Unmade Chapter 36: Chapter 36: rising waters

Read chapter 36 of Unmade by churro on NovelPedia.

Vale stepped onto the sand, feeling it shift gently beneath his feet. It was soft, almost silky and pleasant to stand on, though he could tell how easy it would be to slip if he wasn’t careful. The beach stretched wide and open before him, an expanse of pale gold meeting the deep blue of the sea. But his attention was immediately pulled toward the colossal figure resting a few hundred meters away. The metallic giant known as Hachi dominated the shoreline. Its frame was broad, heavily armored, and yet something about its construction suggested incredible agility. Vale guessed its height to be around a hundred and thirty meters, taller than any structure he had ever seen. Surrounding the massive body were six hovering metal plates, each enormous in its own right, seventy meters long at least, twenty wide, floating as though gravity was merely a polite suggestion. Vale stared longer than he intended, and his expression must have given something away. “Hey, kid. You alright?” Caesar asked, his tone a mix of curiosity and amusement. Vale blinked, snapping back to reality. He turned to the brunette man and gave a small nod. “Yeah,” he answered, pausing before another question escaped him. “Um… what exactly are anomalies?” Caesar grinned, clearly expecting that one. “Anomalies,” he began confidently, “are individuals with unique planes. Or, to put it in simple terms, people with abilities unlike anyone else.” The answer was straightforward, yet carried a weight that Vale took a moment to process. Unique abilities. Unique planes. He wasn’t sure he understood all of it, but he understood enough to keep asking. “So… what makes you an anomaly?” Vale asked. Caesar’s grin widened, but he shook his head. “That’s rule number one, kid. Never tell anyone your abilities if you’re an anomaly.” “Why not?” Vale pressed. Caesar exhaled tiredly, his earlier playfulness fading. “Because there are people, dangerous people, who want to dissect us, study us. Sometimes for power, sometimes for knowledge, and sometimes just because they can. They get caught or killed most of the time, but they still exist. So yeah… better safe than sorry.” Vale absorbed the warning in silence. He didn’t like the idea of people being hunted simply for what they could do. But the world he had entered was already proving far stranger, and far darker, than he had imagined. After a few quiet steps, another question formed. “How many anomalies are alive right now?” Caesar’s expression darkened slightly. “With you and me included? Eight.” ''Eight. Across an entire world.'' He added, almost casually, “We’re extremely rare. About one in a billion.” They reached the edge of the beach. The waves lapped softly, but there was a tension in the air—an anticipation Vale didn’t yet understand. Rose drew a deep breath before speaking. “Alright. Is everyone ready to see Levianthe?” Vale blinked and turned toward Caesar. “I thought her name was Leviathan?” Caesar kept his gaze fixed on the sea. “Yeah, that’s her public name. Big Sis’s real name is Levianthe. She’s a woman, though most people… can’t exactly tell by looking.” Vale had no time to ask what that meant. Because he felt it. A tremor not a violent quake, but a deep, powerful shift beneath the sand. Rose cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted toward the waters: “Wake up, Levie!” Vale wasn’t sure whether Rose’s call triggered it or whether the timing was coincidence, but the ocean responded instantly. Far out, hundreds of meters from shore, the water erupted. Birds fled the surface in a panicked swirl of beating wings. The sea didn’t surge forward; instead it rose, towering upward like a vertical wall pulled by an unseen force. And as it climbed higher and higher, the water began to fall away… revealing black scales beneath. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Vale’s breath caught in his throat. He recognized that colossal wall of darkness. He had seen it when he was