by L. M. Kerr
From out of the smoky landscape, a lone figure emerged just a few meters in front of Xavier. A man with deep blue eyes, holding a steel blade in his hand. The man's face was covered by a large, white theater mask, leaving only his eyes visible.
As Xavier saw him, he shivered faintly.
'This man… he is dangerous.'
"Long time no see, Xavier." Michael stared at the serial killer, his eyes placid.
"Who the hell are you? What do you want?! How dare you attack us!" Xavier's entire body boiled with rage,
"We did nothing to harm you! What have you done with my alli-"
"You can drop the act, Xavier. You aren't fooling anyone." Micheal stared at the fighter through the mask, his voice derisive.
"Hup!" Without even giving the man time to think, Micheal leapt forward, his Steelborn Sword cutting through the air. Sword Energy wrapped around it, giving the blade a powerful edge as he swung forward.
CLANG
thud
Xavier was knocked backwards several steps, holding his two swords out in front of him. Smoke flowed around his body as he slid backwards, cascading like a river.
Micheal narrowed his eyes,
'He's faking. He could've withstood that blow if he wanted.' He instantly reached that conclusion as he felt and saw the impact, his years and years of combat experience kicking in. The way Xavier was flung backward, the way he reacted, it all clued him in, nothing escaping his vision.
'He's already B Rank, probably a high level B Ranker with his Ability.' Xavier was much stronger than Micheal had expected.
As Xavier got his bearings, he stamped down hard with his right foot.
"HIYAAAA!" An explosive burst of energy flew off from Xavier, a blast of wind shaking the air. This energy seemed to be from an Ability of his, though which Micheal was unsure. The gust blew apart the last remaining bits of smoky cover, fully revealing the scene upon the rooftop.
All the members of Xavier's team were lying about two dozen meters away on the floor of the rooftop, still and unmoving. There were no wounds on their bodies, however, and their chests were still rising and falling, indicating that they were still alive.
The masked figure of Sophia was standing guard over them, her arms crossed.
"Stay strong, gang! I'll defeat him and save you all!" A heroic aura burst around Xavier as he saw the downed men and women, blinking as he noticed that they were still alive.
"You knocked out my teammates but are attacking me?!" Mild confusion filled Xavier's voice as he saw this,
"The Knights Gavel will no-" He was interrupted.
"They're all unconscious, you don't need to keep acting." Micheal took a slow step forward. His Steelborn Sword dragged on the ground, a metallic echo screeching out.
The blond haired man stared at Micheal, his eyes slowly narrowing. He then glanced over at his downed teammates, noting that they were indeed all unconscious. He then took a speculative glance around, taking in his surroundings.
Abruptly, his entire demeanor changed. His personality seemed to change completely.
"Hahaha, wow, I'm impressed!" His serious, heroic look vanished, jarringly replaced with laughter and applause. He looked at Micheal with a friendly smile, his head tilting slightly to the side,
"You are really fucking annoying."
WHOOSH
CLANG
Xavier's body blurred as he sprinted forward, crossing the distance between him and Micheal in a single moment. He led forward with a direct slash, shaped like an 'x' right where Micheal's chest was.
The blow sent Micheal sliding backwards, his Steelborn Sword precisely blocking it. He guided the angle of his sword to slam into the weakest point of Xavier's attack, nullifying as much of the impact as possible.
'Oof. He's got power that's at least at 7-8 times the strength of a regular human.' Micheal winced as he pivoted, his feet gliding back as he forcibly came to a stop.
"You caught me, whoever you are, Masky." Xavier laughed cheerfully, a rictus of a smile appearing on his face.
"I don't know how you know, or how much you know, but you clearly know something, ahahaha." He clutched at his stomach as he continued to laugh uncontrollably. Tears streamed down his face as he shook from joy, his body shivering.
'There it is.' Micheal's eyes narrowed.
