Point of View: Rita:

  “Where is it? If you can give me an idea of a nearby area, I can go on my own.” I shout to the guards around me. They can’t fly; I have to go alone. It’s a nuisance—if I get lost, I’ll waste a lot of time. I’m not that fast while flying, and I’d be even slower if I carried someone with me. I use the ambient mana to lift myself into the air; I haven’t developed my affinity in this area enough yet.

  “Lady Rita, I have a map. I could point out roughly the last place where we saw it.” One of the guards runs over, pointing at the map.

  I click my tongue in annoyance. The monster is a grade-4 anomaly; it can move quickly. The chance of reaching that location and finding nothing is very high. With no other option, I have to trust the only thing available to me—a marked spot on a map.

  When I rise a meter off the ground, I stop in midair. All the guards stare at me. I feel someone flying toward us—I recognize that Imra. That person is Cokue. Why is he here? He’s supposed to be fighting the anomaly. Did he defeat it? That shouldn’t be possible.

  I increase the intensity of my Imra, releasing flashes of mana to get his attention. My call is answered immediately; he veers mid-flight, fails to control the sudden turn, and crashes into the ground a few meters away from us.

  “Cokue, what happened? Where is the monster?” There’s no time for meaningless questions. He won’t die from bluntness—we need information now.

  “Lady Rita. It’s still near the same place where we found it. Maki is holding it back for the moment. We have to hurry and return.” I can feel the worry in his gaze.

  Maki? That’s right—he’s very fast. If he was contacted first as an emergency responder, it’s likely he arrived far ahead of anyone else. A small sense of relief settles in my heart; if Maki is fighting, there shouldn’t be too many problems. At the same time, I feel a trace of fear—this time his enemy isn’t an ordinary monster.

  An anomaly is extremely dangerous. Cokue is covered in wounds, and parts of his body haven’t fully healed or regenerated. Our strongest fighter took a beating—that makes the difference between us and an anomaly painfully clear.

  “Let’s go. Between the three of us, we should be able to kill it, or at least hold it until more reinforcements arrive.” I’m sure at least one more ruby-rank will join us. This code red overrides everything—no matter if we neglect some parts of the territory right now, we must end the anomaly’s life today.

  We both rise and fly as fast as I can. I know Cokue could go faster; he’s matching my pace. That’s not entirely bad—the knight is trying to conserve as much mana as possible for the battle.

  “How strong is it? Tell me everything you can.” I have to use this time as well as possible; I need information.

  “Very strong. If Maki had been two minutes late, I wouldn’t be in this world anymore.” Cokue’s expression is strained, pain and sorrow reflected in his eyes. “I’ve never faced anything this strong in the same rank. The monster learns very fast—no matter how I tried to trap or deceive it, it adapted to the flow of battle and to its opponent. It improves just by watching and fighting.”

  Damn it. That’s worse than I thought—an adaptive type. That kind of monster must be destroyed quickly. If it’s given enough time to improve, it becomes a true nightmare.

  “It uses steel magic; its constructs are at the very peak of the ruby rank. Most importantly, it has time magic—it can revert wounds on its body in the blink of an eye. I managed to cut off an arm and land several slashes; it didn’t matter. I let my guard down for a moment, and the anomaly healed completely in less than a second.” Cokue frowns even deeper, only now fully grasping how strong the anomaly truly is.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  We’re in one of the worst possible scenarios—an anomaly that learns quickly and can heal. It’s almost impossible to stop if it’s given time to grow. The only good thing is that we found it while it’s still young, and Maki is currently the one holding it back.

  “It will be a difficult fight. If you get a chance to restrain it and you have to kill me to kill it, do it. Don’t hesitate.” I tell Cokue, seeing confusion in his eyes.

  “Lady Rita…” Cokue starts to speak and stops when he sees my lips move.

  “Please, do it. Maki would never have the heart to do it. If I must sacrifice my life to save everyone in the territory, I’ll do it without resentment. I hope you understand.” I add quickly.

