Compared to a horse, a tiger was definitely much better at stalking. Of course, he wasn’t the easiest animal to ride, but I had no attachment or skill with horses in the first place, so it wasn’t like I had habits I needed to break or anything.

I could see the rider leisurely moving down the trail. It looked like he was heading to another fort. He had a rolled-up document in his hand which he gripped tightly. It was strange to follow him. I always saw the creatures in dungeons as just mindless monsters, but they were probably much like the dungeon bosses. The longer they existed, the more they’d start to express their individuality. I didn’t want to think about it too hard though, or I might find myself unable to kill them when I needed to.

At the end of the day, no matter how much they acted like real people, they were just shadows and curses. Elaya, at least, was based on the soul of a real person. She had been brought to life by my Resurrection spell, and she had some semblance of her prior self.

As for this guy, he seemed to have returned to his role in the army. He was delivering messages as if they were still in the middle of a war. I had the tiger stalk closer and closer to him. I desired to knock him out and determine just what he was there for. Just as I was ready to release an attack, a group of men leaped out from a hiding place in front of the messenger.

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“Insolent dogs!” He screamed, drawing his sword.

A group of seven men charged the man on horseback. Another shot an arrow, striking the skeletal horse. Although the arrow went right through it, the horse reared, tossing the messenger off his back. The seven soldiers descended on the man quickly, but he seemed to have some formidable skill while fighting back. Did dungeon monsters fight each other? I guess, in an approximation of a battlefield, they would.

I decided to sit back and watch. I was happy with a one on one fight, but I didn’t want to have to take on a group of ten. As if fate wanted to spit on my thoughts, the tiger suddenly leaped to the side. An arrow had flown right where I had been sitting. My Danger Sense had triggered, but the tiger was able to move much quicker than me. That leap suddenly took me onto the path, right in the middle of the battle.

An arrow pierced the tiger’s side. He let out a roar, and any control I had ofr him was lost immediately. I leaped off his back as he went leaping into the crowd of enemies, scratching and biting at anything he could reach. Now that I was closer, I could see that the men in front of me weren’t skeletons. They were demons! It was an entire army of demons versus an army of undead.

I realized where I landed, I was standing right next to the lone skeleton. My sword was pointed to the demons though. He glanced over at me.

“I don’t know who you are, fleshling, but it seems like life-or-death situations make interesting allies. We can fight as partners, or die as strangers, your choice!”