'His personality shift. The killer part.' Xavier Shallot was an insane serial killer, in the most literal sense of the word.
Micheal had read reports that guessed the killer suffered from some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder, having multiple different personalities that shifted, intermingling with his psyche. The reports concluded he was mentally unstable, lacking any sense of impulse control as a result.
The chaotic situation of the 7 Layers had only exacerbated his condition.
Perhaps back on Earth, a man like this would get treatment and help, living out his life in safety. In the brutal reality of the 7 Layers, however, letting him walk free meant allowing the deaths of thousands. As for trying to recruit him... Micheal could never accept such an unstable element on his team, regardless of how strong the man was.
'...'
'...I will do what I must.' He pushed the thought aside, focusing.
Micheal took a single step forward.
Xavier froze completely, laughter cutting off mid-laugh. His face then whipped back upward, staring at Micheal unblinkingly.
"You caught me alright. But are you enough to handle me?" He flexed his fingers. Immediately, his body began to glow and shimmer. In a split second, his entire physique took on a faintly transparent appearance, just barely see through and clear.
The only thing that remained unchanged was the blue necklace he wore around his neck.
'The Water Elemental Body Type and the Nullification Aura Necklace. He's insane but not an idiot.' Micheal stared at what he saw, nodding his head slightly.
'It's exactly the same as before.'
"How are you going to kill me if you can't even cut me? Ahahaha!"
The mad serial killer began his attack.
.
Chapter 56: Kill
Micheal immediately jumped backwards, moving so quick it almost seemed like he was falling. At the same time, he shifted his center of gravity as close to the ground as possible, leaning low.
Xavier's two blades sheared through the air where Michael had been standing, whipping forward and only narrowly missing. Small bits of water flung off Xavier's arms he attacked, soaking the roof of the skyscraper.
'The Water Elemental Body Type…' Micheal's eyes flashed as his mind raced ahead.
A unique Limited Ability that allowed one to transform their body into Elemental Water. By doing so, things like bullets, swords, or other physical attacks would have little effect. After all, no matter how many times you stabbed a river, the river would be just fine.
In fact, not only was his entire body turned to water, so too did his clothes. Even his swords and the necklace he wore took on a faint, water-like shimmer, no longer fully solid.
The Ability cost 77,300 Points in the Shop and was Limited, meaning the supply was short. By this point in time, the stock on it was completely sold out. For its price, it was a very powerful and useful Ability in the First Layer.
'The advantages of arriving in the Second Wave are indeed pretty great.' He tossed the thought from his mind as he focused fully on combat.
WHOOSH
Micheal ducked and dodged as Xavier came rushing towards him, slashing out with strike after strike. The insane murderer unleashed a flurry of blows, each one ripping forward brutally.
'That said…' Micheal's eyes flashed as he stamped with his foot, half-jumping forward.
CLANG
His Steelborn sword knocked against Xavier's swords, slightly redirecting them. Both blades shook as they sank through the air and each missed hitting Micheal by an inch. Each one was still metallic and durable, despite shimmering like they were made from water.
Micheal was una
ble to cut directly through them using his Sword Mastery, the Sword Energy he could muster from his average soul stat not quite enough. In the First Layer, there were very few ways to increases that stat.
splash
Micheal sliced off Xavier's left arm. His blade, coated with Sword Energy, easily sheared through the arm with practically no resistance. Xavier's sword fell from his left hand as his entire left arm was lopped off, disintegrating into a puddle.
'He is certainly no expert with the sword. His battle style is unrefined.' Micheal dodged backwards as the serial killer spun around with his other arm, avoiding getting stabbed.
"Ohh, you got me." Xavier clutched at his arm, his eyes wide,
"Nah, just kidding."
WHOOSH
A new arm formed, water expanding out into a complete replica of the arm Michael had chopped off. Xavier bent down and grabbed his sword, smiling.
"You're going to have to do better than that, boyo!"
