Anomaly

Chapter 372 – Worship of the true gods [18]

(POV – Emily Parker)

At that moment, Emily felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Under normal circumstances, a child suddenly going missing in a crowded place would cause concern, maybe even fear. But it would rarely drive someone into absolute despair, that suffocating feeling that their very life depended on finding the child.

And yet, that was exactly how Emily felt. That was because there was one crucial detail in this situation. The child wasn’t just a child. She was an anomaly. That fact alone would be enough to throw anyone into a state of pure desperation. Anomalies were unpredictable, dangerous by nature, forces that completely escaped human logic and control. But in this child’s case, the situation was far worse.

The anomaly in question wasn’t just any anomaly. She was classified among the most powerful ever discovered. Just thinking about it sent a cold chill running down Emily’s spine. The feeling was like walking through a crowd with a nuclear bomb strapped to your body, a bomb that could go off at any moment, without warning, without a countdown. And now... the bomb had vanished.

“How is it even possible that she disappeared right under our noses?” Emily whispered tensely, her voice low enough that only Laura, and the nearby anomalies silently watching them, could hear. Her eyes scanned the surroundings again and again: “How does that even make sense?”

The words slipped from her lips almost like a vent. A moment later, Emily brought both hands to her head, her fingers pressing against her temples as she tugged lightly at her own hair in a clear gesture of frustration and stress. Her shoulders were stiff. Laura watched from the side, already recognizing the almost automatic gesture.

At this point, both she and the surrounding anomalies were more than used to the sight. Emily’s little stress ritual, hands on her head, distant look in her eyes, indignant murmurs, had become so common that, in a way, it could already be considered her trademark.

Naturally, it wasn’t as if Laura couldn’t understand Emily’s thoughts. In fact, she understood them far too well. Still, when it came to not overreacting, Laura preferred to trust the judgment of the [Angel of Death]: “Well, even if she suddenly left...” Laura cut herself off for a moment.

Her eyes shifted slightly to the side as the memory of how the [Angel of Death] had been acting lately surfaced in her mind. The silence that followed lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough for her initial confidence to start wavering.

When she spoke again, the firm tone that had once carried her voice had gradually faded, like mist dissolving at dawn: “She’s not going to cause any trouble... right?” In the end, what was supposed to sound like a calm statement slipped from her lips more like a question.

The anomalies around them merely shrugged, as if the scene were trivial. Some looked away. Others continued whatever they had been doing, indifferent. Althea, however, kept thinking about it.

Her expression became slightly contemplative as she raised a hand, letting one finger rest gently against her lips, a distracted, delicate gesture as she organized her thoughts.

After the brief silence hanging in the air, Althea was the first to speak: “Big sister said she was going out for a while...” she murmured, tilting her head slightly: “It happened right after that poor priest finished his business up front”

For a moment, her eyes sparkled with a hint of amusement. Althea let out a short, muffled laugh, partially covering her mouth with her hand: “Maybe she went after him?” she suggested, her tone filled with mischievous curiosity, the idea clearly entertaining her.

Emily’s body trembled subtly as her mind, almost against her will, began to imagine how things would end if the [Angel of Death] really decided to take the situation seriously. The mere thought was enough to make her frown slightly. In short, the result would be a complete disaster.

Emily let out a short breath through her nose, trying to hold back the growing irritation before turning her gaze to Althea: “Oh... and you’re only telling me this now?” Emily asked, her voice laced with disbelief as one of her eyebrows arched.

Emily was fully aware that the sisters of the [Angel of Death] were, most of the time, entities that were almost apathetically indifferent to the world around them, as if very few things truly deserved their attention. However, there was one well-known exception.

Whenever the topic involved the [Angel of Death] herself, that usual coldness tended to fade a little. In those situations, they became... more approachable, so to speak, or at least as close to that as beings like them could manage.

Emily’s question only made Althea shrug lightly, a casual and unconcerned gesture. Her expression remained calm and bored: “It’s fine. Big sister isn’t as irrational as you think” Then, slowly, an ironic smile began to form on her lips, curving subtly, as if her own previous words were nothing more than a vague assumption: “Although...” she added after a brief moment, tilting her head slightly: “This time that priest did some pretty awful things” Althea’s tone remained casual, but there was a faint glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

Emily noticed the small figure beside her move, a subtle, silent shift. When she turned her gaze toward the anomaly, she found a clone identical to herself. The copy stood there rigidly, posture straight, eyes fixed on Althea.

