Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

Ayer"s Enforcer Team left almost immediately after gearing up early in the morning, with the captured murderess in tow . Micheal sat in the background for most of the action, letting Ayer handle the required communications and preparations .

Just like the G.o.dfather Organization, the Angels Arcadia had their own form of long-distance communication networking . While they didn"t have a sweeping and closed network that anyone could access, they did have a type of sector-wide Communication Array .

The Communication Array was hooked up to a series of other relays that allowed its range to expand to the entire territory of the Angels Arcadia . It was, essentially, like a large satellite that provided coverage, but operating from the ground, or something along those lines . Micheal was unsure on the specifics .

The only way to access this network, however, required a functioning Emblem with the correct permissions .

"Normally, an Emissary"s Emblem would grant full access . " He sighed ruefully . His Emblem was fake, at its core, and he wasn"t exactly a pro-hacker . He had no idea how to re-create the function to access the Arcadia Network .

"Still, letting them handle everything is fine for now . When push comes to shove, I"ll deal with it in the future . " He put the thought to the side for now . There was nothing he could do to change it without exposing himself, he would handle any issues when the time came .

"Sir, we"re ready to head out! I"ve sent our report ahead to the Iron Eye Branch . " Ayer came up to him right before they left, his voice full of respect . The Enforcer had reported their movements ahead, mentioning that a powerful Emissary was accompanying him .

"I will eventually be exposed as a fake… but it should take quite a bit . " He thought, rubbing his thumb against his finger as he thought over Ayer"s words briefly .

"As long as I don"t commit any major crimes, reporting my whereabouts will be quite low priority . I should have at least a month before I get exposed, plenty of time to act . " The thought was one he"d reached a conclusion on earlier, giving him the confidence to move forward with his plans .

Everything depended on him remaining undetected, for now .

If he got caught in his infiltration plan before he was done… all of his plans would take a nosedive and he would have to adapt on the spot .

"However, I need to get in with the higher-ups of Arcadia, at least high enough that I can find intel on where my target is . I"ll need to create a bigger impression of myself to Ayer and his men . " He frowned .

"Even the best plans will require risks . I"m running on limited time and my body"s state is only barely edging up towards the higher end of C Cla.s.s, though I"ll break into the Peak of Mortal Tier Ki Cultivation tonight . " He sighed .

"Whatever . I"ll make it work . " The longer he took to take action, the more and more innocents would die, and the greater chance the Nightrunners would begin their vast slaughtering plan . He needed to act now, even if it made things harder .

They were currently all standing atop the rooftop of the re-supply station . The sunlight gleamed in at a slant, the morning light dazzling the slowly filling rooftop . Micheal had headed up top as he saw Ayer"s men finish their preparations, wanting some time for himself .

In the background, Ayer"s men all filed out onto the roof, armed to the teeth . They moved as a cohesive unit, as one, their training showing through . While the apocalypse may have only started a few years ago, the people that lived through it adapted at a remarkable rate .

"Acceptable . " Micheal turned and gave a slight nod,

"Let"s move out . "

Just like that, they set off traveling across the Main Cl.u.s.ter .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntAyer and his men were very familiar with this area . They took a direct route, jogging through dozens of skysc.r.a.pers with impunity .

In that time, Micheal got to see a little slice of the life of the Main Cl.u.s.ter .

He saw at least 8 distinct teams of people purposefully drawing Morenkai towards them on various skysc.r.a.per roofs . They would usually try to limit the number of Morenkai they would draw to not get overwhelmed, each team working carefully . The unsettling sight of Morenkai swarming up a skysc.r.a.per wasn"t a rare sight here at all .

"It"s just like I remembered . " He thought with a sigh .

The people in the Main Cl.u.s.ter typically were all more prepared, determined, and stronger than those in the side Cl.u.s.ters . It took a certain level of commitment to cross the Great Bridge, not just everyone could bring themselves to do it .

Of those 8 teams, at least 3 of them functioned with unique powers . One was a team of Lesser Vampire Types humans, using some type of red colored Artifact claws to tear the Morenkai to pieces . One was a team of humans dressed in sets of grey, plate armor acting like knights out of a story, slaying Morenkai left and right with greatswords . The last team was a group of women dressed in tight leather outfits, sending out small blobs of darkness that wrapped around the Morenkai, restricting their movement while they came up behind and stabbed them .