Micheal smiled grimly behind his mask. He had never directly fought Xavier and only ever run from the insane killer in his first time here. The Water Elemental Body type reacted as he had thought it might.
'I've never fought anyone that had this Ability, even in my first go-around. If I disable him completely, can I just keep him down? There's no way he can regenerate infinitely, it's likely a big energy drain.' Micheal dashed forward, ducking low.
'Lobbing my Life Orbs will do nothing to him. Let's try close combat.'
"That's the spirit! Ahahah!" Xavier cackled as he saw this. He then did something outside of Micheal's expectations.
He threw his swords up into the air.
"Let's have some fun!"
Xavier clasped his hands together, concentrating. Micheal's eyes narrowed as he saw this, still sprinting right at the killer.
WHOOSH
Six streams of water split off from Xavier's body, rising from his shoulders like snakes. These streams floated in the air, billowing ever so slightly as they waved in the air. The afternoon light glittered as it moved through the water, cascading brightly.
'He already has his Water Whips this early?' Micheal's frown deepened.
Xavier had grown famous, and into a powerful A Ranker, based on two factors. One was that he was annoyingly difficult to harm, let alone kill. The killer stocked up on powerful Defensive Artifacts, living like a turtle.
The other was his versatile uses of his Water Elemental Body Type Ability.
WHOOSH
The six snakes of water on Xavier's back shot forward, whipping through the air towards Micheal. They moved blurringly quickly, striking at him with no hesitation.
"Hup!" Micheal broke off his charge and stamped his right foot down, dancing into a spin. He shifted his entire body to the side, contorting slightly. At the same time, he sent a Life Orb out of his body and had it smash into him, jerking him abruptly to the side. He ignored the lump of pain it caused as it bruised his ribs, rapidly accelerating.
CRACK
Six simultaneous cracks rang out as all six of the whips of water smashed down, slamming into the roof. Each one had a large amount of force, enough to shatter bones, carried with it, somehow maintaining coherency as if they were solid objects.
Each of the six missed Micheal. He simultaneously managed to track and predict their angles, aiming to position his body to dodge them. He then used his Life Orb to help him instantly change direction, forcibly moving himself to where he needed to be.
Some of the whips came so close to hitting him he could feel the cool air from the water flowing around him, less than an inch from his face.
"Huh?" Xavier's cheery facade shook slightly as he saw this, surprised. He withdrew the snakelike whips of water as fast as he could, raising them up. At the same time, he began to jump backward, his powerful body reacting in an instant.
By that point, however, Micheal had already reached him.
WHOOSH
Micheal's Steelborn sword blurred as he cut out two separate times, first splitting the serial killer in half at the waist and then splitting him in half again with a vertical slash, carefully guiding the blade so it cut into the rope of the necklace Artifact the man was wearing. The tightly controlled motion looked almost mechanical due to his exacting precision and control of his body.
splash
clang
The serial killer's body fell apart, water splashing onto the ground at the same time that the swords he had thrown up landed, echoing simultaneously.
Micheal looked at this and without waiting threw himself backwards, once again ramming a Life Orb into his chest to enhance his speed. He felt one of his ribs crack and almost break as he did this, unable to fully withstand the pressure. The rapid acceleration the Orbs could muster was faster than he could change directions at his current level, but the impacts were slowly injuring him.
CRACK
Four separate whips of water cracked as they lashed out from the puddle of water on the ground, smashing right where Micheal had been standing.
Slowly, the figure of Xavier rose from the water, completely unharmed.
"Wow! You're really good at that!" The man laughed cheerfully, his eyes piercing towards Micheal. He began to step forward, folding his hands together. Several whips of water rose again, shivering in the air.
"Not to sound like a 2-bit villain, but I'm going to enjoy killing you." Xavier smiled, an unerring look coming from him, as he charged forward.
