I stayed to the side streets, the ones the guards never bothered with. No torches. No boots echoing against stone. Just narrow alleys where the buildings leaned close enough to blot out most of the Night Sky.
I kept my steps slow, controlled, the dagger hidden beneath my sleeve. Every sound felt louder at night. A shutter creaking. Wind scraping against stone. Somewhere far away, a dog barking.
Nothing suspicious.
No hooded figures or whispered meetings.
No signs of the Traitor Association.
After two days of paranoia and blood, the silence felt wrong.
I stopped beneath a collapsed archway and exhaled slowly, then opened the window I'd been avoiding all night.
"Expedition Status."
The system responded instantly.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Divine Expedition Progress]
Objective: Disband the Traitor Association
Targets Eliminated: 6 / 17
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
My breath caught.
'Six—?'
I stared at the glowing number, my mind refusing to process it.
"That's... not possible."
'I hadn't seen anyone. Hadn't followed anyone. Hadn't even used Gluttony or killed anyone either.'
And yet, four more targets were dead.
Somewhere in this city.
Relief hit me first, sharp and overwhelming. Four less people I had to hunt. Four fewer chances to be stabbed in the dark or dragged into an alley.
Then the terror followed.
'If someone else is killing them, then someone else was here.'
'Best case would be Another Awakened. Worst Case would be some Beast that somehow sneaked it's way into the city.'
I dismissed the screen and pressed my back against the stone wall, scanning the street. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
'Think.'
The traitors weren't random. They had uniforms, symbols. The two I'd killed both wore the same hooded cloak, dark gray with a faded red thread stitched along the hem.
'If someone else was hunting them, they had to know that too. Or they had other Intel I'm not aware of.'
Which would mean they're a lot closer to the other targets than I was.
'Still, there's no guarantee.'
I pushed off the wall and started walking again, slower this time, eyes tracking every shadow. I didn't know if I wanted to find whoever was doing this... or avoid them completely.
That was when I saw it.
At the far end of the street, where the alley curved out of sight, a figure stepped into view.
Hood up.
Dark gray fabric.
Red stitching along the hem.
My muscles locked immediately.
There was no mistaking it.
'The same cloak...!'
I pulled back into the shadow of a doorway and waited, barely breathing as the figure moved closer. They walked quickly, head down, one hand clutched near their chest like they were guarding something.
'Alone. Good.'
My grip tightened around the dagger.
'If I let this one go, someone else might kill them. Or they'd disappear and I'd lose the trail entirely.'
I slipped out behind them, careful to place my feet where the stone was smooth. The distance closed one step at a time.
Ten meters.
Eight.
Five.
Now.
I lunged.
The dagger flashed—
And the figure twisted.
They turned just enough to see me, eyes wide beneath the hood, and bolted.
"Shit!"
They sprinted down the street, cloak flaring behind them.
I chased.
My lungs burned almost instantly. Level one agility wasn't meant for this. The street blurred as we ran, boots slamming against stone, corners coming up too fast.
"Stop!" I shouted, not knowing why I said it.
They didn't even look back.
They ducked into a narrow passage barely wider than a doorway. I followed, nearly slamming into the wall as the path twisted sharply left, then right.
This wasn't random.
They knew the city.
The alley spat us out into a wider road, moonlight spilling down from above. For a split second, I saw their face beneath the hood.
Young.
Human.
They stumbled, just for a heartbeat, and hope surged through me. I pushed harder, closing the distance, fingers brushing the edge of their cloak—
Then they veered sharply and leapt.
I skidded to a stop at the edge of a narrow stairway plunging downward between buildings. By the time I recovered, they were already halfway down, boots clattering wildly as they descended.
"Damn it!"
I followed, nearly tumbling headfirst. The stairs opened into a maze of cramped passages beneath the street, old service tunnels and forgotten walkways. The air smelled damp and stale, the stone slick beneath my feet.
My heart pounded.
Left. Right. Left again.
I lost sight of them.
"Shit!"
I slowed, pressing a hand to the wall, listening.
Footsteps echoed faintly ahead.
Still there.
I pushed on, ignoring the burn in my muscles, my vision narrowing as exhaustion crept in.
'This would have been so much easier if I had a Skill meant for Combat!'
The tunnels sloped upward again, spitting us back out into the open night.
The figure emerged first, sprinting across the street and disappearing into another web of alleys.
I followed seconds later, gasping, chest heaving.
They were already pulling away.
I clenched my teeth and forced myself to keep running.
'How— How the hell can they keep this speed up—'
My legs burned. My vision blurred. But I didn't slow.
Not yet.
Not when one of my targets was within an arms reach.
'This Bastard may be fast, but im persistent. I'll chase them down all Night if I have to.'
I tightened my grip on the dagger and pushed forward, vanishing into the night after them as the city of Veyrion swallowed us both whole.