The Anomaly's Path

”Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Riven’s curses echoed off the crumbling walls as his boots hit the ground at full speed. His lungs burned like fire, black blood stained his sleeves, and his neat ash-blonde hair was a sweaty mess.

He was running for his life... and he was not alone.

Behind him, a roaring mass of red eyes, snapping jaws, and heavy claws tore through the narrow alley.

Dozens of beasts, Grade 3 Ice Wolves and shadowy Grade 4 Lurkers, surged forward, their heavy steps shaking the ground. There were too many to count, a solid wave of black fur, sharp ice fangs, and twitching limbs cramming against the narrow walls, knocking down anything in their way just to get to him.

”Faster, Ashford! They’re catching up to your little legs!” a voice yelled from above.

Riven glanced up, his steel-red eyes narrowing in anger. Alice was jumping across the rooftops above him, resting her massive longsword over her shoulder with a wild, mocking grin on her face.

”Shut up, you brute!” Riven spat, ducking under a flying chunk of stone. ”I am drawing them into the trap just like we planned!”

”Yeah, because you drew the short stick!” she barked back, laughing out loud.

Riven wanted to slice her throat.

The Student Council President had put the three of them in the same team because of their ranks, even though they all hated each other. Ten minutes ago, when they saw how many monsters were flooding the eastern area, they knew they couldn’t fight them in the open. They needed a trap.

To decide who would act as the live bait to gather the horde into the narrow canyon, they played a simple game of drawing sticks from a broken crate.

Riven had picked the shortest stick.

Alice and Lyssaria had laughed right in his face. Riven was the heir of House Ashford, he shouldn’t be running around acting like bait. Yet here he was, sweating and cursing while a lowborn brute mocked him from the rooftops.

”I’m at the spot!” Riven shouted, skidding to a stop in the middle of a narrow dead-end plaza surrounded by broken stone arches.

He spun around, pulling out both of his shadow daggers. The swarm of beasts poured into the tight space, trapping themselves, snarling and climbing over each other to reach him.

”Now!” Riven roared.

From the roof above, Alice dropped like a meteor.

She didn’t use magic to slow her fall. She just let gravity pull her down, slamming her huge longsword straight into the middle of the horde. The force of the impact shattered the floor, sending a massive shockwave that crushed three beasts instantly into bloody pulp.

Black blood sprayed into the air, covering her face and wild red hair.

”Hahahaha! Now this is a party!” Alice roared, her amber eyes blazing with joy.

She didn’t dodge. She didn’t back up. She swung her huge sword in wide, brutal arcs, using her Reave Affinity to feed on the violence around her, growing stronger and faster with every beast she killed.

Riven didn’t waste a second. He melted into the shadows, his body turning into a flickering dark blur. He appeared behind a Grade 4 Shadow Stalker, driving his daggers straight through its neck before sliding under the dying beast to slice the legs of two Ice Wolves behind it.

They fought side by side in chaos. When a Lurker Beast tried to attack Alice from the side while her heavy sword was stuck in another monster’s head, Riven’s shadow-blade flashed from the dark, cutting off its head before it could touch her.

When Riven got cornered against a wall by four snarling wolves, Alice lunged forward, grabbing a wolf by its throat with her bare hand and slamming it into the wall before crushing the other three with a single wide swing of her massive blade.

Alice ducked low as a shadow-hound leaped over her head. Riven stepped onto her back, using her momentum to launch himself into the air and drive both of his daggers straight into the brain of a huge Grade 4 Alpha leading the pack.

Blood sprayed across the stones as they traded places perfectly, Alice spinning around to smash three beasts that tried to pounce on Riven’s landing spot.

Their instincts blended together, turning the cramped dead-end into a killing ground.

Thick, glowing green vines suddenly burst up from under the stone floor, wrapping tightly around the legs and jaws of the remaining beasts, pinning them in place.

Lyssaria walked into the plaza, her World Tree affinity glowing around her hands. She was at the Elite Low rank, but her control magic was precise and strong. With the monsters stuck, Riven and Alice moved in like executioners, killing the rest of the horde in minutes.

When the last beast fell, the silence returned — heavy, suffocating, and reeking of blood and rot.

Riven dropped his daggers, collapsing back against a broken stone pillar. He slid down to the ground, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Black blood dripped from his uniform. A few feet away, Alice dropped her heavy sword with a loud clatter, slumping onto the bloody ground beside him. Her arms were shaking from overwork.

”I... killed more than you,” Alice panted, wiping sweat from her forehead with a bloody sleeve, a tired grin on her face. ”You... bait.”

”I pulled... the whole horde, you idiot,” Riven wheezed back, staring at the sky. ”And I killed at least... five more than you.”

”Dream on, bastard.”

Lyssaria quietly walked over, stepping over the piles of dead monsters. She didn’t sit down right away. Instead, her jade-green eyes wandered toward the far side of the plaza, staring down into a lower street that was covered in thick purple fog.

Her breath hitched. Her gentle face instantly drained of color.

”Hey... guys,” Lyssaria called out, her voice barely above a whisper.

Alice frowned, raising her head off the stone. ”What is it now, elven princess? More beasts?”

”No...” Lyssaria’s voice trembled slightly. ”Come look at this.”

Riven groaned, forcing his tired legs to push him up as he brushed off his uniform. He and Alice walked over to stand beside Lyssaria, looking down over the broken stone edge.

Down in the lower alley lay dozens of bodies. Not monsters — civilians, tourists, guards, and young children. They had been completely wiped out, their bodies torn apart and pinned against the walls, trapped in a dead-end street they couldn’t escape.

They were dead long before Riven’s group drew the horde away. The truth hit all three of them like cold water.

