The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 205

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down a sec…you want to head TOWARDS the Wight invasion, and not away from it?” I remarked incredulously.

“It’s not that I want to, but more than I have to…I mean, we’re both amongst the strongest in the Sanctuary, right?” Pointed out Katie in response.

She’s not wrong about that, but still…this is really, really bad.

“Yeah, but-…,” I began apprehensively.

“Come on, let’s go! If the Wights progress too much further in from the South Quadrant, then we’ll have no choice but to get involved!”

“…alright, fine,” I relented with a sigh, “Let’s get to the South Quadrant.”

I felt a sense of reluctance as we rushed towards the nearest Teleportation Point, I can’t believe that I’m doing this…but I can’t exactly let her go on her own. She may be powerful, but who knows what kind of powers we’re dealing with here, or even what their numbers are.

Damn it, how did they even get all the way here undetected? For that matter, how did they breach the Sanctuary dome? The fact that the artificial sky is glitching means that the dome has definitely sustained some serious damage…not to mention that the enemy would’ve gotten trapped in the vacuum layer if they’d simply used Aku’s intangibility power to creep in through.

So, then…how exactly did they do it? Was it the power of another of their Anomalies? What kind of power are we talking about? Tch, there’s too many questions but no answers, I don’t like this at all…

As we made our way there, we received notifications from the X-Warrior Zone, urging all civilians to evacuate to their homes and barricade themselves in, and for all available X-Warriors to mobilize.

It wasn’t long before we reached the nearest Teleportation Point, and my hopes that the attendant would refuse to teleport us were dashed as he recognized us from the X-Warrior Championship, and was more than happy to send us to join the fray.

And barely a minute later, there we were, in the South Quadrant. A huge crowd was outside the Teleportation Point that we were sent to, the people panicked and desperate to get out of the Quadrant. Using Cut and Paste while wrapping my arm around Katie’s shoulders, I managed to avoid the crowd and get to the top of a building to try and get a better perspective of what was going on, along with her.

“This is awful…,” She frowned, as we took in the sight around us, particularly above us…

“Woah…if it’s this clearly visible from all the way here, then that breach has to be at least a meter wide,” I remarked grimly, as I stared at the massive hole in the dome…it was further up ahead, we’d probably have to head forward several kilometers before we’d be standing under it.

“Based on where the breach is, the Wights are probably further up ahead. Let’s go take them out,” Declared Katie, before letting out a slow exhale as she chanted, “Now, <Manifestation Surge: Dragon Cloak>.”

As she then shot forward in a rapid, electric blur, I quickly teleported myself through the air using Cut and Paste, just about barely managing to stay in sight of her. She was flying across the rooftops of the buildings around, and even with the bright electric aura surrounding her, she was way too fast for me to see clearly.

Of course, even though I was barely keeping up with her speed, I was still moving at a pretty rapid speed myself, so it wasn’t very long before the Wights started coming into sight…and there were a fair number of them, at that.

Last I remember, there’s a little over eight hundred active X-Warriors right now…the handful that had arrived and were fighting were really struggling, and not only were they clearly outnumbered, but outclassed as well.

As a pair of X-Warriors surrounded by about ten Wights came into sight, Katie swooped down along the side of a tall building towards them, and right as they noticed her, she put on a burst of speed, caught up, and in a rapid blur, struck each of the Wights before they could react, killing them instantly.

I teleported myself to the ground beside her right as the bodies of the Wights collapsed down, holes scorched through their chests.

“Hey, what rank are you guys?” I asked the two X-Warriors.

“W-we’re Q-Ranked.”

There were several other X-Warriors around here, all dead…these guys are out of their league, I’m guessing that these Wights are probably close to K-Ranked in terms of power and skill, I can tell that they’re not pushovers just by the way they carry themselves…

“Head further inwards, help with evacuation or whatever. Stay out here and you’ll die,” I informed them bluntly.

“And you might want to hurry,” Frowned Katie, as a group of about fifteen to twenty Wights then showed up around the corner.

“<Unleash Anomaly: God of Time and Space>,” I chanted, and as the black mist formed around me, “Now, then, <Pause>.”

“Wh-what the…!?”

“Why can’t we move our bodies!?”

“D-damn it, I’m stuck!”

“Katie, now,” I remarked, as I froze time in the area around the Wights’ bodies.

“Right,” She responded with a nod, before firing out several powerful streaks of lightning from her hand, which burst through the bodies of the Wights, killing them all.

“W-woah…,” Gasped one of the X-Warriors in awe.

