Rosslyn waited a moment before she asked another question.

  What are the creatures doing? Staring at us? she thought.

  No, Adon sent back immediately. For a minute, I thought they hadn’t noticed us yet, but actually, they’re trying hard not to look. Almost burying their heads underneath each other’s bodies to the extent that they can.

  It is the light, Rosslyn thought. They fear the light, or their eyes cannot tolerate it.

  Is that a trait of, um, kobolds? Adon asked.

  Every dungeon’s monsters have different qualities specific to the dungeon that formed them. Her inner voice was slightly distracted, as if her mind was juggling other ideas. Sure enough, Adon was able to easily read the secondary train of thought with only a slight effort.

  If they are sensitive to the light, the next step is obvious.

  What do we do next? Adon sent, fairly certain he already knew.

  Are they wearing clothes? Rosslyn thought in response.

  What? Adon was slightly taken aback.

  Rags, loincloths, is there anything? Rosslyn’s thought process was clear, and Adon followed it quickly to understand why she was asking. If the kobolds are wearing clothes, it is a definite sign of intelligence. Some of them are able to think, and some are not, depending on the dungeon. The intelligent species within any given dungeon are able to do complex things like set ambushes.

  Adon focused his sight as best he could, though that was not really the strength of his particular mode of vision. He saw nothing. No clothing, no rags or loincloths of any kind to protect the kobolds either from the cold or from the eyes of others of their kind.

  They’ve got nothing, Adon replied confidently.

  “Great,” Rosslyn said aloud. Adon sensed her smile in the corner of his vision. “Thanks, Adon.” She raised her voice to speak to the whole group. “Everyone! On my signal, we charge the monsters at the far wall. You will know it when you see it!”

  Adon had a moment to note that William was silently annoyed that Rosslyn was giving orders to his knights without consulting him.

  Then Rosslyn used her special magic again.

  This time, Adon heard what she said, though he realized she had not actually muttered it quietly, either before or this time. Rather, it had been something she merely thought to herself, which he had not properly heard.

  Divine Sword, Second Form, Contained Star.

  Light surged with and all around Rosslyn’s body, then compressed itself into a small ball of energy that shot forward from the middle of her chest, toward the kobolds.

  And the group charged.

  Swords, axes, and other chosen weapons of the knights flashed in the air, either held in the opposite hand from torches or, in some cases, while the torches dropped to the ground beside where they had stood before.

  Adon, Rosslyn, the young lords, and the spiders joined in as well, all converging toward the far wall where the kobolds still stood, apparently just trying not to look at the light that the unwelcome intruders had brought with them.

  As they drew nearer the kobolds, the orb of light Rosslyn had launched reached within a few feet of the creatures—and it exploded outward, turning into a miniature supernova before everyone’s eyes.

  Adon’s eyes hurt a bit immediately, and he had to quickly turn his entire body to face away from the brightness, since he had no eyelids to protect him from the blinding rays of white.

  Even then, the light burned his eyes until he shifted his wings from transparent to opaque and positioned them so as to shield himself from view.

  A moment later, Rosslyn was within reach of the kobold’s, and Adon, on her shoulder, was treated to much hacking and slashing as she joined the rest of the knights in destroying the monsters.

  Adon reversed his position again—Rosslyn had closed the distance with the kobolds so fast that the miniature star was now positioned behind them—and he threw himself up at one of the kobolds that was trying to crawl onto the ceiling.

  The creature did not seem to perceive Adon at all as the butterfly approached. Its eyes continuously blinked as if it was trying to recover from being blinded, but it kept being blinded anew each time its eyes reopened.

  The butterfly took advantage of the monster’s blindness. He charged his body with mana, instantly surging it to the edges of his wings, and he zipped into close range in a flash. With barely a second to hesitate, he swiped the mana-infused edge of his left wing across the beast’s throat.

  The kobold let out a choking noise, and then its neck burst like a balloon.

  Adon barely managed to dodge the gush of blood that surged out, and he immediately changed direction and attacked the next nearest creature close to the ceiling.

  The overhead surface of this space was too high up for most of the knights to conveniently reach, so Adon had several minutes of joyously feeling useful as he used his wings to hack and slash at the unprepared bodies of the kobolds, ripping through their tenderest and most vulnerable places.

  The butterfly knew he had killed at least a half dozen by the end, probably closer to ten or eleven, though it was hard to account for creatures he had only wounded and forced to fall from the ceiling versus those he actually slew personally.

  The knights, lords, spiders, and Rosslyn killed the rest of the creatures.

  Even the arachnids had managed to contribute, despite being small and unable to fly, as Samson launched a few well-placed mana balls to at least wound some of the monsters, while Goldie’s venom spray proved incredibly lethal when aimed at these reptiles. Adon felt certain, though he had been unable to track her progress closely, that she had wounded at least as many as him.

  Not a single one of the creatures that had been massed against the wall managed to escape. As the light from Rosslyn’s little supernova faded, the area filled with the stench of death, mingled with the resonance of tired but enthusiastic cheers.

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  “I knew we had it in us!” declared one knight.

  “The first level was easy enough,” agreed another—though Adon sensed an uneasiness in that knight’s heart that belied his spoken words.

  “Let us go and do the whole dungeon tonight!” shouted a third.

  “Well done, brave companions,” Rosslyn said loudly, cutting off some of the increasingly energetic murmuring from the knights. “This was the easiest part, but it speaks well of our skills that we accomplished it so quickly.”

  As Rosslyn and the others spoke, Adon had set down on the nearest fallen kobold and dipped his proboscis into the life’s blood that pulsed from its neck as it took its dying breaths,

  Hey, this is pretty good quality stuff, he thought. It was the first floor of the dungeon, and already, the blood from the creatures there tasted almost on the same level as the mystic beast he had eaten beforehand—no, perhaps not quite that enriching. But similar, at least, to the eagle.

