Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

Number 14 had been aware that Micheal was holding something, though because of Micheal"s efforts to hide it, he couldn"t see exactly what. Micheal"s att.i.tude and casual defense of Leila"s attack created an image of a top expert in Number 14"s mind. As a result, he proceeded forward with caution. Instead of directly blitzing Micheal at top speed, he tested the waters slowly and carefully, like a seasoned expert.

Unfortunately for the Steel Kraken, that was exactly what Micheal had been hoping for.

Number 14"s slow arrival gave Micheal the chance to perfectly time what he did next.

He crushed the Artifact he was holding in his hand, activating it. At the same time, he made a very subtle throwing motion as he pulled a pair of small objects out of his Spatial Ring.

A screeching echo ripped into the air, one that was incredibly high pitched. Behind this echo, a plethora of other pitches warbled out, some with deeper pitches while others with higher ones. Some were so high pitched human ears could not even detect them, while some rumbled so low they moved beyond audible levels for humans.

When that wave of noise echoed out, Number 14 froze, his tentacles going absolutely still.

When Micheal saw this, he smiled, his mind flas.h.i.+ng back for an instant.

The moment Micheal originally saw the two Nightrunners, he began planning, reviewing everything he knew.

Number 14 of the Nightrunner Numbers, the infamous Steel Kraken was a very powerful warrior with a rather unknown gender. Even Micheal was unsure if Number 14 was a man or woman, though he faintly recalled hearing something about him being a feminine man, one that kept his ident.i.ty secret.

Number 14 had three distinct Abilities that he combined to great effect, giving him the high levels of power that he had today, apart from Abilities like Earth Tier Ki Cultivation that were a staple of the higher ranks.

The Animal Morph, Elastic Switch, and Steel Body Type Abilities.

The Steel Body Type Ability was a common one, but for good reason. Having the power to change your body to steel boosted one"s physical defenses incredibly. It was one of the best Type Abilities sheerly for its simplicity.

The Elastic Switch Ability was a unique one. It gave a warrior the temporary ability to mold their arms and legs as if they were elastic, granting highly increased mobility and flexibility. Whenever Micheal read about it, he instantly thought about the famous "rubber man" from the manga and anime One Piece, the future Pirate King Luffy.

The last Ability, and the most key one, was the Limited Ability, Animal Morph. This Ability allowed Number 14 to transform his body to take on aspects of a variety of animals.

The only catch was that in order to use an animal, he had to have eaten a key part of that creature, like their mind or heart. This activated some type of magical ritual, which then granted him the power to manipulate his body and morph parts onto it. It sounded grotesque, but had a huge variety of uses at its core.

Number 14 combined these all in a deadly fas.h.i.+on. He had long since eaten the heart of an octopus, gaining the Ability to add its features to his body. The 8 tentacles he"d gained were a direct result of that, four attached to either shoulder.

The Elastic Switch Ability gave those tentacles incredible versatility, allowing him to manipulate them, twist them, turn them, and attack with them at his will.

And his Steel Body Ability combined to make it a perfect combo. Each one of those tentacles was literally made of pointed steel.

Using that, the Steel Kraken was able to rip through his enemies without even lifting a finger. He became an infamous killing machine and a Supreme A Ranker, but one that ostensibly fought for good as a Nightrunner, at least in the eyes of the public.

Micheal was well aware of all of this. He"d done quite a bit of research on his enemies, using both knowledge he was able to gather from the present, as well as memories he had of famous figures in his past. He"d paid quite close attention to all of the elite figures in his first life, admiring them for their strength.

Drawing upon the grueling experience he"d gained from his past life, Micheal was also able to formulate a plan.

"The Animal Morph Ability is a Limited one, but it had quite a few notable figures." Up to 800 people could purchase the Ability for 70,000 Points, yet despite the relatively small number, Micheal could remember at least 3 or 4 powerful men and women that used it, back on the Sixth Layer.

