Anomaly Chapter 168 – When logic escapes [9]

In the very next mont, I found myself surprised by the na I had just spoken. It had slipped out so suddenly—I didn’t know that na, had never heard it before, yet it had surfaced in my mind as if it had always been there, dormant.

As I stared at the Virtue standing before , sothing inside insisted that the na was familiar. Logic said otherwise, but there was a strange sense of recognition, as if the na had been etched in so long-forgotten corner of my mory.

Even though I wasn’t entirely sure, it was likely connected to my fragnted mories. Still, there was one thing I knew with conviction—sothing rooted deep in my consciousness: I knew that Virtue.

Her na echoed within with a haunting familiarity: (Nyara) I whispered again in thought, as if the silent sound might reignite sothing in my mind.

Even though it still felt strange to say a na I sohow knew belonged to soone—soone I felt close to, yet who remained a mystery—it rolled off my tongue naturally. It was as if this wasn’t the first, second, or even third ti I’d spoken it.

There was sothing comforting about it, almost instinctual, like the na had been part of for a long ti. As I sank deeper into these confusing thoughts, a gentle, serene voice echoed directly in my mind, like a whisper from a place far away... yet intimately close.

(Nyara...) the voice began, repeating the sa na I’d spoken just monts ago.

(I know that na... but I can’t rember...) it continued, the tone uncertain, almost sorrowful: (I feel like that na ans sothing to ... like it’s connected to sothing I lost...)

My gaze turned fully to the Virtue. Her eyes wandered curiously around the space, like a child seeing the world for the first ti. There was sothing pure, almost innocent, about the way she looked at everything—as if each detail was new and fascinating. Then, suddenly, she lowered her eyes and stared down at her own hand. I stood silently, unsure what she was doing—or trying to do.

Incidentally, ever since we’d returned to Black Lake, I’d noticed sothing odd had happened. For so unknown reason, Arthur was lying on the ground, his calm breathing clearly showing he was asleep. But he wasn’t the only one—Oliver’s two companions also seed to have slipped into a deep sleep, though Oliver himself remained awake, silently observing the scene.

Aside from Oliver, the young boy nad Adam and Eve herself were also still awake. I could imagine plenty of reasons why Adam and Eve hadn’t fallen asleep—each had their own traits and peculiarities. But Oliver was the exception. From what I could tell, he seed like a completely normal human.

At least on the surface, that’s the impression he gave. Even the last ti I used my special vision to observe him, his weaknesses were identical to any ordinary person’s. There was nothing unusual about his physical makeup, no visible anomaly—and maybe that was exactly why he stood out to even more.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like I’d have ti to investigate. In the next instant, a subtle presence began to spread through the area. I looked around, alert—but saw nothing. Still, I could feel it—sothing was there, moving around . It couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, but its presence was undeniable.

That didn’t an it couldn’t be seen at all, though. With that thought, I activated my special vision. My eyes began to glow intensely, shimring with shifting colors like bands of a rainbow. And then, as if a veil had been lifted from reality, the faint presence I’d only sensed before finally revealed itself to .

It seed to be erging from the Virtue—or perhaps it was the Virtue releasing it. But what shocked most was that, whatever it was, it had no color. It didn’t shine, didn’t shimr, didn’t reflect anything.

Even now, with its shape outlined in disturbing clarity, it felt like I still couldn’t truly see it. Like its presence was there, yet absent from reality.

Lost in thought as I stared at the intense aura radiating from the Virtue, I was startled when her voice gently echoed in my mind again—heavy with deep lancholy: (Why can’t I rember?)

In the next mont, she brought both hands to her head, as if trying to contain sothing building up inside her. The energy she was releasing continued to spread, growing denser and more shapeless, like a suffocating veil filling the space around us: (What’s wrong with ?)

***

(POV – Emily Parker)

Emily had spent a considerable amount of ti trying to digest the cryptic words from the entities. Still, she wasn’t confident she could co up with a satisfying answer to the questions those ssages had left swirling in her mind.

In the end, all she could do was get lost in vague and uncertain speculation. The entities themselves—the ones who had thrown Emily into that state of confusion and unrest—had already returned to their mysterious tasks.

As she sank deeper into her thoughts, Laura’s voice gently echoed at her side, filled with unwavering confidence. Her firm, encouraging tone cut through the silence: “Don’t worry, boss. I’m sure the [Angel of Death] is going to be fine. You, more than anyone, know what she’s capable of”

At Laura’s words, Emily let a small smile curl at the corner of her lips. Just as Laura had said, Emily had studied the [Angel of Death] more than anyone else. She knew her abilities better than anyone—though much of her knowledge was still based on speculation and fragnted observation.

Even so, one thing was becoming increasingly clear to Emily about that anomaly: the [Angel of Death] was constantly changing, evolving endlessly, as if her powers had no defined limits—defying any attempt to fully understand them.

