by L. M. Kerr
Soon they entered the true depths of the central area. Once more, they encountered several Morenkai, a few even moving in groups.
Micheal's skill came in handy here as he dispatched any and all comers with ease. Even though he was physically weaker, he was now strong enough that he could easily handle regular Morenkai without risk to himself.
'Those Dragon Building Liquid sets really did their job.' He thought, his arms no longer aching after killing just a few of the creatures.
In what felt like no time at all, they arrived at one of the smaller skyscrapers, this one painted brown with a white stripe on it.
"It's here. It stopped in here!" Sophia's voice was tinged with excitement, but also a certain level of strain. Maintaining her Fairy Eyes for so long was bound to be stressful, especially when her Soul stat was likely only average.
"Alright, let me check one thing." Micheal leaned over the side of the skyscraper they were currently on, scanning the street level. Down below, he could see dozens of Morenkai shambling about, their movements ominous and uneasy to behold.
After only a moment, he saw what he was looking for.
The streetlights that could be seen on the ground level and in the intersections of every skyscraper block…
The ones that surrounded this skyscraper were currently dark.
He smiled,
"We've found the Golden Morenkai on our first try!"
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Meanwhile, not far from Micheal, on a large grey skyscraper…
A towering, muscular figure, clad in black armor that radiated a feeling of strength squeezed down hard on the arm of a black skinned Morenkai. The duo was standing atop the skyscraper, facing off against each other.
Another man could be seen, wearing a set of relaxed sweatpants and a black shirt, with a bandana across his face.
The arm of the skeletal Morenkai held up for a few moments as the Morenkai lobbed a punch at the armor-clad figure, glancing off the black armor. The blow was powerful, however, and caused the man to slide backwards a step.
A moment later, however…
CRUNCH
The arm snapped, a sickening crunch echoing out as black blood spurted. The Morenkai didn't shriek or give any sign of pain as it continued to attack, ignoring its injury.
"You damned beasts really don't feel pain, huh?"
WHOOOSH
The skull of the Morenkai split in two, spattering black blood everywhere as a large axe cut into it, killing it.
Lord Brandon grunted as he looked at the corpse, throwing it to the side casually.
"If only I could say the same…" He muttered quietly, too quiet for anyone else to hear, and sighed, almost sadly.
"No sir, Lord Brandon, they do not." The man wearing the black bandana spoke up, his voice rough.
"I heard that they don't feel nuthin' at all. Not pain, not fear, nuthin'." The speaker had long black hair that was tied up, with wrinkles visible above the bandana that obscured his face.
Brandon stared at him for a moment, his black facemask obscuring his face.
"Where are they, Havil?" His voice was bleak and authoritative, almost mechanical in its emotionless state.
"Over there, sir. I turned the beacon off after you got here already. They went into that skyscraper." The man's voice was eager as he tapped on a grey ring he had on his hand and then motioned at a skyscraper not far away.
The Black Flag Pirates had a communication network of their own, one that involved the use of magical, crudely made 'Beacons' that could transmit a basic radio signal. The signal would grow stronger the closer you got to an active Beacon.
Brandon had no real idea how it worked, only knowing that it was a very obscure method that worked effectively.
"They haven't left since! They just entered a few minutes ago!"
Pirate Lord Brandon turned his focus to the skyscraper the man was pointing at, a brown skyscraper with a large, vertical white stripe on it.
SHHKKK
Lord Brandon wiped the blood from his axe as he began to walk forward, his eyes cold.
It was time to hunt.
.
Chapter 40: Charge
Micheal and Sophia filed into the building cautiously, with Micheal leading the way. Despite her reservations, Sophia found herself strangely drawn to Micheal. He had a way of talking, a way of carrying himself, that inspired confidence in him.
"Hold." As they moved into the stairwell, Micheal held his hand out, causing Sophia to freeze. The metal door that opened out onto the roof behind them slowly shut.
Micheal's eyes narrowed. Faintly, in the background, the sounds of men and women talking and cheering rang out. It sounded as if a team was celebrating something.
"…another kill tha…"
"…almost enough Points to…"
"…wooohoooo! To a new year the…"
Micheal shook his head.
"People are here, but just a minor team." No big organization would have people stationed so high, being so careless.
"Do we… do we need to do something about them?" Sophia's voice shook slightly, betraying her inexperience. She may have a frosty exterior, but at heart she really was just an innocent 21-year-old girl.
"No, our target is much lower… on the ground floor." He nodded at her and began to descend the stairs. He leaned over the edge slightly as he went.
Almost all the way down, he could see various floors, lit up by the fluorescent light bulbs set into the walls.
However, at around what looked like the 5th or 6th floor… the bright light from the stairs was replaced by shadows.
Sophia and Micheal made fast progress. This skyscraper was 38 floors tall, one of the smaller ones in the Cluster. In no time at all, they reached the 6th floor.
As he had noted, all the lights were off. The stairwell wasn't covered in absolute darkness, Micheal observed, with some light gleaming in through the door. The various windows in the hallway let in just enough light to change that.
