Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

Micheal shook his head as he watched the G.o.dfather fly far enough away that he was just a dot in the distance, and eventually vanish. He continued to rush behind, flying forward as quickly as he could.

While he flew, he took a full accounting of his body.

He was rather exhausted, his battle with the Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai and subsequent death draining a lot from him. He"d managed to get a little meditative rest in at the rendezvous point, but not enough to fully recover.

"Status." He called it up, activating the screen as he looked for any changes.

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— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 32,496

Race: Human

Physique: 1 Star

Soul Quality: 1 Star

Age: 18

- Stats -

Strength - 80

Endurance - 56

Recovery - 55

Soul - 25 -> 26

Abilities - (5/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

Impact Release

Ceaseless Mind

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"Hmm, I gained a couple thousand Points from killing those Morenkai and Abnormals…" When he was drawing out the Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai, he"d scored a pretty decent sum of Points just from the large number of Morenkai that had rushed him.

His mind blanked for a moment, however, when he noticed something.

"My… Soul stat went up?" His perfect memory wouldn"t let him miss the change.

He stared at the screen for a few seconds in confusion. After a moment, he held out his right hand and slowly opened and closed it.

As he did that, he focused on the movement of his hand, tracking the speed he perceived it at.

"Huh. It really did go up." The difference between a Soul stat of 25 and a Soul stat of 26 was subtle, but still noticeable. He now viewed the world with a slightly enhanced perspective.

As he realized the improvement, he also abruptly realized something else.

"I can store 4 impacts now." The epiphany settled upon his shoulders in a rush as he conceptualized his Soul and the Abilities he controlled. He had gained this sooner than he had thought he would, something he blamed on his 1 Star Soul Quality throwing off his calculations.

While storing an extra impact didn"t seem like much, it was still a 33% increase in the number of preparations he could make using his Impact Release Ability. A smile appeared on his face as he realized this.

That smile faltered, however, as he went back to the original issue at hand.

"How? Is it because of the Bracken Enhancement Fluid?" He considered that for a few seconds before he shook the thought away. The potion was never a permanent one, and it had very little to do with the Soul, save for the backlash it would throw at the user later.

"No, if it had to be one thing…" Micheal"s eyes lit up as he realized where the increase had come from,

"It"s from the fight with those Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai!"

There were not many ways to permanently increase one"s Soul stat. The vast majority of ways involved purchasing an Ability or upgrading one"s Ki Cultivation. The second most popular way, and one that was drastically less popular than the first, was to brew rare, absurdly expensive, and dangerous potions or find extremely rare treasures that could boost one"s Soul stat. The Temporary Nest Cores fell into this category, though they were their own unique thing as well.

The third, and least common way by far, was to increase the power of your soul naturally.

It was possible to increase one"s Strength simply by training with weights. A person would need to brutally exert their body to an extreme level, for an extended period, to see any results, but it was still possible.

The same idea also applied to a being"s Soul.

Bearing soul-crus.h.i.+ng responsibilities but persevering, fighting in dangerous battles where the odds are vastly stacked against you, focusing on many things at once while in mortal danger, finding spiritual enlightenment and coming to peace with reality… These, and more, were ways a person could indirectly train the power of their Soul.

These things were not something anyone could just will to happen. Many of them required one to constantly be risking death and in a state of extreme stress. But they all could subtly "season" a person"s Soul, making them tougher, stronger, and more durable.

Micheal"s insanely complex duel with all of the attacking Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai had required a level of focus that reached the Master Tier of Sword Mastery. This was something that was not normally achievable by someone with a Soul stat as low as his. Yet he had still managed to achieve it.

This incredible strain had proved enough to boost the power of his Soul up an entire point permanently.

"Not bad, not bad at all." He couldn"t help but go back to grinning,

"If I can keep this up, I"ll be one of those superheroes that grow stronger just as they"re about to lose." It was a comforting, if wishful, thought. He would have no problems with something like that.

In the time that he had spent musing and debating over his newfound gains, Micheal had covered a substantial amount of ground.

Head Cameron was, of course, long gone, but Micheal still flew towards the alert location, shooting through the air. He ignored everyone else below him, feeling a bit secure in knowing that the G.o.dfather Organization guards wouldn"t just shoot him down randomly.

In what felt like no time at all, but required several more minutes of intense, all-out speed, Micheal arrived at the Permanent Nest Core Stronghold of the G.o.dfather Organization.

The first thing he noticed, when he arrived, was the extremely heavy security perimeter.

The skysc.r.a.per where the alert was coming from was colored a faded red, and stood at about average height. However, its rooftop must"ve had more than 100 guards from the G.o.dfather Organization, many of them forming a secure perimeter. Micheal stood on the neighboring skysc.r.a.per to the south, preparing to greet the guards.

Several long, black bags could be seen spread out in various places on the roof. Michael instantly recognized them as bodybags. He sighed when he saw this.

Close to the center of the rooftop, Micheal could see Head Cameron looking down at a pair of corpses. No one else was standing near him as he stood there silently.