At the very least, Emily could recall a recurring pattern from nearly all her past confrontations with other anomalies: sohow, the [Angel of Death] always ca out victorious—almost like she was unbeatable. What’s more, she almost always erged with a new anomalous power, a previously unseen ability that seed to be born from each battle she won.

How she achieved these transformations, however, remained a mystery—an impenetrable shadow that even Emily couldn’t unravel. The only certainty was this: the [Angel of Death] was constantly evolving—adapting, growing.

As I was reflecting on that, the containnt room door suddenly swung open. Victor appeared in the doorway, his face tense and chest rising and falling rapidly, as if he had run all the way there. His eyes, filled with urgency, locked onto Emily and Laura, who were still barely grasping what was happening.

Then, with a firm voice nearly broken by his heavy breathing, he said: “Emily, Laura, you need to see this. Now”

Both Emily and Laura showed confused expressions at first, but within seconds their faces completely changed. Without wasting a mont, they followed Victor with determined steps toward the monitoring room. As soon as the door opened, they entered without hesitation.

The environnt around Emily was cold and nearly silent, broken only by the soft hum of electronic equipnt. The only light ca from the monitors, casting a bluish-gray glow over the surfaces, forming semicircular arcs around the central chair where Emily sat.

From her strategic position, she carefully watched every screen showing real-ti images: satellites silently orbiting the Earth, hidden caras placed at strategic points around the globe, and intercepted transmissions from both civilian and military signals, often interrupted by static and encrypted codes.

In the air, holographic maps floated with a pale blue glow, projecting areas of interest marked by pulsing indicators, revealing anomalous movents that defied any logical explanation, unusual weather patterns that seed to anticipate unpredictable events, and recent activities of Interest Groups.

But Emily’s expression as she watched the screens was deeply serious — or rather, it was Emily trying to mask the storm of doubts boiling in her mind, a thin veil over the fact that she wasn’t sure what to think. Her eyes fixed on the charts showed growing tension, as if every line and number contradicted everything she had expected.

The first thing she did was abruptly turn to Victor, her voice loaded with urgency and disbelief: “What the hell happened? Why do the charts look like this?”

Emily carefully observed Victor’s expression, which remained serious and still for a few seconds. Then, he let out a heavy sigh and shrugged, a silent answer clearly saying he had no idea what was going on. Emily raised an eyebrow, intrigued and a little skeptical of his reaction.

With disbelief heavy in her voice, she asked: “You’re telling that, out of nowhere, all at once, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes erupting, and earthquakes happening all around the world just started popping up mysteriously?”

Her eyes searched Victor’s face for so confirmation, as if expecting him to deny everything, to say it was all just a big misunderstanding. But his silence spoke louder than any words — and it was a harsh answer. Emily let out a tired sigh. Deep down, she knew there was nothing left to do.

Technically, it was her job to find the source of all this; that’s why she was there. However, no matter how hard she tried, all she could do was speculate. Simultaneous disasters, chaos across different regions... And from her point of view, there was only one plausible explanation: the new virtue that had recently erged — Nyara.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

Although the Virtue in front of was full of questions, the truth is I felt the sa way. To be honest, I wasn’t much different from her when I first woke up in that forest. I was confused, disoriented, and completely lost.

However, maybe what kept from going completely insane was the fact that I still had sothing to hold on to — my "human" life, no matter how distant or fragile it seed. That thread of mory sohow kept my sanity intact.

Even when I lost my arm for the first ti, fighting one of those strange forest dogs, I managed to stay, to so extent, sane. Maybe because deep down, I still believed that sohow, one day, I would make it back to my old life.

But lately, I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions about what that “old life” really ant. Unfortunately, so far, I’ve gathered far more questions than answers.

Anyway, that’s why I could understand the virtue and even feel compassion for her situation. Besides, if my thoughts are right and all virtues are truly my sisters, that’s even more reason to want to help her. Because, even if I don’t know how to do it yet... she’s family.

While these thoughts tumbled through my mind, I felt a light touch on my shoulder. The mont I turned, I ca face to face with my Alter Ego. His red eyes, cold and void of any emotion, stared at with a disturbing intensity. I blinked, confused, tilting my head slightly, caught by a silent doubt growing inside .

The next mont, my Alter Ego moved closer. I didn’t fully understand what he intended to do, but I stayed still — there was sothing in his presence that told he didn’t want to hurt .

Slowly, his forehead touched mine. Our gazes t for a few silent seconds before I gently closed my eyes. He did the sa, as if mirroring my movents. Then, without warning, I was swallowed by complete darkness, as if pulled into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The feeling was like slowly sinking into a thick, silent liquid, a gentle pressure wrapping around every inch of skin. Strangely, despite the obvious discomfort, there was sothing oddly comforting and warm in that quiet embrace, as if the very atmosphere was breathing a calm almost like a mother’s.