They rounded a corner and stopped abruptly. A large shape was moving ahead, hunched beside a collapsed vending machine, devouring what seemed like another morph. It looked human in shape but twice the size, wearing ragged cloth that barely concealed the spikes along its spine.

  Alexander recognized it. It looked like the same species that Tyger had been devouring before.

  Fenrir tensed and began snarling.

  The creature straightened and stood, more than eight feet tall, slouching sideways as if its spine needed serious rehab. The face was humanoid but the ugliest Alex had ever seen, with twisting warts and upturned fangs.

  The creature roared, clenching fists with long nails and protruding knuckles. It stepped forward, the ground trembling, and swung wide, twisted fangs opening a mouth that splashed saliva.

  "Be careful," Samantha said. "It's... not as smart, and not as fast, but that thing is strong. Think getting hit by a car strong."

  "I'll keep it in mind."

  [OGRE DEMON: HP 1,185]

  Alex gripped his axe in his right hand, shifting forward. However, Tyger Tyger suddenly jumped ahead of him.

  "I'll go first," the predator said through his fangs, then faced the beast, pounced, and clawed it, tearing a massive gash along its torso.

  OGRE HP: 1,185 → 1,120

  The ogre wrenched and slammed its massive hand toward Tyger, but the feline dodged easily.

  Fenrir lunged forward, prompted by Alexander's thoughts, but the ogre crouched and swung its sharp claws at the wolf.

  The wolf twisted away and lunged back in, biting into the ogre's calf, fangs shredding through flesh.

  OGRE HP: 1,120 → 1,050

  The humanoid roared, tensing its muscles and spreading its claws.

  Alexander slipped forward, half crouched, trying to get close. The ogre stretched toward him, a skull-sized haymaker coming his way. It was, however, not fast enough for his reflexes. Alex dodged and swung his axe at its right flank.

  OGRE HP: 1,050 → 1,015

  Metal met hard flesh and bone. Alexander pulled, drawing a splash of blood. He grunted, pulling it out. He was about to swing again when the creature's fist came down like a sledgehammer. Alexander managed to skid away in time.

  In the meantime, Samantha dashed toward it, a bowie knife in hand, and drove forward. She dodged sharp claws, moving closer, and swung at its lower spine, just above the hip.

  OGRE HP: 1,015 → 980

  The ogre grunted in agony and rage, swinging wildly.

  Alexander circled them, searching for an opening. This time, Fenrir took a hit, and Tyger Tyger dodged.

  Fenrir darted under another swing, snarled, and leapt, this time reaching below its thigh and tearing free more flesh from the exposed joint.

  Black blood spilled across the concrete. The ogre staggered, once again screaming like a devil.

  OGRE HP: 980 → 890

  Tyger Tyger tensed, sliding to the side as if searching for the right angle, then launched onto its back, claws raking at its back over and over.

  OGRE HP: 890 → 710

  The creature smashed itself into the wall, trying to crush Tyger Tyger. Cracks spread through the concrete. Tyger Tyger stayed locked in, claws dug into bone.

  Alexander rushed in and slammed his axe between two rib plates. The blade buried almost to the hilt.

  OGRE HP: 710 → 640

  He kept swinging the axe in and out, blood splashing on his clothes.

  The ogre swung a fist at his back. Alexander skidded across the floor, pain flaring in his back and ribs.

  [ALEXANDER HP: 65/82]

  He rolled back to his feet, axe still in hand.

  Samantha stretched her hand, summoning a mana blast.

  OGRE HP: 640 → 512

  Fenrir clamped onto the ogre's ankle and ripped backward.

  OGRE HP: 512 → 310

  The ogre's swings turned sloppy. Each attack slowed.

  Alexander straightened. "Hey, what if I bind it?"

  "Not a good idea," Samantha said, skidding to the side, knives held forward. "Check out its HP. Over a hundred is already hard even if I lend you mana."

  Stolen story; please report.

  The ogre grunted again, stumbling forward, then raised both fists and brought them down toward Fenrir.

  Tyger Tyger slammed into Fenrir's side, knocking him away.

  "It's taking too long," Alex mumbled through his teeth. His eyes swung toward Fenrir. They had to weaken him somehow.

  Then, he thought of a strategy.

  "Knees," he said, and the command carried through the link.

  Fenrir lunged again. His jaws clamped into the back of the ogre's right knee, popping its bones and tearing through its tendons.

  OGRE HP: 310 → 215

  The creature roared and tried to stomp him. Its leg folded instead.

  "If I stab its neck or something, it should die easier, shouldn't it?" Alexander asked, angling closer.

  "Of course," she replied. "Its flesh is way more resistant, but if you manage to land a life-ending injury, it's gonna die."

  The ogre staggered. Its balance broke, and one massive leg buckled, making it drop to one knee.

  Alexander stepped in, boots sliding on cracked concrete, both hands wrapped around the axe handle.

  The ogre tried to look up, fanged mouth snarling in pain and blinding rage.

  Alexander got close, and the creature began sliding forward, trying to claw at him.

  He dodged, and once he was close, he swung at the creature's neck, wedging through bone. He tore it out amid a jet of black blood, then again at its bulging neck, over and over, becoming more frantic with each blow.

  Alex lost count of how many times he swung.

  Black blood began jetting out of its neck, like petrol bursting out of the ground. Then, it collapsed forward, its heavy bones cracking against the floor and blood pooling beneath it.

  [OGRE HP: 180 → 60 → 0]

  Text flickered above the corpse.

  [OGRE

  HP: 0 / 1,240]

  [EXP + 73]

  [EXP: 92/200]

  Alexander got up, wiping his axe on the ogre's ragged clothes, eyes fixed on the HUD above.