"Micheal?" Micheal"s thoughts were interrupted as a familiar voice called out his name.

"Heyo, s.h.i.+n." He turned to his left.

s.h.i.+n had just warped in onto the same rooftop he was standing on. He was uninjured, thankfully. Ever since the incident where Director Prime managed to somehow find s.h.i.+n and Sophia, Micheal had grown a bit paranoid when it came to planning for things. He found it hard not to a.s.sume the worst-case scenario whenever he heard something unexpected happen.

"Do you know what happened?" s.h.i.+n walked up to Micheal and gestured at the scene.

Micheal shook his head somberly. He explained what he did know, which was really just the names of the two Insignia users. He also explained what he and Head Cameron had been up to.

s.h.i.+n responded by explaining how they were escorting the Seer through the Main Cl.u.s.ter, and how they spotted groups of erratic Morenkai going on weird rampages. When Micheal heard that, a deep frown appeared on his face.

Before they talk further about it, a loud thud echoed out as a huge bull landed atop the rooftop. Micheal did a doubletake, staring at the fearsome, glowing creature in shock.

After a second, however, he recognized it, and the man sitting on its back. Executive Andrew of the G.o.dfather Organization, a powerful Supreme A Ranker that could summon mystical creatures.

Andrew nodded a greeting at Micheal and immediately walked over to the guard perimeter and entered it. s.h.i.+n and Micheal shrugged and then followed behind, pa.s.sing into the attack zone without issue.

Once he arrived on the rooftop in question, Micheal slowed down.

The scent of blood tinged the air. It was a familiar scent, one Micheal had lived with for most of the past 10 years of his life. An acrid, harsh smell, of strife, warfare, and pain.

His eyes became cold as he scanned the rooftop. He looked at the position of the bodies, the smears and spatters of blood on the ground, gunning for every detail he could find.

As he looked around, he was gradually able to form an image of the fight that had taken place here.

Rather then a fight, he should term it a slaughter.

"It started here." He walked over to one particular spot on the south side of the rooftop. Eight bodybags had been set out here, alongside several large pools of blood. There were also several long streaks of blood, pointing out in the opposite direction.

Micheal noticed that oddity, glancing at the blood curiously. If nothing else, it looked as though the guards had managed to injure their attacker, and quite severely going by the blood loss, before they died. Those injuries didn"t appear to have slowed the attacker down in the slightest.

"It then progressed to here…" He took a few steps forward, glancing at another dozen or so bodybags. He placed his footsteps carefully, avoiding stepping on any blood. Once more, he spotted several bloodstains that looked like they would"ve come from the person attacking. s.h.i.+n followed behind him quietly.

"And then he… stopped?" Micheal frowned as he looked at one spot, close to the center of the roof, before nodding.

The attacker, and there was only one, despite such a great slaughter, had rushed in from the south, obliterating all of his enemies while taking multiple serious injuries. He then took several steps forward and planted himself down, as if waiting for enemies.

"And he didn"t have to wait long…" Micheal thought as he looked at the center of the roof, where two corpses remained uncovered. One of the bodies was completely mangled and sat next to a large, silver greatsword, while the other one vaguely resembled a female, covered in huge, gaping injuries.

It was not a sight for the weak of stomach, or those unused to brutal scenes of war.

Behind him, Micheal could hear s.h.i.+n retching and turning away.

Micheal walked up to stand next to the G.o.dfather as the man looked down at the two dead bodies. The man had an incredibly pensive and somber mood about him, such that no one else was willing to approach him. It was a mood Micheal well recognized.

He moderated his tone as he nodded at Cameron and then gently gestured at the two bodies,

"Is this..?"

"Anna." Cameron responded gruffly as he looked at the body of the woman. A few seconds pa.s.sed in silence. After a moment more, Cameron kneeled down on the ground, ignoring the pool of blood he knelt in as he looked at her corpse quietly.

"She was a brave woman." Micheal replied slowly, keeping his tone at a steady level. From how her body was positioned, and the injuries she took, it was clear that she fought to the death to ward off their attacker.

"The bravest. She was from Russia. Her full name was Anna Vronsky." Cameron"s voice sounded odd, displaying emotions that he rarely showed.

"She would tell me all the time about the pair of Siberian puppies she"d had before she was Chosen, back in the same Wave as I. Adorable little mutts that she loved like her children." He raised his hand to her face and slowly closed her now sightless eyes.

"We never could find her children, one of my many failures. She always worried about them, and about how her puppies were doing, back on Earth." The G.o.dfather slowly stood up, his shoulders hunched as he continued,

"She was a good woman."

Micheal watched on silently, making neither comment nor judgement as he let Cameron speak. His words had gradually become filled with intense emotion, as if the pain he felt had taken control.

Cameron walked over to where the silver greatsword and mangled body. The man knelt on the ground again, resting a hand on the large weapon.

