Anomaly

Chapter 407 – Worship of the true gods [53]

The conversation with my sisters went almost exactly how I expected it would... well, almost. To be honest, I may have overlooked one very important detail when I tried bribing them with affection in exchange for information: they liked that reward way more than I originally expected.

The moment I made the offer, every single one of them lit up with suspiciously excited expressions. Althea, as always the quickest to seize an opportunity, immediately tried to move in front of the others, slightly raising her chin with an air of victory as she began revealing some information about what the sphere actually was.

Unfortunately, she barely managed to get the first few words out before everything descended into chaos. Almost instantly, all of my other sisters lunged at me in a not-so-subtle attempt to secure their share of the reward. Different voices flooded my ears all at once, each one throwing out completely different pieces of information about the current situation as if that was somehow supposed to help me.

One was talking about the sphere’s origin, another was explaining its possible effects, while a third seemed far more interested in arguing about who deserved the most affection once this ridiculous negotiation was over. Within seconds, the entire situation had devolved into absolute confusion.

They were all talking at the same time, refusing to give each other even a second to speak, their voices blending together into an incomprehensible wall of noise. I tried focusing, catching scattered words here and there, but it was useless.

In the end, all I managed to absorb was a disconnected mess of sounds and complaints. In short: my brilliant plan to gather quick information by using affection as currency had failed spectacularly. I also couldn’t exactly just dismiss the others and keep only one of them with me. That would’ve been completely unfair.

Even with the world slowly marching toward chaos, there was still one thing I absolutely refused to become: an irresponsible, unreliable older brother. Besides, just the thought of one of them ending up hating me because of favoritism made me feel genuinely uncomfortable.

I absolutely refuse to go through a situation where they hate me. So, my only reasonable alternative was to divide my time fairly, gathering information from each of them individually, one at a time. In exchange, all of them would receive exclusive attention, along with a generous amount of affection and a few small treats from me.

Personally, I didn’t mind this arrangement in the slightest. To be honest, my little sisters were adorable in their own ways, each with their own unique quirks and charm. And considering there was still a considerable amount of my old human mindset left in me, I could easily spend hours just watching their reactions, the subtle smiles, satisfied looks, and tiny shifts in expression as they soaked up all of my attention.

In a strange way, it was oddly relaxing. Anyway, getting back to the real elephant in the room, I managed to extract a few genuinely important points from the information my sisters had gathered and shared. First of all, apparently it’s impossible to stop the seismic event caused by the pillar through conventional means.

No physical force, ability, or power currently at my disposal would be capable of breaking through the barrier, or at least, that was according to my sisters. The way they explained it made things painfully clear: trying to destroy the barrier by force would be like punching a wall that didn’t even exist, pointless and ridiculous.

They called the phenomenon conceptual inversion. All of the concepts that had been imprisoned by the priest had completely lost control, like chains snapping after centuries of restraint, causing them to invert their own natures and distort their original functions.

In simple terms, everything spiraled out of control in the worst way possible. As a result, these concepts now simply erase anything they come into contact with, as though the very existence of their targets is being denied. That said, there was one curious detail.

Even while out of control, the inversion still seemed to partially obey the priest’s original desire. Only things recognized as “Living” by the conceptual inversion were being erased. Everything else was simply ignored. Though “ignored” might be a generous way to put it.

Objects, structures, and the environment itself weren’t being erased, but they were still suffering severe collateral damage. The ground cracked apart, buildings collapsed, and the surrounding matter seemed to deteriorate under the absurd pressure released by the inversion.

The fact that the buildings were still standing at all already felt like a minor miracle, considering the energy emitted by the pillar continued spreading throughout the city like a wave, gradually corroding the environment.

Fortunately, the church was located relatively far from what had become the true epicenter of this entire disaster. As much as I hated admitting it, the priest had actually thrown me ridiculously far when he launched me through those buildings. Only now was I realizing just how absurd that distance really had been.

The place where I had sent most of the city’s residents who originally lived near the epicenter was practically on the opposite side of the city, far enough away to buy us at least some amount of time. Not much, but still enough to breathe and come up with a plan.

Whether I managed to solve this situation or not, we still had a few hours before things became irreversibly worse. Unfortunately, that “few hours” was still far less time than I would’ve liked to have. In the end, after gathering all the information I could squeeze out of my sisters, I retreated into my own thoughts, letting my mind wander freely as I considered everything.

To be honest, there wasn’t exactly a clear “method” for resolving this situation. According to my sisters, a conceptual inversion was, by nature, something absurdly... destructive. This wasn’t some ordinary ability or something that could be fixed through simple trial and error.

It was more like tampering directly with the framework supporting a specific reality and forcing it to bend against its own logic. Even so, no matter how chaotic or dangerous all of this sounded, giving up never once crossed my mind.