The atmosphere, however, took a drastic, eerie turn. The familiar hum of the air conditioning units was nowhere to be heard, leaving the area strangely quiet. It was as if a void of noise existed below them, while a sanctuary of light and sound lived above. The air was warm, like that of outside, at odds with the unnerving, unmoving darkness.
"Quiet now…" He whispered, motioning for her to follow him. Sophia's eyes were wide as she took everything in, her breathing slightly fast. Micheal took that into account as he moved forward carefully, taking slow and steady steps to try and calm her down.
They passed through the 6th, 5th, and 4th floors with no issue. The deeper down they went, the darker it got due to the lesser amount of light the lower floors saw. As they reached the 3rd floor, the shadowy state of the stairwell had become almost impossible to see through.
'Hmm, it must be because of the time. The sun is directly overhead, not much light is being reflected in this low.' He quickly made a guess as to why.
whoosh
Quietly, one of his dimly glowing blue Life Orbs appeared, automatically floating around his head. The soft blue light it provided was just enough to make the steps visible without making it obvious where they were.
They reached the 2nd floor. At this point, even Micheal's heart started to beat fast. He stepped down slightly faster, anticipation building.
They reached the ground floor.
The ground floor of the skyscraper was much like the shed up top. It had a metal door for its entrance and little else apart from the stairs.
Micheal crept up to the metal door, his eyes flashing eagerly. He withdrew his Life Orb back into him and cracked the door open just an inch (2.5 centimeters).
Through it, he saw a large, empty room with several large open windows letting in light, much better lit than the stairway. As he scanned the room, he could make out three figures.
One was a regular Morenkai, standing absolutely still near the center of the room.
Another
was a Morenkai with an abnormally large head, its skull extending backwards a good several inches (multiple centimeters), giving off a faint, golden luster.
The last figure was a large brute of a Morenkai, one that had large, bulky muscles and thick shoulders and legs, standing almost half a meter taller than normal Morenkai. Its hands had small spikes attached to its fingers and knuckles, colored milky white. It looked rather horrifying, as if it had been bred for battle.
'An Abnormal, and one of the stronger ones.' He silently cursed as he slowly shut the door, motioning at Sophia. In the darkness, the duo could just barely make out each other's faces.
"What do we do? Is it there?" Sophia's voice was a faint whisper.
"Yes, it's there. But we have a problem." He explained what he saw.
Sophia's face visibly paled, even in the darkness. A gleam of determination stayed lit in her eyes, however, as she bravely held herself together.
"The Abnormal we have is one of the brawny, strong Abnormals. Its bound to be extremely strong, far stronger than normal ones, and much harder to injure." Despite his words, Micheal doubted he'd have an issue cutting it. While his blade was only average at best compared to other Artifacts, his Grandmaster Sword Mastery was more than enough to make up for it.
The only problem was its movements and strength.
'A single blow from it would directly kill me…' If it could outspeed him, even with his greater skill, it was very possible that he would die at least once.
Abnormals had a huge range of types. Some were weak, while others were strong. Still others were freakishly strong.
And still others were so strong that they were labelled Monsters.
'This one isn't a Monster. Those only appear in the Main Cluster… But it's definitely a tough one.' His frown deepened.
He tapped on his Spatial Ring, looking at the various Close Impact Bombs and Repulser Grenades he had stored. Explosive attacks were known to be able to kill Morenkai, causing internal injuries that penetrated their protective skin.
'I still have options if things go poorly.' He nodded. He would never attempt something without at least a semblance of a backup plan. He had seen how well that went at the Last Battle.
"Apart from that, the Golden Morenkai, if it feels threatened, will flee." Unlike other Morenkai, Golden Morenkai seemed capable of feeling things.
'Shin should've picked up the Warping Phaser Ability, he should have no problems getting behind it and stabbing it in the head. We, on the other hand, can't afford to let it flee.' He rubbed his chin, considering.
"Here is the plan. We both run in. You use your Fairy Eyes Ability on the Abnormal. It won't have any effect on the Golden Morenkai." The Golden Morenkai had a great deal of resistance to things that affected the mind or soul.
Researchers believed and theorized that the Golden Morenkai drew upon the energy that powered the world, making their souls incredibly powerful. It was for this reason that they dropped such an enormous sum of Points, and why the lights and power in the first few floors of any skyscraper they were in ceased to function.
They were leeches. And, just like leeches, they were extremely ineffective at combat.
No one knew what the actual purpose of the Golden Morenkai was, if it had one at all. By the time any actual research was done, almost everyone had moved past the First Layer. As time went on, the Layers got progressively dangerous, forcing people to move up or die. It was nearly impossible to go back between Layers, and thus nothing more was learned.
"While you do that, I will kill the regular Morenkai and then cripple the Golden one." He had promised he would deliver unto her a vast amount of Points. As long as he went through with that promise, he knew he would gain her trust, to at least some degree.
People valued results. That was just how life worked.
Sophia nodded as she heard his plan,
"Alright, I'll try." Her voice shook, ever so slightly.
"It's not hard. All I need you to do is come in after me and beguile the big one. I'll handle the rest." He gave her a reassuring smile before he remembered how dark it was. His shiny white teeth probably looking more horrifying than reassuring in the dark shadows of the stairwell.
