Chapter 49
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For a split second before his death, Micheal's sixth sense flared.
As soon as he sensed this, his entire body shivered as his mind went into overdrive, reacting instantaneously as his hand reached for his katana in a well-practiced movement. The boosts from his stronger body, from his enhanced perception of time, everything worked together to make him faster.
As a result, he managed to get two fingers on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.
Before the third finger touched it, he was already dead.
Micheal's consciousness was stored in an ethereal, mysterious way when he died. He was aware of the world around, in his immediate vicinity, and could choose to come back to life anywhere within a few meters of where he died.
His original body would dissipate into nothingness, everything that was stored or placed on it warping back to where he spawned in. The process was magical, drawing upon the latent energy of the world as fuel to function, the fabric of reality itself.
As he focused, he was able to make out what had happened.
His head was no longer attached to his body. Blood was pooling out of the gruesome injury as his neck gaped open, decapitated. He had died so quickly he wasn't even able to recognize his death.
Standing a single meter away from Micheal's corpse was a small, white skinned Abnormal Morenkai. A glowing, white Aura of light surrounded its body, pulsating dimly.
The white skinned Morenkai was currently looking to the right and to the left in confusion. When it killed Micheal, instead of being able to eat, use, or absorb Micheal's life energy, it got nothing at all. Killing Micheal wouldn't give Points if he wasn't truly killed.
'It's Monster Class.' There was no question in his mind that this was a Monster Class Morenkai, and definitely the same one that killed the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch. Only Monster Class Morenkai had a visible Aura, a sign of extreme power such that their bodies couldn't contain the energy.
It had moved so stealthily that Micheal had only been able to detect it at the very end, thanks to his sixth sense. His increased Soul stat had made the innate ability he held slightly stronger, but it hadn't been enough.
It had moved so quickly that he was completely unable to react in time, his body's relatively low stats limiting him.
It had attacked with such force that it instantly killed him, not giving him a chance to fight back or do anything at all.
In all marks, it scored perfect, a sneak attack that could not only easily kill Micheal, but likely kill many A Rankers as well. It was no surprise that the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch had died.
It was infuriating.
Micheal had done everything right, and yet he still died.
The brutal unfairness of the First Layer was quite apparent. He had only existed here for a bit more than a month. If he had been given a year or two, he would be able to easily stand up and fight back.
However, if he waited a year or two, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, of people would die…
The mass exodus of people from the outer Clusters into the Main Cluster was already beginning. Just a few days from now, the Main Cluster would gain tens of millions of new inhabitants.
Some would be adventurers looking to explore, while others were fearful, wanting to find a way back to Earth. Still others would be looking for family, while others would be searching for loved ones or friends. Some would travel in search of glory, while others would seek out Points to gain new Abilities.
The Great Arrival, as it came to be known, was hugely impactful on the Main Cluster. It changed the entire face of the Main Cluster.
And it was in preparation of this that Micheal was seeking out the Black Witch, to kill her and help prevent the vile experiments the Nightrunners had performed in his original future, to stop them from developing through that and rising to great power.
Waiting was not an option.
All of these thoughts passed through Micheal's mind in a flash as he realized what had happened.
And he also realized that he was out of time.
He needed to respawn, he could only delay for a few scant seconds.
With that in mind, he waited as long as he could.
The Monster Class Morenkai kept searching around, poking at Micheal's corpse in a confused manner. It still had yet to receive any life energy from killing Micheal and couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.
After a second, it moved away from his body, its head tilting to the side as it looked over at one of the entry sheds atop this roof. Perhaps it thought Micheal was hiding behind it somehow, avoiding its detection.
Micheal struck then, his body reforming as he came back to life.
The moment he felt the air on his skin, as his feet touched the ground, he activated his Impact Release Ability.
'Impact Release: Bulldozer!'
He aimed the impact at the ground, but at an angle, using his feet to coordinate the blow. Thankfully his Cloud Stepping Shoes manage to hold up and the impact successfully hit the skyscraper's rooftop and partially rebounded against him.
THUD
WHOOSH
Micheal was sent flying towards the edge of the roof at a breakneck speed, his feet and legs numbed.
The Monster Class Morenkai wasn't sitting still through all of this, however.
The moment Micheal came back to life, its senses once again picked up on his abnormally powerful life force. Its head had jerked to face him, its entire body swiveling.
It immediately launched itself forward after him, its body blurring as it moved so quickly even Micheal couldn't clearly discern it.
Thankfully, the huge speed boost he'd gained as he expended his very last stored impact had been enough to let him get past the creature, and that was how he ended up where he'd been right after.
