Reborn: Apocalypse (Volume 3): (A LitRPG/Wuxia Story)

by L. M. Kerr

  All four were geniuses and incredibly skilled. Despite only living in the 7 Layers for a small number of years, they had already grown incredibly strong, comparable to Byren Martial Artists that had trained for hundreds of years.

  Those four should all be extremely strong First Rate Warriors right now, true experts that would rise to become Supreme Warriors by the start of the next Wave.

  Humanity, with their ‘Shop’ Attribute and numerous geniuses, was famed for their rapid rise to power. There was a good reason why Micheal and Humanity’s Last Army managed to reach the final, Seventh Layer, even if only for an instant.

  According to Simone, she and her team had arrived at the Starting Grounds around 6 months ago. They teleported in with little fanfare, taking only a single day to fully group up.

  By this point in time, the Syndicates were in full control of humanity, enforcing a rule of order and law. The Human Alliance wasn’t all bad, after all; there were certainly upsides to it.

  Simone and her allies were fiercely independent. As a result, they didn’t join any of the Four Barons and instead went out on their own, intent on creating their own group.

  And as part of that intention, Simone actually drew from something she’d gained on the First Layer. An interaction she had with someone Micheal was very familiar with.

  The Seer.

  Simone had become a strong enough A Ranker on the First that she earned the right to speak to the woman. And the Seer, in turn, told Simone of a vision of her future.

  The vision itself had been unclear, but the general gist was that she would go through a dangerous, inescapable trial where failure meant death.

  Simone, naturally, had been horrified to learn that. The Seer’s visions were famed for their truthfulness, if often paired with vagueness.

  The Seer had offered Simone some consolation, saying that destiny was, ultimately, in her own hands. The Seer’s visions looked at someone’s fate at the current moment in time. That fate could switch or change, based on the knowledge of its impending arrival.

  Nothing was set in stone.

  And alongside that consolation, the Seer mentioned that there was hope for Simone. When the trial came upon her, she needed to search an ancient forest for ‘That which has been lost but will rise again.’

  Without knowing when or where this trial would take place, Simone refused to live a passive life in fear on the First Layer. Instead, she chose to lead her force to the Second Layer and tackle it head-on.

  And after she arrived, she immediately began to search for ‘an ancient forest’ that held what she looked for.

  Unfortunately for her, the trial she was ready to fight against was far more overwhelming than she had thought.

  For, just a couple of weeks after her group became independent, they ran afoul of Baron Rex.

  She and her team had been out hunting in a large valley. Since her group wasn’t part of any Syndicate, they were restricted from staying in most areas controlled by the Human Alliance.

  Still, there were plenty of Byrens that were willing to interact, trade, or hire humans for various things, and her group was getting by quite well. The Ancient World was a world dominated by martial power, and Simone’s power put her as a Second Rate Warrior, a personage that couldn’t be ignored.

  In particular, the Artifacts humanity could purchase were rapidly growing in demand, especially Spatial Rings.

  Simone’s Rury Group had been hired to clear out a grove near a large village that had been infected with Winter Wolves, Low-Tier Magic Beasts that could breed prohibitively quickly if ignored. They were to be rewarded with a slew of Spirit Crystals.

  The powerful energy cores contained a fount of energy that was very useful for increasing a human’s, or any race’s, Ki Cultivation. It was almost impossible for a human to hunt one naturally, given that Spirit Crystals were automatically converted to Points when a creature was killed by a human.

  Regular Spirit Crystals couldn’t be converted to Points. It was only ones that were still within a living being that had just been killed that could be automatically absorbed. Humanity’s research into this odd subject ended up concluding that it had something to do with the ‘Soul’ of a dying beast and how the Shop worked, though they were unable to clarify further.

  When they were in the midst of their hunt, a strange man appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He had applauded them as they hunted the Winter Wolves, giving out pointers and cheering them on, though not helping directly.

  Their fight took a full 2 hours to finish, yet he stayed and watched all of it.

  And then, as it was over, he came down and directly challenged Simone.

  ‘You have spirit, but you lack strength. Come, all of you. Experience true power and aspire to be better.’ His words were extremely arrogant.

  He then directly attacked while laughing out loud.

  And, as they found out, he was absurdly powerful.

  A simple wave of his hand sent half a dozen warriors flying through the air. A stomp of his foot shattered the earth, throwing up shards of stone and great spears of rock. His movements were incredibly fast, each one full of predatory power, even in a world where gravity was 30% heavier.

  In mere seconds, everyone except Simone had been defeated.

  And, as Simone learned, he hadn’t even been serious.

  Simone possessed the Silver Scaled Snake Type Ability, a strong Limited Type Ability that gave her a plethora of unique powers. She could control some breeds of snakes, her body transformed to become far more limber and stronger than a regular human, and she could partially transform her body into a powerful ‘Battle State.’

  She went all out as she fought against this irrational human, and was still helpless.

  And then, at the very end of the fight, the Baron revealed his true power.

  His body shook and abruptly blurred, transforming and expanding. In a single, frightening moment, his body distorted and grew to become huge. His arms and legs transformed, his entire body-shape changing.

