Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2 - Chapter 93

Chapter 93






Chapter 68

"2 Supreme A Rankers, 7 regular A Rankers, 22 B Rankers, and 38 C Rankers. Those were the total casualties."

Micheal watched on silently as a stiff-looking old man read aloud from a sheet of paper.

He was currently standing in a grand meeting room, tucked away in the headquarters of the Godfather Organization. The room was large, with a long, rectangular table dominating the center of it. Around that table, roughly 30 figures sat, listening to the man speak.

He currently sat next to Shin and Sophia, listening patiently. Nearby, various Executives, Sub-Executives, and various high-level Branch Leaders or Guard Captains sat as well. Head Cameron sat at the back of the table, facing across it towards the speaker.

One and all, everyone focused upon the speaker quietly as he continued his report.

"The Permanent Nest Core is no longer present, nor could our Communication Teams find anything else. The Research Department teams may have found further results." The old man finished, his voice going slightly hoarse from all the talking.

According to Shin, this old man was the head of the Communications Department of the Godfather Organization, and the leader of the various Communication Officers.

A few hours had passed since they returned back to the Godfather Organization's territory. In that time, Micheal had recovered from most of his exhaustion. He still wasn't at 100%, but he was close enough.

The Seer had gone back to the residence provided to her, protected temporarily here. It was possible that a battle could break out at any moment, and while she was by no means weak, she also wasn't a creature of war.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Hank." A familiar voice caught Micheal's attention as he glanced back up.

Doctor Isaiah, the Head Researcher of the Hidden Truths Department, had taken front and center as he replaced Officer Hank at the head of the table. The doctor looked exhausted, with baggy line on his cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

When he spoke, however, his voice contained a hint of excitement.

"As requested, our men have looked over the scene of the attack." For the first time, Micheal fully realized that Doctor Isaiah had a lot more influence than he had originally thought. It appeared that his 'Head Researcher' job wasn't just for the Hidden Truths Department.

Isaiah continued,

"And in the past few hours, after running multiple extensive tests, we have found out several things." The man pulled out a large, printed out chart. On it, several images were displayed, as well as several charts full of data.

"The Permanent Nest Core was severely damaged and then taken away." He pointed to one of the pictures, one that showed a smudge on a concrete floor.

"When the Permanent Nest Core was damaged, it gave off a large amount of energy. This energy possessed mystical properties that are not easily measurable, even using all the tools we have at our disposal."


Admiral Cardell, one of the sitting Executives present, cut Isaiah off.

"We get that it was damaged. But why was it damaged? What was the purpose?" The man's voice was gruff, going well with his rather odd image, a muscular man wearing a loose sailor's vest and a huge anchor on his back.

Isaiah nodded and continued, unperturbed, as if he had never been interrupted,

"We believe the reason why the Nest Core was damaged is precisely due to the energy it gave off." Isaiah pointed to a few more charts of data.

"We managed to gather a substantial amount of abandoned, residue dust from the scene of the battle. From this residue, we were able to trace and computationally track the type of energy released. While we can't recreate it, we have managed to determine at least some of its properties."

When Micheal heard this, he could help but exhale slightly.

'Impressive. Truly impressive.' It really was. To do so much work in just a few hours, Isaiah and his team of researchers were really something.

"And?" Admiral Cardell waved at him impatiently to continue.

Isaiah simply nodded,

"When it comes to personal effects, the first thing of note is that the energy released by the Permanent Nest Core contains an extremely strong enhancing effect. It's almost as if some of the power of the First Layer, itself, was imbued into the person that destroyed the Permanent Nest Core. That is the only way I can explain it."

Grumbles of surprise spread out in the room at that. The surprise faded quickly to worry as people tried to understand Isaiah's words.

"What else, Doctor?" Head Cameron's voice boomed out loud, filling the air with his powerful force of presence. Everyone in the room instantly fell silent, not daring to utter a peep.

"The second thing of note has to do with the first thing." Isaiah brought his hand over to a different part of the large paper, pointing at a graph,

"From what we can tell, the channeled power of the First Layer should dissipate once the person exits the First Layer. But certain residual changes will be permanent, changes that affect the mind and soul. It seems that shattering these Permanent Nest Cores can cause permanent changes to a person's stats, though we aren't quite sure how."

At that line, several more conversations broke out. Something like this was big news, a change in the established norm.

'Truly a genius at analyzation. I really wonder what his Type Ability is?' Micheal gazed at the man with a studied glance.

The Permanent Nest Cores likely gave a similar boost to one's Soul Quality as the Temporary Nest Cores. However, it seemed they also gave something special, some type of Layer-specific boost.

'Channeling the power of the First Layer, huh?' It certainly didn't sound like good news for them right now.

"This channeling power and these permanent residual changes… can they be achieved with Temporary Nest Cores?" The Admiral broke in.

"Yes, that does seem to be the case. Based on a few more rough calculations, from our own base data on Temporary Nest Cores, we were able to create a prediction chart on a few specific rations." Isaiah replied swiftly,

"To get the same level of permanent changes as the Permanent Nest, you would need to break 14 Temporary Nest Cores. After that, the energy seems to reach some type of cap that cannot be surpassed on the First Layer. As for channeling the power of the First Layer…" Isaiah scratched his head,

"That seems to be related to the Permanent Nests only."

More exchanges swarmed the air as the people sitting at the table briefly discussed the new information.

Michael committed this tidbit to memory, storing it away for later. If what Isaiah said was accurate, then he had found the exact number of Temporary Nests he would need to destroy, as would Sophia and Shin, before they left for the Second Layer.

Isaiah continued after the room settled down,

"However, there is a rather important caveat. To access these powers, you must first be able to destroy a Nest Core in the first place. And I believe we are all very aware of how difficult that truly is."

It wasn't as if people had never tried to destroy Temporary Nest Cores. Indeed, these creations were often viewed more as a nuisance than anything else. Their seemingly random appearance, short-lived life, and the havoc they wrought as a result were all well-known facts.

Micheal hesitated for a few seconds before opting to say nothing at all. He glanced at the Godfather before he made this decision, pursing his lips slightly.

There were too many odd things happening in the past few days. Right now, he didn't want to stand out any more than he had to, not while he was still planning for the future.

He sent a glance over to both Shin and Sophia, indicating for them to say nothing as well.

While he did this, the people sitting at the table had started a loud discussion on how they might be able to shatter a Temporary Nest Core.

"We could use alternating extreme temperature changes. I know we have a Yin-Yang Elemental Type here…"

"What about crushing the Nest Core with overwhelming force? The Admiral's specialty lies there…"

"We could create a heavy-duty cannon using some of the…"

"How about some Gnomish Explosives…"

The deluge of voices gradually picked up in intensity.

Before it could get too loud, however…

"SILENCE!" Head Cameron's voice shook the air, instantly forcing everyone to stop talking. The air around him seemed to vibrate with energy as a dreadful aura was unleashed, re-reminding those present of his power. Micheal was the only one unaffected by it, largely because of his Aura Nullification Necklace. It was a rather handy Artifact.

The Head was wearing a full black suit with a sharp black tie. His silly attire of earlier was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a stern, unforgiving visage of authority.

"Isaiah. Continue. You have more to report, yes?" Cameron gazed at the researcher.

"Yes, Head." Isaiah ducked his head slightly.

"We have detected certain… anomalies that have emerged recently. Anomalies that have started to affect the makeup of the First Layer." Isaiah put out another large piece of paper. This one had was a map of the Main Cluster, with several large, circled areas.

"Recently, various groups of Morenkai have begun to turn rather erratic. They move at their maximum speed, no longer slowly shambling about. This, in turn, has made survival much more difficult for weaker and regular humans." Isaiah pointed at several different places on the map,

"And from our research… We have determined that the main location where these 'Erratic Morenkai' exist centers on the territory of the Angels Arcadia." Isaiah then began to explain.

The Erratic Morenkai were only erratic when in range of the Angels Arcadia, and a few other smaller powers. Any groups of Erratic Morenkai would revert to normal once they left this territory.

As Isaiah continued, he began to draw several connections between these changes and the various energy signals given off by the Permanent Nest Core. Isaiah publicly shared some of his research, with his own new insights into Permanent Nests.

