Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  The only groups that seemed like actual guards were the men and women that had rushed by them earlier.

  Shin and Sophia exchanged a number of puzzled glances, but were unable to make head or tails of the situation. They continued to move on the correct path, following the directions they were given and making solid time.

  And finally, after what felt like forever but was actually less than an hour, they arrived at their final destination.

  A rather unassuming skyscraper, situated in the north-eastern side of the Nightrunners' territory. The secret location of one of the two Permanent Nests controlled by the Nightrunners.

  However, when Sophia and Shin finally came within sight of the fated skyscraper, both of them came to an abrupt halt, shock fluttering across their faces.

  For, as soon as they arrived, they came upon an extremely unexpected sight.

  The Nightrunners’ Nest B skyscraper was already under attack.

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Meanwhile, still within the territory of the Godfather Organization…

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Micheal’s chest dipped down low as he ducked and twisted his body, bringing up his Ashari Blade in a wide, sweeping arc. Red energy covered the edge of his sword in a deadly, cutting edge, causing it to slash through the air without slowing.

  He felt only the faintest hint of resistance as his arm finished slicing forward, cutting apart three regular Morenkai in one smooth motion. He then jumped up, kicking off the air twice with his Cloud Stepping Shoes as he quickly dodged out of the way of their acidic blood.

  He ignored the series of Point notifications as he landed on the ground, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked at the dim orb floating in the air in front of him.

  A pile of Morenkai corpses, including 3 Abnormals, lay on the ground behind him. Killing them had proven easy enough, even when they were working in a team thanks to the Nest Core floating in the air before him.

  Around him, the lowest floor of a skyscraper spread out, lit by a series of neon, overhead lights. Micheal was the only living being currently in the room.

  After making sure all the Morenkai were dead, he walked up close to the Nest Core and took a deep breath. He raised his Ashari Blade above his head as he exhaled, keeping his hands on it steady.

  The temporary Nests would lash out and attack anyone that both tried to destroy them and had the potential to present a real threat. Micheal had learned this the hard way before.

  However, the Nest Cores only seemed to launch its attack after it had first been attacked. Apart from that, even if walked right up next to it, it would remain perfectly passive.

  Going with that logic, as long as he destroyed it in a single blow, he wouldn’t have to deal with it trying to defend itself.

  Micheal held his pose for a split second as his eyes zeroed in on the Nest Core. The Advanced Tier Sword Energy on his blade rippled slightly, concentrated finely on the sword’s edge. Its light began to intensify as he focused more and more of the energy together, condensing it to an abnormally sharp level at one particular spot on his blade.

  An instant later, his arms transformed into a blur as he cut down. His attack wasn’t super fast, but instead powered up with as much strength as he could bear behind it. It wasn’t as if the Core was going to try dodging it, after all.

  With a loud, creaking noise, his Ashari Blade smashed into the Nest Core.

  For a single, split second, the Core floated in mid-air, seemingly transfixed. An instant later, a webwork of cracks spread out, accompanied by a violent cracking sound and a flash of light as the Nest Core smashed down into the floor, crumpling.

  .

  —-Points Obtained —-

  Points: 7,227

  .

  Just like that, he crushed the Nest Core in a single blow, neutralizing it without any issues.

  “Alright.” Micheal muttered as he reached down and picked up the cracked Core. He tapped on his Spatial Ring, concentrating for a split second as he sheathed his Ashari Blade.

  In his left hand, he held the newly cracked Nest Core. In his right hand… he held two other destroyed Nest Cores.

  “That makes three.” He smiled slightly, taking a brief moment to rest. His clothes were soaked with sweat, as if he had constantly been rushing to and fro, straining himself to move as quickly as possible.

  Instead of heading directly towards the Monster Class Nest, Micheal’s path to reach it had turned into a rather meandering river.

  Using Shin’s connections, he had managed to acquire a network of all the listed Temporary Nest Cores that the Godfather Organization had marked down. From that list, he had picked out a series of Nests that could be found on the way from his location to the Monster Class Nest Core at the center of the Main Cluster.

  And just now, he’d finished destroying his third Temporary Nest Core, each and every one without issue. His current power level made decimating the Nest Cores, and their guards, almost laughably easy.

  ‘Status.’ He called up the helpful stat screen as he stored all three Nest Cores in his Spatial Ring.

  .

  — - Status — -

  Name: Micheal Care

  Points: 39,028

  Race: Human

  Physique: 1 Star

  Soul Quality: 1 Star

  Age: 18

  - Stats -

  Strength - 80

  Endurance - 56

  Recovery - 55

  Soul - 27 -> 28

  Abilities - (5/7)

  Life Orb Master

  Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early)

  Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

  Impact Release

  Ceaseless Mind

  .

  He’d gained a very large number of Points from taking down the Nest Cores. However, he’d also found that the more he destroyed, the lesser the number of Points he obtained.

  As for the ‘Minute Soul Enrichment’ reward that he’d obtained when destroying his first Nest Core, he found no sign of it reappearing.

  Despite those negatives, however, he couldn’t help but smile as he focused on the increase to his Soul stat.

