Grah! S-Stop moving!" Roaring, Yuki charged shield-first at the giant worm, slamming one shield above her and below her, preventing the worm from closing its mouth, which was filled with jagged, sharp teeth. "Ugh, I-I can't hold this bastard for long!" Despite Yuki's immense strength, she was being forced back, even with the buffs from Jasmine.
"Just hold it a bit longer." Darting past her, Vanye stabbed her blade deep into the worm, running along the side of it as she poured her mana into her sword, leaving behind a deep, bloody gash while her mana slowly ate at its wound.
Following Vanye's attack, a substantial amount of mana converged around Lazuli as numerous arrows made of lightning manifested around her, only for her to thrust her hand forward, causing the tens of arrows to shoot at the worm. As she used the lightning element, the arrows carried immense penetration power, using the deep wound Vanye had caused to dig in before exploding, forcing the monster to push harder.
"Gah, h-help!?" Pushed against the wall, just before Yuki could get swallowed, a blur of brown flashed by; Talis had swooped down, scooping Yuki up just moments before she could be devoured. "T-Thanks! Now throw me at that thing!" "Hey, you don't command the Queen! The Queen commands!"
Despite Talis's words, she hurled Yuki at the worm from above, slamming into it like a multi-ton bullet; just as Yuki hit it from above, she slammed a shield down, using [Pillar], only for the ground to rumble as a large earth pillar emerged, briefly lifting the worm, immobilizing it.
"Please kill this fucker! I've got basically no mana left!" As blood leaked from Yuki's helmet, she glanced at me while I lunged at the monster, my dual greatswords triple their size as I'd used [Expand].
Leaping into the air, coating my blades in wind and flames, I used [Air Step], pushing off the air again as I headed directly for the worm; receiving a sudden buff atop my current one, I tightly clenched my hilts and crossed my arms.
"Arghhh!!" Landing atop the monster, I stabbed my swords as deep as possible before cutting, creating a nearly three-meter deep wound; throwing Trina away, I gripped Zartha with both hands, using the last bits of mana for this final attack.
Using [Lightning Cloak], I raised my greatsword, channeling my remaining mana into it before swinging it with all my strength, launching a [Void Slash].
The arc of compressed space flashed through the air, digging several meters deep into the bloody wound before coming out the other side, hitting the ground. As the last of the worms' vitality rapidly dwindled, there was a brief silence, only for my feet to give way as the part of the worm I was standing on had been decapitated.
Falling, I bounced off the worm's thick hide and landed on the ground beside it, only for my face to scrunch in disgust as the decapitated head of the worm rolled and fell perfectly atop me. 'Fuck me.'
Thankfully, I wasn't surrounded by numerous jagged teeth for long as Yuki lifted it off me. "Y-You okay, Alex?" "Of course." Nodding, I grabbed Yuki's hand as she helped me to my feet while I grabbed my heart, as the pain of emptying my mana reserves wasn't something my body could just heal.
"Ugh." Yuki collapsed onto her butt as she tossed aside her helmet, revealing her sweaty, bloody, though still beautiful face as she gritted her teeth in pain. "M-My heart. I-It feels like it's being s-shredded!" While Yuki rolled around in pain, I flashed [Heroes Gaze], eyeing her mana reserves, which were dangerously low, if that wasn't already obvious.
"Heh, stop being a crybaby, it'll go away in an hour or so." "A-An hour!?" While Yuki briefly looked at me in despair before slamming her head into the ground, I approached Jasmine, who was in the same exact situation as Yuki, granted she was a bit more resistant to the pain.
"How are you feeling?" "A-Alive–Urgh." Spitting out such words while wiping her head, I nodded before looking at Lazuli, who was sprawled on the ground; she wasn't sweating, bleeding, or even clutching her heart in pain. Instead, she was just very lethargic, probably from her lack of mana, so she probably went from performance mode to battery-saver mode at least, until she regains enough mana.
After checking on Lazuli, I approached Vanye, who was doing pretty well given the tough battle we'd just fought; she had some injuries, and her prosthetic arm was bent backward, but it was self-healing, so it was fine. And last but not least, Talis; like usual, she was in the best condition among us all, hell, she could probably fight the worm again.
