The smack of wood blasted into an explosion of blood with every swing of the [Monk]. Such sight was guttural and well… bloody, and he was truly glad that Pito was by his side.

  Suna did a quick count, maybe about eight Tieflings, and Pito had taken down two of them. The bald man expertly blocked off the attacks and kept the Tieflings close to him so they did not use their crossbows. But, still, there were eight of them. Now that the element of surprise was fading, the Tieflings started to reorganize. Three of them began reiterating and started to draw their crossbows.

  But not on Suna’s watch.

  He aimed an arrow. At first, he targeted the middle one, but that would just make them realise they were targeted. Suna was currently still hidden by the quickly fading dust, and he would take full advantage of it. He aimed at the rightmost Tiefling and released.

  The arrow flew through, toppling the creature down with a loud cry. Suna cursed softly. That drew the attention of the other two. But that actually worked in his favor; he had already drawn another arrow and fired.

  A Tiefling’s head snapped back and was pinned to the wardrobe in a solid thunk of wood.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  The last of the crossbow users finally spotted him, but by the time it changed its aim to him, the creature was greeted with an arrow through its neck.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  Suna quickly drew another arrow, aiming at Pito’s attacker. He had hoped to take them by surprise and fell each one, but it did not work that way…

  “Suna! Two incoming!” Pito shouted as he jabbed his staff at a Tiefling's nose.

  Two greatswords swung through the darkness at him; they were fast. But Suna managed to let out an arrow, straight at one Tiefling's chest. Its sword fell sideways.

  Great steel went down, parting the darkness toward him. But Suna slid backward. The archer's backstep automatically let him draw an arrow, and he fired. The Tiefling gurgled as an arrow stuck in its throat. Suna charged forward and smashed his bow against the creature's neck, spraying blood and sending its body crashing down.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  He fired at the last Tiefling, which Pito was about to kill. He pinned the creature to the wall, with its shoulder jerked from the force of his arrow.

  Pito crushed the creature’s head in a crunching of bones.

  “Ah, sorry, that was your kill,” the [Monk] apologised.

  “Who cares!” Suna said. “I will go back to Slea and do this all over again with the next room. Can you start to clear the hallway and meet up with Min?”

  “Got it, you sure about this?” Pito asked. It did seem counterintuitive since Suna was an archer. Technically, maybe it would be better if he were the one who went out of the hallway instead. But, Min would have a better chance of survival with Pito going in with his staff, rather than Suna, who preferred fighting at range rather than close combat. Going to Reki would be the obvious choice for Suna since the office worker should be able to last longer.

  “Yes, go!”

  Pito opened the door and disappeared through it.

  Suna ran back to Slea. He forgot about the Runes, but there was no time to collect them anyway.

  Slea, to her credit, was ready with her magic; she was aiming at the gaping hole of the room.

  Suna stepped into the moonlight, and he was briefly bathed by the bright night light. “Nuke it!” Suna shouted.

  Slea blasted the wall in front of him, and the house shook again, but this time Suna did not fall. He left the moonlight and stepped into the dust and the still crumbling wood. The creak of wooden material made him nervous, but once he saw the outline of the Tiefling through the smoke, his archer's sense kicked in.

  The Tiefling took an arrow through its head, and the faint outline went down.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  Suna advanced, still shrugging off the dust and motes. He wanted to cover his mouth and blinked away the irritation caused by the dust. But another two outlines appeared, and both were just realizing their brethren were dead.

  Suna shot, and his arrow parted the dust, revealing the demon's stomach now gouged by his arrow. It fell backward, and from the slight vision granted by his arrow parting. Another Tiefling charged. Suna could spot its red stomach, and he easily released an arrow before it even came close.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  [Level Up]

  His shot hit true, and Suna jumped out of the dust, and he took a huge freeing breath.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  To his right was an open door, and the body of a Tiefling had just gone out a fraction of a second after Suna nocked his bow. To his left were two Tieflings who just now registered his existence. They snarled, and Suna shot one through its chest, killing it instantly. Then he skidded back with Archer's backstep and scored another chest shot in less than a second.

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  [You Have Slain. Tiefling Lvl 3]

  [Rune of Dexterity]

  Suna went out of the room. The moment he was out, he met with a packed hallway, with a line of Tieflings streaming in, trying to outdo each other. They formed two lines, desperately trying to smash into a shield.

  Suna was about to barrage arrows at the crowd, but at the end of the hallway to his left was another group of Tieflings. They charged forward with glaives streaming into Suna. He rolled back into the room, narrowly dodging the deadly steel. He quickly drew his bow and waited for the Tieflings.

  He breathed, a couple of seconds passed, and none came. Were they too afraid?

  Suna clicked his tongue. This would be bad for him; he needed to lift Reki’s burden if they lost the paladin… That means losing their only reliable shield user.

  Just when Suna was about to go out and join the melee, an object went flying. Suna reacted, and he released an arrow. His arrow zipped forth and pinned a separated head to a wall. The face of a Tiefling greeted him as his arrow held it by its forehead.

