The grinning man’s face changed immediately. His smirk was replaced by the blank expression of a soldier. He turned to the group of berserkers that had slowly been inching their way closer and whistled. The group of men grabbed their axes and followed the gray-haired woman. Then with a final look at Astrid, he turned and walked out the door. “We’ll settle this later,” he warned.

Evan watched the tension leave the healer’s body as soon as the man was gone. She sighed and closed her eyes before taking several deep breaths.

A long moment passed before she opened them again. She gestured towards Mel and Jason, her voice sounding weaker than it had before. “Jason go grab some potions from the supply room. Mel, go refill your quiver. I want to be out of here in the next couple of minutes. We need to catch up to the rest of the guild before they get to the edge of the city.”

Evan raised an eyebrow at the healer.

Astrid looked at Evan for a moment before drifting her gaze to the floor. “This isn’t your fight. I can’t ask you to risk your life for people that you don’t know,” she quivered.

“You saved me and Fenrir when you had absolutely no idea who we were. Whether we were friend or foe.” Evan stood up and placed a hand on the top of her head. “And we promised to help you fight against The Labyrinth, did we not?”

The healer’s eyes watered as she spoke. “I won’t be responsible for your death. Mel, Jason, and I have to fight. I am tired of seeing friends die.”

He wiped the tears from her eyes. “None of you will die today. I promise.”

Fenrir’s growling voice filled the building, startling Astrid. “It is time we show you why The Labyrinth fears us, little healer.”

The healer’s hug was so unexpected that Evan could do nothing but stand there. A shiver ran down his spine and Fenrir howled in his mind as he felt her warm breath against his chest. “Go upstairs and find Jason. You should at least put on some clothes before we head out.”

Evan turned to leave but paused when Astrid spoke up again. “And Evan … thank you.”

He smiled at her and nodded his head.

* * *

The group made their way through the city and caught up to the rest of the guild quickly. Citadel had erupted into chaos. The once quiet, but busy streets were filled with screams as people frantically ran in different directions trying to find somewhere to hide. Thousands of people that lived on the outskirts flooded into the center of the city. They passed by the group in a frenzy, carrying whatever meager possessions that they could.

As they got closer to the edge of the broken city, the sounds of fighting grew louder. The sound of fangs against metal. Metal against flesh. The sounds of the wounded and the dying.

Despite the obvious fear that radiated from everyone around him, Evan was calm. Excited. He and Fenrir were exactly where they were supposed to be. Where they thrived. Evan’s heart raced as Fenrir rammed mana through his body. He allowed the dungeon core’s bloodlust to shroud his thoughts and envelope his mind. He needed to spill blood.

Minutes passed before they saw the first signs of battle. Hundreds of dead dungeon beasts littered the floor. Hidden amongst them were the corpses of Hunters. Male and female, young and old. The ground was coated with red blood, and there were deep gouges where claws and steel had carved up the earth.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the battlefield. He could see hundreds of Hunters in dark blue armor pitched in a fierce battle against thousands of dungeon beasts. The Hunters were holding their own, but they were slowly being pushed back. For every dozen beasts they slayed, a Hunter perished. There were simply too many.

Farther down the line he saw more Hunters fighting in smaller groups. They worked together to cut down the approaching beasts. Evan couldn’t help but notice that they may have been smaller in number, but they were clearly more powerful.

Their gray-haired leader led them to an older man in blue armor that was watching the battle with fierce intensity. “I am Sasha, the guild leader for Midnight. Where do you want us?” she asked.

The older man scoffed and spit on the floor. “You can cut the crap, Sasha. We ain’t in the military anymore.” He gestured towards the sea of bodies fighting for their lives. “Pick wherever the line looks weakest and plug it up.” 

Sasha nodded and led the group to the left edge of the battle where the number of Hunters was smallest. As they walked, one of the beasts broke through the line and leaped at the guild leader. Evan’s eyes followed the eight-legged creature as it sailed through the air, venom dripping from its fangs. He considered helping, but the part of him that lusted for violence was curious to see how strong the guild leader was. So he waited.

Astrid yelled out a second later, but the guild leader ignored her and continued moving forward. There was a clang as she drew her sword from the scabbard at her side. She swung the blade once and then slid the sword back into its scabbard in a single, graceful motion. The spider stopped in mid-air for a moment before falling back to the ground. Another fraction of a second passed before the beast screeched as pain coursed through its body. It tried to move its legs. To attack. But its body had already realized what its brain hadn’t been able to process yet. Then the screeching died down and the spider split into two halves. Dead.

Sasha eventually ordered everyone to stop when they reached a place in the line of Hunters that was all but hanging by a thread. The broken bodies of Hunters lay all around him and the few that remained were badly wounded and could barely hold their weapons. One of the Hunters turned around for a second to look at them. There was hope in his eyes. The kind of hope that he had craved to see in the eyes of his people.

A crimson-colored wolf lunged at the man while his head was turned. Evan bared his teeth and Fenrir roared as they launched themselves at the wolf. He closed the distance between him and the Hunter in the blink of an eye, much faster than even Sasha had been able to swing her sword. He latched onto the throat of the wolf and crushed it. He could feel the bones break beneath his hand.

He grinned madly as he activated [Summon Shadow]. A hundred shadows coalesced around him as his shadow blade formed in his open hand. He held up his other hand and pointed into the sea of dungeon beasts.

“Kill them all. Protect the humans.”