A controlled dive that transformed into a fast-paced escape, soaring through skyscrapers as he beat a fast retreat.
The Monster Class Morenkai didn't just give up. It immediately gave chase, its body blurring as it threw itself after him. Every jump it made was incredibly fast, shooting through the air like a rocket.
Fortunately for Micheal, it could only move in a straight direction. Micheal made use of his Cloud Stepping Shoes and his Life Orbs to dodge several of its attacks, eventually leading it on a wild chase across a dozen skyscrapers.
As all of that happened, in his head, Micheal went over every possible way he could escape.
'Should I buy something? An Invisibility Potion? A set of large-scale Smoke Grenades? A Flame Capsule?' Dozens of ideas flooded his mind as he tried to think up a way out of this situation, drawing upon his store of experience.
At one key point, as he was wracking his mind for ideas, he happened to be crossing between two skyscrapers. His body had sustained several light injuries, including multiple cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. He winced as he ducked into a sharp turn, preemptively moving out of the line of sight of the still chasing Morenkai.
He stole a glance back at the Monster Class Morenkai.
The creature had just slammed down hard onto a skyscraper balcony. Its head was constantly trained on Micheal, never relenting, even when he moved out of sight. It could keenly sense his energy signature.
As that thought went through Micheal's head, inspiration struck.
He quickly tapped on his Spatial Ring, pulling out a small, nondescript necklace.
He put the necklace on in a heartbeat, a smile appearing on his face.
It was none other than the Nullification Aura Necklace that he had gained from the battle with Xavier, back in the Stardust Cluster.
This special Artifact was designed to block attacks that could affect the Soul or mind. A side effect of this, however, was that if he concentrated and used up some of his Ki, he could also use the Artifact to wipe away the signature of his life force, sealing any traces of that hidden Aura.
In most situations, something like this wouldn't matter. Very few beings could sense the life force of another creature unless they willfully displayed it, it wasn't something that was easily tangible like Ki at higher stages. Even Micheal couldn't sense someone else's life force.
However, when it came to the Monster Class Morenkai, it was a godsend.
Unfortunately, the Artifact wasn't perfect. At its core, it was still one of the cheaper Artifacts in the Shop, its powers limited by Micheal's Soul stat and its own lower level. As a result, he wasn't able to perfectly hide his energy signature.
He could, however, disperse it so that the Monster Class Morenkai would only know he was within a few thousand or so meters. As long as he was quiet and moved carefully, avoiding detection wouldn't be too difficult.
Of course, this left him with a freakishly powerful monster constantly trying to stalk and murder him, but, well, he had a lot to worry about already, so it was simply one more thing added to the list.
And, using the necklace as well as his own quick maneuvering, Micheal was able to shake the Monster Class Morenkai, at least to some degree. He wasn't able to lose it perfectly, but it was no longer constantly attacking him.
Instead, it was just vaguely following him around at a distance, searching for him.
He successfully managed to avoid it long enough to reach the Steel Guard Branch, moving through the Main Cluster at top speed.
When he arrived, he followed a similar routine as he did at the Iron Eye Branch. He impersonated a high-level Emissary, using his Emblem as proof, and requested to meet their Commander.
One thing led to another, and he quickly found out that the Commander was out. From the rumors that the guards spread, he learned that the Commander had gone off chasing his very target, the Black Witch Leila, or Emissary Shar, as she was officially known.
They had apparently gone off to examine a newly formed Temporary Nest, waiting for approval from the headquarters to secure it. He had just barely missed them, the delay caused by the Monster Class Morenkai preventing him from arriving before they left.
'Oh?' When Micheal found that out, he couldn't help but want to find them immediately. Not only could he finally get eyes on his target, but he also might find a chance to take out the Temporary
Nest.
If he could keep upgrading his Soul stat when he was down here, there was no telling how powerful he would become in the future. As the hardest stat to increase, he absolutely needed to take full advantage of destroying these Temporary Nests.
He also had a sinking suspicion filling him.
The time for Leila to betray the Angels Arcadia and join the Nightrunners should be around this time. It was part of why he had been in such a hurry to get here.
This incident right here… her being off alone with a powerful figure of the Angels Arcadia… well, it felt like a perfect opportunity for her to commit her mutiny while taking out a valuable member of a rival force.
Micheal managed to finagle his way into learning the location of the Temporary Nest, using his authority as a powerful Emissary that urgently needed to talk to the Commander, face to face.
From there, he'd carefully rushed over, all the while avoiding the Monster Class Morenkai that was prowling about in the background.
