“Not thieves. The demon army!” I cursed as the pair of us grew closer.

Acrid smoke and the smell of blood filled the air. We could hear shouting and screaming in the distance. More than half of the village was aflame now. There appeared to be no one left alive trying to fight them.

“The demon army?” Garnet shook her head in confusion. “Why would the Demon Lord destroy his people? I don’t understand?”

My eyes landed on her for a moment, and then I considered a certain item in my Inventory. As much as Garnet didn’t want to accept it, that item she had created was like a beacon in this dungeon. If the dungeon boss didn’t immediately try to destroy it and any possibility of it being made, then he wasn’t doing his job.

“Wait… Master!” Garnet let out a cry and then rushed forward from the brush we were hiding behind into the burning light.

“W-wait!” I cried, jumping out and following her.

With my sword drawn, I did my best to keep up with her. Even though she was a dwarf, Garnet was extremely quick on her feet, and she ended up outdistancing me. Of course, I was wearing my armor, a combination of what the Blacksmith had given me and the magic items I had found since entering the dungeon. The Star Armor I got from Xin’s challenges, but there were occasionally other drops too over the last month. Some armor was destroyed, while I ran into new pieces.

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Overall, I didn’t wear particularly heavy armor, but it was mismatched and inconsistent. It wasn’t just a hodgepodge of gear, I realized it did slow me down as a runner. In the dungeons, with tight corners, this never bothered me. On a battlefield, where any errant arrow could mean death, I probably would also love this armor. Only in this particular situation did I curse myself for always trying to play things safe.

“Help!” I heard a scream from my side.

I stopped following Garnet’s form as she had already disappeared in the smoke. There were only about twenty houses in all, but the Blacksmith was on the outskirts because of the noise. While I was near the seven or eight houses that made up the residential area of town. Gritting my teeth, I turned to the alley where I had heard the scream.

After dashing through it, I ended up in a backyard that had been turned into a small farm. A woman turned to me, one of the ones who had given mischievous looks whenever I spent time with Garnet and had helped spread the rumor that I was courting her. As our eyes locked, she didn’t say a word as a sword fell cutting her down from behind. Blood leaked from her mouth as she dropped to her knees, and then she collapsed dead on the ground.

“You…” I cursed as I looked up at the man who had just cut her down.

“You’re still alive, Deek?” Bernard titled his head. “Let’s fix that.”