As soon as they saw the blood arrows, two figures moved swiftly: Alex and Henry. Alex wanted to create a blood shield, but he couldn't protect the entire group, so he hesitated for a split second. In that same moment, Henry activated his power. The arrows, which had come from every direction, suddenly stopped in mid-air.
"It's a trap. Be careful!" Henry shouted to everyone. Seeing the halted arrows, Alex dashed forward at full speed. There were dozens of blood dolls, each holding bows made of blood, preparing to unleash another volley. But Alex was much faster. In just one second, he crossed twenty meters and appeared in front of the blood dolls, slicing three of them in half with a single swing of his sword.
As soon as they were cut down, dozens more arrows came from all directions. Alex moved with such speed that the eye could barely follow him. Dodging all the arrows, he charged at the closest doll. The doll tried to retreat, but Alex quickly decapitated it.
On the other side of the room, Mike advanced toward the archers. His body transformed into a full suit of gleaming platinum armor, and arrows rained down on him from every angle. They struck his metal armor but left no mark. Mike sped toward the nearest doll. By the time he reached it, he had taken dozens of arrows, but they had only managed to leave a few scratches. Grabbing the doll's head, he tore it off, causing the doll to collapse to the ground. Mike hurled the head like a cannonball at the nearest target, shattering it like it had been hit by artillery.
Henry held his original position, stopping any arrows that came within five meters of him. Joanna and Terry made no moves.
Alex cut through the dolls as if they were nothing. His speed and reflexes were extraordinary, making it impossible for any arrows to hit him. Since entering this area, he hadn't faced any real threat.
As he considered his next move, the room shook violently. Alex lost his balance momentarily, and an arrow nearly struck him, but he deflected it with his sword. While he pondered the cause of the tremor, the shaking intensified, and the room's walls began to crumble on all sides. But what lay beyond wasn't the outside world. Instead, a vast expanse of red land unfolded before them. The entire scene changed in an instant, and the original room vanished, replaced by an endless, flat crimson landscape.
Alex and his team barely had time to process their new surroundings as they were faced with an even bigger problem. Hundreds of blood dolls with bows and stone monsters emerged from the ground in an unending swarm, encircling them. Alex and Mike moved closer to Henry, forming a defensive circle.
Five massive figures appeared among the horde, emerging from different directions. Each stood four meters tall, with blood-red wings, and held terrifying spears, radiating an aura of death. These blood angels, clad in crimson armor and helmets that covered their faces, blocked any path of escape. It wasn't just their formidable appearance or towering height that made them intimidating; their aura exuded a dreadful sense of doom and despair.
"Welcome to my humble abode," a voice called from the north.
Behind one of the blood angels, a figure appeared that shocked everyone. A man hung from a strange vertical platform, with hundreds of tubes snaking out from it, piercing every part of his body. He no longer looked human. Some of the tubes were transparent, carrying a strange red liquid. The voice they'd heard belonged to him. They were surprised he could still speak, as dozens of tubes of varying sizes punctured his head and mouth.
"You've invaded my home and slaughtered my followers. Your arrogance is unbearable. Do you look down on us ordinary people so much that our lives mean nothing to you?" the man shouted, his voice filled with madness. He seemed completely deranged, treating the massacre he had orchestrated as if it were his home and the people he'd killed and turned into puppets as his followers.
"This guy is completely insane. There's no point in talking. Everyone, give it your all—our target is to kill him. Once his ability disappears, all the enemies and the rules he's set will vanish," Henry told the group, summoning a nearly invisible sword in his hand. Alex could see it clearly; it seemed to be made from compressed air, something similar to his own power.
The man continued to scream, but none of them paid him any attention. Hundreds of arrows flew toward them, but Henry stopped them. They were surrounded by stone monsters—tougher than the blood arrows. Henry could handle one or two of these creatures easily, but dealing with dozens of them while fending off the arrows was too much.
"I'll take care of distracting the enemy. You all focus on killing the insane ability user," Joanna spoke up for the first time, surprising Alex. After she finished, five orbs appeared, one on each member's shoulder.
"Don't worry. This is my power: *Light Within Darkness*. These orbs act as beacons. Once I activate my ability, a fog will cover a two-hundred-meter radius, but only those carrying these orbs will be able to see clearly," Joanna explained. Alex looked at the orb floating over his shoulder—it seemed to be made of some sort of smoke. The fog started to appear immediately, and within seconds, the entire area was engulfed.
Alex could see clearly, pinpointing the enemies' positions within the fog. This ability was truly terrifying in combat.
"Awesome! Now we can take this lunatic down easily," Mike yelled. Everyone glared at him in frustration; the fog obscured vision, but it didn't block sound. Mike looked apologetic, so no one reprimanded him further.
Henry was about to speak when something unexpected happened. All the blood angels vanished and reappeared around the madman. Alex's expression grew serious. Only the blood angels posed a significant threat; he could handle the rest of the enemies with ease.
Alex questioned why the mastermind had appeared before them so readily. Even if he was insane, he wouldn't expose himself as a target so easily. This went beyond any survival instinct in human nature. And why hadn't he vanished the moment the fog appeared?
"I think this is his domain. He can't leave this place. After watching us for a while, he realized he couldn't kill us with the ordinary monsters, so he's gathering all his forces in one place to wipe us out. It's a risky strategy, but also a clever one," Alex explained to the group. His meaning was clear. First, the madman couldn't move, and second, he wasn't stupid, so everyone needed to be cautious.
"These blood angels give off a seriously dangerous vibe. In their current formation, we can't kill him, so Mike, Terry, and I will take on the angels, while Alex goes in for the kill," Henry immediately formulated a plan. He was decisive and sharp, recognizing that Alex's speed and attack range made him ideal for the assassination.
"I'll stay back and support. My fog has decent defensive capabilities, but we can't rely on it completely, so be careful," Joanna warned the group, as everyone prepared for a difficult battle. The stone monsters and blood archers alone were tough opponents, but the five blood angels were even more terrifying. This would be an exceptionally grueling fight.
Alex transformed his sword into two blood discs that spun around him, launching into the crowd of stone monsters and archers, cutting down everything in his path. The enemies had no time to react before being sliced apart. Mike, Henry, and Terry followed closely behind, and with each stone monster or archer they defeated, dozens more arrows were launched toward them.