And, his hard work had been rewarded.
He'd managed to find and catch up to the duo, his mad rush showing its rewards.
The Black Witch looked as she had been described. One of the few Emissaries that refused to wear a mask, long black hair, green eyes, freckles. An attractive woman that carried herself with confidence.
Commander Kenneth was a person Micheal had never heard of, likely because he ended up dead long before Micheal arrived in the Main Cluster originally. However, the man did have incredibly sharp senses and a very powerful physical body. Micheal had almost been caught following them when the Commander paused, swirling around as he faintly detected Micheal's presence.
Micheal was following from below the rooftops, with his Life Orbs, and in the end, managed to avoid the Commander's gaze, hiding well out of plain sight.
He stalked them all the way to the skyscraper that housed the Temporary Nest, without encountering anything dangerous. He had just been about to fly up and follow them when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.
Two more figures had arrived on the rooftop, emerging from a neighboring skyscraper.
Figures wearing white masks with gold numbers imprinted upon them.
Number 14 and Number 11 of the Nightrunner Numbers.
The moment he saw them, Micheal grew certain.
This was the moment Leila chose to betray the Angels Arcadia. He had stumbled upon a little piece of history.
Micheal watched the duo descend after the two members of Arcadia, pausing as he hid along the side of the roof.
He was well aware of the powers of most of the Nightrunner Numbers. Each one was a major figure in his past life, and he had done extensive research to refresh his memory now that he was back.
'If I don't go down, Leila will successfully join them and I won't get another chance to take her out without going deep into their territory, to their core, heavily defended regions.' Micheal recognized this as he frowned, annoyed with the timing.
He only hesitated for a second before he sighed.
Once more, he simply didn't have enough time. It was either go now or give up.
'Whatever. I'll make it work.' Micheal spent the next couple of minutes forming a rough plan of attack.
He also made several emergency purchases in the Shop, using up thousands and thousands of Points.
After that, he stealthily clambered down the stairwell and made it to the doorway just in time to watch the members of the Nightrunners move in. He heard the unfolding drama, witnessing as Leila betrayed the Angels Arcadia.
And, after that, everything else was history. He moved into the bottom floor, blowing off an attack from Leila like it was nothing.
Micheal smiled as he looked back at the annoyed Black Witch, and then trailed his eyes over Number 11 and Number 14.
He only had 2 Life Orbs left and not even a single impact currently stored. He was currently being attacked by three Supreme A Rankers, each one armed with violent intentions.
'But that's okay.' He thought as he took a step forward.
And it was.
Because he didn't enter this battle unprepared.
He cracked his knuckles as he tapped on his Spatial Ring.
At the same time, Number 14, the Steel Kraken, began to step forward as well, all 8 of his metal tentacles starting to spread out, letting the Commander unceremoniously fall to the floor.
"If you won't leave, then you will be removed by force. Please forgive us, Emissary Heron, for being rude." Number 14's wavering voice sounded off as the odd human began to move towards Micheal.
An object appeared in Micheal's hand, one he concealed with his palm as he took a few more steps of his own.
"By all means." Michael returned, his eyes gleaming as he spoke coolly,
"Remove me."
.
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For a split second before his death, Micheal's sixth sense flared.
As soon as he sensed this, his entire body shivered as his mind went into overdrive, reacting instantaneously as his hand reached for his katana in a well-practiced movement. The boosts from his stronger body, from his enhanced perception of time, everything worked together to make him faster.
As a result, he managed to get two fingers on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.
Before the third finger touched it, he was already dead.
Micheal's consciousness was stored in an ethereal, mysterious way when he died. He was aware of the world around, in his immediate vicinity, and could choose to come back to life anywhere within a few meters of where he died.
His original body would dissipate into nothingness, everything that was stored or placed on it warping back to where he spawned in. The process was magical, drawing upon the latent energy of the world as fuel to function, the fabric of reality itself.
As he focused, he was able to make out what had happened.
His head was no longer attached to his body. Blood was pooling out of the gruesome injury as his neck gaped open, decapitated. He had died so quickly he wasn't even able to recognize his death.
Standing a single meter away from Micheal's corpse was a small, white skinned Abnormal Morenkai. A glowing, white Aura of light surrounded its body, pulsating dimly.
The white skinned Morenkai was currently looking to the right and to the left in confusion. When it killed Micheal, instead of being able to eat, use, or absorb Micheal's life energy, it got nothing at all. Killing Micheal wouldn't give Points if he wasn't truly killed.
