Steven rushed forward and released a barrage of piercing strikes towards the monster, each one being blocked by the monster's own attacks. Steven quickly retracted his spear and raised his open hand.
"Crush!"
Two large wall-like shadows emerged from the ground around the monster and began to slide towards each other. Despite how fast the walls were going, the monster still managed to evade Steven's shadows and began charging towards him.
The monster lunged forward, directing its polearm's blade towards Steven's head. The monster thrusted its polearm forward, only just barely missing because Steven managed to redirect it with the back of his spear. Using that same momentum, Steven managed to block the monster's next attack, leaving it wide open for a counter.
"When did he get so good with the spear?" I asked myself, watching from a distance so I wouldn't end up in the crossfire.
Right as Steven was about to land a fatal blow, the monster let out a blood curdling screech which froze Steven up just enough for the monster to jump back.
When I returned to my senses, the sound of multiple footsteps began echoing from within the tunnels. I almost instantly knew then why the monster had screamed like that.
"Takamori was right. These monsters don't even have the slightest hint of honor." I jumped up to my feet and unsheathed Genki.
Right as two monsters jumped into the clearing, I made quick work and struck them down. As I looked into the dark tunnel, I realized just how many glowing eyes there were.
"Lousy boss called for reinforcements!" I shouted, slicing a monster in half before blocking the attack of another monster jumping out from the darkness.
"I'll make sure to wrap this up quickly then." Steven placed his open hand on the ground, keeping his eyes locked on the monster the entire time.
"Nah take your time. I'll deal with these guys before they can become a problem for you." I said, defeating three monsters with one slash.
I quickly looked back at Steven just in time to see a giant bull emerge from the shadows. Within seconds, the bull charged towards the monster and slammed it against the wall, creating a large dent which soon led to a giant crack forming in the wall.
The monster shook its head and pulled itself out from the large crater it had been slammed into. The monster let out a wicked cackle before appearing right before Steven. Before Steven even had time to react, the monster slammed the back of its polearm into Steven's face. A large smacking noise echoed throughout the cave, soon followed by the crashing noise created from Steven getting launched into a wall. A large dust cloud appeared where Steven had crashed, making it impossible to see if he was okay or not.
"Steven!" I went to turn around and run towards him but was forced to stop when four monsters jumped out from the tunnel and attempted to hit me.
Although it wasn't difficult to dodge the attacks, the monsters made it almost impossible to find a chance to escape and run towards Steven. All I could do there was stand there and dodge whatever these monsters threw at me.
"Zi is still conscious which means Steven's okay. Just relax and focus on dealing with these monsters for now." Genki said in a reassuring tone.
I took a deep breath, "alright."
"That was a solid hit. But I'm just getting started!" Steven's voice shot out from the dust.
When the dust cleared, Steven had a large smirk plastered on his face as he pointed his spear low to the ground. A small circle appeared underneath the blade and kept growing until it completely surrounded both him and the monster leader.
"I wonder how many I can handle?" Steven asked himself while also rising upward.
Using his open hand, Steven snapped his finger, "this spell isn't even close to completion but I'll give it one-hundred and ten percent! Neromancy!"