The most shocking revelation he unveiled would have to be his belief that the Monster Class Nest, the Permanent Nests, and the Temporary Nests were all connected.

The Monster Class Nest transmitted a signal that was received by the Permanent Nests. The Permanent Nests then moderated that signal, and sent it off to the Temporary Nests. These signals controlled the Morenkai, causing them to shamble about and follow certain patterns.

However, according to Isaiah, when the Permanent Nest was destroyed, the signal sent by the Monster Class Nest was interrupted. It transformed into a confusing and haphazard mess that set the Morenkai off, transforming them into 'Erratic Morenkai.'

"Currently, the remaining Permanent Nests are probably the only thing keeping the Main Cluster, and the rest of the First Layer, habitable. If all of them are destroyed, the entire First Layer as we know it will slip into chaos, as will the future of humanity itself."

Isaiah finished his speech, leaving a room full of stunned and horrified silence. There were no more shocked mumbles, merely silence as people tried to comprehend the magnitude of the researcher's words.

That silence was a brief one, however.

"Very well, Doctor. Thank you for your report." Head Cameron's voice boomed out once more as he gazed up and down the table.

"Everyone, I will be calling a closed meeting, now, for only the Executives and Militant Branch Leaders. All other members, please exit. Tomorrow morning will be the day my decision on how we will tackle this will be announced." He raised his hand,

"Dismissed!"

"Yes, Head!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, Godfather!"

A series of shouts echoed in the air as everyone but the Executives and a few others stood up. The meeting hadn't been a long one, but the impact of Isaiah's words had clearly been enough to close it for only the highest leadership: The Executives and the Militant Branch Leaders, the warriors that were in charge of most of the military force of the Godfather Organization.

Micheal, Shin, and Sophia left with the rest of the group. The Sub-Executives weren't allowed to remain in on the highest level meeting, apparently. Micheal couldn't fault that logic, especially considering how new they were.

After they left the grand meeting room, the immediate hallway fell into multiple bustling, but hushed, conversations. Everyone around them was discussing what the future would hold, and what they thought should be done.

Micheal and his group began to walk down the hallway, a normal-looking one with yellow lights.

"Micheal, what do you think of all of this?" Sophia whispered in Micheal's ear as she walked up next to him,

"Is what Isaiah said right? Have we really lost half of the Main Cluster already?" Her voice had a hardened, sad tone in it, as if she had already accepted the loss.

Micheal sighed and shrugged slightly,

"Temporary Nests reappear all the time. It's possible Permanent Nests could reappear too, right?" He replied,

"I didn't see anything like this in my visions of the future, so I'm not sure. But no matter what happens, I'm sure we can get through this, and sure we can get humanity through this." He smiled as he said this, crushing the huge worries that had sprouted in his heart as he patted her on the shoulder.

"Oh, right, Micheal." Shin tapped Micheal on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Micheal returned.

"The Seer told me she wanted to meet you, if you have time. She's really strong for an old, blind lady, I gotta say." Shin mimed punching Morenkai in the face and then flexed his muscles in a ridiculous pose.

"Hmm…" Micheal rubbed his forehead.

'First the attack by the Nightrunners, then these 'Erratic Morenkai,' and now the Seer… ugh.' It really seemed like his days of peacefully slaughtering Morenkai truly were gone for good.

"Alright, I'll make the time to see her. But tomorrow, not today." He was tired enough as it was.

Shin nodded back. The trio talked about a few other things as they walked down the hallway and reached the stairwell. Their group was the first of the higher-ups to leave, giving them an empty hall as they began to clamber up.

Before they got far, however, a voice called out to them. Specifically, to Micheal…

"Heron? Would you mind if I talked to you, briefly?" The familiar voice caused Micheal to pause.

He turned around on the staircase, studying a certain man calmly.

"Doctor Isaiah?" Micheal looked at the doctor, slightly taken aback. He glanced back at Shin and Sophia, motioning for them to continue walking upward and to give him some space.

He walked down a level until he reached where the elderly researcher was standing. The man's pale skin seemed even more pallid today, though that might just have been from the stress of everything that was happening right now.

"How can I help you?" Micheal held out his hand.

"Ah." Isaiah took the hand, shaking it firmly. Well, he probably thought it was firmly. To Micheal, who's Strength stat was over 80, it was like a child's handshake.

"I went to the Seer a little while ago, after I found out she was here. You see, there's something that has been bothering me for the past few days." Isaiah's blue eyes flashed slightly as he let go of Micheal's hand and continued to talk,

"And the advice I got from the Seer was very specific." The Head Researcher studied Micheal for a few seconds. Micheal shrugged back.

"It was to come to you."

Micheal was only mildly surprised. People with Abilities that could see into or manipulate 'Fate' had a slew of freaky powers. The fact that the Seer was interested in him was also unsurprising. Even his Aura Nullification Necklace could only do so much.

"What is this all about?" Micheal inquired simply.

"It's about… it's about the Head…" Doctor Isaiah rubbed his eyes. As he did so, Micheal noticed that his hands shook slightly,

"Over the past few days, and even the past week or two, certain things about him have… changed. I know this might seem minor to most people, Heron, but I have always been very particular about certain things." Isaiah continued, the shaking fading slightly,

"I notice details. I can pick apart data like its nothing, sift through a mire of confusion to seek out a singular path. And recently… Head Cameron's behavior has begun to worry me." His trembling returned as he got to the heart of the matter,

"I think something is wrong with him."

.

Chapter 69

A short amount of time later…

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

Micheal sighed as he sat down on his bed, rubbing his hands through his hair. He massaged his temple, taking out his frustration on his forehead.

Doctor Isaiah truly was as keen as he seemed. The doctor had noticed the oddities in Cameron's words and actions, and managed to pinpoint the changes on something specific. An alteration of some sort.

He managed to pick all of that out without even knowing about the Vile King or the Vile King's unique Ability.

The fact that the Seer sent him to Micheal was an interesting twist, but it still created both a problem and a benefit for Micheal.

Isaiah was a key, if little known, figure in the Godfather Organization. With him on Micheal's side, all of Micheal's goals for the First Layer would become much easier to accomplish.

On the other hand, now he had to find a way to soothe Isaiah's worries.

And that wasn't something he could just snap his fingers and solve. The man wasn't a moron, he was literally a genius at noticing things. He was also very subtle about it. Micheal had initially dismissed him as a passionate scientist. He couldn't be entirely blamed for that. After all… the man's physical stats were truly too weak.

He'd set the man on a mission, asking him to research what he could about Temporary and Permanent Nest Cores by tomorrow. He'd also asked him a few other questions and set the man to work on a second mission, one that might end up being vital in the future.

A lot of what might happen depended on what would come to pass tomorrow, when Head Cameron announced his response plans.

The Head Researcher had shared most of the information he'd gathered at the gathering of upper-leadership members of the Godfather Organization. However, he hadn't shared everything.

According to the man, there was a possible solution to this problem, one that came with a great deal of risk.

Isaiah postulated that if all of the Permanent Nest Cores were destroyed, it was possible the Monster Class Nest would suffer a significant backlash from being unable to transmit its desire signals.

As a result, the doctor reasoned, based on the data he had managed to gather, that the Monster Class Nest would somehow 'force' new Permanent Nests to reappear. This theory wasn't just based on science, but also in predictive Abilities from a slew of other researchers under him.

However… if all of the Permanent Nest Cores were destroyed, that would be equivalent to leaving mankind with no safe area to hide. All areas would gradually become overrun with Erratic Morenkai if Isaiah was wrong, turning the First Layer into a true, hellish nightmare.

A mistake here could doom the future of the human race.

"Sigh…" Micheal rubbed at his eyes. The Head Researcher had casually dropped so many bombs, it was already irritating to go over it all.

'Well, at least I can be sure of one thing.' He smiled sardonically,

'If I damn the human race because of my attempt to save it, we might win in the end just by causing the other races to die laughing.'

He shook the faint hint of mirth from his mind as he went over the last bit of what Isaiah said.

According to him, Head Cameron was likely to respond one of two ways.

The old Head Cameron would order his forces to immediately secure the remaining two Permanent Nest Cores. The kind, caring Godfather would never risk the survival of the human race, and all of its babies, children, weak, and wounded, on an unsure roll of the dice.