'It's Monster Class.' There was no question in his mind that this was a Monster Class Morenkai, and definitely the same one that killed the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch. Only Monster Class Morenkai had a visible Aura, a sign of extreme power such that their bodies couldn't contain the energy.
It had moved so stealthily that Micheal had only been able to detect it at the very end, thanks to his sixth sense. His increased Soul stat had made the innate ability he held slightly stronger, but it hadn't been enough.
It had moved so quickly that he was completely unable to react in time, his body's relatively low stats limiting him.
It had attacked with such force that it instantly killed him, not giving him a chance to fight back or do anything at all.
In all marks, it scored perfect, a sneak attack that could not only easily kill Micheal, but likely kill many A Rankers as well. It was no surprise that the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch had died.
It was infuriating.
Micheal had done everything right, and yet he still died.
The brutal unfairness of the First Layer was quite apparent. He had only existed here for a bit more than a month. If he had been given a year or two, he would be able to easily stand up and fight back.
However, if he waited a year or two, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, of people would die…
The mass exodus of people from the outer Clusters into the Main Cluster was already beginning. Just a few days from now, the Main Cluster would gain tens of millions of new inhabitants.
Some would be adventurers looking to explore, while others were fearful, wanting to find a way back to Earth. Still others would be looking for family, while others would be searching for loved ones or friends. Some would travel in search of glory, while others would seek out Points to gain new Abilities.
The Great Arrival, as it came to be known, was hugely impactful on the Main Cluster. It changed the entire face of the Main Cluster.
And it was in preparation of this that Micheal was seeking out the Black Witch, to kill her and help prevent the vile experiments the Nightrunners had performed in his original future, to stop them from developing through that and rising to great power.
Waiting was not an option.
All of these thoughts passed through Micheal's mind in a flash as he realized what had happened.
And he also realized that he was out of time.
He needed to respawn, he could only delay for a few scant seconds.
With that in mind, he waited as long as he could.
The Monster Class Morenkai kept searching around, poking at Micheal's corpse in a confused manner. It still had yet to receive any life energy from killing Micheal and couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.
After a second, it moved away from his body, its head tilting to the side as it looked over at one of the entry sheds atop this roof. Perhaps it thought Micheal was hiding behind it somehow, avoiding its detection.
Micheal struck then, his body reforming as he came back to life.
The moment he felt the air on his skin, as his feet touched the ground, he activated his Impact Release Ability.
'Impact Release: Bulldozer!'
He aimed the impact at the ground, but at an angle, using his feet to coordinate the blow. Thankfully his Cloud Stepping Shoes manage to hold up and the impact successfully hit the skyscraper's rooftop and partially rebounded against him.
THUD
WHOOSH
Micheal was sent flying towards the edge of the roof at a breakneck speed, his feet and legs numbed.
The Monster Class Morenkai wasn't sitting still through all of this, however.
The moment Micheal came back to life, its senses once again picked up on his abnormally powerful life force. Its head had jerked to face him, its entire body swiveling.
It immediately launched itself forward after him, its body blurring as it moved so quickly even Micheal couldn't clearly discern it.
Thankfully, the huge speed boost he'd gained as he expended his very last stored impact had been enough to let him get past the creature, and that was how he ended up where he'd been right after.
A controlled dive that transformed into a fast-paced escape, soaring through skyscrapers as he beat a fast retreat.
The Monster Class Morenkai didn't just give up. It immediately gave chase, its body blurring as it threw itself after him. Every jump it made was incredibly fast, shooting through the air like a rocket.
Fortunately for Micheal, it could only move in a straight direction. Micheal made use of his Cloud Stepping Shoes and his Life Orbs to dodge several of its attacks, eventually leading it on a wild chase across a dozen skyscrapers.
As all of that happened, in his head, Micheal went over every possible way he could escape.
'Should I buy something? An Invisibility Potion? A set of large-scale Smoke Grenades? A Flame Capsule?' Dozens of ideas flooded his mind as he tried to think up a way out of this situation, drawing upon his store of experience.
At one key point, as he was wracking his mind for ideas, he happened to be crossing between two skyscrapers. His body had sustained several light injuries, including multiple cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. He winced as he ducked into a sharp turn, preemptively moving out of the line of sight of the still chasing Morenkai.
He stole a glance back at the Monster Class Morenkai.
The creature had just slammed down hard onto a skyscraper balcony. Its head was constantly trained on Micheal, never relenting, even when he moved out of sight. It could keenly sense his energy signature.
As that thought went through Micheal's head, inspiration struck.
He quickly tapped on his Spatial Ring, pulling out a small, nondescript necklace.
He put the necklace on in a heartbeat, a smile appearing on his face.
