CHAPTER 33: BATTLE BUDDIES AT THE ANOMALY QUEST.

A low rumble cut through the casino’s music. The scrape of claws on shattered marble. Then another, and another, the hungry moans of Eaters dragging themselves up through the stairwell.

Dancer crept closer, crouching beside Rex’s corpse. She didn’t hiss. She didn’t snarl. She just stared at it, her beast-like eyes soft, almost mournful. Like she understood what it meant to break yourself to keep someone else alive.

Johnquis clenched his jaw. He rose, pulling Dancer with him.

"One big brother to another."

He said softly, giving Rex one last glance.

"Rest easy. You did what you could."

He tightened the chain around his wrist, feeling Dancer’s pulse echo in his veins. Outside the shattered casino entrance, the distant rumble of the swarm drew closer, the dragging feet, the rasping breaths, the gnashing hunger rolling in like a black tide.

Johnquis shifted his stance, bracing Dancer behind him.

"We survived Rex. We survived his whole squad. We’ll survive this anomaly too."

Dancer tilted her head, that strange half-human smile flickering on her lips. Half fierce, half a spark of hope.

Johnquis bared his teeth, "Let’s dance, Dancer. For them. For us."

Together, they stepped through the doors to face the swarm, leaving behind the horrors inside the casino. Ready to end this anomaly quest once and for all.

The flickering jackpot lights cast them in silhouette, two shadows standing as one. The battle wasn’t over. Not until every last Eater in this mall was gone.

Out of the casino and it was like walking into a memory that shouldn’t exist.

The top floor of the seaside mall is shimmered with impossible life. An anomaly’s final flourish, a cruel joke of memory.

The top floor of Seaside Mall was pristine again, restored by the anomaly’s twisted logic: summer banners fluttered under the bright dome lights, neon signs blinking in candy colors. Beyond a glass wall, the rooftop opened to a vast indoor pool area, palm trees swaying beneath fake sunlight, beach chairs and umbrellas lining the water’s edge. Bright blue waves shimmered under artificial skies, reflecting in Dancer’s inhuman eyes.

But that beautiful lie cracked under the sound of scraping claws.

Dozens of Eaters had crawled up the service stairwells, shambling out across the pool deck. Twisted shapes and hungry faces stretched tight with endless hunger. Alone they were weak; together they were a nightmare.

Johnquis stepped onto the polished tiles. The water shimmered a bright, chlorinated turquoise under the fake summer sun. Plastic lounge chairs lay scattered in fake grass. Drinks sat half-full, little umbrellas still bobbing in glass bottle. A paradise frozen in a lie.

A Level 1 Eater staggered forward. Its skin was blistered, eyes glassy. It sniffed the air, then let out a wet, animal hiss.

"HRRRAAAAGHHH!"

Pain shot through Johnquis’s side, dropping him to one knee. He cursed under his breath.

"Damn it... not now—"

Dancer’s hand pressed to his shoulder. Her claws curled gently around his wrist. Strong but careful, telling him to hold on.

"You’re giving me time to breathe, aren’t you?"

She looked at him, her almost human eyes saying more than words ever could. Then she stepped past him, her figure haloed by the fake summer sun. Her new Lord form moved with a dancer’s grace. Snow-white hair catching the light, long limbs coiled like a blade ready to strike.

The Eaters saw them. No time to talk. The horde charged like lunatics, some slipped into the pool, others clawed through fake grass and splashed through the shallow water.

Dancer vanished. She met the first Eater head-on, without a second of hesitation.

One Eater lunged at her, she turned fast on her heel, and a blade-edge hooked forward from her foot like a scythe.

SHICK!

Its head dropped into the pool with a soft splash.

Johnquis’ eyes widened, blood pounding in his ears.

"A... blade? On your feet? You’ve gotta be kidding me..."

Two more clawed at her. She ducked low, her claws ripping the first one’s knees open, then snapped upright, the sickle-blade behind her foot hooking under its chin and ripping through the skull. Brain matter sprayed the tiles.

Johnquis stood frozen, breath caught in his chest. Each motion was like watching water ripple. No wasted movement. Just deadly flow.

Dancer pivoted, catching another Eater’s neck between the arch of her foot and the blade. She twisted, the head popped free.

[Feed Count: +400]

[Feed Count: 17,500/20,000]

[BATTLE BUDDY BONUS ACTIVATED]

- Since you and Dancer have formed a Battle Buddy Contract, you now gain full feed count for every Eater your slave kills.

