Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  —-Points Obtained—-

  Points: 112

  .

  —-Points Obtained—-

  Points: 124

  .

  Micheal's spinning slashes sheared through each Abnormal twice, splitting each one into three sections, sending blood spattering out in small waves. The freakish creatures fell to the ground like ragdolls, unable to put up even the slightest hint of resistance against Micheal's precise attack.

  'Regular Abnormals, even in groups…' He snorted slightly, feeling pleased.

  They could no longer pose even the slightest challenge to him anymore. The only thing he would have to be wary of were Monster Class Morenkai. And, of course, other humans.

  "Thank you, Emissary Heron!"

  "Thank you, sir!"

  "Emissary Heron!"

  The Saru Group warriors were all cheers and smiles as they rushed up to Micheal, thanking him. The rest of the Coalition moved into the area, their eyes full of respect and fear as they looked at Micheal. Sophia stayed near the back of the group, her presence small and practically unnoticeable as she avoided drawing attention.

  "It's nothing. How are you all? Any injuries?" Micheal glanced over the fighters, seeing quite a few bruises and cuts, but nothing too apparent.

  "No, sir! How is Captain Simon?" The B Ranker Maurice stepped forward, her voice filled with a faint hint of urgency.

  "I'm fine, Maurice." A male voice echoed out as Captain Simon forced his way through the crowd, hobbling forward. The bulky man was hunched over slightly, limping as he walked, but seemed otherwise fine.

  As the Captain walked up to his team, he looked at Micheal and gave a long, respect-filled bow.

  "Thank you very much, sir. I'm not sure I could've handled that heavy Abnormal." His every word was genuine.

  "Mhm." Micheal simply nodded, maintaining the austere air of an expert. He kept up the formal impression, keeping himself a mysterious figure.

  Half the reason he had agreed to bring this force with him was to build up an impressive reputation, after all. It would make his future plans easier.

  "We've cleared up top!" A loud, familiar voice sounded off as the Flesh Wizard, Hunter, waved down from the roof where the sharpshooters had been. A large, lumbering red Abnormal appeared right behind him, a rewarding conquest from the battle if the pleased look on the man's face was any indicator.

  "Alright. The fight is settled. Good work." Micheal waved at them, and then motioned at everyone,

  "Everyone, take 20 to regroup and recuperate. Teams 9 and 1 will take over the vanguard when we start moving." Micheal's voice echoed out loud as he took command.

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Yes, Emissary Heron!"

  "Sounds good!"

  He got a chorus of replies in response, as well as a grateful nod from Simon. The man sat down on the ground directly, taking a pair of Low-Tier Recovery Pills and some other type of medicine as he focused on healing.

  The rest of the group began splitting up by their various organizations. Some of them talked and pointed at the dead Morenkai while others laid down to rest or practice.

  'So many Abnormals…' Micheal's eyes flashed as he looked around. Sophia walked up next to him, her voice mute as she studied the dead bodies as well.

  'It's probably a Nest.' A hint of excitement appeared in his heart.

  Nests.

  It was extremely rare to see a Nest in any of the outer Clusters. On the Great Bridge or in the Main Cluster, however, Nests were far more common. They were still quite rare, but they weren't unheard of. For them to run into one on their second day wasn't too out of the ordinary, not when given the incredible pace they were setting.

  Most Morenkai came into existence from seemingly nowhere or rising from the ground, magically appearing due to whatever strange laws governed this world. Some Morenkai, however, spawned into existence clustered around a certain point in space. A large, floating black sphere.

  What was known as the 'Nest Core' of a Nest.

  Most Nests had a higher chance of spawning Abnormal Morenkai. And, as a result, a higher chance of spawning Golden Morenkai.

  Most Nest Cores were temporary, falling apart on their own or vanishing after a few weeks. Permanent ones, however, could be staked out long term, and would provide a multitude of Golden Morenkai as time went on.

  'While it won't be a permanent one, even if it's only temporary, I can still use it to test my plans.' The thought flashed through Micheal's head, his eyes pensive.

  As he was thinking, he overheard a few conversations going on around him. Most of the voices were hushed, but his finely tuned senses managed to catch what a majority of people were talking about.

  "Man, what a crazy battle. So many Abnormals showed up out of nowhere."

  "Especially that big one. Do you think it was Monster Class?"

  "Who knows. But Emissary Heron certainly crushed…"

  "As expected of the Angels Arcadia, to think that the…"

  Micheal smiled as he heard the last comment, putting aside the topic of Nests for a moment. The Angels Arcadia…

  He didn't actually have anything to do with them. He knew their Emissaries, their elite high ranking fighters, all wore masks, so he'd decided to pretend to be one of them, borrowing their influence to set several events in motion. It made his job much easier.

  And while he may have borrowed their influence originally to start things, now his own image was completely cemented. The utter devastation he'd spread had seen to that.

  'I should be able to get away with using their identity for a bit in the Main Cluster, enough to find one of my targets.' He nodded slightly,

  'Still, back on topic. The Nest. If there really is a Nest here… then this is a perfect opportunity to practice.' He came to a decision, nodding his head.

  He had to check.

  'If I go all out, using a Sword Mastery Ability that shouldn't exist on the First Layer… is it possible to do something no one has ever done before…' His eyes gleamed,

  'Is it possible to destroy a Nest Core?' The singular thought filled him with excitement. Many people had talked about the idea, in the future when people grew much stronger on later Layers. How they would go back and wipe out the legendary, Monster Class Nest that existed in the center of the Main Cluster, or destroy one of the 4 Permanent Nests controlled by the Big 3. Legends of how doing so would grant special powers, rumors that were never confirmed.

  Many bragged that they could do it… but no one in the First Layer had actually ever succeeded as far as Micheal was aware. People simply claimed it was possible, using the Abilities and stats they picked up when they were well into the Fourth or Fifth Layer.

  "Crane, follow me." He waved his hand at the members of the Coalition, indicating he'd be back in a bit. His voice grew quieter as he walked up to her, such that only she could hear,

  "I need you to control a few Morenkai, to see if they've seen a certain something…"

  .

  Chapter 7

  Sophia followed Micheal over to the center of the cruise ship. Behind them, the various organizations and groups continued to talk and relax. Each team had set up a periphery guard of their own, keeping watch for any stray Morenkai as they rested.

  Most strong Morenkai would've already been drawn out due to the loud battle that had taken place, so the risk of danger was pretty low, even if there was a Nest here. It would take several hours, at minimum, for the Nest to recover from such losses.

  "Hmm." Micheal paused for a minute as he studied the central area of the cruise ship. A large portion of the rooms had been badly damaged in the battle with the Abnormals. The fat one that had thrown Captain Simon had put quite a dent in the area.

  After a moment, he walked up to one of the undamaged cabins, slipping inside. Sophia quickly followed him, shutting the door behind them.

  The room was small, with a long white bed, a small desk, and a cabinet. The decorations were sparse, with little of note. What drew
Micheal's attention, however, was the internal door opposite the entrance.

  Micheal pushed through the door, walking through the room into one of the internal hallways of the ship. The previous room had a couple of windows letting light in. This one, however, was only barely lit by the light filtering in from a few of the other rooms.

  Micheal tapped on his Spatial Ring, bringing out a large, green glow stick. It was a unique item he purchased from the shop for a couple dozen Points, specifically for a situation like this.

  He cracked the glowstick. Immediately, a deep, green glow lit up the hallway. The light was soft on the eyes, but lit almost everything up clearly. In the background, faint creaks and groans could be heard, creatures shifting and moving about in the dark floors below. The hallway took on a faintly creepy aura, as if they were in some type of horror movie.

  "What do I need to make the Morenkai look for, Heron?" Sophia whispered quietly by his side, a slight hint of nervousness in her voice.

  "A floating, circular object, black in color. It should give off waves of white light on occasion, and should be located near the bottom floor." He replied, giving her a confident nod. He couldn't see her expression due to the mask, but could sense her uneasiness.

  They moved down the hallway till they reached a metal door at one end. Micheal opened it up, revealing a steep stairway. It was tall, likely reaching all the way to the bottom floor.

  "Hold on…" He held up his hand, motioning for Sophia to wait.

  He leaned over the edge of the stairway. He then withdrew another glow stick from his Spatial Ring, cracked it, and tossed it over the edge.

  The glowing tube fell down slowly, lightning up each passing floor. Three, four, five… ten, eleven, twelve…

  As it passed various floors, Micheal kept his eyes alert, taking in everything.

  "Two… Oh there's another… and another…" He muttered to himself, counting.

  Finally, the glow stick landed at the very bottom, roughly 26 floors down.

  "There are seven Morenkai in the stairway, Crane. If we move quickly, we should only encounter them." He began to jog down the stairs, waving at her to follow.

  "Be ready to snare them as soon as we make contact. You don't need to worry about using your Fairy Eyes here." There was no one from the Coalition with them. Previously, she'd been avoiding using the Ability due to its recognizable nature. The pink glow it gave off was rather well known.

  "Got it, Heron." She quickly replied back, following him.

  They passed several floors, Micheal's glow stick revealing empty, slightly dilapidated passageways and little else.

  "How close are you to mastering basic control of your Fairy Eyes?" He continued as they ran, nodding slightly.

  Her Fairy Eyes Ability only gave off pink light because of her inability to fully control it. Once she gained full control of the power, she would be able to control the color of light it gave off and restrict the amount of light that appeared.

  "I'm not sure. A few days if I'm fast, a few weeks if not. It's a weird feeling, trying to master it is hard." Sophia sighed as she jogged with him.

  Micheal shrugged. He hadn't ever had the Ability, so he couldn't exactly offer her any tips on how to master it. It would be up to her.

  In no time at all, they encountered the first Morenkai.

  The Morenkai had been going down the stairs roughly 10 floors below where they started, likely to investigate the glow stick Micheal had thrown. When it detected them, it spun around, clawing back up to try and attack.

  Before it could get within range, a flash of pink light shot out from behind Micheal, the temperature lowering.

  "I got it." Sophia's voice echoed behind him as the Morenkai froze, its arms slowly lowering.

  "Nice job, Crane." He gave her a thumbs up. They kept using their nicknames instead of switching back to regular names, something Micheal had suggested as a way to reinforce the habit of using their secret identities.

  "Okay… I'm setting it to look for the orb…" She returned, blinking slowly.

  In a few moments, the Morenkai began to move down the stairs obediently.

  Just like that, Micheal and Sophia took control of several more Morenkai as they moved through the stairs.

  Sophia was now able to control up to 12 Morenkai, manipulating what they saw and leaving them in a world of illusions. Her strength was gradually exploding upward, the power of both her mentality and her Fairy Eyes shining because of her raw determination.

  Soon, they reached the bottom floor. The seven Morenkai Sophia had trapped were all off moving through the cruise ship's lower decks.

  "I'll keep guard. You just focus on them. Let me know if we need to move." Micheal said, his hand resting on his Ashari Blade as he looked down the bottom floor corridor.

  The hallway was full of metal pipes, eerily lit by the two glow sticks that were down here. It was some type of service hallway, for use by the crew of the ship.

  "I'm on it…" Sophia muttered in response, her glowing eyes flickering.

  A few tense moments passed. Micheal kept a steady watch, not letting anything slip by.

  The sounds of the environment serenaded him. The creaking of the ship, wavering screams of metal twisting or bending, pipes shifting. A normal person might've been driven mad. If it had been him on his first time here, he certainly would've been horrified.

  Several more seconds passed. These seconds slipped into a few minutes, time whiling by.

  The spread out nature of Morenkai on the Great Bridge meant they avoided having to interact with any new Morenkai, lucking out during those few minutes.

  Finally, after what felt like forever but was roughly 5 minutes, Sophia spoke up,

  "I've got something!" Her voice was full of excitement as she turned to look at Micheal,

  "We're looking for a black orb that floats in space, right?" She asked.

  Micheal nodded back,

  "Yes, that exactly. You found it?" Cinders of excitement slowly began to burn in his heart.

  "One of mine has interacted with something like it and rediscovered an orb exactly like that. It hasn't given off any flashes of white light, but it's definitely a weird orb that is just floating in space, all on its own. Several other Morenkai are surrounding it, doing much of nothing." She explained, pointing in a specific direction.

  "It's on the floor right above us, right over there!"

  "That's it!" He grinned fiercely, his fists clenched as he heard her report.

  "We've found a Nest!" He began to head upstairs, speaking quickly as he began to explain,

  "It's a type of Morenkai spawning ground, I've seen a bit about them in my future sight. They're typically used to farm points in a relatively safe and predictable environment."

  "Oh?" Sophia's excitement died down slightly as she followed him up the stairs, adding,

  "Then what's the use for us?"

  "We can't do too much with it. It's only a Temporary Nest, after all." He shook his head as he continued,

  "But there's something I need to test." His hand rested on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.

  "I want to see what happens if we destroy it."

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Micheal let Sophia take the lead.

  She led him through a maze of pipes and passageways, the confusing 'underground' area in the depths of the cruise ship almost impossible to navigate without a map. She was able to mirror the path the Morenkai took, however, making it a simple task.

  Along the way, they didn't run into even a single Morenkai for 90% of the journey.

  The last 10%, however, they ran into 4 separate Morenkai.

  Acidic black blood stained the wall opposite of Micheal as he flicked his sword, the corpse of the fourth Morenkai they'd run into sliding down to the ground. He pushed it to the side slightly, frowning beneath his mask as he sheathed his blade.

  "We're getting close. This is definitely near the Nest." He whispered over at Sophia.

  They wer
e standing in a cramped hallway, one that opened up into several side rooms, closed off with metal doors. A Morenkai had come shambling out of one of these rooms and immediately attacked.

  Fighting in such cramped conditions gave the Morenkai a huge advantage. Their powerful bodies and long reach were natural advantages they held over Micheal and Sophia, ones that weren't easily rectified.

  Despite that, Micheal slaughtered them with ease. Raw power would only get you so far. Even in cramped conditions, regular Morenkai couldn't last more than a second against him.

  Micheal had taken the lead in the back half of the journey, following Sophia's instructions as they moved.

  "It's here." After walking for several more meters, Sophia froze, waving at Micheal and then pointing at a specific door as she whispered.

  Micheal nodded and crept forward, his senses straining. Faintly, he could hear small movements coming from beyond the door, as if various creatures were moving about.

  He blinked sharply as a small blast of white light slipped through the doorway before fading away to nothing.

  He grinned beneath his mask.

  "This is it. Get ready. I'll rush in first and engage any near the doorway. You take control of any beyond that. Be wary of any Abnormals." He whispered his plan to her and got a nod in return as she positioned herself right behind him.

  She pulled out a small, blue sword. A Burning Ice Blade, a weapon that cost 32,000 Points in the shop. A potent weapon that alternated between blazing hot and freezing cold, at the user's command. While it wasn't as sharp or refined as Micheal's Ashari Blade, it was easily able to cleave through regular Morenkai's flesh and much easier to use.

  When he saw her get situated, he gave a sharp nod and then threw the door open.

  The instant the door was opened, before he even fully stepped through the doorway, Micheal was attacked.

  A white skinned Morenkai fist blurred as it punched through the space where Micheal's head had been. The fist was oversized, from a hulking Abnormal Morenkai that had been crouched behind the door.

  Sophia's control of Morenkai didn't mean she could see everything they saw. It simply meant she was vaguely aware of where they were and what was near them. Sometimes she'd get a full picture of who or what was near one, but many times she wouldn't.