  Cokue looks away; I can see him biting his lip in helplessness. “I’ll do it, no matter the consequences.” The wind mage’s gaze is deeply sad.

  I understand what his words imply—the consequences will be severe. I may die, and I doubt my grandson would be able to control his emotions if he saw me die. Maki doesn’t know, and must not know, anything about our plan.

  “We’re close.” Cokue speaks again. He shares some less relevant details, and together we propose different ways to deal with the anomaly.

  I follow his gaze. Everything to our left is destruction—trees torn out by the roots, earth completely ruined, the aftermath of a brutal fight. We both stop and try to sense Maki’s Imra.

  I’m the first to find it—a faint signature a few hundred meters away. The Imra is incredibly weak, like the flame of a small candle. What is weighing him down? Why is Maki so weak? Where is the monster? Those are the first questions in my mind.

  “Follow me.” I don’t wait for Cokue’s response and move immediately toward the spot where I sensed Maki’s faint signal.

  When we arrive, my eyes widen and horror floods my body. I want to move, but I can’t. My entire being is in chaos—I’ve never felt this way before. This feeling is worse than being close to death. I can’t control my thoughts; no matter how many orders my brain sends, my body doesn’t respond.

  I’m certain I’ll never forget this moment in my life—my grandson split in half. His body has been severed from the pit of his stomach. Have I arrived too late? No—that can’t be possible.

  “Lady Rita.” I only manage to react when Cokue touches my shoulder. I can barely turn my head; I can’t focus properly on the wind mage, my eyes pouring tears nonstop. “React—don’t panic. Maki is alive.” His next words hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water.

  Cokue is right. Maki isn’t dead. I can feel his presence—his Imra is the clear answer. For a moment, I had shut down; my body and mind collapsed at the sight of my grandson dying.

  We both approach as fast as we can. Up close, it becomes even clearer that Maki is alive. His body is regenerating slowly; I can feel mana working to rebuild the damaged parts. I don’t need to sense the affinity to know—it’s life-type affinity.

  Now calmer, I take in the surroundings. This place is total devastation. The entire terrain is ruined—ice, electricity, death, and steel magic are evident everywhere.

  My eyes focus on the monster resembling a huge ape just a few meters away. This ape is the cause of all our troubles. Its body is covered in wounds, it’s missing something like a tail, and most importantly, its head is separated from its body.

  I don’t want to imagine how strong this anomaly must have been to push Maki to this point. Nearly a minute has passed, and his body has already regenerated up to the knees—his recovery speed is abnormal, as always. His body and cube are so accustomed to vital mana that the healing process is happening without his conscious involvement.

  Several minutes pass, and his body is fully healed. He’s been asleep this whole time; I feel his eyes beginning to open. I step closer to welcome my grandson.

  He sits up, looks around scanning the area, his eyes resting on Cokue and me for a moment before continuing to search and stopping on the grade-4 anomaly lying on the ground. Maki blinks several times; I can see his mind trying to analyze and understand everything around him.

  Maki lets himself fall back to the ground, stretching out his arms and legs, then releases a long sigh. “You took too long. The little monkey already died.” His eyes remain closed.

  I approach slowly, sit beside him, and gently rub his head. “Don’t act tough—you almost died, and you nearly scared your grandmother to death.” My voice softens at the end; remembering it hurts.

  I see a faint smile on his lips. “I’ve never faced anyone or anything like that monster. It’s the toughest opponent at grade four or the ruby rank. I felt really powerless not being able to control it—at the end, it was impossible to dominate it completely.” He opens his eyes slowly and looks at me.

  “I could have died countless times. Even that final exchange left me in a critical state.” His smile grows a little. “But in the end, I won, Grandma. It doesn’t matter how many times I was close to dying—what matters is who survived and who didn’t.” A childlike smile blooms on his face.

  “Yes, Maki. What matters is that you’re alive.” I keep stroking my grandson’s head. I can see it—he’s acting tough. I won’t say anything; I’ll let him enjoy his moment. He’s earned it.