Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  "Sir, I was from the Fracas Organization. We were just a small team that hunted Morenkai. We ran afoul of a larger organization during the middle of a hunt after we came across a rare, injured Abnormal! The stronger organization decided to wipe us out for taking what they claimed as their kill and I've been forced to flee, while my companions have all been killed." The woman broke down in sobs as she spoke, her entire body shaking.

  Sighs and supportive statements rang out from the members of the Stardust Coalition as they heard her speak and saw her pain. If she was acting, she was doing a marvelous job.

  All of the members of the Stardust Coalition were part of teams that were upright and just. None of them would slaughter another group just for Points or for interference, it was a large part of why Micheal picked them to join this group. They would be able to grow stronger at a faster rate in the Main Cluster than in the Stardust Cluster, especially if they utilized the Golden Morenkai hunting methods that Micheal planned on sharing with them.

  The Godfather Organization wasn't likely to spread the information Micheal had released, not yet. And, seeing as they were not landing in the territory of the Godfather Organization, they should encounter little competition in their hunting.

  By the time Micheal had finished talking to her, giving noncommittal replies, the band of figures in the distance had rapidly approached, coming into plain and near sight. A few yells and shouts arose from the members of the Coalition as everyone saw them, many of the men and women going on guard. The story Aly had shared had been convincing enough to warrant added caution, unfriendly glances galore rippling out at the newcomers.

  "The Angels Arcadia sends their greetings, strangers." A voice boomed out loud as a thick-chested man stepped forward, the leader of the group. He had short blonde hair and blue eyes, with a large, broadsword strapped to his back. He also happened to be covered in so much hair that Micheal felt certain he was a Werewolf.

  Captain Simon took the lead, after pausing to glance at Micheal and seeing him remain silent. When the man had mentioned that they were from the Angels Arcadia, every member of the Coalition had subconsciously glanced over at Micheal.

  "Greetings, Arcadia. We, the Stardust Coalition, greet you in return." Simon's voice boomed just as loudly, if not louder, than the blonde haired warrior of Arcadia. As a top-tier B Ranker, Simon was considered strong even in the Main Cluster, and was rather fearless.

  Over the long journey, Micheal had come to be a bit more acquainted with the man. His actions of coming to the rescue had won him a great deal of genuine respect from Captain Simon. The Captain was a genial man, a former firefighter that had come into the apocalypse with an open mind.

  After exchanging pleasantries, the members of Arcadia cut to the chase. The speaker, a man named Ayer, didn't mince words as he spoke aloud,

  "I see that you are holding one of our targets that escaped. We would be greatly obliged if you returned her to us. If you are aware of who we are, you should be aware that stopping us would be unwise." While the man's words weren't exactly respectful, neither were they disrespectful. The Angels Arcadia had a huge amount of influence, but out here on the Great Bridge, anything could happen.

  "No! They will murder me! Please, please don't let them!" Aly screamed and ducked behind Captain Simon, her entire body trembling as she yelled out loud.

  At that moment, Micheal stepped forward, his masked face drawing curious stares from the opposing team.

  "What Enforcement Branch are you all part of? The Red Beak Branch? The Black Veil Branch?" Micheal's voice was cool as he asked a few simple questions.

  The power structure of the Main Cluster was quite unique.

  There was no 'bad' major power. The Big 3, the Angels Arcadia, the Godfather Organization, and the Nightrunners, all three of these groups were considered 'good' and upright organizations.

  There were still countless smaller groups of bandits or criminals that preyed on the weak, human nature didn't change, after all.

  The only large group close to being considered 'bad' was the Purgatory Church, a large scale religious movement that viewed the Seven Layers as a purgatory Humanity would need to face to reach Heaven. The fanatics of this church were widespread and usually did far more harm than good. The Purgatory Church wasn't super powerful, however, with their top leadership only being a Supreme A Ranker on the Main Cluster Ranker List, not an S Ranker.

  As a result, a semblance of law and order was maintained in the Main Cluster.

