Johnquis rushed toward the last spot he'd left his slave; the Level 2 High Eater, Runner class. The air was cooler now, shadows stretching long across the ground.
"Hello? Are you here? Come out, it's me!" Johnquis muttered, scanning the trees.
Before he could finish, the Runner shot out from behind a thick trunk, landing lightly on a low branch.
"WHAAA!" Johnquis jumped back, heart pounding.
The Runner tilted its head, watching him carefully.
"I-I'm sorry," Johnquis stammered, rubbing his chest. "I'm just not used to having an Eater with me. You're not going to eat me, right?"
The Runner nodded once firmly.
Johnquis exhaled, relief flooding through him.
"Good. Come on." He beckoned. "Let's go somewhere no one can see you. I'm good at finding places like that. Places where it feels like you're the only one left in the world."
The Runner crouched and leapt down silently, falling into step beside him.
Together, they moved through the dead world, shadows swallowing them as the sun sank lower.
Johnquis smiled faintly as they moved through the thick underbrush toward the old park.
"This place used to be a park," he said quietly, glancing around at the towering trees and tangled grass that had reclaimed the land.
"But now it's just wilderness. Trees grew taller than I remember, and the grass—well, it's like walking through a jungle."
He looked up above. "This was my hiding spot when I was a freshman. Up there in the trees. I usually avoid this place when it gets dark… but I guess I'm less afraid now that I've got a High Eater running around with me all day."
The Runner paused, tilting its head as if understanding the humor.
Johnquis chuckled softly and said, "Come on. Let's climb up. Eaters can't climb trees. They don't know how."
They stopped at a large tree.
The Runner didn't hesitate, leaping gracefully onto the low branches. Johnquis followed, feeling the rough bark under his palms. As they climbed higher, Johnquis's curiosity got the better of him.
"Wait—how do you know how to climb trees?" he asked, eyes narrowing as the Runner moved effortlessly among the branches.
The Runner paused mid-climb, turning its head toward him. Its dark eyes gleamed in the fading light but gave no answer.
Johnquis shrugged and kept climbing, the cool night air brushing past them as the old park embraced them in its silent, leafy fortress.
They rested on a thick branch high above the ground, legs dangling. From here, the ruined park stretched out in every direction; wild, overgrown, and eerie. The moon hung low, pale and swollen, casting a soft glow across the broken earth.
Johnquis leaned back against the trunk, arms resting loosely on his knees. The Runner crouched beside him, still and watchful, its glowing eyes fixed on the dark horizon.
For a while, neither of them spoke. Then Johnquis broke the silence.
"…I met Lex's brother today. At the Bloodpost."
The Runner turned its head slightly, listening.
"You remember Lex, right? The one you ripped open—tore through her abdomen and clamped your jaws around her throat?" He let out a dry chuckle. "Freaky monster…"
He glanced across the park. "I wasn't even supposed to be on that mission last night. They called me in last minute… just a fill-in for their squad… because Rex, Lex's brother bailed."
Johnquis's voice dropped.
"I could feel it. He's strong. Dangerous, like… the same way I used to feel around my sister, Jiana. If he wanted to, Rex could rise to a high rank in no time."
The Runner remained still.
Johnquis looked down at his gloved hands. "You killed them. All of them. But it's her, Lex. He'll care about most."
He turned toward the Runner. "And now… you're bound to me."
He exhaled slowly, bitterness creeping into his voice.
"He doesn't know what really happened. Not yet. But when he finds out… he'll realize you're still alive. And that I'm the one keeping you as a slave."
Johnquis paused. His next words came out flat and bitter.
"He'll lose it. He'll blame me. And maybe he should. I wasn't strong enough. If Rex had gone instead of me, maybe… maybe they'd still be alive."
The wind rustled the branches above. The Runner didn't move.
Johnquis's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't even know what you are anymore. You killed them… but now you follow my commands. You're quiet. Controlled. Tamed…maybe."
He looked up at the stars overhead, face pale in the moonlight.
"But when Rex sees you… when he recognizes you…"
He swallowed hard.
"He'll want revenge. He won't just come for you."
Johnquis's voice cracked.
"He'll come for me, too."
Silence.
The wind swept through the leaves and tall grass, the world holding its breath.
Somewhere deep in the ruins of the abandoned city, Rex stood before his squad.
"All right, listen up!" he barked. "We're sweeping fast and tight. Our target is a single Eater, a Runner. We're certain it's here."
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"If you spot it, don't even think about engaging. That thing's mine. My prey. Got it?"
"YES, CAPTAIN!" the squad shouted in unison.
They moved out, sweeping the high street—the same area Johnquis's squad had cleared the night before. But unlike that mission, Eaters were everywhere.
Rex lifting his Eater Blade onto his shoulder, a long serrated weapon jagged like a row of shark's teeth.
He muttered, "Something's off. Eaters all over the place. This should be the last nest I haven't hit yet. And if a Runner's here, it would've eaten the lower ranks to grow stronger. No way Level 1s should still be crawling around like this."
They pressed on until the ruined road opened before the skyscraper, the same one Johnquis's team had entered.
Eaters poured out from the shadows, snarling and hissing from every crack and alley.
Rex scanned the scene. Smashed cars, broken-down vehicles, fresh craters in the pavement.
"The damage… it's recent. Someone took this quest last night."
He looked up at the building. "The Queen must've spawned again. New Eaters… but if they killed the Runner, why wasn't the quest marked complete? Why leave the Queen's nest intact and not finish the job?"
A chorus of snarls ripped through the silence.
"Grrrr… Grahhh… KRAAAAH!"
The squad sprang into action. In minutes, they tore through the oncoming swarm, blades flashing, Eater corpses piling up in the street.
"All clear here, Captain!" one Eater Blade called.
"Same on my end!" another replied.
"No sign of the Runner," someone added.
Rex replied. "Then we head for the queen's nest. Rooftop."
A sudden scream rang out.
"CAPTAIN!"
Rex turned. "What is it?"
"A—A corpse! Over here! It's… it's a body. Must've been a squad that came before us…"
Rex strode over, pushing past the others. One of his squad members stepped aside, revealing the body.
One of the Eater Blades muttered, "Someone moved them here... kept them out of reach so the Eaters wouldn't tear them apart any further."
He scanned the ground. "Three bodies. One girl, two boys... Damn. They must've gone through hell."
Another stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "This wasn't a Level 1. Look at the wounds. This was a Runner. No low-tier Eater could do this kind of damage."
"So… you think they managed to kill it?" someone asked.
Rex knelt beside the corpses. His voice was flat. "No. If they killed the Runner, we wouldn't be here. The quest would've been marked complete."
He reached out and peeled back the tattered black cape covering the girl's body.
And then he saw her.
Lex.
His sister.
Her face was bloodied, her body torn open, but it was unmistakable.