Chapter 118. Anomaly vs. Weirdo (1)
I found myself seriously wondering whether there was any need to escape from the Vanished Social Club.
As I returned to the royal palace’s guest chamber while contemplating the matter—
Seraphia was pacing in front of the door, exactly as she had before.
She wore a grave expression, as though something weighed heavily on her mind.
Then she suddenly recoiled in horror and shouted into empty space.
“No!”
“Can’t you remember?”
“Eek!!”
Seraphia looked as though her heart had fallen out of her chest.
“Uwaaah...!!”
She had even lost the ability to speak.
However, the moment she recognized me—
“Brother!!”
Her fallen heart returned to its place, and her lost ability to speak recovered instantly.
“A-Are you all right?! You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?!”
Seraphia repeated the exact same words and actions as before.
Judging from that, Seraphia’s memories had also been forgotten.
Instead of explaining everything, I immediately used Mental Empathy [E].
“Ah? Ahh...?”
Seraphia’s expression changed strangely, as though memories were being forcibly injected into her.
Unlike last time, I didn’t check the dress—
“Aaaaaah?!?!”
But there didn’t appear to be any problems.
Seraphia clutched her head as though overwhelmed by confusion.
“What...?! What in the world is this...?”
As expected, Seraphia quickly recovered her memories.
◆ Activating the Bond Skill Mental Empathy [E]!
A message appeared before me.
Seraphia’s body flinched—
Warm morning sunlight gently poured over the royal garden.
The tea-party venue was filled with subtle elegance.
It bustled with people displaying their unique charm and refinement.
“It’s the same again. Their actions and conversations—everything is identical.”
Seraphia answered in a trembling voice.
However—
“How long do you intend to hide there?”
“....What? Well….”
Seraphia remained hidden behind a wall and showed no intention of coming out.
It appeared that the Gremlins from the previous loop had frightened her considerably.
However, how could the Monarch of Frost, who had been called the [Coalition Forces’ Greatest Enemy], possibly be afraid of mere Gremlins?
“As I told you before, fear disappears once you confront its true form.”
According to Iliana, a Hero of the Coalition Forces—
“Fear is a product of the imagination.”
Fear without a physical form continued expanding endlessly within one’s imagination—
“Once fear is given physical form, the imagination becomes restrained, and the fear is inevitably ‘hollowed out’.”
Hollowing Out.
To explain what that meant—
“Which is more frightening: a cockroach you can see in front of you, or one that has disappeared into the gap behind your furniture?”
That was what she meant.
In any case—
“So stop hiding and—”
“Eek!”
....What part of her resembled the Monarch of Frost?
I swallowed a sigh and looked away.
I closely observed the nobles attending the tea party.
‘Does the same Anomaly not appear twice?’
The Anomaly from the first loop didn’t reappear.
I used Predatory Instinct [S], but none of the nobles were Gremlins.
Apparently, the Anomalies occurred randomly.
“It appears the Anomaly has changed. Go and determine whether any of the nobles’ actions or conversations differ from the original.”
“....Ah, yes!”
Only after hearing there were no Gremlins did Seraphia answer energetically.
However, she still didn’t move.
“What are you doing?”
“Well….”
Seraphia moved her lips several times as though searching for an excuse.
As I silently watched her—
The Monarch of Frost from my previous life.
The current Seraphia.
“C-Could I go with you, Brother...?”
....Cognitive dissonance began setting in.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—no Anomalies were discovered during the tea party.
The second event of the Royal Social Gathering followed: the banquet.
The nobles conversed at their respective tables.
“Have you prepared the export plan we discussed yesterday?”
“I’m still considering it. After all, we will need the royal family’s approval.”
“There are rumors that several families are already preparing similar products, so you’ll have to move quickly.”
“Hmm.”
“If you are having trouble, why not entrust the negotiations with the royal family to me?”
“Oh! Would you really do that for us?”
“As long as we properly negotiate the distribution of profits.”
The discussions were more detailed than those conducted during the tea party.
Conversations bargaining over their mutual interests continued.
“This place is….the same too.”
Seraphia spoke quietly.
At the same time, she cautiously slipped behind a wall.
Leaving Seraphia behind, I meticulously examined the banquet hall.
‘I don’t see anything that resembles an Anomaly.’
I studied my surroundings even more closely.
I paid particular attention to the nobles gathered inside the banquet hall.
I used Predatory Instinct [S] on every one of them—
‘There aren’t any Gremlins either.’
I walked toward the area where the drinks were stored and inspected them.
The wine containing Negative-Dimensional Substance—
It remained unchanged.
I immediately shattered every bottle.
Crash—!!
The atmosphere inside the banquet hall froze instantly—
“That damned delinquent!”
