Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  "Of course. I want nothing but the best for you, my young friend. Now get some rest and worry naught about any more enemy ambushes!" Cameron gave her one last smile as he turned around and headed for the door, leaving her with one final line,

  "Nothing within these walls can escape my sight." His words echoed off with a mysterious meaning as he turned his head down slightly, glancing off to the side.

  Sophia watched him leave and then sighed, snuggling up in the covers of her bed. She withdrew her smartphone and left a message on the forum for Micheal and Shin to read before she closed her eyes, sleep taking her.

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Some amount of time later…

  In a distant skyscraper, Director Prime slammed his fist down onto a wooden table that was sitting out in front of him.

  The table instantly shattered, wooden shrapnel pelting the air as the Shop-purchased edifice was obliterated. A slew of papers scattered off it, cascading into the air. Several large books flipped to the side, tumbling down to the ground with resounding thumps.

  His body shook for a brief moment as he took several deep breaths.

  He slowly opened the fist that he had just punched down with, revealing a cracked and broken Goldsteel Communication Bracelet.

  "Failure." His voice was cold and emotionless as he spoke aloud to himself, as if he had not just obliterated his desk in a spurt of rage.

  "The path to success is paved with the miseries of failure." As he spoke, he tapped on a Spatial Ring he wore on his right hand. Instantly, another bracelet Artifact appeared, one he promptly put on and activated.

  "Twice now, I have failed those who relied upon me." He kicked off the particles of wood that sat in his way, pulling out an entirely new desk and placing it on the ground in front of him. He then bent down and picked up the sheets of paper that had fallen aside.

  He carefully stacked the papers, leaving three specific ones spread on top. Prime's hand rested on these pages, his eyes gleaming eerily as he stared at them.

  Emblazoned at the top of the pages was a largely lettered title.

  'Main Cluster Ranking List - Updated for July.' It was the most recent Main Cluster Ranking List, one that had just come out within the past day, fully updated as of a few hours ago. He'd assigned Number 13, a man with several powerful 'Psychic'-like Abilities, to make contact with the Seer and gather it as soon as she finished creating it.

  And now, he had it opened up and had pulled out several specific pages from it.

  The Seer could gather a huge amount of information in a very short time. However, much of the tidbits she gathered could only be used to help create a vague ranking. Life was not binary, just because someone was ranked higher than someone else did not mean they would automatically win in a fight.

  As this thought flashed in his mind, he turned his complete focus to three specific new names that had appeared in the Main Cluster Ranking List.

  ---

  'New Addition - Rank 79 - Heron'

  'An elite warrior who displays incredible potential. While his stats may not be up to par with other Supreme A Rankers, this powerful fighter displays unworldly talent and possesses a multitude of powerful Abilities.

  Affiliation: Unknown

  'Known Abilities: Life Orb Master, Advanced Sword Mastery, Ki Cultivation - Earth Tier'

  ---

  'New Addition - Rank 196 - Sub-Executive Shin'

  'A powerful, teleporting sharpshooter that has power far exceeding normal bounds due to a unique and previously unknown synergy.'

  Affiliation: The Godfather Organization

  'Known Abilities: Warping Phaser Type, Expand, Ki Cultivation - Mortal Tier'

  ---

  'New Addition - Rank 217 - Demon Fairy'

  'A mysterious expert that possesses extremely powerful willpower and an Ability that is the first of its kind in the First Layer.

  Affiliation: Unknown

  'Known Abilities: Fairy Eyes, Wind Sweeper, Ki Cultivation - Mortal Tier'

  ---

  "There will not be a third time."

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  In a skyscraper not far from Director Prime…

  "Incredible." Garen looked at a small, cracked orb that he held in his left hand. The orb was black and contained just the slightest hint of a mystic or energy-full aura, as if it had once been a part of something grand.

  He was standing in a random meeting room used for secrecy. The room had a large table and a seat of chairs, and little else.

