Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  The sounds of a man clapping echoed across the ground floor as a brown haired man with piercing blue eyes, the rest of his features hidden away by a cheerful theater mask, walked into view, giving them all a wave.

  All three of them froze and then slowly turned to stare off to the side at this man, befuddled.

  "Oh man, what a real tear-jerker. It's like I'm watching a television drama." The man's voice was cheery and full of enthusiasm.

  They all stared at the man in shock. None of them had detected or sensed his approach at all.

  "Oh, my bad, guys. Am I intruding on something important?" Micheal waved his hands apologetically.

  "…who are you?" Number 14 spoke slowly.

  "Me?" Micheal smiled beneath his mask,

  "I am Emissary Heron of the Angels Arcadia." Micheal flashed his Emblem before quickly storing it.

  "I'm afraid I have to ask what the Nightrunner Numbers think they're doing this deep into our territory. And Emissary Shar…" He began, using Leila's official Emissary name,

  "Are you betraying the Angels Arcadia? Why are you not defending Commander Kenneth? What exactly do you think you're doing?"

  The three attackers exchanged glances.

  "Kill him." Number 14 spoke again, the metal tentacles around his body slowly beginning to unravel.

  A huge strand of green Malwa Poison Energy shot through the air right at Micheal's face. The energy crossed the distance in a heartbeat, exploding into a turbid cloud of corrosive and poisonous air.

  Abruptly, a sizzling noise echoed out as that cloud of green gas began to spark. An instant later, a small-scale explosion shook the room as the entire cloud went up in flames, rapidly burning itself out of existence.

  "Well now…" Micheal's voice echoed out as he strode through where the cloud had been, casually wiping off his shoulders,

  "That was a bit rude."

  .

  Chapter 24

  Most of the poisons used by Poison Ruler Type users, accessible on the First Layer, were low-level. Most of them were gaseous and were manipulated using strands of energy.

  Micheal knew this fact and had known it for a long time.

  Not because he had ever considered the Ability or thought it useful, but mostly because the strongest S Ranker in the Main Cluster had been killed by someone with the Poison Ruler Type.

  This single event had been hugely impactful and shook the entire First Layer. Head Cameron had been a powerhouse that created the monolith that was the Godfather Organization entirely by himself, expanding it over the past three years to have Branches in almost every Cluster.

  The man was incredibly driven and a genuinely good person. He had been the leader of an international charity that worked to feed, house, and treat impoverished children back on Earth. This past experience translated well as he worked to see that every baby and child brought into the Seven Layers was cared for.

  Upon learning of his death and all that occurred, Micheal had done his own research into the Ability, research that he recalled with clarity when he was planning on how to deal with the Black Witch.

  Malwa Poison Energy was a gaseous type of poisonous energy that also happened to be very vulnerable to anything aspected with Light Energy, a type of elemental power. Fire, Ice, Earth, Wind, Darkness, Light, and more, the various ways any type of energy could be aspected were limitless.

  Standard Ki Cultivation produced Ki, or energy, that wasn't aspected to anything at all. People with Elemental Body Types could typically manipulate their Ki into a specific type of aspected energy, a practice that was especially common in later Layers.

  When the Malwa Poison Energy was launched at Micheal, he withdrew an Inferior Light Energy Crystal that he promptly shattered, releasing a small cloud of Light Energy. This was a type of resource purchasable in the Shop, something that cost Micheal 2,000 Points.

  Malwa Poison Energy could only be counteracted by another energy source, and could not be cured through other means. If one's body was poisoned with it, one would be forced to use their Ki to burn it off. It was possible to swallow and try to make use of external energy sources, but such a method was very dangerous.

  Micheal circumvented that entirely and directly burnt the energy up before it could infect him, the cloud of Light Energy he released completely counteracting it.

  "Well now…" Micheal's voice was calm as he took a few steps forward, wiping off his shoulders casually. Nothing had actually managed to stain him, but the motion of wiping his shoulders helped mold his appearance.

  His every single action was carefully designed to create a specific image of someone that was extremely powerful and confident. A powerful A Ranker that they would need to take seriously, not a warrior with a body that was at the peak of only C Rank.

  "That was a bit rude." As he finished speaking, his eyes flashed, the Ki within his body flaring as he gauged their reactions.

  The three looked stunned, caution filling their eyes as they glared at him. None of them rushed forward yet, all three pausing.

  As he saw this, he reached up and casually fiddled with something underneath his shirt.

  "This has nothing to do with you, Emissary Heron. I would encourage you to walk away. This is a private matter that is being settled internally." Leila's voice echoed out, her words ruthless as she ordered him to leave. A laughably fake order with a worse excuse, but it wasn't like she was known for her improv.

  Micheal was well aware they would attack him the instant his back was turned if he chose to leave. Right now, they were in a state of caution, testing the waters. They would only begin to go all out if they felt fully confident.

  The two members of the Nightrunner Numbers, Fourteen and Eleven, stared at Micheal silently, as if confused as to how he found them here at all.

  Micheal couldn't blame them. It would truly have been a coincidence if he had just randomly stumbled upon them without preparation.

