The stout Awakened, trembling and retching, had spilled everything. He was part of a small network specializing in looting and smuggling between dangerous zones. More importantly, he provided crucial clues about Vorn's checkpoints and the temporary alliances he'd forged with other minor groups within the city. Vorn wasn't just consolidating his position; he was expanding his influence, weaving himself like a spider across the central district.
Rune showed no mercy to the stout man or his accomplices. After extracting every last bit of information, he turned them into amorphous organic matter, replenishing his own insatiable hunger. The act of devouring another's life no longer repulsed him; instead, it brought a strange satisfaction. It was part of the new being he was becoming.
He moved deeper into the city center, avoiding main thoroughfares to bypass the now-alerted checkpoints. The towering buildings here stood more intact than in the outskirts, but the decay was hidden deeper within. Mutated vines with serrated, tooth-like thorns snaked across walls, and puddles on the ground pulsed with an eerie, unnatural light.
In an area that was once a commercial hub, Rune spotted another group of survivors. Unlike the petty scavengers, this group seemed more organized. They wore crude camouflage, carried makeshift firearms, and moved with disciplined precision. Their abilities weren't immediately clear, but he sensed the presence of at least two mid-level Awakened.
Rune concealed himself in the shadows of an alley, his crimson eyes observing them. He overheard their conversation. They were discussing a regular "harvest" orchestrated by the "Night Hunters Guild," and mentioned supplying provisions to a "Leader" in the city center.
"Night Hunters Guild..." Rune repeated in his mind. This was a new name. They weren't direct subordinates of Vorn, but they seemed to be cooperating or providing resources to him. This information was more valuable than he could have imagined. He needed to know who the Night Hunters Guild was, and if they were connected to the world's collapse, or merely new opportunists.
He tracked the group, maintaining a safe distance, waiting for an opportunity. His path of vengeance was leading him into a far more complex web than he'd anticipated. It wasn't just Vorn and his cronies. Other forces were at play in the shadows of the Ruined City, and Vorn was merely one link in that chain. Rune needed to understand it all, to crush every segment of this network, until he could reach its very heart.
As night fell, painting the ruined city in a dense black, Rune entered what was once an old industrial zone, where the lingering scent of smoke and burnt metal still hung in the air. Ahead of him, hidden amidst the rubble, was an old warehouse, faint lights spilling from within. Perhaps, that was where the Night Hunters Guild was gathering. And Rune, the new predator of the apocalypse, would begin his first raid on their lair.