[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-266":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283744,4467,"Chapter 266: Guidance","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-266",266,"\u003Cp>As of today, Kraft had never actually experienced a real battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Undeniably, sometimes he felt he had lived through it many times before—after his sword had tasted the feel of both human and non-human flesh, even the most cautious person could develop the thought that “it’s nothing special.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a misconception, an illusion born from picking off scattered enemies and exploiting traps to gain advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A real battlefield should be closer to this situation: individual traits erased, masses fused into one, forming a vast, flawlessly unified whole, governed by a chaotic, sluggish consciousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This whole did not express will; it offered only advancing shields and armor, the grating, clashing noise of iron spikes, and faint murmurs that might have been human voices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gelin  began to feel grateful for their encounter in the sewer under the rainstorm; without that prior preparation, someone might have broken down upon witnessing such a form.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, things were no better now—the most disciplined unit could do no more than maintain sanity and move in unison through the corridor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before fleeing, Yin Feng picked up a short spear from the ground and hurled it; its afterimage was nearly indistinguishable before vanishing into darkness, producing a resonant, bell-like clang as it struck its target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It did not halt the advance; accompanied by a grating metallic expansion, the dents caused by the impact swelled back into place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Power lethal to individuals was insufficient to damage the integrated mass—it seemed a cruel joke on the concept of “collective strength,” literally twisting disparate bodies together, breaking down barriers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps this was the perfect form of a military formation as envisioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft pulled Yin Feng, dragging her into the center of the group, retreating away from the tide of darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of its approach, folded and echoed through the complex corridors, was everywhere, pouring from every doorway in every stone chamber, right behind their heels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bricks trembled with increasing frequency, transmitting a tingling, electric numbness. The chaotic ranks seemed summoned from a long slumber, slowly awakening, expanding freely without constraint of space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its origin was unknown; this metallic biomass resembled a flood released from some sluice gate, swiftly filling the surroundings—even appearing along their own path, tormenting every pair of ears with sharp, scraping sounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were forced to abandon the idea of turning back, pressing deeper into the three-dimensional labyrinth to gain distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The process was not smooth; they had to carefully identify relief carvings on doorframes to find the correct route, and the urgency intensified the chaos. Even though everyone tried to suppress the rising panic, several low-level mistakes—nearly misreading the carvings—made them realize the situation was dire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now it seemed this method of marking the path was not only unclear, but dangerously prone to misperception under pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Call out directions! Call out directions!” Greene shouted to everyone, “Left!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sword-bearer led them on a winding path, occasionally spiraling up or down; it was hard to imagine how anyone could escape this maze without discovering its pattern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Straight ahead!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Right... no, I misread it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two voices spoke at once, both confirming the relief carving before them; the latter suddenly realized he had announced the direction without conscious thought, nearly leading the group astray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was clearly a statue of a figure raising a sword upward, but in his heightened state, his mind had twisted it into the shape of an exit. “No, what I just saw was...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t explain. See clearly. Keep running!” the priest cut him off—this was the last thing they needed now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The simple change of calling out directions added a layer of safety; after several correct turns, the group quickly regained their sense of direction, and the pursuing sounds fell slightly behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It clearly did not hunt by optical organs, but perceived location through some special means, inevitably slowed momentarily by detours and dead ends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a tide never needs to find a path—it simply floods every space it can reach until it swallows its target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Turn right!” a cultivator called out the next direction, but then sudden despair seized his feet, freezing him in place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The churning chaos and metallic clamor emerged behind this doorway; perhaps due to the countless branches, a portion of the dark tide had slipped through a winding path and now blocked their only route forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The effectiveness of distance as a definition seemed to fluctuate for it—it could appear without constraint in places its speed could never reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This isn’t possible...” the cultivator could not explain how this had happened; the identical stone chambers further distorted spatial perception, as if they had circled back and found themselves face-to-face with the thing again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greene reacted instantly, “Don’t freeze! Take another path!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Which way?” Deviating from the guidance was merely prolonging death—they might stumble into a dead end at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps they wouldn’t even reach that point; the loss of guidance had already cornered their minds, fear visibly manifesting in furrowed brows and flickering pupils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary courage could not sustain the imagination of what would happen upon touching that shield wall, nor could it allow thought about the nature of those who uttered the murmurs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Keep going. Next room, turn left.” A firm voice steadied the situation. “This way can bypass it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An unmistakably familiar voice—Greene found it incredible that the professor still maintained his usual calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How do you know? He wanted to ask, but he understood the consequence—unstable collective panic could erupt at any moment from doubt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mist-like fatigue that had lately enveloped Kraft lifted momentarily, replaced by a surge of vigor; the intuitive impression he had once sensed became clear: his composed appearance was a hardened shell, containing secrets and other things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, “other things” became more pronounced, injected into the shell—appearing as abruptly as the amorphous thing had flooded the labyrinth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forward. Next room, turn left.” Kraft repeated, his gaze hazy and drifting, clinging to countless visible and invisible focal points in the space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Greene was certain something had changed—it was no illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group moved, guided two steps ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surging chaos closed in from every unexpected direction, yet always remained just out of reach, avoided and left behind as if foreseen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After an extremely complex series of turns, the doorframe with the relief carving of the sword-bearer reappeared before them—and this time, nothing blocked the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft gripped his throat, his breathing like a fish gasping on land, his voice distorted with false suffocation: “Keep going. Don’t stop. It’s everywhere!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1082,"2026-06-20T02:15:56.940Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c6f7545a5595d1284620ae163d194b73c6209a0d837d895814b72aae6cd0a583","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-267","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-265",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]