  And maintained specifically because of teams like the one Micheal was looking at.

  An Enforcement Team from the Angels Arcadia, a group that hunted down criminals, acting largely like the police.

  "Uh, sir, you know of our internal Branches?" Micheal's response had surprised Ayer, causing him to stutter slightly as he looked at Micheal with a faint hint of suspicion. The Branches Micheal had mentioned were minor ones that he knew operated in the peripheral vicinity of the entrance to the Stardust Cluster's Great Bridge.

  Micheal tapped on his Spatial Ring. Immediately, a small, finely cut marble emblem appeared, glowing with white light. The image of two soaring wings, glowing with a large halo overhead, was imprinted on the insignia, giving it a serene appearance.

  "An Emissary Emblem?!" If before Ayer had been surprised, now he was completely and absolutely shocked. His entire attitude abruptly shifted as he ducked his head, his words now completely respectful.

  "Sir, it was our mistake for not recognizing you, a million apologies. We are part of the Iron Eye Branch." Ayer named a Branch Micheal was unfamiliar with.

  The Main Cluster was huge. It wouldn't be remiss to say it was larger than many individual nations on earth, in terms of sheer area.

  More than 50,000,000 people lived in the Main Cluster, with many more pouring in from the outer Clusters, mostly new Chosen from the 4th Wave that refused to remain cooped up in a single area.

  Roughly 10% of that population, or 5 million people, were members of the Angels Arcadia. The vast, vast majority were lower level members, but the numbers still added up to an extremely sizable power.

  It wasn't unexpected that he wouldn't recognize the specific Branch. There were several thousands of differing Enforcement teams and many Branches, the Angels Arcadia was a very complex organization.

  "I am Emissary Heron." Micheal began, outright naming his identity. As he spoke to the Enforcer, everyone in the Stardust Coalition looked on with a hint of awe. A mere flash of an emblem had gained a huge amount of respect from someone they had just run into. The influence and power Micheal must hold, in the eyes of the other Coalition members, was massive.

  "This woman here, Aly, has told us quite an interesting tale." Micheal continued. He then explained everything the woman had said, his voice cold and impassive.

  Throughout his explanation, Aly, leaned back and forth, still hiding behind Captain Simon. The looks on the faces of the Iron Eye Enforcement Team grew ugly as they heard him speak, anger appearing.

  "Sir! An absolute falsehood! We did no such thing. She is a vile killer that had a Hunting Order placed out for her. We have tracked her this way after she seduced and killed more than 20 innocent men." Ayer slammed a hand into his chest as he spoke, full of emotion. After being accused of such horrific crimes, in front of an Emissary no less, one of the higher-ups of the Angels Arcadia, he had no choice but to act this way.

  If you violated any important rules, you would be killed, plain and simple. Such harsh rules were part of why Arcadia was so well trusted and considered an upright force in the Main Cluster.

  Upon hearing about all of this, several looks of doubt appeared on the Coalition members as they turned to look back towards Aly. The situation was far more complex than it had seemed at first, to many.

  "How- how can you believe them?! They will kill me! Everything I said is true!" The woman's voice was despairing as she saw this, her every movement full of horror. She was quite convincing, such that even Micheal felt
partial to her.

  "Hmm. Well, there should be an easy way to resolve this, yes?" Micheal spoke out loud, cutting through her wails. Everyone looked at him.

  "Arcadia has Truthseekers stationed all around the Main Cluster. If you are willing to take a Truth Oath, we can simply have your words be verified, then and there."

  Truthseekers were people that had purchased the Truthseeker Type Ability from the Shop, a power that cost 50,000 Points. It allowed them to form a Truth Oath, an Ability that would force anyone that agreed to it to speak the truth or suffer extreme agony.

  "Of course! I would be more than happy to!" Surprisingly, the woman agreed.

  "I am not a vio-" As she was mid-explanation, the woman's body abruptly blurred.

  A red, burning dagger of fire appeared in the woman's hand as her entire body took on a fiery red glow. Her hair lit on fire, giving her a demonic appearance as she held up the flaming dagger to Captain Simon's neck.

