Anomaly

Author: Rowen

Chapter 317 – The Primordial Fear [35]

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We kept falling, trapped in what felt like an endless free fall. The farther we dropped, the stronger the feeling grew that somehow we weren’t getting any closer to anywhere at all, as if the void stretched on forever beneath us.
To make matters worse, having an unhinged psychopath wielding a knife right behind you during a fall that promised certain death was definitely nowhere near what anyone would call pleasant. And judging by the tense looks and ragged breathing around me, it was clear I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rupert shouted as we plunged into the abyss, the wind howling around us and plastering his hair to his face, stripping away any trace of composure: “I’ve dated my share of crazy girlfriends, but this is way past messed up! How long is this lunatic planning to keep chasing us?!”
Rupert’s yelling was quickly drowned out by the screams of the rest of the response team. Voices blended together, echoing endlessly as we fell deeper and deeper into the darkness, as if the abyss itself were answering their desperation.
Amid the chaos of screams and distorted voices, Arthur’s voice cut through, loud, steady, and clear enough to be heard, at least by Victor and Rupert, who were close enough to make out his words.
“I don’t think he’s going to stop!” Arthur bellowed at the top of his lungs, his hoarse voice tearing through the air as his eyes lifted, wide, toward the psychopath watching us from above: “At least... not until he gets what he came for”
Even though Arthur hadn’t said any names, everyone knew he meant me. It was obvious in the exchanged looks and in the awkward silence that followed. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Sure, the idea of a psychotic maniac chasing you with a knife is terrifying... but still, if it were at least a beautiful woman instead of a guy, maybe the situation would feel less absurd, or at least easier to deal with.
The thought crossed my mind in a single second, and in the next, I felt a strange tingling sensation crawl up my spine... which, in itself, was absurd, considering I don’t even have one.
Even so, it felt almost as if someone were watching me from afar, not just far away, but impossibly distant. There was something about that sensation that deeply unsettled me, because it felt eerily familiar... dangerously similar to the chill I sometimes felt when Althea watched me.
In any case, I pushed those thoughts aside. This wasn’t the time to philosophize. I still needed to figure out an effective way to get rid of the persistent lunatic trying to kill me with a knife.
“Does anyone have any idea how to deal with this guy?!” Rupert shouted again, his voice shredded by the wind swallowing us whole. His eyes stayed locked upward as we plummeted into the bottomless abyss: “Victor? Arthur?!”
I didn’t think either of us had a plan, not while we were hurtling toward death at several miles per second. Definitely not with the wind roaring in our ears, our stomachs threatening to flip inside out, and a lunatic just a few yards away, clutching a bloodstained knife whose blade reflected the light in a deeply unsettling way. His crooked smile was just as terrifying as the certainty that, right then and there, we were screwed.
As we continued our free fall, the wind ripping through the air around us, Arthur shouted again, his hoarse voice nearly swallowed by the roar of the descent. His words were clearly aimed at Rupert.
“It doesn’t matter what we do!” he yelled: “That thing is going to keep regenerating because of the healing power of the
!”
“I already know that, damn it!” Rupert shouted back, his voice thick with irritation: “So what, you’re telling me we should just sit tight, wait, and pray this guy decides to stop chasing us on his own?” He made an impatient gesture, pointing upward: “I don’t know if you noticed, but he jumped after us into a creepy-as-hell canyon without a second thought. If he had any intention of giving up, he would’ve done it by now!”
Arthur lifted his gaze again, fixing it on the man above us. His monocle looked strangely out of place against the rest of the scene. For a brief moment, the silence seemed to stretch, then, the next instant, his lips moved again, his voice low and precise: “We’ll have to do it faster. Fast enough that his body doesn’t have time to regenerate”
As he said that, he turned his gaze toward me. I followed the movement almost without realizing it, shifting my attention between Arthur and the man falling just behind me.
It wasn’t hard to understand what he was trying to say. The logic was there, far too clear to ignore, but that didn’t make me like the idea any more.