"Tens of thousands of small teams exist, apart from the Big 3 . Even the small teams can rarely have A Rankers and uncommonly have B Rankers among them . The Main Cl.u.s.ter is home to a decent number of experts . " He felt his heart lift slightly . Seeing how strong humanity was and knowing how much stronger he could help make them was a good feeling .

"But these are only the teams on the surface . " He nodded .

While he might"ve seen 8 distinct, powerful teams duking it out with Morenkai so far, there were still many more people that hid in the refuge of the skysc.r.a.pers, hunting only when they had to .

"When an Abnormal appears, it will take a huge amount of effort from a small team to safely take it down . Stronger Abnormals are bound to appear here in the Main Cl.u.s.ter, meaning the overt hunting methods used by those 8 teams can only work for teams that are very confident in their strength . "

"And if a Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai appears…" He shook his head .

Humanity was both strong and weak . It was a conundrum, but he would fix that, one step at a time .

Ayer"s men handled any stray Morenkai that attacked them . After crossing several dozen skysc.r.a.pers, they were attacked 11 times by shambling Morenkai . Such a number of attacks would"ve been extreme in the side Cl.u.s.ters, but was considered normal in the Main Cl.u.s.ter, where Morenkai thronged .

At one point, they were also attacked by an Abnormal .

They were crossing over a rickety rope bridge when it happened .

A blue-skinned Morenkai shambled into view, coming out of an entry-shed atop the skysc.r.a.per they were moving towards . The moment it appeared, it instantly turned and zeroed in on Ayer and his team . The freakish creature broke out into a sprint, its feet smas.h.i.+ng down hard as it thundered toward them .

The moment Micheal saw it, he instantly made a snap judgement .

"This is a perfect opportunity . "

"Woah! We"ve got an Abnormal!" One of the men called out, his voice echoing .

"Maintain your balance, Kyle get to the front! Deploy the Tank s.h.i.+eld! Don"t let it knock you off!" Ayer immediately took command as he saw it, issuing orders .

"We will focus fire on it and slowly retreat off the bridge! Do not put yourself at risk!" Ayer"s men immediately reacted, bringing weapons and s.h.i.+elds to bear as they prepared for combat . The momentum of the group stalled as they stopped moving forward, and began to fall back .

They were forced to move single file along the bridge due to its shaky and small nature . As a result, the Enforcer Team was spread out loosely and unable to create any sort of solid formation . They had found themselves in a rather precarious position as a result .

"I"ll handle it . " Micheal"s words cut through the chaos like a knife, his cool voice full of dark authority . He was standing near the rear of the group, behind most of the others .

When he spoke aloud, half the members turned to look at him in confusion . It wasn"t exactly easy to maneuver on the bridge and he would have to move past all of them, by which point the Abnormal would"ve already arrived .

In a single motion, Micheal bent his knees slightly and jumped up into the air .

WHOOSH

His body flew up several meters, far higher than looked natural . Beneath his feet, a set of dimly glowing Life Orbs floated and then vanished before anyone saw them . He used them to propel himself upward, absorbing them back in as soon as he gained enough momentum while using his Cloud Stepping Shoes to make a few minor adjustments .

It took him only a split second to rush past overhead, landing on the rickety rope bridge in one large pounce, his right hand resting on his Spatial Ring .

"What?!"

"Huh?!"

"How-?!"

The unnatural looking jump took everyone by surprise, all of them looking at "Emissary Heron" in shock . Such movements looked physically impossible, yet he made them almost too casually .

By this point, the sprinting blue-skinned Abnormal had almost reached them . The creature held nothing back as it threw itself forward, its body s.h.i.+vering . It was easily a meter taller than Micheal, with lanky, sinewy arms that blurred as they lashed at his head .

"Careful!"

"Shoot it righ-"

"Wait! Don"t shoot the Emissary!"

Confusion swarmed across the Enforcer Team as Micheal"s actions threw them into disarray . They all watched helplessly as the Abnormal Morenkai"s attack was unleashed, unable to take any action in time .

Instead of advancing forward or trying to dodge, Micheal did something completely unexpected .

He fell backwards, as if he had tripped .

The movement looked incredibly casual and was so smooth, most of the onlookers blinked, not believing their eyes .

The abrupt fall apparently even took the Abnormal Morenkai by surprise, causing both of its sinewy arms to miss, las.h.i.+ng through the air where Micheal"s chest had been just a scant moment ago .

