12 *Title Hidden*

Even when he was just a young child, Linneaus had never slept deeply. As a child born in the slums, he constantly had to be on the alert, even when he still lived with his parents.

After obtaining his Blessing and leaving the orphanage, this habit became even more refined, to the point that Linneaus would wake up every fifteen minutes or so, even if he hadn't heard anything. If not for this quirk, he would have died many times, both in his early travels and after pairing up with Saht.

It was because of this habit he had formed that Linneaus was able to hear the sound of feathers but, after opening his eyes and immediately becoming alert, he only saw darkness beyond the boundary of his barrier. Since birds were just as rare as any other animals in the slums, the sound of feathers was nothing something he would mistake, despite his mental fatigue.

As she had already recovered, Saht also awoke with a start, courtesy of her own habit of waking just after Linneaus. She enjoyed his warmth quite a bit so, after they began traveling together, he had dutifully served as her bed every night for the last three years.

Raising her head to look around, while straddling Linneaus' hips, Saht asked in her characteristic cold tone, "Enemies...?" As these words left her mouth, her skin began to turn from fair white to pale red as her horns began to elongate. The most noticeable change, however, was that a rather thick red tail began to extend from beneath her garments, growing until it was nearly as long as she was tall.

After reaching ten years of age, Saht had awakened one of the Ba'haat tribes most common, yet most powerful Blessings, [Demonification]. Though it significantly reduced her ability to reason, it provided a monstrous increase in her battle capabilities while also supplementing her amazing durability with equally reliable regeneration.

The only real downside to [Demonification] was that she would go somewhat berserk against their enemies and, once her SP drained completely, she would enter a dormant state until recovering. If not for the fact she still listened to him while transformed, there was a good chance they would have both died as a result of her rampaging.

So that she wouldn't get too riled up, Linneaus began to stroke Saht's head to keep her calm, saying in a soothing tone, "I heard the sound of feathers. I don't think we have been discovered. For now, we should change locations."

Linneaus lived by the principle that, if there were ever any doubts, taking action was better than being complacent. Since hearing feathers inside of an underground pipe made no sense, he wasn't going to say they should just relax and go back to sleep.

Saht, skin now a healthy shade of red, gave an understanding nod but, before leaving his lap, she leaned forward and gave him a long kiss. Since one of the changes brought by [Demonification] included a rather long tongue, Linneaus could only smile wryly in his mind as he wondered what he did to earn the affections of such a peculiar woman.

After their morning ritual was completed, despite the fact it was the dead of night, Linneaus and Saht began to move deeper into the tunnels, their destination the central purification network. In normal circumstances, it was considered taboo to venture into these areas but, as the Cleaners had never reacted hostilely toward him, Linneaus had made a habit of exploiting them. He had seen a few others try in the past, only to be unceremoniously tossed out, so he wasn't quite sure why they ignored his and Saht's transgressions.

It didn't take long to reach their destination, an area where a phenomenal amount of waste poured into a strange blue vortex beneath elevated platforms. After coming this far, they ascended one of the long ladders that led toward the surface, choosing to exit into a random maintenance building rather than be seen exiting one of the pipes leading to the waterway.

Upon reaching the surface, Linneaus observed the outside traffic through one of the windows while Saht sat silently with her nose slightly raised. Her sense of smell and hearing were enhanced in her current form so, with his [Night Vision] and her [Demonification], they were a powerful duo in the darkness.

After confirming there were no Enforcers in the immediate area, Linneaus gave a silent gesture to Saht before he created a cylindrical barrier with paper-thin borders. Since the side facing them was solid, compared to the open end, Saht was able to strike it with her palm, causing a ripple to pass through the surface as it bored through the relatively thin stone wall.

Though they both had 49 Strength, Saht's [Demonification] provided her with a significant boost to her physical attributes, both in her normal and transformed state. She was much stronger than him, something he had been made very aware of in the past, so Linneaus had learned long ago never to underestimate others.

With the cold night air washing over them, Linneaus and Saht lowered their hoods before raising the face masks they used to hide their identities. They were currently in enemy territory and, after killing a large group of Enforcers and sending a messenger to the local Kingpin, a decision Linneaus had regretted shortly thereafter, it was better to lay low.

In hindsight, Linneaus knew he had acted haphazardly but, after seeing Saht skewered by an enemy blade, he couldn't help it. After Gwen, she was the most important person to him so, after dealing with their attackers, he let anger cloud his judgment as he sent the sole survivor to relay his ill-thought-out message.

As he had expected, there were Enforcers roaming both the streets and rooftops, despite it being the middle of the night. This was a stark contrast to how the group lay low during the day as, when you got closer to the megacity, most crimes seemed to take place in the shadows rather than out in the open.

Now, like a hornet's nest that had been ignorantly poked by a young child on the furthest outskirts of the slums, the Lion's Pride was out in full force. They would periodically stop people on the streets to check them and, if it was someone not known to operate in their territory, the Enforcers would rob them before sending the unfortunate individuals in the opposite direction. In some cases, even this was considered a luxury as, if the person was unfortunate enough to have yellow or gold irises, they would be cut down unceremoniously.