If Head Cameron had changed, somehow, like through the Vile King's influence, however…

Isaiah was convinced Head Cameron would order an immediate attack on the Permanent Nest Cores that the Nightrunners still controlled.

Isaiah said he would use this as a final testing gauge, one that Micheal felt was quite reasonable.

The doctor would know far more about Cameron's personality than Micheal would have learned from the books he read. Personalities didn't just change on the drop of a dime in the real world.

Micheal decided to use Isaiah's prediction as a piece of final evidence for himself.

He already felt reasonably sure that Cameron had been infected by the Vile King. Shin's description of a black speck, Cameron's odd, uncharacteristic actions…

If Isaiah's prediction came true, this would be the final nail in the coffin. Micheal would have to face the issue directly and wouldn't be able to avoid it, or avoid thinking about it, anymore.

"Still…" Micheal yawned,

"That's a worry for tomorrow." He looked out the window of the room he was sleeping in, seeing the dark sky above. It was well into the night, the chaotic events of the day finally coming to an end.

With that in mind, Micheal flopped back on his bed and covered up, falling into the sweet embrace of sleep.

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

The next day…

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

"Hello, Seer." Micheal glanced at the stern-looking woman that was standing near him, giving her a warm smile.

After getting a good night's rest, Micheal woke up early and went about his normal routine. After he got prepared for the day, he'd checked the time and realized it had only been 5 am. He'd woken up far too early, a habit he had when he was nervous.

For all his future knowledge, he couldn't help but be wary of what might happen today.

He decided to go up onto the rooftop to look out at the sky and relax. And it was here that he had run into the Seer.

Whether or not she had known beforehand that he would be here, he was unsure, but he didn't care too much either way.

His feelings for her were genuine. In history, her efforts to organize the power ranking of the First Layer helped avoid a great deal of conflict. This abrupt apocalypse that was thrust upon humanity had caused most people to gear their thoughts towards survival.

There were always the type of people that sought out others to prove their strength. Such a list did draw those types out, to some degree.

However, most regular people viewed the list with a certain level of respect. Powerful groups that held high rankers would refuse to fight each other, knowing that casualties were likely to arise as a result, while weaker teams of humans wouldn't even consider attacking anything that wasn't a Morenkai.

People that scavenged off of others existed too, but even those types were affected by the Main Cluster Ranking List. They would avoid the territory of powerful groups and many were even scared out of even pursuing such a lifestyle.

Her actions gained her a lot of enemies. But it wasn't as if she was the only one that could spy on other people's Abilities. Many others could. She was simply the only one to create such a publication of them.

The impact she left was hard to gauge in specific terms. But her actions, even if restrained to the First Layer, were definitely a positive.

"Good morning, young one." The elderly lady turned to glance at him. Her bodyguard was nowhere to be seen. The only people up atop this particular rooftop were her, Micheal, and a few of the Godfather Organization guards standing at the bridge entrances.

A cool breeze swept past them, the early morning air relaxing and quiet. It was a breeze you wouldn't expect to feel on a day as tense as this.

Micheal smiled slightly when he heard her call him 'young one.' He certainly didn't feel young, even if his body showed otherwise.

The Seer, among other things, had a soft spot for younger people. Her granddaughter had fallen ill and perished in the First Layer, back before Hansama had gained her renown and power as 'The Seer.' At least in part because of that, she was on very friendly terms with the Godfather Organization, and greatly approved of their mission.

After a few seconds, the woman continued,

"You may call me Hansama, child." She gave out her real name.

"Well, then you can call me Micheal." Micheal replied back, still smiling in a friendly manner. The Seer gave him an odd look despite the fact that she was blind, making him reconsider his smile. Perhaps he looked a little odd. He knew she had a way of seeing despite her blindness.

"I've heard you have a talent very similar to mine, Micheal." The Seer turned to gaze out at the seemingly endless skyscrapers off to the side.

"Just a small talent. It's nothing as active as yours, and I find that it grows weaker and weaker as time goes on." As his actions affected the future, his memories of it grew less effective. His words were true, in that way.

As he spoke, he sat down at the edge of the skyscraper, leaning his legs over it. He looked down at the ground far below, just barely able to pick out a few shambling Morenkai in the dim, pre-dawn morning.

According to Isaiah, the 'Erratic Morenkai' wouldn't start appearing for at least 24 more hours. Evacuation preparations had already begun yesterday, and continued on through the night as the entire Godfather Organization prepared to react. The quiet morning around him seemed fake in light of all of that.

"Ah, I see." Hansama froze for a moment, a small smile appearing as she joined him, sitting down at the edge of the skyscraper,

"If I didn't believe you before, I certainly do now." The woman sighed,

"The Fate of the First Layer has indeed grown turbulent. My visions grow clouded, more so than I have ever experienced, in these past years here."

"Oh?" Micheal muttered, surprised.

"Yes. And at the center of that turbulence… I can now see a figure." Hansama's foggy eyes gleamed as she looked straight at Micheal, raising a sinewy finger,

"You."

"Me?" Micheal patted at his chest, mentally shaking a fist at his Aura Nullification Necklace. What did he wear the Artifact for, if not to block things like this? He mentally shrugged right after. It couldn't stop everything, he supposed.

"Yes, you. All of my visions have grown twisted, reverting to different paths at a scale that I've never seen before, in all of my years here in the Main Cluster." The woman shook her head, a hint of wonder appearing in her voice.

"What on Earth are you, child?"

Micheal blinked, rubbing his chin as he considered her question. After a moment, he tapped on the Artifact he wore under his shirt, storing it in his Spatial Ring.

"I am here because I have to be here. Why don't you try looking into my future?" He replied slowly.

She shook her head,

"I've tried before, and its as clouded as the hardest are to rea-"

Micheal cut her off,

"Why don't you try again?"

Hansama frowned as she looked at him for a moment. She then nodded slightly after that consideration, the frown disagreeing.

She folded her hands together with the palms facing each other and her legs crossed. She then entered a state of meditation, her eyes closed as she focused on activating her powers.

Gradually, a glowing white eye made of energy began to form upon Hansama's head. This eye rippled with light, giving off a sensation that it could see through everything in existence. Even Micheal couldn't help but shiver slightly.

"Oh? I can see far more now, child. How interesting." Hansama's voice was full of shock as she turned her gaze upon Micheal.

"I can see it now, child. I can see-" The Seer abruptly cut herself off, her mouth falling open in shock,

"What is this?! This burden you carry, how can this be possible?!" Hansama froze, her sightless eyes boring into Micheal,

"All this horror and pain… the dying emotions of an entire race… You bear the weight of the world itself upon your shoulders… How? How can you still stand before me, as if it's nothing? How?" Tears trailed down Hansama's face as she gazed at Micheal, her chest heaving,

"No mortal can bear such a burden. How? How?" Sobs wracked her chest involuntarily as the Seer was hit with a swarm of emotions that she could not control.

Micheal blinked, surprised. The Seer saw far more than what he expected she would. He had just wanted her to see a gist of his intentions, to know he was only here to help humanity.

Micheal reached out and rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder as he replied,

"Heavy or not, the burdens I carry are ones I must bear. There's no point complaining about the things I cannot change." He smiled slightly, looking at the elderly woman like how a parent might comfort a child,

"I will do what I must." His words were stoic, just like his personality.

Hansama's body calmed down as she regained focus, the wily expert quickly controlling her emotions once more as she forced back the feelings that had swarmed her. For a brief moment, she had felt everything Micheal had felt, experiencing the agony, loss, and despair he bore with him every day when he thought about humanity's loss.

She did not only feel the bad, however. She also felt his determination, an endless, raging river that could not be stopped. A willpower that exceeded anything she had felt before, one guided by a singular mission.

As she felt all of this, Hansama's blind gaze was now full of respect and a hint of worship. The elderly woman took a deep breath, her body growing still as she considered everything she felt and uttered a single sentence,

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Micheal smiled, ever so slightly,

"I need a favor."

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

A couple of hours later…

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

"We've just gotten word." Shin looked down at his cellphone, and then over at Micheal and Sophia. The trio were sitting in a lounge by themselves. Micheal had been in the middle of instructing Sophia on some of the finer aspects of the Intermediate Tier of Sword Mastery when Shin interrupted them.

