After doubling back through the tunnels, I found the perfect choke point to launch my sneak attack. The walls were tight; above, a full-sized human would have to crouch slightly, but there was plenty of room for Lily to get behind me with her wall-running skill.
When I took my position, crouching and giving Grick a soft growl to back off with his lantern so I’d be submerged in the darkness, Lily instantly seemed to understand my intentions.
She went ahead, the far smaller of the two of us, and the group of humans stationed by the riverside would assume their lower team had chased her this way and would move to corner her.
My heart thudded with anticipation as Lily went ahead alone. I closed my eyes, listening. My high sense stat allowed me to pick up the subtle sounds of her movements quite well as they echoed through the tight space.
Then, she yelped in surprise and began running back.
“After her!” one yelled.
“I got it—” said the closest voice.
They slowed as the tunnels became tighter. “Damn it, she’s too fast.”
“Doesn’t matter, there’s no way to escape. We’ll have her cornered soon enough.”
I continued listening carefully—were there only three sets of footsteps? It was hard to tell, but maybe one of the four had already gone off to inform the other groups of our location.
That meant we had to act fast.
I activated {Veil of Shadows}, wanting to take out the first red mask as swiftly as possible.
Lily appeared around the corner, followed by a purple glow. She ran alongside the wall to get behind me just as the first red mask revealed himself to me.
He huffed in frustration, Lily now far out of his reach, but still he came forward, though slower, twisting and pushing his body through the narrow space. “Of all the Almighty forsaken places to have to hunt these mutts.”
“Surprised it’s level 9 already,” another muttered. “Hell Hounds really are impressive.”
“Ha! I should keep one. Valrok’s little shit got one for no effort, after all.”
A third, calmer voice behind the three answered, “Feel free to take that up with him when we get back.”
The complainer, who was first in line, stammered, “M-Maybe I will!”
Their careless banter echoed off the stone walls. They thought they were cornering prey. They had no idea they were walking into the jaws of a real predator.
He slowed to size up the narrow space, eyes drifting along and down until—
I lunge forward, detaching from the dark. He barely got out a gurgling scream as I ripped his throat.
“Wh-What the hell!?”
“Almighty Above!” the other gasped.
The two backed away slowly as I gave the throat another solid twist to stop his thrashing arms.
Prey Eliminated - Lvl 12 Homo Sapien - Bloody Peaks Tribe
Experience Gained!
“It’s level fourteen!” the one in front yelled at his companion. He held his shock pole towards me as I prowled overtop the body of his ally, blood dripping from my muzzle.
“Just keep it back, we need to get out of these damn tunnels!” the other said, unable to come to his aid despite being right there.
As if I’d ever give you the chance.
Finally, it was time to test {Intimidate}!
I used the skill and let out a loud roar. The one in front froze in shock, the pole dipping low in his hands and its glow dimming as he failed to channel mana to it. I could only imagine the look of terror behind his mask.
Too easy.
I leapt up, tackling him with no little in the way of resistance. As my teeth sank into his soft neck, he snapped out of it enough to at least try to push me away, but it was too late.
Prey Eliminated - Lvl 11 Homo Sapien - Bloody Peaks Tribe
Experience Gained!
As I tore open his throat, spraying a fountain of blood, Lily ran along the wall beside me. The last of the three shook off his paralysis from Intimidate and turned to run. He screamed, “Boss! H-Hey Boss—Aaahaahahh!” He fell as Lily sank her teeth into his ankles. He turned, fumbling awkwardly with his spear in the tight space. Lily let go and sat on her haunches right between his legs. “You fucking mutt!” he yelled, thrusting his spear right through her. “Haha—ha… ha?” He froze in shock once again as Lily disappeared. Then, the real Lily lunged from right behind him, paws hitting at his mask and teeth working their way to his neck—it seemed she had paid attention to how I had been doing it!
