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They just kept coming.

A winged creature dropped down on them from above.

“Watch out!”Roman shouted.

Darien stabbed the sword straight up, skewering the monster through the throat in midair. It slid all the way down to the hilt, smearing the blade with bubbling black blood.

With a battle cry, he flung the corpse off, hurtling it into two more demons. He barely had time to recover before a second monster was dive-bombing for his throat.

He ducked and angled his wrist, blade tilted upward. The beast sawed its own belly open on the sword as it leapt clear over his head. It fell into the pit with a keening yowl, claws scrabbling against rock on its way down.

Another dropped on Roman’s side, but the thing was swiftly pulled apart by a whirlwind of the Shadowmaster’s magic. Wings were torn to shreds, joints ripping out of sockets with wetpops.

Two more attacked in unison. Darien gutted the one while Roman reached with blinding speed for the knife at his thigh. He flicked his wrist back and threw.

The blade pierced its forehead—no stone in this one. It slammed into the ground and slid in a smear of blood, Roman dodging it as it tumbled by.

Roman was about to say something when he suddenly fell, as if a rug had been pulled out from under his feet. He landed on his back with abang—missing the pit by mere inches.

“What the fuck!” He kicked his left foot, his ankle ensnared with one of those vines from the tunnel. More vines were lashing out, snatching monsters by the leg or wing and dragging them, screaming, into the tunnel.“Cut it!”Roman thundered. “Quick—cut it off!”

Darien swung the sword?—

It struck rock, sparking, as Roman was sucked into the throng of monsters at blinding speed.

Darien’s blood went cold.“Roman!”He made to run after him?—

Something heavy smacked into his side. The sword slipped out of his hand as sharp teeth clamped onto his forearm, sinking in deep.

He shouted out in pain, his vision going starry as blood gushed out of the wound. The wolflike beast hung on like the jaws of a bear trap—mauling the skin and muscle. He whipped the creature back and forth, working his free hand between its jaws to pry them open—to no avail.

“Get off!”Darien kicked it in the chest. Once. Twice. A third time—harder.

It let go with a yelp and plummeted into the pit, its chilling keen echoing long after its body had been swallowed by clouds of mist.

He doubled over, panting through his teeth, his arm cradled against his chest. More blood dribbled to the stone, the wound burning as if it were being eaten by acid.

Focus. He had to focus, had to find Roman. There was no time to waste on bleeding.

His ears were roaring, his head featherlight as he stumbled over to the blade. Forced himself to pick it up, to straighten, but?—

Pain stabbed through his arm like a branding iron. He choked out a grunt of agony, his heart pounding so hard he thought he might throw up.

Shit.Shit.This was bad?—

Suddenly, everything felt far away. Fuzzy. A distant, untouchable dream.

He staggered to one side, the roaring in his ears shifting into a piercing, buzzing scream. The dozens of bloodthirsty creatures packed inside the cavern shimmered. Blurred together into shapeless smears.

He shook his head—once, twice.

Demons that looked like Ignis’s wild dogs advanced on him, their maws dripping saliva.

He swung the sword, nearly falling over from the momentum. Staggered like he was drunk.

‘Bandit,’Darien tried. His inner voice echoed—again and again.

No response, but…Darien could sense him—a smoky flame taking the vague shape of a dog. He lay in the shadows of Darien’s mind, too drained to come out, to speak.