At high levels, the Ability was strong indeed, allowing one to gain the scales of a Dragon, the wings of a Phoenix, the strength of a Giant, and more.

However, while the Ability could grant one the powers of any animal, it would also grant other aspects as well. A person would gain some of their instincts, transforming away from being fully human.

In Micheal"s past life, he and a small team had once had to face off against an enormous Blue Leaf Octopus while sailing across a dangerous sea. These creatures were one of the many dangers on the sea that he had prepared for, knowing the risks as he crossed it.

Blue Leaf Octopi were huge, but at their core, very similar to octopi from Earth. One thing Blue Leaf Octopi had in common was a trait that had to do with balance.

If exposed to loud, low-frequency noise, the creatures suffered from shock and would instinctually freeze as they were knocked off balance. Micheal"s team had used this to their advantage, ambus.h.i.+ng and killing it.

This same quirk applied to regular octopi on Earth.

With that knowledge from his past life in mind, Micheal had purchased a unique Artifact from the Shop.

A Sound Storage Sh.e.l.l, for 2,500 Points. It was a relatively cheap Artifact that could be used to store up to 30 days straight of audio through a magical process that would allow you to scan it using your mind. These were used by some private information brokers on the Second Layer, as the contents of a Sound Storage Sh.e.l.l could not be altered once they were created.

The Artifact itself technically had no offensive power. However, if it was used improperly and shattered, it would simultaneously release a very loud explosion of noise that hit super high frequencies all the way down to super low frequencies.

Micheal had found that out the hard way, a few years into the original future, after he accidentally shattered one and ended up with a pair of ruptured eardrums.

Thus, all of this added up to form the plan he had now.

When that noise rippled out, it shocked Number 14. More specifically, the parts of his body that were morphed from an octopus were extraordinarily shocked, sending a myriad of signals that slammed into Number 14"s mind and senses, overwhelming them.

Because he was a few meters distant, Number 14"s eardrums did not rupture from the intensity. Still, the shock itself from the instinctual, octopus part of him left him frozen for a bit more than two seconds.

Leila and Number 11 grabbed ahold of their ears, both of them grunting in pain as the noise chased down on them. Leila responded by grabbing a white necklace from her Spatial Ring and putting it on, while Number 11 began to transform, his robe ripping and tearing as he activated his Lesser Werewolf Type.

Commander Kenneth remained on the ground, blood still leaking from his lips as the Malwa Poison ravaged his body. The painful noise was only a minor issue in light of that.

However, as he heard the irritating sound, the Commander felt something delicately b.u.mp into his chest and fall to the ground. He blinked past his pain as he stared at the object that had landed in front of him.

Or, rather, the pair of objects.

Two, very faintly glowing white Pills that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, slipping past the notice of almost everyone present as the agonizing noise caused the various A Rankers to flinch.

When he saw them, his eyes widened. He immediately picked them up, acting slowly to avoid drawing attention. The Commander directly tossed both pills into his mouth as soon as he noticed that neither Leila nor Number 11 was paying attention.

Right after that, his eyes began to flash with white light.

Micheal, at ground zero, should"ve suffered the biggest blow, yet came out relatively unscathed.

A flash of red energy dissipated from around each ear. He had used his Advance Tier Sword Energy to shear through any and all noise for a few split seconds, leaving him temporarily deaf, but protecting his hearing.

The powerful Sword Energy could be used in such a manner thanks to his extremely fine control of it. A lesser user might accidentally rip their ears out or stab their head, the difficulty in controlling Sword Energy not something that could be underestimated.

The energy itself only held up because the sound wasn"t actually a directed attack. Sword Energy could be used to enhance the sharpness of things or to attack, imbuing it into weapons to make them tougher and stronger, but using it to defend was very difficult. Even for Micheal, coating himself in a protective layer of Sword Energy would prove impossible.

Micheal took full advantage of Number 14"s shock by stepping forward and closing the distance between them.

