Not far from where the group had found the exsanguinated corpse, A collection of disgusting creatures no taller 4 foot tall were prancing to and fro, wielding crude weapons constructed from stone, metal scraps and whatever else they could find that was sharp and pointy. Clubs, Spears, daggers, machetes. Anything that could maim or bludgeon, the creatures carried. One was even waving around a car's vanity licence plate that was lashed to a length of rebar. It was unclear if it was chosen specifically for what was on the licence, or if it just made a good chopper, as it proudly displayed its weapon that read "WLHUNG". Whichever reason it was, it wouldn't get the chance to make it clear.

Although, whilst the hunting party wasn't too different in the regard of makeshift weapons, even still the creature's weapons held a primitive air.

But perhaps that was simply Seth's ego at work, protecting him from having to be compared to such depraved little monsters.

Aside from the weapons they held, they wore torn rags as clothing, long and floppy hats that looked as if they had stolen them from a garden gnome. The hat, as well as every morsel of clothing they wore, was the same crimson as their skin. The garbs freshly painted with the blood of their victims, especially the hat which was still dripping wet from the fresh coating they had given it. Only a few miniscule parts of their crude clothing was unpainted with blood, although clearly from their unrefined dyeing process known as smearing blood on with their hands.

The spots they had missed, showed that it was not cloth they had fashioned into clothing. Nor was it clothing they had scavenged from a store or from the backs of the dead.

Instead, stitched together with a odd thread that, at first glance, looked like simple string of different colours. But considering the material of their clothing, he was quick to correct that assumption. Their clothing itself was made of some kind of leather. But from the mix of leather tones and the odd patterns in the material made it disturbingly clear it was not animal hide they were fashioned out of.

Delighted and sadistic smiles were plastered across their wretched faces as they danced with glee as they surrounded another collection of victims. A veritable menagerie of exsanguinated bodies littered the ground beneath their feet, with a few strung up from trees like depraved christmas ornaments.

Of the corpses that were scattered across the ground that the monsters were dancing around, there was a mixture of human, mutated abomination and animal. Some, mainly the humans but not exclusively, had some form of binding around their limbs.

There were even signs of bolas wrapped around the legs of some of their victims. With the cruelty they had shown, Seth half expected them to use skulls for the weights of the bolas but thankfully it was just hunks of concrete instead. Perhaps that particular form of twisted barbarity hadn't occurred to them, or perhaps they simply didn't have enough material on hand.

Creeping closer with the rest of the hunting party, Seth situated himself behind a bush littered with berries he had never seen before. But the new type of berries were not what caught his attention, he wasn't stupid enough to try to eat them after all, instead now that he was looking with his own eyes he was focusing on a few odd details.

Specifically, the few of the wretched little creatures that weren't revealing at the death they had sewn. One of them stood out in particular, while the others were in nothing more in their 'leather' clothing, this one had adored itself with all sorts of fanciful objects.

A necklace of feathers, a cape made out of moss and grass, while it wore a crown of… was that teeth? Yes, it was. It wore a crown of teeth, torn from the mouths of all manner of creatures, but he could see some fresh human additions to his head ornament.

In its hand, it didn't hold a weapon like the others, but a staff made of gnarled black wood that split at the top, twisting together to form a natural nest around, what looked like, a chunk of amber the size of Seth's head. While others danced, it stood still, its mouth constantly moving as it muttered silent words that even Seth's terrible lip reading skills could tell were not in any kind of human language.

Of course, what kind of gamer would he be if this sort of combination didn't spawn a single word in his mind.

Mage.

Experience told him that it was, most likely, focusing on casting some kind of spell. Which was odd, because so far everything he knew about events told him that all their abilities came in the form of mutations and evolution. So if these blood covered goblin looking things. If these… Hemogoblins, were some kind of mutation or aberration from humans. Then what was that one?

A secondary mutation like himself? If so, why would it need a staff or to channel spells if it was a mutation?