  Who does that?

  Suna drew another arrow, and he was ready for anything.

  Shadow blurred across the hallway.

  He released, but his arrow only found an empty wall.

  Suna ran in, not caring about whatever he had just seen.

  In the hallway, the corpses of five Tieflings lay to his left. And to his right, where the crowd of Tieflings who tried to get to Reki were—they screamed. The shadows took the form of a red-skinned figure wearing a black cloak, inside the cloak was a dark armor that reflected darkness with every steel glint, along with the figure's movement.

  The new dark-cloaked Tiefling wielded a long yet thin sword. And with it, it cut through three heads in a crescent sweep. The figure flowed smoothly, connecting into the next attack with no movement wasted. In two swings, it killed six Tieflings.

  The Tieflings, however, had now turned and faced the dark-cloaked Tiefling. A Tiefling’s greatsword tried to engage on offense, but a lightning-quick jab pierced through the Tieflings’ neck before they could offer any resemblance of a fight.

  The mysterious Tiefling continued, carving through the bodies of its brethren and relatives, killing all of them, with a movement of incredible grace, even in this narrow hallway. It slaughtered its way toward the gallery, where it now had more space for elaborate moves. And in full swing, it began to rend apart anything in its way.

  Suna was entrenched in the newcomer’s fight, and for a brief second, he admired it. Then he snapped himself back and drew an arrow. But he was not sure if he should shoot at it in the back.

  Who was even this one?

  He decided to let the slaughter continue; if it attacked Reki, then he would shoot.

  Blood splayed across the wall in a sizzling rend of steel. It kept chaining one attack after another, not even bothering to block, as its movement allowed it to cut through the others’ throats before they could get their weapon up.

  Suna watched, and with each second, he doubted himself. If this one made it to Reki and turned out to be an enemy…

  He gripped the body of his arrow, pinching it tight as his archer's sense screamed at him.

  It screamed to shoot.

  Such incredibly strong adversaries, and its back was to Suna.

  Memory of his first kill replayed. He remembered how the Drow was so unaware, and Suna's entire being screamed to shoot just like this time.

  But he held still; he would not give in to his impulse.

  The fear made him rational, made his mind not lose to his body.

  With another swing, the new Tiefling finally made its way to Reki. The office worker was marred with blood and was breathing deeply. His mace was colored with blood red, and he looked intimidating, unfit for an office worker. But replacing his resolute face was a look of surprise that quickly morphed into fear. He just registered the corpses littered on the ground, done by this Tiefling.

  “Wh—Who’re you!” Reki screamed. Suna made out two fighting figures behind the office worker. Min and Pito were still fighting… now it was up to Suna and Reki to deal with this… abnormal Tiefling.

  “Don’t move!” Suna shouted, his arrow prepared to fly toward the creature's head.

  The Tiefling then turned sideways to face him. Two different colored eyes greeted Suna. One was yellow and the other green. “Human, I’m your ally, as I have proven by these corpses of my brethren, to which I shall claim”

  “Ally? A Tiefling?” Suna stepped forward, still aiming at the creature.

  [Tiefling. Lvl 3]

  Only level 3, yet it was obvious this one had so many runes.

  “You’re dangerous,” the Tiefling said. Its hood went down, revealing just one horn unlike the others. “Such a high level… yes, you could kill me if that arrow hit the right part. I shall not talk unless you lower that.”

  “Don’t lower it!” Reki shouted, his eyes glared at the Tiefling, who spared him a chilling glance.

  “Lower it,” the Tiefling ordered. “This is not necessary.”

  Reki screamed, and in a move unexpected to Suna, the office worker lunged forward, his shield bludgeoning the tiefling's sides, and the creature grunted and staggered behind. Then the [Paladin] swung down his light-hued mace.

  In a fraction of a second…

  Wind bloomed up.

  The Tiefling had its sword up in the blink of an eye. And met the [Paladin]’s glowing mace. Both magic-coated weapons met, and a convulsion of energy clasped right in the middle of them, sending a shockwave through the houses.

  Wind blasted through Suna, and he gritted his teeth and dug his feet down to stop himself from being blasted away.

  Reki was blown back, his shield dropped, and his mace recoiled. The office worker screamed and tried to bring it down again.

  The Tiefling countered, and Suna remembered how the other Tiefling killed even before they got their weapon up.

  Suna screamed, trying to draw the Tiefling's attention, and he released his arrow at it.

  In a wrench of its body, the Tiefling abandoned its attack and spun with arm outstretched, catching Suna’s arrow mid-air. With momentum behind this movement, it dodged Reki's assault and drove through the [Paladin]’s shoulder with Suna’s arrow.

  Reki howled, and Suna drew another arrow.

  The Tiefling’s different colored eyes set on him, and was about to begin to charge before a voice boomed out, stopping both of them.

  “Stop!” Pito shouted, the bald man heaved, with Min on her knees beside him, supported by his shoulder. “Thiefmaster! They’re our allies, and keys to defeating the Drows and claiming the Sun Altar!”