Micheal tensed up as he heard this, nodding at Shin to continue.

Shin read from his phone,

"Head Cameron has ordered a full-scale attack on the Nightrunner's territory.

"The mission goal is to secure the two Permanent Nest and-" Shin paused for a second, looking up from his phone to gaze at Micheal,

"Destroy them."

.

Chapter 70

"Ready up, men! We leave in T-minus 10!" A boisterous yell shook the air, coming from a rather masculine-looking woman.

She had dark red hair and tanned, leathery skin, with a set of broad shoulders and thick arms that complimented her tall frame. She stood at least an entire hand taller than Micheal, which was saying something, given that Micheal was above average height.

The woman was currently standing atop a rooftop in the territory of the Godfather Organization. Several groups of men and women stood, or in some cases, sat in Shop-purchased chairs, around the rooftop, waiting patiently. All of them were geared up in tactical or magical sets of armor, prepared for war.

Micheal watched Executive Riana, one of the six, now five, leading Executives of the Godfather Organization, and the rest of the groups that were here, his eyes missing nothing as he scanned his surroundings. There were a good 35 people on this rooftop, a motley collection of powerful Ability users assembled under the banner of the Godfather Organization.

He stood off to the side on his own, running through various scenarios in his head. He went over everything he could think of, not wanting to leave anything out.

Not far from him stood Shin, Sophia, and two of the newest Sub-Executives of the Godfather Organization, none other than the Wonder King and the Arabian General themselves. Learning about that strange coincidence had nearly sent him into shock.

After he thought about it, though, it made a bit more sense. If Cameron was having his thoughts altered by the Vile King, it was more than likely that Cameron would've picked up one of the man's habits.

Finding powerful talents and recruiting them.

Given the vast network of information and manpower that the Godfather Organization possessed, as well as a slew of predictive or scanning Ability users, their discovery and recruitment wasn't too surprising.

His eyes trailed back over to Executive Riana, frowning slightly. In nicer times, Riana would've been helping train Sophia, according to what she told him. Riana had a similar, unique Ability that was both activated through her eyes and couldn't be purchased on the First Layer due to the Points Wall.

Specifically, she had the Vast Gaze Ability, the only one of its kind down here. It allowed her to focus her force of will into her eyes, making her gaze a terrible one to behold. She could stun or shock her enemies with a simple glance, imposing her willpower on others.

It was a very powerful Limited Ability, and one Micheal had on his list of potential Abilities to purchase once he got to the Second Layer. It just depended on his timing. The Ability was a Limited one, which meant it would almost certainly be fully taken by now.

However… when users of a Limited Ability died, their Ability didn't vanish forever. There was a certain phenomenon that occurred with every new Wave of Chosen, known in history through many names. The Wave Reset, the Cleansing Wave, the Revivance, different groups knew it as different things, but its effects were the same.

Every time a Limited Ability user died or a Limited Artifact broke, there was a chance that that Ability or Artifact would return to the Shop when a new Wave started. The odds of this happening weren't statistically known, but this was the only way to capture a Limited Ability or Artifact that was taken by someone else.

There was a small caveat. The new Chosen would always be the first to see any open Limited choices, meaning that everyone else couldn't take a stab at any of them until every single Chosen had arrived in the First Layer.

This meant that, even if a Limited Ability or Artifact did reappear, it was entirely possible one of the new Chosen would've already picked it before you even got a chance to obtain it. Since this wasn't something Micheal could plan for, he stuck most of these Abilities and Artifacts at the back of his list.

Micheal stretched his arms as he shook aside the stray thought, feeling the tight-fitting armor wrap around him. It was the same armor he'd worn while distracting the Monster Class Morenkai, Ivory Skin Leather Armor that he could put on and off with a simple thought.

He glanced to the side after he finished adjusting his armor, crossing gazes with Shin for a split second.

Shin nodded slightly at Micheal before returning to talking to Sophia and the other Sub-Executives, effectively ignoring him. A new addition had made it onto Shin and Sophia's gear, a small white bracelet that both of them wore on their wrists. Micheal glanced down at the matching bracelet he wore, a faint look of regret appearing in his eyes before before he shook his head, focusing on their plan.

A conversation that had taken place just a little bit before all of this flashed into his mind.

"They've paired me, and y'all by extension, up with Executive Riana." Shin, Sophia, and Micheal had been sitting in a lounge, waiting to hear what exact orders Shin would be given after they received word that they were going to attack.

In total, all of the remaining 5 Executives were paired up in their own, elite attack teams consisting of 30-50 warriors. Everyone in the team was a powerful A Ranker, able to handle their own and put out a variety of unique attacks.

The Godfather Organization was launching a six-pronged attack on the Nightrunners, with the intentions of taking over both of their Permanent Nests. Two of the teams would focus on drawing attention to themselves and leading the Godfather Organization guards to duke it out with the Nightrunner Cell Captains and elites at the border, while the other four teams would split off and take on the two Permanent Nests.

Once the Nests were secured, Cameron himself would be the one to shatter them.

The plan was more complicated than just that, with several contingency plans, shifting rotations of teams, and a lot of complex, strategic planning put into it. Micheal could appreciate the effort that went into it, understanding just how difficult it was to plan something so complete.

Their particular team was assigned to the northern Nightrunner Permanent Nest, what was termed 'Nest B.'

Micheal looked away from Shin and took a deep breath. He glanced over at Executive Riana again, waiting patiently as she looked around the rooftop.

The moment she looked away, gazing out across to a neighboring skyscraper, Micheal began to move. He quickly walked towards the shed atop the roof, making a causal beeline for it. He had positioned himself just a few meters away, inconspicuously standing nearby.

It took him only a scant few seconds to reach it. Once there, he immediately walked inside and went down three floors, hiding away.

This wasn't just an impromptu action, but rather, the beginning of the final plan he had decided on.

When he and the others had been brainstorming earlier in the morning, Micheal had focused their plans on a single question.

What was the worst possible scenario that could take place?

Everything he threw at Director Prime had fared pretty poorly so far. The man's freakish intelligence, perseverance, and Ability made it extremely difficult to plan against. Thus, he just decided to plan for everything to go wrong in the worst possible way.

And that was how he arrived here now.

Micheal snuck into a room he had scouted out before, an empty bedroom on the 52nd floor. He quickly shut the door behind him and pulled out a smartphone, navigating over to a specific forum post.

He sat patiently as he stared at the post. Several seconds went by. Those seconds gradually slipped into minutes as he maintained his calm, steady state.

In his younger years, he had always been swarmed by a certain nervous eagerness before any major battle. He'd found, over time, that the only way to not feel that pre-battle unsteadiness was to internalize and focus on what exactly your mission or goal was.

Once again, the trio was splitting up.

Shin and Sophia were heading off under Executive Riana's command. While it was possible to keep Micheal's disappearance on the down-low, if Shin vanished too, it would be glaringly obvious. All of the Sub-Executives were expected to be present and would certainly be accounted for.

If Shin got questioned by Riana or anyone with an Ability that could judge for lies, all he had to say was that he wasn't sure where Micheal was, and that Micheal wasn't following his orders. All of that was true, since technically, Shin wouldn't know where exactly Micheal was, not to the exact meter, and Micheal had never followed Shin's orders.

The first bit was a stretch, but it would still pass as true if tested. Those Abilities focused on literal interpretation, which meant there was a lot of leeway based on how one imagined their words.

While Shin and Sophia were under Riana's command, their mission was simple. They were to participate in the battle to seize the Permanent Nest, but to focus primarily on their own safety.

And throughout the course of that battle, their mission had a singular goal.

Delay.

They were to prevent the destruction of the Permanent Nest Core as long as possible.

For while they did that… Micheal was off on what was likely his final major mission in the First Layer.

He wasn't aiming to kill anyone in the Nightrunners, nor was he aiming to shatter either of the Permanent Nest Cores. His goal, this time, was one he thought would take almost everyone by surprise.

He was going to travel to The Towers and destroy the Monster Class Nest.

.

Chapter 71

A cold breeze swept through the air, carrying the sounds of various late-morning activities across the air. The temperature on the First Layer normally didn't fluctuate by too much, but today was an unusually cool day.