  “It rose from 27 to 28 on the third Core, just like Isaiah said it would.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, a small bit of tension in his heart fading. He’d received the results of Doctor Isaiah’s last minute research in the morning, just in time to be helpful.

  The first of the three Nest Cores he’d destroyed had raised his Soul stat from 26 to 27. However, it had taken two more Nest Cores to raise the stat from 27 to 28. According to Isaiah, the Temporary Nest Cores would eventually fail to raise his Soul stat at all, beyond the 14th destroyed Nest Core.

  It was because of Doctor Isaiah, too, that he had found out a way to shatter the Nest Core without using his Impact Release Ability. The man’s intrepid ability to research, hypothesize, and theorize things was scary.

  As long as he focused enough of his Advanced Tier Sword Energy to hit one single spot on the Nest Core, for just a split second, he was able to successfully shatter it without the need for any of his stored impacts. The Nest Cores seemed to automatically shatter if they were penetrated at a deep enough level, meaning he didn’t need to obliterate the Nest Core to take it down, just poke past its outer layers.

  After the split second of examination, he brushed aside his status screen and took a deep breath.

  A moment later, he broke out into a sprint as he raced for the nearby exit, his eyes gleaming with energy.

  “Three down… three more to go…”

  .

  Chapter 72

  Audible gunshots and the clash of melee weapons sounded off, the echoes of an intense combat ringing in the air. Atop the rooftop of the skyscraper, corpses littered the area as black-garbed figures fought against each other.

  Sophia could make out two distinct teams atop the rooftop. One team was clad in full, black armor and used a variety of melee weapons to attack. The other team was a m
ix of metal and leather-clad figures, using a mix of long-range guns and short-range bladed weapons.

  Upon taking in the scene of the ongoing battle, she noted that, for some reason, both sides were fighting rather lethargically. The all-melee group was seriously attacking the mixed group, but both forces weren’t going all out like she would’ve expected.

  Shin’s reaction was a bit more prevalent.

  “What the hell? That’s not us, right?” His jaw was practically on the floor as he stared at the scene of battle in confusion.

  Sophia silently shook her head, unable to come up with a response.

  The Nightrunners’ Nest B was guarded in a rather secretive manner. Instead of giving away its location with a huge military force, only the singular skyscraper itself was treated as a protected area.

  From the outside, it didn’t seem to be any different than any other storage or guarded skyscraper. Neighboring skyscrapers were still patrolled, but you could find regular humans right next door, hunting Morenkai.

  There was even a team of hunters on the skyscraper Sophia and Shin had just crossed onto. The group consisted of 5 men, all wielding swords, with guns strapped to their waists. They were currently watching the ongoing battle that was taking place just 3 skyscrapers away, just like Sophia and Shin.

  Security by obscurity, assisted by the fact that it wasn’t as if the Permanent Nest could be moved or, till recently, destroyed, and the fact that this location was already deep within the Nightrunners’ territory. It had worked quite well for the Nightrunners.

  In addition, the crowning guard of each Nest had to be the fact that elite members of the Numbers were assigned to help guard the Permanent Nest. Partly because these areas needed to be secure, but partly because they could actively use the Permanent Nest to farm up Points for themselves.

  Powerful, Supreme A Rankers that were an army in their own right, they were more than enough to handle any outside threats, for the vast majority of incidents.

  Now, however…

  The outside guards were clashing with what appeared to be other members of the Nightrunners. Sophia watched the two sides continue to battle, completely confused.

  “Let’s just head to the meeting skyscraper. We’ll let the higher-ups figure it out.” After a moment’s thought, she continued to move forward. They moved past the other team atop the skyscraper without issue, both sides ignoring the other.

  Shin hesitated for a second before following behind her. The duo crossed from one skyscraper to another, all the way till they reached one specific skyscraper to the north of the Nightrunners’ Nest B. This skyscraper was located two bridges away from the ongoing battle.

  They took one last glance at the battle before jogging over to the entry shed and descending. Well, Sophia descended. Shin cheated by teleporting as soon as he got inside.

  Soon, they reached the 15th floor of the skyscraper, and walked into a crowded, but rather large lounge.

  Dozens of men and women were sitting around, tense, many of them with confused expressions on their faces. Discussion was running rampant as people talked about the battle happening at the Nest skyscraper.

  “Is it a schism in the group..?”

  “Could it be a trap?”

  “How could they possibly know we were attacking? We didn’t find out till today!”

  “Something must’ve gone wrong. Maybe it has to do with the chaos in what was Arcadia’s territory?”

  Various theories clouded the air as Sophia and Shin walked in and found a set of chairs. As soon as they sat down, however, two figures walked up and greeted them.

  “Well, well, well, look who finally made it!” The Arabian General Asim’s voice cut through the air as he walked up to Sophia and Shin, waving cheerfully. Behind him, Vladimir followed quietly, giving them a quiet nod.

  Shin opened his mouth to reply, his eyes lighting up. Before he could say anything, however…

  “We just got here. Do you know what’s going on?” Sophia asked immediately, responding before Shin could say anything. She ignored Shin’s reproachful glare.

  Asim shook his head,

  “No, all the squads are still filing in. The battle that’s happening up there is out of anyone’s expectations.” A helpless look appeared on his face.

