The pressure did not fade.
It followed them.
Not like a tail. Like a shadow that refused to detach, no matter how the light shifted. Xin felt it even when he tried to focus on the road, on the rhythm of the tires, on the familiar landmarks that meant Droplin was getting closer.
Rion drove a little faster.
"Don't," Xin said.
Rion glanced at him briefly. "You noticed."
"Yeah," Xin replied. "If we rush, it'll know we're scared."
Rion eased the speed back down.
The pressure stayed anyway.
Far away, Zane descended through the atmosphere without fire, without friction, without resistance. Gravity bent politely around him. The clouds parted as he passed, boiling and reforming seconds later like nothing had disturbed them.
He landed outside a half-abandoned settlement.
People were still there. A mistake.
Zane walked through the main street slowly, boots tapping against broken stone. Doors slammed shut. Someone screamed from inside a house. He inhaled deeply and smiled.
Fear.
He reached the first man who tried to run.
Zane caught him by the head and lifted him easily. There was no struggle. Just panic.
He bit down.
Blood sprayed warm across the ground.
Zane chewed slowly, thoughtfully, like he was tasting wine.
"Still fresh," he said to himself.
He left the body where it fell and continued walking. No rush. No cleanup. He did not need to hide.
The settlement went quiet behind him.
On the road, the jeep hit a pothole hard.
Xin's head snapped forward, and for a split second his vision blurred.
There it was again.
That presence.
Closer now.
Xin rubbed his face. "He's getting nearer."
Rion nodded. "Yes."
Kurai's voice stirred, low and uneasy.
This one does not hunt to win. He hunts to feel.
Xin swallowed. "That's worse."
They passed a sign half-buried in dirt.
DROPLIN – 12 KM
Xin stared at it longer than necessary.
"We won't make it clean, will we."
Rion answered honestly. "No."
Selena watched from nowhere.
Not from above. Not from another place. From between.
She saw Zane feeding, saw the way his hunger sharpened with every step. She saw the jeep moving through empty roads, saw Kurai's soul flicker uneasily inside Rion.
Her expression was unreadable.
"So you finally chose to hunt them," she whispered.
She reached out slightly, fingers brushing against the threads of possibility.
Then she stopped.
Too soon.
If she intervened now, the Dive would notice. If the Dive noticed, the protocols would activate. If the protocols activated, she would be erased.
And Kurai would still die.
Selena pulled her hand back.
"Not yet," she said softly. "I need the right moment."
Zane stopped walking.
He tilted his head, eyes lifting toward the horizon.
There.
He could feel them clearly now.
One burned bright with rage and stubborn will.
The other hummed with something old and dangerous.
Zane laughed under his breath.
"You're leaking fear," he said. "That makes you taste better."
He bent his knees slightly.
The ground cracked.
Then he was gone.
The jeep's engine sputtered again.
This time, it did not recover immediately.
Rion swore quietly and forced it forward.
Xin felt his heart sink.
"He's close," Xin said. "I can feel it in my chest."
The sky darkened suddenly, clouds compressing unnaturally, like the air itself was bracing.
Kurai whispered one last warning.
When he arrives, do not try to fight first.
Xin clenched his fists. "That depends on him."
The road narrowed ahead, funneling them between broken cliffs and dead trees.
A bad place to stop.
A perfect place to hunt.