The duo crept to the edge of the room, where the door was. Micheal took a single deep breath and then let it out.
A moment later, he flung the door open and sprinted into the room.
.
Chapter 41: Entry
His abrupt entry caused a rather immediate reaction.
The regular Morenkai stayed where it was, trapped by Sophia's Fairy Eyes still. The towering Abnormal swung its head to look at Micheal, its muscles bulging as it began to step towards him.
The Golden Morenkai swiveled its head, zeroing in on Micheal. Golden light began to shine around it as it stared, unmoving, faint sparks of energy twinkling in the air.
Micheal didn't waste any time as he sprinted forward, his superhuman muscles blasting him through the air. His footwork was impeccable as he moved as fast as possible, his body a blur.
The large Abnormal lumbered right towards him, its large legs stomping down hard on the stone floor. Sophia's Fairy Eyes would need a second or two to take effect, even if she ran in right behind him. In that split second, the Abnormal and Micheal reached each other, crossing the distance in an instant.
"Hup!" In one graceful movement, Micheal ducked down and slid, his entire body falling almost directly down as he focused.
WHOOSH
A huge fist bigger than his head pushed aside the air, forming a small breeze as it flew barely past his head. The spikes on the knuckles and fingers of this fist nearly cut into his face as they passed over him, gleaming faintly as sunlight reflected off of them.
'It is a fast one, damn.' The muscular Morenkai's blow was extremely fast, almost clipping him in the chest and head. He only barely managed to avoid it by predicting the strike based on the positioning of its body and the movements it made, reacting preemptively.
Micheal temporarily decided to put his faith in Sophia as he ignored the giant Morenkai, rushing at the Golden Morenkai. If he didn't and gave it a chance to escape, it would be far too dangerous to chase it out onto the streets, even if he could potentially use his Life Orbs to fly up out of danger.
Thanks to that, and his hurried sprint and abrupt entrance, Micheal managed to land next to the Golden Morenkai before it had a chance to do much of anything.
SHHKK
The results were predictable.
His blade, coated in a layer of Sword Energy, easily sliced through the legs of the Golden Morenkai, immobilizing it, and cut off its arms as well. In the same cutting motion, he leapt through the air slammed his blade down onto the chest of the regular Morenkai that was standing just beside it, still immobilized by Sophia's Fairy Eyes.
Black blood spattered out as he spun around, ignoring the corpse of the regular Morenkai as it fell to the floor and the Points notification that went off. Several Life Orbs floated around his body at the ready as he kept his guard up, ready to attack the Abnormal.
As he turned around, however, he smiled.
The huge, muscular Abnormal Morenkai was standing absolutely still, unmoving. Its body was frozen in a stepping motion, as if it was about to take a step and then found itself unable to finish.
Walking over towards Micheal, with only a hint of nervousness, was Sophia, her eyes glowing pink.
"Great job, Sophia!" There was a reason he considered recruiting her, beyond just her personality.
The Ability 'Fairy Eyes' was a Limited one. Many of the unique Abilities were like that, only given out in Limited quantities and usually quite cheap. The Shop must have had a certain logic for these designations, at least, researchers had argued, but Micheal wasn't aware of the specifics.
Regardless, her Fairy Eyes were extremely powerful here, especially against most Morenkai, and even many Abnormals. She would be a huge asset to his team, should he continue to form one.
"I-I got it! But it's taking up almost all of my focus. I don't think I can trap anyone else right now!" Her voice shook slightly, but underneath was an undercurrent of steel.
"Just keep it steady there. This is what you need to kill over here." Micheal pointed at the Golden Morenkai that he had taken down.
The creature, despite losing its arms and legs, was still alive, its entire body vibrating with golden energy. The skeletal creature was grotesque, its appetite for human blood showing through as it tried to lunge at them.
"Hup!" Micheal walked up and flipped the body of the creature over, brutally stabbing it in the spine without hesitation. Almost immediately its struggles ceased, though it remained alive.
"This is it. If you kill this, you should gain a huge amount of Points, more than 10,000. I'll go handle the Abnormal." He glanced at her, his eyes steady as he studied her.
Sophia looked at the Golden Morenkai, her pink eyes narrowing. Her entire body shook slightly as she took several deep breaths, gaining full control of her emotions.
'She really isn't like a normal human at all… no wonder she got called the Demon Fairy…' It was only day 3 yet she could already handle something like this. She had a far stronger will when it came to stuff like this than he had had when it was his first time, it reminded him a bit of Shin. His best friend had always been able to handle change better than he had.
"Here." Micheal handed her a regular sword from his Low-Tier Spatial Ring. When he had trained Lana and Khari, he had purchased a plain, normal sword himself in the Shop for cheap. It was a bad sword that normally wouldn't even scratch a normal Morenkai, suitable only for practice.
"The back of their skull is very weak, even a sword like this can pierce it." He motioned for her to go on.
Sophia looked down at the Golden Morenkai. Her eyes flashed as she stared at it and then, without waiting, stabbed down with the blade.