For a brief moment, Sophia felt relaxed as she walked forward, in tune with the world around her.

That moment was promptly broken by a rather braggadocio voice talking from her side.

"Hehehe. Look at these muscles, Sophia. I can see why Micheal said this stuff could be addicting." Shin grinned as he looked at Sophia, flexing his right arm appreciatively. The arm was lined in muscle and made him look like the type of person that had trained their body for years, focusing on power and strength.

Sophia shook her head at Shin, rolling her eyes out of habit.

Before they left, Micheal had made Shin get several sets of ingredients from the Godfather Organization's storage units. By this point, Shin actually had to borrow the Contribution Points he needed to get the ingredients, but had managed to get away with it thanks to his status as a Sub-Executive.

They had then pooled their Points together to buy a few missing ingredients, all ones that Micheal combined to make three sets of a potion known as 'Bracken Enhancement Fluid.'

It tasted awful, and had some rather annoying side-effects that were hard to get past, though Micheal grumbled that his first time had been much worse. Apparently he'd gotten better at balancing the ingredients after some experimentation.

The powerful boost the potion gave, however, was impossible to ignore.

Shin had said his body felt as if it had exploded with power and his senses expanded to a finer degree. He found it much easier to aim his gun and react faster, upping his combat prowess a sizable amount.

Sophia found similar effects. Not only did her physical strength go up a large amount, she felt that her Fairy Eyes seemed to have ascended to the next level. They became more potent and difficult to resist, all while providing less strain on her Soul.

She would never admit it, but she also quite liked the hard, toned look it gave her.

After catching Sophia's attention, Shin's smile dimmed as he continued, his gaze turning serious,

"Is it really fine for us to just waltz on by like this?" Shin rubbed his chin as he glanced off behind them.

They were currently walking across a solid, wooden bridge that connected one skyscraper to another. Behind them, six or seven people could be seen on a rooftop, resting and talking. The skyscraper they were moving to was empty, bereft of other people.

Their team had currently split up into a number of small groups. They had all parted ways and were making their way through the territory of the Nightrunners, moving without issue.

It had been surprisingly easy to move within the Nightrunners territory. No matter how complex the organization was, the territory each of the Big 3 controlled was simply too large to reasonably be locked down. All they had done was walked across a few bridges and they had already entered the general area.

As they walked, Shin truly realized how many people had come to the Main Cluster.

Previously, while it was common to see people out and about, the number of empty skyscrapers he'd pass was overwhelmingly larger than the number of occupied ones.

Now, however…

Shin eyed the empty skyscraper in front of him.

Of the 18 skyscrapers they'd moved across, this was the first one that didn't have anyone on top of it.

Large groups of people had been present on most of the previous ones, oftentimes making noise or throwing things down below to draw the attention of various Morenkai. The Morenkai would typically climb up once agitated, usually in clumps of 2 or 3, and various fights would break out.

In the background, they could hear a few gunshots echoing out, a noise that was becoming annoyingly common. Not everyone had made the transition to using melee weapons or using guns that were quieter. At least Shin's own Soul Pistol was a relatively quiet gun. The sniper rifle Micheal had given Shin, on the other hand, was anything but, though it also wasn't his primary weapon.

All of the attacking groups handled the Morenkai with well-practiced ease. Each rooftop had become its own Point farming factory. It was a surreal sight that felt like it belonged in a movie or a video game, not in real life.

Shin, in a fit of curiosity, had teleported down into a skyscraper. He'd found a similar setup down in the lower floors, where a team was drawing out Morenkai and hunting them down.

The sheer number of people actively hunting down Morenkai to grow stronger had reached a huge level.

And, despite all of that, they hadn't been confronted or attacked. No one had tried to rob them or give them a hard time. It was almost like everyone had become obsessed with quietly growing as strong as possible while avoiding any trouble.

After a moment's consideration, it made a bit of sense to Shin. Most people were primarily concerned about their own survival. While killing another human could grant a sizable number of Points, it also brought about a large amount of danger.

Killing regular Morenkai, on the other hand, was much safer, as long as you could avoid Abnormals.

It also probably had to do with the rumors of Erratic Morenkai that were running roughshod in the territory of the Angels Arcadia. Their numbers weren't overwhelming, yet, but they were becoming a notable danger.

"I mean… it's working, I guess? Let's just focus on reaching the pre-attack meeting point." Sophia shrugged at Shin's question, marching forward with determination.

Shin shrugged back after a moment and quickly followed. She had a point.

The guards working for the Nightrunners seemed decidedly… lax, for some reason.

It was true that two of the Godfather Organization's teams had split off and were causing commotions along the western part of their shared border. Shin had spotted several clumps of guards dressed in all black, led by a few strong-looking men and women, race by across nearby skyscrapers, headed vaguely in that direction.

But still, even with that said, it was like the Nightrunners had fallen into some type of mixed disarray. For a member of the Big 3, their current level of security was just awful.

Still, Shin wasn't going to complain about it.

They continued their journey, following a series of specific directions. 22 skyscrapers this way, 19 skyscrapers that way, a turn here, a few turns there…

In all of that time, not once were they stopped by anyone at all. They passed by several groups of black-garbed guards, the customary outfit of members of the Nightrunners, but most of these forces were simply milling about, not going on patrol or questioning people.

Shin detected a faint hint of confusion present about most of them, as if they weren't quite sure what they were supposed to be doing.

The only groups that seemed like actual guards were the men and women that had rushed by them earlier.

Shin and Sophia exchanged a number of puzzled glances, but were unable to make head or tails of the situation. They continued to move on the correct path, following the directions they were given and making solid time.

And finally, after what felt like forever but was actually less than an hour, they arrived at their final destination.

A rather unassuming skyscraper, situated in the north-eastern side of the Nightrunners' territory. The secret location of one of the two Permanent Nests controlled by the Nightrunners.

However, when Sophia and Shin finally came within sight of the fated skyscraper, both of them came to an abrupt halt, shock fluttering across their faces.

For, as soon as they arrived, they came upon an extremely unexpected sight.

The Nightrunners' Nest B skyscraper was already under attack.

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

Meanwhile, still within the territory of the Godfather Organization…

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

Micheal's chest dipped down low as he ducked and twisted his body, bringing up his Ashari Blade in a wide, sweeping arc. Red energy covered the edge of his sword in a deadly, cutting edge, causing it to slash through the air without slowing.

He felt only the faintest hint of resistance as his arm finished slicing forward, cutting apart three regular Morenkai in one smooth motion. He then jumped up, kicking off the air twice with his Cloud Stepping Shoes as he quickly dodged out of the way of their acidic blood.

He ignored the series of Point notifications as he landed on the ground, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked at the dim orb floating in the air in front of him.

A pile of Morenkai corpses, including 3 Abnormals, lay on the ground behind him. Killing them had proven easy enough, even when they were working in a team thanks to the Nest Core floating in the air before him.

Around him, the lowest floor of a skyscraper spread out, lit by a series of neon, overhead lights. Micheal was the only living being currently in the room.

After making sure all the Morenkai were dead, he walked up close to the Nest Core and took a deep breath. He raised his Ashari Blade above his head as he exhaled, keeping his hands on it steady.

The temporary Nests would lash out and attack anyone that both tried to destroy them and had the potential to present a real threat. Micheal had learned this the hard way before.

However, the Nest Cores only seemed to launch its attack after it had first been attacked. Apart from that, even if walked right up next to it, it would remain perfectly passive.

Going with that logic, as long as he destroyed it in a single blow, he wouldn't have to deal with it trying to defend itself.

Micheal held his pose for a split second as his eyes zeroed in on the Nest Core. The Advanced Tier Sword Energy on his blade rippled slightly, concentrated finely on the sword's edge. Its light began to intensify as he focused more and more of the energy together, condensing it to an abnormally sharp level at one particular spot on his blade.

An instant later, his arms transformed into a blur as he cut down. His attack wasn't super fast, but instead powered up with as much strength as he could bear behind it. It wasn't as if the Core was going to try dodging it, after all.

With a loud, creaking noise, his Ashari Blade smashed into the Nest Core.

