by L. M. Kerr
"You bastard!"
Pirate Lord Byron had finally recovered enough to stand, an Artifact on his wrist glowing as a few bullets fell to the ground. A few of the guards from the Godfather Organization had taken shots at him when he was stunned, trying to take him out to no avail.
When the Pirate Lord saw what Micheal had done, the man was enraged. A faint, wavering yellow glow surrounded the man as he charged at Micheal, his fists trembling. While the glow wasn't as powerful as before, his Mana Body still unstable, it was more than enough to make him a dangerous threat.
Micheal shifted his body so he could see the Pirate Lord. It took Byron only a single second to reach him, his eyes blazing ferociously.
The Pirate Lord didn't hesitate at all, immediately punching directly down at Micheal's face. Micheal was in no condition to dodge, his ruined legs preventing even a slide or duck backwards.
Still, he managed to dodge anyway, ignoring logic.
His entire body shifted to the left and forward as he commanded his two returning Life Orbs to knock into him. The impact threw him into Pirate Lord Byron as if he had launched forward without using his legs or arms, something that looked incredibly unnatural.
The launch caught Byron off guard, but the man didn't let up, confident in his Abilities. He simply lowered his shoulder and rammed it into Micheal's chest, shattering several of his ribs. Even without his Mana Body, Byron's physical stats placed him at more than twice as strong as Micheal.
Micheal didn't try to absorb the impact, focused on minimizing the blow instead so that he didn't die outright. And thanks to that, despite crushing a dozen of his ribs and collapsing both of his lungs, the blow didn't kill Micheal.
As a result, Micheal's right hand flopped forward and just lightly tapped the powerful A Ranker on the neck.
A bloody rictus of a smile appeared on Micheal's face.
'Impact Release!'
His mind focused on the blow he had absorbed from Ravager Jason. A multiple tons, massive Arkian Bear that had rammed into him with maximum force.
Cool energy fluctuated in Micheal's soul as his Ability activated. The energy he had stored from that blow seemed to shiver.
A moment later, that energy rushed forward from his hand, forming an exact equal to the blow Micheal had taken from the Arkian Bear. A gargantuan, multi-ton blow concentrated right on the neck of Pirate Lord Byron.
There was no suspense.
Getting hit by a bear of that size was like getting rammed by a car. Even for a superhuman of Byron's stature, taking a car-sized impact to the neck while his Mana Body was unstable meant almost certain death. Whatever Artifacts he had, whatever Abilities he had, all of them failed to hold up.
The Pirate Lord's neck snapped like a twig.
.
—-Points Obtained—-
Points: 10,208
.
Micheal's body tumbled onto the ground, his heart palpitating as it failed. The last thought he had was a cheerful one.
'That went well.'
Everything faded to black.
Micheal died.
"..."
One of his Life Orbs shattered, leaving him with two Life Orbs remaining. Warm, comfortable energy serenaded Micheal's soul, writhing.
Micheal came back to life.
He blinked as he came to, his nice suit ragged and covered in holes, but his body hale and hearty. Exhaustion tugged at him, something he pushed to the side as he looked up, his eyes focusing in on the duel between Pirate Lord Brandon and Boss Shigun.
'Let's finish this.'
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Chapter 70: Finale
It took Micheal a few seconds to take in his surroundings as he came back to life. His emotions were swept up with wonder and awe for a brief moment.
It was incredibly difficult to put himself in situations where he knew he was going to die. If this had been his old body with his old Abilities, he would've been many times more cautious.
If his Ability didn't work or was neutralized somehow without his knowledge, his next death would be his last, and he wouldn't even know. It was vaguely terrifying, even for him, a veteran of the 7 Layers.
He didn't fear death. He only feared that he would fail to change the future, and leave humanity doomed.
He looked to his left and right, taking in the situation.
Bloody Iron Arm Cain was being forced back. The remaining elite guards of the Godfather Organization and Officer Martin were all piling onto him, making it impossible for him to act.
Sophia, meanwhile, had formed a cadre of Morenkai that were guarding her as she ran towards him.