  "Simply incredible." In his right hand, he held up a second cracked orb. A second Nest Core, not the one Micheal had given Sophia, but a new one. This one looked near identical to the first.

  "And you said it not only boosted your Soul stat and a hidden 'Soul Quality' stat, and potentially allowed you to exceed the Points Wall, but it also sent you a message?" He turned his attention forward to the masked warrior standing across from him.

  The man wore a set of tight, black leather armor, with several dark grey stripes crisscrossing on it, and stood a couple of meters away from Number 1.

  Number 6 shrugged.

  "Something like that. The message sounded like it came from the creator of the First Layer, if I had to guess. Breaking the Core was extremely difficult and required me to use my ultimate technique." He replied hoarsely.

  "Incredible…" Garen repeated himself, turning his attention back to the cracked Nest Core.

  "If we combine the Nest Feeding Program with this, we won't need to form a large army of elites. Just a few ultra-powerful elites would be enough. A full squad of S Rankers." Garen lowered the two Nest Cores and stored them in his Spatial Ring.

  "6. Carry a message to Number 13 for me. He should be with the group from the Purgatory Church still." The most reliable method of communication was directly in person. Garen didn't trust anything else, not if he wanted it to remain a secret. Director Prime was far too scary when it came to his ability to process information and ferret things out.

  A few moments later, Number 6 left the room, moving with purpose, and leaving Garen behind all alone.

  Garen walked over to the table in the middle of the room and sat down, leaning his legs up on it. He brought one of the Nest Cores out of it again, musing aloud,

  "If a Temporary Core can do all that… what will a Permanent Nest Core give us..?"

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  In a place that was very far from the First Layer…

  A vague shadow of a man could be seen sitting alone at a campfire, in the middle of a forest. This man looked deeply into the rippling flames, not moving a muscle as time flew by.

  The forest around him was the picture of quiet stillness. No birds cried, no animals roused, nothing at all shook the dim night air, lit only by the light from the man's simmering fire.

  Abruptly, the man spoke aloud.

  "The pieces are all in play, Heron." The Vile King's voice sailed from his shadowy, hidden figure as he went on,

  "It's up to you now. I can't afford to waste too much more of my focus on the First Layer." A small smile could be seen, barely visible due to the man's unclear appearance.

  "Do or die, this is it, my young friend. The final act has begun." Constantine Lancaster began to disappear, vanishing from the light of the campfire,

  "Do not disappoint me."

  .

  Chapter 51

  "Head Cameron is in this building?" Micheal froze when he heard Shin's next words.

  "Yeah, he dropped by around half an hour ago to talk to me. My injuries and everything are still pretty fresh." Shin replied quickly.

  Micheal felt blood pound in his ears as a mix of horror, excitement, fear, and worry flooded him.

  If Head Cameron was in this building…

  Then it was very likely the Godfather would know Micheal was here with Shin.

  Head Cameron of the Godfather Organization was a very powerful S Ranker. Officially, he was ranked second, right behind Director Prime on the Main Cluster
Ranking List.

  Micheal was well aware of the man's Abilities, able to recall reading about them due to his own personal interest.

  In particular, Cameron's Gravity Domain Type Ability was what was worrying him now.

  This Ability allowed Cameron to project a Domain that could cover a huge amount of ground, anything within roughly 200 meters of him. The area it affected was a giant sphere, with Cameron's body at the exact center.

  Cameron was aware of any living creatures within his Domain. He could pinpoint their location within a meter, knowledge that he gained innately. He also could build up a vague image of the world in his domain, enough to form a rough mental image.

  Through his Domain, he was able to manipulate gravity, limited only by the power of his Soul. At his current Soul stat, per history, Cameron wasn't able to affect his entire 200 meter Domain, but could pick out any 10 meter large clump and shift gravity within that range. The closer that clump was to him, the more he could shift its gravity.

  His Gravity Domain Type Ability had a downside as well, however.

  He was not immune to the effects of the modified gravity. After all, reality itself was shifting. He was unable to prevent that shift from affecting himself.