  Baron Rex transformed into a dinosaur.

  A gargantuan, 8-meters-tall predator, with enormous teeth, glistening clawed feet, and bulging muscles. He had scaled, leathery skin that was colored a faded brown, two massive main legs, two much smaller clawed arms, and a giant tail that ended with a spiked ball.

  He looked much like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but was significantly larger than most breeds from Earth, revealing how he got the ‘Rex’ part of his title.

  On the First Layer, Transformation Type Abilities were somewhat rare. Even the strongest users typically had Soul stats that were too weak, greatly limiting their power. Apart from Vampire and Werewolf Types, which technically were Transformation Type Abilities, though they weren’t often considered that, very few other Transformation Type Abilities were well known.

  On the Second Layer, however… This was the Layer where Full Transformation Type Abilities shined.

  Baron Rex was a Full Transformation Type Ability user, making him an Adapted Human as they came to be known. His Soul stat was at a high enough point that he could fully draw out a Full Transformation, no longer limited to the Partial Transformations of the First Layer.

  And, with his extremely rare Limited Behemoth Predator Type Ability, he made full use of that power.

  Simone lost the battle miserably.

  However, instead of killing them, Baron Rex spared their lives. In return, he ordered them to grow stronger and more powerful, to use their hatred to fuel their strength to become strong enough to challenge him. He was incredibly outlandish in his demands, and seemed to care little for their feelings as he told them to struggle.

  His speech was one that Micheal found suspiciously similar to the Vile King’s mantra…

  The man then left them while still laughing nonchalantly, abandoning them to deal with their injuries on their own.

  That wasn’t the end of it, however.

  After the Baron left, Simone explained, some of his subordinates
arrived in turn. And, as Simone and her crew lay unable to defend themselves, she and the rest of the Rury Group were all poisoned by these very subordinates and given an ultimatum.

  The poison was a slow-acting one that magically sealed itself in their bodies, one they were unable to find any cure for. If they wanted to be healed, according to their poisoners, they would need to defeat Baron Rex and demand it by force. Otherwise, death would come for them, inevitably.

  One thing led to another, and here they were now. Poisoned, with death approaching, and close to their wit’s end.

  Simone followed the advice of the Seer, and eventually found her way to this hidden forest, through a mixture of luck and desperate searching. However, she had had no luck so far when it came to getting past the door of this mystical cave, despite being certain she could grow vastly more powerful if she just took a single step forward.

  “Huh.” Micheal looked at Simone, resisting the urge to rub his forehead in frustration.

  Something was happening here… but he wasn’t sure what it was.

  He felt like he was missing a key piece of the puzzle, some bigger picture that he was unaware of.

  Baron Rex was a fighting maniac; this was something Micheal was well aware of. But of the Four Barons, he was the least likely one to resort to subterfuge, like poisoning someone. He might be arrogant, but he was straightforwardly arrogant.

  However, as Micheal reflected, he could definitely see how Rex’s attitude was very similar to someone being influenced by the Vile King. It was entirely conceivable that he was one of the two Barons that Constantine had infected. Perhaps that was why the future played out as it did, so heavily maligning the Rury Gang.

  Still… something felt vaguely wrong, nevertheless. He felt like he was missing something. Whatever hidden truths might exist here on the Second Layer continued to escape his grasp.

  It was also possible that Simone was lying to him. However, after all she had said, and what Micheal had observed, he was heavily inclined to believe her. He had years of experience working with people, and so much of what she said was genuine and correct, based on the history he knew for certain.

  After a moment, Micheal let out a sigh.

  Whatever the answer was, he would figure it out later. For now, he should just focus on the present. And right now…

  His eyes flicked to his left, glancing out a stone window in Simone’s hut. In the background, he could see the dimly lit entrance to the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance.

  “Well, Simone, then I really do have to apologize. I’d like to make up for my mistaken attack on you.” Micheal’s gaze returned to zero in on Simone,

  “You’re trying to get past that stone door, right?” Micheal made a jerking motion with his hand towards the cave entrance.

  Simone crossed her arms and looked at him gingerly before nodding,

  “Yes. Otherwise, we can only wait for death.” Her words were measured as she spoke, giving away nothing.

  Micheal smiled,

  “Then I have some good news for you.” His eyes gleamed,

  “I know how to get you past that door. And not only that…” His voice took on a deep edge,

  “If we manage that, I may know a way to cure the poison you’ve been hit with.”

  .

  Chapter 9

  Simone, naturally, was still wary of Micheal. He had, after all, just attacked her. Still, the fact that he called off his attack and explained what he’d been ‘told’ won him a great deal of credit.

  There was a short back and forth as they talked, with Simone asking pointed questions and Micheal explaining them rather succinctly.

  Instead of holding the information he knew over her head like an ax, refusing to give an inch unless she gave a mile, he decided to be completely open about what he knew.

  “Opening that door is actually rather simple.” Micheal explained with a calm nod, trying his best to put her at ease. It was the least he could do, given the past few minutes.

  “How do you know that, or any of this?” Simone crossed her arms as she interrupted him with a studying gaze.

