Anomaly of Fate
Chapter 58: The Perfect Hunt

Chapter 58: The Perfect Hunt

’A perfect hunt ends before itbegins.’

That was the first lesson Velren had learned from the wolves. Not through words, but through experience—watching, studying, understanding. The essence of the hunt was never in the chase, never in the thrill of pursuit. It was in the moment before. The moment when the prey still believed itself safe.

And right now, he was the hunter.

The moment the cloaked figure arrived—let’s call it Cloaky—its movements had been unnatural from the start. Precise. Robotic. It landed with eerie fluidity, scanning its surroundings with calculated efficiency.

Its gaze swept over everyone. Eterna, Mikhail, Solenne. Analyzing. Measuring. Preparing.

Except Velren.

Why, you ask?

Because the moment that Cloaky had erupted suddenly onto the scene, Velren had immediately activated his Eidolon Veil in an instant.

’If they do not see you, you do not exist. If they do not sense you, you are alreadydead.’

Not invisibility. No tricks of the light. No illusions. Just a state of being—not there. His presence faded, his existence was slipping through the cracks of perception itself. And Cloaky, this thing that erased everything thrown at it, did not even register him.

His Echo worked on this bastard. That makes it the second time today.

But this was just step one. The hardest part came next.

Stalking.

As the battle erupted, as Eterna, Mikhail, and Solenne fought their asses off against Cloaky, Velren moved silently. His Eidolon Veil, combined with the intricate control of his Ka, rendered him a ghost. Not a shadow—because shadows could be seen. Not air—because air could be felt.

He simply wasn’t... there.

And that meant he could do nothing but watch.

He watched as Mikhail was thrown, whose ribs were nearly crushed. He watched as Eterna’s rapier cut through empty space, as her own body was sent sprawling. He watched as Solenne stood alone, defiant but hopelessly outmatched.

The hardest part of the hunt wasn’t waiting. It wasn’t patience.

It was watching.

Velren knew better than anyone—when his prey believed itself to have the upper hand, when it thought the hunt was won, that was when its guard was at its weakest.

And that was why, right now...

This scenario had already been set.

***

Cloaky had no idea.

It believed itself untouchable. It had fought without caution, without fear, because everything thrown at it had simply ceased to exist. It had no reason to expect the unseen. No reason to anticipate an ’anomaly’.

And so, as it moved—Velren moved with it.

No hesitation. No second thoughts.

Just one step. One strike.

A single, clean motion.

He didn’t need to see the way the blade sank through fabric and deeper still, nor did he need to hear the soft, almost unnatural sound of steel meeting resistance.

A perfect hunt ended before it began.

A perfect kill ended before the prey even knew it was dying.

His hand remained steady as the weight of the strike settled. His voice, however, was barely above a whisper:

"Please... just stay down..."

Velren had hunted animals before. He had followed the wolves’ lessons, learned the rhythm of nature’s cruel but necessary balance. He had taken lives in the wild, knowing that each strike was meant to end suffering, to sustain life in turn.

But this?

This was the first time he had inflicted a lethal strike on another person.

A human.

’...Wait. Could this thing even be called human in the first place?!’

His thoughts barely had time to settle before Cloaky jerked violently. A sharp, unnatural shudder ran through its entire body, its limbs were twitching in ways that made Velren’s instincts scream at him.

Then, it did something that unsettled him.

Its head twisted. Not turned—twisted.

An unnatural 180-degree rotation, bending in ways no living thing should. The motion revealed the front of its mask, facing Velren directly for the first time.

’Definitely not human!’

And then—

Behind the mask, two sets of glowing red lights ignited. And a mechanical, unnatural voice soon followed:

"Irre...gulari...ty."

’What the hell? It can talk?!’

Velren kept his grip firm, tensing his muscles even more. Waiting—expecting—something.

The glowing red lights behind the mask flickered. The figure twitched once, like a stuttering, an unnatural jerk of its limbs. Then... nothing.

Stillness.

Velren narrowed his eyes, watching for any sign of movement. A trick, a feint—anything that suggested it wasn’t... dead. Or... off. Or whatever the hell applied to something like this.

But it didn’t move again.

Only then did he allow himself to exhale. Slowly, deliberately, he pulled his katana free, sliding out the blade in a smooth motion. The moment nothing held it upright, Cloaky collapsed. Its body crumpled before him like a puppet with its strings severed.

Velren’s gaze lingered on it for a second longer, still catching his mind up.

"Okay... that was NOT normal."

He turned his attention to Solenne, who remained frozen in place with a bewildered look still plastered across her face. Even as the battle was clearly over, her grip on her scepter was tense, as if she hadn’t fully processed what just happened.

Velren scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward.

"Uh... You alright?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Solenne blinked, then straightened her posture, clearing her throat.

"Yeah—yeah, I’m fine. Thanks."

There was something about the way she said it, the way her eyes flickered with faint recognition before she shook it off.

’She doesn’t remember, huh?’

Velren didn’t know if he should feel relieved or not.

With a quiet breath, he sheathed his katana, pushing that thought aside. There were more immediate things to worry about. He shifted his gaze, landing on Eterna—who, despite her usual sharpness, was still struggling to stand.

Without hesitation, he rushed toward her.

Eterna gritted her teeth, pushing herself up, only for her legs to falter. Before she could stumble, Velren stepped in beside her. He didn’t touch her—just stood close enough that she knew she could lean on him if she needed to.

"Don’t push yourself," he said simply.

Eterna let out a scoff, though the exhaustion in her voice dulled the usual bite.

"...Don’t tell me what to do."

’Wha—? What’s with this girl?!’

Even so, there was something in her expression—something real. It felt... strained and frustrated, but alive.

Velren didn’t know if it was weird or just plain wrong, but seeing that? Seeing her make an expression like that? It was... kind of nice.

’And here I thought she wasn’t a human...’

Eterna exhaled, rubbing her temple.

"I knew I was forgetting something..."

Velren smirked, unable to resist.

"To fool your enemy, one must fool your allies first."