Hirrus attacked quickly and without mercy. While the woman’s armor left a lot of exposed skin, the defensive statistics it provided were still in effect. Against a non-adventurer, his axe to her bare back would have cleaved through her spine, killing her instantly. Instead, the solid strike did six thousand one hundred and twenty-four damage and opened a deep wound that instantly covered her lower body with a curtain of blood.

The woman’s reaction was much more lucid and competent than Hirrus expected. Instead of panicking or shrieking, she whirled on him with death in her eyes. His follow-up attack was sent awry by a skillful parry by her broadsword even as it appeared in her hand.

Inwardly, Hirrus admonished himself for underestimating her just because of her tactically irresponsible outfit.

Before he could bring his weapon to bear for a third strike, she lashed out at him with her leg in a vicious kick, clearly fueled by some manner of Arcana. The strike dealt five thousand three hundred and thirty-nine damage, but also sent him sliding back across the wooden floor.

Hirrus came to a stop just at the top of the stairs, mere inches from tumbling down them.

“He’s here!” she bellowed, her voice cracking with the effort. “He’s upstairs!”

Hirrus answered her call with a gout of fire. His Peppered Breath filled the hallway. He thought it would leave the woman with no way to escape, but she dove into the backroom and slammed the door closed to stop the flames before they reached her.

This one was much smarter than others he had faced in this endless night of conflict.

After her shout, there was a thunder of feet coming from below.

Hirrus glanced at the stairs. Either her allies would be coming up behind him while he went after her, or he would have to deal with them knowing that he was leaving his back open to her coming back for him.

Neither was a good option.

He needed a more robust strategy than just leaving himself caught between them.

The first figure filed into view at the foot of the stairs. He was wearing plate armor that appeared to be made out of carved bones rather than metal plates, carefully arranged so that it wouldn’t click-clack together as he ran. Right behind him was a woman in red robes bedecked with black iron jewelry piercing her ears, nose, and eyebrows. Behind them were two more that slammed into the wall as those first two rushed up at him.

Four.

Five, with the woman cowering from the flames behind him.

In his previous life, five was more than he was comfortable facing. Especially when those five were adventurers who seemed to shrug off killing blows.

But fortune smiled upon him. Hirrus had recently acquired just the tool for this. He felt a slow smile slither across his face.

The quartet rushed up at him. In response, Hirrus summoned up sparkles of energy before his eyes.

Melusine’s Eye took a moment to cast, and the man in bone plate armor almost closed the distance up the stairs before the ability unleashed. But he wasn’t fast enough. None of them were.

Glowing energy blasted out down into the stairwell, dealing some minor damage to the group - between two and three thousand to each one - but more importantly, those it struck were frozen in place. The Arcana description called it Calcified. Hirrus knew it would last for more than long enough for him to deal with the woman in the room behind him.

He rushed the door. It flung open before he reached it. His axe was raised and ready, but the woman sped at him with speed and intent that surprised him. She slammed her foot into his chest again for four thousand two hundred and fifty-two damage, sending him skidding back once more.

The woman used the newly created space to step out of the room and into the hall, bringing her blade to bear against him.

Threatening her would be pointless. Despite his desire to express the futility of her struggle, what could he have hoped to accomplish? She wasn’t going to give up, and even if she chose not to fight, he wasn’t going to let her leave.

It was obvious that these adventurers were members of Last of the Strong. And if they were permitted to enter Orlina’s home, they were likely a part of their crimes against Yenon.

He had no wish to dissuade them from fighting him.

Instead, he activated his Iron Typhoon and stepped up to meet her. Her blade lanced out towards him, and it was his turn to deflect her strike. Instinct took hold and he twisted his left arm to turn his parry into a full block, stopping her weapon cold. With an effort of his superior BUR, he pushed against her weapon, unbalancing her. Instead of unlocking their weapons and lashing out with his axe, he let go of the haft of his weapon and lashed out.

The punch connected with her face. It only did two thousand nine hundred and fourteen damage, but a double strike activated, adding another two thousand one hundred and eighty six damage to the quick strike.

Damage wasn’t the point, however.

The unexpected hit made the woman stumble, and Hirrus' instincts showed through. Her foot landed on a weak board in the floor, and it didn’t just creak, but splintered in the middle. The board didn’t break, but it created an uneven spot beneath her foot.

