Reborn- Apocalypse 2

by L. M. Kerr

  Teleporting without a direct line of sight was dangerous, after all. He could find safe places to teleport to using his Warping Phaser Ability, but he couldn’t actually look around to see where exactly he was going to land.

  An excellent example of this happened right now.

  The moment Shin warped into the combined fourth and fifth floors, he was serenaded with a cool, wet sensation. The world around him was dyed a light blue, giving it a strange, ethereal quality. Even gravity seemed to have lessened as he floated, suspended in the air.

  Confusion swept over him as he felt all of this, not quite sure what was happening.

  Everything came clear a moment later, however, as he tried to take a breath.

  “Cough, cough!” His lungs burned as he breathed in, and subsequently sputtered out, a mouthful of water.

  ‘Am I… I’m underwater?’ The thought flashed through his mind as he twisted about, a faint feeling of horror sweeping through him.

  He had accidentally teleported inside one of the aquarium tanks.

  Shin forced the feeling of panic down as he assessed his surroundings.

  He was currently floating in one of the corners of a large tank, set in the side of the wall. There was a small, underwater castle and a fake reef, but no actual fish or animals in the tank. The natural water of the tanks was mostly opaque, meaning he couldn’t see more than half a meter away from his face.

  The first thing he did was reach down to his right arm and tap on a white bracelet he was wearing.

  Immediately, a few small sparks of energy appeared as an Artifact activated.

  Abruptly, Shin’s vision warped slightly. Instead of just the foggy water, he could make out the outline of six people fighting in the northwest room, right above the southwest room he’d landed in. These outlines were vague and jagged, but clear and easy to see.

  Micheal called this Artifact a Wavelength Crystal Bracelet. It was actually a combination of Artifacts and resources from the Shop, merged together in a rough fashion. The plain bracelet was a Signal Seer Bracelet that heightened one’s senses when it came to certain electrical signals. Certain parts on the inside of this bracelet had been melded with a material called Enerton Stones.

  It was a crude creation, in Micheal’s words, but it would allow them to sense any large concentrations of energy within a few dozen meters. According to Micheal, he saw how to make it in one of his visions.

  He’d insisted that all three of them wear one for the upcoming battle, and that they keep them on at all times to be safe, even if the battle was finished. The bracelets would only last for around 24 hours after they were activated, but they would be perfect for detecting enemies or ambushes.

  The main downside was that they cost way too many Points to create and lasted for only a brief period. If they hadn’t used the Godfather Organization’s stores, putting Shin further in Contribution Points debt, it would’ve cost them more than 40,000 Points for all three.

  After finding out that no enemies were in his room, Shin grabbed ahold of his Spatial Ring and brought out three strange-looking grey cubes. The objects each were about half the size of his palm and had odd, metallic lusters.

  By this point, Shin was starting to feel the burn in his lungs from being underwater. He quickly looked around the aquarium tank, his mind racing.

  ‘There works!’

  Moving quickly, he swam over to the top of the fake castle and wedged the cubes into a spot on its roof. He then brought out a black rope from his Spatial Ring and looped it around the cubes, securing them tightly into the place.

  His lungs felt as if they were on fire at this point. Without a whit of hesitation further, Shin warped himself out of the aquarium to the open air of the room just a couple of meters away.

  “Stupid… water…” Shin wheezed out as he gulped in air, blinking as he looked around the empty room and ignored the water that was dripping off his drenched clothes.

  A burning scent coated the air, giving this room a harsh edge. Several patches of red blood covered the floor, and if there had been furniture in this room, Shin was sure it would’ve been in disarray.

  Before he could get a scope on the battle that was happening in the room over, however, several more figures arrived.

  Executive Riana appeared first, slinking out from the stairwell with almost unerring silence. Her entrance was quickly followed by several other figures quickly filing into the room. In just a scant couple of seconds, more than two dozen warriors had snuck in.

