The anomaly’s presence felt different from any of the others I had encountered. Its face was hidden behind a plain white mask, smeared with streaks of dried and fresh blood that clung to it like crude, uneven markings.
Through the narrow openings of that mask, a pair of piercing dark eyes stared straight at me.
I found it both amusing and odd.
Staring at the anomaly in front of me, and seeing its calm expression, almost as if it was expecting me, I realized rather quickly that it had long been aware of my presence. Perhaps it had been waiting for me to arrive the entire time.
But that didn’t matter.
Holding onto the knife, my lips parted slowly.
"Weren’t you looking for me?"
"....."
The anomaly stood in silence, not saying a single thing.
All of a sudden, it had turned into a mute.
I found it hard to contain my smile as I looked at it.
The urge to kill the anomaly was stronger than ever, the voices in my mind growing stronger with each passing second.
Still...
I just barely held myself back.
"...No words? That’s disappointing."
I opened my mouth again, the words about to leave my mouth, but—
Nah, fuck that.
The bloodlust took complete hold of me. Normally, I would’ve waited a little bit and hoped to gain some information from the anomaly, and this was what I had initially planned to do, but it all went out the window a second later.
’Right, right... I can just use my node to figure it out. I’ll just cut it up a little. It doesn’t matter if it can’t speak.’
Knife in hand, several dots appeared on the anomaly’s body.
Swooooosh!
I swung my knife towards its left shoulder.
The blade met its shoulder, or at least, it should have.
Instead, the moment steel touched cloth, the anomaly’s shape bent in a way that shouldn’t have been possible, like its bones were made of wet rope.
My knife sliced only empty air.
My grin stretched wider.
"Ohhh... you’re one of those."
The anomaly’s head twitched once. Then again. Its body began to lose its shape, the edges melting like wax under a flame before the entire figure collapsed into a wet splash, spreading across the floor as a thick pool of blood.
A moment later, it reformed several steps away. Its eyes never blinked behind those mask slits. Just watching...
I hated the way it stared.
Because it wasn’t afraid.
It should have been afraid.
’Why is it not afraid? Why....’
I stopped myself mid-thought. Bringing my hand to my mask, I realized something pretty quickly.
My arm...
It was trembling.
"H-haa."
With a shaky breath, the smile on my face dimmed.
’...I’m starting to really lose it here.’
The knife’s influence had grown even stronger. Perhaps, if I pushed a little bit more, the influence would turn me completely. I was threading a very dangerous territory. I... needed to get things over quickly.
I was close to the limit now.
"Well, alright."
Taking a deep breath, I extended my hand.
A dark figure appeared a moment later, almost like how the butcher disappeared, as a dark hand reached for the knife in my hand.
"...I guess I should stop."
The anomaly moved at the same time.
Seemingly realizing what was happening and preparing to strike, I felt a powerful surge of pressure from its body. The weight of it hit me instantly, leaving no doubt in my mind. If it came at me like that, defeating it would be nearly impossible. Especially without a knife in my hand.
But this had to be done.
Otherwise, I would really lose track of myself.
I...
"Kidding~"
Just as the Realmwalker’s hand was about to close around the knife, I activated [Trait Transfer] , forcing a surge of borrowed power through my body and amplifying my strength several-fold before twisting my torso and throwing the knife with every bit of power that I could muster.
SWOOOOSH!
The knife shot forward like a bullet.
It tore through the air with a sharp, cutting whistle, ignoring everything in its path as it closed the distance to the anomaly in an instant.
And yet, as if it had anticipated that impossible speed, the anomaly’s body began to melt before my eyes, its form dissolving into liquid seconds before the blade could strike.
...Or at least, it attempted to.
"Hehehe~"
A soft giggle escaped my lips, and the anomaly stopped melting.
There was nothing it could do from there.
THUD!
".....!!"
The knife drove straight into the center of its forehead, sinking in with a dull, wet sound. The white mask split down the middle, cracks spiderwebbing outward as its eyes widened beneath the fragments.
The smile returned to my face as its body froze on the spot.
Hmm, not yet.
It was a good strike, but I had failed to strike it in the perfect spot. It was just a hair’s breadth away from the real spot that I needed it.
But this was fine.
Without further ado, I moved closer to the anomaly.
I didn’t delay time.
With the knife no longer in my hands, I could feel my strength slipping rather quickly.
I had to end this quickly.
And so I did.
"....."
Stopping before the anomaly, I stared at the knife embedded in its forehead and reached for it. But just as I was about to do so, a hand clasped my own as I turned to see a certain stitched-up face looking at me.
"....I wouldn’t do that if I were you."
"How so?"
I asked smilingly.
For some reason, the Conductor didn’t seem very threatening to me.
In fact, I started to wonder...
’Can I cut the Conductor as well? Was I strong enough to do that now? I... want to cut him.’
The Conductor didn’t answer. Instead, as if noticing my smile beneath the mask, it too started to smile as the stitches on its mouth came undone.
"I never once imagined you’d be able to surpass yourself the way you did back in the Gate. Even now, I still get shivers just thinking about the power you displayed back then. But this time...?"
The Conductor’s smile faded slightly as its gaze shifted to the knife lodged deep in the anomaly’s skull.
"This time, even I’m starting to get goosebumps at the thought of what you’ll become once that knife completely takes over your mind. Like an addiction, it’ll eat away at you, little by little, until you turn into something that... the world won’t be able to contain.’
"....."
Standing in silence, I didn’t respond to the Conductor. I simply stared at its stitched-up eyes, watching every tiny shift in its expression with careful focus.
In the end, I brushed its hand off and grabbed the knife.
The Conductor vanished a moment later, its presence dissolving into the silence around me.
In the heavy silence that followed, I stepped forward without a word.
Then, gripping the handle of the knife tightly, I began to drive the knife into the anomaly’s body.
Spurt!
Not once.
Not twice. Not even thrice.
I did it for as long as I was satisfied.
Spurt! Spurt—!!
Apron, shoes, and pants.
Blood spurted in all directions as I continued to stab at the anomaly.
As I continued stabbing, the Conductor’s words echoed relentlessly through my mind, threading themselves between each harsh breath I took. And then, just as the blade sank into the anomaly one more time, I stopped.
"Haaa."
Clank! Clank!
The knife dropped onto the ground, clanking on the hard concrete floor as I slowly raised my head to look up.
’The world won’t contain...?’
Pursing my lips, I moved my hands a little.
’...I wonder if it’ll ever get to that point.’