One of the nobles shot out of his seat and shouted. The man strode toward me and began berating me.
His name was Alex.
He was the third son of the House of Marquis Segretus.
“Do you even know what you just destroyed?”
“What was it?”
I deliberately gave Alex the same response as before to test him.
Just as before, Alex became even angrier and raised his voice.
“It was the finest wine, given the name Divine because it supposedly received the ‘Blessing of God’!”
As Alex’s voice shook the banquet hall, murmurs spread among the nobles.
“La Brillache Divine!”
“How could he destroy something so precious?!”
Reactions erupted from every direction.
They were identical to the previous loop and appeared to support Alex.
As expected, Alex became increasingly arrogant.
“I wasn’t aware of that.”
“Ha! Do you think ignorance excuses everything? You must take responsibility!”
“I’ll accept responsibility and—”
I stopped halfway through my sentence.
My Inventory wasn’t functioning anyway—
‘There’s no reason for me to behave identically too.’
I stopped and carefully reviewed the [Rules].
When I remained silent, perhaps Alex thought I was frightened.
“Now that you think about it, there’s nothing you can do, is there? Pathetic.”
Alex shouted arrogantly.
“I knew how stupid of a delinquent you were from the moment you began sponsoring that lowly wench Iliana.”
….As expected, Iliana seemed to be the reason he had picked a fight with me.
Alex continued mocking me.
Seriously—
The Blacksmith, a Hero of the Coalition Forces, had been entirely correct.
“Listen, Predator! Human nobles don’t need to worry about getting an axe buried in their skulls no matter how much they act like assholes. That makes them even worse than the primitive idiots who ran around waving stone axes!”
I checked the [Rules] again.
I paid particular attention to [Rule 5].
[Rule 5] — If you eliminate something that isn’t an Anomaly, everything will return to its initial state. Exercise caution with your actions.
I needed to accumulate Sanity points anyway.
It was time to trigger another reset.
“Or perhaps, in exchange for sponsoring that lowly wench, you—”
Baaaaam!!
I kicked Alex directly in the face.
Baaaaam!!
A deafening impact suddenly rang out.
Seraphia naturally turned toward the source of the noise.
A strange sight entered her eyes.
A noble was flying through the air.
“Eh...?”
Seraphia’s expression went blank.
Ignoring her reaction—
Alex flew dozens of meters through the air. He only stopped after crashing into the banquet hall’s wall.
Boom!!
The wall collapsed, and shattered debris buried the noble’s body.
The rubble covered him like a stone grave.
The banquet hall transformed into a funeral hall as everyone fell silent.
Shock and astonishment appeared on the nobles’ faces, as though they couldn’t believe what had happened.
The atmosphere inside the banquet hall froze.
That was when—
“H-How….dare….you!”
The noble buried beneath the stone grave forced himself upright.
His lips were mangled. His cheeks were grotesquely swollen.
....It was impossible to recognize him.
“Is that...?”
“The third son of the House of Marquis Segretus...?”
Even the nobles seemed uncertain.
At that moment—
“I was wondering why Iliana ended up so broken.”
Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward one person.
Adrian.
Adrian walked steadily toward Alex.
“After living among insects like you in a family resembling a rotten cesspit, it was inevitable.”
“Y-You bastard, how dare—?!”
“Shut your mouth.”
Booooom!!
With a noise resembling a bursting balloon, Alex’s body shot into the air—
“Eh...?”
Seraphia couldn’t begin to understand what was happening.
* * *
Booooom!!
A deafening impact suddenly rang out.
Luseria, who was creating the Anomalies, naturally turned toward the source of the noise.
Beyond the crystal orb—
Alex, the third son of the House of Marquis Segretus, was embedded in the ceiling.
“What...?”
Luseria, the Seductress of Lust, stared blankly.
Ignoring her bewilderment—
Alex’s body fell from the ceiling. His blood-covered body could no longer move.
“C-Cough...! S-Spare me...!”
Alex begged for his life.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth?”
However, Adrian didn’t even blink. His left foot rose high into the air. Then it slammed down on Alex’s right shoulder.
Crack!
The deafening sound of shattering bone rang out.
Alex’s mouth opened wide.
However, no scream emerged. It was a soundless scream.
After that, the indiscriminate beating began.
Boom! Crunch!
Baaaaam!
....It was vicious.
And brutal.
“The use of force is strictly forbidden inside the royal palace!”
The Vanished Social Club escaped Luseria’s control and began proceeding in an entirely unexpected direction.
“What is this...?”
Luseria couldn’t begin to understand what was happening.
* * *
“What the hell...?”
She genuinely couldn’t understand why he was acting like that.
No, seriously, why was he doing that?