I came forward to assist. I was fully certain that she could handle him at this point, but I wanted to eliminate any chances for even a small injury. I attack his arm that went for the dagger at his side. He let go of his spear and started punching my side as he thrashed and tried to break free of us. But he didn’t even have room to roll, and could only scream and flail about helplessly as Lily snarled, twisting and pulling at his neck until finally—
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Aaaaauuuggghhhh…”
Prey Eliminated - Lvl 12 Homo Sapien - Bloody Peaks Tribe
Experience Gained!
Good job, Lily!
There was still one more to deal with, though.
I ran past her, and she was soon in step right behind me.
From the end of the tunnel, I heard, “What the hell is going on in there!?”
He didn’t run. This was too perfect.
As we came to the end of the tunnel, I slowed, prowling forward, sizing up the enemy. He was the biggest and likely strongest of their group. Though he didn’t seem quite as strong as the level 20 we had killed earlier.
He tensed as we came forward enough for the glow of his shock pole to illuminate us, fangs barred, muzzles dripping with blood.
“Scaly Bastard Below…” he muttered under his breath as his other hand dove for a short sword sheathed at his back, and he took a defensive stance with the weapons.
He continued backing down the river path even as we came out of the tunnel. He would have room to swing his weapons and maneuver more effectively here—but so would he.
I eyed up his legs. They were not as thick as that level 20, and I suspected my Crippling Bite would work just fine.
Lily made the first move, running right at him. He prepared to defend himself, but then she split into three.
He let out a battle cry and swung at one—it disappeared.
“Shit—” he growled, swung his sword again as an airborne Lily lunged at him—disappeared again—and the third Lily ran along the wall beside him. He quickly pivoted and stabbed at her, but she curled her butt just in time to evade it, and his sword only hit the stone wall.
We now had him surrounded.
I darted forward, going low. He jabbed his shock pole at me, and I had to back off.
Lily pounced on his back, swiping with her claws, pushing him forward a step. He turned to swing his sword, but she backed off, avoiding the attack. He thrust his shock pole at me threateningly, just to keep me back, and kept his sword raised to Lily.
It was an awkward shuffle he was forced into. Making quick feints as we looked for our openings.
He was skilled—I’d give him that. His footing stayed firm despite the uneven riverbank. He kept both weapons moving just enough to keep us guessing, never overcommitting. The shock pole hummed and glowed with mana.
But every movement was defensive… and forced. He knew it, too. He couldn’t keep this up. He’d be a challenge for me one-on-one, but with Lily’s help, I had the luxury of controlling this fight.
Lily’s clones then flickered into being again — two splitting off to flank from the sides while one remained behind. He hesitated, eyes flicking between the illusions. Were either of them real? He had no time to think it over.
I lunged forward on that doubt.
He jabbed his shock pole toward my face—exactly as I wanted. I twisted left, feeling the crackling electricity brush the fur of my cheek, but nothing more. I dove for his calf—
{Crippling Bite}!
He yelled in pain as I twisted, soon feeling the satisfy crack of bone between my jaws as his scream rose to an echoing cry that tore even through the rushing river beside us. Before he even hit the ground, Lily had him by the arm, dragging him down harder—it seemed one of those clones were in fact the real one, and she left a fake behind to confuse him.
That’s my girl, Lily!
But as I moved to retreat away from his shock pole, I was a little too slow.
He managed to jam it into my side, the electricity coursing through me.
Lightning Resistance level up! 1 > 2
+2 Vigor
+2 Strength
I broke away from the shock pole, taking some distance from the enemy, and panting as the gripping pain of the electricity wore off. Leveling up my resistance probably helped, but that didn’t stop it from hurting completely. Those shock poles were still a problem.
Lily backed off as well, and our enemy tried to get up. He instantly collapsed back to his knee because of his broken leg and growled in anger.
“You fucking mutts,” he hissed through his teeth. I took a step forward, eyeing him up and showing my fangs. He feinted the shock pole towards me, and I noticed him glancing down at a pouch tied to his waist. He probably had a healing potion, but both hands were occupied with keeping us two Hell Hounds at bay.
