Chapter 35: Anomaly – 3

“S-Save me… W-Wait, are you… people?”

Viola looked at us, startled.

We were just as surprised.

Wasn’t Viola a member of Nation’s party?

And yet, she had survived that massacre?

‘But there was blood from about five people back there.’

Did that mean she was in a different party?

If they were family, it would have made sense for them to be in the same group.

“H-How are you here…? D-Did you defeat him?”

“Him?”

“T-The one who killed my brother…”

She knew something about that thing.

My eyes sharpened.

I needed information about whatever had killed Nation.

We had to know what it was in order to warn the other adventurers at the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Can you tell me about him?”

“You… Y-You don’t know what it is?”

“We never encountered it. If we had, we’d be dead.”

“…I-I don’t know much either. I only saw it from far away… hazy, like a shadow.”

“From far away?”

“Yeah… Our parties were separate, so we planned to meet at a midpoint. I saw my brother from a distance.”

“And then—suddenly, his head was gone. His limbs were ripped apart… and t-then, I heard this awful… crunching sound from somewhere…”

Viola trembled violently.

She wasn’t in good shape.

Even if they weren’t particularly close, watching her brother die like that must have been horrifying.

And from what I had seen, Nation had taken good care of his little sister.

‘Should I knock her out?’

She was in bad shape.

I understood why.

The shock must have been overwhelming.

“…Take me with you.”

Just as I was debating whether or not to knock her out, Viola met my gaze with determined eyes.

“I want to avenge him… but more importantly, we need to inform the Guild first.”

She looked up at me as she spoke.

“Let me join your party. At the very least, I won’t be a burden. I can use Elemental Magic and Support Spells.”

“That’s true,” Glasses agreed.

“Before she even became a mage, people called her a genius. And now, after three years as a mage, she’s far beyond my level—she’s an advanced asset.”

“If she were talking about revenge, that’d be a different story. But right now, she’s making sense.”

Even Erme, the party leader, was in favor.

I had no reason to refuse.

‘Not that I wanted to refuse anyway.’

Most of our party members were clearly exhausted.

I had been hoping for a spell that could stop a goblin horde without relying on something as extreme as Violet Lightning Flash.

‘So bringing Viola in was the best choice.’

I glanced at Erme, silently urging her to decide quickly.

She was already looking at me.

“What do you think?”

“We should accept her right away.”

“Agreed, right?”

“But let’s make it clear—if she does anything suspicious, she’s out of the party immediately.”

“As expected. So, are you still willing to come?”

“…Absolutely.”

Viola nodded firmly.

I met her gaze.

Her eyes were like amethysts—stunning, but filled with an intense fire.

Not just the will to survive…

‘But the burning desire for revenge.’

No matter what it took.

If she wanted revenge, the first step was surviving.

And so, we accepted Viola into the party.

The moment she joined, the burden on our group noticeably lightened.

“Binding Lightning.”

From the tip of Viola’s staff, violet lightning scattered.

Crackle!

Ten goblins collapsed instantly.

“…That’s insane.”

“Of course it is. She’s a mage who specializes in lightning, one of the hardest elements for elementalists to master. She’s not called a genius for nothing.”

And that wasn’t all.

She didn’t just use lightning to suppress enemies—it also enhanced our weapons with a Lightning Enchantment.

‘The difference a single mage makes is unreal.’

More accurately, the difference a high-tier mage makes.

I glanced at Glasses.

Would he be able to reach this level someday?

“That’s gonna be tough,” he admitted.

“…Really?”

“My focus isn’t combat. I specialize in support, making you guys stronger. Of course, I’ll naturally grow stronger as my level rises, but my core ability is enhancing you.”

“That’s good enough.”

Viola was an obvious power outlier in our party.

Realistically, only Erme or I could match her in a direct fight.

As we exchanged brief words, goblins began closing in on Viola and Glasses.

‘Their numbers have thinned…’

But Erme, Theresa, and Rozanté were in rough shape.

They’d been forcing themselves to fight with the help of Blessing of Vitality.

‘I’m the only one holding up somewhat okay.’

Even then, I wasn’t in great condition.

All my throwing weapons were gone.

I had about 30 arrows left.

My bowstring had snapped, rendering it useless.

I sliced through goblins cleanly using Whisper of the Wind and my Blood Phantom Blade.

The only good news.

[Item]

Blood-Soaked Blade (B+)

A blade that grows stronger the more blood it absorbs. It has fully awakened.

Can use Blood Phantom Blade with stored blood.

Agility +4

Shape transformation.

Absorbs a portion of the enemy’s vitality upon killing.

It had evolved at just the right time.

With every enemy I killed, I stole a portion of their health and stamina.

That was the only reason I was still able to move.

Even so, I was barely maintaining half of my usual combat power.

“Huff… huff… Yuseong, you’re hiding more things than I expected,” Viola muttered.

…What was he talking about?

After clearing out the goblins and moving forward, Glasses suddenly made a comment.

“…I’ve just been training regularly.”

“You’re a thief, yet you’re still not exhausted. I’m kind of jealous.”

Glass sighed.

