Anomaly

Chapter 348 – The Primordial Fear [66]

Heavy footsteps echoed along the tower’s spiral staircase, reverberating against the stone walls as we pushed toward the top. Victor, Rupert, and Arthur climbed a few steps ahead of me, their silhouettes outlined by the flickering light seeping through the tower’s worn cracks, casting uneven shadows.

Victor and Rupert had removed their helmets, just like most of the reaction team, and strands of hair clung to their foreheads, soaked with sweat.

The hot, stifling air made every breath harder, and the sound of lungs gasping for air blended with the hurried rhythm of our steps. Sweat ran down their faces, highlighting exhaustion built not only from physical strain but from the constant tension that had followed us since the beginning of our escape.

Since I was right there with them, I knew exactly why they looked so worn down: when you’re running for your life, there’s rarely any room to worry about appearances, or anything beyond the next step. Coincidence or not, that was exactly what we were doing: running for our lives.

“I’ll say it again, climbing the creepy tower was a terrible idea!” Rupert grunted, his voice rough and broken by exhaustion. Each word seemed to weigh on his lungs as he struggled to catch his breath. Around us, the structure groaned under the pressure of seismic tremors that rolled through its core like the distant roar of a colossal monster.

Victor turned sharply, the muscles in his face tight and his eyes marked by deep fatigue: “Rupert!” he snapped, his voice hoarse and raw, scraping his throat: “I swear, if you don’t shut that damn mouth of yours, I’ll hand you over to that thing myself before it devours us!” he shouted back, his voice heavy with exhaustion and irritation.

“Hah!” Rupert replied with a crooked grin, though the tension in his eyes betrayed the nervousness he tried to hide. Every muscle in his face looked stiff: “Good luck trying to compete with that thing, boss! Didn’t know I was worth that much!”

His tone dripped with irony. Victor, however, didn’t seem to take his words too seriously, or maybe he was just used to it. Rupert had always been like that: distrustful, pessimistic, constantly expecting the worst.

According to Victor, it was exactly that paranoia that had kept Rupert alive in this line of work. Ironically enough, it made more sense than I cared to admit.

Together with Tenebrya, I stayed slightly apart from the group. I didn’t want to risk any kind of accident involving her, and given her peculiar traits, let’s just say something like that wouldn’t exactly be unlikely.

So I figured it was safer to keep some distance from the others. Tenebrya, meanwhile, kept her curious little eyes fixed on the darkness relentlessly chasing us. Irony of ironies, we couldn’t make out anything at all in the sea of black below us except... pure darkness.

No glow, no clear movement, just emptiness. Because of that, there was no way to know whether something was truly following us or if it was just our imagination. Still, I doubted anyone there would volunteer to check up close whether we were actually being chased.

But back to my little sister, she didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of our current situation in the slightest. In fact, when I asked earlier why she seemed so fascinated by the darkness below, she simply said she felt something familiar there, though she couldn’t explain exactly what.

Personally, I didn’t want to pressure her. There was something in the hesitant way she answered that made me pull back, so I dropped the subject for now. My gaze remained fixed on the group ahead.

From my elevated position, I had a clear view of their movements, and that aerial advantage gave me a small margin of safety. If anything went out of control, I would have enough time to react.

When that thought crossed my mind moments earlier, I genuinely didn’t expect to put it into practice so soon. Everyone climbed carefully, step by step, despite the urgency of our situation, keeping their eyes on the uneven stairs.

The tower shook violently around us, stones grinding and fine dust falling from the ceiling with every new tremor. My only mistake was probably assuming everyone had the same perfect balance I did amid the chaos, spoiler: they didn’t.

One of the reaction team members, moving a few steps ahead of the others, stumbled when the tremors shook the tower again. His foot stretched toward the next step, searching for support, but before he could shift his weight and steady himself, a stronger shock rippled through the entire structure.

The step beneath him vibrated violently, stripping away any sense of stability. Since his foot wasn’t fully planted yet, the outcome was inevitable: his body tilted dangerously to the left, where there was no railing or handhold within reach.

For a brief instant, everything seemed to slow down, the air trapped in his lungs, the distant echo of alarms, the tense stares of the teammates behind him, before gravity began to claim its price.

Gravity did its work in the next instant, pulling him downward as he fell from the staircase toward the deep darkness below. I watched the reaction team’s tense, worried expressions, eyes wide, jaws clenched, hands hesitating between action and acceptance, as one of their own vanished into the abyss.