He swung the shock pole in a wide, threatening arc, forcing me back a step. “Stay back!”
But fear soaked the edges of his voice. He had little confidence and knew he was in a bad spot.
Lily growled, inching forward on his blind side. He whipped the sword toward her, overcommitting for half a heartbeat—
Enough.
I bolted forward.
His shock pole thrust straight at my muzzle, crackling—but I dipped low, letting the electric arc hiss over my head as I slammed my shoulder into his ruined leg.
He screamed, collapsing sideways. His sword arm swung wildly, and Lily darted in, biting down on his wrist with a snarl.
“AAAH—damn—DAMN YOU—!”
I tried for a bite at his arm holding the shock pole, but a strong jab with his elbow rocked the side of my head, throwing me off.
Before I could recover, I watched as he dropped the shock pole and grabbed at Lily while she twisted at his other arm.
“Lily! Look out!” I barked.
He snagged her by her scruff as he rolled into her and then tossed her towards the river.
LILY!
I jumped over him—I could deal with him later. Lily was in trouble!
She hit the water with a splash, and instantly she was swept downstream.
I ran along the riverside, watching her paws paddle frantically for the water. She tried to grab a jutting rock, which slowed her down, but before she could pull up, her paw slipped on the slick surface, and she was washed away again.
“Grick helps!” the goblin yelled as he came out of the tunnel and leaped for my side. He pulled my fur as he climbed up my side and sat on top of me, the red mask still strapped to his back.
“Puppy! There is rock bridge! Fast! Fast! Get there before small puppy!” He kicked at my sides with his ankles like he thought I was a horse. Given the circumstances, I couldn’t say I cared at the moment.
I tilted forward, running at full speed, keeping an eye on Lily as she kept trying to find something to grab onto. I was managing to get ahead of her, but would it be enough?
The slope tilted ever further down, and I started to see thick roots poking out from the ceiling and walls; some of them had Healing Shrooms clinging to them.
“Bridge is close!” Grick insisted. “Faster! Faster!” He kicked at my sides again, but I did as he commanded, forcing all my strength into running full tilt.
As the walls and ground now became more and more ridged with roots, I saw the bridge he was talking about. It was covered in wrapping vines, and one particularly thick one caught my eye… but, with this body I wouldn’t be able to—
Grick suddenly jumped off my back, stumbling awkwardly as his feet hit the ground, and he tossed the lantern to the side. I skidded to a stop to see him leaping for the underside of the bridge. His little hands snagged one vine and swung on it, then he latched onto the thicker one. It was hanging too high above the water, but in a quick jerking motion, he yanked it down, causing it to lower a few feet.
I anxiously looked back for Lily—she was coming fast, and failed once again to grab at something along the riverbank. She was heading right for Grick, but would he really be able to do anything? He seemed far too weak to be able to yank her out of the water and climb up with her!
“Puppy! Puppy grabs Grick!” the goblin yelled, holding out his arm as he slid his butt lower to the roaring river beneath him.
I couldn’t believe the heroism the lazy goblin was suddenly showing out of nowhere. It was clear what he intended, and it really was the only way to save Lily.
At the last moment, right before she would have been swept past him, he extended his arm out, and she latched her jaws around it.
“AAAAH!” Grick cried, tightening his elbow and knees around the vine to keep himself clinging to it. “GRICK’S ARM! GRICK’S ARM!”
He wouldn’t be able to pull her up, but he had her, or rather, she had him. The thin limb was no doubt being badly damaged, and the current pulled her heavily. Lily tried not to clamp down too hard, but she had no choice but to keep her bite firm.
“GRICK’S POOR ARM!” the goblin cried.
I wasted no time running on top of the rock bridge and looking down. There was a mess of vines clinging to it, but I reached down as I quickly assessed which specific one Grick was hanging from. When I found it, I latched on and began to pull.
