Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  Prime closed his eyes briefly when he heard the report, clenching his fists so tight they turned white. His chest shook slightly as he took a deep breath.

  "Take it steady, Borial. Do not die on me. Follow the basic tenets, lay low and out of sight." Not a hint of emotion colored his words as Prime projected a verbal facade of absolute confidence, his voice deep and enthralling.

  "Yes, sir." Number 11's voice seemed to become slightly brighter, as if drawing confidence from Prime's words.

  "Are you in a safe position? Can you safely communicate at the present moment?" The Director of the Nightrunners continued, his voice steady.

  "Yes, sir. Just in pain." Number 11 wheezed back a response.

  "Alright… What happened? How did Antwan die?" Prime's face bore a grim expression as he spoke Number 14's real name. Unlike other organizations, the upper leadership of the Nightrunners were close-knit. Prime had handpicked each and every member, forging bonds of friendship that seemed thicker than steel.

  It was an unorthodox methodology, but Prime had never been one to stick to what others demanded be normal. Even his name was unusual, his old name long since abandoned after he arrived in the Seven Layers.

  Director Prime continued,

  "This was supposed to be a simple mission. Leila was more than willing to be the head researcher for Garen's Criminal Nest Feeding program, but… it seems my planning was lax."

  "Director it isn't your-" Number 11 began but was cut off.

  "No, Borial. I sent you two in unprepared. It is my fault." His eyes were cold, all hints of emotion on his face quashed as he maintained the image of a stoic, powerful general.

  The famous Director of the Nightrunners had another nickname in the First Layer.

  The Grand Strategist.

  He was renowned for his incredible foresight, planning, and tactics, something that led the Nightrunners to become a major power despite starting so late into the race. For him to make a mistake was a rare thing.

  A few moments passed as Number 11 began to speak.

  He told Prime about how Commander Kenneth had shown up alongside Leila, how a man known as Emissary Heron had appeared and killed himself, how they were then attacked by the same Monster Class Morenkai they had tracked on the way, and how he later returned to find both Leila's and Number 14's abandoned corpses after temporarily fighting off and fleeing from the Monster Class Morenkai.

  The more Prime heard, the sterner he looked. When he heard about how the Monster Class Morenkai had attacked them at the opportune time, he couldn't help but ask,

  "It was following you two again?"

  "No, it fled from us after we engaged with it and injured it a week back. We simply tracked it on the way to meet up with Leila. Its reappearance was unexpected. The Monster Class Morenkai usually stay away from beings they can't defeat." Number 11 replied, voicing his complaints.

  When Prime heard that, his face twitched. He sat back down on his bed, folding his hands together as if in concentration for a split second. His eyes flashed with green light.

  A second later, he tapped on the Communication Bracelet,

  "Let's go over it again. Give me every single detail you remember, Borial. Leave out nothing, no matter how minor. Every scrap you saw, every word spoken, every movement made… especially those of this Emissary Heron. Tell me everything. " Prime's voice was cold,

  "Everything."

  .

  Chapter 30

  Two days later…

  In the territory of the Angels Arcadia, Open Markets were a relatively common sight. The territory of the Angels Arcadia was split into miniature 'Clusters' within the Main Cluster, each one overseen by an Enforcement Branch.

  Micheal was currently within the territory of the North Ocean Branch, near the North-East side of the territory, not too far from the skyscrapers controlled by the Godfather Organization, and large clumps of land controlled by various smaller organizations. It was midafternoon, with the sun beating down high in the sky.

  Within the territory of the North Ocean Branch, there were 3 Open Markets, situated at different locations. Anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand people would attend each weekly Open Market.

  The Briar Patch Open Market was held in a large skyscraper that wasn't quite a Tower, but was still substantially above average in scope. Just like in the Stardust Cluster, the Open Market here was composed of dozens of stalls set up on the roof, with a multitude of private exchanges held in the interior.