"Micheal! Behind you!" She waved at him, her voice full of urgency.
Micheal instinctively ducked and rolled.
Not a moment later, the black arm of a Morenkai smashed right where he had been standing.
Behind him, four Morenkai were moving to attack, with more of the shambling creatures stepping in from the doors. They probably had around a minute till more than 30 Morenkai poured in, and even more after.
With a silent flick of his wrist, Micheal sent two Life Orb soaring forward.
The Orbs smacked into the two closest Morenkai, sending them flying back. He winced slightly at the impact, feeling a tiny sensation of strain.
'My soul is getting stressed.' His Soul stat was still average. It was notoriously hard to increase the Soul stat, especially on the First Layer. He had a few ideas on how to get around that, but all of them would take time.
With that thought in mind, Micheal ran directly at the Morenkai. He slid slightly on the ground as he moved, picking up the two White Steel Swords.
In a smooth, graceful motion, Micheal leapt into the air and brought his swords across in a full slash. His arms were merely a blur as he simultaneously beheaded both Morenkai, acidic black blood spattering behind him.
.
—-Points Obtained—-
Points: 9
.
—-Points Obtained—-
Points: 11
.
"We're good!" He gave Sophia a reassuring thumbs up.
He then turned his focus back to the last important place he was needed.
The battle between Lord Brandon and Boss Shigun.
"Hahaha! Look at that, Brandon!" Boss Shigun's voice echoed as he slid backwards, one of Pirate Lord Brandon's blows sending him back a few steps. Shigun's movements were tired, the blood loss and injuries he'd taken showing their toll.
"Your fellow Pirate Lord is dead!" Shigun's voice was full of shameless glee as his eyes darted to the side.
"You- you- Byron is dead?!" Brandon's voice was harried and shocked, horror filling it as he glanced to the side, seeing Byron's corpse. His eyes were rage-filled as he looked at it and then Micheal who was still near it.
Internally, Shigun felt just as surprised.
'How on earth did that brat manage to kill Byron?! And he also killed Ravager Jason and the Silent Viper?!' Pure, unadulterated shock filled him when he looked at the mysterious Irregular. He was filled with a sense of newfound respect, his inability to understand the Irregular solidifying his opinion. This was definitely someone to try and recruit as an ally, not rebuke.
'Is he even truly an Irregular?' He even slightly doubted the intel he received despite being confident it was accurate.
"Hahaha, yes Byron is! You have no chance of succeeding now! Reinforcements will be here in less than 2 minutes!" Shigun's graceful demeanor was nowhere to be seen as he pounded his chest.
"That's what you murdering freaks get! Hahaha!" Shigun's voice was rather unfitting of a 'Godfather Boss,' not that it bothered Micheal.
A bolt of lightning shot out from Shigun's Thunderbar Cane, slamming into Brandon, taking advantage of his distraction. The energy zapped through the Pirate Lord's armor, shocking the man.
Brandon's condition wasn't much better than Shigun's. Despite his powerful armor due to his Type, he had taken several injuries in the battle with the Godfathe
r Organization Branch Boss.
"Arrrgh!" Shigun rained down half a dozen blows with his cane before Brandon managed to ward him off using his Returner Axe.
"Damn it!" With only a single arm and most of his team dead, Brandon's eyes grew bloodshot as he glared at the Red Titan form of Shigun.
"Fuck!" He cursed out loud, stamping his foot down hard as he casually bashed in the skull of a Morenkai that had charged at him. Blood dripped down his armored arm, down onto the handle of his Returner Axe as he breathed heavily.
"It's over, Brandon. Accept your death." Shigun stalked forward.
Micheal, in the meanwhile, had finished taking care of the remaining Morenkai that were near him. He waved Sophia off, yelling at her,
"Protect yourself and get to the stairwell!" He pointed at one specific doorway off to the side. Martin and his men could deal with the traitor Cain and any Morenkai that came their way, at this point Sophia's impact on the battle was settled.