  “This was the easy part,” a knight murmured.

  Adon heard his thought process taking a dark turn, and even though he did not know the man’s name, he thought this was an ideal moment to step in.

  If only I knew what to say… or knew this guy at all!

  It felt like a pivotal moment, as one or two other knights looked at the one who had spoken with apparent interest. Adon could feel them considering what the man had said to himself. It was only a few people who were wandering into this head space, but Adon knew that a funk could be as contagious as any disease, especially in a group that needed to work closely like this one.

  He racked his brain for an idea, even as he drained the kobold to refill his faltering Biomass reserves. The butterfly even considered using mental magic to make his brain process the situation more quickly. Surely that would guarantee he did not put his foot into his mouth!

  Fortunately, Rosslyn stepped in before anything unnecessary could happen.

  “This was the easiest part,” she repeated, stepping into close range to speak with the knight. “But I say that only because of the actual, physical mechanics of our task here.”

  The knight looked slightly confused, and Adon read the same thing in his mind.

  What exactly does she mean?

  “Sir, you have fought in battles before, yes?” Rosslyn asked.

  “I have,” the knight said, nodding.

  Two, and one of them was barely more than a skirmish, really—but what qualifies as a battle is all in who is doing the telling, I say, the man thought.

  “But there were none like this,” Rosslyn said.

  The knight nodded slowly.

  She understands.

  “This time was not so much a battle as a slaughter,” Rosslyn summarized.

  He nodded again.

  “I guess I should be grateful,” he said quietly, a little sheepish.

  “Your warrior spirit does you credit, sir knight,” Rosslyn replied seriously. “When I said that this was easy, I just meant the physical work was. It will always be messy work and ugly work, but as long as my comrades are safe, I am happy at the end of the day.” She smiled and wiped a few droplets of blood from one cheek. “It was a gory mess, but if you look around—well, as much as I appreciate honorable and challenging fights, I think a slaughter is a better way for this expedition to start.”

  The knight snickered at that.

  “Yes, Your Highness,” he said after a moment. “I hope you will forgive my talking out of turn. It is your expedition and your country, and I am only a visitor…”

  I guess that’s why she never used his name, Adon thought. She doesn’t know this guy. But how did she establish such good rapport with him so quickly? I guess royalty has to have excellent social skills, but I don’t think I understand the method…

  Rosslyn was shaking her head at the knight’s comment.

  “If we had more visitors like you,” she said, looking firmly into the knight’s eyes with an earnest expression, “the heir to the throne would not be trying to figure out how to defend the capital city from monsters and the Empire all at once. I certainly would not be underground. But such are the stakes we fight for.”

  The man nodded, serious again.

  “Yes, ma’am—er, Your Highness.”

  How do you do that, Rosslyn? Adon sent, as the Princess placed a hand on the knight’s shoulder, gave a reassuring squeeze, and stepped in the butterfly’s general direction.

  How do I do which part? Rosslyn thought in response. The orb of light, I am afraid, is meant to be one of those family secrets that I have mentioned previously—although my suspicion is that you could use light magic extremely well, and I would be interested in trying some experiments out with you at a later time if you are interested and time permits.

  Not that, Adon transmitted, wishing he could roll his eyes in this form. The social interactions. How did you just instantly reassure that guy? I was impressed.

  He had been tempted to ask her where she got her confidence from, but that sounded lame to his own internal filters, so he knew it would probably sound even worse if Rosslyn heard it.

  She looked down at him for a moment.

  Sometimes I forget that you have never been a leader of any kind, Rosslyn replied finally. She added, almost apologetically, Almost everyone in my social circle is, de facto, in charge of other people.

  It’s a skill I would be interested in learning, Adon sent immediately.

  Well, with soldiers, you just have to understand where they are coming from, Rosslyn thought. Knights are frequently no different from other soldiers, except that they take pride in a higher degree of martial skill—although there is sometimes a significant difference between those who come from a noble family and those who have risen through the ranks of society by sheer merit and talent alone.

  That’s nice, but very non-specific, Adon replied bluntly.

  Rosslyn smiled with amusement. You have to understand people? Is that a hard thing? Even if you are not a literal mind reader—as you, in fact, are—if you spend time around certain types of people, you inevitably come to see things from their point of view to some extent. It was why, even though I disliked Lord Baranack when he was in my father’s employ, I found it difficult to consider that he could be a traitor. I could see good reasons for him to hold the views he held about—well, about many things, including topics that were pertinent to me personally—but also his apparent affinity for some aspects of the Demon Empire’s administration. I suppose that example shows that, at the end of the day, opening yourself to other people can create vulnerabilities too. But if you do not, you will spend a great deal of time feeling alone—and making others feel that way.

  Is that what I do? Adon wondered to himself, not yet replying. Do I leave people feeling alone?

  Of course, you already have this basic skill, Rosslyn thought, almost as if she had heard Adon’s silent questions. You have demonstrated it with Goldie. She trusts you with her life. And you have demonstrated it with me. More than I trust most people, I trust you.

  Adon thought that he did not actually understand the Princess nearly as well as he wanted to most of the time—which was part of how they got into misunderstandings like his interference in her duel—but he decided not to ruin the moment. The Princess was smiling warmly in his direction, the advice she had given, while vague, might help him, and the day was going well.

  “So, how is the food?” she asked quietly.

  And Adon realized that while this conversation had gone on, he had still been quietly draining away the last of this kobold’s juices. The body began to make a sound like a juice box when the straw has sucked away all of the liquid inside—and the person with the straw has continued to suck.

  In his mind, Adon groaned.

  Now I look like a weird monster…