Maruti looked around, her mouth dry. "So… what the fuck just happened?"
Esdeath was about to say something but then both of them froze as they saw a huge earthworm with a round razor-toothed mouth rise from the cracked ground. It was around twenty-five to thirty meters tall, and half of its body was still buried beneath the earth.
"Wait… is that an S-rank monster, a Spaceworm? Did it teleport us here?" Maruti's voice cracked, her eyes wide in shock.
Spaceworms were terrifying S-rank space-path monsters. They could easily teleport across great distances but were usually found in the scorching southern desert. Because Hypostasis were also space-path creatures, they were considered prey to Spaceworms. The chance of one appearing here was slim, but it seemed the beast had chased after the Hypostasis—only to find Esdeath and Maruti and mistake them as enemies.
Since both girls were only B-rank awakened, it wasn't hard for the monster to forcefully teleport them here.
Esdeath's red eyes, with their strange ring-like patterns, locked onto the towering worm. Her pupils shifted unnaturally, as if spinning. "It's an illusion! But… that's all I can tell. I can't see through it!" she shouted, her voice both fearless yet frustrated.
Even though her eyes told her it wasn't real, she couldn't break the illusion nor sense who was controlling it.
The Spaceworm's massive form screeched and lunged toward them, shaking the ground as it charged.
Esdeath spun around without hesitation, grabbing Maruti's hand. "Run! This kind of illusion… it must be a Rank A or even Rank S monster!"
She didn't give Maruti time to argue. "Just give me a little time. I need to pray to Lortell and tell her where I am!"
Maruti stumbled as they ran across the cracked earth, her face pale with frustration."You're still thinking about Lortell in this situation? What is she, a goddess? Your brain is broken from all that obsession!"
But Esdeath's expression didn't falter. Her eyes burned with determination as she shouted back, "She's no less than a goddess! Lortell has already placed dozens of tracking essence stones on me, but they'll only trigger if I take a heavy blow. If this really is an S-rank monster, then I'll die instantly before she even knows I'm in danger!"
In truth, Lortell had hidden nearly a hundred essence stones in Esdeath's body, but Esdeath had secretly removed most of them so she wouldn't be watched all the time. Only a few remained as emergency ones, and now that choice was turning into a deadly mistake.
If she had left them all, Lortell might already be on her way to save her.
But praying to Lortell carried its own risks. Esdeath knew she was defying Lortell's words again. Lortell had told her not to take risks, to just stay quietly and be her princess. Yet here she was, caught in the middle of nowhere, facing a monster that could crush her in an instant.
If Lortell came to save her, Esdeath was certain of one thing—once she was safe, she would be locked away in a room for weeks, punished for her recklessness.
But before Maruti could say anything, or Esdeath could begin chanting the forbidden incantations that connected her to the Progenitor Vampire of this era—Lortell Mariette—a shadow suddenly loomed over them.
At first glance, it looked like a shadow cast on the desert ground. But no—it was a person, someone who had leapt high into the air, his figure blackened by the blazing sunlight behind him.
A tall man in rusted knight's armor.
Without hesitation, he swung his massive sword down with a single clean motion. The blade sliced straight through the colossal Spaceworm's head, splitting it in half in an instant. The earth trembled with the force of the strike.
He landed smoothly on the cracked ground, dust swirling around him. Esdeath and Maruti froze, their eyes widening as they recognized him immediately.
It was him—the one they had both seen before. The one Maruti had met deep inside that eerie cave. The same man who later appeared outside the academy and killed Caramel in a single blow.
It was none other than the Penetrator.
Maruti's cheeks instantly turned bright red as an embarrassing memory came flooding back. The last time she had met him, she had foolishly believed that every beheaded man could still talk—only to get bitten in the ass by one of them.
Her fingers curled tightly into fists as she muttered to herself, "I'm not believing that so easily this time…"
The Penetrator didn't respond to her or Esdeath. His hollow gaze was locked on the Spaceworm's corpse. But then, before their eyes, the massive worm's body twisted, warped, and collapsed. Its flesh turned into countless tiny cube-like fragments, reshaping themselves into something else.
A human figure. Featureless, with no nose or mouth—only glowing eyes that shone coldly in the darkness.
Esdeath's eyes narrowed as realization struck her. "So it was a Human Hypostasis all along… No wonder the illusion was so strong."
Her chest loosened with relief. Facing a Human Hypostasis was dangerous, but it was still better than going against an S-rank Spaceworm.
The Penetrator finally spoke, his voice clearer and strangely human-like this time, not the broken, mechanical rasp from before.
"Shadow Stitch."
From the ground beneath the Human Hypostasis, long, black shadow-arms erupted like chains. They coiled around its limbs, binding it tightly as it struggled against them.
The Penetrator then calmly sheathed his sword. He raised his hands in front of him, forming a rectangular frame with his fingers as if he were staring through an invisible window. His dull eyes locked onto the bound figure.
"Crush."
The word echoed with a strange weight.
From the ground, a monstrous dog's head erupted—a terrifying beast with four burning eyes, red and yellow pupils glimmering with malice, its maw filled with jagged, demonic teeth. With one vicious bite, it crunched down on the Human Hypostasis, shattering its body of cubes into dust. The beast then sank back into the earth as if it had never been there.
