Rena, Hiro, and Valeria rushed to the other side of the building to find Juan bleeding badly, the man gripping his bat as he glared up at a woman perched on a window ledge.

“That’s her!” Hiro fired {Blade Whirlwind} at the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat, who jumped to the top of a dumpster to avoid his attack. He would have used {Kiss or Slap}, but there was no telling if Juan had done damage or not, and he didn’t want to potentially heal the woman.

The woman had changed since Hiro had last seen her, her raincoat tattered, her face obscured by a chainmail veil that she’d sewn onto a yellow bucket hat. She released her umbrella, sending numerous daggers toward the three of them.

Both Valeria and Rena were hit by daggers, Hiro just barely managing to dodge the Lady’s attack.

“Get her close to me,” Juan seethed. “Just need her… close.”

Hiro noticed something about the area around Juan’s body. It was as if he had dipped himself into a puddle, the dark matter bubbling and popping.

What sort of attack…?

Hiro shook this thought away as he bounced toward the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat, his katana at the ready. He could see it in his mind’s eye, the perfect strike. What he couldn’t see was the fact that she had popped the top of her umbrella off, revealing a blackened blade.

Her strike was enough to force Hiro backward, where he skidded across the pavement and slammed into injured Rena.

“Val, please!” Rena said, trying to hold back the surprise of being pierced by multiple blades as she lay there prone, her hands boiling red.

Thunk!

As Hiro rushed toward the Lady he heard Valeria’s crossbow but didn’t see a bolt, which he assumed meant that she had fired a healing arrow at Rena.

Hiro twisted into his next attack, the Lady blocking it, unaware as he ducked away that Hiro was about to unleash a horde of demon cats.

{Kore Nani Neko} triggered, his cats came rushing from all directions, the woman batting them back with surprising precision. How strong is she? What level is she at?

Hiro had to remember that the Lady was a player killer, that she could be leagues stronger than him through sheer Survivor murder.

This also means she has other—

The woman looked up just as a red cloud appeared over them.

Hiro rushed for cover, but it was too late. Droplets of blood rained from the red cloud, coating all of them.

A split second.

Then another.

Hiro had no idea what the blood would do, but he was already turning to Valeria, hoping for a healing arrow when he heard the yowl of his cats diminish, as if they were chasing someone.

She’s getting away, Hiro thought.

He could reach her.

He knew {Lupine Shift} would give him the speed he needed, but he didn’t know what the transformation would do after; he didn’t know if he’d turn on the others simply to nab an easier meal.

“Don’t—” Juan stammered. “She already hit me with that.” He rolled onto his side and looked up at the fading red cloud. “It’s not worth it.”

“What does it do?”

“Try moving.”

Hiro took a step forward and felt a wave of exhaustion roll over him, like he’d been up for three days straight with no food. His heart thrummed in his chest, beating wildly to the point that he brought a hand to it. What the hell?

“Let her go,” Juan said bitterly. “I’ll get that fucking puta next time. ¡Mataste a mi hermano, maldita perra!”

Thunk!

Valeria hit Juan with a healing arrow.

“What the fuck?” he cried as he looked down at his hand, the blood seeping away.

“She’s with me. It’s her healing power. Hit me too, Val,” Hiro said.

Thunk!

“Thanks.”

“So that’s her, huh?” Valeria said as she hobbled forward. “That’s the Survivor you were talking about?”

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Near him, Juan continued to curse in Spanish. “Ojalá te pudras en el infierno…”

Hiro looked down at his hand to see that the blood had faded. Upon scanning the buildings ahead, it was clear that the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat was gone. This left a bitter taste in his mouth, one so strong that he had to turn his head and spit to get it out. “Fuck.”

“What about you?” Juan asked Valeria as he calmed to some degree. “You going to shoot yourself?”

“My arrows don’t work on me, stupidly,” she said.

“I have gauze.”

“We do to,” Rena approached Valeria with the gauze in hand.

“They’re your team?” Juan asked Hiro.

“Rena and Valeria, Val to her friends.”

“Just call me Val,” she said, her eyes shut as Rena carefully removed a small dagger jutting out of her leg. “I might need to bite down on something.”

Rena nodded. She removed a handkerchief from her backpack, twisted it, and gave it to Valeria.

“I might need to sit down too,” Valeria said.

Hiro turned back to Juan. “I’m sorry.”

“About—? Oh, the graves. Yeah.”

“Was it her?”

“The bitch in the raincoat? Yeah,” Juan said after a long pause. “She’s worse than a Hunter. Once she catches sight of you, she keeps at it.”

“She fucked me over yesterday. Forced me into a fight with a Sentry.”