Rupert’s lips moved fast, too fast to follow, but I had no doubt they were curses... probably several, strung together in an impressively creative sequence. You’d be surprised at how quickly and inventively he can swear, especially when a situation spirals completely out of control.

My surroundings began to behave strangely before my eyes. Everything felt slower, smoother, as if time itself had been dragged into a lazy rhythm. The air seemed thick, almost viscous, and every movement around me unfolded with absurd clarity.

I could observe the man’s face in minute detail as he fell toward the abyss, the involuntary contraction of his muscles, the faint tremor of his lips, strands of hair suspended in the air as if defying gravity.

It was as though my vision had suddenly expanded, pushed beyond human limits, like an 8K camera... though that comparison felt ironic, since I was certain I could see with a clarity far beyond any technology ever created.

Ignoring the sweat running down the man’s face and the desperation etched into his expression, Victor leaned dangerously over the edge of the staircase, his body tense as he stretched his arm as far as it would go, trying, unsuccessfully, to reach the companion plunging toward the abyss. My thoughts raced, fast and chaotic, like an unstoppable flood.

It was strange, I felt as if I had all the time in the world to analyze my options, as though reality itself had slipped into slow motion. Still, instead of getting lost in possibilities and hypothetical scenarios, I chose to be practical. I’ve always been more about action than overthinking, and so far, that philosophy had never betrayed me.

My first move was to pull Tenebrya into my arms. For a moment, I found myself reflecting on how light she was, so light it felt unreal.

In fact, I was almost certain Tenebrya had no weight at all. The only thing I could “feel” that remotely resembled weight was the subtle contact of her body against mine, especially when she wrapped her arms around my neck in a gesture that felt like an embrace.

Tenebrya didn’t seem to question my actions; on the contrary, she appeared quite pleased. Her emotions were like an open book to me, clear and direct, and it was easy to understand what she felt about nearly everything around us. Without wasting time, I acted.

I infused my legs with the smoking shadow summoned by my Alter Ego’s power. Dark energy coiled around them like living serpents, releasing a cold vapor that distorted the air.

My leap echoed like a muffled hum, almost imperceptible, as my body shot in the opposite direction from where we had been climbing the stairs, fast as lightning tearing through the sky. There was no foothold on that side of the tower, only the vertical wall plunging into the void, so I had to improvise.

I kept Tenebrya close against my body with one arm, feeling her faint weight, while my free hand dragged across the tower’s rough surface. My fingers found cracks and irregularities in the ancient stone, each contact sending small sparks of dust into the air as I used the momentum to keep moving.

I noticed the confused looks directed at me, furrowed brows, held breaths, but for now, I ignored them. I had priorities. Saving the member who was falling into the abyss was the only thing that mattered, and that was exactly what I did.

Something like a whip emerged from my back, formed entirely of smoking shadow that twisted like a living black flame. The energy crackled silently, leaving a cold trail in the air. The whip didn’t wait for my command, it didn’t need to. It had been born with a single purpose etched into its very essence, and it moved immediately to fulfill it.

It shot through the air with a low hiss, tearing across the distance between us and the void. In one fluid motion, it wrapped around the falling member’s waist, coiling around him like a predatory serpent.

For an instant, the shadow seemed to tighten, testing its prey, before contracting with sudden force. The dark ribbon snapped taut, pulling him upward in a single violent motion, tearing him away from the abyss’s grasp as black particles dissipated like smoke from the whip.

Everyone visibly relaxed when they saw their companion saved, though tension still lingered among them as they climbed the stairs. Then the abyss below responded. A violent tremor ran through the entire structure, making the walls vibrate and shaking loose small fragments of dust and debris that danced in the air before falling into the void.

Whatever it was down there seemed furious at having its “meal” snatched away at the last second, just as it was about to close its invisible jaws. A deep, almost organic roar rose from the depths, reverberating through the steps.

The darkness began to rise faster, swallowing the lower levels like an impatient black tide. Shadows stretched along the walls, advancing like long, hungry fingers. Apparently, playtime was over. Fine by me.

I looked at the members scattered along the stairs, some leaning against the railings, others frozen for a moment as if trying to catch their breath. Fear was visible on their faces: wide eyes, tight jaws, short breaths. I shared my thoughts with them: (Hold on) I immediately felt their gazes turn toward me: (Let’s pick up the pace)