  The Fire Mistress Ability, an Ability that transformed one's body into a conduit for flames, granting basic fire manipulation and an enhanced body, costing 36,000 Points in the Shop.

  "If your Coalition knows what is good for them, you'll wipe out the Enforcement Team, here and now!" Her voice lost all of its sorrowful innocence, transforming into a hardened expert as she threatened Simon's life. The quite convincing weak and beaten look she'd had vanished completely.

  "No!" The Enforcement Team members yelled out in anger and surprise, going on guard as if they were preparing to be attacked.

  Meanwhile, the Coalition members… all merely stared at her silently, none of them moving to help or attack.

  "W-what?! I mean it! I will kill him here and now!" She held the dagger closer to Captain Simon's face.

  The Captain, in the meanwhile, was staring right at Micheal, waiting for his command.

  Micheal nodded his head slightly, grinning beneath his mask in slight bemusement.

  The moment the woman showed even a single sign of threat, he had been fully prepared to kill her instantly, his Kouki Daggers able to materialize from his Spatial Ring in a split second. She would've been dead, a dagger pierced through her skull before she even realized he was attacking, unless she had an Elemental Body or a rare and expensive Defensive Artifact, both of which seemed rather unlikely given her present condition.

  Fortunately for her… she had chosen to target Captain Simon.

  The woman's acting was superb and her ability to find an important target keen.

  However... trying to hold a massive Dark Rhinoceros hostage with a tiny dagger was generally what most people would consider a bad idea…

  A loud thud rang out.

  "H-huh?!"

  .

  Chapter 11

  When Captain Simon transformed into his Dark Rhinoceros form, not only did he shock the onlooking members of the Angels Arcadia, he also took the black haired woman, Aly, completely by surprise.

  His abrupt transformation knocked into the woman sending her flying more than a dozen meters through the air. The blow further exacerbated her injuries, making her unable to react in time.

  In that instant, Micheal jumped up into the air, removing his hand from his Spatial Ring. He then sent out two of his Life Orbs, soaring through the sky towards her.

  The two orbs flew roughly 8 meters away from Micheal and looped around to catch the stunned woman, stopping her flight. Micheal then commanded them to fly back, carrying her trembling and nearly unconscious form over towards him.

  Had she picked anyone other than Captain Simon to try and hold hostage, she would've already been dead.

  "Watch ou- huh." The leader of the Enforcement Team cut off his yelled warning halfway through as he saw Captain Simon transform, stuttering to a halt. Everyone then watched Micheal's actions as he smoothly jumped and caught the woman, reeling her in.

  "…Incredible…"

  "How did he even do that?”

  “What?”

  Murmurs arose from the Coalition members as well as the Enforcement Team, ones that Micheal ignored as he caught the woman, landing on the ground smoothly.

  After the increase to both his Soul Quality and Soul stat, Micheal had found that the maximum range he could extend his Life Orbs to had increased to around 16 meters. The acceleration, too, was increased a small amount. He didn't gain any new Orbs, and felt like he wouldn’t for a long while, but the new maximum range was a huge boon, giving Micheal even more utility.

  "Well, that seems to resolve that." Micheal looked down at the now-unconscious woman, his nose wrinkling beneath his mask. Looks could truly be deceiving, something he'd learned the hard way. The more naive, first version of him likely would've seen a gang of men chasing after a bloody and beaten woman and assumed things without checking.

  "Thank you for the aid, Emissary Heron." Enforcer Ayer walked forward, his team silently following him. He gave a formal bow,

  "She is wanted for trial back at the branch. Her punishment will be meted out there, per protocol. The injuries arose when we tried to stop her." The man's voice was respectful as he explained, motioning at her injured body.

  Micheal merely nodded.

  The woman would go to a type of trial and likely be executed for her crimes, if they were as serious as they sounded. Her only other option was to work under forced hunting teams, providing slave Point farms for the Angels Arcadia.

