Deon pulled out his [Blade] Card immediately, gray light spilling into his hand before forming into the katana. The moment his fingers closed around the hilt, his nerves steadied a little.

Across the station, Celine summoned her [Bow], testing the string once. Jason adjusted the [Shield] on his forearm and planted himself at the front of the West barricade. Hana stood behind them, [Basic Heal] held with both hands, her face pale but determined.

Levi already had [Fireball] in hand, a glowing sphere of flames swirling in his palms, already itching to be let loose.

The thing that followed that shriek was not laughter or another announcement, but heavy footsteps.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each step seemed like they were crushing straight through the station floor, enough to echo throughout the tunnel.

Deon’s fingers tightened around the katana. "...That really doesn’t sound like a Hound."

From the East tunnel, something moved in the dark. At first, Deon thought it was another trick of the lights. But the shadow bent, stretched, and stepped forward on limbs too long to belong to anything human.

A tall, hunched creature crawled out from the dark of the tunnel. It was almost as large as a person, with blackened flesh that clung tightly to its bones, layered with uneven plates of hard, shell-like growths across its shoulders and spine.

Long spines jutted from its back like broken spears, sharp enough to probably puncture through concrete.

The worst part? It was bipedal, arms long enough to nearly touch the floor, with curved claws scraping against the concrete, creating sparks.

Wha—what the hell is that thing? Some kind of demon?!

Across the station, from the West Entrance, another shriek resounded.

GRRRAAAAAAAAK!

"Levi!" Celine screamed, drawing her bowstring. "Do we attack?!"

"Infantry, aim for the cores on their heads."

"Infantry?" Deon’s eyes narrowed even as the creature stepped closer. "That’s a pretty specific name for something you’re supposedly seeing for the first time."

But the time for talk was over.

The monster ahead lunged. It lurched forward in a sudden burst, one arm slamming into the ground as it used the impact to fling its entire body down the tunnel.

The barricade took the first hit.

CRASH!

The broken ticket machines buckled immediately. The advertisement board split in half, the smiling actress’s face tearing down the middle as the Infantry forced one clawed hand through the barricade and began ripping it apart.

One hit was really all it took for our masterpiece to become scrap, huh?

"Move!" Levi shouted.

A fireball shot forward and exploded against the Infantry’s chest. Flames swallowed its torso, blasting it backward into the stairwell wall hard enough to crack the tiles.

For half a second, Deon thought that might have been enough. Then the creature stepped out of the smoke.

Its chest was scorched, black flesh peeling away, but it didn’t realize nor care enough to slow down.

Deon clicked his tongue. "Durable bastard..."

He stepped in without thinking, raising his sword and striking from the creature’s side. The blade bit into its ribs with a hard metallic scrape, like cutting into meat wrapped in countless layers of tinfoil.

Shit...that was bad.

It turned towards Deon before raising an armed claw and swinging towards him.

He twisted away just in time, but the backhand still clipped his shoulder. Pain exploded down his arm as his body flew sideways, crashing into one of the ticket machines hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

"Gah—!"

"Deon!" Hana’s voice cried from across the station.

"I’m fine!" he responded immediately, wiping away blood dripping from his nose. "Focus on your side!"

But even as he said it, his ribs started to ache.

Damn...that wasn’t even a direct hit.

Levi threw another fireball, this time aiming higher. The Infantry jerked aside quickly, the blast cupping one of its horns and exploding against the wall behind it, showering the platform with dust.

Deon stared at its movement, specifically how it avoided attacking head-on.

Right...the core on its head. It’s smart enough to know that the core was its own weakness.

From the West side, another crash rang out.

Jason roared as his shield took the impact of a second Infantry. His feet slid backward across the platform, boots grinding against concrete as the creature drove him nearly to one knee.

"Celine!"

"I know!"

An arrow flew past his shoulder and struck the Infantry’s head.

Clink!

The arrow bounced off the bone plating above its forehead.

Hana lifted the [Basic Heal] Card in panic, unsure who to help first. "Jason—!"

"Stay back!" the man barked.

Shit...the other side is having trouble as well...we need to finish things up here.

"Deon!"

The East Infantry was already moving again.

Deon pushed himself off the ruined ticket machine, sword in hand as he stood up straight.

"Levi."

"What?"

"Can you blind it?"

For how long?"

"One second."

"That’s all?"

"If I needed more than that, I’d ask someone more competent."

Levi didn’t bother responding to the insult. The fire in his hand compressed, shrinking from a sphere into a brighter, denser flame that hissed between his fingers.

And just as the Infantry charged...

Deon did the same.

Its arms came down in a crushing swing that was meant to flatten him before he got close. Deon dropped low, the attack tearing above his head close enough to stir his hair. He slid under the strike, standing up quickly as he reached its back.

"Now!"

Levi released the fire, light bursting all across the monster’s face, so bright that even Deon had to turn away from it for a second.

The Infantry shrieked and recoiled, one clawed hand rising instinctively to cover its head.

Deon kicked off the ground, aiming for the backside of the creature, where the plating wasn’t there.

THUNK!

He felt his blade pierce something hard, hearing the sound of cracking before he pulled away and retreated back a couple steps.

The creature let out one final broken shriek before its body collapsed forward.

[You have defeated a Ruined Infantry.]

[+10 Points Awarded.]

Deon took uneven breaths, staring at the blue panel that had appeared to his right.

So that’s how it is. Hounds were three and Infantry are ten. Makes sense...they’re damn dangerous after all...

But a scream from the other side of the station snapped him out of his senses.

"JASON!"