by L. M. Kerr
The Pirate Lord threw his Returner Axe at her, only to see it bounce off some type of magical forcefield that blocked projectiles. A bracelet glowed on Sophia's arm, the Artifact that powered the shield.
Instantly, the Pirate Lord made a decision as more Morenkai began to fill the room, calling back his Returner Axe.
He turned around and fled, not wasting any more time.
Everything that had happened here was far beyond his expectations. He had played everything cautiously, not acting in a careless manner, especially after he saw his target use explosives. Yet, somehow, despite that, he still was badly injured, though he did manage to kill his opponent.
'What kind of man stabs his own heart to attack someone else?!' The thought flashed through his mind, full of incredulity, as he blasted away, sprinting to a doorway and rapidly clambering up the stairs.
Back on the ground floor, Sophia got to her feet, picking up her red dagger as she looked at the approaching Morenkai. Her breathing became quick and nervous as she watched their figures approach. She prepared to make a break for it as well, towards one of the other stairwells.
Before she could do anything else, however…
A blurred figure dashed into sight, cutting down two of the regular Morenkai with ease. Black blood spattered in the air as Micheal looked at Sophia, giving her a wink.
"Quick, let's get out of here! They'll keep swarming if we don't!"
"H-Huh?! Yo-you're alive?!"
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Pirate Lord Brandon took several heavy breaths as he looked out at the overhanging sun, wincing as he felt the agony his left arm was experiencing. He had just made it out onto the rooftop, away from that hellish scene down below.
'The tendon is shot and the muscle almost fully cut. The bone appears intact, if cracked. My shoulder blade is cracked as well, and several of the ligaments are burnt. With proper care from the medical team back at base, I should recover fine, though I'll likely require some medicine from the Shop.' His body shook,
'If I hadn't already killed that unknown bastard, I'd swear an oath to do so right now. I left that bitch alive too…' He swore in his head, trying to regain control of his thoughts. The pain and anger he felt was clouding his judgment,
'But really… who stabs their own heart to attack someone, and then sets off a bomb while still holding onto it?!' He was filled with anger as he repeated an earlier thought, still not over it. He had never faced such an illogical opponent. If not for his powerful Type Ability, he likely would've died. The entire series of events ridiculous.
"Oh? Is that you, Brandon?"
Abruptly, Brandon's heart dropped as he spun around, hearing a familiar voice,
A man covered in a lustrous, golden aura with a pair of beautiful wings flowing from his back stared at Brandon.
"Raymen." Brandon muttered back, stupefied. He had just run into the General of the Saru Group. One of his avowed personal enemies. How could his luck today be so bad?
"Far from home, aren't ya? Oh? You appear to be quite injured." General Raymen's eyes flashed as he took this all in, his hand slowly going to his waist, where a long silver sword could be seen.
"How unfortunate for you."
.
Chapter 44: Escape
"How are you still alive?!" Sophia's voice was full of shock as she stared at Micheal. His body was completely free of injuries, though his clothes were not. His shirt had fallen to scraps, revealing a muscular and lean, tanned physique. His pants were just barely on, held together by a few untorn scraps of cloth.
"Hup!" Micheal swung his sword around in an arc, killing three separate Morenkai in a smooth motion. Black blood spattered out as the gruesome creatures fell. The air became tainted with the scent of this acrid Morenkai blood, a sharp stench that clung to his nose.
.
—- Points Obtained —-
Points: 13
.
—- Points Obtained —-
Points: 11
.
—- Points Obtained —-
Points: 10
.
The other Morenkai began to press forward, undaunted by the deaths of their brothers. More and more Morenkai could be seen swarming the building from the outside, dozens of the powerful figures crowding. Micheal could even make out an Abnormal in the crowd outside, its head colored a dark shade of green.
"I'll tell you later! For now, follow me!" He yelled, motioning behind him as he began to cut through the Morenkai. They had a few moments before the crowd of Morenkai fully forced themselves in, just enough time to flee to one of the stairwells.