After seeing this, Linneaus didn't hesitate to issue a three-fingered gesture to Saht, conveying they should retreat immediately. Even if the average Enforcer wasn't there match, some of the brutes in the group gave him a bad feeling. Unlike the others, they were patiently observing the incidents play out, never dropping their guards as they scanned the surroundings.

By her own admission, Saht wasn't terribly bright so, ever since joining up with Linneaus, she trusted in his judgment without question. Thus, when he gave the order to retreat, she immediately picked a direction and began to run, setting a pace he could follow despite her enhanced Agility.

While trusting Saht's instincts to guide them, Linneaus kept eying their surroundings as a feeling of dread began to well up inside his heart. He couldn't shake the feeling that the sky above their heads was slowly falling down upon them. Even retreating into the underground purification system didn't alleviate this feeling of dread, causing Saht to enter the late-stages of her [Demonification], her face forming a frown as she gradually sped up.

Eventually, Linneaus felt like they were only exhausting themselves for nothing so, rather than press forward, he gave a soft whistle, causing Saht's pointed ears to twitch as she quickly came to a stop. As they both stopped to catch their breath, Linneaus handed over a small black herb to Saht, causing her face to turn resolute as she took it and placed it inside the band wrapped around her chest. His message was clear and, if whatever was chasing them was beyond them, they would both ingest the undiluted Dream Grass herb.

With their backs to each other, Linneaus and Saht waited in the darkness of the tunnels, one with glowing golden eyes while the other stood with her eyes closed as she listened to the sound of running water, droplets in the distance, and, after twenty minutes, the shuffling of footsteps. Her tail lightly tapped against Linneaus' calf, causing him to squat down in the shadows alongside her, blade at the ready.

Since he was able to trespass the tunnels, Linneaus didn't delude himself in thinking that others were not able to, despite watching various people get thrown out. When he heard the sound of combat in echoing, however, it seemed to confirm that their case was a bit of an exception, not that it stopped their pursuers for very long.

After a few minutes had passed, both ends of the tunnel were filled with various silhouettes, one of which stood more than 200cm tall, body rippling with muscles. When he saw this, Linneaus felt like the back of his scalp was on fire as his brain began to buzz with anxiety. Then, just as he was about to attempt a surprise attack, he saw the man's eyes begin to blaze like two suns as he stated in a voice that shook the soul, "Found you, brat."

Feeling a surge of adrenaline, Linneaus broke the silence between him and Saht, shouting, "Kill them all!" as he dashed forward with a speed he didn't know he had. He didn't have to turn his head back to know that Saht had obeyed his orders as, even faster than he could reach the fiery-eyed man, the sound of blood-curdling screams echoed behind him. One man tried to shout, "Grab this bi-" before a choking sound interrupted his cry, following by the sound of bones fracturing violently.

Since Saht was even stronger than him, Linneaus was hoping she would be able to deal with her side and retreat, even if he knew she would never leave him behind. If he died, she would likely ingest the Dream Grass before charging mindlessly at the enemies, taking down as many as she could before the herb claimed her. Linneaus' only hope was that none of them had the antidote and, before his death, he wanted to at least sink one of his daggers into the fiery-eyed man's body.

With a simple gesture to make his men back up, Bran moved to meet Linneaus' charge head-first, his massive mace cleaving through the air with a violent momentum that promised death. At the same time, flames began to erupt from the head of the mace, illuminating the tunnels as a vicious smile spread across his face.

Though he was fully aware of the weakness of [Night Vision], Linneaus had been caught off guard by the sudden flash of vibrant flames, causing his irises to feel like they were burning before his vision went dark. Despite this, he tried to remember the trajectory of the mace, erecting an angled barrier in its path to deflect it away from his body as he leaped forward, daggers bared like fangs. He could feel the heat of the flames, followed by a loud battle cry before, immediately after that, silence...

Not understanding what had happened, Linneaus continued forward blindly, his daggers finding no purchase as he lost his balance and slid along a cold and unforgiving ground. His heart was beating so fast that he could feel it throbbing in his ears, causing him to quickly roll as if evading an attack. He then jumped to his feet before backing into a wall, still blind to the world around him for the next few minutes.

Despite this, no attacks came and, much less the sound of battle, there was absolutely nothing but his own heartbeat and ragged breathing to break the silence. For a moment, Linneaus thought he had died but, after summoning up his own Status, he felt this wasn't the case. He didn't know if there was such a thing as an afterlife but, if there were, he doubted his Status would show him as healthy.

Not understanding what was going on, Linneaus plopped to the ground to recover his breathing, waiting for his vision to clear up so he could make sense of the situation. He continued like this for nearly five minutes, enough time for him to focus his mind and calm his breathing as he gripped the handle of his dagger. Then, just as his vision began to clear up, Linneaus once again heard the sound of feathers rustling...

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Title: Pursuit