His pair of Kouki Daggers appeared in his hands, each one gleaming as red, Advanced Tier Sword Energy coated them. Micheal"s muscles bulged as he launched himself forward, the daggers shooting straight for Number 14.

Number 14 lay there, stunned and unable to react. None of his allies were anywhere near him, leaving him, for a brief moment, completely vulnerable to attack. The mighty and powerful Supreme A Ranker was brought to his knees by a cheap Artifact and a little bit of subterfuge.

When Micheal"s two daggers were around half a meter from slamming into and killing Number 14, a blue s.h.i.+eld of light appeared, covering Number 14 from head to toe.

"A Defensive Artifact… A Monkan s.h.i.+eld Necklace? d.a.m.n it." Micheal recognized this blue s.h.i.+eld of energy, his eyes narrowing. He hadn"t expected such a powerful A Ranker to not have a Defensive Artifact, but he had hoped he might get lucky. Very few people survived in the First Layer without having backup defensive plans, but some opted to focus purely on Abilities.

This particular Artifact was a protective tool that cost 80,000 Points in the Shop, with a very unique effect. If activated, any attack that would kill a person would be absorbed and blocked completely, the damage of that attack then spread out over a person"s entire body.

For regular people, such an Artifact was actually quite dangerous. The Ki that filled the body of most people focused on enhancing one"s body. This Ki did have beneficial effects for one"s organs, but its focus was more on protecting those organs, preventing them from being attacked in the first place.

Thus, any attack that could spread an even amount of damage over one"s vulnerable organs, like the liver, heart, brain, etc. was an attack that was extremely dangerous. It was the type of Artifact that Micheal would never use.

For someone with the Steel Body Type, however… their organs would literally be steel. A type of magic steel that allowed the body to function, drawing upon the latent energy of the world, but steel nonetheless. An Artifact like a Monkan s.h.i.+eld Necklace would work perfectly, a powerful synergy.

Micheal had guessed, but wasn"t sure, that Number 14 had this Artifact. It was one of the best Artifacts for people that had the Steel Body Type, as long as they could afford it and knew about the synergy.

Because Number 14 had that Artifact, killing him, in the brief seconds Micheal had, became unfeasible. Any fatal attack would be absorbed and distributed.

That said… the key word there was "fatal." The Artifact had certain magical properties and granted a very powerful effect, but as a counterweight, was magically limited to attacks that would kill its user.

As soon as Micheal recognized the Artifact at hand, he changed the trajectory of his dagger strikes.

The two gleaming Kouki Daggers punched forward and down.

However, instead of stabbing through the Steel Kraken"s head and heart as he originally planned, the daggers stabbed right into the joint where Number 14"s shoulders connected to each arm.

The eight octopus tentacles rested just below this joint, connected as part of each arm, something Number 14 had must"ve spent months working on. The Animal Morph Ability was powerful, but integrating it took a good deal of time. Each single octopus arm probably took one to two weeks to fully form.

Micheal felt a brief moment of resistance as his daggers cut through the Number 14"s robe, apparently some type of additional Defensive Artifact. He then felt a second moment of resistance as, after he sheared through that, his daggers slammed into the enhanced steel skin of Number 14"s body.

As they collided, his Kouki Daggers crumpled, the Advanced Tier Sword Energy"s raw might causing the blades to fall apart. They were strong daggers, but unable to hold up to such intense and focused Sword Energy.

Luckily for Micheal, the daggers only failed after they finished punching forward, slicing cleanly into the Steel Kraken"s shoulders.

Two thumps echoed out as Micheal leapt backwards, backflipping through the air.

On the ground right in front of him, two severed steel arms and a mult.i.tude of quivering tentacles had fallen, arms that were rapidly turning back into flesh as they lost the support of Number 14"s body. Blood splayed out of these appendages, staining the floor as they fell still.

In that loud, frantic moment, Micheal cut Number 14"s arms off, crippling him.

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