"Krito, we won, we won!!!" Katrina's joyful exclamations prevented us from focusing.
"I'm happy for you. We'll be there soon too. I hope you'll wait for our return?"
"What are you talking about? I'm coming to you."
"There's no time for that. You're too exhausted, and by the time you get here, we'll have taken care of everything. Just rest and let them prepare a proper feast for our return."
"I trust you, just remember my command."
"Alright."
We were already far from the exit, and soon the queen's chambers were supposed to appear.
"You're almost three rooms ahead; they are stacked on top of each other, connected only by one corridor. Most likely, she's in the last one," Grain's voice confirmed my suspicions.
The first room was covered with cobwebs near the walls; it seemed these ants had acquired not only exoskeletons.
"Are these cocoons?" Leira examined the room's walls and found several human-sized cocoons.
"Most likely, they are kidnapped people. They'll remain alive until the offspring hatches."
"Then let's free them quickly. My sister will help us."
"I'm afraid they will be too weak for a battle. It's better to do it later."
"I don't want to leave her here."
"Krito. They're coming!" Grain's voice sounded alarmed. "It seems the surviving ants are returning to protect the queen."
"Let's move to the next room quickly. If we fight here, we might harm the captives."
In the room on the next floor, the sight was far from pleasant. Large leathery sacks were lined up along the walls.
"Are these... eggs?"
"Yes, there are several hundred of them here."
"But if they hatch, all our efforts will be in vain!"
"Nothing can be done. We'll have to fight the guards here." I reached for my sword's hilt but was stopped by the cool touch of our resident necromancer's hand.
"No! They don't know we're here yet. If we engage in a fight, the queen will have time to prepare for our visit."
"But fighting on two fronts is not an option."
"Everything will be fine. I'll take care of them, and you go ahead."
Rizel's tone was deadly serious. Perhaps she truly had the power to stop them.
"Then I leave them to you. Our comrades are waiting for us upstairs; don't you dare perish here."
We rushed down to the last room while Rizel quietly turned to the entrance.
"I didn't want them to see me like this, but nothing's holding me back now."
A violet-green flash illuminated the room.
Ahead of us was the final chamber, and at the entrance was a massive leathery sack, probably the queen's womb. That meant she was on the other side. Thank goodness she wasn't aware of our presence; otherwise, she would have discarded the womb to increase her mobility.
It was quite a dangerous monster. It resembled creatures encountered before, only three times larger. It couldn't move from its spot, but due to its height reaching almost to the ceiling, circumventing it from behind seemed impossible. Unlike the guards, it had a more flattened head with faceted insect-like eyes. It could see us perfectly and immediately prepared its weapons for battle. Two long limbs extended from its body, each blade about one and a half meters long. It wasn't hard to guess what they were made of.
I attempted to strike first, but despite its seemingly clumsiness, the queen wielded its blades quite swiftly. Instantly blocking my strike with its right claw, it swung the left one to attack. I pushed away from its own blade and leaped back a second before the sharp edge made an impressive hole in the floor.
"Krito! You idiot! What were you thinking?" Ragni was worried about me, as always.
"I wanted to test her abilities; this battle won't be easy. We can't do it without your support, Leira."
"Alright." Without wasting time, the sorceress directed lightning mana towards me and Algo. Now we could match the queen's speed.
"Algo on the right, I'm on the left. Ragni, try to strike. Leira, aim for her eyes and try to blind her," I gave the commands telepathically, supported by Kurone. You never knew what this creature was capable of.
Algo and I rushed into the attack. Even with two blades, I barely managed to block her lightning-fast strikes. Algo defended himself as best as he could but still received a couple of cuts. Thankfully, I equipped him with chainmail, but I noticed that the queen's blades occasionally cut through the armor even with light strikes. We couldn't prolong the battle, or he wouldn't survive until the end.
Finally, an opportune moment presented itself. I managed to block her left blade, and Algo dodged the right one, which embedded itself into the wall. Simultaneously, one of Leira's small lightning strikes hit the queen's head, leaving her momentarily helpless.
"Ragni, now!"
The dragoness jumped to the ceiling and propelled herself, aiming her clawed hand at the monster's head. However, the attack was unsuccessful. The queen yanked her blade out of the wall and swung it towards the ceiling, knocking Ragni helplessly to the floor.
"Ragni, are you alright?"
"Fine, I managed to defend myself. It's just my pride that suffered."
"Change the plan. Algo, you strike. Ragni, you must not only block her claws but also grasp them. Can you do that?"
"Sure, my scales are much stronger than her blades."
Ragni clasped both claws with her scales. Algo stepped back to catch his breath; the wounds on his body were slightly bleeding. A couple more strikes, and he'd be too weak to continue the fight.
"Get ready, I'll give you an opening for an attack."
The queen became more cautious. She no longer allowed Leira's lightning to reach her head. She constantly kept her blades or armored segments in a straight line.
"This won't work; we can't attack. Leira, hit my blades with your lightning."
"What?"
"Just do it!"
Lightning mana flowed along my swords; I felt a slight tingling, but if Katrina could do it, I could too.
I parried a couple of attacks, and the blades noticeably struggled to break away from my swords. I lunged forward, and the queen tried to strike me with both blades, but I parried them and pressed them close to the ground near the middle joint. Ragni, understanding my plan, grabbed them by the ends and pressed them to the ground at the second point.
"Algo!!"
The swordsman lunged forward, racing up the path of the queen's blades and swung his weapon over the monster's head. But I noticed a barely noticeable movement on the queen's body, just above the blade's connection.
"Get back!!" I yelled, but the swordsman couldn't stop in time.
Two smaller blades emerged from the queen's torso and darted straight towards the swordsman's body, which was extended forward for a direct strike.
"No!" A gust of wind pulled Algo's body at the last moment, and the blades clashed in the air, leaving only a scratch on the warrior's chainmail.
I got distracted for a second, and the queen knocked us off her blades. Damn, rolling on the stone floor hurt!
"What now?"
"The plan remains the same. Leira, you'll have to block her smaller blades. Let's hope that's the last surprise."
"Are you crazy?! How do you expect me to do that?"
"You saw how I magnetized her blades, and ten minutes ago, Katrina managed to do the same with the bodies of hundreds of ants. You're not going to say you're not as talented as our dear princess, are you?" An insidious smile pushed her.
"I'll do it!" It seemed the noble lady started growling.
"Are you sure? Maybe I should handle it?" Ragni tried to defend Leira.
"Mmm, no. I can't handle the main blades on my own." My tone was far from convincing. "And remember, Leira, Algo's life is in your hands."
It seemed like she stopped breathing for a couple of seconds.
"I'll do everything to avoid failure," she finally became deadly serious.