Colt ran through the labyrinth with Jimmy right behind. It seemed that Bill had honed in on the same conclusion Colt had; kobolds consistently appeared more often in the medieval-esque area. He’d taken Sarah there.

As Jimmy filled him in, Colt sensed that it was more of an alibi and justification for what Bill was aiming to do.

That morning they went out into the dungeon and made a plan—talking about their plans, how food was going to get scarce. About how Chef would be a drain of their resources, and taking care of him early would give them a lot of room in the future. Which is how Logan and Bill came up with their little plan, Jimmy hadn’t been on board, but they told him if he didn’t cooperate, they could just get rid of him too.

They’d collected Chef. Once they were back in the dungeon, Logan held the man down, and Bill worked him with a knife.

Colt saw it in his head as he moved through the dungeon, tearing down the alley as his eyes scanned left and right. They should be near here, somewhere hidden in the medieval section—this was the plan after all, according to Jimmy. He’d given the dishwasher a few minutes to explain before having heard enough before his body knew it needed to move.

After all, after killing Chef, Bill had gotten his class. Had used whatever skill he had to mess with Jimmy’s mind and get him to feel okay with Donny’s murder.

But Bill hadn’t finished with Donny.

Cindy came next. According to Jimmy, Bill had pulled them aside and talked about her class. ‘Cook’ was useless in a place like this. She was eating up the food everyone else could have used, wasting space and resources.

Then, at Bill’s insistence, it happened again. Bill planned. They talked Cindy into going out with just him and Logan, and then they took care of her, leaving Jimmy in the kitchen since Bill said he knew the boy found it hard.

When Jimmy got to it last night—after Bill announced that Colt was gone- Jimmy thought Bill knew he was gone the same way Bill knew Cindy had gone. Yet it didn’t stop there. Logan and Bill had whispered together that night and devised their plan for Sarah and Nate.

Jimmy pretended to sleep. But he’d heard. He’d gained a new skill, too. Then those murders from before… They stopped making as much sense. Seemed less necessary.

Especially if they were ‘saving food’ like Bill suggested by murdering someone like Sarah. Wasn’t she useful? Didn’t she have enough levels to help them take down a boss?

Jimmy pretended to be sick this morning. Not hard since he’d felt like throwing up with the guilt. Too scared to say or do anything to warn Sarah or Nate.

Colt moved faster, the spectral knife appearing in his hand as he moved—eyes flashing through the darkness as he looked. His ears strained. Any noise at all from fighting. That’s all he needed: a little clue where they might be. He would crash their group and cut it off before it could begin. After all, Bill was looking for kobolds.

When Logan came by later with Nate, they would show him Sarah dead amongst the kobolds—a fallen warrior.

Colt heard it.

Screaming.

His senses honed to an edge as he moved—a group of kobolds, larger than any he’d seen before—swarming out of a doorway. Bill and Sarah were there, fighting back to back against the flood of monsters.

Out of a doorway?

Colt didn’t hesitate, leaping into the fray by stabbing one of the Kobolds and then dancing around. His knife sailed through the air, slashing through a throat before reappearing in his hand. None of these little menaces saw him, dying to his knife as he slid out of the shadows. Yet he didn’t stick to the shadows long, quickly throwing himself into Bill’s vision.

Their eyes locked.

Bill’s mouth turned into a snarl; his eyes flashed to Sarah.

That’s right, murderer, you can’t get away with it now.

Sarah rocked a fist into a nearby Kobold with a happy yell—her digits sinking into the thing’s face like butter as she burst into it.

Colt slashed another kobold as it drifted by, yet it was unimportant. The gesture was unconscious, and he just kept any from getting near. No, he was focused on the real danger in this battle. Bill. The man’s eyes kept darting to Sarah, then back to him, thinking. Choosing. Now that Colt was here, he’d have to give up and re-evaluate; they both knew that. Murder had to be off the table, it didn’t make any sense otherwise.

But he’d stopped fighting the kobolds. Colt could see the gears turning in his head as he thought over the current circumstance—the tide of kobolds. More than they’d seen in the last week, all come out of a doorway. It was a subtle thing, one of the many doors that lined the alley. Of course, they’d tried many of them before, yet they were locked.

All of this searching, and the kobolds were hiding away here?

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Colt killed another, and he watched Bill do the same with a rather vicious kick to its head, snapping the thing's neck and sending a limp body soaring into the crowd—they had a common enemy. And found where the Kobolds were hiding, the Colt felt himself at ease and rolled his shoulders. For now, he was sure they could push forward.

Later, once these Kobolds were done, he could figure out what to do with Bill. It looked like they were on the same page. They were all humans, after all, trapped in a dungeon. Monsters came first. He’d abandon his plan, and maybe they could kill the boss.

Only…

Bill’s flashed back to Colt, and in them, Colt only saw red.

“Fuck it, then, I’m done playing games,” Bill growled and then smiled wide. Too wide. Just like Jack.

“Sarah!” Colt warned—too late.

Bill turned from the horde of kobolds, wrapped a hand around Sarah’s neck from behind, and then plunged his knife directly into her back.

