Thump!
The expression on Drake’s face was a sight to see.
Staring back at me with wide eyes, his eyes trembled. On the other hand, I looked at the gun in my hand.
’Not bad at all.’
It was the Conductor’s words that made me think more about my abilities. In particular, the Realmwalker’s first ability, [Body Morphosis] . There was no real limit to the skill. It enabled the Realmwalker to manipulate its body in any way that it wanted.
A sword.
A... shield.
It could turn into anything.
And if that were the case, then why wouldn’t it be able to turn into a gun?
’I thought guns wouldn’t be effective in this world, and while they don’t, I do know that the girl from Obsidian Bastion specializes in them.’
Having studied them quite a bit due to the sudden sponsorship and the fact that they were one of the strongest Guilds around, I had a sudden bout of inspiration.
That was when [Trait Transfer] came to play, and I tried it.
’...Safe to say that it isn’t too bad, but still far from what I want.’
The power was not quite there yet.
"It’s not dea—"
BANG!
A foot pressed down on the anomaly, squashing its frame into a pulp as Drake’s expression darkened. He seemed to have a lot that he wanted to say to me, but after opening his mouth, he decided to close it.
Esteban, their Squad Leader, moved towards the body.
"I’m not quite familiar with this anomaly."
"...I wouldn’t be surprised considering its current condition."
I pointed at the pulp that was on the ground.
Esteban smiled.
"I had gotten a good look at it before Drake stepped on it. I am certain that it isn’t an anomaly that we’re accustomed to."
But other than that, he didn’t say anything else.
In fact, the way he and the others looked at me was filled with even more suspicion.
I couldn’t blame them.
After all, somehow, I was able to detect the anomaly that even the [Hunter] in the team couldn’t. Me, a Second Order.
"Squad Leader, what do you think we should do?"
Drake looked at Esteban, who seemed lost in his own thoughts. After a while, he looked in the direction of their dead squad member and took a deep breath.
"There’s no point in staying here. We’ll just be wasting time. For now, we don’t even know where we are, so it’s best to proceed. Since we’ve met him here, there might be a chance that more people are here."
By ’him’, they were talking about me.
Of course, Drake had to add his own quip after Esteban’s words.
"That’s assuming it’s really him," he said, his gaze fixed ahead. "Or that he isn’t the one responsible for all of this."
I didn’t even entertain him, fixing my attention on the dead anomaly.
Tapping my foot against the ground, I watched as the others removed several items from their dead member’s body and bowed slightly to him before leaving. I followed them in the middle, sandwiched by Esteban and Drake.
’They really don’t seem to trust me, huh?’
Honestly, if I wanted to, I probably could’ve left on my own already.
But truthfully, I wanted to stay for several reasons. Mainly, I felt that with more people around, I could get a better picture of what was going on. Secondly, I didn’t want to hear anymore of the Conductor’s nonsense.
"...Sam, tell me if you feel anything."
As Esteban referred to the [Hunter] in the group, we continued to walk ahead. The fog remained thick as I kept it that way, the long and skinny branches of the trees stabbing through the fog as I tried to sense any presence.
But be it an anomaly or people, there wasn’t anything else within our proximity.
This carried on for several hours, until—
Creaaaak!
A soft creaking sound echoed in the distance, causing everyone to pause as Elbert looked back at us, making sure everyone was present. Once he was certain that everyone was next to him, he moved towards the source of the sound.
Creaak! Creaaaak—
That was also when it became clearer that the creaking sound didn’t just come from one source.
But multiple.
And as we moved past the trees, several silhouettes swayed within the fog.
The air around us significantly tightened as Esteban walked forward, his expression changing as he stopped before the silhouettes, his hand moving forward to stop one of the bodies hanging by the trees from swaying.
His gaze eventually turned to me.
"...Suicide"
By now, if he had any doubts about my previous words, there were none anymore. I had been with the group the entire time, with Drake and him keeping a close check on me. If I really had been the one responsible for this, the two would’ve noticed.
I spoke up.
"They were most likely affected by the surroundings. Just like I mentioned before, this place feeds on your darker thoughts. The longer you stay here, the heavier they become, creeping deeper into your mind until eventually you kill yourself."
Tensions rose as I said those words.
However, that wasn’t what I cared about the most at the moment.
’Although this is what I said, I have a feeling there’s more than that. I have a feeling there’s something else more sinister playing, but I can’t quite explain it.’
Looking down at my hand, I watched as all of the hair stood on end as I rubbed it down and tried my best to keep the goosebumps down. But right as I was about to say something else, the fog stirred.
’—!?’
No, it didn’t just stir.
Something was attacking it!
My head flicked in the direction of where the attack was coming from, and without wasting a single second, I pointed in that direction.
"I feel multiple presences coming from there."
Esteban looked at me, his brows furrowing tightly. I wanted to say something more, but my expression changed as I clenched my hand and quickly recalled the mist. However, to my absolute shock, the figure jumped into the mist and instead of attacking it, seemed to be headed right for us.
’Shit!’
My heart leaped out of my chest as my fourth node trembled.
In that split second, I stopped using the fourth node at once, releasing the fog from my control.
The air grew thicker the moment I did so, but right as I released the fog, a blinding light shot from ahead of me, heading right for me.
I wasn’t even able to react in time before my vision was blinded.
I didn’t react. Didn’t have the time to blink.
By the time I realized what had happened, a blade stopped right next to my throat as a familiar figure stopped in front of me.
"...Oh?"
His golden hair fluttered softly as he turned to look at me. After a brief moment, his lips slowly curved into a calm, serene smile.
"It’s you. I didn’t expect you to be here."
His sword remained close to my throat.
No...
Rather, it seemed to pull closer to it. Almost to the point it was touching it.
"...Were you the one responsible for the fog?"