Still, as insane as it sounded, there was solid reasoning behind it. If I pushed my healing power to its limit while tearing him apart to the point where he couldn’t regenerate, my own body would fully restore itself in the process. His, on the other hand... well, nothing would remain but fragments.
And without an intact body, there would be nothing left to regenerate. No regeneration, no return. Of course, I hardly need to say that this plan was completely insane.
But if I’m being honest with myself, our current situation was already far from normal, so maybe insanity was just one more detail among many.
Besides: (I’m definitely going to regret this later) I thought as I closed my eyes for a brief moment.
When I opened them again, I felt calmer. Even so, this was going to be a... strange experience. Still, there was no longer any reason to hesitate this much. Would it be unpleasant? Definitely. But the worst part wouldn’t be there, it wasn’t like I’d feel pain or anything like that.
In that very moment, a mental command cut through my mind, simple, direct, and undeniably firm: (Get out!)
The instant the thought formed, my body began to exude a dark, steaming mist, dense like living shadow. It slowly peeled away from me and, right in front of me, started to take shape.
First came the arms, stretching as if molded by the air itself. Then the legs formed, solid and steady. The torso followed, proportionally identical to mine, like a warped reflection. Finally, the head emerged, sealing the creation.
Another me stood before me, made entirely of the black mist pouring from my body. Its vibrant red eyes burned with a threatening intensity, standing in absolute contrast to my own vivid gold, as if we belonged to opposing affinities.
My Alter Ego’s crimson gaze locked onto me with suffocating intensity, waiting for orders that never truly needed to be spoken. We were a single entity, every thought, every emotion transmitted in real time. It knew exactly what to do, and more importantly, how it needed to be done.
I turned my eyes toward the psychopath chasing us at full speed. Without hesitation, I let my will crystallize into a single command, cold, direct, and absolute: (Tear him apart completely)
My Alter Ego didn’t need any further words or explanation. It simply turned toward the man ahead, and its body began to emit the same dense mist leaking from mine. For a moment, it looked as if we were connected by something invisible, and that wasn’t entirely false.
Its form rippled unnaturally for a few seconds, as if struggling against its own shape, until dozens, hundreds, thousands of tiny microfilaments suddenly burst outward in every direction, slicing through the air in ominous silence.
I swallowed hard. I knew exactly what my Alter Ego was about to do. There was no way not to know, the idea had been mine from the start. This was, without a doubt, the moment to test how far my regeneration speed could go, and whether it would be fast enough.
The anomaly response team, Victor, Arthur, and Rupert, stared at the scene with mixed expressions. Most of them carried a cautious tension, a blend of anxiety, surprise, and emotions difficult to define. Victor remained rigid, while Rupert silently assessed the risks unfolding before him.
Arthur, on the other hand, showed clear curiosity about what would come next. Even so, I can say with absolute certainty: nothing that was about to happen would be even remotely pleasant. Then it began.
Without warning, without any sign at all, thousands of microfilaments stretched at once, ripping through the air in total silence as they shot toward the knife-wielding madman. They reached him before any of us could even blink, in an almost unreal instant where time itself seemed to hesitate, but the filaments did not.
There was no impact. No collision. Just contact. And at the exact moment the filaments touched the man’s body, I felt it. It wasn’t pain. It was something subtler, like touching your tongue to a drained battery: a dry, metallic taste, almost imaginary. It doesn’t hurt, but it warns you. A silent alert running across the skin and nerves, telling you something was deeply wrong.
My chest split along invisible lines, like paper carefully creased before the inevitable tear. I felt every division, every microscopic separation. There was no pain, only a cold, absolute clarity. And still, I perceived everything.
It was like watching my own body being dismantled piece by piece in a room that was too white, too silent, under merciless light, while someone beyond my reach calmly documented every detail on a clipboard, unhurried, unemotional.
The microfilaments passed through the man, flesh, bone, tendons, as if nothing there were truly solid. They didn’t cut. They chose. With cruel precision, they decided where the body stopped being a body.
The knife-man tried to move. The impulse was born, then died before reaching his muscles. He tried to scream; the air trembled uselessly in his throat. He tried to exist. Every attempt was instantly denied.
