"Defend the church!"

  I was panicking as whatever it was was moving fast. He, if it could be classed as male, was running faster than I thought possible through the graveyard and snow. He, it, whatever was sliding around the statues and gravestones as he ran forward.

  "Forget your hunting grounds. He's moving fast towards the church."

  He seemed to be moving faster, becoming almost a blur. In these conditions, it should have taken over an hour to reach the church, but he seemed to be arriving within 10 minutes. My Hunters were moving, and I hoped fast enough.

  I was doing my best to keep up with the Monster attacking my domain. Even I was having trouble keeping up with him, and I didn't have a body!

  As the mausoleums, statues, and gravestones grew denser as he approached the centre of the graveyard, he was finally slowed. He was still moving at a frightening speed, but was not as fast as before.

  It was here he ran into his first obstacle. McGregor was heading towards the church, and the Monster literally ran into him. The Monster came around the corner of the mausoleum, straight into McGregor, and I winced at the impact.

  The Monster had won the impact in many ways, as he was travelling far faster. He was knocked back, but McGregor was sent flying into the snow. It was here that I got my first proper look at the Monster as it staggered, shaking its head, trying to shake off the impact effects.

  It was oddly proportioned and tall like Harrington, but it resembled Rigger in many more ways. It was like the two had come together and had a horrific love baby. It had long, greasy black hair. I could see its rib cage and its arms and legs were far too long for its torso, which was even longer than it should be. What appeared to be a loincloth was wrapped around his waist and secured with what looked like a leather cord. It was armed with two long, wicked-looking blades. They look like they were home-crafted, with bone handles and curved blades that were more sharpened metal than forged for the purpose.

  The monster recovered and focused on my Hunter. McGregor was not back on his feet, but was kneeling up in the snow, getting back to his feet with his blade drawn. He might be a coward, but his instincts in combat were not bad.

  The Monster reaffirmed its grip on its place and attacked.

  McGregor was on his feet as he approached just in time and deflected the first blow before it sliced into his face. The second blade caught his arm, tearing through his coat. He was gritting his teeth, not crying out in pain, focused on the fight.

  He's been pushed back by a furious assault as he was desperately blocking each attack. Unfortunately, some of them are getting through, and the Monster seemed to be taking its time, not moving for a quick kill but dragging this out.

  Five separate wounds were now located on McGregor's arms.

  The Monster wielded both blades with incredible precision and skill, implying either a great deal of experience or extensive training. I was leaning towards expertise.

  McGregor fought but was now pinned against a mausoleum wall, fighting desperately. He was in trouble, and we both knew it. The invading Monster was smiling with its crooked, sharp teeth, a predatory smile.

  McGregor blocked another thrust but could move in time to avoid the second blade again. This time, it impaled him through the upper torso into one of his lungs, and he coughed up the dark, thick red blood they all now possessed.

  The monsters were still grinning and twisted the blade, causing McGregor to cry out in pain. It, too, was a sadist, enjoying what it was doing.

  It blinked momentarily, its jet black eyes seemed to register something, and with an aggressive slash of its other blade, it disembowelled my Hunter.

  McGregor collapsed to the ground with another scream of pain as the blades in his upper torso were pulled out as well. He was desperately trying to hold his intestines in and was losing. His blood was staining the snow around him.

  The Monster looked down at him for a few moments, then set off once more towards the church.

  I couldn't stay to monitor McGregor; I have to keep up with the intruder and followed.

  He was moving fast again, but the growing density of structures around him slowed him. I had to frame McGregor's battle as a sacrificial delay. It gave my other Hunters time to get to the church.

  [Hunter: Charles McGregor. He has died and will be resurrected in 72:00:00.]

  I mentally winced when the alert came.

  The Monster was now well into the second ring. He was approaching the church when my next Hunter was engaged. This time it was Harrington. The Monster was moving at a more controlled speed now to prevent another collision. He had spotted Harrington and instantly attacked. He was coming with his sword drawn and barely got up in time to block the first strike from the Monster attacking us.

  He was quickly forced to back up as the Monster attacked with a furious assault, as he did with McGregor. The monster speed on the assault was frightening, and McGregor Harrington's defence was likely not stopping all the strikes from getting through. Harrington's face was a twisted mask of concentration.

  Harrington was a swordsman, but this was a close-in, brutal knife fight. Combined with the monster speed, he was at a disadvantage, but he put on a better show than McGregor did. I wasn't sure if it was a factor of its speed or the Monster's inherent strength, but each blow against Harrington's sword echoed far louder, and I could see the effort Harrington was putting into keeping hold of the blade.

  The narrow alleyway they were fighting in was the only advantage that Harrington had. It meant the Monster could use its speed to get around him, forcing him to take Harrington head-on.

