by L. M. Kerr
'I've got a Remembrance Shield, four sets of Flash Powder, 10 Burn Flurry Crystals, an almost new Mana Lantern, and a good sized bundle of Iron-Tail Feathers.' His grin widened behind his mask. All of these strange Artifacts or materials were things purchased from the Shop by others, for a variety of reasons, and had now ended up in his hands.
But more important than where they come from… they were all things he would need in the near future.
'Those Flesh Wizards were loaded.' He rubbed his hands together like a merchant, unable to help himself.
After the Flesh Wizards overcame their shock at the quality of Morenkai corpses he was selling, Micheal and the powerful B Ranker had settled into bargaining.
Micheal's mask and odd appearance came into play here, as did the effort he put into setting this situation up.
From Hunter's perspective, Micheal was a mysterious expert of great skill. At a bare minimum, he had to be a B Ranker, and probably a strong B Ranker. Everything seemed to point as to that being the case.
Thus, when he made offers, he kept them within reasonable bounds. He was open and honest, going the extra mile to have all of his subordinates check their Spatial Rings, tallying up what they did and did not have.
At the same time, the high level B Ranker also wanted to form a friendship with Micheal.
There were only 5 A Rankers, among tens of thousands of people, in the Stardust Cluster. As a result, almost all interactions between different groups were led by B Rankers. It was quite rare to meet a strong B Ranker that Hunter had never heard of. Thus, it was an opportunity he wouldn't miss.
'The Flesh Wizards Tower is strong, but they don't have any A Rankers. They've only survived this long because of how annoying they are to kill, and because of the many allies they have.' He nodded as he thought about it. It all made sense.
Anyone that had a use for Morenkai bodies was bound to be seen as a valued customer by all the warriors in the Cluster. Many people would bring rare corpses to the Flesh Tower for sale. The same applied, to some degree, to the few Necrozarks in the Cluster. The Flesh Wizards would naturally be interested in allying with someone that could procure powerful Abnormal corpses.
Eventually, they came to an agreement after talking for about 10 minutes. The B Ranker had left after getting Micheal's masked identity, Heron, with a promise that Micheal would come to him if he found more rare Abnormal corpses.
'If I had traded with the Necrozarks, I likely wouldn't have gotten even half of what I wanted.' His eyes gleamed. He had made huge progress.
'But I'm out of rare Abnormal corpses now, and I still need some Golden Bell Leaves and a few Hard Diamond Throwing Knives.' He rubbed his chin beneath his mask, frowning slightly. He didn't have that much time, events in the Stardust Cluster were about to heat up quick.
'Whatever. I can use the Shop if I must, putting off buying the Impact Release Ability.'
"Mich-, cough, Heron! I'm back!" A voice interrupted his brooding thoughts, causing him to blink and look up.
Sophia gave him a cheerful wave, her face hidden behind the mask she wore. She had apparently recovered from her somewhat somber mood, her eyes sparkling at the wonders she had seen all around.
"Did you know there's a skateboard here that can hover?! It's like a hoverboard from the future, like the ones in the movie 'Back to the Future!'" She began excitedly.
Micheal stared back in bemusement,
"Yes, I'm aware."
"I looked all around, but couldn't find much. A lot of what you're looking for is too specific." Sophia looked around at the dismal state of his stall.
"Are we done? I thought you couldn't find any buyers yet?" She stared at him, curious. She had dropped by a few times while Micheal was meditating and waiting, learning that he had sold nothing.
"Yes, we're done. Everything sold, though I didn't manage to snag all that I wanted." He nodded back, his thoughts still focused on the future. Sophia had insisted that all the profits from the first batch of corpses go to him, as thanks for helping her out so much.
"I found some important info out, while I was looking at stuff, however." Sophia's voice dropped to a whisper as she glanced subtly to the left and right, making sure no one was listening.
The Open Market was just as loud and busy as before, but no one happened to be close to them at that moment. With his stall essentially closed, there was no incentive to even walk over.
