'Interesting decision…'
Zarek didn't know what Malik's exact motives were, but he did know a few things that Malik didn't. For one, he was the one that allowed the clash between the Violet Enchantress and Malik to continue. If not for his sparking the former, Malik would have likely had this region under his control already.
Because of this, Zarek knew that it wasn't a coincidence that he could sense the Violet Enchantress here while Malik's mark was getting closer and closer to him.
With this context, he knew that the two groups had most definitely clashed before. What he didn't know was how they had ended up so far from their original territory.
This place was quite out of the way, and several days' journey. Which meant…
'Her senses are growing a lot faster than I thought. It seems that she's probably evolved at least once already.'
This was the problem with Mutant Turned—specifically Named ones. They didn't always have fixed Talents and could grow if they were given the right opportunities.
Zarek's initial interference had definitely made the Violet Enchantress far more cautious than normal, and he had actually been worried that this might stunt her growth. But it seemed that he had considered this matter unnecessarily.
In fact, he was pretty sure that her path of growth had actually been accelerated somehow instead.
'This must mean that they're worried about her growth because…' Zarek's eyes narrowed as he slid out of the way of another attack, his eyes landing on the Hub in the distance.
It was radiating a far more dangerous aura than before, and it was clear that it had exploded quite a number of times.
'She's using the Hub as a cover. I don't believe that she hasn't already found the C Class Godsfall Tear. Now this bitch is protecting it—talk about dropping a rock on your own foot.'
Zarek sighed. He didn't expect to have to fight a Named Turned coming into her own for this Godsfall Tear. But…
"C'est la vie." Zarek grinned. "Let's turn it up a notch."
Zarek sank down into a hard stance. Whether by coincidence or intent, a swinging scythe attached to an insect Turned's arm missed over his head.
His Lurker's Godsfall churned and exploded from his pores, covering his body in an instant of time. Thanks to Anato Codex… he had also become a lot more efficient at doing that too.
Zarek shot beneath the insect Turned's legs, leaping into one of the many holes underground.
He had noticed something while he was above. The Violet Enchantress was very deliberate with how she did things. These holes looked like a connected mesh that could all lead toward the C Class Godsfall Tear. In fact, when Zarek had been here before, they had been.
But Zarek knew that that assumption could cost him his life this time. The Violet Enchantress wasn't just a normal level of intelligence.
Turned that awakened their intelligence, in general, weren't the normal kind of human smart. They were more like 99th percentile intelligent.
Still, that was manageable. On Earth, there were still tens of millions of people that fell into that demographic.
However, the Violet Enchantress had a mind like a maze and sharp intellect that would put the greatest minds of Earth before the apocalypse to shame.
There was no way she would allow all of her tunnel systems to be so vulnerable. The underground network that Zarek had once been familiar with had certainly turned into a series of traps and cleverly plotted dead ends designed to kill those foolish enough to leap in without a shred of a thought about what they were getting themselves into.
So why did Zarek so boldly jump in?
Well, that was because his senses were more sensitive than others', and he had had quite a bit of battle to do his analysis of the battlefield.
There were two sources of Godsfall here. One from the Hub, and the other from the underground Godsfall Tear.
Others would assume that the Hub was the only one here, and that would throw their calculations off, making it difficult for them to grasp the precise flow.
But Zarek not only knew, but he had been waiting for Marx's Intelligence Growth Potential to kick in. Well, he had ended up toggling to Zade's instead, but S Class was S Class.
The moment he did, he quickly sensed the flow of Godsfall and found the tunnels in the surroundings that had a direct line to the Godsfall Tear.
The flow of Godsfall through the earth and through air were very different. Because of that, it was simple to tell which ones were cut off and which weren't—if your Scouting Skill and Intelligence Talent were high enough.
However… Zarek didn't hop in one of those tunnels.
His grin didn't fade as he was suddenly surrounded. The earth felt like it was collapsing in around him.
Hidden in the seas of Turned, there were those with Earth Godsfall Intent. They had been cleverly placed by the Violet Enchantress, but as Zarek expected, there were far fewer here. In fact, there was only one of them, to be exact.
If Zarek was correct, as a contingency plan, the Violet Enchantress had flooded the main channels with far more of them, concentrating them in places where they could quickly block the tunnels and block the path to her.
Like this, they would be able to quickly change the tunnels in case Zarek got too close. But as smart as the Violet Enchantress was, her fear and cowardice made her experience severely lacking.
She was on the backline, sending out orders like a general. But there were several weaknesses to her plan.
For one, there was no way she could control the sheer number of Turned here. She was, at most, controlling a dozen or so at a time.
Second, she was more worried about protecting herself than killing Zarek—made clear by the fact she was only sending these small fry at him while the strongest were obviously still near her.
And third—
Zarek cut a path out, leaping out of a new hole.
She was too focused on protecting the Tear, and not focused enough on the Hub.
BANG!
Zarek slapped a palm against it.