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Chapter 481: The Butcher [7]

Crack!

The ground cracked as the anomaly wearing the horse hat rushed forward, hacking down on the ground with its large, muscular body.

I just barely avoided its attack before the pig head attacked me; its movements were just as fast as the horse head’s.

Swooosh!

Taking a step back and sucking in my stomach, the blade just barely grazed my apron as a shadow cast behind me. I could feel the presence of the other anomaly, trying to grab me from behind, but before its arms could close down on me, I activated [Trait Transfer] once more, and a biting cold pressed on me from all directions.

The surroundings changed as the anomalies faded.

I… was now in the other world.

Without wasting a second, I turned around and brought my hand up, hacking down with all my might as I deactivated [Trait Transfer] and the world returned to how it was, the back of the anomaly now facing my direction.

SPURT!

It was a direct hit.

Blood spurted in all directions as the knife quietly absorbed the blood, my eyes gleaming at the sight as my breathing similarly grew harsher.

Unfortunately, that attack didn’t appear to be enough to kill the anomaly.

Despite the massive injury, the anomaly still managed to turn its head, the ruined body twisting unnaturally as it revealed the head of a cow. Its mouth opened with a low, dragging creak, as though something inside it was forcing the jaw apart.

And then—

“Hehehe~”

I started laughing, shutting whatever ’attack’ it was attempting down as I brought my blade towards its neck and slashed down cleanly.

Thud!

With a low ’thud’, the head fell, and the body followed right after.

Blood pooled across the floor as I held onto my mouth, trying to keep my smile in check, feeling a sudden tickle in the middle of my chest.

’Not now. Not now.’

Looking at the knife, I knew that its influence was growing.

But that wasn’t all.

My head was fucked up. I knew that much.

The knife was just… letting me let loose.

Swoooosh!

The anomalies didn’t give me time to think. With one down, the other two came rushing at me. One from the left, and one from the right. I didn’t have the time to think. But I didn’t need to think as I already knew what I needed to do as I looked towards the horse head, its arm reaching up as it gathered enough momentum to slash at me.

This time…

I wasn’t able to hold my smile back.

[Trait Transfer]

Time suddenly slowed.

Staring at the anomaly, my grip over the knife tightened as several dots and red lines appeared on the charging anomaly. I memorized each line carefully while looking behind me and noting the other anomaly’s attack trajectory.

I could feel my node strain under the heavy usage of [Trait Transfer], but I paid no real mind to it as time soon returned to normal and I sprang into action, using every little bit of built-up tension in my muscles to shoot towards the hoarse head anomaly.

Knife in hand, I followed the trajectories that I remembered perfectly.

SWOOOSH!

With the sudden burst in speed, I distanced myself just enough to avoid the pig head anomaly’s attack while also getting close enough to the horse anomaly to slash at its armpit and several of its vital areas.

Spurt!

The moment was quick.

I didn’t even look back at the other anomaly. The moment I slashed in the directions that I wanted to, I used the little remaining strength that I had to dash away.

“Haaa…! Haaa!”

My lungs burned as I gasped for air, sweat pooling down the sides of my face as blood dripped down from the side of my blade.

Thud!

Soon, the eventual thud came, signaling the fall of the anomaly.

’…Not yet done. I’m not yet done.’

Without wasting time, I turned to face the remaining anomaly.

The pig head.

“…..”

It stood not far from me, its gaze directed my way as its eyes gleamed under the dim lights of the slaughterhouse. Staring at the anomaly, I took the anomaly’s lack of action as a chance to catch my breath.

The entire sequence of events probably lasted no longer than a couple of seconds, but those couple of seconds were enough to drain a lot of my energy. Especially my nodes, as I started to clearly feel the pain in my mind.

Despite this…

’I can still go in.’

This much was still acceptable. I could continue this for several more rounds, and catching my breath, I held the knife tighter.

I prepared myself to get rid of the last anomaly.

But—

“Hm?”

The moment I prepared to act, something unexpected occurred.

The anomaly… which had been so fiercely staring at me a moment prior, turned around and dashed away from me, its body moving past the numerous chains.

“…..”

The sight caught me completely off-guard, my eyes blinking slowly as I tried to understand what was going on.

But soon, a certain thought crossed my mind as I stared in the direction of where the anomaly ran.

’Is this a trap, or…? Did it just run away?’

“It can’t be, right?”

But after thinking for a while, I realized that it was possible. After a certain point, anomalies weren’t just mindless monsters. They could think for themselves, and it wasn’t out of the question that they would run away from me.

Of course, I was more inclined to believe it was guiding me towards a trap.

But this worked for me.

Holding onto the knife, I followed along.

’I hope it leads me right to the boss.’

…I really hoped it would.

***

Bang!

The smell of gunpowder drifted through the air as a body fell, the echo of the shot lingering longer than it should have.

“It’s done.”

Elias lowered his gun while looking at the numerous anomalies scattered around him.

“…How many does that make?”

“Fifteen. Not bad.”

Catherine complemented, sitting on a crate in the distance as she smiled at everyone present. Some were a little tired, but in general, everyone was faring quite well. The Gate had yet to deviate from the norm.

This was good.

“I’ve already counted all of the points for everyone. There are a few that need to get some kills quickly; you might get dropped, but so far, so good. Let’s take some time to rest before going into the next room. Once we manage to get through enough rooms, the difficulty will rise.”

Catherine had all the rules and layout of the Gate noted down in her mind.

This wasn’t the first time that she had been in the Gate, and was in fact quite familiar with it. Thus, she wasn’t worried at all. In fact, in terms of points, she had the fewest. But, of course, everyone knew the reason wasn’t that she lacked skills.

She just… didn’t plan on doing anything until the end.

’It does seem like Elias has gotten better.’

Catherine carefully studied Elias as the gun faded from his hand. He was a rather exceptional member of her group, of the Conceptualization Decree. With his skills, he was able to create guns that were strong enough to kill anomalies.

He was an indispensable member of her team.

The same could be said for Andreas and Marcus.

“Hmm.”

Pursing her lips, Catherine noted everything down while also looking at the other members. For the World Congress, she needed the best available team if she wanted to rank highly. For that, she needed to pay close attention to everyone.

She needed to—

Catherine’s thoughts came to an abrupt pause.

She wasn’t the only one; many also paused, all turning in a certain direction.

’Thud!’ ’Thud!’ ’Thud!’

A loud thumping echoed far off in the distance, growing louder and heavier with each passing second as it drew nearer to them.

Catherine heaved a deep breath as she looked at everyone around her.

“Careful.”

Her voice echoed through the quiet space, her mind calming as she had long since taken situations like this into account.

“…Be very careful. Something is coming our way. Do not panic and raise your weapons. Meet it head on.”

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