Vale waited for more bad news to flood, but for some reason, the messages stopped at five.

Vale cracked his whip again as he screamed with no direction:

"5 Invaders!"

As Vale screamed a message they should all understand, having been briefed before, one of the Vana Vilkas who was chasing Awilix paused, looked up at Vale, and then launched a bone it had pulled out from its fur.

Vale was forced to abandon his post.

Thankfully, he didn't go to the ground and was able to make it to another ledge they'd prepared, but he was now entirely out of range of Salome, who was still out of his sight, shrouded by the wolven horde.

But that horde was definitely dwindling…

All he could do was trust Salome would not only win, but had heard him as well. As for his new guests…

'What is their angle?'

Because they sent five, Vale could only assume one thing…

'They noticed the wolves and wanted to investigate what was happening.'

So, the chameleons sent an advance party to scope it out.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Vale looked toward the bend just in time to see the five chameleons scampering with their claws digging into the walls running perpendicular to the ground.

'Damned logic defiers…'

Salome had told him chameleons, whatever the original animals were, couldn't do this! So why could these fuckers?!

Just as Vale predicted, the chameleons stopped, one took out a Dawn's Eye orb, and then from afar, the group watched the carnage unfold as their visages faded into the background. Who knew what this would spell for Vale once… 'if' they won. Would the group signal for an attack because Vale and his forces would be weakened? Or would they just retreat, being satisfied with information? And…

'Just how many eyes does that Dawn bitch have!'

In any case, whichever happened was a sticky situation for Vale.

At least there was some good news.

[Vana Vilkas has been slain]

[+2 Aether]

[Vana Vilkas has been slain]

[+2 Aether]

[Ashen Vilkas has been slain]

[+3 Aether]

Salome was whittling down the foes surrounding her. Although from the time Vale spotted her as she zipped in and out of the small horde, she was obviously not winning as handily as she'd been in the past. Even with nearly 200 Aether Shards consumed, facing a dozen foes, with two of them being fairly strong, wasn't an effortless task.

For the first time ever… Salome had what appeared to be her own blood flowing down her arm, seeing as she hadn't absorbed it. Yet even if Vale wanted to help her, he was in no position to do anything but trust her. He had his own battle to worry about.

She did have that one Trait, though Vale wasn't too sure that was a good thing that it was being used practically.

The group of three had yet to actually kill a foe, because their goal had not yet changed from capturing a few alive, even if they had a few unwelcome spectators.

Awilixed continued to run around, bouncing off walls, while Vale and Two avoided the occasional bone or rock thrown at them.

As for the seven wolves, they were all sufficiently injured and moving much more slowly than before. Their grey coats were splotched with red, and their hateful eyes full of scorn.

Vale had been expecting the worst when the ominous messages rang in his head, but…

'nothing bad has happened yet…'

It was as that thought coursed through Vale's mind that he noticed the shimmering, vague silhouettes of the Chameleon Warriors moving in the distance. He couldn't tell where they were going, and the one holding the orb remained still. But, a moment later, he got his answer whether he wanted it or not.

[Your Worker, , has been slain by a challenger]

'Those assholes!'

It seemed the chameleons had noticed the fake ceiling and had taken the liberty of checking it out… after they did, they entered the crawl space and started attacking the defenseless workers.

Vale watched as the dead body of a pink imp fell from the ceiling and crashed into the floor below, sinking into it once it did.

[Your Worker, , has been slain by a challenger]

Not even a moment later, the voice rang again, spelling the demise of another nameless worker.

'Shit!'

Vale had a decision to make…

He wasn't dumb when making the ceiling. The imps could fly, so he had no reason to make the place easy to access or lead to the rest of the maze. The fake ceiling was implemented only at the beginning of the labyrinth — the first stretch.

So, Vale wasn't worried the chameleons would sneak by into the rest of the dungeon, no… even if they did, they'd be killed eventually. Without the light from the orb, they couldn't camouflage.

The decision at the moment weighing on his mind was whether to abandon his post to save the workers or let them die.

