The girl's breath tore through her throat as she sprinted between the trees. Branches whipped her face, scratching her skin raw. Behind her, the sound of snapping wood and heavy footsteps grew louder, each one closer than the last.

Her name was Naira.

She had lived her whole life on this land, where the old stones bore carvings of her people's stories. Now those same stones were shattered, smeared with blood, and scattered across the dirt. The elders had ordered an evacuation five days ago, forcing them to relocate hastily.

But, even in their new camp, dangers were abundant. They didn't manage to get far away.

That's why gathering food, which used to be a simple task any hunter or gatherer could do, was now akin to a death sentence.

Especially because that cruel bastard refused to help them, far too absorbed in living out his tyrannical fantasies.

A deep snarl echoed through the woods, shaking leaves from the branches. Naira's pulse hammered in her ears. Her legs ached, but she couldn't stop. Not when she knew what had happened to the others who did.

The creature's scent reached her before its shadow did; a mix of sulfur and rot.

She risked a glance back.

The creature was massive, its body covered in black plates that looked more bone than armor. Its jaws split unnaturally wide, drooling a tar-like substance that hissed where it hit the ground.

It shouldn't have been real.

Her father used to speak of creatures like this by the fire, back when the world was a much simpler place. Skin-walkers, he called them. Spirits that fed on fear and hunted those who forgot the old ways. As a child, she'd hidden under her blanket whenever he mentioned them.

Now one was chasing her.

When she was terrified, so much so that tears welled in her eyes, her mother would sit next to her bed and hug her before whispering that those stories were warnings, not truths. Tales to remind their people to respect the land, to keep the balance.

But the balance was gone. The earth bled, the sky broke with strange lights, and the monsters that stepped out were no longer stories.

Homes burned, people vanished, and some of the hunters they had in the fields were torn apart before they could even notch an arrow. The monsters didn't just kill; they hunted for pleasure.

Naira's stomach turned at the thought. She wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't a fighter. But when the food ran out, someone had to go.

Now her lungs burned as she ran through the trees with branches cutting at her arms. The weight of the small satchel on her shoulder, which was filled with dried roots and berries, felt heavier than stone. Every step was a gamble between life and death, and she was losing ground fast.

Behind her, the creature let out a sound that didn't belong in this world. It wasn't a beastial roar, not even a growl, but something deeper, wrong. The sound dug into her chest, twisting her breath.

All she could think about was her mother, bent over the washbasins back at camp, her hands raw and shaking from the cold water. If Naira didn't return, there would be no one left to look after her. No one to keep the elders from taking what little she still had.

She stumbled, caught herself on a tree trunk slick with sap, and pushed off again. The creature's claws tore through a bush behind her. The ground shook under its weight. Her vision blurred with tears and sweat, yet still she ran.

Her heart screamed the same words over and over.

Please, not like this!

…

Kaiden moved first. His boots sank slightly into the damp ground as the Blood Monarch's Gauntlet glowed deep red.

Thomas was already in front with his shield raised. The impact of the first Ravager's strike against the tower shield rang through the clearing. But, despite the monster's strength, the man didn't even flinch.

Diaz appeared behind it a heartbeat later with two daggers flashing. He buried them in the Ravager's exposed ribs.

The Ravager bellowed in fury as it charged forward, each step hammering through the dirt. It was incredibly fast despite its size.

Such was the might of the Agility stat.

To Kaiden, it was instantly clear that this monster was numerically far superior. Not only because the monster had a whole ten levels on him, with Kaiden being level 40, but also because of its nature as a wild beast.

Monsters, when they were dangerous abominations instead of lesser ones like goblins, often sported overwhelmingly mighty stats. Almost always, a level 50 human could not compare to this creature. In a duel, unless they had a far too powerful class, they would get butchered.

This was why dungeon ranks mattered. Monsters residing in an F-rank dungeon were nearly always lesser ones.

But this one was a C-rank dungeon. The monsters in such dungeons would either be intelligent with annoying powers or, like these ones, oppressive physical forces of nature.

In cases like this, humanity needed to fight together.

Thomas slammed into position before the blow landed with his shield raised high. The hit rattled his arm, but he held firm with his boots gouging trenches in the mud.

"Move!" Thomas shouted.

Diaz obeyed instantly, becoming a blur darting behind the monster. His daggers flashed once, twice, burying deep between the plates on the Ravager's back. Black fluid spilled out, hissing on the ground.

The demon spun to retaliate with its claws, swiping through the air.

Kaiden took the opening.

"[Doomrend]!"

The Blood Monarch's greatsword came down in an arc, smashing through the monster's arm. The weapon bit deep, leaving a burning mark that pulsed once before exploding outward, sending chunks of meat flying. The creature howled, staggering.

But such a state didn't last as it lunged again, half-blind with fury.

Kaiden met it head-on this time. His sword cut across its ribs, then its thigh, each hit leaving more of those sickly red fractures crawling across its flesh.

"You don't get to ignore me!" Thomas shouted, slamming his shield into the Ravager's leg with all his might.

Beside them, Luna's stormblade carved through the air, and a lance of lightning slammed into the beast's shoulder. Aria's silver bolts followed, breaking bone where they struck. Nyx's daggers darted from the shadows, punching into open wounds, while Bastet's solar magic turned the ground beneath it into molten hell.

The Ravager faltered.

Kaiden aimed his sword at the monster with impeccable timing.

"[Infernal Torrent]!"

A wave of fire burst from his greatsword, sweeping through the monster's body. Its flesh blistered, armor melted, and the creature finally toppled with a strangled roar.

Kaiden went in for the final strike, cutting its head off.

[You've slain Hellborne Ravager (Level 50).]

[You've gained 25,361 XP.]

Kaiden sent a look toward his girls, ensuring they were all fine. Of course they were. For some reason, the other two monsters allowed their weakest to fight all of them on its lonesome. He didn't know if allowing was the right word, however, as it might've been forced to become their test subject. Using the life of the weakest, the monsters measured the strength of the people they were facing.

How troublesome. Monsters from a C-rank dungeon were truly a different breed. Not only were they physically imposing, but it seemed they also had at least some cunning to them.

This was not going to be an easy undertaking. But merely seeing the amount of XP this monster gave made Kaiden hopelessly grin, excited to see how far he could go.

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