The skirmisher was an elf, and she had been struggling to keep up with Somnus's movements. She didn't want to loose an arrow and accidentally hit someone on her side. She carefully aimed with her bow, now that Somnus stood still.

Somnus paid her no heed, deflecting arrows was child's play for him. The second skirmisher was in the back lines, apparently retreating. After he saw what Somnus did to the other two, he had no interest in attempting an attack.

But where was the third one?

You have taken damage. -1244HP

He felt a sharp blow against his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He tried to inhale once more, but it felt like there was an anvil on his chest.

Somnus reached over his shoulder and found someone's wrist. He grabbed the wrist and lowered slightly towards the ground, pulling the person behind him over his shoulder and onto the ground. It was the missing skirmisher. How did Somnus not see a [Move Sight] line?

The skirmisher yelped out in pain as he crashed into the ground, causing the rock below him to crack from the force of the impact. He was still alive, even after that. Somnus kicked at the man's chest, sending him skipping across the floor like a stone across a surface lake. Eventually, the man slammed into the wall, sending a spray of blood into the air.

Once more, Somnus reached over his shoulder and found an object embedded into his flesh. He pulled it out and brought it before his eyes. It was a black dagger.

Somnus glared at the man who stabbed him. The man was already standing up, dazed and off-balance. How was he still alive?

The sound of a bowstring unleas.h.i.+ng an arrow drew Somnus's attention and he gracefully turned his body. The arrow struck a glancing bow on his chest, but bounced off without doing any damage at all; the angle was too shallow.

Somnus focused on the elf that fired the arrow, and threw the black dagger at her, but she, with even more grace than Somnus, easily dodged out of the way with a simple sidestep. She prepared the next arrow.

When Somnus looked towards where he last saw the man that stabbed him in the back, he was surprised to find the man was no longer there, as if he vanished into thin air. Was he invisible? Impossible, Somnus did not see any magic formations related to an invisibility spell. Was it a skill?

Somnus took a few steps backwards. This was becoming more complicated with every pa.s.sing moment. First the woman with the phoenix, then the guardians with their excellent gear, and now this skirmisher who was nowhere to be found. There were still two guardians left in the fight, and instead of attacking, they guarded the only two exits that didn't lead further into the battlefield.

Somnus briefly considered trying to fall back to a position held by the monsters, but he had no idea which of the two unguarded corridors led to that place. One surely led towards the enemy positions. The reason behind the confusion was that the corridors were winding and had several, seemingly pointless, turns. Skirmishers would use those in a boss fight to sneak up on the boss, but they were usually guarded by monsters. The main battle took place in the central room where the monster and adventurer frontlines were staring each other down.

Somnus did not want to make such a risky choice where the probability of making the situation worse was so high, but he also did not want to risk his life any further for what seemed to have no benefits whatsoever. Killing these adventurers did not give him any levels, and he was not interested in their gear either.

Somnus sighed. The smart choice was to run. If he were still a machine, would he have taken the logical option? If he were still a machine, he wouldn't be in this situation.

"Fortify," Somnus said and a translucent s.h.i.+mmer appeared across his form and then disappeared. The magical circle was completed so quickly, it only flickered in the air momentarily.

The enemy collectively took a more guarded stance, lowering their center of gravity and watching Somnus carefully. The synchronization of their moves revealed the secret behind their teamwork to Somnus. They were using Telepathy.

"Overdrive," Somnus said. This time, the magical circle was a deep crimson color and it took nearly half a second to fill out with magical power before disappearing. Somnus felt stronger and faster than before. Magical power coursed through his veins, empowering his muscles and reinforcing his tendons.

"Limit break." This was a spell that artificially increased his physical skills. The magic circle was green in color and it took a whole second to become empowered and turn into a formation.

"Why are you doing this?" the woman with the phoenix spirit asked.

"Because we are enemies," Somnus said and lowered his own center of gravity. He didn't do it to gain stability and balance. He was preparing for a dash.

"Enemies? We aren't enemies! We are both adventurers!" the woman pleaded. "We came to kill monsters! Why must we fight each other?"

Somnus ignored her. He felt rea.s.sured with the wall against his back; it guaranteed that he would not get backstabbed again. Somnus wasn't sure if he could take another one of those, as he was already knocking at death's door.

"Please, just let us go. We will leave and we won't return, I promise," she said. "I don't want to fight you!"

Somnus sniffed disdainfully. What kind of idiot would accept such an empty promise? Somnus had seen this situation play out a thousand times. Humans never keep promises like that. They would return with more people and hunt Somnus down without mercy.

No. Somnus could not even consider that offer. Now, more than before, he had to crush the adventurers so brutally that those who exist outside the dungeon would go insane with fear at the mere thought of coming after Somnus.

"Request denied," Somnus said as he caught a faint s.h.i.+mmer in the air to his left. So that was their plan. The woman would distract him while the unseen skirmisher snuck up to him and delivered the killing blow.

[Lightning Step]

The air was filled with a loud crack as Somnus dashed toward the s.h.i.+mmer he saw. The sword in his hand caught a red sheen as the metal heated up from the friction. The blade punched through the skirmisher's flesh, carved halfway through and then exploded into fragments as it broke against the more significant bones. Blood, meat, metal and bone splinters sprayed into the air, and the skirmisher became visible as he was sent flying across the floor. This time, he was dead.

You have gained a level.

"Sequence cast. Greater Beam Weapon. Barrier," Somnus instantly uttered the words as even the hilt of the sword broke in his hands after that impact.

Once more, the super-dense mana appeared in the air, expanding against the barrier. It turned into pure manfire as the contents of the barrier reached a critical point.

Somnus turned at the sound of the elf's bow launching another arrow and with a flicker of movement he caught the arrow out of the air. The arrowhead was just centimeters away from his chest, and had it landed, not even Somnus was sure if he would have survived it.

Crus.h.i.+ng the arrow shaft into a fine dust, Somnus looked to the woman pleading for peace.

"No mercy," Somnus said.

Suddenly, Somnus heard screaming from one of the guardians that was posted at the corridor Somnus came from. It was a deep, terrified scream, filled with pain.

Somnus turned just enough to see both his enemies and the source of the screaming.

The guardian was pinned to the ground by the goblin that Somnus had left behind in the corridor. The goblin bit into the guardian's shoulder, crus.h.i.+ng even steel platemail in his teeth. With blood all over his jaw, the goblin looked up and towards the woman with the phoenix spirit.

"Mana…" the goblin marshalled his ruined vocal cords to vocalize that one word.