Under the Veil of Night

SLAM!

The monster slammed the ground hard, seemingly extremely angry at Kanae's earlier attack. The ground shook heavily as the men tried hard to stabilize themselves.

"REI!" Jason cried out in panic.

"I'm fine," Kanae's voice could be heard from the device. She managed to escape in the nick of time, right before the fists hit her.

Dean came over to stand near Kanae. "You're quite brave, little girl. But this monster no longer has human senses. Even if it's hurt, it won't do much to his overall fighting prowess."

"Even if it's in pain, it won't be affected?" Kanae turned to Dean with question marks all over her face.

Dean nodded. He had been closely watching the monster from the very beginning. "The stronger they are, the more they can feel the pain like humans. However, their pain won't affect them too much in fighting. They can still move with superhuman strength and speed."

Kanae stood up again. "Do you have any ideas on how to defeat it?"

"We have to collaborate," Randy spoke out. His face had darkened, but he clearly understood that they stood no chance if they worked alone. "I don't like the sound of it, but we need to collaborate if we want to defeat it."

"I don't want to collaborate with you," Dean remarked flippantly.

Randy snorted. "Who would want to collaborate with you either? However, I don't want to die just yet."

"Me neither," Dean prepared his blade. "That's why we're going to collaborate, Randy brat!"

"Don't you dare go calling me brat!"

The two of them dashed forward at the same time, with Kanae slightly lagging behind. She didn't possess the same speed as them. Even though it was close, she was still slightly slower compared to them.

Reaching the monster, Randy tried to interrupt the monster's movements. He was more well-known for his speed in his use of dual daggers rather than for his power, so he used his adept skills to seal the monster's movements. On the other hand, Dean used his blade to strike as hard as possible.

As for Kanae, she would attempt another ambush again.

Scratches appeared on the monster's skin, but none were deep. If this continued, they would run out of stamina faster than the monster, which would spell their deaths.

"Dean, do you have any ideas?" Randy asked as he rolled to evade the monster's kick.

"We should have stabbed his eyes."

"I'll try the same thing again," Kanae suddenly remarked as she dashed under the monster again.

Randy nearly coughed when he heard what Kanae said. However, he used his dagger to stab into the right foot of the monster, preventing it from moving. On the other hand, Dean swung heavily into the monster's side.

Getting into the same position again took a shorter time and Kanae kicked upwards once more. The monster tried to prevent it, but it was unable to because of the two people who guarded against him.

Bellowing angrily, the monster's free knee caved in again.

Jleb! Jleb!

Both Dean and Randy attacked the monster's eyes at the same time. Their weapons slid in smoothly as Kanae quickly retreated.

ROAR!

The monster roared and swung his hands around blindly, successfully hitting Randy who couldn't dodge in time. The powerful swing sent him back into the wall, creating a deep crater with him as the center.

*cough* *cough*

"That hurt, you damned monster," Randy coughed as he dropped to the ground. His back hurt badly. He was pretty sure that several of his bones had broken.

"Watch out!" Dean managed to escape, but the monster turned towards Kanae. Even without using its eyes, it still knew Kanae's location.

BAM!

Its two fists pummeled the ground. This time, the tremors were far greater than before, creating numerous cracks in the ground.

"That was close," Kanae looked towards her bleeding arm. She almost didn't manage to escape. The monster's fist still grazed her arm, though.

This made her shudder. If even a light scrape was making her bleed this badly, what would happen if she got hit for real?

"Rei, it's aiming for you!" Dean yelled. That monster seemed to be angry because of Kanae's consecutive hits. As it was painful, she became the first target it aimed for.

Seeing that the attack was coming for her again, Kanae ran to the side, narrowly evading the monster's swing. Her eyes landed on the severely cracked floor.

"Brother Dean, help me destroy the floor!"

"What –?" Dean glanced at the cracks on the ground and instantly understood Kanae intentions. He ran towards the two of them with his blade ready.

Kanae rolled on the ground, evading the monster's attack again as she headed towards the area with the most cracks. She crouched down as the monster approached. Seeing her so close to the floor, the monster raised its fist before slamming down again.

Seeing its predictable actions, Kanae smirked. She rolled to the side, dodging the attack. At the same time, Dean also arrived and timed his blade to strike the ground.

The monster's fist alone was already enough to shake the floor badly. Adding in Dean's strike, the cracks from each epicenter intersected and multiplied quickly.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"Run!" Dean yelled to Kanae.

The floor was starting to fall through. The monster was about to run, but its foot got stuck in one of the larger crevices. As more cracks appeared, the floor caved in completely. With its weight, the monster fell through first.

BOOM!

The floor below shook hard from the monster's fall and in the next moment, the floor broke through too.

Crack, crack, crack!

BOOM! SPLASH!

From the sound, they instantly knew that the monster dropped into the pool of acid. Screams sounded out from below, but everyone paid no heed. Right now, their attention was on the two people running away from the source of the fracture.

"Run, Rei!" Jason yelled anxiously.

Kanae ran as quickly as she could, but she could not reach the safe area in time. Her feet lost stable ground, and she felt gravity pulling her down.

"REI!" Jason screamed when he saw Kanae falling down.. He anxiously ran towards the edge of the breach, hoping that the girl was still there.