"It's about Pirate Lord Brandon." She nodded solemnly.
Micheal sat fully up, his attention fully focused on her,
"What about him?" His eyes hardened slightly. Now that he was back in the First Layer, all the pain the Black Flag Pirates had inflicted, to him and to others, resurfaced in his mind, his memories refreshed.
"While I was looking at a pair of magically enhanced guns, I overheard a conversation between a trio of men." She began,
"According to them, Pirate Lord Brandon recently got into an altercation with the leader of the Saru Group. As a result of the battle…" Her whispered voice grew excited,
"He lost an arm and was forced to flee, confirmed by multiple eyewitnesses." Any large-scale duel in the Cluster was bound to draw attention. There were so many skyscrapers, it would be effectively impossible to hide it from everyone.
Micheal's eyes widened as he heard this.
'He lost an arm?' He thought back to the battle with the Pirate Lord, how he had badly wounded the man by blowing a hole in his armor. He hadn't managed to cut off the Pirate Lord's arm, but it seemed like someone else had finished the job for him.
'And that someone was the famous Saru Group General Raymen? What was he doing near us…?' He rubbed his chin,
'I feel like it definitely has to do with me. Well, regardless…' He shrugged,
'With an injury like that… will they still go through with the attack on the Godfather Organization?' His mind raced ahead of him as he considered the implications.
'What if the entire battle for this Cluster changes now? This is a huge occurrence.' The Pirate Lord was renowned for his defensive prowess, something that allowed him to travel through the Cluster entirely on his own.
For the first time since he had returned, he felt a minor seed of uncertainty sprout in his heart.
After a moment, he quashed the feeling, his eyes narrowing.
'It doesn't matter. Even if they don't attack now, they will eventually attack in the future.' At their core, the Black Flag Pirates were still the same group of reprobates as they were before. Even if one of the Pirate Lords lost an arm, they would still be the same vile group.
Still, they might have gained a bit more time to prepare now, and the Pirate Lord had definitely been weakened. Losing an entire arm would hugely affect his battle prowess, a significant blow to the Black Flag Pirates reputation and influence.
"Wow. Well." Micheal responded out loud, nodding at Sophia,
"Nice find! Something like that is indeed huge news." He frowned slightly, trying to collect his thoughts.
As he focused, he glanced around the stalls, scanning the nearby area out of habit. He did this constantly, looking at everyone that came into sight in the Open Market.
It was right then and there, at that exact moment, that Micheal froze completely, memories rushing into his mind.
For, as he looked around, he saw a face he recognized.
A blond haired and blue eyed man, dressed in a set of black leather pants and a sharp looking green shirt. He had a pair of long white blades strapped to his back and was cheerfully talking to a group of girls. Several men and women were gathered around him as he spoke, allies or team members of some sort.
'…'
'Xavier Shallot.' His thoughts were cool as certain memories of the First Layer appeared in his mind. Memories of horror, of a life and death battle in his early days that he had long since forgotten, reappearing.
Memories of Xavier Shallot.
A psychotic serial killer.
A murderer that preyed upon eve
ry group, even his own, Xavier Shallot had risen to fame after the huge war caused chaos in the Cluster. With all of the major powers disorganized and weakened, security was lax for even the big groups.
He was a charismatic, likable, and smart killer. A member of the Second Wave that had stuck around, the man possessed a variety of unique Abilities and Artifacts that, while not overwhelmingly strong, worked well together.
'Why is he here?! Wait, wait, right. This is the Open Market, powerful men and women come here all the time, looking for things to buy or sell. It isn't publicly known that he is a mass murderer yet. In fact, he likely has only killed a few people so far.' He instantly reached several conclusions,
'It makes sense that I've spotted him, I've been sitting here for hours and he is a socialite. There's no way he'd miss this.' He nodded slightly,
'But still… I can't believe it's him after so long. I forgot he existed.'