Sophia raced behind him, overcoming her shock quickly due to the attacking beasts. While her Artifact could stop long range attacks, it wasn't very useful against melee combat.
Micheal cut down two more Morenkai before they reached the stairwell, a different one compared to the one that the Pirate Lord had taken. The stairway had returned to its well-lit state now that the Golden Morenkai was dead, making navigation easy.
"Quickly! This way!"
Micheal led Sophia up several flights of stairs. Dozens of Morenkai rushed up after them, a veritable swarming mob.
Soon they reached the 5th floor. At this point, Micheal pulled Sophia with him into the hallway.
"Wha- they're right behind us! We can't stop here!" Sophia sputtered but still followed him. Her eyes were panicked as she heard the monsters chasing after them, only a single floor down.
"We can't go up top either, the Pirate Lord might be up there!" Pirate Lord Brandon was known to be somewhat reckless in Micheal's past life. His defensive Ability was a notably powerful one and gave him a huge amount of confidence, especially when combined with his powerful physique and Earth Tier Ki Cultivation.
Because of that, Micheal hadn't and still didn't think there might be other members of the Black Flag Pirates nearby. But that didn't mean he could be careless.
He reached a room halfway down the hallway and flung the door open, pulling Sophia in.
In it was a large table with several relaxed looking chairs, some glowing fluorescent lights, and a door that led to the outside. A lounge.
He raced over to the outside door and flung it open as well, calling for his Life Orbs to appear.
He currently had two left after expending one to come back from the dead. The dimly glowing blue orbs immediately sank down to the floor as he mentally commanded them to move.
"Hup!" Micheal grabbed ahold of Sophia, scooping her up haphazardly.
"What are yo- Are you going to jump?! WHAT?" Micheal ignored her protests as he leapt forward into the air, jumping off the 5-story high outcropping.
To her credit, Sophia didn't scream or panic. She merely held on to Micheal, her eyes wide. The past few minutes had been incredibly action packed and shocking to her, but from those events… She didn't believe Micheal would just kill the both of them.
…
Then again… he did try to suicide bomb that black armored warrior and seemingly die and came back to life…
She felt as if her stomach was fluttering with butterflies as Micheal sailed into the air, falling down towards the ground.
A moment later, however, the two Life Orbs he'd summoned flew over and clung to his badly damaged shoes as if they were a part of him.
Like magic, Micheal began to soar through the air, flying along the side of the skyscraper. He didn't waste any time at all as he flew, immediately jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper. The breeze blasted at him and Sophia as he flew, cool and refreshing.
Sophia's eyes widened in wonder as she saw this. She hugged on even tighter to him, her grip like stone as they soared. Down below, Morenkai forms occasionally looked up but quickly lost interest as they flew away.
They travelled for several minutes, jumping more than a dozen skyscrapers.
Finally, after fleeing almost 20 skyscrapers away, Micheal found an open lounge on the 10th floor of a random skyscraper and set them down.
The duo collapsed onto the patio, both of them breathing heavily. Micheal's heart was pounding with adrenaline, a huge smile on his face. Sophia, conversely, looked as if she was about to be sick.
"Aha, so there we are! Perfectly safe!" He gave her a cheeky grin, in a great mood,
"We got away!"
.. .. .. .. .. ..
A few minutes passed as Micheal and Sophia retreated inside the skyscraper, relaxing. Sophia gradually calmed down, the shock and danger of the battle sinking into her mind and settling. She looked at Micheal with a sense of newfound respect, her eyes gleaming.
They were sitting on a few cushioned chairs in the lounge, resting. Sophia had bought them a couple of bottles of water, sharing with Micheal. Micheal had accepted, though he'd come prepared with water in his Spatial Ring. He'd also gotten himself a new set of clothes, a white shirt and a set of grey pants, as well as a pair of new shoes, discarding the scraps of his previous garments.