Her Fairy Eyes were useful, but Micheal doubted that Brandon went into a battle with them for a second time without having some sort of protective Artifact to lessen its effects. More importantly, she wouldn't be able to protect herself from Morenkai if she was using the Ability on Brandon. The Demon Fairy of the future could, but Sophia wasn't at that level yet.
"Alright!" Sophia nodded fiercely. Her entire body was shaking with adrenaline as everything unfolded around her, her knife clutched in her hand. She moved to follow Micheal's plan, ordering her Morenkai to follow.
Micheal turned his full focus onto Pirate Lord Brandon. He began to jog towards the man, clutching his two blades tightly.
"This… this is impossible! How could it end up like this?" Brandon was still arguing with Shigun. The fight between the two had stalled briefly as they talked, Brandon in despair while Shigun was relishing the victory and waiting for reinforcements.
"It is because you foolishly overestimated your strength." Shigun replied. As he spoke, he tapped on a Spatial Ring, pulling out a glowing white pill. It was a Mid-Tier Healing Pill, one of the best Healing Pills that could be bought from the Shop in the First Layer. It cost 8,000 Points, a full 100 times more expensive than a Low-Tier Healing Pill.
'A wounded animal is more ferocious than a healthy one, especially if backed into a corner.' Micheal nodded as he saw Shigun prepare.
"This is your fault! You murdering bastard!" Brandon's eyes blazed as he ground his teeth, glaring at Micheal as he charged over.
"That's a bit rich coming from you, huh?" Micheal replied as he reached them, stopping just a few meters away.
"Arrgh! Fuck! First my arm, then all of this… How are you even alive?! You should've died back then, even if I didn't get the kill!" The Pirate Lord lost all decorum as he realized the enormity of the situation he was in, starting to rant.
Abruptly, he began to laugh out loud, delirium seeping into his voice.
"Hahahaha, fine, fine." Brandon casually flipped his axe into the air, his entire demeanor changing as a crazed look appeared in his eyes.
An instant later, a short rope appeared with several round objects tied into it. Micheal's eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at.
12 Gnomish Explosive Bombs, explosives that cost 6,000 Points each in the shop, were rolled up and secured within this rope. Gnomish Explosive Bombs were a step above the Close Impact Bombs or Repulser Grenades that Micheal had handled. Each one was enough to level a rooftop. 12 together… was enough to kill everyone in this room.
'He… he stored a suicide vest in his Spatial Ring?!' Micheal stared, genuinely surprised. To even have something like this prepared…
After a moment he realized it was likely something the Pirate Lord would force a subordinate to wear for some type of suicide attack. The reprobate likely never intended to use it himself.
"Martin! Men! Retreat immediately! Ignore the traitor!" Boss Shigun's voice echoed as he immediately gave his order, his eyes widening. At the same time, he stood his ground calmly, not taking even a single step backwards. He stopped firing energy blasts at the Pirate Lord, clearly worried about setting the bombs off.
'Boss Shigun is a real man at least, but also rather foolish.' Micheal observed in the split second he took to process everything. Shigun's brave actions reminded him of something Shin would do.
"If I'm dying today, I'll take you all with me!" The Pirate Lord's voice was full of madness as he took a step forward and then broke into a mad sprint, the bombs wrapping around his chest.
He didn't start by running towards Boss Shigun as Micheal expected. Instead, the man came right for Micheal, having lost most reason as he realized his death was likely inevitable. It seemed his hatred for Micheal superseded his hatred for Shigun.
'Well, if he just blows himself up on me, I don't even need to- Wait! Oh no!' Micheal's heart dropped, horrified as he realized something,
'If I let him kill himself on his own, how am I going to get his Points?!' He also would greatly prefer it if Boss Shigun and his men survived.
"Young lad, escape while you can! I will hold him off!" Boss Shigun sprinted to try and intercept the Pirate Lord, yelling at Micheal to retreat. Shigun's movements were unsteady from blood loss, his reaction delayed.
'Commendable.' Micheal stopped focusing his attention on Shigun as, in just a split second, Pirate Lord Brandon landed in front of him, swinging his large axe right at Micheal's head.