  Harrington was using every trick he knew to stay in the fight, but his injuries were piling up like with McGregor. At first, there were shallow cuts, but they were becoming deeper and bleeding more as they added up on his arms. Thankfully, my Hunters were tougher than normal men, and he was able to stay in the fight for now.

  Harrington's shadow magic had limited options of use here. He wasn't hidden in shadow as the Monster knew precisely where he was. The buildings around them cast shadows, but not enough to allow Harrington to hide or….

  They have stepped into one patch of shadow when Harrington suddenly became far less distinct. He was using a shadow magic, which surprised me as I did not believe it would be of any use here. The Monster seemed momentarily confused, striking out and missing Harrington by a few millimetres. Harrington used the opening to strike back with his sword.

  The Monster was taller than even him, and his blade caught it along its torso just under the collarbone. It was deep or very long, but it was the first injury scored by any of my Hunters. Blood oozed from the injury that wasn't red or even close to it, but jet black. It was more like oil than blood. The Monster jumped back, opening up some space between them.

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  A strange, tense peace suddenly settled over the combatants.

  The Monster reached up and ran two of its fingers along the wound as it still clutched his blade. It held the hand back and looked at the blood on his fingertips. He rubbed his fingers together as if he were trying to remember what his blood felt like.

  He looked up at Harrington, who was using this time to gather himself for the next round of fighting. With a slight nod in his direction, the Monster reversed the grip on its blades and went on the attack again.

  The Monster was so fast that I could barely keep up with it. Unfortunately, Harrington found he had the same problem. He tried to block a strike, but the angle of it knocked his sword aside. The second blade came up across his torso, ripping through his coat and deep into his body. I jet of dark red blood shot from the wound as the blade left his torso near his collarbone. As Harrington screamed out in pain, the first blade came back around in a downward strike, making an X across his torso, causing a jet of blood to come out near his hip.

  He dropped his sword and collapsed to his knees from the pain of the injuries he had sustained. The Monster looked at him again as he did with Harrington and set off towards the church. I couldn't remain there and followed.

  [Hunter: Alistair Harrington. He has died and will be resurrected in 72:00:00.]

  Two Hunters were down in brief and brutal engagements. I was desperately hoping that the others had gathered at the church and would be able to fight en masse. I feared this was the only advantage they would have against this Monster.

  The Monster had reached the inner ring and the church. Instead of going around several densely packed mausoleums, it had scaled over one of them and had jumped down into the central ring. It was close to the doors and headed straight towards them.

  Just as I arrived, another one of my defenders, Blackstone, arrived.

  He spotted the Monster as it clambered over the roof of the mausoleum and was now gripping his hammer tightly, ready for a battle.

  "Beware! The Monster is fast and strong! Harrington and McGregor are already down."

  I issued a warning to all the Hunters about the danger. I needed to give them all the information I could to give them a chance to win this fight.

  Blackstone said nothing, then advanced on his own initiative. The Monster didn't pause when he saw him and charged. He was across the central ring in the matter of a few heartbeats. Blackstone saw the attack and did something new.

  As the Monster approached, it dropped to its knees and swung out with a wide arc strike at where the Monster's legs would be. This took the Monster by surprise, and he was unable to adjust the angle of his run in time. The large, heavy hammer, propelled by Blackstone's strength, collided with one of the legs. He had managed to judge it just right with the hammerhead colliding with one of the Monster's legs.

  This was the first time that the Monster made a sound, and it was a strange cry/howl of pain. Its leg was taken out from underneath it and collapsed to the floor, sliding towards Blackstone. His momentum carried him into my Hunter, knocking both over.

  Blackstone was on his back with the Monster on top of him, but I didn't seem to faze him at all. The beast snarled but received a punch to the face, knocking him off my Hunter.

  Blackstone got up quickly, but so did the Monster.

  Blackstone received a blade in his chest under his collarbone. The Monster got the hammer rammed into his stomach. Both grunted from their injuries but kept on fighting. The Monster twisted the blade in his chest as he pulled out. Blackstone got another knife into his side, just under his rib cage, while the Monster got a knee straight into its groin. This caused the Monster to fall back in pain as it gripped his tender bits. Blackstone pulled the knife from his side.

  The Monster got back to its feet but was introduced face-first to Blackstone's hammer. Such a blow would have killed any man, but this Monster took it and was knocked to the side with part of its face broken—black blood and teeth flying from its mouth.

  Hope bloomed within me that Blackstone might come out victorious here.

  Blackstone grabbed his hammer handle with both hands, lifting it above his head for a powerful downward strike to finish this Monster. Unfortunately, his opponent had other ideas and rammed his other blade into Blackstone's leg, burying it deep. This course, Blackstone, staggered and grunted loudly in pain, letting go of both handles on the hammer. He was using the other arm to try to steady himself, holding out.