"Thank you for saving me." The first thing she did when she came to her senses was thank Micheal,
"And thank you for getting me those Points. Everything you said was true." Her voice was still cool, but there was a hint of warmth behind it.
Actions were louder than words, and Micheal's actions had shown his sincerity. His skill, his truthfulness, and everything he displayed had gradually won her over.
She didn't trust him completely. It was, after all, their first day meeting. But she no longer regarded him as an enemy or someone to be ignored.
"It was nothing. I didn't expect for the Pirate Lord Brandon to show up, though. Did you do something to offend the Black Flag Pirates?" He returned, glancing at her calmly. This hadn't happened in the original future. Likely something he did, perhaps even his existence, had helped cause this change.
"Aren't you supposed to be a Seer?" She eyed him.
Micheal nodded,
"Yes, but I can't see everything. My vision is an inborn gift, unrelated to the Shop." He explained. It was all true, in a way.
"Well. All I did was turn down their invitations. You said that man was the Pirate Lord Brandon?!" As what Micheal said fully hit her, her eyes widened in surprise. She shifted slightly in her seat.
"Yes, quite a brutal man." Micheal didn't know too much about him, other than that he never showed mercy to his foes.
"Is-isn't he the leader of the Black Flag Pirates?! Like, he's super strong?!" While she had only been here a few days, she had managed to get some understanding of the people that were trying to invite her to their team. She still had little information to go by, but it was better than nothing.
"One of them, yes, and it's why it was so hard to face him down. In terms of raw physical strength, he's one of the absolute best in the Cluster. Combine that with the raw defensive power of his Type Ability and he's an extremely tough foe." Micheal nodded,
"I went through all that effort to injure him badly and send him fleeing… but he didn't even lose his arm." He sighed. After he had been killed, he'd reformed his body a moment later using a Life Orb. He had found that he could delay his revival for up to a couple of seconds, giving him a bit of leeway in that regard.
Type Abilities were simply too powerful. While they might not be able to compare to, in his opinion, the ability to come back to life after dying, they still gave their users unique and powerful benefits that couldn't be ignored.
Every action Micheal had taken had been carefully planned. From using an explosive early to make the Pirate Lord believe that was his main goal, to making it subtly obvious he was aiming for the man's face, to allowing the Pirate Lord to break his arm and trap it against his chestplate.
His careful positioning of his blade, the surprise attack by stabbing through his own heart.
Micheal's long years of experience as an intrepid warrior, intent on nothing but growing stronger and getting better at fighting, came in handy. The Pirate Lord was in his grasp the entire time.
And yet, despite all of that, the Pirate Lord had escaped with wounds that could be healed.
'I didn't think I would be able to kill him… it's only Day 3 after all. But I had hoped for better.' He sighed again,
'Rank A is indeed Rank A… but think of all the Points I could've earned.'
"Wow! Well, you did great! I can't believe someone can get that powerful in only 3 months!" Sophia's voice was full of a hint of eagerness,
"If I can get that strong, it should be much easier to find my little sister." She stood up from the chair she was sitting on, giving Micheal a serious look.
"If we can keep hunting down these Golden Morenkai together, equally splitting the Points, then I'm in." The strong will of the Demon Fairy showed through as she took the initiative,
"I am willing to work with you long term." Her eyes flashed,
Micheal stood up as well, holding out his hand,
"You got a deal, girly." He gave her a solemn nod,
"But before that… there's something I need to tell you. It has to do with how time works here in the 7 Layers and your little sister…"
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Chapter 45: Plans
"Hmm, let's see…" Micheal muttered as he looked at the transparent screen in front of him, tapping through the options.
He was currently sitting down in a small bedroom, separate from the one he'd previously had. After allying with Sophia, they had decided to lay low. The Black Flag Pirates would doubtlessly be searching for her, though they likely assumed he was dead.