The most horrifying thing about Xavier to Micheal, back when he was in the original timeline, wasn't that he was a killer.
It was that Xavier was actually insane.
He killed others for pleasure, not for Points, taking great joy in each death.
Micheal could remember, now, many years ago, how Xavier had personally attacked him and his Hunting Team in the Saru Group. They had been out on a night expedition, trying to earn Points as fast as possible or something along those lines.
The details were a bit fuzzy after so long. But he could clearly recall the feeling of horror as he witnessed the ferocious powers that the man possessed. He had barely escaped with his life due to luck.
By then, Xavier had risen to the level of a high B Ranker, well stronger than Micheal had been at the time. Eventually, he moved on to the Main Cluster where he became an A Ranker and was responsible for the deaths of thousands, becoming a somewhat infamous legend.
'The Angels Arcadia killed him in the end, I believe.' He blinked slowly. The Angels Arcadia were one of the large powers present in the Main Cluster. The sheer size of the Main Cluster, a collection of skyscrapers that stretched for dozens and dozens of miles, meant that there were a large number of opposing forces.
The Angels Arcadia were considered among the strongest three, collectively known as the Big 3. The Angels Arcadia, the Godfather Organization, and the Nightrunners.
As Micheal looked at the smiling figure, he felt his heart slow. He made sure he fiercely controlled his killing intent and body, not revealing a hint of distress.
'How unfortunate for you, Xavier, to have run into me before you rose to power.' Micheal smiled a small, cold smile as he looked away. While he didn't stare directly at the man, he kept a complete sense of where he was, making sure that the figure didn't leave the Open Market without his knowledge.
'It seems it really was worth it coming here… We can take him out when we leave for the Godfather Organization's headquarters.' His eyes flashed as he looked to his right, where Sophia was standing.
He had decided that today, after they visited the Open Market, they were going to head over to the Godfather Organization's base to see if they could find out anything about Sophia's little sister. He would take that time to warn them, if possible, about the future attack the Black Flag Pirates would be planning.
He studied Sophia for a moment before making a decision.
"Crane, if you had the power to stop a mass murderer from killing hundreds, would you stop them?" His words were calm and collected as he stood up, immediately catching her attention with the assumed nickname.
"If I… what's up, Heron?" Sophia replied with an odd tone in her voice, as if she was confused, remembering to use his secret name.
"You remember my… gift, yes?" He nodded at her.
She nodded back.
"Well, I just had another vision." He folded his hands together,
"And in that vision, I found myself face to face with a mass murderer, a man that will kill thousands of innocents, including women and children."
Sophia's eyes flashed, darting to the left and right, her body tensing up,
"Is he here?"
To her credit, she didn't spin her head around looking for someone, but was instead quite subtle.
"Yes. And he's already got blood on his hands." Micheal continued,
"Knowing that… if I asked you to help me kill him now, before he gets a chance to kill more… how would you respond?" He looked at Sophia, eye to eye.
The woman's body seemed to shiver as she looked right back at him,
"Point me in his direction and I'll show you."
.
Chapter 55: Xavier
"Oh Xavier, you don't need to!" A cheerful, female voice echoed in the afternoon light as a group of men and women moved off one of the connecting bridges from the Open Market skyscraper. Behind them, the market was still in full force. It would last this way till far into evening as people came to trade from all over.
"Tess, Tess, you know the rules. Safety first when we leave the Open Market." Xavier Shallot glanced warmly at the speaker, a petite brunette wearing a set of jean shorts and a black shirt.
"Just give me a moment." Xavier walked over to each person in the group, tapping them lightly on the head.
There were seven people here apart from Xavier. Four men and three women. When Xavier tapped each one on the head, a small, dimly glowing yellow mark would appear, in the shape of a small flame.
At the same time, a small ring on his hand would glow, an Artifact of some nature.
