by L. M. Kerr
Gnomish Explosive Bombs were linked to the soul of the person that controlled them. They would blow up when commanded, as long as the person in control had touched them within the past 30 seconds.
This meant Micheal had only a single shot at stopping Brandon. If the Pirate Lord realized he wasn't killed instantly or found anything suspicious, he would set off the bombs immediately, killing everyone here save Sophia who had safely made it into the stairwell.
'But a single attack is enough.' Micheal jumped forward, taking advantage of Brandon's slight sluggishness to step into the man's attack, just barely dodging it. He dropped his swords in one smooth motion, his right hand reaching up in a blur.
Micheal's hand lightly tapped Pirate Lord Brandon's black plated helmet.
'Impact Release: Bulldozer.' He activated his Ability.
His Impact Release Ability allowed him to store a small number of impacts, the number of which and the strength of which varied depending on his Soul stat.
Before the fight even started, he'd set out and absorbed one special impact as part of his preparation, a secret trump card.
The day before, in the evening as Sophia and he finished their preparations, as the night was rising, Micheal had appeared atop the skyscraper they were staying at. It was one of the higher skyscrapers, towering above its neighbors.
He'd walked over to the edge, looking down at the ground below. Morenkai were just as, if not more, active at night as they were during the day. He took off his Spatial Ring and anything else of importance, setting it on the rooftop for a few moments.
Then, without hesitating, he'd called up two of his Life Orbs and jumped, building up speed as he flew along the side of the skyscraper. He zoomed across it till he reached the end and then flew up as high as he could into the air.
He'd soared more than 20 meters high into the sky, his great leap carrying him quite far.
When he'd reached the apex of his arc, he'd immediately called open the Shop.
'Miscellaneous Earth Objects…' A smile had appeared on his face as he made a very specific purchase, hanging more than 100 meters above the ground.
'Large, Broken-down Caterpillar D11 Bulldozer from Earth - 4,150 Points.' It was expensive, but if he needed to use it, he figured he'd more than make up for the loss.
In a split second, just before he began to fall, a huge, yellow bulldozer had appeared. It was broken down and inoperable, impossible to repair, making it a relatively cheap purchase. This leviathan of a vehicle was 12 meters long and 5 meters tall, weighing a jaw-dropping 230,000 pounds, or roughly 115 tons.
The broken down bulldozer appeared right in front of him. Micheal immediately reached out and grabbed it, pulling his body underneath the gargantuan vehicle.
Then…
The 115-ton bulldozer began to fall.
"Gulp." Micheal had taken a deep breath as he entered into a free fall, a massive machine perched just above him. The streets below began to grow close as they soared downward, the air blasting past him.
It was a terrifying feeling. Fear gripped his heart desperately as every cell in his body urged him to move, urged him to throw himself to the side and dodge.
He controlled himself with an iron will, refusing to move even an inch as they fast approached the pavement below.
'Impact Absorb!' He prepared to activate his Ability ahead of time, readying it.
In a span of just a few seconds, the 115-ton bulldozer picked up an impressive speed, plummeting towards the earth at a breakneck pace.
The last thought Micheal had before he hit the ground was one of slight regret.
'Damn, this is going to hurt.'
Micheal and the bulldozer hit the ground almost simultaneously.
Micheal's body literally exploded, smashed into a faint paste, while the massive bulldozer blew up, metal shards and shrapnel scattering across the street and pelting multiple Morenkai. The impact caught all of the shambling creatures by surprise, knocking many of them down and even injuring a few unlucky ones.
Just seconds later, Micheal came back to life. Stark naked in a pile of rubble, surrounded by rogue Morenkai.
"Yes!" The first thing after he blinked, clearing his vision, was celebrate.
He'd managed to store the impact.
Absorbing impacts with his Ability was straightforward. He had a very brief time period in which anything that hit him would be absorbed as a single blow. The period of time he had to work with was very scant, and the Ability seemed to function best when it was a single, coherent and concentrated blow aimed in a single direction.