”We were too late,” Alice said softly. The fierce look in her amber eyes was gone, replaced by a hollow, quiet anger. Her hands tightened around her sword until her knuckles turned white. ”...They were torn apart while we were playing games with sticks.”

”They were overrun in seconds,” Riven said, his cold voice dropping into a low, serious tone. ”Even if we were ten minutes faster, they were already dead.”

Alice didn’t answer. She just stood at the edge, staring down at the torn bodies scattered across the floor. For a long time, the only sound was the wind blowing through the alley.

”...”

She turned her head away, her voice dropping into a low, quiet murmur. ”Still... nobody deserves to die like this. Trapped in a dirty corner, left to rot in the fog.”

She unclasped her longsword and threw it onto the floor with a dull thud. ”Come on. We’re not leaving them like trash.”

Without another word, the three of them climbed down the broken edge into the lower street.

_

For the next twenty minutes, in complete, heavy silence, they moved through the bloody alley. They gathered the bodies of the fallen guards and tourists, carrying them one by one to lay them in a neat line against the cleanest wall they could find.

They covered their pale faces with torn cloaks to protect them from the rot and fog. When the heavy work was done, the three of them finally collapsed onto the ground across from the line of the dead, panting and covered in dirt and blood.

Lyssaria pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her hands as her body trembled slightly. The silence between them stretched long, broken only by the sound of their heavy breathing.

Lyssaria broke the silence. Her voice was low, almost a whisper. ”We survived...”

Alice turned her head, frowning slightly as she looked at the elven girl. ”Hey... you alright? Did this bastard Riven do something to you?”

”Huh? What?” Riven snapped defensively, not even having the energy to stand up. ”I didn’t do anything! Stop blaming me!”

”No... he did nothing,” Lyssaria said softly, offering a tiny, tired smile. She looked down at her hands, which were still trembling. ”It’s just... I was scared.”

She took a shaky breath. ”I know it sounds pathetic, but... I was terrified of dying. I am nothing like my brother Roan. I’m not strong like him, or free like him. Ever since we were young, I envied how he could just live without caring about expectations. And today... seeing all these monsters... I realized how fragile I am.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. ”...I thought I was ready for a real battlefield. But I was terrified. I’m sorry... I’m being so foolish in front of you two.”

Alice stared at her for a moment, her face unreadable. She leaned her head back against the wall, looking up at the sky.

”It’s not pathetic to be scared of dying,” Alice grunted, her tone harsh but devoid of any malice. ”Anyone who says they aren’t afraid of dying in a place like this is a liar or a dumbass. I grew up in the gutters, fighting starving dogs for scraps of bread. I was terrified every single day. Being scared just means you want to live.”

Riven let out a quiet scoff, though there was no bite to it. ”For once... I agree with the barbarian.”

He looked down at his own bloodied hands. ”I feel inferior every single day. I look at guys like Leo, or your brother Roan... people who walk miles ahead of me without even trying. I hate it. But I’m not ashamed to admit it anymore. Wanting to survive and wanting to get stronger isn’t something you apologize for.”

The air hung heavy for a second before Alice scratched the back of her neck, groaning out loud in utter frustration.

”God, damn it,” Alice muttered, shifting uncomfortably on the ground. ”I don’t know how to comfort people. This emotional talking crap makes my skin crawl.”

Lyssaria stared at them, blinking once, then twice, before a soft, real laugh escaped her lips. The heavy tension in her shoulders completely melted away.

”Well... you two really don’t know how to comfort someone,” Lyssaria said, with a small smirk. ”That was probably the most awkward speech I’ve ever heard.”

”Hey! I was being real!” Riven snapped, though a faint flush of embarrassment touched his ears.

”You sounded like a walking tragedy novel, Ashford,” Alice wheezed, her wild grin returning as she nudged Riven with her boot. She looked over at Lyssaria, her eyes glinting with mischief. ”Besides, I always knew this bastard felt inferior to everyone. Next time I see Roan and Leo, I’m definitely telling them that House Ashford’s precious heir cries himself to sleep over them.”

”You dare—! If you utter a single word to Leo or Roan, I will personally kill you!” Riven barked, trying to sit up straight despite his aching body.

Alice just showed him her middle finger and laughed, driving Riven furious.

Lyssaria watched the two of them argue, a warm, clear laugh finally breaking through the dark fog of the alley. For the first time all day, the suffocating fear in her chest vanished. As she looked at the two idiots arguing in front of her, a quiet thought settled in her mind.

Maybe... being honest with myself isn’t so bad after all.

_

After a few quiet minutes, Lyssaria took a deep breath, using the last of her mana. Soft green light wrapped around Riven’s cut shoulder and Alice’s bruised ribs, healing their wounds.

Once the healing was done, Riven stood up, pulling out his daggers and wiping the rest of the dark blood off the blades. ”We can’t stay here. The mist is getting thicker.”

Alice pushed herself up, swinging her longsword over her shoulder with a sharp grin returning to her face. ”Yeah. Let’s move. I’m not dying in some dirty alley. Not today, and not tomorrow.”

”Neither am I,” Riven said coldly.

Lyssaria fixed her braids, her gentle face setting into a firm look as she stood beside them. ”Then let me help you. The central Gate zone still needs us.”

The three of them turned away from the dead, stepping back into the purple mist together as they headed deeper into the city.

_

Far from the eastern area, near the edge of the Sealed Valley, the air was pitch black. Leo knelt on the ground, his hand pressed against Malva’s forehead. Her pale, blank face was completely still, her cold black eyes staring into the dark fog.

”Echoes of the Unforgotten.”

The real world vanished instantly. The broken ground, the smell of blood, and the distant sounds of monsters were dragged into a cold, pitch-black void. Time inside the space slowed down until a second felt like an eternity.

Leo’s consciousness floated in the darkness.