The dark stone flew straight at the head of one of the creatures. The vicious little demon had managed to open a gnarly wound on the arm of one of the human fighters. Sarah had a split second impression that the blond man looked familiar, but the sudden explosion of the creature's head got all her attention.

The first creature the marble-looking stone touched had its head explode in a thousand pieces. The second one got a gaping hole on its chest and as the stone lost height and dove deep in the sea of creatures Sarah lost sight of it. But if the popping sounds followed by shrieks were any indication, she could imagine the kind of damage the thing was wreaking. The system's messages popped a couple times on the bottom of her view.

[You have slain a Plagued Goblin.]

[You have slain a Plagued Goblin.]

What the fuck was that thing? Sarah couldn't avoid being flabbergasted. But before she could turn and ask Ani, dozens of beady eyes turned to them. Sarah adjusted the sword in her hand before speaking.

"Alright. Stick behind me, Ani. We will use the buildings to negate their numerical advantage and…" Sarah's left hand probed behind her as she tried to gauge how close Anichka was, but after a few retreating steps she realized something was wrong.

"What are you doing, Miss Sarah? We need to run." Ani's voice came from further behind her.

The absurdity of the incoherence of Ani's actions left Sarah utterly shocked. The surprise was such that Sarah did something she would've never done in a fight. She took her eyes off the enemy to look behind her. The awkwardly running form of Ani and her disproportionate backpack getting further and further away. Sarah forced her irritation away through sheer force of will. With a glance toward the enemy, which was now only a few meters away from her, she spun on her heels and ran toward Ani. With her strong legs one might say that Sarah wasn't running, but galloping.

"I don't even have the mental energy to question you anymore, Ani. Just tell me what to do already." Sarah caught up to Ani in a few breaths, and now she was jogging while keeping up with the huffing and puffing diminutive blond.

"Just… Follow… Me…" Ani said between labored breaths. Sarah couldn't help but wonder why the girl had insisted on carrying the backpack with her all the time, even in this situation. But she had more pressing issues to worry about. Although Ani seemed to be running with all her might, the creatures were slowly closing in on them.

"Drop the backpack, Ani. We can get it later. They will catch up to us." Sarah spoke firmly, but calm. She was already calculating how to buy time if it came to that. Too busy to question herself why she should, Sarah only focused on how she would.

"Almost… There…" Ani's breathing was getting more and more labored. Sarah decided not to speak any longer. Talking would only make this harder on the girl.

They had been running for less than half a minute when Ani did a sharp turn and entered a random building. It was tall and narrow, but otherwise had no distinctive features. Passing by the door behind Ani, the first thing that caught her attention was the wide and winding stairs on the center of the building. It reminded her of the kind of stairs you would find in a lighthouse. She wanted to ask Ani how she found such a perfect place for the fight, but she held her tongue. They would have plenty of time for questions later.

Ani slowed down tremendously, and with broad but slow steps started to make her way up the stairs. She moved up the stairs to get out of the way for Sarah.

"I… will… go ahead… Miss Sarah." Ani's voice was hoarse, and she gasped for air like a drowning sailor.

"Don't you worry, dear. I will catch up to you in a minute." Sarah positioned herself in the bottom of the stairs. Going above for higher ground would only make it harder for her. The creatures were already mid abdomen high.

Sarah cleared her head of any thoughts but how to kill the nasty devils. It didn't take longer than a couple moments before the first ones started throwing themselves inside the building and at her. They were clumsy, uncoordinated and unskilled, but they made up for it in numbers and ferocity. There was strength in the disregard of one's own safety when attacking. Sarah knew to respect that.

Sarah cut the first one down with ease, a one-handed diagonal swipe of her blade cleaved the creature in half. She used her spare hand for balancing. She wasn't by any means proficient with the sword, it was actually her first time using one, but if the enemies would just keep throwing themselves at her blade, it shouldn't be hard.

Sarah cut down the second across its midsection. The third she missed the torso but severed its arm. She kicked the one armed little devil towards the others. The shrieking creature tumbled down the couple steps that Sarah had given for them and slowed down the encroaching mob just enough for her to recover her footing. The next little green devil came and lost half its face. It fell flat on the steps, blood making it even more slippery. Sarah retreated another step. Each kill she would go up one or two steps, allowing the creatures to advance on top of the dead bodies of the ones who came before them.

Their bodies were soft and their bones brittle. It was too easy. Sarah felt like she was bullying them. Maybe she would have even had some pity if they were less hideous and didn't want to tear her face. When her right arm started to slow due to fatigue she changed hands. She wasn't ambidextrous, but she had extensive training in hand-to-hand combat, the arrogant system had deemed her master in the art. At least it was smart enough to recognize a master when in the presence of one, Sarah conceded.

When Sarah was halfway up the stairs she finally cut down the last of the creatures. Her chest raised and fell rhythmically as she applied her breathing techniques. She wasn't exhausted, far from it, but the constant exertion was tough even for her. She was used to five minutes long rounds in the octagon, but rarely was she exchanging blows non stop like this, especially considering the extra weight of the sword. Sarah wasn't sure how long the fight had lasted, but she felt like she had just fought a tough five minute round.

With her adrenaline subsiding she finally started to pay attention to her other senses. The first to assault her was the smell. The blood and innards of the creature's remains emanated a repugnant scent. Sarah gagged and pinched her nose with her right hand. At some point, it seems the system had popped up a message on the bottom of her vision.

[You have acquired the skill Sword Fighting (Initiate).]

Sarah wasn't sure how to feel about this. The system was now giving her skills? Or recognizing her impressive learning abilities. Either way, she couldn't care less about information she could surmise. She dismissed it with indifference.

After discarding the distraction, Sarah looked down at the carnage on the lower steps and couldn't help but turn away. Even if they were not human, it was still disgusting. As much as Sarah was desensitized with violence, death wasn't something she was used to seeing first hand. She hurriedly went up the stairs, no longer wanting to stand in front of the product of her battle.

She found Ani comfortably resting on a chair besides a window in the topmost floor of the building. The stairs led all the way to the roof, but Ani had decided to stay here.

"I am glad to be of service, my princess." Sarah couldn't help but be sarcastic. She wouldn't hold a grudge against Ani, the girl had pulled her weight on her own way. Her mysterious intuition was the only reason Sarah had a proper weapon and not a bat or a piece of metal. Although she was confident she would have made do with either, she probably wouldn't be unscathed as she was.

"Thank you, Miss Sarah. I knew you would play your part splendidly." Ani spoke in her sweet voice but serious tone. Sarah was trying, but it was hard to get used to the contrast. The girl's personality and her physical characteristics didn't fit, at all.

"Thanks… I guess. Anyway, care to explain what that black marble thing you gave me was? And don't tell me it was your intuition thingy, I'm not asking how you found it or why you have it. I wanna know what it is." Sarah launched her question without giving Ani time to interject, not that the girl seemed especially inclined to even answer.

"It's not time for us to talk about such things yet, Miss Sarah. The wave is not over." Ani's words and her fixed gaze on somewhere far down the street below made Sarah curious. She approached the window and looked in the general direction that Ani seemed to be staring at.