When his arm unraveled into hundreds of fragments, my own arm exploded with sensation, not pain, but a sudden, disorienting emptiness. Like the exact moment you realize a tooth has fallen out: no immediate suffering, just an undeniable absence. Your tongue keeps searching, touching the gap again and again, and the more it searches, the more real the loss becomes.
At that same instant, something hot and dense surged beneath my skin, regeneration. A deep, silent current rebuilding what had been destroyed. Skin remaking skin. Fibers reconnecting, every part returning to the state it had before annihilation.
A strange, almost intimate sensation, like my body consulting an old memory and murmuring: “Oh... so that’s how I used to be. Right” Meanwhile, my pursuer’s body had no such luxury.
The filaments never had time to exist. With every attempt at reformation, every fragment that dared to realign, my Alter Ego responded by increasing density, speed, and fragmentation. The process repeated with cruel, almost mathematical precision: destroying faster than any concept of healing could ever keep up. And I felt all of it.
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Chapter List

Chapter 1 – First Contact [1]
Chapter 2 – First Contact [2]
Chapter 3 – First Contact [3]
Announcement!
Chapter 4 – First Contact [4]
Chapter 5 – First Contact [5]
Chapter 6 – First Contact [6]
Chapter 7 – Outbreak [1]
Chapter 8 – Outbreak [2]
Chapter 9 – Outbreak [3]
Chapter 10 – Outbreak [4]
Chapter 11 – Outbreak [5]
Chapter 12 – Outbreak [6]
Chapter 13 – Adaptation period [1]
Chapter 14 – Adaptation period [2]
Chapter 15 – Adaptation period [3]
Chapter 16 – Adaptation period [4]
Chapter 17 – Adaptation period [5]
Chapter 18 – Threat from the shadows [1]
Chapter 19 – Threat from the shadows [2]
Chapter 20 – Threat from the shadows [3]
Chapter 21 – Threat from the shadows [4]
Chapter 22 – Threat from the shadows [5]
Chapter 23 – Threat from the shadows [6]
Chapter 24 – Threat from the shadows [7]
Chapter 25 – The director’s visit [1]
Chapter 26 – The director’s visit [2]
Chapter 27 – The director’s visit [3]
Chapter 28 – The director’s visit [4]
Chapter 29 – The director’s visit [5]
Chapter 30 – The director’s visit [6]
Chapter 31 – Conducting experiments [1]
Chapter 32 – Conducting experiments [2]
Chapter 33 – Conducting experiments [3]
Chapter 34 – Conducting experiments [4]
Chapter 35 – Conducting experiments [5]
Story recommendation: the new chapter of Anomaly will normally be released at 7pm.
Chapter 36 – Conducting experiments [6]
Chapter 37 – Conducting experiments [7]
Story recommendation: I’m reposting because, last time, the author’s story hadn’t been approved yet.
