The Anomaly's Path

Cold.

That was the first thing my skin felt. Not the sharp chill of a winter wind, or even the cold from Seris’s Lunar affinity, but a heavy, rotting, wrong kind of cold. It hung in the air like a wet blanket, sticking to my throat with every breath, tasting faintly of metal and rot.

I stood on the wet stones near the edge of the Western Plaza, my fingers gripped so tightly around Tempest’s handle that my hand hurt.

My sensory skills were practically screaming at each other in the back of my skull.

Spatial awareness felt like a wire stretched too thin. The space around the outer walls wasn’t just twisted, it was rippling, like water being stirred from below. Flash Instinct was a low, constant buzz in my ears, warning me that the air itself was dangerous.

And Soul Perception?

It was worse. Through the fog, I couldn’t see clear souls anymore. I just felt a sea of shaking, scared sparks, the terrified students, the exhausted fighters, and surrounding them, cold, sharp patches of dark, evil intent.

I sucked in a sharp breath, grinding my back teeth together until my jaw clicked. Something about this fog was completely twisted.

"Leo..."

Seris’s voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the static in my head instantly.

She stood half a step to my right, her hair catching the dim, violet glow of the sky, her eyes fixed entirely on the dense purple mist creeping over the broken masonry. Her blade was already drawn, resting loosely by her hip.

She wasn’t tense, not in the way normal people got tense. She was completely still. Unreadable. A silent wall of ice waiting for the impact.

"...I know," I muttered, my black lightning crackling faintly along the flat of my katana. "I feel it. It’s coming."

Before I could even reset my stance, a sudden, sharp feeling in my gut made my skin crawl. My instincts screamed at me that danger was coming. My head snapped back on pure reflex, just before a heavy, razor-sharp claw cut through the fog.

The edge of the claw missed my chin by less than an inch, the wind from it stinging my skin.

"Gah!"

A huge, four-legged monster, a Grade 5 Corrupted Hound with raw, exposed muscle and dark, oily drool dripping from its jaw, leaped past me, its claws scraping against the ground as it tried to turn toward Seris.

Seris didn’t flinch.

Without wasting any movement, she stepped into the beast’s path. Her silver blade flashed in a clean, flat arc.

A line of freezing Lunar light cut through the air, hitting the creature’s exposed neck. The frost didn’t just freeze the surface, it turned the blood inside its throat to ice before the blade even finished its swing.

The headless body crashed onto the ground with a heavy, frozen thud, sliding several feet before stopping.

"Two more coming high," Seris said, her tone utterly flat as she wiped her blade with a single quick flick.

"Damn bastards just keep crawling out," I cursed under my breath, my vision narrowing as lightning exploded under my feet.

Black electricity hit the ground with a sharp crack, throwing me forward into the fog.

Two Grade 4 beasts, six-legged monsters covered in jagged, bone-like plates, burst out of the purple haze. The first one lunged, its huge mouth snapping toward my shoulder. I ducked under the bite, feeling the heat of its breath, and thrust Tempest straight up.

Spatial Slip.

The tip of my blade vanished, reappearing inside the monster’s throat. I twisted the handle, sending a surge of black lightning through the space. The beast twitched violently, blue-black smoke pouring from its eyes and mouth before its legs gave out.

Behind me, a low, wet rustle warned of the second beast springing off a nearby wall. I didn’t turn around. I dropped low, crouching against the ground.

Above me, a wide, freezing wave of silver Lunar energy swept through the air. The arc caught the leaping monster mid-air, the cold magic locking its joints in thick, white frost and slamming it flat onto the ground.

I spun on my heel from my crouch, bringing Tempest down in a heavy, two-handed chop that shattered the frozen neck in a single blow.

We moved back-to-back. Her cold silver power cut through the purple mist while my black lightning cleared the blind spots. Every time a monster tried to rush her from the side, my blade folded through space to stop it.

Every time a beast tried to hit me when I was off balance, a sharp burst of Lunar light pinned its legs to the ground. It was an endless rhythm, no talking, no wasted movement, just two people moving like a single deadly unit.

I drove Tempest straight through the ribs of the last beast, pinning it to the ground until its thrashing stopped.

When the area finally went quiet, I pulled my blade free and took a long breath. Sweat mixed with monster blood ran down the side of my face.