His body wasn't actually able to handle the full kinetic force of the bulldozer crashing down. However, his Impact Release Ability merely required his physical body be hit by the impact, even if he couldn't withstand all of it. The magic-like energy that the Ability recorded with took into account the full scale of the blow, regardless of whether or not his body could handle it, limited only by his Soul stat.
Even if he died, which he did, it would still record the full force of the blow before his soul dissipated or his body reformed.
His backup plan, one he didn't end up needing, was to simply blow himself up and try storing that as an impact. However, the sheer kinetic energy of dropping a 115-ton bulldozer from such a height greatly outweighed most, if not all, of the explosives he could use at the current moment. He was also unsure how effective explosives would be given their expansive nature and multi-directional impact.
Absorbing this impact put a great deal of strain on his soul, making him well aware that he had reached his limit in terms of how powerful a blow he could currently store. Simply absorbing this blow already set him to feeling exhausted and sore, absorbing another like it in quick succession would be impossible, though it would be possible to store multiple versions of it as long as he rested. While he couldn't exceed the power of this impact, he could still store multiple copies of it.
"I barely got it! Let's hopefully never do that again. Or, if I have to, as few times as possible." He'd muttered, wincing slightly at the painful memory.
A moment later, when he'd realized the predicament he was in, he'd beat a hurried escape, flying out of reach of the Morenkai as he scaled the roof and quickly got less naked.
It was a simple matter of making new Life Orbs as the time limit rolled over, and everything else was history.
All of this flashed through Micheal's head as his hand hit Brandon's metal helmet, releasing the impact.
BOOOOOOOOM
The concentrated kinetic energy of a 115-ton bulldozer falling from a height taller than a skyscraper slammed into Pirate Lord Brandon's helmet.
"…"
Pirate Lord Brandon was an A Ranker, a superhuman in full command of his Black Knight Type Ability, with a powerful defense that, for the First Layer, was part of the upper echelon of humanity.
All of that said…
His armor was obliterated into metal dust as the blow literally wiped his head from existence.
The Pirate Lord was killed so instantaneously, the A Ranker was given no ability to respond even at a synaptic level, leaving his bombs unactivated.
.
—-Points Obtained—-
Points: 11,002
.
Micheal smiled as he saw the notification, Brandon's headless corpse flipping through the air as Micheal landed on the ground.
It was a complete and total victory.
He had changed the future.
.
Chapter 71: End
"Officer Cain. You betrayed the Family, your friends, and your allies. Do you have any last words?" Boss Shigun's voice was cold as he looked down at the kneeling figure of Cain.
They were currently on a rooftop, two skyscrapers over from where the battle had taken place.
After Micheal killed the two Pirate Lords, the battle reached its conclusion. Thankfully, the Gnomish Explosive Bombs that Pirate Lord Brandon had wielded didn't go off, inert due to his abrupt death.
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It was an overwhelming victory with minimal losses. Only 3 of the Godfather Organization's elite guards died, though almost all of them were injured. Martin the Hammer had already returned to their HQ for treatment, ingesting a Mid-Tier Healing Pill at once as he was rushed back, his injuries the most severe.
Boss Shigun, somewhat surprisingly, fared the best. Despite the horrific injuries his Red Titan form took, when he transformed back to human, he was only marginally wounded and tired.
Cain had tried to make a break for it after the fight ended. Unfortunately for him, he waited far too long. He was intercepted and stopped by members of the Godfather Organization, slightly confused at first as to why their Defensive Team Leader was so badly injured and fleeing.
In all the chaos, Micheal had taken that time to search the Spatial Rings of the downed A and B Ranked warriors.
To Micheal's delight, he found a Mid-Tier Spatial Ring in Byron's grasp, something that cost 22,500 Points to purchase. It held 10 cubic meters of space, a large upgrade from the Low-Tier Spatial Ring.
