"You are late," Lily grumbled with her arms crossed. The Voidling corpses scattered around the metro station entrance only showed she must have been waiting there for a bit.

Nonetheless, Leo just rolled his eyes. "It's not even twenty minutes since the sunrise... Also, good morning to you too. How long have you been up?"

His sister scowled. "I didn't go to sleep. I just had too much stuff going on in my head. I couldn't have closed my eyes even if I wanted to. It's all your fault, by the way."

"Sure, sure," he chuckled. "Ready to go then?"

Lily looked around as if searching for something. "Where's your six-legged companion?"

"Around," he grinned, giving a distant building a quick glance. "She was just making sure the area was safe. You can never be too careful nowadays."

"Paranoid much?" His sister raised an eyebrow.

"I had way too many close calls thanks to rushing in blindly," Leo shrugged as they began walking away from the metro station. "Not that I thought you guys would attack me or something like that," he quickly added. "It's just better to be safe than sorry."

"I guess so," Lily hummed before giving him a look. "Are you fine following me? One of the side entrances is quite close."

"What? Not gonna let me just jump right into the trench?" He shot her a grin.

"And let you die?" She scoffed. "Unless you can fly like me, the side tunnel is all you're getting from me. I'm tempted to go there with you."

At that, Leo narrowed his eyes at her. "No," he stated firmly. "You said it yourself: I can't fly. There is no way for us to go in together. I need to do it my way."

"Fine," she growled. "Just remember you promised to show me how you plan to do that."

"I did say that, didn't I? Feast your eyes then, dear sister. It took me a while to get this right."

With a surge of Essence, the Stealth Shroud activated around his body, bringing the illusion to life. Next to him, Lily gasped as she took a step back, her eyes going wide.

"Holy shit," she muttered. "You are bloody invisible. How?"

"Illusions," he chuckled and gave her a quick rundown on the ability. The more people on his side who could use it, the better for their future plans.

"Our assassins already tried that, but it just never worked," Lily furrowed her brow. "Must be that Soul Arts skill of yours... or just high Mind attribute."

"Probably," he shrugged, approaching the nearest building. "Let's get going now. We can talk about skills once I come back."

She nodded and unfolded her wings. With a single jump, she rose into the air, hovering just above him. At the same time, her white Essence flashed around her body, most likely activating some sort of skill.

"Try to keep up," Lily winked and shot away with a powerful flap of her wings.

Leo chuckled and jumped on the wall next to him. Stealth Shroud activated again along with a weak Reinforcement. His base speed might not be enough if he wanted to match someone who could fly.

Game on, sis.

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

Like Lily said, it didn't take long before she landed on a building close to the Supercluster. Leo joined her a moment later, with Nyx following soon after. Their path definitely was harder than his sister's. Wings were just overpowered, in his opinion.

"This is it," she pointed towards the hole in the middle of the road that didn't belong there at all.

Like the rest of the Supercluster, every surface of the tunnel was made out of a weird combination of Vetilim, Corcera, and glowing stone. In addition, dark smoke constantly escaped the hole, engulfing the entire area in a thin fog. The whole picture screamed, 'Do not enter,' and considering that no Voidlings even came close to the hole, it definitely worked.

"Looks inviting," Leo snorted. "Even more so than Wolford's Graveyard."

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Lily shot him a glare. "Be serious. You're literally going into the jaws of the lion. A Nightmare nest is nothing next to this."

I wouldn't call Nightmares a nothing, but okay. He shook his head lightly. "Alright then. What can you tell me about this hellhole?"

"Honestly?" She grimaced. "Not much. I can fly for about ten minutes at most before I have to land. I had to be fast while scouting. Still... Most Voidlings there are some type of mutated insects that the System calls Koukar and Rock Eaters. Then there are the Nightmares. I haven't seen many, but they are definitely there."

"And nests?" Leo prodded.

Lily massaged her chin. "Definitely for Koukars. Not sure about the Eaters... For all I know, they have a nest outside the Supercluster. As for Nightmares? I don't think I need to tell you why they are down there."