—-Abilities—-
Thunder Legs Type - 860,400 (1/5)
Armageddon Matrix Type - 25,250,000 (0/3)
Golden Shield Warrior Type - 500,000 (4/10)
Eldritch Snarer Type - 235,000 (5/5)
Red Orc Type - 88,000 (9,000/9,000)
Fire Weaver Type - 23,000 (1,200/1,200)
Void Ripper Type - 40,000 (10/10)
Shock Geniton Type - 1,800,500 (1/2)
Black Mace Type - 12,000 (330/330)
Quickstep Type - 280,000 (18/18)
Frozen Warrior Type - 70,000 (221/250)
Armor Force - 92,000 (27/30)
Healing Aura - 65,000 (456/800)
Immemorial Vision - 212,000 (0/25)
White Mane Clone - 74,000 (12/50)
Impact Release - 45,000 (2/20)
Guiding Light - 22,800,000 (0/1)
Magic Swell - 65,000 (8/10)
Electric Touch - 80,000 (200/250)
Ocean Clone - 260,000 (32/35)
… (37/41 page)
"Hmm, Void Ripper Type is gone, that was a good one. So is Quickstep Type already too? Wow, I didn't realize they all went so fast." He scanned the list. He had known that many of the affordable Limited Abilities would be snapped up by the time the Fourth Wave ended, but for so many to be gone so soon, it was a bit surprising.
He was in the back portion of the Shop, where many Limited Abilities could be found. When it came to Abilities, the way the shop sorted seemed somewhat haphazard. Just because an Ability cost a large number of Points didn't mean it would be ultra-powerful. Conversely, just because an Ability was cheap didn't mean it would be weak.
In general, higher Point Abilities were better, stronger, and more useful. However, the decent number of exceptions to this rule meant it wasn't always true.
He considered these thoughts for a moment,
'My Life Orb Master Ability was pretty cheap, though it did have the downside of disallowing a Type.' He nodded,
'Yet the Limited Void Ripper Type Ability is even cheaper and also incredibly powerful.'
The Void Ripper Ability fully transformed one's body into an incredibly dense and tough humanoid form, granting huge bonuses to Strength and Endurance. One's skin became slightly grayer as a result. More importantly, however, it gave the user the power to use their bare hands to rip apart stone, steel, or even reality itself, if one's Soul stat was high enough.
It was one of the strongest and most useful Type Abilities you could buy from the Shop, yet only cost 40
,000 Points. It was one of the exceptions to the direct 'Points = Strength' theories put forth by some researchers.
'Well, Void Ripper was probably gone before the First Wave even ended.' He shrugged.
"There they are…" He muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glanced over two Abilities in particular.
The Limited 'Impact Release' Ability and the Limited 'Magic Swell' Ability.
'They still have some slots left! Great!'
Limited Abilities were usually quite unique, with their prices often disordered and sometimes even seemingly random. He certainly would've priced his Life Orb Mastery Ability higher, even with its no-Type negative.
'These two can both be easily removed.' He smiled, pleased.
He could only have 7 Abilities. This was an unbreakable law that Humanity had never moved past. However, it was possible to remove some Abilities, through various methods, and switch to different Abilities. Both the ones he'd picked out were ones that could be easily removed.
Most Type Abilities were permanent, as were most Abilities that had a high Points cost.
He tapped on the Impact Release Ability, pulling up its description.
.
—-Impact Release—-
The Impact Release Ability allows the user to record the energy from any attack used against them, drawing upon the latent energy of reality to store an equivalent amount in their soul. When the user chooses, they can unleash all stored energy at will from any part of their body or using any object they are holding. The maximum amount of energy one can store and release is dependent on the user's Soul stat.
.
He smiled slightly as he looked at the somewhat misleading description.
It was accurate that the Ability allowed one to record any impact in totality and store an equivalent amount of energy. What the Ability didn't mention, however, was that it didn't block or protect you from any of that impact…
If you got hit by a cannon with this Ability, you could completely copy the impact from that attack and store an equal amount of energy from it. You could then release it any time you wanted. However… you had to survive getting hit by a cannon first to make use of it.