The knight got faster and faster. Each of his strikes was heavier. Suna could sense the way his muscles started to strain. That rusted sword blared in his vision as a swirl of darkness, forcing the fight deeper into the cave. It took him everything to follow it and block it with Umbralline.

  He was on the back foot, backing away to create space so the knight could not just strike at his body.

  The knight, however, made a mistake by driving them further in. Suna could see his friend fighting something—flying monsters, gargoyles. The knight should have driven him the other way; this way, no one would be in danger from his friendly fire.

  Suna’s attention was split, and at that moment, the knight decided to lunge forward, jabbing the rusted sword with two hands.

  Goosebumps trailed his skin, and Suna darted back–creating a sudden distance. His bow and arrow were ready to launch. He fired, volleying arrow after arrow with his newfound advantage. His arrows rushed at the knight's plated armor, pushing the undead back every time it took a step. Its plate crashed, fracturing like glass shattering. Suna kept going, delivering dozens more, breaking apart the armor. Suna's arrows punctured deep into the knight's chest, and now it was time for offense.

  He darted forward with Umbralline, ready to end the knight.

  The undead tried to retreat, but it lost its balance, and Suna punished the move by driving his blade deep into the undead's chest, breaking the sharp remains of its rusted plate.

  He wrenched his sword, and a gasp escaped from the undead. Suna kicked down the corpse.

  [You Have Slain Undead Knight Lvl 20]

  [Rune of Arcanery]

  This one also had runes. He wondered what exactly decided the Runes' arrangement of these undead, but it did not matter now.

  He ran forward, joining the humans who were facing the creatures with overgrown bat wings, the gargoyles descended, flapping their wings wide open before diving down. Suna fired just above Noa, killing a couple of gargoyles’ momentum with his arrows, allowing the warrior to bash them down with his shield.

  Tension ran high as Suna counted there were about a dozen of them.

  Reki was drinking a health potion with Min and Slea behind him, each releasing an arrow and spells. Slea’s fire serpent prevented Noa from being surrounded by these creatures. They danced in a wisp of fire and lanced down on a gargoyle, crashing it into the cave wall. Those gargoyles bitten by the serpent were engulfed in flame.

  The burning gargoyles let out a searing shriek that buzzed through in echoes.

  Suna grunted. The voice was a bit too much. He manifested a Mana Arrow, with him now freed, now it was time to finish these…

  “Suna, watch out!’’ Slea shouted. “One of them is strange–It will went after you!”

  Suna tried to find this strange one Slea talked about. And there it was, hovering in the middle along with six gargoyles around it. The difference was only its head, which was shaped like a devil with twin long horns, and it was much bulkier, as if it had consumed stones and used them to pad its chest. And those talons, there might as well be a small blade for each one.

  [Undead Lush Gargoyle. Lvl 35]

  It opened its wings and dived down. Suna was about to release his arrow, but the next thing he knew–a force crashed against him, sending him flying back. The world blurred in his vision. Pain rattled in his stomach, and he coughed out blood–a winged creature ramming at him through the air.

  Suna’s head crashed into a solid, polished object. The world spun around his eyes. He threw up his insides and stood wobbly, shaking his head.

  Beside him was the Undead Lush Gargoyle. The creature shook its head, just like him.

  Did it just do that to separate him? The creature did not have control of that speed.

  The gargoyle lunged forward, mouth split open with a thousand small teeth.

  Suna skidded back, firing at the disgusting, open mouth. The gargoyle streaked its talon down, searing through Suna’s arrow, and closed in on him. Suna drew Umbralline in time to receive the attack; he danced back and parried another talon in time. He wheeled his sword around and attempted a strike, but in a flap of wings, the gargoyle burst forward and dived at him.

  He recognized it was the same reckless move as earlier. So Suna once again used Archer's backstep, but the moment he finished, the gargoyle was right in front of him. They crashed again, and Suna's body was smashed into jagged rock this time. He let out a bloody cry. His golden chainmail rattled, and Suna slumped down.

  With the bow still in hand, he slammed it into the gargoyle, whipping its face. The gargoyle growled in response and struck down–its talon spearing through Suna’s chainmail. But his chainmail held, and Suna headbutted the gargoyle. Its head went reeling, then it opened its teeth again, trying to chomp down on Suna.

  In turn, Suna tapped his heel, and Gale Step propelled him up, barely escaping the gargoyle’s clutch. His bow and arrow were nowhere ready to draw, especially in mid-air.

  He saw the gargoyle about to dive at him again. Suna kicked in the air, pushing his body downward. The gargoyle launched through, hitting the upper cave in its own foolishness. Not wasting any time, Suna stood and manifested a Mana Arrow. It formed, and he drew it to his ear.

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  The undead’s wing flapped, regaining its control of the air, and it stared at Suna, who was ready to release his arrow. Its eyes focused, preparing to dodge.

  Suna tried to advance, but the gargoyle merely flew around, trying to get above Suna just to make it harder for him. At the very least, it did not try to escape or go after his friend.

  It hovered behind him. Suna’s eyes tracked the gargoyle into the Depth’s gate he had crashed into earlier. It was open wide, with no sign of an undead Gatekeeper.

  Forgetting about the gate, Suna focused on the fight. Did the gargoyle have confidence that it could dodge at this range? Would he take the bet?

  “Come on down, you little…” Suna hissed.

  His Mana Arrow shone by his ear; he kept pouring more Mana. His Archer Sense heightened as he let more mana into his arrow.

  He would win this fight; his arrow grew stronger and stronger, and he would be able to blast this undead off wherever it hovered.

