I didn’t have much of a chance to answer, let alone refuse. The tiger was pelted with several arrows, and three of the men were finishing him off. The remaining four came running at the pair of us. Meanwhile, there were still at least two demons with bows who were trying to pelt us with arrows. It was a dangerous situation all around. I pulled out the starsword and began my attack.

Two of them went after the skeleton, while two of them went after me. As soon as I raised my sword and blocked one of the enemy’s swords, there was the familiar flash. He immediately backed up, grabbing at his eyes. The sword must have caused temporary blindness. The other demon had been expecting his attack to be supported by the first. He ended up hesitating as a result. I used True Strike, hitting and killing him in a single blow.

{Demon Knight had increased to level 2.} 

{You have unlocked Shadow Step.}

Shadow Step? Was that similar to what Shao could do where she was able to run through shadows? I instantly tried it out, only to find that it was only part of that. It was an ability that allowed me to dodge, using my shadow to blur where I was and making it very easy to miss.

“That’s a demon ability!” One of the soldiers cried out. “What side are you on?”

“My own!” I shouted, killing the second soldier.

These guys weren’t that strong. If I compared them to the Knights I had ambushed in Widow’s Dungeon so long ago, they were much inferior to them even. However, I had gotten those guys by surprise and had the full list of my skills. Here, I could only use skills that effected my internal magic, and these guys were prepared and ready for me coming. That didn’t mean I couldn’t win. It just meant that it was complicated.

{Your Sabertooth Feral has died!}

The message came just as I killed the second guy. I looked where the tiger had been fighting. The three who had ganged up on him had finally killed him, although two of them were wounded and the third was dead. Feeling just an ounce of rage, I parried an incoming arrow out of the air and then leaped at the two remaining men. Covered in damage as they were, they fell nearly as quickly as the first. I finally turned to the bowman, but after one look at me, he lowered his arrow and turned to run.

“I miss having wind magic.” I lamented.

Those arrows were dangerous to me.

“Tell me about it.” The skeleton spoke from behind, causing me to turn.

I let out a noise as I saw him. He was on the floor. He had taken nearly a dozen arrows. He was a skeleton, so most of those arrows went right through him. They were pelted into the ground where his skeleton was lying and didn’t seem to damage him at all. As for the two demons, he had managed to kill them both.

“You’re a strong fighter.” The skeleton said. “Stronger than me, perhaps.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Hehe… am I so see-through?” I raised my eyebrow and he laughed again. “Sorry… a little undead humor. Please, take this message. You must bring it to our troops. The princess’s life depends on it.”

“This is merely a dungeon. You are all puppets to an age-old curse.” I said harshly. “Whatever battle you fought ended ages ago. My only interest is getting into that castle.”

“I see…” He responded, “If this is a dungeon, then you are a Dungeon Diver, correct?”

I raised my eyebrow. I either expected him to ignore my words, or meet them with disbelief. I didn’t think he’d actually know about dungeons and even accept he was in one. I supposed, most dungeon bosses knew they were in dungeons as well.”

“I am.”

“You will never defeat this dungeon unless you can single-handedly defeat the entire demon army. I do not know the world you come from, but we are the dead who fought against the Demon Lord Aberon, and if you wish to make it to the castle, you’ll need an army!”