Alex wasn’t an ‘Anomaly’.
Therefore, Adrian’s assault on him hadn’t occurred during the original banquet.
Perhaps because of that—
“Cease your actions immediately!”
When Adrian began beating Alex, the Royal Knights surrounded him from every direction like Gremlins.
* * *
I had already intended to reset the Royal Social Gathering.
That would allow me to receive a continuous supply of Sanity points.
Therefore, I thought it would be a good opportunity to create another Super-Combination Skill.
‘A value of 107 resulted in [B-] Rank.’
◆ Activating the Transcendent Skill Berserk [?].
[Sanity] — 682
◆ Berserk [?] will be applied at [B+] Rank.
◆ The skills that can be transcended with this value are Promote Metabolism [C+], Hardened Skin [B], Nutrient Synthesis [B], and Slime Cell [B-].
These were skills for which I had yet to create Combination Skills.
Therefore, I couldn’t create a Super-Combination Skill from them yet.
In that case….
‘Should I start with Hardened Skin?’
A Sanity value of 682 resulted in [B+] Rank.
When I examined the skills available for transcendence—
‘It seems skills without complete Genetic Factors can’t be transcended.’
Despite possessing lower ranks than Berserk [B+], Low Light Vision [D+] and Assimilation [C+] weren’t included among the skills that could be transcended.
‘Let’s see….’
◆ The rank of Hardened Skin [B] has been increased to [B+].
◆ [Additional Efficiency] — Gain an additional [+10%] Damage Resistance.
◆ [Additional Effect] — Recover Health equal to [0.1%] of the damage reduced.
As Hardened Skin [B+] transcended its original rank, it gained additional efficiency.
It also surpassed the limits of living organisms and acquired a ‘Health Absorption’ effect that couldn’t biologically exist.
That also affected the Combination Skills based on Hardened Skin [B+].
I considered which skill should receive the effects of Berserk [B+].
For now, I postponed Slime Cell [B-].
◆ The Combination Skill Dragon’s Skin [U] is transcending its limit!!
Dragon’s Skin [U] was affected the most and transcended its limit.
I charged directly through the Royal Knights’ encirclement.
◆ Draconification [E] : When this skill is activated, the Player consumes [500 Kcal per second] to immediately transform every cell in their body with [Dragon Traits].
Through this transformation, the effects of [Heightened Keratin] will also be applied to [Muscle Cells and Bone Tissue], increasing the Player’s [Strength and Stamina] stats by [+30%]. Additionally, [1%] of the damage reduced by Dragon’s Skin [U] will be converted into [Energy (Kcal)].
<This skill can be switched On/Off.>
<This is a Super-Combination Skill created by transcending the limits of Dragon’s Skin [U].>
As expected of a Super-Combination Skill—
It was every bit as absurdly powerful as Accelerated Heartbeat [E].
What was there to hesitate about?
◆ Activating the Super-Combination Skill Draconification [E]!
* * *
What….had just happened?
Luseria slowly reviewed the events she had witnessed.
However, no matter how many times she considered them, she could understand only one thing.
There had been a tremendous series of crashes—
And then every Royal Knight had been defeated.
That was all.
Beyond the crystal orb, the banquet hall was in unimaginable disarray—
“D-Do you think….you’ll escape punishment….after this...?”
A Royal Knight’s hoarse voice rang out.
“Don’t worry. It will all be forgotten anyway.”
Adrian’s voice followed—
And Luseria could no longer maintain her composure.
“How?”
No, how could he possibly know?
How did he know everything would be forgotten?
The Vanished Social Club used the Authority of Oblivion to continuously erase everyone’s memories.
In other words, it was impossible to know which Anomaly had caused the Royal Social Gathering to reset.
Even if the same Anomaly appeared repeatedly, the victims would return to the beginning without remembering its cause or consequences.
They would become trapped within an Infinite Cycle.
But what if someone remembered that everything would be forgotten?
Then the Vanished Social Club’s infinitely repeating structure couldn’t function.
“How in the world...?”
However, that was impossible. It belonged entirely to the realm of impossibility.
....No, wait.
If he knew everything would be forgotten, then….
“He knows—and he’s deliberately triggering a reset?”
....Was he insane?
She didn’t know how he had learned about the Authority of Oblivion.
But even setting that aside, who anywhere on the continent would willingly throw themselves into the Authority of Oblivion?
Absolutely ‘no one’ would do such a thing.
Aucta from Afar.
The singular entity that existed far beyond understanding and cognition.
Even Aucta from Afar wouldn’t do something like that.
Then what the hell was this...?
“I should reach [A] Rank after about ten resets.”
“How can such an utterly deranged delinquent….”
....Possibly exist?
Luseria simply couldn’t understand.
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