"Hsun hated violence. He was from Korea and wanted nothing other than to listen to Korean music all day long." He traced his hand along the sword,

"He joined us after witnessing the violence of the First Layer. He wanted to put an end to that, to create a world of peace and happiness." Cameron rested his hand on the hilt of the sword,

"He didn"t ask for anything. He was selfless and understood our mission as well as any." After a moment"s pause, he stood up once more,

"He was a good man."

Both of them took a few steps back, giving the bodies room.

"They all were."

Micheal and Cameron looked on in silence for several seconds. Neither moved or made any sound as some officials moved forward and began to cover up the remains, taking their retreat as a sign to act.

Finally, Cameron turned to face Micheal,

"Thank you." The G.o.dfather didn"t specify why, and Micheal didn"t ask. The Head took a deep breath. Gradually, he collected himself, a strong image of the fearsome, powerful S Ranker and elite leader of the G.o.dfather Organization covering up a tired, broken man.

"Andrew." His voice boomed out loud, covering the entire rooftop. Everyone turned to look at the G.o.dfather, stopping in what they were doing.

"Yes, Head!" Executive Andrew stopped talking to a group of guards and faced Cameron, nodding respectfully.

"The G.o.dfather Organization is hereby going into our highest security level. All Executives are to meet at central command in t-minus 2 hours. Any and all intel judged to be of importance or relevance to the events of the past few days is to be immediately pa.s.sed forward." As Cameron spoke, he also gestured at two of the officers Andrew had been speaking to, as if to convey the command to them as well.
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"See that the order is pa.s.sed along immediately."

"Yes, Head!"

"Yessir!"

"At once!"

Executive Andrew and the two officials next to him, Information Officers that were responsible for spreading and gathering information, gave out a flurry of replies as Cameron took command. All three whipped out smartphones and began to issue orders.

"My men and women died to defend this Permanent Nest Core, and for what? We don"t even have the Core anymore, and it was never that important." Cameron sighed again as he lowered his voice, talking almost to himself, as if Micheal wasn"t there.

Micheal"s eyes widened when he heard that, picking up on the implications. The person that had attacked here hadn"t just murdered several guards and elite members of the G.o.dfather Organization, he had also destroyed the Permanent Nest Core.

Micheal"s mind was racing ahead of him as he processed everything. A being that could destroy a Nest Core, and a Permanent Nest Core at that, must contain some truly incredible destructive power.

A man, or woman, that was so strong, able to take on the elite guard that was stationed here, including an Executive and Sub-Executive, all in a matter of minutes, before reinforcements could arrive, all while taking extremely serious injuries as if they were nothing…

He could only think of one man that had the potential to do battle like this.

Number 1, of the Nightrunner Numbers.

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

In a skysc.r.a.per close to the border between the G.o.dfather Organization and the Nightrunners…

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

"Hahaha! Victory is at hand, brothers and sisters!" Garen Olsteis laughed out loud as he looked at the various masked figures sitting in the lounge, unable to help himself from smiling.

Number 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12… A mult.i.tude of masked figures sat around a large table, many of them joining in laughter. Some of the figures were pet.i.te, and small, like Number 10, while others were muscular and large, like Number 12. All of them carried a unique aura about them, that of a powerful expert.

The air was filled with jubilation, a great celebration full of relief and cheer.

"Chaos shall no longer prevail! The power we all have gained…" Garen held up a hand as warm, golden light swarmed around him as he spoke. He became the spitting image of a hero out of legend, a mighty warrior that could never fail.

The light he gave off was qualitatively different than it had been just a few days ago. Its intensity was at an extreme level, so powerful it was visibly affecting the air, causing sparks to appear.

"We will bring peace to this troubled world, whether humanity likes it or not."

A few more cheers spread out as several of the masked figures were swept up by Garen"s heroic aura. Only Number 6 seemed to remain unaffected, sitting silently as he watched the proceedings.

Garen began to pontificate more. However, before he could continue for much longer…

The sound of footsteps echoed, coming from the hallway outside.

All of the Numbers, Garen included, glanced towards the doorway of the lounge. Several of them readied weapons in case this was a surprise attack, rather than just someone pa.s.sing by.

Those footsteps slowed and came to a halt, right outside.

Slowly, the door opened up. The various members of the group all leaned forward, ready to respond to any threat at all. Garen watched on with an amused expression, one that abruptly froze as a familiar man walked into the room.

Mixed looks of sheer, utter horror, terror, and shock flitted beneath the masks of all of the Numbers present as everyone stared at the man that had just walked in. The atmosphere of the lounge froze, all mirth and good cheer vanis.h.i.+ng.

Director Prime looked around at the hidden gathering of his own organization, a gathering he had crashed uninvited. His gaze was cool, filled with neither anger nor pleasure. Slowly, after surveilling almost everyone, he turned his eyes to Number 1.

"Garen." Prime looked at Garen for a few moments silently. Garen stared back, the shock in the man"s eyes vanis.h.i.+ng, replaced by cold darkness that gave off nothing.

"What have you done?"

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