The monster was a smaller version of the one they saw not too long ago. Its small bat face looked at them, and its lips peeled back to show yellow fangs.

This one was in their rank. The monster flexed its claws and ran at them, swinging with claws like daggers. Azaroth was in the lead, at the front, and he met the monster with his sword.

He brought his sword down quick and fast in a thrust and twist that should have killed the monster, but the monster dodged, moving into his guard to use its claws.

But Azaroth simply slammed his left hand into its stomach and used Fire Force before its claws reached him. Its stomach was blown back with fire and a shockwave at such a close distance.

Azaroth flicked his hand to remove the blood on it. He frowned at the monster. It shouldn’t be able to move that fast or even dodge his blade like that.

Monsters that were not bosses tended to be stupid. They ran at your swords; they didn’t dodge.

"This thing is fast," Stallus said as she crouched to look at it. "And I saw intelligence in its eyes. Very briefly."

Alex snorted. "Monsters at this level aren’t smart. Not like the one we saw earlier outside. Even that one has the intelligence of a five-year-old."

Stallus didn’t agree with him. She knew what she saw, but she wasn’t going to argue with him either. It wouldn’t do to start arguing in the crypt.

They began to move deeper into the mountain. The mountain was designed in a way that you had to pass some stones to see what lay behind.

Azaroth didn’t like that. He didn’t like that they were on low ground and could not gauge what was happening from a higher point of view.

He told the team to get their weapons ready.

"Isn’t it strange that we have been walking for about twenty minutes and haven’t seen any other monsters except for the one we killed earlier?" Stallus pointed out.

It was strange. Crypts were always popping with monsters that wanted your head, but right now, everything was silent. They knew the reason for the silence when they walked around a bend.

Ambush. Seven monsters were waiting for them in an ambush, and they sprang on them immediately. But it didn’t catch the team unprepared, not in the way it should have.

They were always prepared for ambushes.

They reacted very fast. Stallus met the incoming monsters and threw two glowing crystals. A small explosion sent three of the monsters stumbling back.

Before the other monsters even knew what was happening, fire came out of Azaroth’s hand and sprayed them. One was caught in it and began burning. The others ran backward.

The team also fell back, the smell of charred flesh following them.

The explosion that Stallus sent earlier was to stun. It cost less essence and was easier to pull off without much preparation.

Now that the monsters’ cover had been blown, the remaining six came out of their hiding spot. They snarled and clawed the air, but what Azaroth noticed about them was that they were especially cautious.

Monsters tended to rush people, not stay back and walk slowly towards them. But these ones behaved like predators used to hunting in packs.

The monsters spread out, catching the team in the middle and surrounding them in a loose circle. Azaroth let them. It would be easier for the team to deal with them that way.

The team backed each other up, their weapons pointing at the monsters. Azaroth faced two of the monsters alone, and he didn’t think it was a mistake.

As one, the monsters rushed the team. Azaroth threw a spray of fire into the face of one monster and swung his sword at the other. The second monster caught his sword in the curve of its claws and lashed out with the other, nearly taking his eyes as Azaroth stepped back.

Now, he was between the two monsters. His strategy had backfired on him. He had distracted the first one so he could focus on the second one, but he never thought the monster would parry his sword like that.

He could easily finish them off with a chaos essence skill, but he held himself back. He wanted to be strong. Azaroth knew he would never be if he depended on the other core too much.

The monsters jumped him as one, just as he knew they would. He split his essence cloak into two; one went to reinforce his back and the other went to his right hand. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Then he waited for the monsters to come close. With his right hand covered in heavy essence, it made him fast, and he pretended as if he was going to slash the monster instead of thrusting into the monster’s skull.

Black blood sprayed him just as something hit him from behind, sending him jetting forward. He felt pain on his back, but it was blunted instead of the sharpness of the claw.

The essence on his back protected him from the first strike, but he knew it wouldn’t for a second time. He turned, and the monster was already on him.

Azaroth didn’t bother with the sword. He poured essence into the formation in his mind and fire spread out in a wave. The monster didn’t have the chance to avoid it, and it burned.

Azaroth straightened. The monsters had actually fought them. It wasn’t a mindless fight. They had used strategy and plans, and if the monsters were more powerful, the team would be doomed already.

He watched the others finish up.

Catena took two of the monsters by himself. One was dead on the ground already, and the other, he caught by the throat and risked its claws ripping his hand by bashing its head against the mountainside and knocking it senseless before he used his metal ball to crush its head.

Alex was grinning above the body of a smoking monster, and Stallus had just finished hers off by cutting its head off with her sabre.