Anomaly

Chapter 389 – Worship of the true gods [35]

(POV – Protagonist)

Still inside the clothing store, my mind struggled to process what had just happened. I had been violently thrown out of the church, slammed into a tree, then into a car, and finally straight through the front window of a shop.

It was too absurd to feel real. And yet, somehow, I hadn’t suffered any severe injuries. Just a dull, lingering discomfort spreading through my body. The sensation of being hurled through the air like a paper doll, light, weightless, completely out of control, was... unsettling. Unreal. My stomach still felt like it was floating somewhere behind me, as if it had been left behind mid-flight. But more than that... what exactly had happened?

My memory was fragmented. All I could recall was Emily and Laura... motionless. Lifeless. The image still burned in my mind, heavy and hard to accept. And then, in the very next instant, with no logical transition whatsoever, I was standing in a different position within the room, as if space itself had warped, or I had been forcibly displaced.

Before I could even begin to form a coherent thought, something, something invisible, violent, and impossible to identify, struck me. There was no warning, no sound, no visible movement. Just the brutal impact, followed by the overwhelming sensation of being thrown against the wall.

I thought about it for a few more moments, letting the silence settle as I tried to organize my thoughts, before finally shaking my head in an almost mechanical attempt to push those persistent thoughts away. Deep down, the fact that the priest had managed to do that wasn’t, by itself, entirely abnormal, especially considering that, somehow, he seemed capable of manipulating concepts themselves.

Even so... something felt deeply wrong. It wasn’t just what he had done, but the way the concepts responded to him, as if they were obeying. That didn’t make sense. I didn’t have any more knowledge about this than Laura or Emily... honestly, if I’m being real with myself, they would probably be able to explain it far better than I ever could.

Still, there was something no rational explanation could reach. My instinctive understanding, the one I carry both as an anomaly and as a conceptual trait, was screaming in warning. The way that strange priest manipulated virtues wasn’t just unusual... it was wrong. Deeply unnatural, as if he were forcing something that should never be touched, let alone controlled.

A chill ran slowly down my spine, raising goosebumps along my skin like a warning signal. I couldn’t say for sure whether that feeling was directly connected to what I was witnessing... but there was a growing, suffocating unease settling in my chest. And no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. And when it did... it wouldn’t be something small.

Anyway, once I managed to stand up fully and my senses came back into place, I glanced around, and that’s when I noticed it: there were several people surrounding me. Mostly women and children. In general, they all looked at me with a curious mix of emotions, curiosity, disbelief, a hint of fear, but above all... admiration. The children, especially, made no effort to hide it.

Their eyes shone brightly, in that pure, almost magical way you only see when they’re faced with something they consider extraordinary. It was the same kind of look someone would have when seeing their favorite superheroes in real life... or, well... maybe in this case, in gelatin form. Come to think of it, that only made things even stranger.

Regardless, the whole situation was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. It’s not like I’m used to receiving this kind of attention, let alone admiration. And to make matters worse, everyone was incredibly energetic. Their voices overlapped, fast and restless, forming a constant buzz. It took me a few moments to realize they weren’t just talking, they were talking about me.

“Mom! Look, Mom! It’s that superhero we saw on TV fighting those ugly monsters!” the child’s voice rang out, clear and full of excitement, like a bell on a quiet morning. She bounced in place with small, clumsy, adorable hops, her eyes shining as if she were witnessing a miracle.

Naturally, I turned my gaze toward her, first to the child... and then to her mother. Unlike the girl’s pure, contagious excitement, the woman’s expression was entirely different. Her eyes were tense and watchful, as if trying to decipher something dangerous beneath the surface.

Her body remained rigid and protective, as if she were ready to pull the child away at any moment. And honestly... I can’t blame her. There’s something about me that doesn’t exactly feel reassuring. Especially my eyes, people have told me that, from certain angles, under certain lighting... they look cold and deep. Almost frightening.