It was none other than the Nullification Aura Necklace that he had gained from the battle with Xavier, back in the Stardust Cluster.
This special Artifact was designed to block attacks that could affect the Soul or mind. A side effect of this, however, was that if he concentrated and used up some of his Ki, he could also use the Artifact to wipe away the signature of his life force, sealing any traces of that hidden Aura.
In most situations, something like this wouldn't matter. Very few beings could sense the life force of another creature unless they willfully displayed it, it wasn't something that was easily tangible like Ki at higher stages. Even Micheal couldn't sense someone else's life force.
However, when it came to the Monster Class Morenkai, it was a godsend.
Unfortunately, the Artifact wasn't perfect. At its core, it was still one of the cheaper Artifacts in the Shop, its powers limited by Micheal's Soul stat and its own lower level. As a result, he wasn't able to perfectly hide his energy signature.
He could, however, disperse it so that the Monster Class Morenkai would only know he was within a few thousand or so meters. As long as he was quiet and moved carefully, avoiding detection wouldn't be too difficult.
Of course, this left him with a freakishly powerful monster constantly trying to stalk and murder him, but, well, he had a lot to worry about already, so it was simply one more thing added to the list.
And, using the necklace as well as his own quick maneuvering, Micheal was able to shake the Monster Class Morenkai, at least to some degree. He wasn't able to lose it perfectly, but it was no longer constantly attacking him.
Instead, it was just vaguely following him around at a distance, searching for him.
He successfully managed to avoid it long enough to reach the Steel Guard Branch, moving through the Main Cluster at top speed.
When he arrived, he followed a similar routine as he did at the Iron Eye Branch. He impersonated a high-level Emissary, using his Emblem as proof, and requested to meet their Commander.
One thing led to another, and he quickly found out that the Commander was out. From the rumors that the guards spread, he learned that the Commander had gone off chasing his very target, the Black Witch Leila, or Emissary Shar, as she was officially known.
They had apparently gone off to examine a newly formed Temporary Nest, waiting for approval from the headquarters to secure it. He had just barely missed them, the delay caused by the Monster Class Morenkai preventing him from arriving before they left.
'Oh?' When Micheal found that out, he couldn't help but want to find them immediately. Not only could he finally get eyes on his target, but he also might find a chance to take out the Temporary
Nest.
If he could keep upgrading his Soul stat when he was down here, there was no telling how powerful he would become in the future. As the hardest stat to increase, he absolutely needed to take full advantage of destroying these Temporary Nests.
He also had a sinking suspicion filling him.
The time for Leila to betray the Angels Arcadia and join the Nightrunners should be around this time. It was part of why he had been in such a hurry to get here.
This incident right here… her being off alone with a powerful figure of the Angels Arcadia… well, it felt like a perfect opportunity for her to commit her mutiny while taking out a valuable member of a rival force.
Micheal managed to finagle his way into learning the location of the Temporary Nest, using his authority as a powerful Emissary that urgently needed to talk to the Commander, face to face.
From there, he'd carefully rushed over, all the while avoiding the Monster Class Morenkai that was prowling about in the background.
And, his hard work had been rewarded.
He'd managed to find and catch up to the duo, his mad rush showing its rewards.
The Black Witch looked as she had been described. One of the few Emissaries that refused to wear a mask, long black hair, green eyes, freckles. An attractive woman that carried herself with confidence.
Commander Kenneth was a person Micheal had never heard of, likely because he ended up dead long before Micheal arrived in the Main Cluster originally. However, the man did have incredibly sharp senses and a very powerful physical body. Micheal had almost been caught following them when the Commander paused, swirling around as he faintly detected Micheal's presence.
Micheal was following from below the rooftops, with his Life Orbs, and in the end, managed to avoid the Commander's gaze, hiding well out of plain sight.
He stalked them all the way to the skyscraper that housed the Temporary Nest, without encountering anything dangerous. He had just been about to fly up and follow them when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.
Two more figures had arrived on the rooftop, emerging from a neighboring skyscraper.
Figures wearing white masks with gold numbers imprinted upon them.
Number 14 and Number 11 of the Nightrunner Numbers.
The moment he saw them, Micheal grew certain.
This was the moment Leila chose to betray the Angels Arcadia. He had stumbled upon a little piece of history.
Micheal watched the duo descend after the two members of Arcadia, pausing as he hid along the side of the roof.
He was well aware of the powers of most of the Nightrunner Numbers. Each one was a major figure in his past life, and he had done extensive research to refresh his memory now that he was back.