The illusion shattered instantly. The blazing sun, the desert sand, the suffocating heat—all of it dissolved like smoke.
Esdeath and Maruti blinked, finding themselves once again in the quiet night of the forest.
Esdeath's crimson eyes flickered with something sharp as she thought to herself, "This power… it's almost at the level of an S-rank. And he feels different now." But her face stayed perfectly calm, betraying nothing.
"My debt is repaid," the Penetrator finally said, his words halting, his tone oddly human yet heavy. He turned his helmeted head to look at them directly.
Maruti stepped forward slowly, cautious but also burning with curiosity. "What were you doing here?" she asked bluntly. She didn't thank him—after all, this was only him paying back what he owed.
The Penetrator stood silent for a long moment. Then, with a voice that carried both hesitation and weight, he replied, "I don't know. My thoughts… feel sluggish. Slow. Most of my memories are gone. I'm just wandering… wandering in the forest."
Esdeath's sharp gaze studied him like a hawk, her mind racing, but she found no clear answers. Her voice cut through the night, pressing him harder.
"Do you remember anything? Why you can speak when other anomalies cannot? Do you remember who you were when you were alive? You don't seem like an ordinary man… You must have been someone important. Why does your voice sound more human now than before?"
Her questions poured out rapidly, one after another, her usually calm tone now edged with urgency.
The Penetrator raised his hand, stopping her with a sharp gesture. His voice grew heavy, almost pained.
"Don't ask too many questions at once… My mind gets overwhelmed."
He turned his head slowly, scanning the area. Not far from them was a large half-flat boulder, smooth enough to be used as a seat.
"Let's sit there," he said, his voice low and steady. "I'll explain… what I can."
The three of them walked over and settled down on the cold stone surface. The night air was heavy, carrying the distant chirping of insects. Maruti leaned forward with curiosity while Esdeath sat still, her piercing eyes never leaving the Penetrator.
He lowered his head slightly, almost as if he was remembering something painful. "I don't have much to say. But… I remember going into a place called the Astral World, with only my spirit body. I… I couldn't find the way back. Couldn't return to my real body." His voice grew quieter, almost hoarse. "I wandered for so long… I don't even know how long. The only reason I survived was because I carried many soul path essence stones. I used them to kill spirit monsters… and barely sustained myself."
His hands tightened slightly, the rusted armor creaking. "And when I finally… finally returned to my body… it was too late. My head was already severed. My body was rotting away. And a dog-type monster… was eating me." His words trembled just slightly, but then he finished with a flat tone. "I don't know how… but I escaped."
The weight of his story pressed down on them. For a moment, Maruti made a dramatic pose showing how she felt her chest ache at how tragic it sounded. But her curiosity burned stronger, and she quickly asked, "Wait—what's the Astral World?"
She knew of heaven, hell, and even the Hollow Land. But Astral World? That was something she had never heard of.
Her eyes darted immediately to Esdeath, expecting an answer.
Esdeath only glared back coldly. "Don't look at me. I don't know either."
"You! You don't know what it is?!" Maruti almost jumped off the rock.
Esdeath shook her head, serious. "I already said I'm not a not who knows everything!",
Maruti narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Are you sure you played this game properly? Or is this just a cheap rip-off movie that got stuck in your head?"
Esdeath's sharp glare clashed with her accusing stare. The two of them locked eyes in a silent battle that dragged on for two whole minutes, until finally Maruti looked away and muttered, "...Okay, sorry."
Esdeath let out a small breath but didn't reply. Instead, she turned her gaze back to the Penetrator. "What is the Astral World?"
The knight was silent for a long second before answering in a flat voice. "…I don't remember."
Esdeath. "....."
Maruti. "......."
He continued, his tone slow and heavy. "After I ran from that dog monster, I met you two. After that day you spared me… it's like my strength keeps growing. My beheaded head… is now stitched back like nothing ever happened. And my body… it keeps changing. More and more human-like."
Esdeath's sharp mind immediately worked through the details, her eyes narrowing as thoughts spun within her. "So he's not an anomaly?. No… the green aura around him is proof. He is an anomaly." Her heart skipped slightly as the truth struck her.
Her face stayed calm, but her mind shook with realization. Only the Demon Lord of Anomalies was known to have true intelligence—but he was hot-tempered, reckless, and violent. Other anomalies were nothing but husks of hatred and hunger. Yet the Penetrator stood before them, speaking and thinking like a human.
At once, both Esdeath and Maruti reached the same conclusion. Their voices overlapped in unison:
"You're the first of your kind."
The words hung heavy in the air.
Just like there had been a first Beheaded Man, a first Hanged Man, a first Ghost, a first Wraith… there had to be an origin point. The first of each anomaly.
And the Penetrator was that for his species.
Maruti leaned back and let out a thoughtful hum. "If that's the case… then your species needs a name."
"Name?" He tilted his head. "I only remember two names. The first… Penetrator. The second… Dragon. But I am no dragon. So I assumed Penetrator is my name… or my title."
Maruti groaned and slapped her forehead. "Not your name, idiot. Your species' name!"
Esdeath fell into thought, her crimson eyes glinting as Maruti pouted, also trying to think. Then, at the same time, both spoke their ideas.
"Horror!" Maruti said firmly.
"Eldritch," Esdeath said coldly.
They froze, blinked at each other, and then—
"Eldritch Horror!" they declared together.