He swapped rings, making off with practically everything that was stored in both Pirate Lord's, Silent Viper's, Fire Caster Abel's, Black Flamer Chelsea's, and the Winged Wrecker's Spatial Rings, finding a variety of treasure. From things like Magic Paint that could be used for infiltration to Healing Pills that could be used for recovery, a huge store of tools had entered his grasp.
Ravager Jason, for whatever reason, didn't have a Spatial Ring. At the very least, Micheal searched his dead bear body and didn't find it.
That didn't stop him from stealing the entire corpse too, however.
'The Necrozarks and Flesh Wizards would love a body like this.' His eyes had flashed at the thought, leaving nothing to waste. The rest of the corpses were mostly useless.
There were some highly advanced Necrozarks or similar Ability users that could make use of human corpses, even allowing them to use their old Abilities. However, Micheal had never heard of anyone at that stage existing in the First Layer, and certainly not in the Stardust Cluster.
He didn't manage to loot everything. Boss Shigun tolerated most of his actions due to Micheal's efforts, but in the end snagged the Gnomish Explosive Bombs that Pirate Lord Brandon had been wielding, taking them for the benefit of the Branch.
Micheal didn't fight him for it. Several of his men had died and without their help, Micheal wouldn't have been able to pull off such a huge upset. It was a fair tradeoff, in his opinion.
Micheal blinked as he focused on the present.
It was already approaching afternoon, time flashing by in what felt like an instant. The battle and the subsequent aftermath had taken quite a bit to settle.
As the sun beat down overhead, roughly two dozen fighters for the Godfather Organization shifted or stood steady, their eyes boring into the figure of Cain.
The man was covered in a variety of wounds, with dark bruises and long gashes coating his body. His metallic glow was nowhere to be found, unable to activate his Type Ability due to exhaustion.
His hands were tied behind his back with a set of metal bands. A Gnomish Explosive Bomb, one of the ones they'd recently acquired from Pirate Lord Brandon, was set up on a rope tied to the bands. Boss Shigun directly controlled it.
"You did not live a life with honor, but may choose to die with honor." Shigun began, his voice gaunt. He wore a new, sharp looking brown suit, chewing on an unlit cigar.
"Make your choice." Around him, all of the members of the Godfather Organization stomped down on the ground, a loud thud that echoed on the roof.
THUD
"Make your choice!"
This was the relatively well known Traitors Execution Ceremony of the Godfather Organization. When someone betrayed 'The Family' as they were known, that traitor was branded a target and a criminal for the rest of their life in the First Layer.
If they were ever caught, they went through this ceremony, something that acted as a deterrent.
Micheal took one last glance and then turned away, opting to not watch the rest of it. He motioned for Sophia to follow him as they walked away, leaving the ground behind. It wasn't their place to stay and watch.
They walked across the rooftop towards a bridge, their business here temporarily done.
After the battle finished, Micheal had checked in with Shigun, explaining a few things. He fully went over the method to hunt Golden Morenkai, and apologized for not warning Shigun ahead of time. The Boss had been understanding and even respectful, treating Micheal as an equal.
In return, Shigun also agreed to keep their influence on this battle secret, as did Officer Martin. The regular guards didn't realize how significant an impact Micheal and Sophia had had, assuming their success was due to Martin and Shigun weakening their enemies, or being so caught up in the fight they weren't able to clearly tell.
They'd agreed to part ways, with Shigun settling his internal affairs and quashing inner turmoil, while also preparing to launch a full assault on the Black Flag Pirates and Mayoral Alliance, in revenge.
While the leaders of the two groups were dead, there were still a few B Rankers from the Black Flag Pirates that were still alive but didn't show up, as well as stragglers from the Mayoral Alliance. Their lives were about to become much more miserable.
"Let's get out of here, Sofa." Micheal nodded at Sophia quietly as they walked across a bridge, leaving the Godfather Organization behind to settle their affairs.