The momentum of the Abnormal was not lessened as it continued to barrel forward, even if its main attack missed .

As it charged at Micheal, Micheal"s abrupt fall came to an even more abrupt end .

From the perspective of Ayer"s Enforcer Team and the Morenkai, it was as if Micheal had forcibly stopped falling in mid-air, his entire body freezing up impossibly .

Hidden beneath the suit he was wearing, 3 Life Orbs were currently supporting his back and frame . He had the Ability to emit his Life Orbs past his clothes, but he could also cause them to form under them .

Those three Life Orbs abruptly shot upward .

Micheal"s body flew upward with them, bouncing back from falling in mid-air in an instant . Once again, the unnatural reversal looked inhuman to the onlookers behind him .

At the same time, two Kouki Daggers appeared, one in either hand as he let go of his Spatial Ring . He held the daggers in a secretive manner, hiding them in his palms .

Both of his arms blurred as he slammed the two daggers forward, coating them in a layer of Sword Energy and taking the Abnormal Morenkai by complete surprise . By the time it realized that Micheal had bounced back upwards, it was already too late .

SHKK

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 156

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Micheal turned his body to the side as the Abnormal"s body knocked into him . He s.h.i.+fted most of the impact away from him, causing it to fly forward and crash into one of the Enforcer Team members, a bulky man that was wielding a large, steel s.h.i.+eld .

"Watch o…" A hurried shout trailed off as everyone stared at the Abnormal that had slammed into the leading man .

It wasn"t moving . In fact, after it collided with the first team member, its body tumbled down and collapsed, lying still .

A dead silence took over the Enforcer Team as they all got a good look at the blue-skinned Abnormal .

Its head was no longer attached to its body .

Slowly, they all stared and looked back at Micheal in complete shock and awe .

Lying on the ground near him was a blue-skinned Abnormal head, black blood pooling out of it and dripping off the edge of the rope bridge . Micheal stood cooly over it, his hands empty as he nonchalantly wiped a drop of Morenkai blood from his shoulder .

"My G.o.d…"

"He ripped its head off with his bare hands…"

"What the f.u.c.k…"

The entire Enforcer Team was stupefied . Even Enforcer Ayer, a strong B Ranker that could face off against an Abnormal one on one and win, was amazed .

"What the h.e.l.l . . . He"s got to at least be an A Ranker, and a strong one on the Main Cl.u.s.ter Ranking List . Thank G.o.d we didn"t offend him…" Ayer"s face paled as he looked at Micheal, making the decision then and there to show the Emissary the maximum amount of respect .

"When we get back to base, I"ll be sure to introduce him to the Commander…"

In terms of power, Micheal was far from a true-blue A Ranker . His physical stats were far lower, and the number of Abilities he held much smaller . Most A Rankers had a diverse range of Abilities that boosted them in multiple ways, especially A Rankers in the Main Cl.u.s.ter . Micheal depended on his experience and exquisite skill, as well as the trump cards he held in store .

While he couldn"t match an A Ranker outright, he could still make it look like he was one and, with enough preparation, take out multiple A Rankers like he did with the Black Flag Pirates .

"It"s handled . Let"s keep moving . " Micheal"s voice spread out as he turned around, moving ahead confidently . His every step gave off the aura of a profound expert, something that wasn"t far from the truth given his future experience .

After exchanging awed glances, the Enforcer Team quickly followed, and their journey continued . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Some amount of time later…

In front of Micheal was an enormous skysc.r.a.per, one that took up the s.p.a.ce of 4 regular skysc.r.a.pers and was at least 20 meters taller than the surrounding skysc.r.a.pers . A huge, behemoth of a skysc.r.a.per, far larger than normal ones on Earth .

It was a Tower .

Atop the Tower, more than two dozen figures could be seen overlooking the four bridges, armed to the teeth with various weapons, powerful Rankers of considerable strength . This elite guard troop was far stronger than any other guarding force he"d seen before . At the bare minimum, there were multiple B Rankers among the guards, and this was just the outside guarding force alone .

s.h.i.+gun"s Stardust G.o.dfather Organization Branch had used B Rankers as his elite subordinates . Here, B Rankers could be seen operating as mere outside guards . The full power of the Angels Arcadia was on display .

When he saw all of this, he smiled slightly .

He"d arrived at the headquarters of one of the 64 Main Branches of the Angels Arcadia, the Iron Eye Branch .

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