  Unfortunately for them, his being here was no coincidence… and he was far from unprepared.

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  …Some time before this…

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  'Crap, crap crap.' Micheal's breathing was ragged as he flew across the rooftop in a jerking motion, as if he had just been hit with an enormous blow. His body careened forward, crashing through the air as he sailed off the skyscraper and tumbled over the edge, plunging downward. The air rushed past him as he began to hurtle towards the ground, his eyes wide.

  Not even a second later, as Micheal was still falling, a rattling, ominous sound echoed in Micheal's ears.

  "…Kttthhh."

  Slowly, a white-skinned Morenkai's head appeared over the edge, looking down at the now-falling figure of Micheal. Micheal's shirt was ragged and torn, stained with blood around his neck.

  Micheal spotted the Morenkai, his eyes blurring slightly from the rushing wind. Upon sight of it, he mentally swore in his heart, adrenaline pounding in his veins.

  'Damn it! Why is the Grandmaster Sword Mastery Ability worth so much?!' He tossed the thought from his mind as he called his Life Orbs into action, causing them to fly out and appear underneath his shoes.

  He smoothly changed his freefall to a controlled dive, and then that to a fast, controlled flight as he began to zoom off between skyscrapers, flying at maximum speed. Thanks to the increases in his Soul stat, he could now move much faster.

  Previously, his top speed had been around 30ish miles per hour (50ish kilometers per hour). With his enhanced Soul stat, he could now move at a top speed of 50ish miles per hour (80ish kilometers per hour).

  The difference was substantial. It was now much closer to riding in a car, one that didn't need gas and could fly, traveling freely and unobstructed as long as he was within range of other skyscrapers.

  In addition to the increased speed, the range at which he could control the Life Orbs had increased as well. He could now move them to be anywhere within 18 meters of himself, up from his previous 16. This also meant t
he range he could fly was extended to be 18 meters away from a solid, stationary object that could support his weight, giving him a lot more freedom when it came to maneuvering in mid-air.

  With all of that in the back of his mind, Micheal's thoughts were chaotic as he put his full effort into fleeing.

  'When did my luck get so bad?!'

  As soon as Micheal had finished talking with Sub-Commander Borial, he had left. Ditching the Sub-Commander and the Iron Eye Branch had been quite easy, the excuse that he needed to keep hunting for his target working perfectly. With his only 'lead' dead, there was no reason for him to delay. The Arcadia Headquarters would send their own investigators if they so wished, the work he had done already sufficed.

  The first hour of his new journey had proven mostly uneventful, something he had been grateful for at the time.

  At first, he ran along several bridges, crossing through Arcadia territory with ease. After a bit, however, an uneasy feeling settled in his gut.

  A feeling that arose from his sixth sense, something that made him feel unnerved.

  A feeling like he was being followed…

  Followed and hunted.

  Because of that feeling, he ended up doing two things, or at least, attempted to do two things.

  The first was that he switched over from running to using his Life Orbs to zoom by, sticking to the lower ends of skyscrapers to remain out of sight. He was able to vastly increase his pace, though he now entertained the risk of exposing himself and some of his powers.

  After he'd flown for an hour, without being harassed once, Micheal then flew up to the rooftop of a random, empty-looking skyscraper to start on his second idea.

  He'd felt comfortable with the distance he'd created. The feeling of being followed had gradually faded away until it didn't exist. At this point, he wasn't even entirely sure if he had been followed at all or not.

  Still, without being 100% sure, he decided he'd best prepare for the worst case scenario.

  He was going to store a new impact.

  His Impact Release Ability had grown more powerful alongside his Soul stat. Currently, Micheal was unsure how powerful a blow he could store. No matter what, he was certain that he could store something stronger than a bulldozer falling from a skyscraper, the previous limit his Soul had reached.

  "Hmm… what should I go for?" As he looked over the options, he mentally weighed various objects, trying to decide on one to go with. The Shop seemed to weigh its Points prices according to a few characteristics, like weight, material type, size, and more.

  Micheal also had to consider how big an object he picked. Even if he made a building fall on him, he wouldn't be able to absorb much of that impact at all due to how spread out the blow would be. The smaller and denser an object, the more he could get from it.

  He was in the middle of picking between one object and another when it happened.

  He died.

  .

  Chapter 25

  For a split second before his death, Micheal's sixth sense flared.

  As soon as he sensed this, his entire body shivered as his mind went into overdrive, reacting instantaneously as his hand reached for his katana in a well-practiced movement. The boosts from his stronger body, from his enhanced perception of time, everything worked together to make him faster.

  As a result, he managed to get two fingers on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.

  Before the third finger touched it, he was already dead.

  Micheal's consciousness was stored in an ethereal, mysterious way when he died. He was aware of the world around, in his immediate vicinity, and could choose to come back to life anywhere within a few meters of where he died.

  His original body would dissipate into nothingness, everything that was stored or placed on it warping back to where he spawned in. The process was magical, drawing upon the latent energy of the world as fuel to function, the fabric of reality itself.

  As he focused, he was able to make out what had happened.

