Riven wasn't someone who fought a fight that he knew he wouldn't win. So his only option was to run. He was a coward by nature. Some would call that the act of being a chicken. He always said to himself.
Being a coward doesn't make you weak. Being a coward makes you sense the danger in front of you. And being brave only gets one killed.
He was still in the house that was absolutely fine in the middle of the ruins. Now he had to get out without being noticed by the Soul Hunters.
Easier said than done. He couldn't pass the front door anymore. So he had to find something like a back door or at least pass through the window.
It still didn't make sense how they were able to find him that easily.
Well. Currently it doesn't matter. All that matters was escaping in one piece. Which looked harder than it sounded.
It would have been easier if that other one wasn't with them.
He could feel his instincts screaming for him to run.
Knowing that his instincts couldn't be wrong. All he had to do was run.
He went to where the kitchen was in the house. And he found a back door close to the kitchen. But it was locked.
He had to find a key in this house. But he didn't have enough time to look for one.
Riven's hearing was excellent. It was beyond that of your average human.
Even without the mask he could hear up to 70 meters. And with the help of the mask enhancement it could potentially reach 120 meters.
That was why the sound of the massive bell had the most effect on Riven than it did on the Soul Hunters.
But he wasn't there to see what actually happened to the Soul Hunters.
So he could hear the sound of their boots closing in. And that wasn't a good sign.
He couldn't look for the key. And he couldn't stay in the house hoping they wouldn't check it out.
The house stood out too much. It was strange. So he knew they would come in here first.
He found the window.
Luckily for him the window was big enough for him to jump through.
He came out of the house as silent as he could possibly manage.
He placed the mask on his face. Giving him a massive boost to his physical prowess.
He was faster and stronger than before. And he could hear everything around him.
Even the little drops of water that were dripping on the floor. Like the old walls.
Riven could hear everything.
Nothing currently was out of his sight of observation.
For as long as he could remember. His hearing had always been beyond that of a mundane human.
It was what he was born with. What made him unique in his own little way.
So currently he could hear everything happening around him. And also what the Soul Hunters were doing. And how far they were from him.
They were currently 80 meters apart from each other. So Riven had enough time to run.
But he noticed something. One of the Soul Hunters moved.
It was as if they noticed he wasn't in the house anymore.
This wasn't good.
It seemed one of the Hunters had a way to track people.
It all made sense how he was found so easily now.
The sky above the ruins looked sick with clouds and glows. A sickly blue.
As if the moon had been rotted from the inside out.
As though the heavens had developed eyes.
It pressed down silently and vigilantly.
He was running with every muscle in his body.
He was fully rested from the sleep. So he was at his peak physical condition.
Thanks to his hearing he was able to avoid any incoming monster.
But something didn't feel right.
One of the Hunters. The sixth one. Was faster than the rest.
The remaining five were about 70 meters behind Riven.
But the sixth one was 60.
No. 50 meters behind him.
They was moving very fast.
Which wasn't good for Riven.
From the looks of it Riven concluded that it was a Veiled chasing him.
Riven was a Firstborn. The lowest and weakest amongst the Masked users.
But what made a Veiled different was they had awakened their masks.
He was a Firstborn. And so were the other Hunters behind the sixth.
So that's why he was able to keep the distance between them almost the same.
But the Veiled would catch up sooner or later.
He had to do something to slow them down.
There was only one way to slow down a monstrous force. Pin it against another monstrosity.
The only way he could differentiate between monsters and humans was their heartbeat.
There was a massive difference between the heartbeat of a human and a monster.
The speed of a normal human heart is around 60 to 100 beats within a minute.
But an abomination was different.
He first noticed it during his time on the Pillar.
Their hearts were far faster than humans.
A monster had an heart rate over 200 to 250 beats per minute
Which is intense.
That's how he was able to tell the difference between monsters and humans in this ruin.
But no human would willingly want to come here.
Riven screamed.
Making a sound that sounded almost inhuman.
Almost.
In that instant. Every single monstrosity within the entire area knew of his location.
And that of the Hunters.
This was a gamble.
He hoped that the monsters that showed up were the ones from before.
Because if it was any stronger monsters. Everyone will die.
Be it Veiled or Firstborn.
His shriek echoed off into empty space like ripples upon poisonous water. And then, silence. The fall of distant water was the only noise and it did not breathe. That silence only lasted for a whole second. For what arrived. was insanity.
The earth did not tremble, but it shuddered. As if the entire ruin exhaling at once. And there was the sound. Not a roar. Not a growl. Low rumble of clicks. Like bones clacking together. Like jaws coming too hard shut. Somehow the monstrosities were at the rear of riven
Dozens.
No. Hundreds.
Some of them were crushing each other in the frenzy. There were simply too many. They were the same monsters from before—crawling out from the ground with only two hands gripping tightly to the earth. Their skin was pale, some looked half-rotted, others were crushed under the weight of their own kind. But the ones that remained... they were still more than enough to kill Riven and the hunters if given the chance.
He did not hesitate to look back. He ran. Faster than ever. His mask tightened around his skin, threads of light beating through it. His ears defined the world in color. He could hear the wet thud of feet that were not human. The scuttle of claws. The jarring, greying beat of something off, something terrible.
And he could hear the Veiled.
Still behind him. Still chasing.
But soon to stop.
The monsters had caught the smell. Had seen the movement. Heard the scream. They were on their way. And the first one didn't hesitate.
A blur of motion spat out of the alleyway to the left of the Veiled. It was as quiet as a shadow, but as solid as a hammer. Riven did not look back. But he heard it. The sharp, wet crack of bone. The metal sigh of a blade emerging. The sound of a breathed silence that did not leave. One of the Veiled had been attacked.
No. Not merely struck. Attacked.
Riven risked a glance back. Once.
And what he saw made his heart stumble.
The Veiled wasn't down. She was standing. Her mask cracked ever so slightly at the cheek, radiating from within like an ember about to burst. But the creature that had struck her
The air around the Veiled rippled, as if reality itself struggled to maintain her shape. Riven wasn't certain if it was the power of her energized mask or not. She drew her long, thin, curved blade like a whisper in smoke and parried the abomination's next assault with ease. There were others, though. Behind it. They were crawling. Creeping from the cracks. Jumping off rooftops. Popping out of broken holes in the street.
They didn't care if Riven was Veiled or Firstborn. They didn't care about the masks. They just cared about the scream.
And they were starving.
Riven sprinted down the rubble path before him, sidestepping broken beams, leaping over distorted stone. The clanging of claws on broken tile echoed after him. The howl of beasts. The clang of steel and bone behind. The Veiled fought with beauty, with strength, with fury but even she could not slay them all.
Riven's gamble had succeeded.
Now he merely had to hold out long enough not to regret it.