  In the past, the Ability had intrigued Micheal and he'd done a little research on it.

  If one's Soul stat was sufficiently high, it was actually possible to manipulate gravity using this Ability and remain unaffected. Down here on the First, however, achieving a high enough Soul stat was near impossible. The advent of using Nest Cores to boost one's Soul stat was a new avenue that might work, but Micheal got the feeling that it would offer diminishing returns as he broke more Nest Cores.

  'He knows I'm here. He will know I broke in through the window.' Micheal's heart continued to pound as he processed this thought.

  'But he doesn't know I know that!' Very little was known about Head Cameron's Limited Type Ability, outside of its gravity manipulation powers. The fact that he could sense people's location in his Domain was something the Godfather had successfully kept as a secret, one of his trump cards.

  Micheal whipped his focus back to the present as he looked back at Shin.

  "Is everything alright?" Shin asked first, staring at Micheal with concern,

  "You aren't going crazy on me again, Micheal?"

  Micheal paused his reply for a split second as he gave Shin an odd look,

  "Again?"

  "In 6th grade you told me you liked Nickelback." Shin shrugged nonchalantly.

  Micheal blinked slowly. He resisted the urge to hang his face in his hands a third time as he sighed, a small smile forcing its way onto his face. The smile faded as his eyes turned serious.

  "Shin, I need you to listen to me very carefully."

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  A small amount of time later...

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Shin looked at the big, Heaton Sniper Rifle Micheal had given him after they finished talking.

  It was large and felt resoundingly solid in his hand. It didn't feel heavy, largely thanks to his boosted strength, when meant maneuvering it would be easy.

  Once Micheal learned that Shin had gone with a long range and/or gun heavy fighting style, Shin's best friend had taken it oddly. Shin didn't find it too surprising, considering the vision of the future Micheal had seen. He, supposedly, was very different then.

  Micheal hadn't argued against that choice, but had instead given him what he termed a 'spare gun' that he no longer needed. Shin had taken it gladly.

  This gun condensed energy from the air to form a 'heat bullet,' according to Micheal. Shin was extremely curious about how this would interact with his Expand Ability.

  'I can't teleport energy, at least for now. How about Expanding it?' The thought was one he couldn't shake.

  Shin hoisted the gun up with his right hand for a moment, tucking it with his arm. He then spun it up to lean on his shoulder, craning his neck to be able to look through the scope.

  He frowned.

  'Aiming it with one hand will be a problem.'

  According to the medical review of his injuries, his arm had been severed at a very deep level. The attack had sliced through his arm to a microscopic degree, imbued with an energy that was extremely invasive.

  Micheal had recognized his injury after learning that Number 6 dealt the blow, saying it was caused by a 'Weapon Mastery' Ability. It was possible to regrow his arm, according to Micheal, but it would take a very long time if he started the process here on the First Layer. At least a year.

  Instead, Micheal had recommended Shin seek out another option for now.

  Abruptly, Shin heard footsteps echo outside his door. His eyes flashed with a hint of appreciation, tinged with disbelief as he stored the new sniper rifle in his Spatial Ring.

  A light knocking echoed out.

  "Sub-Executive Shin? Mind if I come back in?" A polite, gentle and familiar voice sounded off, carrying through the door.

  The voice of the Godfather, Head Cameron. The man had dropped by to visit again, just minutes after Micheal left.

  Exactly like how Micheal said he would.

  "Yes sir!" Shin leaned back in his bed, donning an exhausted look that was entirely fake.

  Head Cameron's familiar form appeared as the man walked in, giving Shin a calm smile. He took several steps into the room, till he was around two meters from Shin's resting bed.

  "My newest Sub-Executive. I thought I sensed a presence down here. I figured I'd come check on you to be certain of your safety." Shin felt vaguely jealous of Cameron's deep voice as he heard the man continue.