  Shin spotted Sophia in the back of the crowd, sneaking in alongside Asim and Vladimir. He smiled and waved, ignoring the glare she sent his way.

  Riana motioned for the team members to spread out and remain silent as she stalked forward, heading towards the only other source of noise on the floor. Everyone else, Shin included, followed behind.

  The room they were in was large, taking up a full fourth of the two floors, but it still took only a half dozen seconds for them to reach the northwest room.

  What unfolded in Shin’s sight, then, was a brutal scene of carnage.

  A full dozen bodies lay on the ground, frozen in rigor mortis. Most of the figures wore the dark armor customary to the Nightrunners. Half of them were covered in severe burns, while the other half had been chopped up to near pieces.

  In the middle of the room, six masked figures were currently fighting.

  Two of them were heavily injured and fighting defensively as they blocked the attacking four.

  The two defenders were both men, one dressed in shredded leather armor of some sort, while the other wore a set of tattered, cut robes. They looked exhausted and were gradually being driven into a corner by the attackers. The man in the tattered robes had the number ‘4’ carved into his mask, while the man in the shredded leather had the number ‘3’ set in his mask. Both of them were covered in several large bloodstains, clearly blood that leaked from injuries they’d suffered recently.

  The four attackers wore masks that read ’13,’ ‘12,’ ‘8,’ and ‘7.’

  Number 13 wore grey armor over a huge, furry frame that bulged with muscles, leading the attack against the two injured defenders. Number 12 was the lone woman of the group, dressed in tight-looking black leather armor and wielding two long, pointed daggers as she ducked in behind Number 13. Number 8 wielded two large stone hammers and a heavy-looking collection of chainmail, and was currently in the process of charging over towards the defenders. Number 7, the last of the attackers, was dressed in a simple robe and stood at the back of the group, holding a blue wand in his hand.

  At the time that Executive Riana and everyone else came into view of the fight, the battle had abruptly come to a halt as the fighters noticed the Godfather warrior’s presence.

  The masks covered up the expressions of all of the Numbers members. The shock and surprise at Executive Riana and their team’s presence, however, was palpable as both sides froze in unison.

  The first person to break the tense silence was Number 3 of the defenders.

  “Brave rescuers, please help! The lower Numbers have betrayed the Nightrunners and are slaughtering the innocent!” Number 3’s voice was deep and contained a force of presence that was hard to fake.

  His serious, debilitating injuries took away from that a bit as he hacked up several spurts of blood, forced to clutch at his chest as he finished speaking. Number 4 quickly stood up next to him, yellow flames bursting into existence around his arms as he guarded the injured warrior.

  Both of them subsequently fell back against the wall they had been forced up to, using this moment to catch their breath.

  To have driven elites such as Number 3 and 4 to such a state… Shin could barely believe it. Both of them were ranked within the top 20 A Rankers on the First Layer. The 4 attackers here were all extremely strong too, but for these two to be in such a state, they must have been badly injured by someone else beforehand.

  “I told you we should’ve killed them immediately. Just because
they used to be our allies is no reason to show mercy. We should’ve gone all out from the start!” Number 13’s voice was a growl as he turned his attention to Executive Riana, his hair bristling.

  “Not everyone is as careless as you and 14 were, 13. Slow and steady wins the race all the same.” Number 7 shrugged as he spoke from the back, his voice a light tenor that carried softly in the air.

  “The ending will be inevitable, either way.” Number 12’s voice was cool as she flicked her daggers out, her masked eyes zeroing in on Executive Riana. The attackers seemed surprisingly unconcerned with their arrival, though surprised nonetheless.

  “Indeed.” Number 8’s voice was stalwart, matching his stout figure.

  Despite their confident-sounding bluster, the four masked fighters didn’t seem to be in perfect condition either. Number 13’s chest was clearly trembling, as if extremely tired, while Number 8’s body was lathered in sweat. The group chose to ignore the resting figures of Number 3 and 4 as they moved into a defensive position.