She let out a scream, and then he stabbed her again—blood spurted out; the kobolds swarmed around, taking bites out of both her and Bill, yet the latter didn’t seem to care, his grip tightened on her throat, his grin widened. A black pulse ran from his hand, down through his blade, then into Sarah’s back, making her scream worsen to the point where it tore at her throat.

Her back arched, and Bill twisted his chef’s knife.

There wasn’t much to think about.

Colt threw his knife; it sailed in the air and caught Bill in the shoulder—the guy screamed, and a kobold leaped on him, forcing him to let go of Sarah to smack the pesky monster away. Even just a casual glancing blow from Bill was enough to make it fly, smashing against the floor in a couple of bloody bumps that left it dead.

No, the Kobolds weren’t even a real threat. Colt’s knife vanished from Bill’s shoulder and was sent to make the short trip back to his soul, but Colt didn’t wait, rushing forward and flinging himself at Bill. He was faster, and with a much higher investment in dexterity, he got there in a snap.

His fist rocketed into Bill—only to be met by a black shadow, stopping him right before landing a punch. It hung in the air, incomplete.

“Enough,” Bill growled; Colt, tried to pull his hand back, but it didn’t budge. The shadow was a vise.

More shadows formed around him. They sharpened into blades and began to spin, one of which scalped a kobold as it ran by. Fodder for the meat grinder; whatever ‘magic’ this was, he simply didn’t know how to deal with it.

“I’ve had enough of you. Killed half the dungeon and took all of my levels, and I’m about to take them back. Then, when I get out of here, I’ll rip the levels from the rest of these good-for-nothings. Say hello to Donny for me when you’re cooking for him in hell!”

The black buzz-saws spiraled in.

Colt pulled at the knife tucked away in his soul—the weapon appearing in the hand, not trapped by the black fog. Then he cut, the edge of the spectral knife meeting a blade right before it tore through his arm and shredded him apart. The invisible wave cleaved clean through the magic, not even hesitating.

Bill’s eyes widened.

The wave cut through the wall of black smoke holding his hand, dissolving it as it spread forward, and then, it cut into Bill, slicing his arm off at the joint. This one took some effort, spurting blood and sawing through it, but Bill didn’t know how to react; he hadn’t known about the invisible line. The man stumbled back, clutching at his stump of an arm, his red eyes flaring.

At that moment, he was Jack. The same eyes, the same madness, the same obsession.

Some might have paused here and taken a step back. May have hesitated before killing another person.

Not Colt. Not after having seen him stab Sarah in the back and seeing her bleeding out not three steps away, seconds from being swarmed by kobolds. No. Bill was a dead man.

Colt drew a line through the air, cutting at neck level—Bill still didn’t understand the attack, didn’t understand what he’d done the first time.

Yet, those red eyes flashed, and he ducked, narrowly avoiding the line of death Colt sent his way.

When those red eyes flickered, he had a grin. “Didn’t know you were like that, Colt.” He said, “Finally, someone else other than Logan with some balls to do what we have to do,” He grimaced as more blood poured from his arm, and a kobold scratched at his side; a quick pulse of black shadow repelled the monster it flying,, sending and kept heading in a wave towards Colt.

Another cut sliced through the curtain of fog and went right towards Bill, who threw himself out of the way.

Somehow, he saw the lines of death, and while not slow, they were dodge-able for people with their advanced dexterity. A distance attack wouldn’t work, so the next step was simple. Close the distance, and then end the fight. Since Bill was down an arm, it should be easy.

He moved to close the gap and do just that, only to be met with a kobold, who went down with a quick stab to the neck. When he stepped past the dying kobold, Bill sent out another black shockwave.

A quick cut saw it taken apart and gave him a view of Bill’s back as he rapidly ran down the hallway, fleeing as best he could.

No.

Colt threw his knife. Without looking, Bill swerved to the side, not dodging it entirely but taking the hit to his left shoulder instead of to the spine. It vanished when it cut in, and Colt spat on the ground. He could chase.

Sarah would die if he did.

“Fine,” Colt said, though it wasn’t. Annoying. But after this, he’d track Bill down in the labyrinth and bring him to his end.

Colt turned on his heel and focused.

Inside of three minutes, he stemmed the tide of Kobolds pouring through the door. It was easy. A slice here, a slice there—the knife worked its magic, and his Edict severed their lives like a scissor cutting through thread. The rapid-fire use of it strained at his soul, but he realized it came down to efficient cuts, just like when preparing food.

Take a second, find the optimal place, and then slice. That was the difference between killing a handful of kobolds and tens of kobolds.

All the while, he kept glancing in the direction Bill fled. Half expecting the man to come back and ambush him. But no, he was long gone, vanished away into the dark.

The end of which was a welcome notification.

———

You have leveled up!

You have 3 Stat points to spend. You have gained 1 point of Dexterity and 1 point of Soul!

*Knives/Daggers Proficiency* (Intermediate) has gained a level!

———

Colt looked at the open door left by the kobolds and the tunnel that seemed to lead down it. It was interesting, and he marked the door very quickly with a slash before going over to Sarah to try to stop the blood.

They needed Jimmy.