“Not surprising. Probably just trying to soften you up. Did something similar to me and Marcello, but with this Hunter. We got the Hunter, and she appeared behind Marcello.” Juan’s eyes filled with rage. “Decapitated. Like in… some Quintin Tarantino movie. I can’t believe it. This place.”

Hiro looked around, not sure of how to react as Juan’s anger became an intense sorrow.

“Come with us,” Rena told him. “At least until the gate opens.” Valeria, who now bit down on a bandana, nodded in agreement. “We got a space,” Rena said. “You can stay there until the gate opens. Also, you should know something about the gates.”

“You sure? How many people can go to the gate?”

Valeria spit her bandana out. “It doesn’t matter how many people we bring. The Doom System is just trying to—ow!” She looked down at Rena as she finished placing gauze on a wound.

“Sorry. It feels better now, right?”

Valeria groaned.

Rena placed a hand on her cheek. “Come on, it’s better.”

“Fine, it’s better.”

“I don’t want to bother you all,” Juan said. “I can’t shake the bad luck,” Juan said. “My sister, my brother. You don’t want me there, trust me.”

“It’s just for the night,” Rena said. “You look like you could use a warm meal. And some company.”

Juan’s pride nearly got the best of him as he started to shake his head. It was quickly swept away by a deep exhale. “You’re right. I could use the company.” He turned to Hiro. “What about you?”

“I’ve still got things I’d like to do.”

“You’re going back out there, huh?” Valeria asked.

“I think so, yeah.” Hiro nodded, his decision solidified. “I’ve been wanting to check out Central Park. I could see it from the place I stayed last night.”

“Where did you stay?” Juan asked.

“Billionaire’s Row. I used {Bounce} to get me to one of the penthouse apartments there.”

“Dang. I always wondered what the view was like from that high up,” he said. “I watched a couple YouTube videos about it, realtor tours. Remember those?”

“Those kinds of things always felt like a way to keep the dream alive,” Valeria said. “Most couldn’t afford a fifty million dollar penthouse, but by showing it to the masses, it made some people think it was in the realm of possibility.”

“Don’t get her started,” Rena said.

“Heh. I’m already started.” Valeria said as Rena continued to apply gauze to her wounds.

“Yeah, it’s crazy how shit changes,” Juan said. “I’d say let’s go after the Raincoat Lady, but I’m beat.”

“What we need are more levels,” Hiro said. “That, or the right power, just like Val was saying. We find out where she stays, we hit her hard. Or, we bait her to come for one of us and then finish her for good. I don’t personally want to kill Survivors, but some will just have to go. Anyway. I’m going to do more exploring. Hopefully, I’ll find some pharmaceuticals too.”

“You trying to get fucked up?” Juan asked.

“No, he killed a mimic by trick-feeding it Xanax,” Valeria said.

This brought a crooked smile to Juan’s face. “I hate those things. Marcello and I dealt with one that looked like a park bench. Marcello was the one that killed it. His Roulette Skill. Basically, he shoved his hand down its throat, his arm turned to metal covered in sharp spikes and he was able to rip most of its guts out.” He looked back to his building. “Anyway. I’ll grab my things.”

“And I’m going to keep moving.” Hiro didn’t mention that it sounded like Juan and Marcello had similar powers, able to turn themselves to metal. He had a feeling it was best not to bring Marcello up too much.

“Wait, when should we meet you?” Juan asked.

Hiro checked the time. “At the start of the final day. Or a few hours before. I’ll come to your place,” he told Valeria.

“That works. I got this feeling it’s going to get worse right before the gate opens. Just a hunch.”

Juan let out a deep exhale. “Let’s hope not.”

“Be safe,” Rena told Hiro as slipped his mask over his head. “If there’s not a Zone of Influence, don’t be afraid to run.”

“I’ll catch up with you all soon,” Hiro told them before he bounced away.

****

Hiro stayed clear of Bryant Park. As much as he wanted to challenge himself and reap the benefits of killing the Triplet Bunnies, he knew he wasn’t at the right level to do so yet. To win would take some sort of Hail Mary, and all he had was a magical eighteen-wheeler through his One Hit Wonder skill.

That could theoretically work, but it would have to be timed just right…

Beyond, closer to Central Park, he spotted a golden merchant beacon emitting from a collapsed building, one with huge beams of steel sticking out of it, curved like the skeleton of a beached whale.

Hiro bounced down, closer to the merchant.

He took a look around to make sure all was clear. When he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, he jumped over the splintering of steel beams and landed near a pile of rubble.

“What the—?” Hiro whispered as he found the source of the golden energy, which came out of an ancient stone vase.

Movement to his left had him drawing his katana and stepping back. “Minerva,” he whispered as an imposing woman appeared out of the darkness.

The merchant beacon had been a trap. Not only that, it had been a trap set by a vengeful Greek Goddess, one that was clearly pissed that both Mercury and Hercules had died.