Chapter 167 - 166 - Unleash Anomaly

"Damn it...<Activate Anomaly: Sleeping Beauty>!" I heard Johan exclaim from behind me. 

But I barely noticed it...I couldn't tear my eyes away from Kiran's severed head, laying in a puddle of blood, as I felt a sense of disbelief and refusal to accept what I was seeing. Why...why did this happen? 

My gaze then slowly shifted upwards, my mind feeling like it was in a blank fury, no thoughts were going through my head, all I felt was a blinding rage. I met the gaze of the Crocsnek, which narrowed its eyes at me, before letting out a vicious roar, deafeningly loud. This damned wretched creature again...how many times am I going to be powerless to stop it? 

Johan then shot forward past me with a grimace on his face, his attempt to try and put the Mutant to sleep having failed. He drew out his umbrella-like weapon and pointed it at the Crocsnek, XFE bullets firing out of the end like a gun, but it barely even seemed to annoy the massive monster. 

"Tch...damn it, take this, <Activate Anomaly: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves>!" He chanted, not even bothering to make it inaudible. 

Eight XFE puppets manifested, seven of them with weapon-shaped appendages along their hands, while the eight one appeared to be weaponless. The first seven shot towards the Crocsnek, while the eight one rushed in the direction Bytra was in. 

She had some heavy scratches and bruises all over, and looked barely conscious. It then touched her, and her injuries began to slowly fade. Meanwhile, the other seven manifestations were attacking the Crocsnek, but it was no use, their attacks were too weak to leave more than small scratches worth of damage. 

The Mutant let out a snarl before bashing the seven energy puppets with its hands, crushing them with ease, before viciously hissing as it narrowed its eyes at Johan, swinging its claws towards him. 

His swiftly raised his umbrella, opening it and holding it out in front of himself like a shield. It managed to blunt the slash of the Crocsnek's claws, but the sheer force still sent him flying back, skidding along the broken apart ground painfully and crashing onto a rock, coughing out blood as he collapsed onto his knees. 

Enough... 

"I've had enough of you, vile creature," I remarked blankly, standing up slowly, as I channeled my XFE into the spot between my shoulder-blades, with frightening ease and calmness. 

This feeling...it's similar to how I felt when I massacred those Mutants that I thought killed Suri...but something was different this time. 

Back then, my blank fury took over and I barely remembered a thing, it was almost like someone or something else was controlling my body, while my consciousness faded to the background. But this time, my consciousness was very much active. 

The blank fury was stronger than last time, and this eerie calmness about me, it was the same feeling the pushed my consciousness to the back last time, but this time, it wasn't affecting my consciousness...

The Crocsnek then let out a roar as it rapidly slithered towards me, right as I triggered it... 

"<Unleash Anomaly: God of Space and Time>," I chanted calmly, a dark mist surrounding me as I activated my power, and as the Crocsnek drove its right arm towards me with a vicious shriek, claws pointed at me, "Now, <Cut>." 

In the blink of an eye, right as its claws got within a meter of striking me, its right hand disappeared, from just below the wrist onwards. It pulled back with a shriek of pain, the blood from its wound splattering onto the ground as it waved its arm about in agony. 

"And now...<Paste>." 

Its severed hand then reappeared, in its right shoulder, bursting through its flesh and skin, as a loud cracking sound echoed out as its bones snapped like twigs. Its right arm then slumped down, it was no longer able to move it. 

A screech of agony erupted from its jaws, its body trembling in pain as it tried to claw at its injured shoulder, before recoiling in torment as that undoubtedly only caused it more distress... 

"What's the matter? Oh, I get it...this is the first time you're truly feeling pain, aren't you?" I remarked blankly, as I stepped towards it. 

The moment I began moving, it immediately lashed out with a panicked roar, swinging its other arm at me. 

"You're attacking me again, are you? Know your place, you lowly beast...now, again, <Cut>," I chanted, targeting its elbow, which suddenly disappeared, severing its left forearm, which fell to the ground, crashing down with a loud impact, "Now, suffer...<Paste>. <Cut>. <Paste>. <Cut>. <Paste>. <Cut>." 

It let out an earsplitting roar of pain as I repeatedly severed random, non-vital chunks off of its body before stuffing them right back into its body, blood gushing out from each wound as its flesh tore apart and bones snapped like twigs, it howled in agony while trembling violently in pain and terror. 

What is this, something...something feels off about me. There was something foreign in me, an almost arrogant sense of pride. I don't know how I know this, but somehow, I could tell that this pride didn't belong to me, and yet, it was affecting my actions and thoughts, almost as it if it was imposing itself onto my psyche. 