'Well. His Nullification Aura Necklace is undamaged.' Micheal zeroed in on the Artifact the man wore around his neck, ignoring the pain from his cracked rib. He had tried to cut it off when he attacked just moments ago, but it had magically reformed right after.
'What an extraordinary Ability, though he depends on it too much.' He sighed,
'Alright, let's use Plan B and not drag this out. This is going to hurt.'
"Crane, now!" He yelled out loud.
Immediately, the temperature seemed to drop as a pink glow gathered around the masked Sophia's eyes. The light shined forth, the power of her Fairy Eyes activating.
"Huh?" Xavier stumbled to a stop briefly. At the same time, the Nullification Aura Necklace he wore glowed bright blue, activating.
The Nullification Aura Necklace was one of Xavier's key Artifacts, a Limited Artifact that had long since sold out, one that nullified energy based attacks. Sophia's Fairy Eyes were a type of energy based attack, and as a result, were greatly nullified.
It couldn't block them completely, but enough that her Ability had little effect against someone with the strong willpower and psychotic sense of self that Xavier had.
Xavier's obsession with keeping himself safe and alive had led to him buying this 70,000 Point Artifact.
To Micheal, however, that necklace made Xavier a walking treasure chest.
"Hup!" Micheal sprinted forward, bringing his sword forward. He took advantage of Xavier's temporary lapse to reach down to his Spatial Ring, pulling something out of it.
"Hahaha, keep it coming. I'll take all comers!" Xavier recovered enough to see Micheal bearing down on him. He responded by sending his Water Whips forward, cracking in the air.
Micheal then did something unexpected.
He threw his sword at Xavier's face.
"Uh?!" Instinctively, Xavier jerked his head back, unable to help himself. No matter how invulnerable his Ability made him, there were certain things that could not just be turned off. A human's basic survival instincts were one such thing.
In the moment that he jerked his head back, he temporarily stopped attacking. Micheal crossed the distance between them in that minuscule moment of time.
And then punched the serial killer in the stomach.
"…"
BOOM
When Micheal punched forward, he didn't use any special techniques or anything of that nature. Instead, just as his fist slammed into the watery body of Xavier and pierced through it, he crushed an Artifact he was holding in his hand.
An Ar
tifact he had purchased for a bit more than 1,000 Points before he came after Xavier.
A Static Light Box, an Artifact about half the size of his palm.
The mysterious Artifact could be used to provide a continuous stream of light in one area. At the same time, it would create a cool, relaxing aura that could relax the mood slightly.
In combat, it was practically useless…
Practically useless save for one minor quirk.
The Static Light Box drew upon the energy of the environment to create its effect. It was a delicate creation that was rather breakable.
If the Artifact was crushed in an instant, all the latent energy it had absorbed would be released instantly. This energy was stored in a way similar to a battery.
When it was released… it would explode out, rippling with electricity. The current it released was far stronger than that of a taser or a stun gun, enough to seriously injure someone, even a superhuman.
More importantly to Micheal, however, was the fact that the energy it churned out was rather special.
It was a type of energy known as Elemental Lightning, antithetical to Elemental Water.
An explosion rippled out as the Static Light Box went off. Blinding white light and searing pain filled Micheal's mind as he felt his left hand seize up.
The explosion radius of the Static Light Box was tiny, less than a meter large. Xavier was dead in the epicenter, while Micheal was right next to it, his left hand jutted into its origin.
BOOM
The explosion echoed in his ears as every single nerve in Micheal's left arm died.
He instantly lost all feeling in his left arm, the blast of energy knocking him backwards. He spun around as he was knocked away, forcing back the pain as he looked over at Xavier. The pungent odor of burnt meat from his badly seared arm filled the air.
Xavier was standing still, frozen. His body no longer looked as if it was made of water, instead returned back to normal.
The explosion only lasted a very brief instant before returning everything to normal. It didn't set the air to quaking or create a huge gout of fire. Just a small, but potent, blast of Elemental Lightning.