Hirrus had a memory of carrying Julissa up the stairs the time she sprained her ankle in the garden, and spraining his own immediately when his foot came down on that very spot.

This home wasn’t just superficially a duplicate of his own. It was a copy, as if it had been taken, board for board and stick for stick, and duplicated to the tiniest detail. That gave him an advantage.

But not one he needed to use just yet. The created opening was more than enough for him. Hirrus’ axe ripped through the air and smashed into her side. He scored a critical hit. Ten thousand five hundred and ninety-nine damage. The stumble that had left her open turned into a full-on fall, and her body slammed into the wall before crumpling to the floor.

Hirrus had a few more moments before the quartet on the stairs were ready and able to fight, and he intended to make use of every second. Phrase of Luminosity started to restore a paltry few hit points as he reviewed his options and selected his next move. Eyes On Me caused sparks to glimmer before his eyes, increasing his ATT before he stepped up to the top of the stairs and unleashed his attack straight down into the stairwell.

Mortal Ray hammered into the four adventurers frozen on the stairs, breaking through the Calcified debuff and sending them tumbling back down from the added knockback. Unfortunately, his BUR-focused gear meant that it did just a little tickle of damage even with the Eyes On Me buff. The one who took the most damage only suffered two thousand one hundred and seventy damage. The other three took closer to one thousand eight hundred each.

As the group landed at the bottom of the stairs in a heap, he wondered if he should switch his gear away from the solitary focus on BUR. If he wanted to take advantage of the wide selection of tools his Arcana offered, he needed to similarly diversify his statistics.

His foes recovered and rallied quickly, speaking to their effectiveness as combatants. The man in bone armor paused for just a moment, activating an Arcana that sheathed him in silvery energy before he charged back up the stairs. Hirrus took the first step down to meet the man, intending to hold the head of the stairs and use the elevated position to his tactical advantage.

The sword in the hands of the man ascending the stairs was of a wavy design, with a square-cut green emerald embedded in the hilt. It swept up at Hirrus as soon as he was within reach, the wavy blade tracing the quick and efficient slash of a soldier. Hirrus managed to turn aside and let the attack pass him by, but the upward slash positioned the weapon perfectly to parry any weapon attack Hirrus could make in return.

Instead of attacking with a weapon, Hirrus decided to get one more use out of Eyes On Me and unleashed Clive’s Leer attack, blasting the whole group with the blue-green sparks out of his eyes. The man in front took one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven damage, and those behind took similar amounts. Hirrus knew the Arcana had strong multipliers, but the lack of ATT and RES from his gear was cutting into his efficiency.

The man on the stairs reached forward with his free hand instead of his weapon. A blue glow engulfed his fingers as he slapped Hirrus' chest. That energy spread through Hirrus’ body, afflicting him with a Chilled debuff. This debuff reduced his movement speed by 40% for the next thirty seconds, which Hirrus didn’t mind. He wasn’t intending on fleeing.

It would really only affect him if they turned tail to run. Given their efficiency thus far, he doubted that was going to be on their minds until it was too late.

Hirrus brought his axe down on the man in the bone armor before another attack could be made, scoring a double strike hit on him. The attack did five thousand six hundred and fifty-nine damage, with the near-simultaneous second strike adding four thousand.

The damage caused the silver energy sheathing the man to shatter, filling the air with shards of metallic light that sliced across Hirrus' body, dealing nearly two thousand damage in return.

Despite the apparent warding Arcana, the man stumbled down a step in the face of the damage of Hirrus' attack.

A lance of blue energy, shot through with golden threads, lanced up the stairs from the other adventurers at the base of the stairs.

There was nowhere to go. Not while he was Chilled.

Hirrus braced for impact, but instead of striking him, it struck the man before him in the back. The golden threads shimmered around the impact, and blue energy illuminated the bleeding wound on the man’s upper arm where Hirrus' blow had landed.

When the light faded, only a little smear of blood and a newborn scar remained.

“Someone start a convo with Orlina,” the woman in red robes said. Even though her words indicated that she spoke to everyone, only one of the others behind her reacted. “We’ll have this cleaned up in a few minutes, and she can come on home again.” She raised her empty hands, blue and gold energies shimmering around her fingers.

“And that she should have sent us from the start,” the man in bone armor added as he stepped up, his wavy sword raised to thrust at Hirrus again. “This is a job for real raiders, not filthy casuals.”