As the unknown sprang out of the darkness, Kael couldn't react fast enough, and in the next minute—an excruciating pain spread through his body.
His already battered arm felt numb as he fell to the ground, grabbing the arm.
His previous injury was still very fresh, just covered properly.
He let out a painful scream as the pain continued to grow unbearable, but he still tried to get back on his feet while summoning [Harun's Dagger] and [Cloak of Comfort].
"Look out."
Just as Nyx's words reached him, he noticed the essence of a creature all of a sudden.
'There.'
Without hesitating, he swung his dagger at the creature that sprang out of the darkness and drove his weapon into its side.
Kael heard a squeal as the creature fell to the ground.
Immediately after the first one fell, another was already upon him.
Its jaws flung open to bite down hard on Kael, the cloak wrapped around the hound's neck and pulled back—making the creature lose balance mid-air, which gave Kael an opening to put his dagger into its abdomen.
While the creature was still trying to get back on its feet, Kael aimed for one of its legs but retreated as he noticed another one.
He finally got a fair look at the creatures; what he saw made a chill creep up his spine.
'Shadow hounds'
They were vicious hound-like creatures that were as tall as an average human, and each of them were tainted tyrants, and each possessed [shadow pounce] ability, which allowed them to jump in and out of a shadow.
Their black eyes reflected nothing but cold indifference.
They also possessed [steel bite] which allowed them to bite through tough substances.
Kael turned to look at Nyx; she was fighting off a few more.
Her fighting style was swift and calculated, unlike anything he had ever seen before.
She struck with clean and swift precision, like that of an executioner, and the indifference of an assassin.
It made him wonder who she really was. Who were the shadow beings? Were they all assassins?
Many questions flooded into his mind about his new companion and her world, but he pushed it all aside to focus on the matter at hand.
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
It had been a while since he heard that notification; he wasn't exactly much of a killer.
She had killed a few of them, but there were still more left.
'This isn't good.'
Before he could gather his thoughts, a few more attacked from different angles.
Their coordination was very formidable, and Kael was receiving more and more bruises from the creatures.
He took a minute to pause to observe before their next attack came.
"So that's how it is."
A thin grin appeared on his battered face as he commanded his cloak to fall to the ground.
He used the [Contract summon] ability on Nyx back into his core for the first time; it felt as if a piece of his core had returned, and he activated the [Demonic mask] and used its [demonic presence] ability.
Immediately it felt as if something dark and unexplainable were creeping through his body; the air grew denser around, and all the beasts froze, then started to retreat a bit as if in fear.
Even at only just a fraction of its power, the mask was still powerful enough to make tainted tyrants shiver in fear.
Just when he thought everything was going accordingly, his head began to ache severely—making him fall to one knee.
A message displayed on his screen.
[Intelligence stats and level aren't high enough to wield this artifact.]
'I had a feeling it came with some drawback.'
He immediately deactivated it and in turn activated the [contract skill] before the fiends could resume attacking.
He immediately activated Nyx's [Gloom Step] and transported himself a few dozen kilometers away from the pack and stumbled.
It felt as if his vision blurred, making him lose his balance.
The [gloom step] consumed a lot of essence and couldn't be used too often.
Just a few kilometers and his essence was almost dried up
Just then, three hounds lunged at him, but the cloak pulled him out of their way.
He barely touched the ground when another one quickly jumped out of the shadow behind him.
He immediately drove the [Harun's Dagger] into the creature's eye and kicked it away.
"You have killed an awakened tyrant."
The pain from his wounds was nearly unbearable, but he still refused to succumb.
Instead, he summoned Nyx back and threw the cloak onto the two hounds that were heading his way.
Then activated its [Resize] ability and let it obstruct their vision, and then Nyx cut them both in two successive strikes of her long claws.
A few more were rushing at him from different directions, but he simply used his hands to hurl some sand in the air, obstructing their vision as Nyx swooped in and killed them swiftly.
By now his body had gotten a bit lighter, and the pain had receded a bit.
It was one of the reasons why he kept slaying the hounds instead of just escaping with Nyx; each time he or she killed any creature, he would receive the notification from the system.
"You have killed an awakened tyrant."
'It seems your skills are for both of us.'
His stats were also increased each time.
After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, all the hounds in sight were dead except one.
The last one let out a scream; Kael already knew it was a distress call and needed to leave before the reinforcements arrived.
Nyx looked battered with parts of her body already scattered and broken.
"Go and rest, Nyx."
She nodded and disappeared into a dust of essence.
He had stopped bleeding; he was still badly injured.
Kael let out a sigh of relief as he fell to the ground; his body was still aching from the terrible pain.
He barely had the strength to move.
But he had to, in order to leave before more enemies showed up.
He was also in unknown territory and needed to find somewhere to hide at least until his wounds healed partially.
Nyx had spotted a cave a few kilometers from where they were fighting earlier.
He braced himself and used Nyx's [Gloom Step] again to teleport into the cave.
The only issue was that he didn't plan the jump well and fell out of the shadows in the roof of the cave.
He let out a yelp as he hit the floor hard; he almost lost consciousness and slapped himself a few times to stay awake.
The interior of the cave wasn't as dark as he imagined it would be; there was a bit of light from the outside reaching where he was standing.
He struggled to keep his focus, but he took a moment to check if there was any disruption of the flow of essence, which could signal the presence of another creature.
Just as he felt someone's presence in the cave, he scrambled to his feet with the [cloak of comfort] by his side.
"Who's there?"
The voice Kael heard wasn't that of a beast or an abyss creature but the sweet and thin voice of a human—a girl.
He fell back to his knees in relief as the cloak held him upright; his breathing had become a bit labored.
The voice spoke again.
"But what—"
Before he could hear the rest of her statement, Kael collapsed from exhaustion and the severity of his injuries.