Leo stopped suddenly, his hand raised as a sudden pressure settled on his shoulder. There was no expnation for it. They hadn't eveered London's outskirts yet, and the night was still a good few hours away.

  "Do you feel it?" He asked, trying to expand his meager seo find the source of his troubles.

  Nyx nodded. 'Indeed. It's weaker from what es during the night, but...'

  "It's still discerting," he finished for her. "Yeah... My thoughts exactly. And I thih have and idea where it's ing from. Naz'Tor warned us after all. Shit, it's worse than I expected, and we're not even there yet."

  'Don't lose faith, Leo. Remember what you've promised.'

  He sighed. "I know. I know. Sorry, old habits die hard." Shaking his head, he turned away from the road and looked right at the forest to the north. "We gh there. If I'm n, it should let us get to Dartford in a few minutes."

  Nyx shot him a look. 'What? Why? We're almost there. Why ge the path now?'

  "The Thames River," Leo answered right away. "I want to see what happeo it before we go any deeper. It runs through the entire London, after all."

  'You think...'

  He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, but I'm not gonna ignore his warning. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to find out if there are any water-type Voidlings in the river that we should be aware of. You ever have too muformation."

  Finally, the feline nodded. 'So be it. Lead the way then. I know nothing of these parts of the world.'

  Leo snorted, jumping off the road and diving into the forest. Trust me, I'm not much better off. I'm running on what I remember from the i maps, my trips to London, and the few remaining signs we saw on the way.

  Nyx joined in the ughter. 'Why am I not surprised?'

  Wait for me here. Leo ordered, jumping onto the tallest tree in the area and climbing to the top with a series of well-pced leaps. Void had already made it much higher than it probably was two weeks ago, so he had no problem gazing down onto a vast part of Dartford's neighborhood.

  Not good. He grimaced, the tless Voidlings prowling the streets. Many he reized, while others were unfamiliar.

  Cursed Runners, normies, Screamers, Crawlers, and even Reapers—all were present. However, amidst them, he had already identified two ypes.

  A Sprinter, seemingly an evolution of the Runner. And Cursed Walkers, which, alongside the Reapers, made up a signifit portion of the Voidlings in the area. Quite a surprise indeed.

  What the hell are you? Leo furrowed his brow, sing the fully mutated human who still seemed simir to a normie. The only hing was the third arm that came out of their bad hovered above their head.

  Race: Voidling | Subspecies: Cursed WalkerExpected Potential: F+ to E+on of choice: Essence, own weaknesses: Head, Third ArmAn advanced version of the base Cursed variant. Along with Cursed Reapers, it's the most popur evolution in the early stages of an Outbreak. The body of a Walker is now fully adapted to the power of the Void, and thus, they are much strohan their predecessors. Additionally, their third arm is capable of trolling bursts of Essence, making Walkers some of the most uable Voidlings out there. Approach with caution.

  Did you see that, Nyx? Leo called out after shutting the Bestiary. At least now we know Naz'Tor definitely didn't lie. Probably more than half of the Voidlings here have already evolved. And here I thought we had it hard ba Wolford...

  'Indeed,' the feline quietly agreed, her warmth seeping into their link. 'I'm sure survivors here adapted anyway. Humans are a hardy bunch. Have faith.'

  I didn't say anything. Why do you have to be like this? He grumbled. These were just my observations.

  'If you say so,' Nyx sniggered. 'Now tell me, what are the average levels?'

  Rolling his eyes, Leo returned his focus to the streets in the distance. Around sixteen aeen, so it could have been worse. Though teically, this is still not London. Voidlings might be strohere.

  'What about the Thames? you see it from here?'

  Instinctively, he shook his head. No. Not high enough.

  'Does it mean we're finally going in?' Nyx beamed, her excitment obvious.

  Yes, we are.

  Uhe Voidlings in Wolford or on the road to London, here, they didn't have an issue with attag Leo and Nyx. Well, for the most part, at least. Some monsters still preferred to stay away, but rarely could any evolved beast resist the ce to prove itself against a Prime and an Apex.

  Though, it never ended well for the Voidlings.

  Like a wave of shadows, Leo swept through the streets, taking out anyone who dared to stand in his path. Nyx wasn't that far behind, her cws and tails also being a whirlwind of death supported by an army of dark projectiles that flew faster than a normal eye could follow.

  The advantage was still on their side. Not even the Cursed Walkers' Essence shields or small ser beams could harm them. Everything that came at them was just too slow, too weak.

  Yet, the lohey fought and the more bodies they left behind, the truth of Naz'Tor's words became obvious. They couldn't do this forever, not here.

  There are too many of them! Leo shouted over the link as his shadow eruption exploded across the street. Time to retreat! That's enough testing for now.

  'Uood! After you.'

  With a nod, he pushed past a fresh group of mohat already repced the ones he had killed. He jumped at the wall and cleared the remaining distao the roof with another leap. From there, he burst into a sprint, dang through the Vetilim jungle, even bigger than the one in Wolford.

  Screams and screeches of Voidlings echoed behind him, but he paid them no mind and just sped up. The Thames River should be visible soon, and he would like to lose their tail before that.

  Might be an issue with that. Leo scowled, gng at the group of Spitfires and Harpies above him. Annoying.

  With a sihought, True Stealth and shadows ed tighter around his body. With another, a dozen or so spears burst towards the small army following him.

  And now!

  Reag the end of the roof, he didn't jump high to reach the one. No, instead, he used the ledge to propel himself towards the rge building oher side, his arms raised high.

  Just as he was to e into tact with the wall, Leo swung as hard as he could, cutting right through the Vetilim and the bricks behind it. The barrier stood no ce, and he barreled right into the building, rolling across the dirty floor.

  Shit... That hurt a bit. He winced, standing up just as Nyx bolted into the room through the hole he made. They shared a nod and dove deeper into the building, destroying more walls as they went.

  Some Voidlings still screeched outside, but the farther they went, the quieter the noises became. Of course, it alerted all the monsters ihe building. Not that they ever became an issue. A well-pced strike to the head fiheir lives before they could eveheir mouths.

  We should be fine. Leo aking a peek through the window. Follow me, and this time, no fighting.

  He didn't heir link to know that Nyx was disappointed, but at least she didn't argue. They both khat even with Devour and e, they couldn't fight forever. Unlike in Wolford, there were just too many Voidlings here. Where one died, five more moved to repce it.

  And this isn't even Londo. He shook his head with a sigh as they bounded across the street, using every cover to avoid dete. Sometimes, a random Voidling mao spot them, but it always died faster than it could blink.

  e on. Leo called out, climbing the tall wall o them. We should be close enough to see it from above.

  With Nyx right o him, they scaled the building in a matter of seds. And just as he had said, the Thames River finally came into sight. Only it was nothing like he had remembered it.

  "My dear god..." Leo muttered, his mouth falling open.

  The wide river full of murky water was o be seen. Only the deep ay el remained, its dry surface filled with ks of Vetilim and ships that fell on their side. Hell, even normal Voidlings didn't go down there.

  "How?" He gulped, still searg for any signs of the missing water.

  'Leo?' Nyx nudged him, sounding somewhat hesitant. 'We might have a bigger problem.'

  Still half in shock, he turned and looked to the left, right where the feline ointing.

  "Shit..."

  Chaos65