  It was brutal, but this world was brutal. There were no real prisons to lock someone up in, though each of the Big 3 had their own hidden jail, for private matters.

  Breaking any of the imposed laws by the Big 3 would usually lead to death or physical punishment of some sort. There were only so many punishments that could be enforced in this world, after all, with jail time being rather unfeasible.

  This harsh reality was part of why the Big 3 had managed to develop so much in only 3 years.

  Simon returned back to normal as the situation calmed down, the rest of the Coalition members quieting.

  "If you wouldn't mind, sir, could we retire to a private room for a moment? For protocol reasons, as you well know." Enforcer Ayer began, his eyes still focused on Micheal.

  "Of course." Micheal waved a hand casually, calling Captain Simon over. He briefly explained to the man that they would be taking a brief respite, letting him inform everyone else.

  Right after that, he motioned for Sophia to come forward. She walked over quickly, emerging from the crowd.

  When Enforcer Ayer saw this, he frowned.

  "This is…?"

  "This is Emissary Crane." Micheal replied succinctly.

  That response shut the man up as his eyes widened, genuine surprise filling him. To encounter one Emissary was one thing… to encounter two of them, well, the odds of that were pretty low. As he recognized this fact, a faint hint of suspicion appeared in the man's eyes.

  In short order, Micheal and Sophia slipped inside one of the private rooms aboard the large, long-haul ship, quickly followed by Enforcer Ayer. The rest of the Enforcer's men, as well as the other members of the Stardust Coalition, all waited outside.

  They had stepped into a room with large metal walls and several open chambers leading off into the bowels of the ship. The lightning was dreary, leaking in from a few small windows and giving the room a somewhat ghoulish look.

  After they entered, Ayer closed the door shut and nodded at them

  "I must admit, I have not heard your enlightened name before, Emissary." The man began, cutting right to the chase,

  'Enlightened name? Who says that…?' Micheal mentally shrugged and continued to listen.

  "I do not doubt your word, but you know as well as I of the rules. If you wouldn't mind." Ayer was rather direct, sticking out his hand expectantly. He kept his voice and actions respectful, but his eyes remained fully focused on Micheal, tensely watching his every movement.

  Micheal nodded silently and he held out his emblem. As he did so, beneath his mask, he smiled.

  He had picked
the Angels Arcadia to impersonate, and not some other group, for a couple of reasons, one among those that was particularly relevant here:

  The emblems they used as a sign of their authority.

  Each of the Big 3 were extremely influential in the Main Cluster. 3 full years had already gone by in the 7 Layers, more than enough time for each group to establish a very large and powerful presence.

  The Godfather Organization didn't use any emblems to verify their men, but instead had all of their elites well known to the public, none of them hiding their identities or using masks. Impersonating any of them would fail, and even if he might be able to pretend to be a mid-level character… it wouldn't be enough to fulfill his plans.

  The Nightrunners had a unique way of marking their member's Souls, making them virtually impossible to impersonate, no matter what rank.

  Only in the Angels Arcadia did he stand a chance of impersonating one of their strongest branches, their 'Emissaries.' Emissaries had their own internal hierarchy, but the strongest among them were listed among the Supreme A Rankers of the Main Cluster Ranking List.

  The Ranking List was a magical list constructed by a mysterious woman with the rare, Limited Global Blind Seer Ability, Hansama Babel. It was a unique power that gave her special insight into many different types of things, insight she used to create a grand list that compared all the most powerful members against each other.

  It listed the very small number of S Rankers, and the top 10,000 A Rankers. Her powers were unique and the list she maintained had become a popular and well-trusted source of information, letting her create the influential, but neutral, Hidden Mind Group.

  While the list could not account for everything, it gave a reasonable estimate of how powerful someone was and how dangerous they would be to fight. The top 50 A Rankers were all considered 'Supreme A Rankers' that were extremely powerful.

  Among the Emissaries, there were 10 Supreme A Rankers, and quite a few other strong A Rankers. Blending in among them would prove quite useful.

  After all…