  There was even a large scale auction scheduled to be held in a few hours, in a special room this skyscraper had, a large theater. The North Ocean Branch oversaw and guarded each and every Open Market held in their territory.

  However, instead of taking a fee or tax from the people entering, they instead charged some type of Artifact-equivalent Points fee for people that set up stalls and sold goods, a detailed arrangement that seemed to work well for them. This was their main way to draw income as the overseers of this area. Micheal wasn't too sure on the details.

  Micheal had come to the Briar Patch Open Market for a very specific reason, but as of right now, he stood frozen, his eyes wide in shock.

  A lot had happened the past couple days and Micheal was preparing for the future while lying low. He had been perusing a shop that sold unique types of long-range weaponry when he heard a stray conversation at the edge of his hearing.

  "…"

  "-but that is what makes them so great. I hear the fees they charge actually go towards protecting everyone!" The first speaker was a girl about Micheal's age, dressed in a set of slim jeans and a tank top with long, bright blonde hair. She had a set of guns on her waist, looking every bit the dangerous figure.

  "Yeah, the Godfather Organization also has an entire Research Branch focused on discovering the mysteries of the First Layer." The other speaker returned, another girl that was slightly older. She was rather bulky and had a huge metal shield strapped to her back, with a large, steel sword on her waist.

  "It's a good thing Head Cameron has recovered. If he had died, it would've caused a huge storm! The rumors had it that he was a goner." The blonde girl nodded, her voice optimistic.

  "…"

  When Micheal heard this, his heart froze over.

  'Head Cameron is… alive? He survived and recovered?' He blinked slowly. A couple of long moments passed as he went and walked around the Open Market, overhearing multiple people discuss Head Cameron's miraculous recovery and confirming the rumor.

  In his original timeline, Head Cameron died and threw the entire Cluster into disarray. The Godfather Organization barely held together, setting off a huge storm of events that were only made worse by the Great Arrival of hundreds of millions of humans.

  Yet now… he was alive.

  'Huh.' Micheal didn't panic, forcibly controlling his pounding heart as he made himself calm down.

  'Is this because of my actions? It has to be, right?' He frowned, his face pensive.

  The future was taking turns that he did not plan for. All of a sudden, a nervous feeling filled Micheal's heart as he felt, for the first time, as if he wasn't fully in control.

  'Even if he has survived, it doesn't mean my knowledge is useless.' Micheal's pounding heart returned to normal as he nodded his head stiffly.

  He was well aware that his actions would have ramifications beyond his control. He just hadn't expected such a big divergence so soon.

  'What could have caused it?' He rubbed his forehead before sighing. He had no idea. Boss Shigun was alive in this run, and the information on how to hunt Golden Morenkai and Dragon Building Liquid should also have reached the Godfather Organization by now.

  There were multiple possibilities, but Micheal still felt rather incredulous. The poison that killed Head Cameron was something even he had no chance fixing, not here on the First with a heavily limited Points Wall. It had been a suicidal attack from a Poison Ruler Type, something that would've easily killed Micheal.

  'Sh
in should be within their territory, using their closed network thing to meet up with Sophia. Did he do something that caused it?' Micheal rubbed his chin, unaware that Shin had joined the Godfather Organization. If he had been aware…

  He wouldn't worry too much, but he would've been in a state of disbelief. Shin could teleport. It was extremely difficult to successfully ambush or trap someone that could teleport. In terms of escaping power, Shin was probably among the best of Humanity, purely because of his Type Ability.

  However, he had specifically told Shin that he needed to be low-key.

  As Micheal mulled things over, the memories of the past 2 days flashed by.

  After he killed both Leila and Number 14, Micheal had made a beeline for the Temporary Nest that was left behind.

  At that point, he had been down to a single Life Orb, and extremely unwilling to take any big risks.

  "Alright… focus…" He stared at the floating sphere, his eyes calm. All of the Morenkai that had charged in were dead, and the lack of any noise meant no more would be drawn here for a while.

  He stood in front of the Temporary Nest for several seconds, studying it.