  "That's great, I'm way closer to level 3."

  The entire group relaxed. Tyger Tyger shrank down to his smaller form with a slow exhale and began licking its paws. "That would have been an excellent heart. You didn't have to kill it that quickly."

  "Well done," Samantha said with a grin, looking at Alexander. Then she paused. "You do... have that bloodlust I thought you would. I... can't say much for now, but keep it in check."

  "Bloodlust?" Alexander asked, panting and looking up. "Oh, right."

  He suddenly straightened. He felt some sort of warm wetness in him. He pulled out his phone, looking at his reflection. His face was marred in black blood, staining his black hoodie. And it was definitely not his.

  He reached for a napkin in his pocket and wiped it off. Annoyed, he noticed he had to keep wiping his own face. He'd have to wash it off. He stepped back, as if suddenly shocked at what he'd done.

  Ogres and demons such as these definitely had to be killed. After all, these creatures had been murdering innocent people, but the sudden thought of the violence he had inflicted, the way he had gone berserk and pounded at the ogre with the axe, whether the creature deserved it or not, was enough to make him stop and wonder what he was becoming.

  "The ritual site should be closed," Samantha said, ignoring him and walking ahead. She wiped her blades and nodded down the corridor. "According to Sean, the dungeon bosses are gonna be there to guard them. Especially if they're important."

  Alex stopped for a moment, then stared at her, as if he suddenly remembered where he was.

  "Dungeon boss? This wasn't a dungeon boss?"

  She shook her head. "It was a powerful demon, but that was not it."

  "Okay," he said. "Then bring it on."

  He stiffened, suddenly becoming aware of the pain in his back. He grunted and stretched, feeling it grow sharper as he moved. "And... my HP took a hit. Is there like a potion I can take?"

  She reached into the sides of her jacket and extracted a compact purse. She unzipped it and pulled out... a blister pack.

  "Take some Tylenol," she said, pressing the blister pack into her hand and handing him a tiny pill.

  Alex stretched out his hand, accepting it with a sigh.

  "Sandra does have some rituals for when we get back. But for now, this is the best I can do."

  "Sure... thanks."

  They continued. To Alex's shock, blood-painted signs marked the wall, pushing through hidden doors. The air seemed heavy and charged with evil.

  "We are oh so close," Tyger Tyger said. "This is the ritual chamber. You can feel it, can't you?"

  "You mean the sudden wave of depression?"

  "Oh, indeed. The place is charged with evil," Tyger said.

  They rounded a corner and slowed as the corridor opened into a circular chamber. Symbols covered the floor in overlapping rings, each line drawn in coagulated blood. At the center lay a man's corpse, positioned carefully, black robes but open chest, arms spread as if welcoming something that never arrived.

  Alexander stared. The man's chest had been cut open and stitched back together in tight surgical lines. The grin on the man's dead face made Alex shudder.

  "Sick" wouldn't begin to describe the scene.

  "He volunteered," Samantha said. "He was part of the cult and high-ranking. I don't know what the demons promised beyond the veil, but he was entirely happy to be taken."

  He swallowed, throat tight.

  She crossed her arms, walked closer, and examined the symbols. "If we leave this untouched, entities will keep forming here. We've got to clear it, or the spawn rate will spike. Like the Tyger said. The portals were open in ritual sites."

  "I thought the demons came out of nowhere."

  "They come out of where evil happens. Some small ones might have emerged in, what have you, alleys or dysfunctional homes. But this... this has been set to call up the big guns."

  Tyger Tyger paced the room, shoulders tight.

  "So, to clear it, we should disrupt the circle," Alex said.

  "Yes," Samantha replied.

  Fenrir moved on command and dragged the body out of the circle with his fangs, leaving a dark smear across the concrete.

  Samantha crouched beside the bloodlines and pulled out her booklet, showing Alexander a sigil consisting of a sealed spiral that folded back into itself and the Tetragrammaton, or Hebrew name of God, written along the sides.

  "Memorize this," she said, tilting it toward Alexander. "This is a sealing sigil. This should be enough to clean up the place. Do it, please, Marion wants you to learn this."

  Alexander leaned in and memorized it. He followed every turn with his eyes, counted the junctions, and tracked where the spiral broke and where it sealed.

  [SKILL LEARNED: BASIC RITUAL CLEANSE]

  [MANA USE: 35 HP]

  "Summon it and charge it with mana," Samantha said.

  Tyger Tyger stopped pacing. His ears flattened, and he cocked his head to watch more closely.

  [ALEXANDER MP: 179/200]

  He pushed mana into it.

  The chalk mark darkened, and the concrete beneath it cracked in thin lines.

  [ALEXANDER MP: 144/200]

  The circle flared, sharp and violent. The bloodlines shivered and burned black, the air beginning to feel as if it were folding inward.

  At that moment, something shifted.

  Alexander leaned back on his heels, breath tearing out of his chest.

  Samantha nodded. "That's it. You did it."

  Tyger Tyger relaxed his stance.

  Fenrir lowered his head, sniffing the circle.

  "That's supposed to keep more demons from materializing?"

  As if in reply, a distant roar echoed through the corridors, deep enough to make the floor vibrate.

  Samantha stepped toward him. "And it seems like it did upset the big guys."

  Something moved and paused ahead. Then, a strange, unnatural sound, like dozens of animal feet padding along at once, began growing louder.

  It was above them. A bang echoed, and three masses burst through the ceiling tiles, collapsing to the ground like amorphous blobs of putrid flesh, each as wide as a picnic table.

  The vision would be enough to drive a normal person to the depths of madness. But Alex wasn't normal anymore.