Anomaly of Fate
Chapter 57: Out of Phase

Chapter 57: Out of Phase

’It... bends?’

Eterna’s sharp silver eyes flickered in disbelief as she stared at the cloaked figure. The way her concentrated beam of light had curved unnaturally, bending around its form like it was being repelled by an unseen force, made the grip on her rapier tighter.

What the hell is this thing?

Dispersing magic like it was nothing, moving in ways that were completely unnatural—this wasn’t human. It wasn’t even close.

Mikhail growled in frustration, raising his gun once more.

"This is bullshit! It just erases everything we throw at it!"

The masked figure turned its head toward him in that same eerie, mechanical shift, almost as if registering his voice. Mikhail didn’t wait for it to make another move. With gritted teeth, he fired, unleashing another relentless barrage of magic projectiles. The bolts of energy tore through the air, streaking toward the figure—

And just like before, they ceased to exist the moment they got too close.

No explosion. No deflection. No impact. As if they had never even been fired in the first place.

Mikhail cursed under his breath, barely managing to dodge as the cloaked figure lunged toward him in a blur of motion. A serrated scythe tore through the space he had occupied a second ago, cutting through metal and stone like butter. He rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding a follow-up slash before scrambling to his feet.

Solenne’s voice rang out, steady and decisive.

"We have to overwhelm it. Don’t give it the time to erase everything we throw at it!"

Eterna’s lips parted slightly as she murmured to herself:

"...Then we hit it all at once."

There was no time to second-guess. The three of them moved in unison, synchronizing their attacks with the unspoken understanding that hesitation meant death.

Mikhail unloaded a relentless stream of magic bullets while Solenne conjured twisting spears of ice that launched forward at blinding speed. At the same time, Eterna dashed forward, gleaming her rapier with a dangerous brilliance as she aimed for the figure’s blind spot.

The cloaked figure reacted instantly.

A pulse of unseen energy rippled outward, and every single projectile vanished before reaching it. The ice spears unraveled into nothingness, and Mikhail’s bullets simply ceased to be. But Eterna—Eterna was already there, too close to be erased before impact.

Her rapier thrust forward in a precise, lethal strike, humming the very air with the force behind it.

For the first time, the cloaked figure moved defensively. It tilted its head, dodging at the last possible second. Eterna adjusted in an instant, twisting her wrist to redirect the momentum of her blade into a sweeping arc—

Only for her rapier to pass through thin air as the figure disappeared from her sight.

She blinked. ’Where—’

Pain exploded in her side as something struck her ribs, sending her skidding backward. She barely managed to plant her feet and stabilize herself before the figure reappeared before her, already swinging its scythe in a merciless downward arc.

Mikhail roared, raising his gun.

"Not happening, bastard!"

BOOM!

A compressed blast of raw energy shot forward. Unlike before, this one wasn’t a series of small projectiles—it was a full-powered shot, too fast and too sudden to be erased immediately. The cloaked figure twisted at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the blast, but the force of the explosion still sent it hurtling backward.

Solenne took the opportunity. With a flick of her wrist, golden chains of burning light erupted from the ground, coiling around the figure in an attempt to restrain it. The moment they made contact—

They vanished.

Solenne’s eyes widened. No, it wasn’t just erasing them. The chains had barely begun to manifest before they unraveled into nothingness. The effect was getting faster.

"Tch—!"

She barely had time to react before the cloaked figure recovered, its body twisting unnaturally mid-air before launching itself to Mikhail at full speed.

The boy fired off another shot, but it never reached the target. The figure closed the distance too quickly, slipping through the barrage like a phantom.

Desperation flickered in Mikhail’s eyes. With no room to evade, he did the only thing he could—he pressed the barrel of his gun right against the figure’s center and pulled the trigger.

"Try erasing this, motherfucker!"

The deafening shot rang out, and in an instant, a thick cloud of smoke and debris swallowed both figures whole. The forest fell into a tense silence, as the others were holding its breath, waiting for the dust to clear and reveal the outcome.

For a moment, nothing moved. Nothing could be seen within the swirling gray haze.

Then, without warning—something was blasted out from within.

A figure shot through the air like a ragdoll, crashing hard onto the ground before tumbling across the floor.

It was Mikhail.

He lay sprawled, his weapon was nowhere in sight, his breath coming in ragged gasps. And as the last wisps of smoke faded, the cloaked figure finally stepped into view—standing exactly where it had been before, as if it was completely unfazed.

"Mikhail!" Solenne called out, but she couldn’t move to help him. The cloaked figure was already upon her.

Eterna gritted her teeth, forcing her battered body forward. Her rapier lashed out in a series of rapid, precise strikes, each one aimed at the figure’s vital points. But none of them landed. It weaved through her attacks with an unnatural fluidity, its movements were sharper than anything she had ever faced.

’There’s something missing...’

A thought clawed at the back of her mind even as she fought. Why did it feel like they were forgetting something?

Before she could analyze further, the figure retaliated.

It struck faster than she could react. A powerful blow slammed into her shoulder, knocking her back. She barely steadied herself before the scythe came down again, this time with deadly precision.

She blocked—

And then, she was airborne.

The sheer force of the impact sent her crashing into the ground, pain blooming through her body as her vision swam. She coughed, struggling to push herself up, but her limbs refused to cooperate.

That left only one...

Solenne stood alone against the cloaked figure, tightening her grip around her scepter. She did not falter. Her expression remained composed, unwavering.

The cloaked figure regarded her silently for a moment, as if acknowledging that she was the last one standing.

Then, it moved.

Before it could take another step toward her—

A blade erupted from its chest.

A katana, its edge was gleaming ominously even in the dim light. The cloaked figure stiffened, halting its movements as if it was frozen in place.

Standing behind it, gripping the katana’s hilt, was a boy.

His figure flickered, and his presence was unstable—like he was glitching in and out of existence.

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