'If I don't go down, Leila will successfully join them and I won't get another chance to take her out without going deep into their territory, to their core, heavily defended regions.' Micheal recognized this as he frowned, annoyed with the timing.
He only hesitated for a second before he sighed.
Once more, he simply didn't have enough time. It was either go now or give up.
'Whatever. I'll make it work.' Micheal spent the next couple of minutes forming a rough plan of attack.
He also made several emergency purchases in the Shop, using up thousands and thousands of Points.
After that, he stealthily clambered down the stairwell and made it to the doorway just in time to watch the members of the Nightrunners move in. He heard the unfolding drama, witnessing as Leila betrayed the Angels Arcadia.
And, after that, everything else was history. He moved into the bottom floor, blowing off an attack from Leila like it was nothing.
Micheal smiled as he looked back at the annoyed Black Witch, and then trailed his eyes over Number 11 and Number 14.
He only had 2 Life Orbs left and not even a single impact currently stored. He was currently being attacked by three Supreme A Rankers, each one armed with violent intentions.
'But that's okay.' He thought as he took a step forward.
And it was.
Because he didn't enter this battle unprepared.
He cracked his knuckles as he tapped on his Spatial Ring.
At the same time, Number 14, the Steel Kraken, began to step forward as well, all 8 of his metal tentacles starting to spread out, letting the Commander unceremoniously fall to the floor.
"If you won't leave, then you will be removed by force. Please forgive us, Emissary Heron, for being rude." Number 14's wavering voice sounded off as the odd human began to move towards Micheal.
An object appeared in Micheal's hand, one he concealed with his palm as he took a few more steps of his own.
"By all means." Michael returned, his eyes gleaming as he spoke coolly,
"Remove me."
.
For a split second before his death, Micheal's sixth sense flared.As soon as he sensed this, his entire body shivered as his mind went into overdrive, reacting instantaneously as his hand reached for his katana in a well-practiced movement. The boosts from his stronger body, from his enhanced perception of time, everything worked together to make him faster.As a result, he managed to get two fingers on the hilt of his Ashari Blade.Before the third finger touched it, he was already dead.Micheal's consciousness was stored in an ethereal, mysterious way when he died. He was aware of the world around, in his immediate vicinity, and could choose to come back to life anywhere within a few meters of where he died.His original body would dissipate into nothingness, everything that was stored or placed on it warping back to where he spawned in. The process was magical, drawing upon the latent energy of the world as fuel to function, the fabric of reality itself.As he focused, he was able to make out what had happened.His head was no longer attached to his body. Blood was pooling out of the gruesome injury as his neck gaped open, decapitated. He had died so quickly he wasn't even able to recognize his death.Standing a single meter away from Micheal's corpse was a small, white skinned Abnormal Morenkai. A glowing, white Aura of light surrounded its body, pulsating dimly.The white skinned Morenkai was currently looking to the right and to the left in confusion. When it killed Micheal, instead of being able to eat, use, or absorb Micheal's life energy, it got nothing at all. Killing Micheal wouldn't give Points if he wasn't truly killed.'It's Monster Class.' There was no question in his mind that this was a Monster Class Morenkai, and definitely the same one that killed the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch. Only Monster Class Morenkai had a visible Aura, a sign of extreme power such that their bodies couldn't contain the energy.It had moved so stealthily that Micheal had only been able to detect it at the very end, thanks to his sixth sense. His increased Soul stat had made the innate ability he held slightly stronger, but it hadn't been enough.It had moved so quickly that he was completely unable to react in time, his body's relatively low stats limiting him.It had attacked with such force that it instantly killed him, not giving him a chance to fight back or do anything at all.In all marks, it scored perfect, a sneak attack that could not only easily kill Micheal, but likely kill many A Rankers as well. It was no surprise that the Commander of the Iron Eye Branch had died.It was infuriating.Micheal had done everything right, and yet he still died.The brutal unfairness of the First Layer was quite apparent. He had only existed here for a bit more than a month. If he had been given a year or two, he would be able to easily stand up and fight back.However, if he waited a year or two, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, of people would dieThe mass exodus of people from the outer Clusters into the Main Cluster was already beginning. Just a few days from now, the Main Cluster would gain tens of millions of new inhabitants.Some would be adventurers looking to explore, while others were fearful, wanting to find a way back to Earth. Still others would be looking for family, while others would be searching for loved ones or friends. Some would travel in search of glory, while others would seek out Points to gain new Abilities.The Great Arrival, as it came to be known, was hugely impactful on the Main Cluster. It changed the entire face of the