  Occasionally, it would send out dim flashes of white light, but mostly remained still, doing nothing at all. It was easy to miss, just a floating sphere that stood in place.

  'Breaking you increases my Soul Quality.' He thought for a moment.

  'But why?' When he'd broken his first Nest Core, he had been so focused on breaking it, he hadn't paid too much attention to everything that happened after. All he remembered feeling was a bit dizzy. Sophia still had the broken Core after Micheal was unable to determine a use for it.

  After he broke the Core, he'd heard a strange voice call out to him, informing him that he was the third human to ever achieve that.

  This was the first and only time he'd ever experienced something like that.

  The only other mysterious voice he'd ever heard was the mysterious voice from the Spirit that ran the Holy Shop. Even then, the Spirit would only answer very basic questions about the functions of the Shop. There was no point in talking to it.

  That voice had never spoken again and he was left with no other information about it.

  'Was that the being that brought Humanity here? Does it know why we are here, or is it the one responsible?' Humanity never found out why they were here, beyond being told they had to cross the 7 Layers to reach Heaven. At least, not as far as Micheal knew.

  This time, Micheal made a mental promise to focus on the actual breaking of the Nest Core and everything that happened to his Soul as a result.

  He raised his Ashari Blade above his head. The Ki in his body trembled, causing his eyes to gleam with light as he stared at the floating Core.

  Powerful, red energy began to swarm up and around his blade, coating it. This energy was volatile and powerful, sharp and deadly. Advanced Tier Sword Energy.

  Micheal's Soul was strong enough to handle using a full-powered strike with Advanced Tier Sword Energy. The amount of Sword Energy he concentrated on his blade was brought up to the absolute maximum, pushing at the limits his Soul could bear.

  He winced at this, feeling as if his entire body was flexing and bending under immense weight. Slowly, beads of sweat formed on his forehead, dripping down his mask uncomfortably as a wave of pain swept through him.

  He'd gone beyond what he could safely wield, drawing upon as much Advanced Tier Sword Energy as he could. It was no longer a full-powered strike but him drawing all he could physically handle. A technique like this was unfeasible in a real fight, but in a place where he could charge up for several moments… it worked quite well.

  Without a Bulldozer Impact stored up, he had no choice other than resorting to this. The sheer amount of Sword Energy he used for this attack far surmounted the amount he'd used on the first Nest Core.

  His Ashari Blade flexed as the powerful energy ran along it, perfectly controlled by Micheal. The torrent of Sword Energy he put on his sword made it look almost like it was on fire, with energy rippling in the air.

  He held the sword up, hovering it just a meter or so off from the Nest Core.

  He took a deep breath as he positioned his sword carefully, ignoring the pain his Soul was undergoing.

  He only had one shot at this.

  Without waiting longer, Micheal slashed down with his blade, aiming right at the Nest Core.

  With little fanfare, his Ashari Blade crashed into the floating Nest Core.

  The Nest Core shivered for an instant. White light flashed out from it as it shook, energy rippling out from it for a brief moment.

  When the huge amount of red Advanced Tier Sword Energy made contact with the Nest Core, a series of fine cracks spread out. The energy seemed to vibrate as it sliced into the Nest Core, meeting a huge amount of resistance.

  Micheal's muscles bulged, swelling slightly as he pulled with all of his might, doing everything he could to force the blade to follow through. His Soul seemed to fluctuate with pain as he drew every bit of Advanced Tier Sword Energy he could manage, causing him to feel lightheaded.

  For that single, brief moment, the Nest core stood frozen.

  An instant later, an audible cracking noise echoed out as the Nest Core shattered, the web of cracks on it spreading out to cover its entire surface as it was flung from the air to smash into the ground.

  His initial blow hadn't been powerful enough to shatter it, but the sheer cutting power the huge torrent of Advance Tier Sword Energy offered had managed to finish the job, though just barely. The Nest Cores truly were incredibly durable.