"You good?" I asked, turning toward Seris. She didn’t answer right away. She simply glanced at me, her eyes sweeping over my arms and torso to check for deep wounds before giving a single, subtle nod.

"I am fine."

"That’s good," I grunted, shaking the blood off my katana before sheathing it halfway. "Let’s fall back to the shelter line."

_

We walked back toward the main group near the wall.

Roan was standing near a low wall, resting his weight against his spear. But his expression was unusually tense, his eyes scanning the fog without his usual lazy half-smile. A few steps away, Elisabeth stood completely still, her eyes cold and distant.

I closed the distance, my boots heavy on the ground. "Roan. What’s with this mood? What happened? Is something wrong?"

Roan turned his head slightly, giving me a quick look. "Nothing good, Leo. A few monsters tried to break through from the side, but Elisabeth and I handled them. After that, I heard shouting from the shelter doors. We rushed over and found... this."

He pointed toward the entrance of the shelter.

A first-year girl was on her knees in the dirt, her body shaking so badly she could barely stay upright. I recognized her. I didn’t know her name, but I had seen her before.

She was from Riven’s class — Class Fortis. A quiet girl who always stayed near the back of the group, never causing trouble. Now she was completely broken, kneeling in the dirt like the world had ended.

She was crying, a high, broken sound that cut through the low hum of the wind. Her hands were gripping her hair, pulling so hard her fingers went red and her scalp bled. Her chest rose and fell in short, ragged gasps as her body rocked back and forth.

"I didn’t... I didn’t mean to..." she stammered, biting her nails until they bled, her eyes wild and bloodshot. "He... his head just... it just burst... I didn’t kill him! He was standing right next to me and... and..."

I walked closer, toward her. Seris followed a half-step behind me.

On the ground in front of the girl lay the body of a male student, his fingers still frozen around the handle of his sword.

But from the jaw up, his head was completely gone, not cut off by a clean blade, but violently burst from the inside, leaving only shattered bone and torn flesh scattered across the dirt, as if something had built up inside his skull until it exploded.

"Calm down!" Professor Veyra’s sharp voice cut through the air as she marched over from the defensive line, her face covered in sweat. "Student, pull yourself together and tell me what attacked him!"

"No..." the girl sobbed, crawling backward on her hands and knees, dragging herself through the dirt. "No, no, no! There was no monster! We were just standing here... and then he... he mumbled something... and his head... ahh! Ahhhhh!"

She clutched her head again, digging her nails into her temples. "It’s here! That thing... that thing is inside the mist! We’re all going to die! WE’RE ALL GOING TO EAT EACH OTHER!"

"Control yourself, student!" Veyra snapped.

Amelia quickly stepped out from the group, dropping to one knee beside the girl. Her face was pale, but her hands were steady as she reached out to grab the girl’s shoulders.

"Hey, listen to me! You need to breathe. Look at me! The line is holding, Professor Veyra is here, we are safe—"

Wait.

My stomach dropped. A cold, sick feeling spread through my gut.

My Soul Perception didn’t just pick up panic from the girl, it caught a dark, rotting thread of mana attached to her head, stretching out into the deep purple fog. My Spatial Awareness flared, sensing a twisted, wrong feeling in the air around her temples.

Why is the mist acting like this? my mind raced.

This isn’t normal. In the Sealed Valley, the corrupted mana created monsters, but it didn’t... get into people’s minds like this.

Unless... unless it’s like the exam.

That illusion monster from the valley. It didn’t just attack bodies, it attacked minds. It got inside people’s heads and made them turn on each other. Is that what’s happening here? Is the mist doing the same thing?

What are we missing? What the hell is in that fog?! Is there something hiding in it? Something that’s controlling people? Is this how the Fallen are attacking us now? Not just with beasts, but with something worse?

I snapped my head around, scanning the crowd. Amelia was too close, she was kneeling near the girl, trying to calm her down.

"Amelia, get away from her!" I shouted, my voice cracking with sudden panic. "Get back!"

Amelia blinked, looking up at me in confusion. "Leo, what—"

Before she could finish, a horrible sound cut through the air.

A wet, muffled crack. The girl’s body went rigid, her back arching as her hands shot up to her head, clawing at her own temples like she was trying to rip something out. Her mouth opened wide, but no sound came out.