Main Cluster.And it was in preparation of this that Micheal was seeking out the Black Witch, to kill her and help prevent the vile experiments the Nightrunners had performed in his original future, to stop them from developing through that and rising to great power.Waiting was not an option.All of these thoughts passed through Micheal's mind in a flash as he realized what had happened.And he also realized that he was out of time.He needed to respawn, he could only delay for a few scant seconds.With that in mind, he waited as long as he could.The Monster Class Morenkai kept searching around, poking at Micheal's corpse in a confused manner. It still had yet to receive any life energy from killing Micheal and couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.After a second, it moved away from his body, its head tilting to the side as it looked over at one of the entry sheds atop this roof. Perhaps it thought Micheal was hiding behind it somehow, avoiding its detection.Micheal struck then, his body reforming as he came back to life.The moment he felt the air on his skin, as his feet touched the ground, he activated his Impact Release Ability.'Impact Release: Bulldozer!'He aimed the impact at the ground, but at an angle, using his feet to coordinate the blow. Thankfully his Cloud Stepping Shoes manage to hold up and the impact successfully hit the skyscraper's rooftop and partially rebounded against him.THUDWHOOSHMicheal was sent flying towards the edge of the roof at a breakneck speed, his feet and legs numbed.The Monster Class Morenkai wasn't sitting still through all of this, however.The moment Micheal came back to life, its senses once again picked up on his abnormally powerful life force. Its head had jerked to face him, its entire body swiveling.It immediately launched itself forward after him, its body blurring as it moved so quickly even Micheal couldn't clearly discern it.Thankfully, the huge speed boost he'd gained as he expended his very last stored impact had been enough to let him get past the creature, and that was how he ended up where he'd been right after.A controlled dive that transformed into a fast-paced escape, soaring through skyscrapers as he beat a fast retreat.The Monster Class Morenkai didn't just give up. It immediately gave chase, its body blurring as it threw itself after him. Every jump it made was incredibly fast, shooting through the air like a rocket.Fortunately for Micheal, it could only move in a straight direction. Micheal made use of his Cloud Stepping Shoes and his Life Orbs to dodge several of its attacks, eventually leading it on a wild chase across a dozen skyscrapers.As all of that happened, in his head, Micheal went over every possible way he could escape.'Should I buy something? An Invisibility Potion? A set of large-scale Smoke Grenades? A Flame Capsule?' Dozens of ideas flooded his mind as he tried to think up a way out of this situation, drawing upon his store of experience.At one key point, as he was wracking his mind for ideas, he happened to be crossing between two skyscrapers. His body had sustained several light injuries, including multiple cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. He winced as he ducked into a sharp turn, preemptively moving out of the line of sight of the still chasing Morenkai.He stole a glance back at the Monster Class Morenkai.The creature had just slammed down hard onto a skyscraper balcony. Its head was constantly trained on Micheal, never relenting, even when he moved out of sight. It could keenly sense his energy signature.As that thought went through Micheal's head, inspiration struck.He quickly tapped on his Spatial Ring, pulling out a small, nondescript necklace.He put the necklace on in a heartbeat, a smile appearing on his face.It was none other than the Nullification Aura Necklace that he had gained from the battle with Xavier, back in the Stardust Cluster.This special Artifact was designed to block attacks that could affect the Soul or mind. A side effect of this, however, was that if he concentrated and used up some of his Ki, he could also use the Artifact to wipe away the signature of his life force, sealing any traces of that hidden Aura.In most situations, something like this wouldn't matter. Very few beings could sense the life force of another creature unless they willfully displayed it, it wasn't something that was easily tangible like Ki at higher stages. Even Micheal couldn't sense someone else's life force.However, when it came to the Monster Class Morenkai, it was a godsend.Unfortunately, the Artifact wasn't perfect. At its core, it was still one of the cheaper Artifacts in the Shop, its powers limited by Micheal's Soul stat and its own lower level. As a result, he wasn't able to perfectly hide his energy signature.He could, however, disperse it so that the Monster Class Morenkai would only know he was within a few thousand or so meters. As long as he was quiet and moved carefully, avoiding detection wouldn't be too difficult.Of course, this left him with a freakishly powerful monster constantly trying to stalk and murder him, but, well, he had a lot to worry about already, so it was simply one more thing added to the list.And, using the necklace as well as his own quick maneuvering, Micheal was able to shake the Monster Class Morenkai, at least to some degree. He wasn't able to lose it perfectly, but it was no longer constantly attacking him.Instead, it was just vaguely following him around at a distance, searching for him.He successfully managed to avoid it long enough to reach the Steel Guard