For a single, split second, the Core floated in mid-air, seemingly transfixed. An instant later, a webwork of cracks spread out, accompanied by a violent cracking sound and a flash of light as the Nest Core smashed down into the floor, crumpling.

.

—-Points Obtained —-

Points: 7,227

.

Just like that, he crushed the Nest Core in a single blow, neutralizing it without any issues.

"Alright." Micheal muttered as he reached down and picked up the cracked Core. He tapped on his Spatial Ring, concentrating for a split second as he sheathed his Ashari Blade.

In his left hand, he held the newly cracked Nest Core. In his right hand… he held two other destroyed Nest Cores.

"That makes three." He smiled slightly, taking a brief moment to rest. His clothes were soaked with sweat, as if he had constantly been rushing to and fro, straining himself to move as quickly as possible.

Instead of heading directly towards the Monster Class Nest, Micheal's path to reach it had turned into a rather meandering river.

Using Shin's connections, he had managed to acquire a network of all the listed Temporary Nest Cores that the Godfather Organization had marked down. From that list, he had picked out a series of Nests that could be found on the way from his location to the Monster Class Nest Core at the center of the Main Cluster.

And just now, he'd finished destroying his third Temporary Nest Core, each and every one without issue. His current power level made decimating the Nest Cores, and their guards, almost laughably easy.

'Status.' He called up the helpful stat screen as he stored all three Nest Cores in his Spatial Ring.

.

— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 39,028

Race: Human

Physique: 1 Star

Soul Quality: 1 Star

Age: 18

- Stats -

Strength - 80

Endurance - 56

Recovery - 55

Soul - 27 -> 28

Abilities - (5/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

Impact Release

Ceaseless Mind

.

He'd gained a very large number of Points from taking down the Nest Cores. However, he'd also found that the more he destroyed, the lesser the number of Points he obtained.

As for the 'Minute Soul Enrichment' reward that he'd obtained when destroying his first Nest Core, he found no sign of it reappearing.

Despite those negatives, however, he couldn't help but smile as he focused on the increase to his Soul stat.

"It rose from 27 to 28 on the third Core, just like Isaiah said it would." His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, a small bit of tension in his heart fading. He'd received the results of Doctor Isaiah's last minute research in the morning, just in time to be helpful.

The first of the three Nest Cores he'd destroyed had raised his Soul stat from 26 to 27. However, it had taken two more Nest Cores to raise the stat from 27 to 28. According to Isaiah, the Temporary Nest Cores would eventually fail to raise his Soul stat at all, beyond the 14th destroyed Nest Core.

It was because of Doctor Isaiah, too, that he had found out a way to shatter the Nest Core without using his Impact Release Ability. The man's intrepid ability to research, hypothesize, and theorize things was scary.

As long as he focused enough of his Advanced Tier Sword Energy to hit one single spot on the Nest Core, for just a split second, he was able to successfully shatter it without the need for any of his stored impacts. The Nest Cores seemed to automatically shatter if they were penetrated at a deep enough level, meaning he didn't need to obliterate the Nest Core to take it down, just poke past its outer layers.

After the split second of examination, he brushed aside his status screen and took a deep breath.

A moment later, he broke out into a sprint as he raced for the nearby exit, his eyes gleaming with energy.

"Three down… three more to go…"

.

Chapter 72

Audible gunshots and the clash of melee weapons sounded off, the echoes of an intense combat ringing in the air. Atop the rooftop of the skyscraper, corpses littered the area as black-garbed figures fought against each other.

Sophia could make out two distinct teams atop the rooftop. One team was clad in full, black armor and used a variety of melee weapons to attack. The other team was a mix of metal and leather-clad figures, using a mix of long-range guns and short-range bladed weapons.

Upon taking in the scene of the ongoing battle, she noted that, for some reason, both sides were fighting rather lethargically. The all-melee group was seriously attacking the mixed group, but both forces weren't going all out like she would've expected.

Shin's reaction was a bit more prevalent.

"What the hell? That's not us, right?" His jaw was practically on the floor as he stared at the scene of battle in confusion.

Sophia silently shook her head, unable to come up with a response.

The Nightrunners' Nest B was guarded in a rather secretive manner. Instead of giving away its location with a huge military force, only the singular skyscraper itself was treated as a protected area.

From the outside, it didn't seem to be any different than any other storage or guarded skyscraper. Neighboring skyscrapers were still patrolled, but you could find regular humans right next door, hunting Morenkai.

There was even a team of hunters on the skyscraper Sophia and Shin had just crossed onto. The group consisted of 5 men, all wielding swords, with guns strapped to their waists. They were currently watching the ongoing battle that was taking place just 3 skyscrapers away, just like Sophia and Shin.

Security by obscurity, assisted by the fact that it wasn't as if the Permanent Nest could be moved or, till recently, destroyed, and the fact that this location was already deep within the Nightrunners' territory. It had worked quite well for the Nightrunners.

In addition, the crowning guard of each Nest had to be the fact that elite members of the Numbers were assigned to help guard the Permanent Nest. Partly because these areas needed to be secure, but partly because they could actively use the Permanent Nest to farm up Points for themselves.

Powerful, Supreme A Rankers that were an army in their own right, they were more than enough to handle any outside threats, for the vast majority of incidents.

Now, however…

The outside guards were clashing with what appeared to be other members of the Nightrunners. Sophia watched the two sides continue to battle, completely confused.

"Let's just head to the meeting skyscraper. We'll let the higher-ups figure it out." After a moment's thought, she continued to move forward. They moved past the other team atop the skyscraper without issue, both sides ignoring the other.

Shin hesitated for a second before following behind her. The duo crossed from one skyscraper to another, all the way till they reached one specific skyscraper to the north of the Nightrunners' Nest B. This skyscraper was located two bridges away from the ongoing battle.

They took one last glance at the battle before jogging over to the entry shed and descending. Well, Sophia descended. Shin cheated by teleporting as soon as he got inside.

Soon, they reached the 15th floor of the skyscraper, and walked into a crowded, but rather large lounge.

Dozens of men and women were sitting around tense, many of them with confused expressions on their faces. Discussion was running rampant as people talked about the battle happening at the Nest skyscraper.

"Is it a schism in the group..?"

"Could it be a trap?"

"How could they possibly know we were attacking? We didn't find out till today!"

"Something must've gone wrong. Maybe it has to do with the chaos in what was Arcadia's territory?"

Various theories clouded the air as Sophia and Shin walked in and found a set of chairs. As soon as they sat down, however, two figures walked up and greeted them.

"Well, well, well, look who finally made it!" The Arabian General Asim's voice cut through the air as he walked up to Sophia and Shin, waving cheerfully. Behind him, Vladimir followed quietly, giving them a quiet nod.

Shin opened his mouth to reply, his eyes lighting up. Before he could say anything, however…

"We just got here. Do you know what's going on?" Sophia asked immediately, responding before Shin could say anything. She ignored Shin's reproachful glare.

Asim shook his head,

"No, all the squads are still filing in. The battle that's happening up there is out of anyone's expectations." A helpless look appeared on his face.

The Godfather Organization had put in all this effort to launch an assault. Despite that, before they even got there, the Nest building was already under attack. It was a little ironic, but not necessarily a negative.

Sophia considered all of this in an instant, her eyes cool as she tried to figure out what the Godfather Organization might do.

Most of all, she tried to figure out how she could use this situation to help Micheal's plans.

'All we need to do is prevent the Nest Core from getting destroyed for as long as possible.' She kept repeating the thought in her head. Their mission was a relatively simple one.

People continued to file into the lounge, gradually filling it up. The full forces of two Executive-led teams were crowding in, making Sophia feel slightly claustrophobic.

Shin and the other two talked casually, much to Sophia's irritation. They were just about to launch a huge attack to change the future of the human race, and yet the trio were casually talking about whether mayonnaise or honey mustard sauce was a better sauce to put on a burger.

Finally, however, the discussion in the room died down to essentially nothing as two figures swaggered in.

Executive Riana, the leader of their team, and a man that looked to be in his mid-60s, with a bushy grey beard and tanned, weathered skin. He wore a pair of stark white pants, an open white vest, and had, of all things, an enormous metal anchor strapped to his back.