The second dead body of a worker fell through a gap in the ceiling and fell onto a Vana Vilkas, who caught its tiny body and threw it away like it was trash before barely dodging one of Salome's quills.

[Your Worker, , has been slain by a challenger]

As the last nameless worker died… Vale looked down at Awilix, who was moving a little slower than before, having taken a few hits, but still in relatively good shape thanks to Two and his efforts…

At this sight, Vale came to a decision.

'I'm sorry, little ones…'

The group wasn't necessarily all dead, but their escape would be up to them alone.

Vale wasn't going to risk Awilix's life to save Larry, Dickless, and Crow. He stayed where he was and continued to mar the wolves with his whip. Not to mention, he was also the eyes in the sky, able to see both fights.

"The Chameleon Warriors are in the ceiling! Be wary! I don't think they'll engage us, but don't expect any more help from above!"

Vale screamed that before looking down at Awilix and yelling to her:

"It won't be much longer, Salome has only the Wretch and Aberrant left."

Vale clenched his jaw as he watched a Vana Vilkas thrust its nasty claw towards Awilix and force an ugly gash on her shoulder.

'Damn it! Hurry up, Salome!'

Vale looked over to see Salome thrust a hand through the chest of the wretch, holding its heart on the other side.

[Dusk Vilkas has been slain]

[+4 Aether]

The Wretch had finally been slain and all… but the Emergent Aberrant was nearly unscathed and continued to hound Salome with her surprising agility.

Vale looked back toward Awilix just in time to watch her suffer another blow to her bicep.

'Shit…'

Knowing the Aberrant wasn't going to die all too quickly, Vale threw his whip aside along with his hesitation and jumped below into the melee with sword in hand, landing in between Awilix and an Ashen Vilkas who'd been swiping at her.

[Your Worker, Dickless, has been slain by a challenger]

Vale ignored the message as he deftly countered the blow with an Aether empowered punch and then sliced down at the attacker's wrist, severing it.

Awilix looked at Vale with a ferocious glare, whether it meant 'thank you' or 'fuck you,' who knew?

Two, who'd run out of arrows, dropped her bow and picked up her bone dagger, jumping into the fray as well.

[Your Worker, Crow, has been slain by a challenger]

Another despicable message moaned in his ears, but Vale refused to dwell on it.

Instead, he focused on blocking the next wolf's attack, which had been aimed at his face, before kicking it away and countering with a strike of his own, aimed at the chest.

[Ashen Vilkas has been slain]

[+3 Aether]

They didn't particularly need all seven…

'You shouldn't have aimed for my beautiful face…'

Actually, being killed was more of a mercy at this point. So maybe aiming at his face was the right play after all.

Vale jumped back to dodge another swipe.

[Vilkas has been slain]

[+2 Aether]

'Just Vilkas? 2? I see.'

Vale jumped back for some distance and managed to catch a glimpse of the glorious scene of Salome decapitating the wolf girl.

The beautiful demoness didn't even spare a moment to watch the corpse of her foe fall to the ground. Salome had already flapped her wings and rocketed herself just in time to save Two from certain death before mercilessly sinking all of her quills into one target.

[Vana Vilkas has been slain]

[+2 Aether]

With only five beaten, battered, and bruised opponents left, Salome, who'd sufficiently healed herself with Vitality Drain, could do the rest.

Vale ran to Awilix's side and scooped her up before running away and setting her down. It was as he did that he noticed just how sorry a state the feline had been fighting in.

Kneeling next to Awilix, who was letting out staggered breaths, Vale looked back just in time to watch Salome's quills dance through the air, expertly rending the flesh of their targets. The first thing to go was their tendons, severed by quick strikes, followed by their lower jaws.

When the attack was finished, the five remaining wolves were rendered immobile, and the only sounds they made were inarticulate cries.

'A comple…'

'...A victory'

The Chameleon Warrior, against the wall, deactivated the orb and began to retreat. As it did so, the others appeared from the ceiling and followed it.

But not before one last message rang in Vale's ear.

[Your Worker, Larry, has…]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.