  His head was no longer attached to his body. Blood was pooling out of the gruesome injury as his neck gaped open, decapitated. He had died so quickly he wasn't even able to recognize his death.

  Standing a single meter away from Micheal's corpse was a small, white skinned Abnormal Morenkai. A glowing, white Aura of light surrounded its body, pulsating dimly.

  The white skinned Morenkai was currently looking to the right and to the left in confusion. When it killed Micheal, instead of being able to eat, use, or absorb Micheal's life energy, it got nothing at all. Killing Micheal wouldn't give Points if he wasn't truly killed.

  'It's Monster Class.' There was no question in his mind that this was a Monster Class Morenkai, and definitely the same one that killed the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch. Only Monster Class Morenkai had a visible Aura, a sign of extreme power such that their bodies couldn't contain the energy.

  It had moved so stealthily that Micheal had only been able to detect it at the very end, thanks to his sixth sense. His increased Soul stat had made the innate ability he held slightly stronger, but it hadn't been enough.

  It had moved so quickly that he was completely unable to react in time, his body's relatively low stats limiting him.

  It had attacked with such force that it instantly killed him, not giving him a chance to fight back or do anything at all.

  In all marks, it scored perfect, a sneak attack that could not only easily kill Micheal, but likely kill many A Rankers as well. It was no surprise that the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch had died.

  It was infuriating.

  Micheal had done everything right, and yet he still died.

  The brutal unfairness of the First Layer was quite apparent. He had only existed here for a bit more than a month. If he had been given a year or two, he would be able to easily stand up and fight back.

  However, if he waited a year or two, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, of people would die…

  The mass exodus of people from the outer Clusters into the Main Cluster was already beginning. Just a few days from now, the Main Cluster would gain tens of millions of new inhabitants.

  Some would be adventurers looking to explore, while others were fearful, wanting to find a way back to Earth. Still others would be looking for family, while others would be searching for loved ones or friends. Some would travel in search of glory, while others would seek out Points to gain new Abilities.

  The Great Arrival, as it came to be known, was hugely impactful on the Main Cluster. It changed the entire face of the Main Cluster.

  And it was in preparation of this that Micheal was seeking out the Black Witch, to kill her and help prevent the vile experiments the Nightrunners had performed in his original future, to stop them from developing through that and rising to great power.

  Waiting was not an option.

  All of these thoughts passed through Micheal's mind in a flash as he realized what had happened.

  And he also realized that he was out of time.

  He needed to respawn, he could only delay for a few scant seconds.

  With that in mind, he waited as long as he could.

  The Monster Class Morenkai kept searching around, poking at Micheal's corpse in a confused manner. It still had yet to receive any life energy from killing Micheal and couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

  After a second, it moved away from his body, its head tilting to the side as it looked over at one of the entry sheds atop this roof. Perhaps it thought Micheal was hiding behind it somehow, avoiding its detection.

  Micheal struck then, his body reforming as he came back to life.

  The moment he felt the air on his skin, as his feet touched the ground, he activated his Impact Release Ability.

  'Impact Release: Bulldozer!'

  He aimed the impact at the ground, but at an angle, using his feet to coordinate the blow. Thankfully his Cloud Stepping Shoes manage to hold up and the impact successfully hit the skyscraper's rooftop and partia
lly rebounded against him.

  Micheal was sent flying towards the edge of the roof at a breakneck speed, his feet and legs numbed.

  The Monster Class Morenkai wasn't sitting still through all of this, however.

  The moment Micheal came back to life, its senses once again picked up on his abnormally powerful life force. Its head had jerked to face him, its entire body swiveling.

  It immediately launched itself forward after him, its body blurring as it moved so quickly even Micheal couldn't clearly discern it.

  Thankfully, the huge speed boost he'd gained as he expended his very last stored impact had been enough to let him get past the creature, and that was how he ended up where he'd been right after.

  A controlled dive that transformed into a fast-paced escape, soaring through skyscrapers as he beat a fast retreat.

  The Monster Class Morenkai didn't just give up. It immediately gave chase, its body blurring as it threw itself after him. Every jump it made was incredibly fast, shooting through the air like a rocket.

  Fortunately for Micheal, it could only move in a straight direction. Micheal made use of his Cloud Stepping Shoes and his Life Orbs to dodge several of its attacks, eventually leading it on a wild chase across a dozen skyscrapers.

  As all of that happened, in his head, Micheal went over every possible way he could escape.

  'Should I buy something? An Invisibility Potion? A set of large-scale Smoke Grenades? A Flame Capsule?' Dozens of ideas flooded his mind as he tried to think up a way out of this situation, drawing upon his store of experience.

  At one key point, as he was wracking his mind for ideas, he happened to be crossing between two skyscrapers. His body had sustained several light injuries, including multiple cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. He winced as he ducked into a sharp turn, preemptively moving out of the line of sight of the still chasing Morenkai.

  He stole a glance back at the Monster Class Morenkai.

  The creature had just slammed down hard onto a skyscraper balcony. Its head was constantly trained on Micheal, never relenting, even when he moved out of sight. It could keenly sense his energy signature.