'Ah! Thank goodness! He's only trying to murder me with his axe, he isn't going to kill himself directly!' He realized, a cheerful smile appearing. He could handle that.
'He probably wants to prevent me from surviving again or running away.' The Pirate Lord had no idea how Micheal was alive and likely wanted to be certain the man he hated would be dead for sure.
Gnomish Explosive Bombs were linked to the soul of the person that controlled them. They would blow up when commanded, as long as the person in control had touched them within the past 30 seconds.
This meant Micheal had only a single shot at stopping Brandon. If the Pirate Lord realized he wasn't killed instantly or found anything suspicious, he would set off the bombs immediately, killing everyone here save Sophia who had safely made it into the stairwell.
'But a single attack is enough.' Micheal jumped forward, taking advantage of Brandon's slight sluggishness to step into the man's attack, just barely dodging it. He dropped his swords in one smooth motion, his right hand reaching up in a blur.
Micheal's hand lightly tapped Pirate Lord Brandon's black plated helmet.
'Impact Release: Bulldozer.' He activated his Ability.
His Impact Release Ability allowed him to store a small number of impacts, the number of which and the strength of which varied depending on his Soul stat.
Before the fight even started, he'd set out and absorbed one special impact as part of his preparation, a secret trump card.
The day before, in the evening as Sophia and he finished their preparations, as the night was rising, Micheal had appeared atop the skyscraper they were staying at. It was one of the higher skyscrapers, towering above its neighbors.
He'd walked over to the edge, looking down at the ground below. Morenkai were just as, if not more, active at night as they were during the day. He took off his Spatial Ring and anything else of importance, setting it on the rooftop for a few moments.
Then, without hesitating, he'd called up two of his Life Orbs and jumped, building up speed as he flew along the side of the skyscraper. He zoomed across it till he reached the end and then flew up as high as he could into the air.
He'd soared more than 20 meters high into the sky, his great leap carrying him quite far.
When he'd reached the apex of his arc, he'd immediately called open the Shop.
'Miscellaneous Earth Objects…' A smile had appeared on his face as he made a very specific purchase, hanging more than 100 meters above the ground.
'Large, Broken-down Caterpillar D11 Bulldozer from Earth - 4,150 Points.' It was expensiv
e, but if he needed to use it, he figured he'd more than make up for the loss.
In a split second, just before he began to fall, a huge, yellow bulldozer had appeared. It was broken down and inoperable, impossible to repair, making it a relatively cheap purchase. This leviathan of a vehicle was 12 meters long and 5 meters tall, weighing a jaw-dropping 230,000 pounds, or roughly 115 tons.
The broken down bulldozer appeared right in front of him. Micheal immediately reached out and grabbed it, pulling his body underneath the gargantuan vehicle.
Then…
The 115-ton bulldozer began to fall.
"Gulp." Micheal had taken a deep breath as he entered into a free fall, a massive machine perched just above him. The streets below began to grow close as they soared downward, the air blasting past him.
It was a terrifying feeling. Fear gripped his heart desperately as every cell in his body urged him to move, urged him to throw himself to the side and dodge.
He controlled himself with an iron will, refusing to move even an inch as they fast approached the pavement below.
'Impact Absorb!' He prepared to activate his Ability ahead of time, readying it.
In a span of just a few seconds, the 115-ton bulldozer picked up an impressive speed, plummeting towards the earth at a breakneck pace.
The last thought Micheal had before he hit the ground was one of slight regret.
'Damn, this is going to hurt.'
Micheal and the bulldozer hit the ground almost simultaneously.
Micheal's body literally exploded, smashed into a faint paste, while the massive bulldozer blew up, metal shards and shrapnel scattering across the street and pelting multiple Morenkai. The impact caught all of the shambling creatures by surprise, knocking many of them down and even injuring a few unlucky ones.
Just seconds later, Micheal came back to life. Stark naked in a pile of rubble, surrounded by rogue Morenkai.
"Yes!" The first thing after he blinked, clearing his vision, was celebrate.
He'd managed to store the impact.