Johnquis barked a short, shaky laugh, eyes stinging with exhaustion and awe.

"Whoa... no more half feed count, huh? And you’re feeding me while you dance? Damn... you really are my other half now."

Out on the edge of the rooftop pool, three Eaters lurched forward in a pack. Dancer leapt onto the pool’s slick tile border, moving with impossible balance. Her reflection rippled in the turquoise water, then vanished when she turned.

Her foot-blade sliced through the first skull, then she flipped backward, driving her heel into the next Eater’s chest. The blade sank in up to the shin. When she pulled free, it left the thing folding backward, ribs split like rotten fruit.

[Feed Count: +600]

[Feed Count: 18,100/20,000]

Johnquis flashed a quick smile.

"That’s it. Show me how you dance, Dancer..."

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

- Dancer has evolved to form: [LORD].

- Feed Count no longer required. To evolve further, an UNKNOWN CONDITION must be fulfilled.

Johnquis stared at the flickering system text.

"No more feed count... so you’re free now too, huh?"

He let out a breathless laugh, pride and fear tangling in his chest.

"Then let’s see how far you can go, Dancer... show me. Show me what we can become... together."

His heart thudded. No feed count. She was beyond it now. A true Lord.

More came — five of them, shambling toward the glowing pool. Feet splashed in the shallows. Dancer moved to meet them at the water’s edge, claws trailing ripples through the bright blue.

One Eater slipped, arms flailing. She pivoted, hooking a claw under its chin, dragging it under. A spurt of black blood clouded the pool. She surfaced on the other side, stepping onto a lounge chair, eyes fixed on the next.

Another Eater charged from behind a towel bar. She rotated, blade flashed out, severed its throat clean. Its body dropped to the wet tiles, head rolling toward the drain.

[Feed Count: +500]

[Feed Count: 18,600/20,000]

Another trio came. She sprinted, leapt, piroutte midair — three heads dropped at once.

[Feed Count: +300]

[Feed Count: 18,900/20,000]

The last Eater snapped at her arm. She let it close, baiting it. Then her claws snapped out, fingers burying deep in its throat. She leaned in and tore its neck free.

[Feed Count: +100]

[Feed Count: 19,000/20,000]

Johnquis’s veins pulsed with the new flow. The ache in his lungs eased. He stood straighter, gripping his chain, its broken links humming faintly as if resonating with her power.

On the far side of the pool, more Eaters howled from the stairwell but they hesitated now, seeing the piles of twitching bodies.

Dancer turned, her eyes locking on Johnquis’s violet slits, sharp but soft at the same time. She raised a blood-drenched claw, gesturing at him to stay back.

He pressed his palm to his ribs, feeling the flow surge as more feed points ticked up with every kill.

For a heartbeat, Johnquis almost laughed.

"She’s feeding me. Protecting me. Like a family."

But then Dancer froze, her head snapping to the far end of the pool deck, eyes narrowing.

Johnquis followed her gaze and caught a flicker of motion in his peripheral vision — something moving unlike the others.

A fresh burn flared across his eyes:

[HIGH EATER]

[CLASS: Runner]

[LEVEL: 2]

[FEED POINTS: +1,000]

Its long, wiry frame twitched on the fake grass, claws scraping tile. Eyes locked on Dancer.

She stared right back, no fear in her gold-slit gaze, just a quiet, deadly focus.

Johnquis exhaled, "Just like staring at your old self, huh, Dancer?"

He braced his side, ribs aching as he laughed under his breath.

"This is gonna be one hell of a show."

The Runner crouched low, trembling like a marionette on frayed strings. The fake summer sun glared off its mangled back, thin flesh twitching with every jerk of muscle. Its head snapped in quick ticks, eyes glinting like broken glass as it sized her up across the shimmering pool. A guttering hiss scraped from its throat — a ghost of what Dancer used to be.

But she didn’t move. The pool lights painted ripples of blue across her snow-white skin and the slick blades on her feet. Her reflection drifted below, pale hair swaying in the warm, false breeze. She didn’t crouch or brace — just tilted her head, studying her own ghost.

Johnquis felt his chain pulse with the feed flow, anticipation burning through the ache in his chest. He grinned, eyes locked on the two of them.

"Come on then, let’s see who runs faster."