Branch, moving through the Main Cluster at top speed.When he arrived, he followed a similar routine as he did at the Iron Eye Branch. He impersonated a high-level Emissary, using his Emblem as proof, and requested to meet their Commander.One thing led to another, and he quickly found out that the Commander was out. From the rumors that the guards spread, he learned that the Commander had gone off chasing his very target, the Black Witch Leila, or Emissary Shar, as she was officially known.They had apparently gone off to examine a newly formed Temporary Nest, waiting for approval from the headquarters to secure it. He had just barely missed them, the delay caused by the Monster Class Morenkai preventing him from arriving before they left.'Oh?' When Micheal found that out, he couldn't help but want to find them immediately. Not only could he finally get eyes on his target, but he also might find a chance to take out the TemporaryNest.If he could keep upgrading his Soul stat when he was down here, there was no telling how powerful he would become in the future. As the hardest stat to increase, he absolutely needed to take full advantage of destroying these Temporary Nests.He also had a sinking suspicion filling him.The time for Leila to betray the Angels Arcadia and join the Nightrunners should be around this time. It was part of why he had been in such a hurry to get here.This incident right here her being off alone with a powerful figure of the Angels Arcadia well, it felt like a perfect opportunity for her to commit her mutiny while taking out a valuable member of a rival force.Micheal managed to finagle his way into learning the location of the Temporary Nest, using his authority as a powerful Emissary that urgently needed to talk to the Commander, face to face.From there, he'd carefully rushed over, all the while avoiding the Monster Class Morenkai that was prowling about in the background.And, his hard work had been rewarded.He'd managed to find and catch up to the duo, his mad rush showing its rewards.The Black Witch looked as she had been described. One of the few Emissaries that refused to wear a mask, long black hair, green eyes, freckles. An attractive woman that carried herself with confidence.Commander Kenneth was a person Micheal had never heard of, likely because he ended up dead long before Micheal arrived in the Main Cluster originally. However, the man did have incredibly sharp senses and a very powerful physical body. Micheal had almost been caught following them when the Commander paused, swirling around as he faintly detected Micheal's presence.Micheal was following from below the rooftops, with his Life Orbs, and in the end, managed to avoid the Commander's gaze, hiding well out of plain sight.He stalked them all the way to the skyscraper that housed the Temporary Nest, without encountering anything dangerous. He had just been about to fly up and follow them when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.Two more figures had arrived on the rooftop, emerging from a neighboring skyscraper.Figures wearing white masks with gold numbers imprinted upon them.Number 14 and Number 11 of the Nightrunner Numbers.The moment he saw them, Micheal grew certain.This was the moment Leila chose to betray the Angels Arcadia. He had stumbled upon a little piece of history.Micheal watched the duo descend after the two members of Arcadia, pausing as he hid along the side of the roof.He was well aware of the powers of most of the Nightrunner Numbers. Each one was a major figure in his past life, and he had done extensive research to refresh his memory now that he was back.'If I don't go down, Leila will successfully join them and I won't get another chance to take her out without going deep into their territory, to their core, heavily defended regions.' Micheal recognized this as he frowned, annoyed with the timing.He only hesitated for a second before he sighed.Once more, he simply didn't have enough time. It was either go now or give up.'Whatever. I'll make it work.' Micheal spent the next couple of minutes forming a rough plan of attack.He also made several emergency purchases in the Shop, using up thousands and thousands of Points.After that, he stealthily clambered down the stairwell and made it to the doorway just in time to watch the members of the Nightrunners move in. He heard the unfolding drama, witnessing as Leila betrayed the Angels Arcadia.And, after that, everything else was history. He moved into the bottom floor, blowing off an attack from Leila like it was nothing.Micheal smiled as he looked back at the annoyed Black Witch, and then trailed his eyes over Number 11 and Number 14.He only had 2 Life Orbs left and not even a single impact currently stored. He was currently being attacked by three Supreme A Rankers, each one armed with violent intentions.'But that's okay.' He thought as he took a step forward.And it was.Because he didn't enter this battle unprepared.He cracked his knuckles as he tapped on his Spatial Ring.At the same time, Number 14, the Steel Kraken, began to step forward as well, all 8 of his metal tentacles starting to spread out, letting the Commander unceremoniously fall to the floor."If you won't leave, then you will be removed by force. Please forgive us, Emissary Heron, for being rude." Number 14's wavering voice sounded off as the odd human began to move towards Micheal.An object appeared in Micheal's hand, one he concealed with his palm as he took a few more steps of his own."By all means." Michael returned, his eyes gleaming as he spoke coolly,"Remove me.".
