Anomaly of Fate
Chapter 56: A Shooting Omen

Chapter 56: A Shooting Omen

’A data breach?’

The last time he had seen this warning was six years ago, back when he first visited the kingdom with Gramps. Back then, he hadn’t understood what it meant—only that something dangerous definitely lurked behind it.

And now, after all this time, it appeared again.

Did this have anything to do with the sudden postponement of the exam?

A sharp voice cut through his thoughts.

"What the hell do you mean it’s been postponed?!"

Mikhail’s furious yell echoed through the metal clearing, his frustration palpable. He wasn’t yelling at them—he was yelling at the air, as if demanding an answer from the academy itself.

"This makes no sense! We’re still in the middle of—!"

"Calm yourself, Mikhail."

Solenne’s voice was steady, unaffected. She dusted off the sleeve of her uniform before turning to him with a composed gaze.

"For now, let’s comply with the order and head to the nearest safe zone."

Mikhail clicked his tongue, visibly displeased, but didn’t argue further.

Velren exhaled. His Codex’s warning still hovered in the corner of his vision, but he forced himself to push it aside for now. His attention was drawn to the sound of a calm and unhurried footsteps that were approaching him.

It was Eterna.

She walked toward them, indifferent as ever. Even after the sudden announcement, her composed expression hadn’t shifted in the slightest. It was as if nothing could shake her. Stopping a few paces from him, she tilted her head slightly.

"You heard it too?"

Velren nodded. Then his eyes narrowed.

"What about the two you fought?"

Eterna blinked, her silver gaze was utterly unreadable.

"I took care of them."

"You... took care of them?"

She gave a simple nod.

"I knocked them out before the announcement even began."

Silence...

’How strong was this girl exactly...?’

Velren sighed, shaking his head.

"Lead the way. Let’s wake them up and get them to the safe zone."

But before any of them could move—

A deep, thunderous noise rumbled through the air. And a sharp, piercing whistle followed soon after.

It came from above.

Instinctively, all four of them snapped their heads toward the sky.

And that’s when Velren saw it.

A black streak tore through the heavens like a cursed omen. A shooting star— except it was wrong.

It wasn’t a natural celestial body. It was pitch-black, an unnatural void against the backdrop of the sky. Its glowing embers flickered erratically, like a flame devouring the very fabric of reality itself.

And its trajectory—It was coming straight for them.

"Move!" Solenne barked.

The four of them immediately leaped away from the clearing, scattering in different directions.

A heartbeat later—

BOOOOOM!!

The impact shook the ground, erupting a shockwave of force as metal was torn apart and debris exploded outward. Dust and smoke consumed the battlefield, obscuring their vision in a thick haze.

The smoke dissipated, swirling away in the wind until the battlefield became clear once more. And when the dust had settled enough to see, a figure stood in the center of the impact.

Draped in a black cloak that covered its entire body, the figure almost looked like a living shadow. A black mask obscured its face entirely, smooth and unreadable, giving off an unsettling presence. They all tensed at the sudden arrival.

For a moment, the figure remained still. Then, its head jerked to the side—not a smooth, natural motion, but a sharp, mechanical shift, as if it were a machine calibrating itself. It seemed to be scanning its surroundings, its posture itself was eerily rigid yet efficient. Finally, after what felt like a tense eternity, its gaze was finally locked onto someone—Solenne.

The moment it did, it moved.

A sudden blur streaked across the battlefield as the cloaked figure closed the distance between them with alarming speed. Before it could reach her, however—

BOOM!

A magic projectile slammed into its side, the sheer force sending the figure skidding across the battlefield. Twisting midair, it landed in a crouch easily. From behind his smoking gun, Mikhail clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Hey, asshole!" he shouted.

"What the hell were you about to do just now?!"

Slowly, the masked figure turned toward him. Its deliberate, precise movements felt unnatural, almost as if it was reassessing its target. Then, without warning, it lunged toward Mikhail with the same blinding speed.

Before it could reach him, a wall of ice erupted between them, thick and jagged, its surface gleaming with frost. Solenne had reacted in an instant, forming an impenetrable barrier between the two. Yet, the cloaked figure didn’t even hesitate.

It collided with the ice wall at full speed—

Upon impact, the barricade exploded into fragments, razor-sharp shards flying in every direction. But instead of letting the broken ice go to waste, Solenne twisted her wrist, and the scattered pieces instantly reformed, shaping themselves into spikes that caged the figure in place.

"Mikhail!" she called out.

"Tch, I know!"

Mikhail aimed his gun and fired another magic projectile, a concentrated blast of energy meant to tear through anything in its path. But the moment it touched the cloaked figure—

It vanished.

Not deflected. Not absorbed. Simply erased, as if it had never existed in the first place.

Mikhail’s eyes widened.

"What?"

The same thing happened to the ice spikes. Their structure was unraveled in an instant, melting into nothingness, as if reality itself had been rewritten to remove them.

Before anyone could react, the air behind the figure shimmered, and Eterna was suddenly there—with her rapier that was already mid-thrust, infused with brilliant light. Her attack was aimed directly at its back.

The cloaked figure tilted its head, dodging at the last possible moment. Then, with almost casual ease, it spun around and delivered a devastating kick.

Eterna barely managed to brace herself, flaring her rapier as she absorbed most of the impact, but the sheer force still sent her skidding back. She dug her heels into the ground, coming to a stop several meters away with the same unreadable expression.

Solenne took a step forward, tightening her grip around her scepter.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The cloaked figure gave no response, it showed no sign of acknowledgment. Its stance remained unchanged—calm, composed, and fixated on the princess.

Then, it did something that made them tense in shock.

Out of thin air, it summoned a weapon.

Long and serrated. Dripping with an unnatural, dark haze. The air around it wavered, as if the world itself was straining against its presence.

A black scythe.

Without hesitation, the cloaked figure swung its scythe down toward Solenne. She reacted instantly, conjuring a barrier of white flames between them. The wall of fire roared to life, its light blazing in defiance—

Only to be cut through effortlessly.

The flames didn’t linger nor burn. They simply ceased to exist.

Realizing she had no other choice, Solenne leapt back, propelling herself with wind magic from the incoming attack. But the figure followed, leaping after her with the same relentless precision, its scythe already poised for another strike.

Mikhail took the chance.

"Like hell I’m letting you do that!"

He raised his gun and fired, unleashing another barrage of magic projectiles straight toward the airborne figure.

As the figure soared through the air in pursuit of Solenne, Mikhail’s barrage closed in. Yet, with an unnatural shift in momentum, the cloaked assailant twisted mid-air, bringing its scythe down in a sweeping arc. The moment its blade met the incoming projectiles—

Just like before, it vanished entirely. No explosion. No resistance. As if they had never existed in the first place.

Mikhail’s eyes widened in disbelief, tightening his grip on his gun.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me..."

But before he could fire again, Eterna seized the opportunity.

Her rapier gleamed as she pointed it toward the airborne figure, its tip radiating an intense glow. A heartbeat later, a concentrated beam of light erupted from her blade, streaking toward the target with pinpoint precision.

The figure did not dodge. It did not move.

And yet—

The laser bent.

It curved unnaturally, twisting around the cloaked assailant’s form as if repelled by some unseen force, before dispersing harmlessly into the air.

Eterna’s eyes flickered with surprise for the first time.

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