Chapter 38 – Conducting experiments [8]
Chapter 39 – Conducting experiments [9]
Chapter 40 – Conducting experiments [10]
Chapter 41 – Black Lake [1]
Chapter 42 – Black Lake [2]
Chapter 43 – Black Lake [3]
Chapter 44 – Black Lake [4]
Chapter 45 – Black Lake [5]
Chapter 46 – Black Lake [6]
Chapter 47 – Black Lake [7]
Chapter 48 – Black Lake [8]
Chapter 49 – Black Lake [9]
Chapter 50 – Black Lake [10]
Chapter 51 – Black Lake [11]
Creation of the Discord server
Chapter 52 – Black Lake [12]
Chapter 53 – Black Lake [13]
Chapter 54 – Black Lake [14]
Chapter 55 – Black Lake [15]
Chapter 56 – Black Lake [16]
Chapter 57 – Black Lake [17]
Chapter 58 – Black Lake [18]
Chapter 59 – The call [1]
Chapter 60 – The call [2]
Chapter 61 – The call [3]
Chapter 62 – The call [4]
Chapter 63 – The call [5]
Chapter 64 – The call [6]
Chapter 65 – The call [7]
Chapter 66 – The call [8]
Chapter 67 – The call [9]
Chapter 68 – The call [10]
Chapter 69 – The call [11]
Chapter 70 – The call [12]
Quick update
Chapter 71 – The call [13]
Chapter 72 – The call [14]
Chapter 73 – The call [15]
Chapter 74 – The call [16]
Chapter 75 – The call [17]
Chapter 76 – The call [18]
Chapter 77 – The call [19]
Chapter 78 – The call [20]
Chapter 79 – The call [21]
Chapter 80 – The call [22]
Chapter 81 – The call [23]
Chapter 82 – The call [24]
Chapter 83 – The call [25]
Chapter 84 – The call [26]
Chapter 85 – Storm [1]
Chapter 86 – Storm [2]
Chapter 87 – Storm [3]
Chapter 88 – Storm [4]
Chapter 89 – Storm [5]
Chapter 90 – Storm [6]
Chapter 91 – Storm [7]
Chapter 92 – Storm [8]
Chapter 93 – Storm [9]
Chapter 94 – Storm [10]
Chapter 95 – Storm [11]
Chapter 96 – Storm [12]
Chapter 97 – Storm [13]
Chapter 98 – Storm [14]
Chapter 99 – Storm [15]
Chapter 100 – Storm [16]
Chapter 101 – Storm [17]
Chapter 102 – Storm [18]
Chapter 103 – Storm [19]
Chapter 104 – Interludio – A little chat
Chapter 105 – Something called Life [1]
Chapter 106 – Something called Life [2]
Chapter 107 – Something called Life [3]
Chapter 108 – Something called Life [4]
Chapter 109 – Something called Life [5]
Chapter 110 – Something called Life [6]
Chapter 111 – Something called Life [7]
Chapter 112 – Something called Life [8]
Chapter 113 – Something called Life [9]
Chapter 114 – Something called Life [10]
Chapter 115 – Something called Life [11]
Chapter 116 – Something called Life [12]
Chapter 117 – Something called Life [13]
Chapter 118 – Something called Life [14]
Anomaly
Chapter 119 – Something called Life [15]
Chapter 120 – Something called Life [16]
Chapter 121 – Something called Life [17]
Chapter 122 – Something called Life [18]
Chapter 123 – Something called Life [19]
Chapter 124 – Something called Life [20]
Chapter 125 – Something called Life [21]
Chapter 126 – Something called Life [22]
Chapter 127 – Something called Life [23]
Chapter 128 – Something called Life [24]
Chapter 129 – Something called Life [25]
Chapter 130 – Something called Life [26]
Chapter 131 – Something called Life [27]
Chapter 132 – Something called Life [28]
Chapter 133 – Something called Life [29]
Chapter 134 – Something called Life [30]
Chapter 135 – interlude – Hidden intentions
Chapter 136 – Inside the mist [1]
Chapter 137 – Inside the mist [2]
Chapter 138 – Inside the mist [3]
Chapter 139 – Inside the mist [4]
Chapter 140 – Inside the mist [5]
Chapter 141 – Inside the mist [6]
Chapter 142 – Inside the mist [7]
Chapter 143 – Inside the mist [8]
Chapter 144 – Inside the mist [9]
Chapter 145 – Inside the mist [10]
Chapter 146 – Inside the mist [11]
Chapter 147 – Inside the mist [12]
Chapter 148 – Inside the mist [13]
SPECIAL PROMOTION ON PATREON!