  The cracked Core bounced off the floor and then off the wall and the roof, slung around the first floor as the huge amount of force required to move it was expended. Eventually, it rolled off to a spot near one of the walls, falling still.

  Micheal ignored all of that, however, as he shut his eyes tight.

  As soon as the Nest Core shattered, a wave of dizziness had swept over Micheal. Partially from the release of the much-too-large swell of Advanced Tier Sword Energy, but also partially from the Nest Core itself.

  The moment he sensed that, he turned his every iota of focus upon on it, dropping to the floor as he fell to his knees. His Ashari Blade tumbled out of his grip as he closed his eyes, his breath frozen as he put his full attention towards the sensation.

  As the energy from the shattered Nest Core washed over him, Micheal observed every single change that happened to him, his eyes flashing with mysterious light.

  .

  Chapter 31

  'Are they alive, like Morenkai?' The first Nest Core had defended itself and Micheal had felt an actual shiver in the air from this one, as if it was gathering energy to counterattack in a guided manner. It didn't feel like an instinctual response.

  Fortunately, the torrent of Advanced Tier Sword Energy he drew was enough to overwhelm its defenses, stopping its gathering attack in its tracks. Micheal's Soul seemed to rebound after he released his Advanced Tier Sword Energy, a noticeable backlash that caused a headache to form. If he had held onto the Sword Energy for a few seconds longer, his Soul would've suffered from serious injuries.

  The familiar wave of dizziness continued to sweep through him. Micheal felt it serenade his mind, body, and Soul, rushing through him.

  As a result, he could feel a faint, but warm, energy seem to settle upon his Soul and… stretch. This energy sank and absorbed into him as if it had been a part of him this entire time, a type of natural power that his Soul did not reject. If his Soul could be seen as a human body, this energy seemed to be like a type of magical water.

  It filled his Soul up and then helped it grow.

  'It's… expanding the size of my Soul?' He noted, his eyes still shut tight.

  There were certain Abilities that could do similar things, geared towards increasing the strength of one's Soul and upping one's Soul stat through expansion. But as far as Micheal knew, the number of ways to expand the size of one's soul without b
uying an Ability could be counted on just one hand, and each and every one of those ways was prohibitively expensive or difficult to find.

  'My Soul Quality is still 1 Star. I would notice if it became 2 Stars.’ With that said, he could still feel a noticeable increase. Breaking these Nest Cores allowed him to absorb some type of special energy that seemed to expand his Soul. Micheal nodded as he went over his conclusion in his head, feeling as if it was accurate.

  As for what the energy specifically was… Micheal wasn't really sure. He would leave that question for another time.

  He checked his stats screen, glancing over everything.

  .

  — - Status — -

  Name: Micheal Care

  Points: 99,294

  Race: Human

  Physique: 1 Star

  Soul Quality: 1 Star

  Age: 18

  - Stats -

  Strength - 60

  Endurance - 45

  Recovery - 43

  Soul - 21 -> 23

  Abilities - (4/7)

  Life Orb Master

  Ki Cultivator (Mortal Tier - Peak)

  Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

  Impact Release

  .

  'My Soul stat increased by 2!' He grinned ferociously when he saw this. While his Soul Quality had remained the same, his Soul stat had still gone up! That was great news!

  'I really can farm these to increase my Soul stat!' His eyes sparkled,

  'But… am I able to hold a higher number of Points? Can I reach farther beyond the Points Wall?' He was unsure about this aspect.

  Abruptly, his eyes widened as he looked at his Points total.

  'It's almost 100,000 Points!' Delight filled him. There were a multitude of things he might purchase, including a stronger sword or other gear, or maybe even an Ability he had his eyes on.

  He put everything aside for now, however, realizing he was still in a dangerous location, even with the Nullification Aura Necklace shielding him.

  After shattering the Nest Core, he left the skyscraper from the ground floor, using his Cloud Stepping Shoes to jump out of range of the roaming Morenkai down below. He ended up encountering a random Abnormal right as he was leaving, one he dispatched with relative ease as he fled.