Then—

The girl’s head exploded.

No visible projectile or physical strike. Her skull simply exploded outward with a horrific, wet sound, spraying dark blood, bone fragments, and grey matter in every direction. The dark thread of energy that had been attached to her vanished into the fog, retreating like a snake slithering back into the dark.

A heavy shower of crimson blood slammed directly across Amelia’s face, neck, and clothes.

The entire plaza went dead silent. A few students nearby stumbled back in shock, their weapons dropping from their hands. Someone vomited. Someone else started crying. The air was thick with the smell of blood and fear.

Amelia froze on her knees. Her eyes were wide, completely unblinking, staring straight ahead into nothingness. Slowly, her hand shook uncontrollably as she lifted a finger, touching her own cheek and pulling it away covered in thick, warm red.

"Huh...?" Amelia whispered. A single, tiny, breathless sound. "W-What... what... did I..."

Her chest started heaving violently, her fingers trembling as she stared at her blood-soaked hands. The raw, sheer shock overwhelmed her, her jaw worked silently as if trying to scream, her eyes wildly darting between the headless corpse and her own bloodied palms in horror.

"Amelia, step back!" Veyra shouted, her voice tight as she grabbed Amelia’s arm and yanked her away from the body. "Everyone, stay calm! Keep your eyes on the mist and do not look directly into the deep fog!"

"Professor..." a second-year student stammered, backing away until his spine hit the shelter door. "What... what the fuck was that?!"

Panic erupted like a wildfire. Students began shouting, stepping on each other, drawing blades with shaking hands.

I stood frozen, my hands shaking around Tempest. That wasn’t a monster. That wasn’t a beast. Something just killed that girl from the inside out. And it was still out there. It could be anyone. It could be any of us.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Heavy, agonizingly slow footfalls echoed, not from the outer wall, but from directly behind us, coming from deep inside the shelter. The doors, built to keep civilians safe, were supposed to be shut tight.

Instead, thick purple fog poured out from the gaps in the frame. The heavy bolts were twisted and bent, hanging loose.

My heart hammered against my ribs as the doors groaned, slowly swinging outward.

A wave of hot, blood-scented air hit the plaza. Inside the shelter, where hundreds of families, city folk, and injured students had been ushered for safety... there was only silence. No screaming. No crying.

Just an overwhelming, sickening smell of blood that drifted out with the fog.

Did it... did that thing kill everyone inside? The horrifying thought slammed into my mind like a physical blow. All those people we were holding the line for... were they already dead while we fought outside?

My skin crawled with dread. My instincts were no longer just warning me, they were screaming, filling my head with pure alarm. Slowly, out of the thick purple fog pouring from the shelter entrance, a figure appeared.

The creature that stepped out into the light was huge, easily fourteen feet tall, with a hunched, twisted body covered in thick, grey, leathery skin. Its hide was stretched so tight over its swollen frame that blackened ribs stuck out from its chest like sharp spikes.

Its legs were uneven and warped, the left knee bent backward, dragging a heavy, clawed foot that left deep marks in the ground. Behind it, the doorway was smeared with fresh, dark red blood, thick trails dragging out from the dark hallway behind it.

But its head was a nightmare. It had no eyes. No ears. No nose. Its face was split open by a huge, gaping hole that stretched from shoulder to shoulder. And inside that wet, open space... there were no teeth.

Instead, hundreds of pale, wriggling fingers lined the inside of its jaw. They twitched, curled, and scraped against each other in constant, sickening motion, dripping a thick, yellow fluid down its chest.

"A-A Grade 7..." a third-year student whispered, his voice completely breaking. "That’s... that’s a Grade 7 Abomination..."

The creature stopped at the edge of the gate, towering over the bodies scattered across the plaza. It didn’t rush. It didn’t roar. Slowly, its mouth filled with fingers peeled open. The pale fingers twitched and squelched against each other with a wet, sickening sound.

When it spoke, its voice wasn’t a growl. It was a chorus of many voices, men, women, children, screaming from deep inside its throat, vibrating directly into their minds.

"S-Save... us..." the voice echoed, making weaker students drop to their knees, blood leaking from their ears as they clutched their heads. "...p-please... it... it’s so dark in here... S-SAVE US!"

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