"There we are. Just a reminder, the Life Fires will give you an innate sense for each other. If you get lost in an ambush or an attack, focus on the Life Fire and follow it to find your way back." He nodded at his allies. Fully two-thirds of them were brand new recruits that had only been in the First Layer for a week or so.
"The Knights Gavel do not leave anyone behind." His voice was reassuring as he patted a few of the new Chosen on the back. The force they were a part of, the Knights Gavel, had a couple hundred members and were sizable, though not quite able to face up to the four great powers of the Cluster.
"Hear, hear!"
"Damn right!"
A couple of cheers broke out as the close-knit team began to head off. They kept a steady and alert watch as they moved, several of them fingering handguns or swords as they moved.
In no time at all, they crossed over several bridges, leaving the vicinity of the Open Market. The group didn't let their guard down, staying on alert. At one point, they ran into a shambling Morenkai, but quickly dispatched it, using teamwork to kill it without much ado.
Time passed.
"We're about halfway back to base. Are we going to go hunting again? Or keep going all the way back?" One of the men on the team came up to Xavier as the group jogged onto one particular skyscraper.
"Hmm." Xavier thought it over,
"I think we'll head back and recoup for now. The newbies still ne-"
CLANG
As the group fully crossed onto a large, grey skyscraper with a plain, tiled roof, a loud metallic echo caused all of them to freeze. Immediately the group bunched up, swords and guns drawn as they formed a close perimeter. Several of them raised a type of large, circular Holdon Shields, defensive Artifacts from the Shop that were durable enough to block bullets.
"Careful!" Xavier's voice was cool as he looked around, quickly scanning the rooftop. In just a split second, his eyes landed on the source of the metallic echo.
A fist-sized smoke grenade that had landed just a few meters away.
BOOOM
Just as he caught sight of the object, the grenade exploded, a massive cloud of smoke spewing out. This grenade wasn't like regular ones from Earth, but enhanced, instantly creating a large plume that swept across the rooftop.
"Enemy attack! Cluster up, guard each other's backs! Careful!" Xavier's voice boomed with authority as he took charge, his eyes flashing. His hands reached up to his back, bringing forth the two long swords he kept on him.
"W
here are they?!"
"I can't see through the smoke!"
The voices of the newer members of the group grew panicked as they all pulled together, coughing as the smoke obscured their vision.
"Remain calm! We are united, a team. As long as you stay calm, we will survive!" Xavier's voice had a heroic air to it as he looked around, frowning fiercely.
'Who is attacking? Where are they?' His eyes were grim as he scanned the grey smoke. He could barely see his allies next to him, let alone the enemy.
"Arrrgh!"
An abrupt, feminine scream shook the air, causing him to spin to his left. Faintly, a flash of pink light glowed in the smoke before vanishing.
"Abigail?" He called out the name of the girl that had screamed, one of the more experienced members.
"She's gone!"
"What the hell?!"
"Wa-wait, Jason is gone too!"
Two of their members had vanished, one silently while the other with a loud scream. The dense smoke continued to hamper visibility, blocking out light.
'They were both C Rankers. We must be facing multiple close combat enemies, perhaps they can see through the smoke naturally.' Xavier's mind race ahead of him as he yelled out loud,
"Everyone, tighten up! Don't let yourself get separated, link up with your partners! The smoke isn't poisonous!" Everyone on their team had a partner, save for himself. He was one of the Lieutenants of the Knights Gavel, commanding a platoon of his own.
As Xavier stepped back, intending to follow his own advice, he abruptly realized that there was no one next to him.
In fact… not a single one of his teammates was responding. His head darted back and forth, his entire body tingling.
'What the hell is this… it's like a damn horror movie.' Xavier mentally swore.
"Who are you? What do you want?" His voice was cold and cutting. At the same time, Xavier's body seemed to shiver, rippling as he activated an Ability. A necklace around his neck also began to lightly glow, causing a blue aura to appear around his face.
A single moment passed in silence. Gradually, some of the smoke began to lessen, making the rooftop easier to see.