The little girl wasn’t the only one, most of the children around seemed relatively excited about me. Their eyes sparkled with naive curiosity, and some whispered among themselves as if they were witnessing something straight out of a storybook. In fact... one of them was holding a doll that looked strangely similar to me.

When exactly did they make a doll based on me? And more importantly... why the hell would anyone buy something like that? Did the parents actually purchase those? Maybe it was just another random product meant to entertain kids, I doubt they ever expected to run into the “real thing” walking right in front of them.

By the way, I should say this: it was sheer luck that no one died. A car suddenly crashed into a clothing store, completely out of control, right into a place full of civilians, ordinary people, minding their own business, only to find themselves thrown into chaos out of nowhere.

Shattered display windows, overturned racks, fabrics scattered across the floor like they’d been swept away by a storm... not a pleasant sight, to say the least. Even so, despite the significant property damage, no lives were lost. And that alone is practically a miracle. Would I probably be blamed for it? Absolutely. Would I care? Definitely not.

At the end of the day, you can’t really say this whole situation is entirely my fault. It’s not like I’m to blame for some completely insane priest deciding it’d be a great idea to try turning me into a lump of clay by violently hurling me against a wall without a second thought. Honestly, a very unpleasant move, and, let’s be real, a bit over the top, on his part.

That said, as I took a closer look around the store, I realized the place was far from welcoming. Crooked shelves, items scattered across the floor, cracked display windows... everything looked pretty wrecked.

Well, I’m sure the organization will take care of it soon enough. Shrugging, I walked around the car at an unhurried pace, stepping past a few still-stunned bystanders, and headed toward the store’s exit, leaving behind the curious murmurs of children.

Even though several people had their phones pointed at me, recording my every move like it was some kind of show, I simply ignored them. It wasn’t arrogance, it was priorities. There were far bigger problems demanding my attention right now.

Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with the chaos that the organization’s high council was probably already stirring up. I could practically picture it: heated arguments, rushed decisions, and, of course, my face plastered all over every possible social media platform, spreading like wildfire.

Still, all of that felt distant and irrelevant. Aside from Emily and Laura, who would definitely end up in trouble when we got back, I really didn’t care. Let that bunch of idiots think whatever they wanted. In the end, their opinions wouldn’t change a thing about what I had to do.

“Oh! Impressive... that would normally be enough to kill an average human” My thoughts were abruptly interrupted. In an instant, the priest appeared just a few meters in front of me, as if he had simply crossed the space between us. The air around him looked slightly distorted... and have I mentioned he’s particularly unsettling?

For a brief moment, I stood still, trying to figure out how he had reached me so fast... then it clicked. The opening in the wall. The same jagged path my body had carved when I was violently thrown.

He had followed me through it... but that wasn’t even what bothered me the most. “Average human?” The words echoed in my mind, carrying a strange weight. There was something about them, a tone, an intention, that made me frown slightly.

Seriously? I’m confident enough in my appearance to say, without hesitation, that I don’t look anything like an average human. In fact... “human” wouldn’t even be the first word someone would use to describe me. So... what exactly did he mean by that?

Meanwhile, a small crowd had started to gather around the priest and me. For a brief moment, I even considered, with a hint of vanity, that I might be the reason for all the attention. Honestly, that would’ve been far less troublesome. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Hurried footsteps echoed across the floor as more people approached, drawn by something I hadn’t noticed yet. Then I heard a man’s voice right behind me, just inches away. His tone was shaky, almost a whisper choked by disbelief.

I turned my head slightly, just enough to catch his expression: wide eyes, shining with a mix of fear and fascination, and his mouth hanging open, as if the words had slipped out before he could stop them: “He... he’s flying?”

Well, if the sight of a priest with enough power to throw me through the air like a leaf in the wind wasn’t terrifying enough, then seeing that same priest floating, surrounded by an unsettling aura, eyes wide and completely unhinged, staring at me like I was nothing more than disposable trash in his way... that, that was pure terror.

And by the way, did I mention that this same priest, this lunatic in a cassock, apparently decided that killing me is his personal mission?