  The undead still flew around, and Suna was content to let it be; until it suddenly began to dive down. His hand adjusted his arrow, and the blue light almost forced Suna to close his right eye.

  He should have taken these drawbacks into consideration. Then doubt began to creep into him, not good for his archery.

  The Undead Lush Gargoyle finally grew brave and rushed at him. It tucked its wings and bombarded straight down.

  Suna discharged his arrow, and a blast of blue death rushed ahead. His hair pushed back, his golden chainmail rattling against the afterwind of his shot. Suna's eyes, however, did not leave the gargoyle. It all happened in less than a second. The flying undead arced down, escaping the shimmering blue just above it.

  His eyes went wide open, and Suna’s breath caught in his throat.

  The undead opened its wings, and black mottled skin dotted its whole body, even scarring shadows upon its giant bat wings.

  Another Drowfication. Just what was wrong with these undead? The Tiefling and Pito surely had not warned him about this.

  It rushed forward at a speed almost too fast for him to react–if not for Archer Backstep.

  Suna darted back, with an arrow in his hand, but almost instantly, he recognized it wasn't enough. He cast Gale Step and jumped up, aiming his arrow down, but the gargoyle had crossed below him in a fraction of a second.

  He turned his head only to see it swerve around. The undead now had control over its unruly speed.

  Suna kicked against the air, repositioning himself to shoot at it. But the moment his body turned, the undead slammed hard against his stomach. He gasped, but it was not the worst of it. The undead kept going, crushing him against the cave wall. Suna fell, his vision going black.

  He cursed as his bow fell from his hands.

  Why did it not use those claws? It looked like it still didn’t have complete control of that speed, at least.

  Suna opened his eyes to see shadows dappled over him. His heart hammered as five claw-sharp talons streaked at him.

  He raised both of his shadow gauntlets like a boxer.

  In a dark space like this, his shadow gauntlets would be strong.

  The claw connected, and they fractured; the longest one lanced into the gargoyle's own hand from an unfortunate break.

  The creature screeched, blood dripping from its hand. It growled, and before Suna could even react, it swiped with its other hand, dodging his gauntlet.

  Searing pain rushed through Suna’s chest. Golden chainmail parted, but it still did its job, since not all of its claws struck.

  Suna struck the creature’s face as it rushed forward to bite him. His gauntlet knocked the creature into a rolling heap. Suna immediately stood, and his body wobbled. He fell against the cave wall, steadying himself as he drew Umbralline.

  Suna tried to search for his obsidian bow, and he spotted it. Right next to the gargoyle. Forgetting about it, Suna focused his entire being on his sword. He had fought fast opponent before. Desha and James had shown him how they moved, where the speedy fighter tended to go. Except this time, Suna couldn’t read the wind’s movement; instead, he paid attention to the wings.

  It flapped and brought itself up again. Blood gushed from its nose and right hand; that one would be useless. Suna kept that in his mind, an input he allowed as he focused his entire being. Nothing else mattered. An attack from the right side was unlikely.

  Suna raised his sword, point held above his chest, aimed straight at the gargoyle.

  He could see it hesitating; it was no doubt trying to judge if it should just ram at him again since it had worked twice already. But with his sword up, Suna delivered doubt into it. An unseen strike to its mind.

  His breath was still unstable because of the impact against his chest. Suna's breath rasped, threatening to throw him off his concentration.

  The gargoyle decided to act. It dove again, but the undead veered to its right. Its speed slowed to allow it to use its claws–those talons flashed, carving through the air. Suna pivoted to his left, sword moving with him; and clashed against the claw. His muscles strained as a tearing grate echoed through the cave.

  Suna roared; he did not back away–no, he sheared forward; Umbralline bit through the gargoyle's shoulder, splaying its flesh down.

  The gargoyle cried; its head lulled; and the creature bit its lip bloody. It forced pain to wake it up from its state of concussion. Its eyes stretched wide, and those teeth attempted to chomp on Suna’s neck.

  Suna stomped his foot with Gale Step. His knee lurched up, smashing the gargoyle's chin. Its teeth clacked, and a shattering sound rumbled inside the creature's mouth. Suna landed; and the gargoyle was just about to fall. He grabbed the creature’s neck with his left hand and smashed it against the cave wall.

  Without wasting any more seconds, Suna skewered the creature chest-deep with Umbraline. Blood seeped into his midnight sword, forcing it out of the undead flesh.

  In a last, dying attempt, the undead’s talon slashed forward. But Suna saw it coming; and he pulled back his head, letting it merely slash through the air.

  It tried to spit, but Suna wrenched his sword in a crescent. A gasp escaped the creature, and its eyes lost their light. All struggle escaped its limbs, and its breathing stopped. A tell-tale sign of death.

  [You Have Slain Undead Lush Gargoyle. Lvl 35]

  [Level Up]

  Level 30

  [Skill Option] Select one to proceed.

  [Spell String Mastery] [Rare] – A bowstring is often a lifeline of an archer, a hand for the living. Such an important component can be unreliable, regardless of its source–arcane or physical. Spell String Mastery shall allow the user to bend the astral nature of the string and force it by will.

  [Ghost Shot] [Rare] – Arrows, often or not are deadly, but some factors make it only worth so much as a flying rock. Eliminate sound and light by forcing Mana upon it.

  [Shadow Rhythm] [Rare] – It's not an understatement to say close combat is not an archer's forte, but it's not an impossibility. Send out users' afterimage; the afterimage shall represent the user's close combat ability. Until the afterimage is destroyed or vanishes, the user shall lose their melee combat ability.