"Yeah…" Sophia replied, her face slightly pale. She gave him a slight glare as she caught the nickname, but followed him anyway.
As they left, Micheal felt multiple eyes on them. Their battle had drawn a huge amount of attention, especially the concentrated bombs he had set off in the stairways. Various figures could be seen peeking out windows or looking on from distant skyscrapers.
He had considered donning their Heron and Crane masks as the reinforcements swarmed in, but eventually decided against it.
Micheal and Sophia would be their public identities, they could work on building them up here. Heron and Crane, on the other hand, would be their alter egos, private identities for when they needed to do things a more circumspect route. When they left this Cluster, they would maintain their hidden identities, 'leaving' Micheal and Sophia behind here, unrelated to them.
'Hypocrites that preach goodness but commit horrid crimes are not a rare occurrence. Besides, these masks will make it easier to infiltrate the Angels Arcadia.' He nodded at the thought, one of his future goals. Some of the criminals he would take down would have done things that would be impossible to prove at first, crimes humanity only definitively learned about years later.
In those cases, they would likely be reviled for killing such 'good' men or women, something he would gladly shrug off onto their alter egos. By the time the truth about his identity came out, and eventually it would, likely from Abilities that scanned his identity or a leak from the Godfather Organization, he would be strong and influential enough that it wouldn't matter. The alter egos were a short term deal.
If he needed to do something that would look truly evil, he would just go in fully disguised, looking like no one.
The Vile King was a good example. Currently, he was known as a great hero of humanity. No one knew about his machinations yet. The Great Disaster of the Second Layer also shouldn't have started yet, so he hadn't actually committed any horrifying crimes yet, as far as Micheal knew.
As Sophia and Micheal jogged, they exchanged a few lines before falling silent. Sophia was mostly worried about her little sister and the shock of the brutal battle, while Micheal was brooding about the future.
'I'm a leader now, huh?' He glanced at Sophia as she followed him across one particular bridge. A few stray clouds drifted in the air, giving them a brief respite from the sunlight as they crossed the Cluster.
By now, they had made it back towards the central area of the Cluster, near their home base.
"We're almost home!" He gave Sophia a reas
suring smile, nodding as he continued,
"We'll get some well-deserved rest." Both of them were exhausted despite it only being mid-day. The battle had been incredibly tiring, both mentally and physically.
His thoughts trailed back to the original timeline. In that timeline, the biggest force he had ever led consisted of Shin and himself. They were a team that fought together, both giving it their all. He had joined multiple organizations in his time, growing to a decently high level of strength…
But… he had never fancied himself a leader, instead putting all of his effort into training and his obsession with growing stronger.
He sighed, his eyes hardening. There was no use musing over it.
'It is what it is.' He would handle things one step at a time.
'I need to spread word to all of the Cluster about the Golden Morenkai hunting method as well as the Dragon Building Liquid. I've got a few solid contacts in the Saru Group and the Flesh Wizards Tower, as well as the Godfather Organization, though I might just wait and let Shigun explain it after I leave.' His mind raced ahead of him,
'There's only a few weeks left till the Great Bridge will open up and I can reach the Main Cluster.' He smiled,
'How are you doing out there, Shin?' He clenched his fists, determination filling him as he staved off exhaustion,
'We'll be meeting up with you soon.'
.. .. .. .. .. ..
"Wo-woah! That's incredible!" Shin's jaw dropped as he stared at what was happening before him.
He was currently standing atop one of the outer skyscrapers, on the very edge of his Cluster. It was late afternoon, a stiff breeze slowly caressing his spiky blonde hair. He was wearing a set of black pants and a black jacket, his green eyes gleaming.
Right in front of him, something incredible was happening.
Whenever Shin had looked out from the edge of any of the outer skyscrapers, he'd always seen a familiar, rather empty sight. Long, empty plains of grass, full of nothing. No trees, no animals, nothing of interest or note.
