Amina had barely caught her breath when she felt it—a shift in the air, a subtle disturbance in the flow of mana. The streets of the lower district were silent at this hour, but silence could be deceptive. She knew she was being watched.

  Her instincts screamed at her to move. Pathfinder’s Instinct kicked in, painting an invisible path in her mind. She darted forward, her boots barely making a sound as she vaulted over a rusted dumpster and scaled the side of a crumbling building.

  A shadow moved in the alley below. Then another.

  They were here.

  The Delvers Association had sent their hunters.

  Amina had expected retaliation after the tournament. She had made too much noise, drawn too much attention. But she hadn’t expected them to move this quickly. The Enforcers usually played a long game—watch, assess, manipulate. But this? This was an execution squad.

  A streak of silver sliced through the night. Amina twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding the razor-thin wire that embedded itself in the concrete wall where she had been a moment before. She landed on the rooftop, rolling to her feet just as three figures materialized on the opposite end.

  Enforcers. And not just any rank-and-file delvers—these were B-Rank Specialists. Silent. Efficient. Killers.

  The leader stepped forward, a lean figure clad in reinforced combat gear. Amina recognized him. Valen Drex. A rising name among the Enforcers, known for his ability to take down rogue delvers without breaking a sweat.

  “Amina Okoro.” His voice was cold, impersonal. “You should have stayed in the shadows.”

  Amina’s fists clenched. Nyoka, her spectral panther, materialized beside her, its ethereal form pulsing with latent energy.

  “I don’t take orders from the Association.”

  Valen tilted his head. “That’s your mistake.”

  Then they attacked.

  Amina barely had time to react before the first Enforcer moved—a blur of motion, too fast for an untrained eye to track. But she wasn’t untrained. Phase Step activated instinctively, allowing her to shift her momentum mid-dodge, narrowly avoiding a dagger aimed for her spine.

  Nyoka pounced, claws swiping through the air, but the Enforcers were just as quick. One of them, a tall woman with twin sabers, intercepted the summon with a precise slash, forcing Nyoka back.

  Amina didn’t stay to fight. She moved.

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  Rooftop to rooftop, she ran, vaulting over gaps that should have been impossible, using every ounce of her parkour training to stay ahead. But the Enforcers were relentless. They moved with terrifying precision, cutting off her escape routes, forcing her into tighter and tighter spaces.

  She needed a plan. Fast.

  Amina’s mind raced as she spotted an old drainage tunnel ahead. It was a risk—she didn’t know the full layout—but staying in the open was suicide. She altered her course, diving headfirst into the darkness below.

  The air was damp, thick with the scent of mildew and stagnant water. She landed hard, skidding across the stone floor. Behind her, she heard the Enforcers hesitate. Good. They weren’t familiar with these tunnels.

  Nyoka slinked ahead, scouting. Amina followed, navigating by instinct, following the faintest traces of airflow. The tunnel stretched for miles beneath the city, an old forgotten infrastructure. If she could just—

  A presence. Ahead.

  Amina stopped cold. Nyoka growled low in its throat.

  From the shadows, a figure emerged. Not an Enforcer. Not a delver.

  Something else.

  Amina’s pulse spiked. What the hell is this?

  The figure stepped into the dim light filtering through a broken grate. He was tall, wrapped in dark, rune-etched armor that pulsed faintly with an unnatural glow. A hood obscured most of his face, but she could feel his gaze locking onto her.

  “A rogue Hybrid,” he mused. His voice was smooth, almost amused. “Interesting.”

  Amina tensed. “Who are you?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he extended a hand—and the shadows moved.

  Nyoka snarled as tendrils of darkness erupted from the ground, snaking toward them. Amina reacted on instinct, flipping backward, her Wraithbound Spearman materializing beside her in a burst of spectral energy. The spear lashed out, cutting through the tendrils before they could reach her.

  The stranger chuckled. “Good. You’re strong. But strength alone won’t save you.”

  Then he attacked.

  The tunnel exploded into chaos. Amina ducked and weaved, countering strikes that seemed to come from every direction at once. The stranger’s movements were unnatural, fluid in a way that defied logic.

  He wasn’t a normal delver. He wasn’t even an Enforcer.

  He was something else entirely.

  Amina fought harder than she ever had. Nyoka and the Wraithbound Spearman worked in perfect sync with her, their attacks seamless. But the stranger was relentless. Every strike, every movement felt calculated, like he was testing her.

  She had to end this. Now.

  Drawing on every ounce of mana she had, she activated Phase Step and Fluid Counter in tandem, using the brief moment of disorientation to reposition behind him. Her dagger lashed out—

  And stopped.

  The stranger’s hand caught her wrist mid-strike. His grip was firm, unyielding.

  “You’ll do,” he murmured.

  Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished.

  Amina staggered back, heart pounding. What the hell just happened?

  She didn’t have time to process it. The Enforcers were still hunting her. And now, there was another player in the game—one she didn’t understand.

  But one thing was clear: she was running out of time.

  With a final glance at the tunnel where the stranger had disappeared, she turned and ran.

  She needed allies. And she needed them now.