The basement was crumbling with many cracks plaguing its walls and floors, and the ceiling was full of cobwebs. Dust had piled atop the unused furniture, boxes, and equipment that were strewn around in an unorganized mess, while an infestation had called this “paradise” home.

A trail of blood could be seen on the stairs, forming a line of red toward the junk items, before disappearing in the disorganized array.

‘She has a soul, finally!’

Helzar hopped around the small, decapitated human head in joy. His eyes never left the pale, lifeless head, and his mandibles were wide open, showing his mouth.

‘It’s been a while since I last used the Gluttony Contract. After this, my magical potential will be limited but… who cares?! I have the Swarm!’ Helzar cackled.

He wasn't trying to harvest souls because he wanted to use magic, he was harvesting souls for the purpose of strengthening the Swarm!

Drawing closer toward the head, Helzar manipulated his internal flesh, spitting a good bit of blue blood on the human's skin. After doing so, Helzar focused on his mind, searching deep inside his memories like going through a dark forest.

Walking through the memories, he tried his best not to get lost. He may know what he wants, but he doesn't know the way toward it. The mind was like a labyrinth that changed its courses every second, memorizing its winding halls was useless.

‘All I need to do is to fetch my fragmented soul and connect it with the dead soul.’

A fragmented soul is as weak as a twig compared to a tree, which would be a healthy soul. However, a dead soul would be a rotting twig if compared to the two.

A metallic gray mist covered with strange symbols appeared around Helzar's main body, and he snapped his conscious mind open! With barely any thoughts surfacing on his mind, he commanded his body to move, step by step approaching the head until he was touching the area where his blood splattered.

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Putting one leg on the splattered blood, a spark lightened the dark basement, filling it with the shine of a dull silver and enveloping the atmosphere with a gloomy, suffocating feeling of despair.

Feeling the connection between him and the dead soul, Helzar felt as though he had swallowed a whole apple. Suffocating as it was, Helzar only grew more enthusiastic.

‘It’s a healthy soul despite being dead. I wonder what kind of ability I will get,’ Helzar couldn't help but wish for the ability to gain more vitality. He doesn't want to die, he already knew what it felt like and it wasn't pleasant. Not for him, that he can guarantee.

Soon, Helzar's blood glowed a bright blue, catching aflame before dying out as quickly as it lit. When the Gluttony Contract had finished, Helzar was left with a massive headache, as well as a decayed human head that showed the skull underneath.

‘Throw it away,’ Helzar ordered Zhar before finding a good place to go unconscious. His head was threatening to burst, and he had no wishes to become an Eater after it ate itself.

‘I new era will welcome the Swarm when I awake from my brief slumber!’

+++-+++-+++

At the same time, Alex was putting on a red suit. Underneath was a pristine white long sleeves shirt, completing the rather gloomy, blood red suit with stripes of black.

He had a special pocket under the suit, in which he can easily access his red pen and notebook. Those two were what started his life, and what saved his life. Unlike Chief's Blue Pistol, the Promised Pen and Book were the rare Unintelligent Type Anomaly, and it had long recognized Alex as its owner.

‘The Swarm is a tricky enemy to face against. The Swarm has wings and can fly extremely fast for their size. It's like giving a bee a handful of caffeine and a jetpack,’ Alex thought. After his unfortunate face-off against the Swarm about a month ago, he sent a couple of agents to deal with the Swarm.

The agents were wielding Object Type Anomaly weapons, making them far more dangerous than military soldiers with their equipment and guns.

‘Without fail, they all died. Their deaths weren't in vain, however,’ Alex reminisced.

Before dying, the agents killed many Spawns using their Anomalies, which had traces of spiritual energy. Alex and the Moonlight Agents found that the Spawns are tricky to deal with using ordinary means, but using Anomalies against them gave a boosted result!

‘Throwing a grenade at the Swarm will kill hundreds of them, but throwing a similar grenade that is an Anomaly at the swarm will kill tens of thousands,’ Alex squinted, thinking about the difference between the two.

One was an ordinary grenade while the other was an Anomaly. The strange thing, however, was that the grenade Anomaly was the exact same as an ordinary grenade, apart from the fact that it was recognized as an Anomaly by the organization.

‘Does it contain an invisible type of energy? Is that why the Swarm is weak against Anomalies?’ Alex wanted to know the answer for the sake of future preparations. The entire reason why he was dressing up was to confront the Swarm for a second time.

Everything he wore were Object Type Anomalies, and he was even using an Anomaly that casts a transparent shield on his body.

‘Even if those jet-like bugs aim for my exposed skin, they'd need a hot minute to break the shield,’ Alex hummed in satisfaction.

One second was enough for him to write on the Promised Book, let alone a whole minute!

“Sir, everything has been prepared. The predicted nest sites of the Swarm have been located, we will put the coordinates in your personal artificial assistant,” Alex's assistant spoke through his earpiece, and he praised her hard work.

‘The Swarm's movements are erratic, but easy to keep an eye on. They shouldn't have a cheat key that allows them to teleport,’ Alex grimaced even thinking about it. In fact, a headache was already brewing in his head.