Chapter 149 – Inside the mist [14]
Chapter 150 – Inside the mist [15]
Chapter 151 – Inside the mist [16]
Chapter 152 – Inside the mist [17]
Chapter 153 – Inside the mist [18]
Chapter 154 – Inside the mist [19]
Chapter 155 – Inside the mist [20]
Chapter 156 – Inside the mist [21]
Chapter 157 – Inside the mist [22]
Chapter 158 – Inside the mist [23]
Chapter 159 – Inside the mist [24]
Chapter 160 – When logic escapes [1]
Chapter 161 – When logic escapes [2]
Chapter 162 – When logic escapes [3]
Chapter 163 – When logic escapes [4]
Chapter 164 – When logic escapes [5]
Chapter 165 – When logic escapes [6]
Chapter 166 – When logic escapes [7]
Chapter 167 – When logic escapes [8]
Chapter 168 – When logic escapes [9]
Chapter 169 – When logic escapes [10]
Chapter 170 – When logic escapes [11]
Chapter 171 – When logic escapes [12]
Chapter 172 – When logic escapes [13]
Chapter 173 – When logic escapes [14]
Chapter 174 – When logic escapes [15]
Chapter 175 – When logic escapes [16]
Chapter 176 – When logic escapes [17]
Chapter 177 – When logic escapes [18]
Chapter 178 – When logic escapes [19]
Chapter 179 – When logic escapes [20]
Chapter 180 – When logic escapes [21]
Chapter 181 – The Burden of Remembering [1]
Chapter 182 – The Burden of Remembering [2]
Chapter 183 – The Burden of Remembering [3]
Chapter 184 – The Burden of Remembering [4]
Chapter 185 – The Burden of Remembering [5]
Chapter 186 – The Burden of Remembering [6]
Chapter 187 – The Burden of Remembering [7]
Chapter 188 – The Burden of Remembering [8]
Chapter 189 – The Burden of Remembering [9]
Chapter 190 – The Burden of Remembering [10]
Chapter 191 – The Burden of Remembering [11]
Chapter 192 – The Burden of Remembering [12]
Chapter 193 – The Burden of Remembering [13]
Chapter 194 – The Burden of Remembering [14]
Chapter 195 – The Burden of Remembering [15]
Chapter 196 – The Burden of Remembering [16]
Chapter 197 – The Burden of Remembering [17]
Chapter 198 – The Burden of Remembering [18]
Chapter 199 – The Burden of Remembering [19]
Chapter 200 – The Burden of Remembering [20]
Chapter 201 – The Burden of Remembering [21]
Chapter 202 – The Burden of Remembering [22]
Chapter 203 – The Burden of Remembering [23]
Chapter 204 – The Burden of Remembering [24]
Chapter 205 – The Burden of Remembering [25]
Chapter 206 – The Burden of Remembering [26]
Chapter 207 – The Burden of Remembering [27]
Chapter 208 – The Burden of Remembering [28]
Chapter 209 – The Burden of Remembering [29]
Chapter 210 – The Burden of Remembering [30]
Chapter 211 – The Burden of Remembering [31]
Chapter 212 – The Burden of Remembering [32]
Chapter 213 – The Burden of Remembering [33]
Chapter 214 – The Burden of Remembering [34]
Chapter 215 – The Burden of Remembering [35]
Chapter 216 – The Burden of Remembering [36]
Chapter 217 – The Burden of Remembering [37]
Chapter 218 – The Burden of Remembering [38]
Chapter 219 – The entity of pride [1]
Chapter 220 – The entity of pride [2]
Chapter 221 – The entity of pride [3]
Chapter 222 – The entity of pride [4]
Chapter 223 – The entity of pride [5]
Chapter 224 – The entity of pride [6]
Chapter 225 – The entity of pride [7]
Chapter 226 – The entity of pride [8]
Chapter 227 – The entity of pride [9]
Chapter 228 – The entity of pride [10]
Chapter 229 – The entity of pride [11]
Chapter 230 – The entity of pride [12]
Chapter 231 – The entity of pride [13]
Chapter 232 – The entity of pride [14]
Chapter 233 – The entity of pride [15]
Chapter 234 – The entity of pride [16]
Chapter 235 – The entity of pride [17]