“Amazing…,” Muttered the other one, wide-eyed.

“Hey, hurry up and leave. The Aces and K-Ranks will probably be here soon, or they might even already be here…get back unless you want to die,” I stated bluntly.

Fortunately, they listened to me and left shortly afterwards, heading back to help any civilian stragglers evacuate. They’ll just get in the way if they stay here, so I might as well have them leave, right?

Before they left though, they mentioned that, at first, they didn’t see the Wights that attacked them, that’s how so many of them had been taken out initually. Must be Aku’s invisibility.

They said that once they began randomly firing off XFE attacks in a panic, they ended up hitting the Wights, and that made them visible again, though it wasn’t enough to defeat them.

I just hope none of the Wights have been cast with intangibility, that’d be a huge pain to deal with. No, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem…he can only cast the effects of his powers onto around fifty people or so, so only a fraction of the enemy should be cast with invisibility…

On another note, it looks like my I-Watch isn’t getting any signal here…I haven’t received any notifications from the X-Warrior Zone in a while, and I can’t use most of the device’s functions besides that.

“Kilzachs, let’s split up…it’s kinda overkill for us to stick together, don’t you think?” Suggested Katie.

“Hm…yeah, I guess, but it’s still safer to stick together. I’d rather not risk you getting hurt-,” I started to respond.

“And I appreciate that, a lot, but…I’m pretty powerful in my own right. And I won’t fight a losing battle if I encounter one. Alright, I’ll go this way, and you go that way. I’ll see you soon,” She remarked, before rushing off in the opposite direction without giving me a chance to respond…fine, whatever, she can handle herself, so I’ll trust her.

I let out a sigh as I reverted back to my normal state, deciding to conserve my XFE. My regular abilities are more than enough against the average Wight, I’ll keep my Unleash Anomaly form in reserve for if and when I either come across an especially powerful Wight or a large number of them.

I then headed out in the opposite direction to the way Katie had gone, strolling through the streets while keeping an eye out, as I sent out some of my drones…damn it, I feel a bit vulnerable without my X-Weapons equipped. Fortunately, my drones are built into my glasses’ frame, so I’m always carrying them with me.

Oh, found some more Wights…a pretty large group, looks like around twenty-five of them, maybe a bit more. And some of them were invisible, I could only see them thanks to the thermal sensors in my drones.

They’re about a hundred meters to the left, and there’s a bunch of dead people all around them, with a few of the Wights having sustained some minor injuries…but I don’t see any Wight corpses. Must have been another one sided battle.

I’ve got thermal vision in my glasses too, so invisible enemies aren’t a problem for me. I quietly and briskly made my way towards where the Wights were, keeping my guard up.

I crept through an alley, before reaching the corner and peering around it while staying out of sight…there’s a lot of them, but not so much that I can’t take them on. I see that some of them are carrying metal weapons…perfect, I’ll just borrow one of those.

“<Activate Anomaly, Tier Two: Cut>…<Activate Anomaly, Tier Two: Paste>,” I chanted, cutting off one of their heads and then pasting it inside one of the other’s chests, the severed head bursting through the other’s ribs and killing him instantly.

As the other Wights let out cries of alarm and panicked a bit, I shot out of the alley and raced towards them, taking advantage of the confusion.

“Over there, someone’s coming!”

“Watch out, he’s fast!”

“You bastard, we’ll kill y-…!” Exclaimed the one that I closed in on first, as he formed an XFE spear in his hands, before I swiftly slipped behind him, drew out a short sword on his back and stabbed it through the back of his neck.

I then swiftly pulled it back out and swung it across to my left as an invisible Wight sprang up in my peripheral, slashing off their head before they could strike…okay, wow, I have to say, cutting some with a real blade, it feels…kinda nice. XFE blades feel nothing like this at all!

I quickly sprang back as some of the Wights then fired out XFE projectiles at me, which I managed to easily evade, before getting some distance and swinging the sword across to get the blood off the blade, which splattered onto the street.

“What, is that all you’ve got?” I inquired tauntingly, as I brandished the blade at them.

Before they could respond, one of them that had been hanging around the back stepped forward with a frown…

“Get out of here, all of you…this one’s tough, I doubt you stand a chance against him. Just leave him to me…,” He remarked grimly, his gaze fixed on me as he stepped to the front of the group.

“Oh? You’re gonna take me on by yourself? Alright, fine, let’s see what you’ve got…but first, tell me, what’s your name?” I inquired with a smirk.

“My name is Makeru, I’m a Wight Anomaly. And I’m going to kill you, human Anomaly…”

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