They were the guys with red skin and cybernetic accessories all over their bodies. Each one wore a dark blue jacket and ridiculous baggy pants. Strangely enough, they weren't wearing shoes, since their horrendous feet—with claw-like nails—wouldn't allow it.
The one who attacked was the tallest of the three—two meters tall. In his cybernetic hand, he held a long sword with a sharp, narrow tip—one and a half meters in length—with joints running along its double-edged blade. The metal gleamed with a bright silver sheen, and the openings at each joint—seven joints in total—glowed a sky-blue color. The hilt was black, lined with spikes resembling a spine.
That explained why the three of them were standing so far away and why, even so, Nova had almost been decapitated. The sword was quite long and seemed capable of extending thanks to its joints, allowing it to function like a bladed whip.
When the attacker saw that Nova had successfully dodged, he laughed, impressed. His monstrous reptilian eyes were chilling due to their calm expression.
"I knew I shouldn't underestimate you. Crimson Bloods are all privileged," the guy said.
Nova lowered his head. His eyes began to glow faintly gold, mixed with the orange hue of Anticipation. His aura became visible above his cloak, like a mystical magical mantle.
'This guy… I can understand him too.'
Normally, he couldn't distinguish languages when Aberrations talked among themselves, but when one spoke directly to him, he was able to understand them perfectly. At least, he could now. These monsters were, in one way or another, capable of transmitting what they meant to other species.
Since Nova was displaying his aura—which appeared ominous to the nearby Aberrations—the swordsman raised both hands, still holding the blade.
"Whoa, easy there, kid. We just want to talk."
"Talk?" Nova said. He lifted his gaze from beneath the darkness of his hood. "Do you enjoy talking to other people's severed heads?"
The guy shook his head as the other two laughed.
"Fuck… I didn't understand a damn thing you just said. Looks like you don't know how to use Intention Transmission. That means you barely just left home. And that's great…," his smile widened, revealing ugly, sharp, yellowed teeth.
Nova frowned. In situations like this, he only had one option. Seeing that he was completely surrounded by these Aberrations, his next move would be decisive.
'Even if I understand what he's saying, I have no idea what he's talking about. The best option is to run!'
He prepared to jump wherever he could. Meanwhile, the guy with the sword kept talking.
"It's been a long time since a Crimson Blood showed up around here."
"Oh yeah? I don't care!" Nova said, leaping toward one of the rooftops behind him. The moment his feet touched the surface, he took off running.
The three guys looked at each other. Then they looked at the spot where the human should have been. The shortest of the three, who stood about a meter and a half tall, looked at the swordsman, confused.
"That wasn't supposed to happen, right?"
The swordsman sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
"You should never underestimate Crimson Bloods. There's a reason they're the most dangerous," with a quick motion, he slid the sword into his old cloth bag and looked in the direction Nova had gone. "Let's go after him! Don't let that amazing reward slip away!"
The other two shouted along with their leader and ran through the streets in pursuit of Nova.
Nova, on the other hand, fled with all his strength, jumping between rooftops and terraces. His cloak stood out far too much among the neon lights.
'My luck has run out. What am I supposed to do now? Everyone knows I'm nearby,' he thought, his cloak dancing between the neon lights to the rhythm of his escape.
He leaped between the strange letters of a sign, then pushed off with one hand against a building's roof to jump to the next one.
The day had been far too hectic, and Nova was still somewhat tired since he hadn't been able to sleep well. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of the red woman, none of this would be happening.
In retrospect, nothing could be worse. What he experienced in the desert didn't even compare to this. On top of that, super-strong monsters were lurking everywhere. Getting out of there alive was still the greatest achievement of his life.
'They're not following me, are they?' he wondered, glancing back several times.
He sighed in relief when he didn't see anyone chasing him. Then he considered the possibility of hiding or getting out of here. Finding an exit to the surface would be the best option, but ever since he arrived in the underground, he hadn't seen anything related to an exit.
Going back to the previous entrance wasn't an option either. In a chase, the worst thing you could do was return near the scene of a crime; therefore, his only choice was to keep running until he found an exit or a good hiding spot.
Minutes passed—nearly an hour—but there was no sign of the guys who had attacked him earlier.
The Aberrations here didn't seem concerned as Nova moved across the rooftops, perhaps because the news took time to spread. Either way, why was there so much hatred toward humans? It would make sense to assume that humans had done something terrible to the Aberrations for most of them to hold such resentment, but it didn't add up. Humanity hadn't left Terra since setting foot on Mars back in 2064. Nor could the humans trapped on the other side of the portal be taken into account, since that was a much more recent matter.
After a few hours, Nova sat down behind a large neon-letter decoration on the rooftop of a tall building. The concrete-and-metal ground was damp and rusted, but the rest of the building seemed to shine, clean and polished.
'I ran too much. I'm exhausted.'
He rested for a while, thinking.
'Not even the Sand Octopus made me run this far. The Aberrations here are no joke—even if they don't look that strong,' he pulled out a Sweet Flake and chewed it to regain some energy. 'I'll need to find a more effective way to hide. Even if I stick to the rooftops, these monsters could spot me jumping from one place to another.'
The alleys weren't an option either. Unlike the surface, the underground was a place where things moved better in the shadows. He had escaped the red woman by hiding there before, but now he had gotten himself into an even bigger problem.
The rest wouldn't last long. Nova had to keep moving before he was found. He continued fleeing in the same direction as the distant, pulsating energy source.
At times, the Aberrations watched him as he jumped across rooftops, performed parkour along walls, and hid within the shadows, but they didn't pay him much attention. In fact, they didn't even look surprised. Perhaps what happened earlier was just a one-in-a-million situation. If that was the case… what incredible luck he had.