  “Hmm… well, it’s not a secret.” Micheal shrugged as he began to lie through his teeth,

  “I first heard of this place from a group of elderly Byrens. Apparently, this place used to be treated like a holy site, long ago. That’s where I heard that a group of bandits had taken control of the area.” Micheal waved his hand around, motioning at the camp.

  Simone’s mouth twitched as she smiled wryly,

  “Well… I suppose the men are a bit… anxious, and we probably give off that type of air. We are all slowly dying, after all. They won’t do anything drastic, but it can get pretty heavy around here.” Her smile faded halfway through her reply, a dour look appearing on her face.

  “I gathered that.” Micheal had picked up on the unusually serious edge that governed the warriors here, but had attributed that to discipline, something that was at odds with the lax security inside the camp.

  The outer layers of sentries were strict, but apart from that, the camp was practically defenseless. The Rury Group was caught between a mix of eager self-defense and despairing acceptance of impending death. It was a confusing place to be in, one that had earned Micheal’s pity.

  They reminded him a bit of himself, when he was younger. Caught again and again between a rock and a hard place, oftentimes the only blades Micheal could use to fight his way out were double-edged, stained with the blood of those he was forced to sacrifice.

  For a brief moment, his eyes flashed red as an image of a beautiful Farian girl appeared in his mind, stabbed in the chest by a long, black sword. An image of this girl lying in his arms, dying as she stared back up at him dully.

  With an almost inhuman display of willpower, Micheal forced the image from his head. Despite that, his heart physically shuddered as emotions threatened to overwhelm him, crashing against barriers he had raised long ago.

  ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ For a single moment, shock filled his heart at this lapse of control. Memories tried to swarm up in his mind, feelings he had thrown away long ago crashing down on him.

  “Are you alright?” Simone’s concerned voice dragged Micheal back to the present, freeing him from the torrent of pain that had risen in his heart. Micheal looked back up, his face returning to its ever-present calmness as he nodded,

  “Ah, yes. My apologies, just a bad memory.” Internally, Micheal shoved those memories of pain to the side, grimly regaining control of himself. He would have time to face all of that later; right now, he had a mission to complete.

  He took a deep breath and then let it out.

  “So. Getting past those doors.” He motioned at the window, pointing to the entrance to the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance as if nothing had happened,

  “It’s not actually that complex.”

  “What do we need to do?” Simone re-crossed her arms as she looked at Micheal, unsure.

  “First, the door can only be opened at dawn.” Micheal began to explain,

  “And when we do go to open it, the door itself will require a sacrifice.”

  “A sacrifice?” Simone’s eyes narrowed,

  “Yes. A sacrifice.” Micheal nodded,

  “A living sacrifice.”

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Meanwhile, to the north of the O’Shack Grove, within the territory of the Silent Sword Sect…

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  A thousand mountains spread out into the distance, forming an enormous stone barrier full of vast, jagged pillars pointed high into the sky. The mountains towards the center of this enormous range were covered in meandering swaths of gleaming fog.

  The fog wasn’t ever-present and often moved about in random patterns, leaving most of each mountain exposed to sunlight. Still, a very clear dividing line was visible separating mountains that had the fog, and those that didn’t.

  Two furtive figures could be seen standing on the side of one of the mountains tha
t held no fog. These figures, clad in grey robes and doing their best to remain hidden from sight, were currently talking to each other on a small stone outcropping, behind a set of large boulders. The darkness of night surrounded them, giving them the privacy they desired.

  “Myla, if you can’t find a way to track down these killers soon, my hand will be forced.” The first speaker had a deep voice, one that echoed quietly in the air, full of majesty and confidence. The speaker had a lean, but masculine figure, visible even through the robes that hid his appearance.

  “Gregor, you need to give me more time! I told you, they aren’t like normal humans. Most humans aren’t evil!” The second speaker’s voice was dainty and pure, despite the anger held within it. Listening to the woman speak was like listening to the fresh, clear tones of a waterfall, uplifting even when she was mad.

  “Some of these killers operate almost in unison across great distances. A few of them seem to be more independent, but all of them are abnormally strong.” The woman sighed in frustration.

  “Magic Messaging?” The male figure raised a question, though it was more of a statement than anything else.

  The female figure shook her head,

  “It shouldn’t be possible. The Laws of Reality here are too restrictive, even our highest-tier Magic Messaging Systems no longer works beyond a few Denim (~0.6 Kilometers). Maybe they have some of their weird Artifacts helping them.”

  The male figure stood there silently, crossing his arms in a stalwart posture that gave away nothing.

  “Has the Silent Sword Sect said anything?” The woman added, her voice hopeful.

  The stern male figure shook his robed head.

  “The Byrens value the humans’ Artifacts too much. As long as their own don’t start dying, they don’t care about us. The humans are cunning like that, too. They’ve only targeted our own, and maybe the other non-Byren races.” The male figure clenched his fist.

  As he did so, the air around him flashed blood red. Raw energy congregated around him in a wild torrent, an Aura of power that caused the ground beneath his feet to crack.

  “Gre-Gregor!” The woman gasped out loud, holding up a hand.