  Executive Riana observed all of this and confidently spoke aloud without missing a beat, completely ignoring the Nightrunners’ banter.

  “Shin’s, Hashien’s, and Kelley’s, teams, go down and assist Cardell.” Riana paused as she took a step forward and raised both of her hands.

  The 4 attackers watched on without reacting. Some of them even tilted their heads as they heard the order for Shin and the others to descend, as if in mild amusement. It was a very strange reaction that pitted a sinking feeling in Shin’s stomach.

  “The rest of you are on me.” Executive Riana’s eyes began to glow as she ignored their odd behavior. The air around her began to fluctuate, a vast, overwhelming presence spreading out as her Vast Gaze Ability was activated,

  “Show no mercy!”

  .

  Chapter 76

  Shin had no plans on disagreeing with the powerful Executive, and so instantly turned his attention back over to Sophia, Asim, and Vladimir. The trio were currently in the middle of turning around, heading back towards the stairwell to descend to the floors below.

  Shin teleported through the air, warping till he was right next to them. Behind him, two other teams split off and rushed alongside them as they, as one, began to pound down the stairs.

  In the background, Shin heard the sounds of screeching metal and a few explosions as a battle broke out between the other teams and the Numbers. Those sounds faded as Shin moved into the stairwell, heading downward.

  None of them spoke as they jogged down the stairs. Everyone was tensed up, however, unsure what they would find in the two floors below.

  Like the aquarium up above, the second and third floor of this skyscraper were combined together to form a large gymnasium. The Permanent Nest Core was judged as likely to be on this floor by the Godfather Organization’s intel, though there was a chance it was on the lowest possible floor like most Nests.

  Shin, ever the adventurer, decided to teleport in ahead of everyone else, warping to a point high up in the rafters of the large room. His body shimmered and vanished from the stairwell as he teleported, his Soul Pistol appearing in hand as he prepared for anything.

  Adrenaline was pumping in his veins as he abruptly appeared up near the roof of the combined floors. Once he arrived, he immediately looked down and assessed the situation.

  However... the very first thing he saw made his heart drop.

  Standing at the center of the room was a familiar, masked figure holding up a long, thin spear.

  At the end of that spear was a blood-soaked body, pierced through the heart. The corpse was covered in a thin layer of black armor and had a shattered mask on its face.

  A mask that had the remnants of the number ‘2’ carved into it.

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  “You… are from the future?” Prime blinked as he looked at Micheal. For the first time, his face showed emotion as he stared at Micheal in disbelief.

  “Yes. I am from the future.” Micheal replied with a shrug and a rather deadbeat tone.

  Prime stared at Micheal.

  Micheal stared back.

  The soft hum of air condition, and the faint sizzling of Morenkai blood, were the only sounds present in the room as the two warriors gazed at each other without speaking for several seconds.

  Prime finally broke the impasse, saying,

  “Explain.” His words were commanding, brooking no room for refusal. His body language gave away nothing, but…

  When Micheal heard his words, he smiled internally. He forced himself to keep down his heartbeat and his nervousness, maintaining a cool and calm facade.

  When Micheal was straining his mind to go over the worst ways his plans could go wrong, some of those plans contained an encounter with Director Prime.

  After experiencing Prime’s ridiculous intelligence and planning personally, Micheal’s way of looking at things had changed. Previously, he’d planned on using General Pedro to help him take down Prime. The General’s Ability allowed him to call on powerful, invisible attacks that even Prime wouldn’t be able to see coming if he wasn’t prepared.

  However, given that Prime knew about Pedro, Micheal was forced to scrap that plan. He had found some other ways to use General Pedro, but using him to take out Prime was no longer feasible.

  Indeed, even if Prime hadn’t been aware of his powers, it was still possible using Pedro to attack would fail. The historical records stated Pedro killed Prime after the man was fiercely tired from multiple battles, and that it had involved a great deal of luck. It might have been impossible to recreate such a perfect scenario twice.