His face was exactly the same as Emily’s, every feature reproduced perfectly. Yet something was deeply wrong. The gaze was empty, lifeless, as if no emotion lived behind those irises. It was like staring into a mirror that reflected only the shape, but not the soul.

As always, Emily still had no idea what was going on inside her mind. Even though they shared the same face, the same height, even the same rhythm of breathing, her thoughts were a completely inaccessible territory. Althea, on the other hand, seemed to understand her perfectly.

The anomaly tilted her head slightly, calmly observing the clone. Her eyes remained fixed on those empty eyes for a few seconds before she finally spoke: “Why was big sister mad at that man from earlier?”

Hearing the question, Althea slowly closed her eyes. Her arms crossed over her chest, and for a moment she remained silent, as if carefully choosing every word. Her expression, previously neutral, became thoughtful.

“Well...” she finally said, opening her eyes again: “Just think of it as him doing some pretty bad things... things that made big sister very sad”

Laura, who had been listening to the entire conversation in silence, then murmured to herself: “Looks more like she’s fuming with anger than sad” As soon as the words left her lips, she realized she might have spoken a little too loudly. A few seconds of silence followed, heavy and uncomfortable.

Feeling the gazes turning toward her, Laura slowly lifted her eyes and found the anomalies staring at her. For a moment, embarrassment hit her full force. Caught off guard by her own remark, Laura quietly cleared her throat and sank back into the chair, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Her shoulders hunched as she looked away toward some random spot in the room, waiting in silence, almost hoping, that their attention would drift away and find any other target besides her.

Emily let out a quiet sigh as she watched the scene unfold. But she quickly pushed the thought away, shoving the matter to the back of her mind. This wasn’t the time to dwell on it. There were far more urgent problems demanding her attention. Like stopping the [Angel of Death] from losing control.

She ran her tongue over her dry lips and cast a quick glance around, assessing the surroundings: “We need to go after the [Angel of Death]” Emily said in a low, steady voice, keeping her tone controlled: “Preferably... as discreetly as possible” Naturally, her own words came with an ironic thought that almost made her sigh again. Because in practice, that was much easier said than done.

“Hehe... going after our sister discreetly? Sounds fun” Althea suddenly chimed in. A mischievous smile curled theatrically across her lips. Her eyes sparkled with childish curiosity as she finally turned toward her sister.

With a small tilt of her head, exaggerated enough to feel like a performance, she opened one hand as if making a solemn request: “Chronas” she said, slightly stretching out the name, her voice filled with amusement: “Could you do us the favor?”

Chronas casually shrugged and simply snapped her fingers. The sharp sound echoed softly through the church, and in the very next instant, all the sound around them disappeared. Emily frowned slightly and looked around. What she found made her eyes narrow in surprise.

Every person inside the church was completely still, frozen mid-motion. A man remained with his head bowed in prayer, his lips parted in the middle of a word that would never finish. A candle’s flame stood perfectly motionless. Not even the dust dancing beneath the colored light of the stained-glass windows moved.

She let out a small breath through her nose and turned back to Chronas: “I have a lot to say about your habit of randomly freezing time”

Her tone carried a curious mix of disapproval and familiarity. Emily sighed again, rubbing her temple in resignation: “But our situation isn’t exactly... normal” She tilted her head slightly: “So you’re forgiven this time”

After that, Emily shifted her gaze to Althea. One of her eyebrows slowly lifted, as if she were still evaluating the situation: “That said...” she began, crossing her arms thoughtfully: “you wanting to help was actually... surprising”

Althea merely shrugged, as if the matter held no importance whatsoever. A strand of her hair slipped over her shoulder as a mischievous smile slowly formed on her lips: “Normally I wouldn’t care...” she said, dragging the words out slightly.

Her eyes then gleamed with a wicked sparkle, like someone about to witness something extremely entertaining: “But watching my sister hand out a punishment?” she let out a small muffled laugh, tilting her head slightly: “That’s simply something you can’t miss!”