After the duo's explanation, Nigel quickly left the room, hoping for the heat of his actions to die down.
She shook her head at how unashamedly he did so and turned back to the duo.
“So you two were left to guard him?”
“Yup.”
They conveniently left out the fact they had volunteered to stay and keep watch of him.
She shook her head. “Then we have no time to waste here,” She looked behind her to the two that had been following her and Nigel. “Let's get going, I can't imagine they couldn't use some extra help.”
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Kevin dodged another swing at him, which left him with a new scar on his back. He gritted his teeth and continued running into the darkness with the beast not too far behind.
(“”)
He had no time to fit new thoughts in his head and focused all the brain power he could muster into running. She jumped at him like a lion and he quickly bent his knees to dodge.
He used the opportunity to change the direction he ran in, even if his eyes told him that way didn't lead to success. His eyes changed the path’s course like a GPS autocorrecting and continued forward.
He was drenched in sweat and the smell of blood had mixed with it to create a smell nostalgic to any mercenary. To himself, he smelt like a recently butchered animal.
If he had any consolidation, the wounds and internal bleeding had left him in so much pain, that the pain of running this long had seemed almost unnoticeable.
He could feel himself slipping away…
His mind grew more and more hazy as he ran.
She sliced down at his back once more. It was a solid hit. His blood flew across the air and against her body. Was this it for him? Was he really going to die because of his foolish hope?
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As the men walked along the third floor of the dungeon, this was the first they witnessed their priest so injured. “Father, do you truly not need to wrap that wound around your hand?” One asked.
“It can wait until we find somewhere far enough to regroup.”
“Also father…” There was hesitation in the man's voice.
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“What is it?”
“What shall we do with the intruder if we encounter him?” He meekly responded.
“Hope the adventurers encounter him first. It would do him some good to repay his slights against us.”
“What do you mean father? Is he not one of them?”
“I'd swear to our lord there is no chance of him being one of them. But make sure to keep vigilant. I'm not sure if even in such a dire situation, he'd be willing to cooperate.”
That boy wasn't going to be a problem with his current weapon but he didn't like the idea of wasting the regained mana on him if he could avoid it.
They continued walking until they noticed the sound of footsteps approaching. And they were approaching very quickly. He signalled for his men to stand back and stood at the front of the group.
Emerging from the darkness his torch's light could not pierce was a young man. A familiar young man he had seen on the top floor.
He readied his weapon ready to strike but there was something off with him. His eyes were lifeless as he ran, as if a dead man walking and he had several visible wounds across his body, though they appeared light based on the amount of blood covering him.
What could have left him so injured?
He fell several metres before the priest. Out of curiosity, he walked over to the soon-to-be dead body of the boy and turned him face side up, examining his body.
“Well, it looks like one of the women down here sorted him out. I'm glad I can count on my lord for times lik-”
Another pair of footsteps soon approached. The woman wore ragged cloths to cover her chest and groin. She had black hair and a single black wing. In aspects outside of the norm, she had blood on her claws.
“Good job.” The priest commented.
As he crouched next to the boy, she looked at the pair and looked behind him.
(“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to escape while she finishes him off.”)
He stayed close to the boy and motioned with his hand for the men to leave.
(“Just in case, I'll stay here to steer her away if she tries to follow them. If this is what she is capable of with a man like this, then all those here would be-”)
His mind momentarily froze. Instead of walking towards the boy before him, she walked past him.
Before he could look around, he could hear her footsteps increase before it turned into a sprint. Her eyes were cold as she approached them. They didn't know what she was but saw no danger in what essentially seemed like an ally. She defeated the white-haired boy the priest complained about and left him unscathed as she passed. Plus they were curious what exactly this woman was. She looked like an angel but possessed horns, was she a-
A wet sound followed by the tearing of fibres rang out in the quiet atmosphere.
From her perspective, Kevin being that close to someone she perceived as being similar to her, caused her to leave him alone, if only momentarily. And with the group of bodies standing away from him, she wasn't hurting for alternatives she could get rid of in the meantime.
Father Daniel had no idea his actions would save the boy.
“S-Stop!” Daniel shouted.
When he turned around she had one of his subordinate’s heads in her clutches. Based on the viscera around his neck, his head was ripped off through brute force alone. He got to his feet and ran towards her. She killed two more in this short time.