In that desperate moment, my mind was working at double speed. No matter my move, the leader's sword would cut off my head. However, at that very moment, when I felt the blade of the sword caressing my neck, something flashed in my mind.

"<Shadow Step>."

With a faint murmur, my <Magic> drained at great speed. The next instant, my vision began to darken, and I felt an unknown force tugging at me.

"Huh? Where did he go?"

"Ahhh! B-boss, here, I-".

The leader's sword buried itself in the wall where I was before, his face expressing confusion as he shouted.

—It was really impressive; with 20% of my current magic, I could teleport from one place to another through the shadows.

The thought of not having or not using that ability made me shudder in horror.

At that moment, I appeared behind the katana wielder, It had been a little over ten seconds since I last used the <Illusory Spear> ability, so it was still twenty seconds before it was available again.

But still, catching my enemy off guard, my bloodstained dark spear penetrated the man's back. I wielded hard until the spear point pierced through flesh and bone, protruding into his chest.

His wide eyes of surprise and horror turned to me before he fell to the ground.

<<You have absorbed the <Excelia> of a level 1 adventurer>>

<+4 Strength>

<+3 Agility>

<+2 Dexterity>

I felt that my strength had increased by a small margin. Apparently, even though these humans had similar or even higher strength than the <War Shadows>, they gave me more points in my Basic Abilities.

The adventurers turned quickly upon hearing the commotion.

My lips pursed into a grimace of pain. How am I going to fight in such a miserable state? The wound hurt me a lot. However, only two men were missing.

One was wounded, so he was the easiest to defeat; as for the leader... he was enraged. It was well known that people with clouded minds couldn't do much despite the strength in their palms.

I gritted my teeth, the furious insults of the two adventurers coming in one ear and out the other. I relaxed my muscles, and while it didn't stop the bleeding, let alone the pain, it helped me calm down.

My fingers intertwined on my spear, I exerted force and my leg muscles tensed as I propelled myself forward.

But my pupils slowed to a crawl, and the leader's body flickered and appeared right in front of me, blocking my path.

The air was cleft by the edge of his blade, and, in the blink of an eye, he was in front of me. I made a sharp turn, which increased the pain and severity of the wound. However, despite being able to dodge it, I saw a piece of my hair fly through the air.

That was close. I went through the leader's side, rolling on the ground. The man wounded in the leg limped as he headed in my direction.

—Okay, let's finish him off first.

With my feet, I used my top speed, running towards the man. He was brandishing his sword, his eyes burning with undisguised fury. His attack was weak because he could only use one leg to exert force. That gave me a massive advantage over him.

"Don't you dare!"

I ignored the team leader's furious roar, dodged the wounded adventurer's attack, and my spear pierced through his neck.

<<You have absorbed the <Excelia> of a level 1 adventurer>>

<+2 Strength>

<+1 Endurance>

—Ugh—

My situation worsened, and a mouthful of blood came out of my mouth. My vision was getting blurrier and blurrier; it was surprising that I was still conscious.

The leader rushed with his hurried steps as if he wanted to crush me with his sharp, angry eyes.

I ran to the other side of the leader. I tried my best as I watched the shadow of the sword get closer and closer; even if I escaped out of its reach, the aftershock of the full-speed attack would still hit me.

—Swoosh!—

Damn it!

My eyes almost popped out of it's sockets. The left arm holding my spear buried itself in an incredible arc as the sound of crushed bones could be heard.

As I flew in the opposite direction, puffs of blood were spat out of my mouth. A terrifying numbness assaulted my senses, numbing my brain; at that moment, my back made a thud as I crashed into the dungeon wall.

I looked at my arm; it was not cut; however, with just a glance, you could see that its condition was more than pitiful. Blood was gushing from the wound, whose depth reached my bones. I could not move it; it was in such a position that it was bent to the opposite side, completely broken.

I lifted my chin, and in front of me, the man was already standing with a stern face.

"One last word?"

I didn't know what to do at that moment; I had already used the <Shadow Step> ability. If I had to say it, the only things I had in my favor were my legs and my right arm. Maybe I could catch him off guard?

With that in mind, I was about to utter a few words to buy time; however, my eyes were drawn to something.

A slight orange glow down the hall. The girl, who was still lying there with a pale face, had an orange object in her hand pointing towards us. Her lips were moving to the rhythm of words I couldn't hear.

—A magic item?

I looked back at the man. Slowly, I raised my right arm and stuck out my middle finger with a smirk.

"Fuck you, motherfucker."

The man's face darkened.

"I see; if that's your last word, you can go to hell."

As he finished his words, his sword came down at high speed. At that exact moment, a bright orange flash approached even faster.

He thought he noticed an attack due to the reflection of its shadow on the walls. However, before he could respond to the attack, the fireball slammed into his back.

—Boom!—

I leaned to the side to let the sword bury into the ground near me. The man was repelled back to where I was, flattening himself against the wall.

"Augg! Burn, shit! Who did that?".

The man's back burned; however, because of his armor, only one part of his body was injured. The man got up, but at that moment, I already had my spear in my right hand.

"<Illusory Spears>"

More than thirty seconds had passed, and my ability, which was already available, bombarded the man's head with three dark spears.

<<You have absorbed the <Excelia> of a level 1 adventurer>>

<+2 Strength>

<+1 Endurance>

<+1 Agility>

Three oversized, horrible holes appeared in the man's head, who could not even utter another word before his death.

A white sphere jumped out of the lifeless body. Even at this life-or-death moment, I couldn't help but be surprised. Do humans drop items too?

Limping and clutching my wound, I grabbed the <Soul Sphere>.

At that moment, a —Crack— was heard. It was not the sound of the <Soul Sphere> breaking.

My body froze, and I slowly turned my face toward the source of the sound. The dungeon's walls began to crack, and black claws peeked out. Those claws... are <War Shadows>!

—Shit! Can't they let me rest?