'The what palace now? What's so special about this place?' Nyx asked upon hearing his reaction. Evidently, she skipped over his memories of this famous building.

Buckingham Palace. Leo snorted. It's the royal residence of the monarch of the United Kingdom. There aren't many other places in this country as important as this one. I half expected it to be claimed by some powerful nest or turned into a Graveyard. It would certainly suit the Void.

'Oh,' Nyx hummed. 'That makes sense. It could have been a nest through. This safe zone had to come from somewhere.'

He shook his head. Doubt it. Their group is one big anomaly. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this place was gifted to them along with the Light affinity. Or maybe they even have a better job than Holden to create them. There are so many possibilities. Hell, the royal family might still be alive for all we know. And ain't that interesting?

'Would it change anything? Being royalty should mean something. Maybe not for us, but others?'

Nah. Leo scoffed. Even before the Outbreak, they were mostly figureheads. I don't see why anyone would want to follow them now. The old world is dead. Who you were before this shit doesn't matter anymore.

'Good point,' Nyx relented, her gaze shifting toward the Palace's backyard. 'What's the plan then? As you see, their group is much bigger than just those people we encountered.'

He grimaced at the truth of her words. Even though the people he fought had already disappeared inside the building, there were plenty of other survivors visible inside the Safe Zone. Some were posed all around as guards, while at least thirty more stood in the backyard, training with weapons or Essence. He even noticed a few spars going on.

Right... This might be an issue if they all have the same attitude towards me. He sighed, slightly regretting his actions during the last fight. Can you see their levels? My Identify isn't working.

'No. I think the safe zone is stopping my scans for some reason. Maybe if I get a bit closer?'

Leo clicked his tongue. No, don't. They don't really know you are with me. Let's keep it that way for the time being. If they ever decide to retaliate, we will at least have the element of surprise on our side.

However, considering what happened during their battle, he really doubted they would actively seek him out. Sure, they didn't look like the sanest bunch, but they understood when the fight was over, and it was time for retreat.

Of course, he could be completely wrong. People had done many stupid things while seeking revenge. In addition, he had no idea if the group he encountered was the strongest. For all he knew, they might have a few survivors above level twenty hiding inside.

We need more info... again. Leo frowned before shaking his head lightly. Get back here, Nyx. We can worry about them tomorrow. We still have the rest of the city to map.

'On it. I should be back in five,' the feline commented, but she didn't stop there. 'There is one more thing... What if your sister is there? What if she is like all the other Blessed Emissaries?'

He blinked, their shared vision deactivating. I... I don't know. I want to believe that if I met Lily right now, she would give me a chance to at least explain myself, but... but you saw how those people were. I get hating the Void and Voidlings, but this was more than just that. There is something wrong with them.

'So will you just give up?' Nyx asked in a way that made it sound like she didn't believe what she had just said.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Of course not. You know me better than that. Leo scoffed. I won't give up on possibly the last remaining link to my family. Even if Lily is with them, I will do anything to reach her.

'As long as you remain relatively safe while doing so, I'll help you to the best of my ability,' the feline vowed. 'Just please, no more stunts like today. The entire fight was really unnecessary.'

He sighed again. I don’t agree, but I’m still sorry. I will try to be more careful, but you know how it is… Now please, come back. We can talk more later.

'As you wish,' Nyx muttered, closing their link.

As his mind became silent once more, Leo closed his eyes and went through the entire memory of the battle against the Treant and Blessed Emmisaries. There was always a lot to learn from the past if studied correctly.

To be honest, there wasn't much he could get out of his effort against the Void Lifeform. He just had to practice his techniques further, and that was it. However, when it came to his fight against the survivors, a few issues quickly became obvious.

Like his spatial awareness and defensive capabilities.

The first problem, while not as bad as the other, could really use some work. Only his high Grace attribute saved him from being turned into a pinecone. He needed either a skill to help him detect attacks or to put more points in Vision. He had no idea how to tackle the former, but he could probably spare a few points for his weakest attributes.

As for defense? In his opinion, he just needed to work on shielding with shadows or pure Essence. For now, the barriers he usually created were atrocious. He had put a bit too much focus on spears, swords, and other kinds of projectiles.

That's pretty doable. Leo decided. If I could combine some spatial awareness skill with shielding, then maybe it could become something like an automatic defense system. Hmm, I might even have an idea of how to train it. Finally, all the old movies I watched are becoming useful for something.

Chuckling, he pushed those thoughts away for later. Yet, before he could completely banish the memory of the battle from his mind, something important occurred to him.

Hold up. I'm pretty sure one of them died during the Treant's rage. What happened to the corpse? At once, Leo jumped to his feet and cast his gaze around the area. Not finding anything at first, he just decided to scout the entire place.

He wasn't sure how long he kept going in circles, searching for the corpse, but in the end, Nyx managed to return before he found anything. Somehow, the Blessed group managed to take their fallen comrade even though he didn't see them carrying anyone aside from their leader.

'Maybe they can use Soul Well too?' Nyx suggested, tilting her head as they sat down in the shade.

Maybe. Doesn't matter for now. Leo shrugged before looking the feline straight in the eyes. Alright, you wanted to talk, let's talk, but let me say what I need first. After that you can scold me as much as you want. Fair?

'Fair.'

----------------------------------------

Three days flew by since their scuffle with the Treant and the Buckingham group, as they began to call them. While Leo would have loved to complete his search for Lily during that time, life just wasn't that easy.

He had already checked her apartment building, and apart from finding it almost empty, there were no other signs of his sister there. As such, they spent most of the last few days mapping out the rest of London, training and killing as many Voidlings as possible.

With quite a few monsters already above level twenty in the center of the city, Leo had reached level thirty-two while the feline was only a bit below him, standing at twenty-nine. He didn't count, but they most likely slaughtered over a thousand Voidlings in this time. Not a lot, considering London's population alone, yet he doubted many others could manage a similar feat in such a short time.

Aside from that, they also visited Buckingham Palace a few times to observe the group within. Leo even tried to pass through the Ether barrier, but unlike the Safe Zone in Wolford, this one burned him upon touch. He could maybe get in if he gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain, but that was just way too risky even for him.

As such, he decided just to wait for a smaller party of two or three to leave and then capture them. Only that never happened, as the Blessed Emissaries always traveled in groups of at least ten. He could still take them with Nyx's help, but he doubted it would end without even more problems for him.

Annoying fuckers. I will get to you soon. Leo grumbled as he and Nyx stopped right in front of the entrance to an underground metro station. A station that was way too close to the Supercluster than they felt comfortable with.

"Ready?" He turned to the feline. "We can get you to level thirty and then return if you want."

'No,' Nyx shook her head. 'We didn't follow your Hunter's Pulse's tracks for over two hours just to back out now. We just have to be careful.'

"Roger, Roger," Leo chuckled. "Come on then. Let's find out who or what made us run in circles."