  This allowed the Monster to grab its other blade from the ground and ram it upwards as he got close to Blackstone, inside his guard. The blade sliced up into Blackstone's neck and continued into his skull.

  Both stood there for several seconds, and then Blackstone collapsed back onto the ground.

  [Hunter: John Blackstone. He has died and will be resurrected in 72:00:00.]

  "Fuck!"

  The Monster stood there victorious, breathing hard, and this was the first sign of exertion I had seen so far. His face was a mess from the impact of the hammerhead, but it seemed to be gathering itself quickly. It pulled his blade free from Blackstone's body and picked up the other from the ground.

  He advanced on the church.

  I shifted inside and found the three remaining Hunters available waiting by the doorway. Rigger was to the left, Rodriguez to the right, and Roberson was standing between the pews and the centre. He had the presence of mind to bring a six-shooter with him and was holding it along with his cleaver-like blade.

  I didn't have time to bring the spirit here; these three will have to win this one.

  "Blackstone is down be…"

  I didn't get time to finish as the Monster came through the doors. They exploded inward, unbroken, hitting the walls with great force. The thunder of the impacts echoed through the church's interior.

  My Hunters had barely any time to react before they were attacked. Roberson tried to aim his gun at the Monster, but he was too fast. One of his blades slashed out, catching Roberson along the arm, forcing him to drop the gun in pain. The others attacked, drawing the Monster's attention away from the wounded Hunter.

  I tracked where the gun had fallen and slid the way. I summoned my avatar, reached down, and grabbed it. I turned my attention to the fight just in time to see Roberson collapse to the floor, clutching his throat as it had been opened up in the fight. Dark red blood was pumping from between his hands, and he looked shocked.

  He slumped over, and the message appeared.

  [Hunter: Atticus Roberson. He has died and will be resurrected in 72:00:00.]

  I had to act. The Monster had ignored me so far and gave me time to aim the gun at him.

  BANG!

  The sound was loud in the confines of the church, and the gun bucked when I squeezed the trigger. At the distance between us, it was almost impossible to miss, and thankfully for my own pride, I didn't.

  The bullet caught the Monster in the upper torso, and it staggered from the impact. Rodriguez and Rigger were on the floor, both wounded, but I could not tell how badly.

  BANG!

  I fired again, hitting the Monster's torso. He turned to face me now and staggered again with the bullet impact. This didn't seem to be working.

  BANG!

  BANG!

  BANG!

  I pulled the trigger quickly again and then again. Both bullets hit the Monster, causing it to stagger even more, and now it was losing blood with holes in its body. My third shot had gone past it due to its staggering. He looked at me with anger and lunged in a blur. I had dropped the pistol slightly, deciding to change my aim.

  BANG!

  It's moving towards me worked in my favour far more than I ever could pull off with any form of trick shot. The bullet tore into its groin area, and it collapsed in the screech of pain that hurt the ears of us all.

  It had doubled over in front of me on its knees, grabbing hold of its tender regions.

  I was out of bullets.

  Rodriguez was still down. Rigger was back on his feet, holding both his Bowie knife and Rodriguez's Tomahawk.

  The Monster was alternating between whimpering and groaning in pain. Black blood was pooling out under him. This was our best opportunity to win, and Rigger knew it.

  Still holding the Tomahawk to grab as much air as he could, yanking back the head of the Monster. He was looking at me now with a look of pure hatred and pain twisting his features. I think he knew that he had lost.

  Rigger pulled his head a bit further back, lifting his Bowie knife in the other hand high above him. He drove down with the blade straight into the skull of the invading Monster through his head, on down into his mouth. I saw the blade protruding from under his chin. But still, he was alive.

  Rodriguez was trying to get up behind them. Rigger helps the Bowie knife firm and begins hacking at the Monster's neck with the Tomahawk. I think wet sound follows every impact of the Tomahawk blade as he started to cut into flesh. He soon reaches bone, and the blows become harder, and there is a sickly crack with it; the invading monster slumps.

  [Alert! A Monster has invaded your Dungeon. The Monster has been slain!]

  I staggered in relief and happiness. We had won, but it had been far too close for my liking, and it raised untold new possibilities I had to investigate.

  Rigger was doubled over, breathing hard. He was wounded but didn't seem like he was going to die any time soon.

  Rodriguez was still on the ground, unable to get up after his attempt. His legs were sporting deep wounds. I needed to treat those injuries quickly, or he was going to die.

  I began to walk towards him when, suddenly, a massive surge of energy seized my attention, and a blue screen appeared.