  The Godfather Organization had put in all this effort to launch an assault. Despite that, before they even got there, the Nest building was already under attack. It was a little ironic, but not necessarily a negative.

  Sophia considered all of this in an instant, her eyes cool as she tried to figure out what the Godfather Organization might do.

  Most of all, she tried to figure out how she could use this situation to help Micheal’s plans.

  ‘All we need to do is prevent the Nest Core from getting destroyed for as long as possible.’ She kept repeating the thought in her head. Their mission was a relatively simple one.

  People continued to file into the lounge, gradually filling it up. The full forces of two Executive-led teams were crowding in, making Sophia feel slightly claustrophobic.

  Shin and the other two talked casually, much to Sophia’s irritation. They were just about to launch a huge attack to change the future of the human race, and yet the trio were casually talking about whether mayonnaise or honey mustard sauce was a better sauce to put on a burger.

  Finally, however, the discussion in the room died down to essentially nothing as two figures swaggered in.

  Executive Riana, the leader of their team, and a man that looked to be in his mid-60s, with a bushy grey beard and tanned, weathered skin. He wore a pair of stark white pants, an open white vest, and had, of all things, an enormous metal anchor strapped to his back.

  The anchor was so large, in fact, that he couldn't actually fit it through the door into the lounge. He was forced to store it in his Spatial Ring with a rueful shake of his head.

  “Admiral!” Shin’s voice broke the silence as he waved in a friendly manner at the old man.

  “Ah, Shin, my lad! I didn’t know you were in Ria’s team! Bahaha! Good to see you!” Admiral Cardell’s face lit up when he saw Shin.

  The onlooking Sub-Executives and other high-level members of the Godfather Organization looked between the two in surprise. Most of them were aware of the new Sub-Executive, but hadn’t known he had a good relationship with Admiral Cardell, the strongest Executive in the Godfather Organization, and the de-facto Second-in-Command of the Godfather Organization.

  “We can greet each other later. Right now, let’s focus on the mission at hand.” Executive Riana cut the two of them off, glaring coldly at both of them in a very no-nonsense manner. Shin ducked his head away from her, but the Admiral simply grinned widely, crossing his arms in a carefree manner.

  “Everyone, we’ve gathered some information about the situation up above.” Riana immediately continued, starting the pre-attack meeting without hesitation as she continued to speak,

  “The ongoing battle appears to be the results of internal discord among our enemies.”

  This sentence elicited a number of responses from the crowd of warriors.

  “Internal discord? The Nightrunners really are fighting amongst themselves?” Sophia muttered quietly to herself, her eyes flashing.

  “That explains the lack of discipline in their patrols and guards. It must be related to their upper leadership.” She grasped a few things instantly. After working with Micheal for so long, she began to look at situations with a keen, analytical mind. She would no longer take anything at face value, whether it came to trusting allies or fighting enemies.

  “Silence!” Executive Riana cut off the discussion with a loud yell as she looked about the room. A heavy air of pressure washed off her, her gaze suddenly filled with terrible power. Everyone instantly quieted.

  “While the reasons for the discord are currently unknown, what we do know is that they are currently fighting against each other. This has presented an excellent opportunity for us to launch our own att
ack.” Executive Riana began to outline their new, adapted plan out loud.

  Sophia memorized all of it, paying close attention.

  The gist of the plan was simple. They were to monitor the battle using several scouting Abilities, keeping a close track of what was happening. According to Riana, the battle on the rooftop was merely a sham fought out by the weaker, lower-leveled members of the Nightrunners.

  The real battle was taking place within the building itself. Powerful Cell-Captains and even elite members of the Nightrunners Numbers were currently duking it out, right now, far down below.

  While the exact details were hard to read, they could definitively tell that the battle was still taking place and seemed like it had reached a bit of a standstill. Neither side seemed to be overwhelmingly stronger than the other.

  Riana’s plan was to wait for both sides to weaken and tire the other out. When an opportune moment appeared, or when it was unfeasible to wait any longer in enemy territory, their two teams would launch a two-pronged attack, one jumping in from the rooftop and heading downward, while the other invading from the ground level.

  Riana’s team, and therefore Sophia and Shin, were assigned to take on the rooftop and head downward. Cardell’s team would blast in from the ground level, using the Admiral’s considerable power to bash aside the mob of Morenkai that had formed on the ground level as a result of all the noise.

  All of this was explained in a few scant minutes, just enough time to sort everything out and get people moving. Their planning session was so short it came as a surprise to Sophia. After a moment’s consideration, though, that surprise turned to admiration.

  Executive Riana managed to control the situation, take into account all the variables, and come up with a solid plan in just a matter of minutes, all while thinking on the spot. Such talent was rare.

  Right after the meeting ended, the two teams promptly split up again. Cardell’s team stayed down below while Riana’s team headed up to the second-highest floor. Sophia’s team members all hid in various bedrooms, waiting tensely for the command to rush up to the rooftop and strike.

  Everything felt rushed and frantic to Sophia, but she supposed this was how things went for a mission like this. You had to adapt and act quickly to seize the moment.