"No. No, you don't... Anything else?"

"The Crawlers," she answered instantly. "They sit on the trench's walls. Bloody fuckers almost got me good a few times."

"Inferior? Cursed?"

"An evolution of the former," she clarified. "They look like spiders with human legs and heads. Also, armor, bone armor. I had to hit spots without it to kill them."

Leo clicked his tongue. "Got it. And the Void Gates are completely at the bottom."

Lily nodded. "Right on the east-side end. You can't miss them. Trust me on that."

"Right," he rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. "This is it then. Nyx, come on, just like we practiced tonight. I will see you in a few hours, Lily. Don't wait for me."

At once, the feline burst into shadows and dove towards his body. Unlike before, she didn't hide underneath his cloak but wrapped around it like an additional layer of armor. Then his own shadows connected to hers, activating a weak Resonance between them.

Alright, halfway there. Leo took a breath and released more Essence, letting Stealth Shroud envelop him and Nyx's transformed body. The skill fought at first like it always did, but in the end, it settled down, hiding them from the world.

'Let's do this,' he and the feline said at the same time and descended on the street below. A short run had them at the entrance to the tunnel, but that definitely didn't stop them as they dashed right inside.

Warning! Entering the London Supercluster. Multiple nests detected. Nightmares detected. Void Gates detected. Go further only if you are ready.

No surprise there. Leo snorted and slowed down his pace. He couldn't go too fast if he wanted Stealth Shroud to work. Well, he could also hear some hisses and screeches coming from the tunnel's depths.

'Do you feel it?' Nyx broke the silence after a moment.

If you mean the heavy air here, then yeah, I do.

'It's the Essence of this place,' she elaborated. 'It feels... good.'

Leo gave a shallow nod. If outside he had never really felt anything when he was absorbing Essence passively; here, he couldn't miss it even if he wanted to. It definitely explained why Voidlings here were so strong.

It's like a permanent open buffet, one we can't stop eating from.

As if to prove his words, a System message appeared out of nowhere.

You have reached level 33. Class and Racial attributes have been distributed. Please assign your 3 free attributes.

Really? He quirked an eyebrow, pausing his journey. Well, can't complain. Put all in Vision; I still need a few more points there.

With the order given, the notification disappeared, giving way to a small wave of power that went through his body. He had to hold his abilities in place for a moment; Stealth Shroud didn't like anything interrupting his Essence flow out of nowhere.

'I got a level too just now.'

Guess we should have come here sooner. He chuckled and resumed walking. It continued like that until he came upon a place where the tunnel branched off in three different directions. With another shrug, he went right, knowing that should be the direction where the trench should be.

'Something's coming,' Nyx warned, and he instantly hugged the tunnel's wall.

A moment later, a low buzzing filled the area, and five figures flew past him. Like Lily mentioned, they were all overgrown insects of some kind. None looked the same as the other, but they all carried the features of a beetle and a hornet combined by the power of the Void.

Ugly fuckers. Leo commented, firing off an Identify.

Koukar (Voidling) | Rank: E- | LVL: 24 | Individual Type: Aerial, Poison

Huh? Individual type? That's new. He blinked. Maybe Bestiary?

Race: Voidling | Subspecies: Koukar

Expected Potential: F+ to D-

Arsenal: Sharpened Limbs, Various Affinities

Known weaknesses: N/A

Koukar is a species that encompasses most insect-type Voidlings in lower ranks. Their appearances vary depending on the creatures used to form this evolution. Additionally, every Koukar displays limited control of a single affinity. This element, along with base form, often decides Koukar's weaknesses. Overall, this species is usually well-rounded and always fights in groups. Apex Koukars do not exist.

And here I thought Ameist's entry was unique... Shit Nyx. This place is much bigger than the Nest Colony. Just how many of those things are hiding here?

'I don't know, but I fear we'll find out very soon.'

Leo grimaced. Yeah, my thoughts exactly.