Chapter 236 – The entity of pride [18]
Chapter 237 – The entity of pride [19]
Chapter 238 – The entity of pride [20]
Chapter 239 – The entity of pride [21]
Chapter 240 – The entity of pride [22]
Chapter 241 – The entity of pride [23]
Chapter 242 – The entity of pride [24]
Chapter 243 – The entity of pride [25]
Chapter 244 – Timeless State [1]
Chapter 245 – Timeless State [2]
Chapter 246 – Timeless State [3]
Chapter 247 – Timeless State [4]
Chapter 248 – Timeless State [5]
Chapter 249 – Timeless State [6]
Chapter 250 – Timeless State [7]
Chapter 251 – Timeless State [8]
Chapter 252 – Timeless State [9]
Chapter 253 – Timeless State [10]
Chapter 254 – Timeless State [11]
Chapter 255 – Timeless State [12]
Chapter 256 – Timeless State [13]
Chapter 257 – Timeless State [14]
Chapter 258 – Timeless State [15]
Chapter 259 – Timeless State [16]
Chapter 260 – Timeless State [17]
Chapter 261 – Timeless State [18]
Chapter 262 – Timeless State [19]
Chapter 263 – Timeless State [20]
Chapter 264 – Timeless State [21]
Chapter 265 – Timeless State [22]
Chapter 266 – Timeless State [23]
Chapter 267 – Timeless State [24]
Chapter 268 – Timeless State [25]
Chapter 269 – Timeless State [26]
Chapter 270 – Timeless State [27]
Chapter 271 – Timeless State [28]
Chapter 272 – Timeless State [29]
Chapter 273 – Timeless State [30]
Chapter 274 – Timeless State [31]
Chapter 275 – Timeless State [32]
Chapter 276 – Timeless State [33]
Chapter 277 – Timeless State [34]
Chapter 278 – Timeless State [35]
Chapter 279 – Timeless State [36]
Chapter 280 – Timeless State [37]
Chapter 281 – Timeless State [38]
Chapter 282 – Timeless State [39]
Chapter 283 – The Primordial Fear [1]
Chapter 284 – The Primordial Fear [2]
Chapter 285 – The Primordial Fear [3]
Special Christmas/New Year’s promotion on Patreon.
Chapter 286 – The Primordial Fear [4]
Chapter 287 – The Primordial Fear [5]
Chapter 288 – The Primordial Fear [6]
Chapter 289 – The Primordial Fear [7]
Chapter 290 – The Primordial Fear [8]
Chapter 291 – The Primordial Fear [9]
Chapter 292 – The Primordial Fear [10]
Chapter 293 – The Primordial Fear [11]
Chapter 294 – The Primordial Fear [12]
Chapter 295 – The Primordial Fear [13]
Chapter 296 – The Primordial Fear [14]
Chapter 297 – The Primordial Fear [15]
Chapter 298 – The Primordial Fear [16]
Chapter 299 – The Primordial Fear [17]
Chapter 300 – The Primordial Fear [18]
Chapter 301 – The Primordial Fear [19]
Chapter 302 – The Primordial Fear [20]
Chapter 303 – The Primordial Fear [21]
Chapter 304 – The Primordial Fear [22]
Chapter 305 – The Primordial Fear [23]
Chapter 306 – The Primordial Fear [24]
Chapter 307 – The Primordial Fear [25]
Chapter 308 – The Primordial Fear [26]
Chapter 309 – The Primordial Fear [27]
Chapter 310 – The Primordial Fear [28]
Chapter 311 – The Primordial Fear [29]
Chapter 312 – The Primordial Fear [30]
Chapter 313 – The Primordial Fear [31]
Chapter 314 – The Primordial Fear [32]
Chapter 315 – The Primordial Fear [33]
Chapter 316 – The Primordial Fear [34]
Chapter 317 – The Primordial Fear [35]
Chapter 318 – The Primordial Fear [36]
Chapter 319 – The Primordial Fear [37]
Chapter 320 – The Primordial Fear [38]
Chapter 321 – The Primordial Fear [39]
Chapter 322 – The Primordial Fear [40]
Chapter 323 – The Primordial Fear [41]
Chapter 324 – The Primordial Fear [42]
Chapter 325 – The Primordial Fear [43]
Chapter 326 – The Primordial Fear [44]
Chapter 327 – The Primordial Fear [45]
Chapter 328 – The Primordial Fear [46]
Chapter 329 – The Primordial Fear [47]
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