The Crocsnek then began to retreat with a fearful hiss, heading back towards the hole in the ground that it had burst forth from. 

"<Pause>," I chanted, freezing time, before walking over towards it, focusing on its head as I chanted again, "It won't do if you have no idea what happened...so, here, savor the final moments of your pathetic existence, <Play>."

A confused and panicked screech burst out of its mouth, as it was unable to move its body...I had only resumed the flow of time in the area around its head. The rest of its body, as well as the rest of the world, was still frozen in time. 

Its eyes shifted down towards me, and the look in them was absolutely unmistakable...that was a look of fear. Regardless of its intelligence, pride and power, all living creatures share this primal instinct...the desperate survival instinct known as fear. 

"Did you really think that I was going to let you get away? No, you've gotten in my way for the last time," I stated coldly, "But don't worry...you won't make the same mistake again. Now, die...<Paste>." 

The last chunk of its body that I severed reappeared right inside its brain, a loud cracking sound echoing out from the top of its head, before bursting out in a bloody fountain of brain chunks and skull shards, which got frozen in midair the moment they erupted out, as time was still frozen. 

"It's over...<Play>."

A loud crash echoed out as the body of the Mutant collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, kicking up a dense dust cloud as an absolute river of blood began forming around the fresh corpse, its body completely and utterly torn apart. 

I did it...after everything that happened, I finally did it, I killed this monster. But...it cost me too much before I could it, far too many died at this creature's hand because of me. And even today-...suddenly, as the black mist around me began to fade, I stumbled back with a groan, my vision blurring as a powerful wave of exhaustion hit me. 

Wha-...why am I so...tired, all of a sudden? Oh, never mind...I can...feel it. Looks like I...used up...all of my XFE... 

...

...

Hm? Huh? Where...where am I? Everything's dark, there's nothing but pitch darkness all around me. And yet, it felt familiar... 

"What is this...?" I muttered, blinking in confusion.

Am I...floating? It doesn't feel like I'm standing on anything... 

"This is the inside of your mind," Came an unexpected reply. 

What the-...!? I turned towards where the voice came from, to see...me? At least, it looked like me, but...negative. As in, how a person looks when you put a negative filter over a picture of them. 

"Uh...what the fuck?" I blurted out in bewilderment. 

"Okay, that reaction is...fair enough," The negative me responded. 

His voice...it sounded like how my voice sounds in my head when I recite an activation chant, slightly distorted. 

"Is this a dream? Wait, would I even say that if it was? Seriously, what is-!?" I began to exclaim in confusion. 

"Calm down. Like I said, this is the inside of your mind. And as for me...well, I wasn't sure what I was at first, but after reviewing our memories, I think I've figured it out. I'm the AI that set up your powers following the Awakening Procedure, and...I became self-aware. Pretty cool, huh?" He responded with a grin. 

"...wait, what?"

"Well, during this last fight, I could tell that you could tell that there was an element in your emotions that didn't belong to you...so, I figured that I might as well reveal myself," He replied with a shrug. 

"You mean that sense of arrogance that I was feeling, that was...you?" 

"Ahem, pride, not arrogance. And pride with good reason, I might add. I mean, why wouldn't I be proud, I'm the source of our space and time manipulation, after all!" He declared smugly. 

"This is, uh...a lot to take in...," I muttered in bemusement, genuinely not knowing what to say here. 

"Yeah, well, we can discuss it later...it looks like you're about to wake up. Oh, and don't worry, I'm on your side...well, not like I have a choice, since I'll cease to exist if you die."

I could feel myself fading from this darkness, each time I blinked, it felt like he was less visible than before.

"Wait, what am I even supposed to call you!?" I inquired, as the darkness rapidly gave way to light.

"Hm...ooh, since you're Kilzachs, how about I go by the name...Murderzachs? Yeah, that sounds cool-!" 

"Yeah, no, absolutely not," I rejected in horror immediately, as the darkness completely faded... 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 

I woke up with a gasp as I abruptly sat up with a start, a bright light blinding me as I opened my eyes. I raised my hand to block the light and blinked a couple of times with a slight groan, a feeling of lethargy and fatigue enveloping me. 

It took me a second to notice the commotion around me, and as I began to look around, something suddenly smothered me, startling me as it practically fell onto me. 

"Huh, wha-...?" I began in bemusement. 

"Zax! Are you okay!? Does it hurt anywhere!? Do you remember who I am!? How many fingers am I holding up!?" Interrupted a hysterical barrage of questions, in between sobs of relief. 

I know that voice, better than anyone else's... 

"Sis...? Is that you...?"

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP