Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  "It's at the center of their territory…" She muttered, frowning. She was only at the outskirts. The deeper she went into their controlled area, the more likely she was to encounter powerful experts.

  On the other hand, she might actually be able to ask about her little sister too. It couldn't hurt to at least try, she didn't think Micheal would mind. The sooner they started looking for her, the better.

  "But first…" She yawned, turning off the smartphone as she checked the time. It was past midnight, her journey taking her well into the night.

  "Let's get some sleep." She flopped onto the nearby bed, like a limp noodle,

  "I'll find him tomorrow."

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  …Some amount of time later…

  Micheal glanced at the smartphone he had on him, tapping on it as he entered in one final clump of information. He'd written out a large series of notes on his phone, data he'd accumulated over the past hour.

  Around him, the two men Sub-Commander Borial had assigned to help him were still going through various files, scanning information and checking to see if there were any discrepancies. This undertaking would likely take several days to actually reach fruition, through a collaboration of several people.

  'But that's not my problem.' He smiled beneath his mask,

  'I've got everything I need.' His information gathering session had been a success.

  'Leila is stationed at the Steel Guard Branch, on assignment to hunt down a band of murderers that killed several dozen members of Arcadia. If I recall correctly, that Branch is decently close to here. I can reach it tomorrow.' His smile turned grim.

  'Kind of ironic.' The Black Witch would cause tens of thousands to die in the future, becoming a mass murderer in her own right. She was destined to become what she was hunting.

  Not only did he manage to secure the info he needed, he also wrote down a large number of details on how the Angels Arcadia operated, where their powerful men and women were stationed, and general information about other groups that he'd gleaned from the Directive Storage Room.

  This place was practically a goldmine of information. He could see why it had been so heavily guarded and why Sub-Commander Borial had rushed here in just seconds after the guards were downed. While none of the information was extremely sensitive and a lot of it known to the public, it all being in one place made it extremely convenient for him.

  A few more minutes passed as Micheal continued to go over a few last records. He had largely found everything of note, but it was possible he might find some extra information that was useful squirreled away in some random folder.

  Sub-Commander Borial was still outside in the hallway, talking with some of his men. The rest of the guards were currently doing a full sweep of the Tower, going floor by floor as they looked for any possible leads or trails the intruder may have left.

  With Micheal and the other two currently checking the records, no one thought twice about searching this room again, leaving Micheal's tampered window away from the spotlight.

  Just as he was picking up another file, deciding he'd read through five or six more before leaving, the pounding of feet caught his attention.

  He turned to look out of the room, where a young woman dressed in white leather armor appeared, holding a walkie talkie in her hand. The woman's face was pale, her entire body trembling as she ran up to the Sub-Commander.

  "Sub-Comma-" She wheezed as she caught her breath, apparently having rushed here so quickly even her strong, C or B Ranked body couldn't handle it,

  "Sub-Commander!"

  "What is it, Cassie?" Borial's voice was full of confusion but also excitement, apparently thinking her actions had to do with finding a trail for the intruder.

  "We just got an alert sent from one of the Long Range Emblem watchers!" When she said that, however, Borial's expression fell.

  What she said next caused his face to darken entirely,

  "Commander Hunter… is dead!"

  .

  Chapter 22

  When Micheal heard that the Commander had died, he could only really describe his emotions in one way.

  Almost zero interest.

  Commander Hunter was an A Ranker that was listed in the Main Cluster Ranking List, among the top 10,000 A Rankers in existence in the Main Cluster. His particular ranking was at 987th.

  While this ranking might not seem particularly high, it placed him among the strongest warriors of humanity when it came to the First Layer. There were more than 1 billion people in the First Layer now, though most of that billion were newcomers that were just now flooding towards the Main Cluster.

  That meant Hunter was a man that you'd see every 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 1,000,000 people. While some of that might be dependent on luck and the Abilities he used, it placed the Commander at a level that Micheal currently couldn't handle outright.

  Micheal definitely was no longer weak. But when it came to frontal combat, his biggest advantage was his foreknowledge and ability to prepare.

  And when it came to the Commander, Micheal had only learned the man's chief Ability within the last hour. He knew nothing about the man's personality, skills, or experience. The Commander wasn't a major figure in his past life, none of Micheal's future knowledge was relevant.

  And someone that could kill the Commander without giving him a chance to call for help… that someone was likely to be even stronger.

  'Internal betrayal, external conflicts, maybe even a Pack of Abnormals that took him by surprise or a Monster Class Morenkai…' Micheal silently shook his head. There were so many possible ways to get killed, it wasn't something he should butt into.

  He would help those that he could when they were before him, but he couldn't afford to let himself chase after every person that needed help. He didn't have the time, and needed to work towards the big picture. Getting sidetracked constantly would vastly slow his progress and could indirectly cause millions of humans to die.

  "What?! He's dead?!" Borial took the news poorly, his face going pale. All of the guards that were still in the vicinity reacted similarly, including the two Enforcer Team Leaders that were with Micheal.

  "Yes sir, it's been confirmed several times over." The guard reporting breathlessly said, her breathing ragged,

  "He was with two Enforcer Teams, and both squads were wiped out as well. Enforcer Tyro and Enforcer Kelly."

  Borial put his hands over his eyes, groaning as if in physical pain. After a second, the Sub-Commander spun to face the Directive Storage Room.

  "The intruder must've found something here about the Commander and it led to his death! Oh my, oh my, oh my. My precious data has betrayed me." Sub-Commander Borial collapsed to the floor, looking as if he took a physical blow as he settled on one knee.

  "Emissary Heron, you were right!" The man looked like he was about to cry as he motioned at Micheal.

  Micheal watched all of this, at a complete loss.

  'I… I definitely did not cause the Commander to die…' This incident had nothing to do with him, yet he somehow felt as if he was at fault, Sub-Commander Borial's wretched state not helping.

  If information that was stolen under his watch actually did lead to the death of Commander Hunter, it was likely he would be heavily punished. If the Sub-Commander couldn't even capture the intruder… well, it wouldn't look good for him at all, even if he wasn't at fault.

  Micheal glanced at a nearby clock. It was nearly dawn. He frowned for a moment, the unexpected development throwing him off kilter.

  'What would a real Emissary do?' After a moment's thought, he mentally sighed.

  "Where's the scene of the crime?" He stood up, his voice containing a hint of steel as he looked at the downed Sub-Commander.

  Borial stared back up at him.

  "I'm an Emissary from the HQ, remember? I needed to talk to your Commander for my investigation. His death might be related to my case." Micheal didn't have much choice in the matter. If he did anything else, it would look ex
tremely suspect. His original excuse for being here was because he wanted to talk to the absent Commander.

  "Yes! Thank you, Emissary!" The man clung to Micheal's words like a stranded man at sea clings to a life vest, his voice hoarse. The Sub-Commander got back to his feet, his fists clenched.

  "Everyone! Assist the Emissary! We will find this killer!"

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  A short amount of time later…

  "My God…" Micheal muttered out loud as he looked at the scene before him.

  What he saw was a scene from a horror movie.

  Blood, shards of bone, bits of guts, and the like were splattered everywhere atop a previously white stone rooftop. The stench of death was overwhelming, such that several of the guards that arrived immediately ran to the edge and hurled their guts over the long metal rail that covered it.

  Dozens of bodies had been obliterated into mush at the center of this roof, one of the more inhumane scenes Micheal had ever come upon. It was as if a giant beast had come through and destroyed more than 20 men and women, crushing them with abandon.

  Even with his years of experience in the 7 Layers, scenes like this were very rare.

  "The Commander was on a mission, both training and hunting with two of the newer Enforcer Teams. There was rumour of a new Nest cropping up near here." Sub-Commander Borial stood next to Micheal as the duo looked over the rooftop, his voice morose. More than 30 armed men and women were currently blocking off the 4 bridges that led here, keeping the area secure.

  The early morning light gleamed over the horizon, only making the scene seem even eerier.

  "He's in… there?" Micheal waved vaguely at the mess.

  Borial nodded, his face still pale.

  Micheal began to walk around the scene, the frown on his face only becoming deeper. While scenes like this were very uncommon, this wasn't the worst he'd seen before.

  He studied the placement of the gore, looking at where places had been disturbed, where bodies that still bore a resemblance to a human could be seen.

  In particular, he noted that there were three Morenkai corpses here as well, all ripped apart. Whatever had killed them must've had an incredible amount of grip strength, to be able to tear apart skin that could block bullets.

  'Well, there's only really two options.' He thought, rubbing his chin as he knelt down, his eyes zeroing in on one particular body.

  It was what looked like an 18 or 19-year-old with half of their face still present. He could just barely make out an expression on the man's face, one that seemed to be in horror. It was hard to tell with all the gruesome injuries on the man's body.

  'It's either a Monster Class or an extremely powerful and insane serial killer.' If it was a Monster Class Morenkai, the scene around him would make sense. Monster Class Morenkai didn't care for their own kind and would slaughter anything in their path. Typically, anyway. It was hard to predict what they would do.

  If it was an insane serial killer, well, the same mostly applied. It was hard to predict what insane people would do. While cases like Xavier's were excessively rare, there were tens of millions of people in the Main Cluster. Anything could happen.

  There was also a slight chance of some force or group trying to send a message. Micheal didn't find that one too likely, given that very few people would want to provoke the Angels Arcadia, and the strength required to kill a powerful A Ranker without giving him a chance to call for help was extraordinary.

  He frowned beneath his mask, sighing.

  'Let's hope its not a Monster Class.'

  There were few things more annoying or dangerous to run into in the Main Cluster than a Monster Class Morenkai.

  They were abnormally powerful, far more so than regular Abnormals.

  For, each one was a unique individual.

  Monster Class Morenkai were intelligent, vicious predators. Unlike regular Abnormals or normal Morenkai, Monster Class Morenkai could form coherent thoughts. They were cunning and savage, able to understand and make complex plans. Their thought process was alien, and they were nigh impossible to communicate with.

  Even worse… their lifespan didn't seem to fade away like regular Morenkai. This led to several experienced Monster Class Morenkai existing, ones that evaded capture and spread slaughter.

  Each Monster Class Morenkai was labeled a natural disaster and jointly hunted by every organization. Even the Nightrunners, when they were in the midst of their abhorrent plans to use human lives to feed their Permanent Nests, still worked with other organizations to hunt down Monster Class Morenkai.

  'I need to reform another Bulldozer Impact.' Micheal made the judgement instantly, realizing he was dangerously exposed. He currently only had a single Bulldozer Impact stored up, his other two slots empty.

  'If one attacks me, how do I escape…?' He began to go over a few contingency plans he'd made in more detail.

  Monster Class Morenkai was incredibly rare. For every million regular Morenkai, there might not even be a single Monster Class Morenkai. He hadn't expected to have any real chance of encountering one so soon.

  'If it's a Monster Class, it's probably targeting all of the strong Rankers it can find. If it's a serial killer, the motives are still unknown.' The Morenkai wouldn't care what force or group one was with, while a serial killer could be killing for any reason.

  As he made this final judgement, Micheal stood up, walking back over to where Sub-Commander Borial was standing. A few guards were currently talking to the man in an animated fashion.

  He waved at the man as he came over, catching his attention. The Sub-Commander broke off his discussion with the guards, meeting Micheal halfway.

  "Sub-Commander, have there been any incidents of other Commanders or important figures suffering deaths in recent time?" Micheal jumped straight to the point, asking a question. The data Micheal had gleaned from the Directive Storage Room hadn't focused on things like that, but if anyone would know, the data-obsessed Sub-Commander Borial would be aware.

  Borial thought for a moment before replying,

  "Just last week, Commander Banksy from the Blue Pavillion Branch was killed, but we haven't been made aware of the details. Sub-Commander Tarmo of the Red Winter Branch was killed a few days before that, but they also didn't share anything with us. The only other thing I can think of is that Commander Borko of the Rhino Shield Branch was said to have been attacked a few weeks ago, but, again, no details." Borial's voice was full of frustration.

  It was common for the other Branches to remain secretive when they were attacked or injured. The environment between Branches was fiercely competitive, with each one operating like their own mini-city, sharing only when they had to as mandated by the higher-ups in Arcadia.

  "Oh, I also heard the Nightrunners underwent a string of deaths last month from their own Commander-equivalent Cell Captains. Apart from that, there haven't been any major incidents recently, though who knows what will happen when Head Cameron finally keels over." The Sub-Commander didn't let Micheal down, answering his question.

  As he heard this, Micheal tapped on his Spatial Ring, withdrawing a complete map of the territory of the Angels Arcadia. He traced his finger on the map, finding the location of the Blue Pavilion Branch, the Red Winter Branch, and the Rhino Shield Branch.

  He then traced a line from those three Branches to the territory of the Nightrunners, on the east side of the Main Cluster.

  What he found was a nearly straight line.

  When he saw that, he was fully convinced.

  "It's a Monster Class Morenkai." He spoke aloud, his voice fully confident.

  "Huh?!" The Sub-Commander stared back at him, his eyes wide,

  "Are you sure?!"

  "Almost 100%. There's a small chance the killer is a human, but this string of incidents and the fact that they are in a direct line makes it appear like a Monster Class Morenkai's actions. You will need to send in a report immediately, this is something for the strongest Supreme A Rankers, or S Ra
nkers, to handle." Micheal replied, nodding his head.

  "Even if its a human, the power displayed here is far beyond what can be handled simply."

  "But… that means it wasn't related to the intruder?" Borial stuttered out a response, his eyes suddenly burning with hope. If the intruder that had broken in had nothing to do with the Commander's death, he would likely only be lightly punished.

  "Yes, the incidents appear to be unrelated. I'm certain of that." Micheal nodded, his voice stern,

  "But we can't afford to delay! Every second is vital!"

  Sub Commander Borial took Micheal's words to heart, immediately barking out orders as he called over some of his men. In a short period of time, several messages were sent along the internal network the Angels Arcadia controlled, reporting everything.

  Micheal stared over at the mess of bodies as the Sub-Commander worked, his heart pounding.

  'I need to go, and I need to go now.' This had become far more dangerous than he anticipated. He couldn't afford to get held up. He needed to find and kill the Black Witch before he was noticed.

  Morenkai were said to feed off the life force of humans. People with high Points values naturally would have a much higher life force for the Morenkai to devour, with stronger people looking more attractive. Some Abnormals and Monster Class Morenkai could sense that difference. The one here, targeting powerful individuals, seemed to be that type.

  His Grandmaster Sword Mastery… that was an Ability with an abhorrently high Points value, though it technically couldn't be purchased from the Shop. There were certain Abilities that could copy other Abilities, so he was well aware that if he died, his Ability would cause his death to drop a gargantuan number of Points. It was, after all, an extremely high tier Ability that wasn't even supposed to exist down here.

  If the Monster Class Morenkai caught his trail… he might be able to detect it, but he would never be able to lose it.

  He was well rested, the nap he took after cultivating leaving him refreshed. He had all the intel he needed. There was no reason to delay.

  'That and Arcadia will be aware of my presence now.' Even if they knew he was here, it wasn't the end of the world yet. There are so many divisions and groups in Arcadia with secretive info, they wouldn't be able to tell he was a fake yet.