Questions swam in the churning ocean of Seth's mind, every assumed answer just bringing a slew of new questions alongside it. He had tried asking Angel about it, but all he got completely stonewalled by them, being told that the answer was 'classified' which only made him more suspicious and brought along even more questions.

It was a complete and utter mindfuck. But one thing was clear, staring at it wasn't going to get him any more answers.

Apart from the irritating enigma of a mage, the only Hemogoblins not dancing and celebrating were gathered in a circle a few metres away from the mage. These ones, however, were not impassive.

These hemogoblins, with twisted smiles that cracked their face and reached all the way to their pointed ears, were torturing something that was in the midst of their circle. It was hard for Seth to see what it was, between the distance and the obscuration of the Hemogoblins. All he could make out was a blob marred with fresh scars.

One of the surrounding goblins stepped forward, lashing out with its crude dagger and slicing into the flesh of the unknown creature, which let out a distinctly human cry of pain before a bark sounded, prompting the surrounding Hemogoblins to laugh.

The one who had attacked did not continue, however, instead he leapt back just as a small spike of ice erupted from the ground where it had once been standing before immediately melting into a puddle of harmless water.

Letting out another grating, hyena-like laugh, the Hemogoblin eagerly licked the fresh blood from the blade as it returned to the encirclement. Barely ten seconds went by before another one leapt forward, slashed with its weapon before retreating to avoid the inevitable ice spike.

On and on this torture went, the wretched creatures taking turns to deal out small cuts into their target and move away before it could retaliate. Revealing in its anguished screams, taking every opportunity they could to savour the blood dripping from their weapons.

Not even the wounds themselves were spared, as the blood oozing out of them did not dribble down the blob's flesh, but instead rose into the air like inverse rain. Rising up until they joined an ever growing sphere of blood that hung ominously in the air. No doubt thanks to the tireless effort of the mage.

***

"There looks to be at least 30 of them, maybe more. It's hard to get a good count with them all prancing around like that. They are definitely intelligent and, I don't know the rest of you have seen what they are wearing, but I do not like the idea of these things being near us. We need to eliminate them now."

Astra whispered as she addressed the rest of the group, drawing a crude and rushed battle map in the dirt between them.

"Fox, I want you to start us off. Do your thing, sow chaos and then we will lure them to us. Myself, Bob, Erik and Crow man will be in the thick of it. I want the undead in the front to break their charge. Cynthia, I want you up top. Find a perch and start sniping, same goes for you. You stay in the back, focus on picking them off. Make sure nothing gets around the side of us."

She focused her gaze on Seth as she instructed him on his placement along with the rest of the group. He had absolutely no qualms taking orders from her, even if his placement was out of pity somewhat.

He'd be lying if he said he couldn't feel her gaze lingering on his arm for a few seconds when she was telling him to stay in the back, but that sort of reaction wasn't unexpected. Why else would he have decided to craft a new persona to hide behind if he was going to be offended by such things.

Pitiable but somewhat reliable. That's what he wanted to cultivate. Someone that wasn't going to be dumped as useless, but wasn't in the forefront. A puppet master was better off behind the stage, after all.

Just as they began to move into their attack positions, Seth felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning to see who had stopped him, he was met with the sight of an older gentleman with a short beard and greying hair. Fox, as Astra had called him. No question as to why.

He had a stern look on his face, which was spattered with the early signs of wrinkling, especially around his eyes. From Seth's guess, the guy couldn't have been older than his mid fifties, but was in surprisingly good shape.

The hand that gripped his shoulder was rough and calloused, with a strong grip that would have made for a killer handshake.

"Uh, Hello… Can I help you?"

"You throw knives, right? Think you can throw a few of these for me?"

Seth frowned slightly before looking down at the grey man's other hand. Within the older man's grasp, he could see the confused look on his face, reflected in the collection of mirror shards that he held.