"Alright, let's take a respite. Someone look after Yuki, I'll butcher the worm." "I got her." Sheathing her sword, Vanye approached Yuki, who was gnashing her teeth, while I raised my hand, summoning Trina from when I'd thrown her.
With my new space pouch, I can store many more materials than before. 'Heh, this'll be worth at least 12 gold.' At the thought of merely twelve gold, I wryly smiled before summoning my status screen, checking how much experience we got, only to click my tongue when I saw we only leveled three times from killing the worm.
'All this work for 12 gold and three levels. No wonder Master, Kurama, and the others are only that strong after 2 millennia.' Sighing, I shook my head while butchering the worm.
Once my pouch was filled, I stood up and stretched. "So, who's trying to head to the 31st floor?" Faintly smiling, I gestured to the tunnel at the other end of the cavern, only for Yuki, Jasmine, Lazuli, and Vanye to quietly eye me. "Haha, this Queen fears nothing! Let's go! I shall lead us!" Just when Talis proudly took to the skies, she was yanked down by Yuki.
"Home." Softly chuckling, I raised my arms in surrender. "Alright, alright." We'd been in the dungeon for about a week, so I'd like to return as well.
Joining the others, I meditated for half an hour, gathering enough mana to use [Mass-Teleport], leaving the dungeon and reappearing just outside our estate.
While everyone but Talis muttered in relief before opening the gate and walking to the manor, I hoisted Yukif onto my back, following the others from behind. "You stink, Alex." "Do you want me to leave you here?" Eyeing Yuki, she snorted, though she remained silent.
Entering the manor, receiving happy yet disgusted looks from Michelle and Chloe, we headed upstairs, entering our bathroom as we shed our armor and clothes.
"Ahh, hot water; this feels great." Muttering softly, I stood under the shower while Yuki sat behind me. Grabbing a bar of soap, I glanced at Yuki, my eyes scanning her body in desire as I licked my lips. "Hey, Yuki, think you could help me?" Subtly gesturing to my cock, I leaned close, trying to act all sexy, though all I got was a soul-deep stare from her.
"S-Sorry, I'll save it for when you're healed and not exhausted." "Hmph, good." "... Could I maybe use your hand though?" "Ugh, fine." Unfortunately for Yuki, I didn't end up stopping at just her hand, and it ended up with her passing out mid-way through, so she missed dinner. Something she was furious with when she woke up the next morning.
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Two Weeks Later
"Which name sounds cooler, Starla or Nova?" Chloe, lying in bed beside me, resting her head on my arm, curiously looked at me, her eyes practically shining. "Um, probably Nova, it sounds more unisex." "Hmm, I see, I see." "Anyways, you trying to continue? We only did like three rounds."
Faintly smirking, I kissed Chloe's cheek, my hands snaking under the covers as I grabbed her butt, kneading it to my liking, causing her to stifle a moan. "ONLY three rounds? That's like my limit." "Yeah, but you had a break, so you should be good to go." "So insatiable." Grinning, I grabbed her thigh, lifting her leg as I grinded against her wet hole.
Though just as I was about to enter, I stopped and subtly frowned. "Mhm, why'd you stop?" My silence caused Chloe to look at me, which must've snapped her out of her lustful daze when she saw my serious expression. "Everything okay, Hubby?" I shook my head. "I don't know… Just in case, can you go wake the others up?"
I don't know what it was, but my heart rate suddenly spiked, warning me of danger. "O-Okay." As we kicked the covers, putting on the minimum amount of clothes, I quickly kicked Chloe through the room out of the door, just as numerous tendrils exploded into the room.
Spitting blood, I grabbed the tendril that was stabbing me through my stomach, glaring at the numerous enemies wearing cloaks with three V's. "Ambush was a success." "Secure the target. Mistress wants him alive."
Hearing them speak, I gnashed my teeth, rage taking over, not because Mavis hadn't given up on me, but for daring to attack my home. The place where my family lived, the people I loved and cared for.
Summoning Trina and Zartha from my body, I tightly gripped them and slashed at the blood-tendril, freeing me as I landed on the ground, furiously eyeing the several crusher corps members. "Not a single one of you is leaving her alive!"