The anchor was so large, in fact, that he couldn't actually fit it through the door into the lounge. He was forced to store it in his Spatial Ring with a rueful shake of his head.

"Admiral!" Shin's voice broke the silence as he waved in a friendly manner at the old man.

"Ah, Shin, my lad! I didn't know you were in Ria's team! Bahaha! Good to see you!" Admiral Cardell's face lit up when he saw Shin.

The onlooking Sub-Executives and other high-level members of the Godfather Organization looked between the two in surprise. Most of them were aware of the new Sub-Executive, but hadn't known he had a good relationship with Admiral Cardell, the strongest Executive in the Godfather Organization, and the de-facto Second-in-Command of the Godfather Organization.

"We can greet each other later. Right now, let's focus on the mission at hand." Executive Riana cut the two of them off, glaring coldly at both of them in a very no-nonsense manner. Shin ducked his head away from her, but the Admiral simply grinned widely, crossing his arms in a carefree manner.

"Everyone, we've gathered some information about the situation up above." Riana immediately continued, starting the pre-attack meeting without hesitation as she continued to speak,

"The ongoing battle appears to be the results of internal discord among our enemies."

This sentence elicited a number of responses from the crowd of warriors.

"Internal discord? The Nightrunners really are fighting amongst themselves?" Sophia muttered quietly to herself, her eyes flashing.

"That explains the lack of discipline in their patrols and guards. It must be related to their upper leadership." She grasped a few things instantly. After working with Micheal for so long, she began to look at situations with a keen, analytical mind. She would no longer take anything at face value, whether it came to trusting allies or fighting enemies.

"Silence!" Executive Riana cut off the discussion with a loud yell as she looked about the room. A heavy air of pressure washed off her, her gaze suddenly filled with terrible power. Everyone instantly quieted.

"While the reasons for the discord are currently unknown, what we do know is that they are currently fighting against each other. This has presented an excellent opportunity for us to launch our own attack." Executive Riana began to outline their new, adapted plan out loud.

Sophia memorized all of it, paying close attention.

The gist of the plan was simple. They were to monitor the battle using several scouting Abilities, keeping a close track of what was happening. According to Riana, the battle on the rooftop was merely a sham fought out by the weaker, lower-leveled members of the Nightrunners.

The real battle was taking place within the building itself. Powerful Cell-Captains and even elite members of the Nightrunners Numbers were currently duking it out, right now, far down below.

While the exact details were hard to read, they could definitively tell that the battle was still taking place and seemed like it had reached a bit of a standstill. Neither side seemed to be overwhelmingly stronger than the other.

Riana's plan was to wait for both sides to weaken and tire the other out. When an opportune moment appeared, or when it was unfeasible to wait any longer in enemy territory, their two teams would launch a two-pronged attack, one jumping in from the rooftop and heading downward, while the other invading from the ground level.

Riana's team, and therefore Sophia and Shin, were assigned to take on the rooftop and head downward. Cardell's team would blast in from the ground level, using the Admiral's considerable power to bash aside the mob of Morenkai that had formed on the ground level as a result of all the noise.

All of this was explained in a few scant minutes, just enough time to sort everything out and get people moving. Their planning session was so short it came as a surprise to Sophia. After a moment's consideration, though, that surprise turned to admiration.

Executive Riana managed to control the situation, take into account all the variables, and come up with a solid plan in just a matter of minutes, all while thinking on the spot. Such talent was rare.

Right after the meeting ended, the two teams promptly split up again. Cardell's team stayed down below while Riana's team headed up to the second-highest floor. Sophia's team members all hid in various bedrooms, waiting tensely for the command to rush up to the rooftop and strike.

Everything felt rushed and frantic to Sophia, but she supposed this was how things went for a mission like this. You had to adapt and act quickly to seize the moment.

In short order, Sophia found herself with Shin, waiting quietly in a disorganized bedroom as the minutes slipped by, first one, then two, then five, and then ten.

This particular bedroom looked as if it had been occupied, though the inhabitants were nowhere to be seen right now. There were a few stray sets of clothes lying on the ground, next to some discarded, broken weapons.

Shin lay on the bed, relaxed languidly. Sophia, conversely, kept looking out the window, craning her head to look off to the north. The room she was in faced the east, meaning she could just barely see to the north if she tried.

She occasionally opened up her phone, checking to see if she had received any new alerts or messages. While the signal here in the Nightrunners' territory was very poor, it was still possible to load saved posts to check for new comments.

"Sophia, relax. I'm sure our backup is already in position, just waiting for our signal." Shin didn't specify exactly who they were talking about, but instead smiled reassuringly.

Sophia nodded back after a moment as she rubbed her forehead. She felt like she understood all the stress Micheal must go through, trying to keep a plan on its path. There were so many variables that Micheal brought up, it was a wonder things were already going as smoothly as they were right now.

Just as she was about to respond, after around 11 minutes of waiting had passed, Executive Riana's loud voice echoed in the hallway, sliding into their bedroom from behind.

"Everyone, ready up! We attack in 30 seconds!"

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

Meanwhile…

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

Head Cameron knelt down on the skyscraper's ground floor, resting his hand on the chest of a badly marred corpse. It was the body of a man, covered in dozens of bloody wounds. The man's skin had a blue tint to it, visible even through the state of his mangled body.

"This is Number 5's corpse." His statement was calm, belying the extreme nature of the revelation.

Number 5 had been a Supreme A Ranker, renowned for his potent ability to regenerate from injuries and his complete control of the elements of ice and water. He was an incredibly fierce warrior that held power that could not be underestimated.

And right now… he was clearly dead.

And he hadn't been killed by the Godfather Organization.

Around Cameron, a scene of slaughter spread out. Dead Nightrunner guards littered the floor, alongside a veritable mountain of Morenkai corpses. Several elite members of the Godfather Organization could be seen, sifting through the corpses

"Head." Executive Andrew's voice rang out as he jogged up to Head Cameron. Behind him, a large, man-sized glowing lizard followed, so large it looked more like a dinosaur than anything else. A couple of other officials accompanied Andrew, waiting to hear Cameron's orders.

"We've cleared the area. There's no one remaining among the living. Everyone here is dead, with the last killed around fifteen minutes ago."

Cameron turned to look at him, his eyes cold.

"The Nest?"

Andrew shook his head.

"No signs of it. Someone else already broke it and obtained its boost."
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The Godfather paused for only a couple of seconds, his thoughts unknown to everyone as he looked back at Number 5's corpse. Right after that, however, a commanding presence burst free from him as he turned away from the dead body.

"Pass my order forward, all forces are to move to Nest B immediately." His eyes blazed as he stood up and began to walk towards the exit. The officials that had arrived with Andrew immediately set off shouting and spreading his orders to everyone present.

Outside of the skyscraper, several elite Godfather Sub-Executives and officials had formed a small ring, killing a large throng of Morenkai that were trying to invade the bottom floor. Andrew quickly followed the Godfather out, his gaze slightly confused.

"Head, I'm not sure I understand." Andrew wasn't exactly a strategist and was better suited to direct confrontation.

Cameron crouched down, preparing to leap up into the air.

Before he did anything else, however, he paused as his smartphone vibrated, indicating someone important had sent him a message using his private, and rather costly, long-range line. The sender's ID reflected off the back of his hand as he glanced at the phone, spelling out 'Seer.'

He opened the message up, but delayed reading it for a few moments as he turned his focus back to Andrew.

"Riana is about to attack Nest B. There appears to be some sort of infighting happening in the Nightrunners, beyond our expectations. If everyone, powerful elites and all, in Nest A just died, that can only mean one thing." His gaze was calm as prepared to launch himself up, finally glancing down at the message he had just received,

"The same thing is about to happen to Nest B."

.

Chapter 73

Micheal wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead as he examined the gouge on his armor with a hint of displeasure.

He was currently standing in the basement of a skyscraper at the border of the territory between the Godfather Organization and The Towers. Around him, a slew of Morenkai bodies littered the ground, several pools of acidic black blood simmering quietly.

He had just successfully finished hunting down the last of the Temporary Nests he needed to find and destroy.

The information he'd received from the Godfather Organization had been mostly accurate. Five of the first six Temporary Nests he'd hunted down were in their designated location.

