"Here he comes, get ready." XiYang said as he grabbed a round stone. Janet hefted her one-handed hammer and brought up her shield. Risa aimed her staff in front of her and prepared to cast some spells as soon as the demon guards were in range.

Pine rushed into the alley and dove to the side to avoid his party's incoming attacks. XiYang switched into Iai Stance and smashed the stone with a topspin-sidespin combo. The topspin increased the speed of the shot and the sidespin indicated a ricochet shot. Back in his own world, this move would at best ricochet two times. However, here...coupled with his paddle's special attributes, he was able to do more than two times.

"Iai Stance: Chain Lightning!" XiYang roared as the stone blasted towards the demon guard in the front. The stone smashed into the demon guard's head, stunning him, before bouncing towards the next demon guard.

*BAP!* *BAP!* *BAP!* *BAP!*

Four sounds...four hits...and four demon guards stunned. Seeing the guards stunned, Janet took advantage of this situation and rammed her shield into the guards, sending them all crashing into the ground. Risa shot water needles into the guards piercing their throats and silencing them. Pine rolled to his feet and in one smooth motion, shot four arrows into the demon guards' hearts.

"Four down, six more to go...Pine, you think you can lure some more here?" Janet asked.

"Sure. I ca-." Pine started but was interrupted by XiYang.

"No, not here. We need to move to another location."

"Okay."

The four left the premises and snuck around in the shadows. XiYang looked around, "It's strange how there are no humans here. Did the demons eat them all?"

"No...they're probably locked up in the dungeon below the castle over there." Pine reasoned.

"Dungeon eh...how many demons are left? Six more right? With all this noise we have caused, I'm sure Tor and Nile had also woken up."

"It's likely. What should we do next?"

"Let's go to the castle."

"The castle? That's dangerous." Risa interjected.

"Haha, where are the demons now? They're outside searching for us of course. The safest place is naturally the place they won't suspect us of going...in this case, the castle."

"Hmm...that makes sense."

Upon reaching the castle, they found the door unlocked. Pushing the door open, they crept inside.

"Where do you think the dungeon is? Is there a trapdoor or something?" XiYang asked.

"Hmm, no trapdoor. I've been here before this place was overrun by demons and I remember there was a stairway that leads to the dungeons below." Pine mused.

"Then, let's hurry and get there before the other demons come back."

As XiYang and his party walked towards a hallway, Pine suddenly let out a warning. He had sensed something moving in the shadows and lunged at XiYang. "Look out!"

Pine pushed XiYang out of the way and was stabbed by a demon. The demon was Nile. Janet rushed towards her fallen comrade and swung her hammer towards Nile. Nile jumped backwards and raised her dagger up in a defensive stance.

"Risa, hurry and heal Pine. Check for poison as well." XiYang exclaimed.