The merchant was behind them.
The final safe zone was still ahead, and they had spent enough time in Vanitas.
The problem, as always, was that leaving Vanitas was not difficult once the conditions were met.
Reaching the next lantern was.
Kael stood under a leaning archway at the edge of the shop street, one hand holding the torch, the other opening and closing inside his gauntlet. The safe glow from Baltak's shop did not extend far beyond the door. Outside, Sector Three waited with cleaner roads, taller buildings, and a kind of silence that felt disciplined rather than empty.
He checked the mini-map.
His mouth tightened.
The closest lantern sat deeper northeast, bright and tempting in the fog of war, but the area around it was packed with red dots. Not scattered monsters wandering randomly through ruins. These stood around the lantern in patterns that looked almost deliberate. A few shifted slowly, as if patrolling. Others remained fixed near the safest approach roads.