  With this, his thought process shifted.

  If he couldn’t kill Director Prime, he would have to figure out an indirect way to deal with him.

  “You know of the Seer, yes, and her vision powers? Well, I have something that worked kind of like that. And because of that, I was able to live through a small part of the future, like an in-depth vision.” Micheal took a few steps to his left till he was leaning on one of the theater chairs as he spoke, looking Prime directly in the eye.

  Prime silently listened, not interrupting as Micheal continued,

  “And in that vision that I lived through… I discovered an enemy that was poisoning and corrupting the minds of certain heroes here on the First Layer. A vile manipulator that sought to create a grand war, to weed out those he sees as ‘the weak’ and to raise up those he sees as ‘the strong.’” Micheal took a breath as he finished part of his explanation, still gazing at Prime.

  The man remained silent.

  “And that is what led me here, to the Main Cluster, and what led me to do everything I’ve done. I know that, because of me, some of your Numbers members have died.” Micheal began the riskiest part of his explanation. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of nervousness sweep over him as he studied Prime, feeling extremely on edge.

  “But I never wished for any of that. Indeed, if that man had not infected your men, I would not have had to fight them at all. That was never my wish.” Micheal shamelessly blamed everything on the Vile King.

  Finally, Prime broke in, his voice tinged with irritation.

  “You claim you were forced to murder my brothers because of some unseen, evildoer that was manipulating them from behind the scenes, one you just so happened to see in a vision of the future you magically lived through?” His voice was filled with incredulity, though whether that emotion was real or feign, Micheal couldn’t guess.

  Micheal simply nodded.

  “Yes, that is accurate.”

  Prime simply stared at him, his eyes flashing multiple times.

  Micheal took that as a cue to continue, knowing he needed to say his piece as quickly as possible,

  “The man is a vile murderer and a shrewd genius. I don’t know who he is, but I know that his plans are incredibly intrepid, and that he must have plans not only here, but on the other Layers.” Micheal mixed his words with half-truths, weaving a tale of epic propor
tions. The most convincing stories were ones that were based in truth, a lesson he’d learned long ago.

  Prime remained silent for only a split second before he stood up. He then leaned on the guardrail in front of him, still between the two dead Monster Class Morenkai.

  “This tale you weave is one that seems too fantastic to be true.” Prime began as he rubbed his chin, his eyes looking at Micheal lazily,

  “But what proof do you have?” Micheal could’ve backflipped when he heard that. Despite himself, his heart had begun to pound ever so slightly above average speed due to his nervousness. It was incredibly stressful to control his every expression, every physical reaction, every word.

  “What proof do I have?” Micheal shook his head sadly,

  “Open your eyes, Director. Think back to the last time you spoke with your subordinates, like Number 1. Tell me, was his behavior… odd? Did it strike you as something jarringly out of place? Were his aspirations somewhat… changed?”

  With everything Micheal knew about Prime from history, and all the information he had about what was going on, there was only really one likely reason why Prime would be here.

  The man had encountered a problem he could not solve, and was thus doing what he could to find a solution. And that problem almost certainly had to do with this whole mess.

  Prime froze as he heard Micheal’s final reply, his eyes flashing with light as a memory of the recent past swept over him…

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  Previously…

  .. .. .. .. .. ..

  “Garen… What have you done?”

  Prime had just walked in on the other members of the Number Organization in the midst of their jubilation, as they sat or stood around a table and talked of the success of their missions. He had frozen time to check on everyone there, noting that most of the Numbers, apart from his Four Corners, were present.

  His being here was not by chance. Recently, he’d begun to notice a series of oddities occurring. Not only were his plans running into unexpected mishaps, he’d even discovered that Number 1, one of his most closely trusted allies, seemed to be doing things behind his back. It was even starting to feel like the man's personality was changing, in subtle ways that were hard for even Prime to identify.