  "Ah, that was a friend of mine, sir. A man I knew before the advent of the 7 Layers and someone I trust like a brother." Like Micheal had instructed, Shin openly told the truth.

  Something appeared and then vanished in Cameron's eyes, far too quickly for Shin to notice. The Godfather then smiled back at Shin.

  "Oh? Well, if that is the case, I won't begrudge him sneaking in. His feat is rather impressive given the security perimeter we have set up here." Cameron looked around the room and nodded his head slowly.

  Shin continued,

  "He's decided to join Sophia and I, more permanently as part of my own team." All the Executives and Sub-Executives had their own private forces. The Godfather Organization fostered an environment of freedom and competition in that aspect.

  "He actually just left to go meet up with her. I told him where she was staying." Shin stayed perfectly calm as he shamelessly mixed the truth with lies. He and Micheal had worked this plan up in less than a minute, forming a believable excuse.

  While it might not hold up under extensive review, that didn't really matter. After all, according to Micheal, they would be done here on the First Layer within 30 days.

  "If you find him trustworthy, I won't have any objections to the team you form. However, he can't just be traveling about unescorted so far into our inner territory." Cameron shook his head as he raised his right hand and tapped on a Spatial Ring.

  A smartphone popped out. Cameron quickly typed something out on it, sending a message before he returned his attention to Shin with a smile.

  "As long as he remains within the building, there won't be any issues."

  "He's going to stay here, don't worry! I already let him know." Shin ducked his head as he quickly replied.

  "Very well." Cameron nodded. He glanced back towards the doorway, as if he was preparing to leave, his mission here completed.

  "Ah, Head Cameron? I have a request I would like to make." Shin jumped in before he left, trying his best to remain perfectly calm. There was something about the Head that made one nervous just seeing him. He had a certain air about him that practically emanated authority.

  "Hmm? Go on." Cameron nodded at Shin.

  "I'd like to request a Melding Plate Arm from the Armory." Shin directly requested what Micheal had suggested he ask for.

  A Melding Plate Arm was an Artifact that costs
68,750 Points in the Shop. It was a variation of a Melding Plate Artifact, one of the rare Artifacts that had a slew of sub-options to select from.

  It was a magical tool that could connect to his stump of a shoulder and form a completely new, metallic arm. The power of his arm would sync up with his body, but also be largely dependent on what metals it had absorbed.

  "A Melding Plate Arm?" Head Cameron looked at Shin for a few moments in contemplation.

  "That's a pretty pricey Artifact, if I recall correctly. But, on the other hand, I can see how lacking an arm could greatly impact your effectiveness as a Sub-Executive." Cameron seemed to weigh his options for a moment before he smiled at Shin.

  "Alright, I can give the Armory the okay to send you one. But in return… I'll need you to do a small favor for me."

  Shin listened on, partially in awe.

  Micheal had given Shin two scenarios of how he thought events with Head Cameron would play out. And so far, almost everything that Micheal had said might happen in his second scenario had happened, with near unnerving accuracy.

  Shin raised his head proudly, pushing aside his awe as he yelped out,

  "I would be happy to!"

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  A small amount of time later...

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Micheal felt a drop of sweat drip from his forehead as he knocked gently on a door in front of him. The door was made of wood and looked ornate, with a pink trim around the side of it.

  Behind him, a mostly empty hallway spread out. This was one of the VIP sections of the Medical Bay, filled with various patients. Getting in here at all had proven a trial for Micheal, requiring a bit of subterfuge and sneakery.

  In the end, it had been a bit easier than expected. He'd managed to fake his way through a squadron of guards in one of the stairwells almost too easily. It felt, to his experienced eyes, that they were letting him through on purpose.

  Still, he pushed his suspicions to the side for now as he focused on the present. He needed to check on Sophia, first and foremost.

  The Godfather might have been infected by the Vile King and he had just visited Sophia. There wasn't too much known about the Seeds the Vile King spread. Micheal knew that they were more effective on those that had recently suffered through some traumatic event or had a weakened force of will.