“When we get back to the Mage Tower… I should start training again. I’ve gotten too lazy lately, using labyrinth expeditions as an excuse.”

He looked ahead.

“…Of course, that’s only if we actually make it out of here alive.”

We probably would.

But I couldn’t be certain.

Right now, we were strong enough to break through the remaining goblins.

But that thing.

The one that effortlessly wiped out Nation’s party.

The only reason we were still alive was that we hadn’t run into it.

“Hey, Yuseong.”

“What?”

“If I end up dying here—”

“Don’t say that.”

Why was he suddenly bringing up something so ominous?

Glasses really must have been exhausted.

Not that I could blame him.

We’d been trapped in this damp, dark place for too long, fighting non-stop.

We kept running.

Then.

A familiar path came into view.

‘We’re almost there.’

The exit to the first floor.

At the very edge of our vision, the portal leading outside the labyrinth came into sight.

“…Just in case, let’s keep formation while we run,” Erme ordered.

Everyone picked up the pace, moving in an orderly line.

Once we got out of here, we weren’t coming back for a while.

I had saved up a decent amount of money.

So for a while, I wouldn’t be coming back to this godforsaken place.

‘We got lucky.’

We hadn’t encountered the unidentified monster that killed Nation.

That was pure luck.

Despite all the battles we had fought, we never once saw it.

But then.

Something felt off.

Like someone… or something was watching us.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

It was the worst sense of foreboding I had ever experienced.

‘This is dangerous.’

Time seemed to slow down.

Like watching my life flash before my eyes.

“RUN!!”

I screamed at the top of my lungs and turned my head.

Something.

Something horrifying was right behind me.

—Dodge it!

Rishiel’s voice was filled with shock.

Erme was shouting something too, her face tense with urgency.

But none of that mattered.

My body moved instinctively.

I amplified Blood Phantom Blade to its limit.

I unleashed Whisper of the Wind, expanding the wind force around me.

Violet light flared as my blade crackled with energy.

At that exact moment.

Something that looked like a hand reached for my sword.

BOOM!!

“Kugh—!!”

A sickening sensation twisted through my body.

It felt like all my internal organs had been crushed at once.

Forcing my eyes open, I looked at the thing that had just wrecked me.

I saw antlers.

And beneath them.

A white, skull-like skeletal face stared back.

Beneath the antlers stood a bizarre figure wearing a black coat.

And it was grinning at me.

As if it was death itself.

Its mouth stretched wide in a twisted smile as it stared at me.

‘That thing wiped out Nation’s party.’

The most dangerous entity in this place.

I had no idea why it was here.

But right now, it was standing before us—intent on killing my entire party.

‘The only good news is…’

We were right next to the portal leading outside.

Fortunately, the others were escaping.

Viola was already through.

Theresa and Rozanté had also made it out.

Only Erme remained—gazing at me with a resolute expression.

Maybe it was because she had just brushed against death.

My mind raced.

I analyzed the attack from before, replaying it in my head as I observed the creature.

‘Just one more time…?’

Could I really block another attack?

The first time had been pure luck.

There was no guarantee I could stop it again.

I weighed my options—what I could do and what I couldn’t.

Even after considering everything—

‘I can’t stop it.’

No—I have to.

If I wanted to survive, I had to stop it.

I focused every fiber of my being on the creature.

‘What’s the one thing I can do right now?’

Aura.

That was all I had left.

I unleashed every last bit of my remaining strength.

And ignited my Aura.

The creature flinched for a moment—then grinned at me, as if finding this amusing.

Slowly, it raised its hand.

An overwhelming sense of dread washed over me.

And at the same time.

‘…Huh?’

I felt something pulling at me, like an invisible thread yanking me backward.

Was it… Erme?

“If I die, make sure my belongings are recovered at the Mage Tower.”

Glasses’ voice rang out.

Why?

‘…No, more importantly—’

I reached out.

I didn’t know if it would work.

But if I wanted to save Glasses, I had to try.

‘Please…’

Absolute Theft.

My hand stretched forward.

And then.

Everything shifted.

I was outside.

The blue portal spat something out.

Clatter.

A pair of broken glasses landed at my feet.

I stared at them, my mind blank.

“…M-Marcel?”

Theresa’s voice trembled.

I couldn’t say anything.

Then.

The portal pulsed one more time.

This time, Marcel tumbled out.

Missing an arm.

His breathing was ragged, his face pale.

But he was alive.

With healing magic, he could recover.

It would take time, but at least.

He survived.

“…Thanks.”

Marcel bowed his head deeply toward me.

Then, he reached out and handed me a half-damaged golden orb.

“That’s…”

“The Talisman of Protection.”

The same talisman I had stolen from Viola.

Instead of using Absolute Theft to steal Marcel’s belongings, I had exchanged the golden orb for one of his items.

‘I had no choice but to steal it, and that was the first thing that came to mind.’

It seemed like things had worked out—somehow.

But my emotions were a tangled mess.

Because when I handed Marcel the golden orb, I took something else in return.

My fingers brushed against my pocket.

Inside was an ominous iron nail.

The same cursed object I had picked up after killing Han Ul.