If there was even the slightest chance of success, I intended to pursue it to the very end, trying any method or approach within my reach, no matter how unlikely it seemed. Staying still and accepting failure simply wasn’t in my nature. Naturally, I also wasn’t naïve enough to believe my little sisters had told me everything they knew.

Knowing them as well as I did, I could tell they were clearly filtering the information, only giving me what they considered “acceptable” or safe enough for the current situation. Not that I particularly minded. Having at least some information was infinitely better than continuing to stumble around completely blind.

“Long story short...” I cut myself off for a moment, trying to sort through and process everything my little sisters had just told me.

I let out a short sigh before continuing: “So there’s really nothing I can do to reverse this situation? You don’t intend to help, so that’s it? We’re just doomed?”

I asked with my usual indifferent expression, as if we were discussing something trivial. On the inside, however, it was a completely different story. An uncomfortable sense of dread tightened in my chest, growing heavier with every passing second.

I can’t exactly say that the thought of potentially watching an entire city get destroyed because of a mistake that I apparently caused is anywhere close to pleasant. If anything, it was exactly the kind of crushing responsibility I would’ve happily gone my entire life without experiencing.

“Good news” Rupert muttered.

Up until now, he had remained silent for most of the conversation, almost like a disinterested bystander watching the chaos unfold in front of him. I had honestly forgotten just how absurdly unmotivating this guy could be at times like this... That said, whenever Rupert actually decided to be serious, it was impossible not to admit it: he could be surprisingly impressive.

Victor also spoke up after hearing my conclusion. He let out a low, almost dismissive scoff while crossing his arms over his chest. His usual fearless gaze accompanied every movement, steady and unshaken, as if the very idea of backing down was laughable to him.

“To me, this is nothing but nonsense” he shot back, his voice carrying a firm conviction that immediately drew not only my attention, but my little sisters’ as well, as they all turned their eyes toward him in silence.

Victor slightly raised his chin before continuing, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, like someone who had already faced far worse challenges: “If I told you how many times I’ve ended up in so-called “impossible” situations and still made it out alive, you could probably turn it into a movie”

His gaze then sharpened like a blade as he stared directly at my sisters without the slightest hint of hesitation or fear: “If I gave up every time someone told me something was impossible, I’d have been dead a long time ago”

“Interesting words,” Eryanis replied, raising an eyebrow slightly. A mocking little smile appeared on her lips as she added: “Especially coming from a mere human”

Victor didn’t seem particularly bothered by the jab. He simply let out a brief scoff, folded his arms again, and looked away, dismissing Eryanis as though her words weren’t even worth acknowledging.

Althea and Nekra remained outside the conversation. Althea watched everything with an amused glint in her eyes, clearly entertained by the entire situation. Nekra, on the other hand, kept her usual indifferent expression.

Chronas seemed relatively impressed by Victor. There was a rare trace of approval in her expression, accompanied by a subtle fondness, which was only natural, considering that, technically speaking, they were siblings.

Nyara, as always, remained timid and quiet, her hands clasped in front of her body while her restless gaze shifted slightly, though she still followed every word being said with careful attention. Being the youngest, Tenebrya watched the scene with childlike curiosity, her eyes moving from one person to another as she absorbed every little detail.

My little sisters exchanged glances after my question, as though silently deciding who would speak first. The brief silence hanging in the air was eventually broken by Eryanis.

“Anyway, what we’re trying to say is that, at least for us, excluding our sister, we can’t interfere, even if we wanted to” she began, her voice taking on a more serious tone than usual. Her normally relaxed posture gradually faded, replaced by an odd sense of solemnity.

She then shot me a meaningful look before continuing: “However, our sister is fundamentally different from the rest of us Virtues”

“You’re not necessarily bound by the same rules the rest of us follow” I blinked a few times, processing her words. A faint confusion settled over me as I frowned slightly.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” I asked, unable to hide my perplexity.

The next to respond was Althea, wearing her signature half-smile, laced with a teasing sort of charm. She floated a few steps forward with effortless grace until she stopped right in front of me.

“What she means, dear sister, is that you function as a bridge between us and everything else...” she explained, raising one hand in a casual gesture as if trying to organize her own thoughts: “A sort of guardian, if you prefer... though that term doesn’t really do a great job of simplifying things” The last part came out in a distracted murmur, accompanied by a small shrug, as though even she wasn’t fully satisfied with the explanation.

Then, leaning slightly forward, Althea smiled again, this time with a mischievous glint in her eyes: “What I mean is that you’re allowed to do what we can’t... because of the rules”

I tilted my head to the side almost instinctively, blinking once, then twice, as her words slowly settled into place inside my mind. It felt like trying to piece together a puzzle.

Noticing my reaction, Althea’s smile widened a little more, as if she were thoroughly enjoying my confusion. She continued her monologue in an almost sing-song tone, that playful expression still painted across her delicate face: “As I said before, dear sister... even among the Virtues, you are uniquely special”