The sixth Temporary Nest's location that he visited, however, had been empty. Temporary Nests, as their names implied, were temporary. Eventually, they would dissipate and vanish after a period of time.

Thankfully, he had prepared a slew of backup locations and managed to find the last Temporary Nest he needed at one of those. He made excellent time, blasting through the Main Cluster at an extremely fast speed.

Only the last Nest, and the one he had just destroyed, had proven surprising.

His initial assault had started like all the others. He silently snuck into the bottom floor and began to wipe out the Morenkai mercilessly. Around a dozen regular Morenkai had rushed him, while two Abnormals had rushed him from the side.

Dispatching them had been easy.

However, right before he was about to attack the Nest and finish the first step to his plans, he had been hit by a surprise attack.

A Pseudo-Monster Class Abnormal had appeared out of nowhere, dropping down from the roof above to attack him. The creature had been layered by some type of invisibility power, keeping it from Micheal's senses. Its body shape was much like that of a normal Morenkai, except shorter. It had two long spikes situated on each of its arms, ones that glowed with a pale yellow light.

Micheal's response had been perfect. He'd ducked down while whipping his Ashari Blade forward into a perfect, aerial guard.

However, his low stats had prevented him from moving as fast as he needed to. As a result, the lightning-fast strike of the Pseudo-Monster Class Morenkai managed to slightly break past his guard.

The creature's attack had missed any vital part of his body, and only managed to score a cut to his armor. A split second later, Micheal had decapitated it, causing it to instantly perish.

After he killed it, he promptly regained his focus and destroyed the Temporary Nest, obtaining the last point he needed to raise his Soul stat to 29.

However, he couldn't help but feel a mite of displeasure at the damage to his gear.

He had yet to use the Bracken Enhancement Fluid and was depending on his base stats to handle his current journey, at least for now. The strongest A Rankers typically had multiple stats in the 200s. Pseudo-Monster Class Morenkai, if judged in terms of human 'stats' had a Strength stat of anywhere from 160 to 300, depending on the specific type of Abnormal.

His highest stat, his Strength, was only 80 right now. Thus, when it came to high-level Morenkai, he was more dependent on strategy and skill to strike them down. This left him slightly vulnerable to surprise attacks, especially given that his senses weren't, by any stretch of the imagination, overwhelmingly keen.

'Still, if it's just this, it's fine.' After checking that the damage wasn't anything notable, he bent down and picked up the final, cracked Nest Core he'd destroyed. He then booked it for the exit, not even taking the time to catch his breath.

Once outside, he shot up into the air, using his Life Orbs to fly. He reached the rooftop in a matter of seconds, jumping off his Orbs as he landed down softly on it.

As he landed, he blinked slightly.

In front of him, a team of women were currently lassoing a trio of Morenkai. There were six women in total, three of which were using swords as they hacked at the Morenkai, while the other three used glowing red lassos that wrapped around the Morenkai, limiting their movements.

'Ohh, not bad.' The all-female team showed quite a bit of skill as they successfully made short work of one of the three Morenkai. A couple of them noticed Micheal's presence and turned to look at him with guarded expressions, but otherwise ignored him as they focused on the two remaining Morenkai.

'They're probably getting ready to head to The Towers and find one of the Subways to the Second Layer.' He mused after a second. Huge numbers of people were currently doing the same thing, regardless of whether or not they were truly strong enough to safely travel.

This world was a hellish nightmare to most folk, and many felt if they could just make it out of here, and make it to whatever the next world was, they would find themselves a safe haven.

After all, anything should be better than this, right? His own thinking, so long ago, had fallen along a similar track.

As he watched the battle, he brought out a sleek, silver smartphone from his Spatial Ring. Unlike his normal, Mid-Tier Spatial Ring, this one was a much cheaper Low-Tier one he had replaced ahead of time, in preparation for the upcoming battle. Spatial Rings were very hard to destroy, but it wasn't entirely uncommon to see it happen in some scenarios.

He turned the phone on and scrolled through its options till he accessed the internet, his fingers tapping on it swiftly.

He then checked a specific, private board on the Godfather Organization's closed network. After finding a certain thread, he carefully read a message that had been posted to it. After a moment, he typed in a reply. He then checked the time and closed his eyes, as if calculating something in his head.

This whole process took less than 30 seconds in total. In that time, the female team began to struggle as three more Morenkai took to the rooftop. These Morenkai weren't like regular Morenkai.

Instead of clambering over the roof slowly and looking around, they threw themselves over the roof and ambushed the women, launching into rapid sprints. The women responded by whipping out two more lassos to slow the creatures, while the sword users switched to defending.

Micheal's eyes narrowed when he saw this.

'Erratic Morenkai already, huh?' It was a bad sign. If the Godfather Organization's territory was already started to be affected, the Angels Arcadia's territory was probably a mess by now.

He jumped up on his Life Orbs as his head flicked to look at the huge, Towers off to his left. Just before he shot into the air and began to fly towards them, however, his right hand flickered.

An instant later, all five attacking Morenkai, Erratic or normal, all collapsed on to the roof of the skyscraper in mid-attack. The defending women all stared at the creatures in shock, clueless expressions appearing on their face.

After a split second, however, the women leaped forward and stabbed blades into the chest, head, or neck of each Morenkai. They received a multitude of Points notifications, instantly learning that the Morenkai had been downed but not truly killed.

After they examined the corpses, they noticed small holes cut precisely into the lower neck of each Morenkai, exactly where the spinal tissues of the creatures were most concentrated. The resulting gap in said tissue had paralyzed all of the Morenkai, turning them from dangerous threats into defenseless lambs.

"We were… rescued..?" The leader of the small team, an Asian woman dressed in military fatigues, looked down at the body in confusion. After a moment, however, she spun around, remembering the strange man that had appeared on the skyscraper rooftop.

When she looked back to where he had been standing, however, she found no one at all. She looked off to the left and right, seeing no signs of their savior. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

After a second, she motioned at the rest of her team, calling on them to retreat back inside. She scanned the rooftop once more, looking for any sign of the man that had rescued them.

After one final moment with no result, she turned and ran back inside, burying this moment of gratefulness in her heart and promising to one day pass it on to someone else that needed help.

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

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Micheal muttered quietly to himself as he crept along the side of one particular Tower, his gaze calm. A few spots of black blood now stained his Ivory Skin Leather Armor.

On his way to the Monster Class Nest, an Abnormal that had been in the middle of climbing up one Tower had spotted him. The creature had ambushed Micheal from up above, intent on smashing into him mercilessly.

Micheal had spotted the aerial attack ahead of time, this time around, and killed it using a few simple throwing knives imbued with Advanced Tier Sword Energy. The knives were unable to contain the fierce energy for more than a few seconds and dissipated into scrap metal after impact, but they were more than potent enough to rip the Abnormal into shreds.

Unfortunately, a few drops of its acidic blood managed to soil his armor, but not enough to do any real damage.

Apart from that, he hadn't run into any other notable incidents in his journey to the Monster Class Nest. He glanced at the familiar building, eyeing it with a small smile.

There were only two ways into this building. From the roof and from the bottom floor.

The Monster Class Nest was, of course, located in the center of the building, in an enormous auditorium that spanned multiple floors.

Normally, if one wanted to chance even a glance at the Monster Class Nest, they would have to scale through dozens of dangerous, Morenkai infested floors. Multiple Monster Class Morenkai lived in this building, making it a deathtrap of the highest level.

Of course, that was for most people. Micheal was not most people.

He carefully looked up and down the skyscraper, taking account of every Morenkai in sight. Currently, he was hiding in a small, inset window area, keeping his body as close to flat with the building as possible. He was about halfway up his Tower, roughly parallel to where the Monster Class Nest would be.

Morenkai shambled about in regular motions down below and up above. He could see hundreds of the creatures, walking up and down the streets, and around a dozen climbing up some of the nearby Towers, including his own.

There weren't any Erratic Morenkai that he could see. In fact, there weren't any Erratic Morenkai, period, as far as he could tell, in the territory of The Towers.

Finally, after observing for a solid minute, Micheal took action.

He leapt out from his window outcropping and began to zoom forward, racing towards the edge of his skyscraper. Right before he reached the edge, he ducked down and tucked himself into a ball.

An instant later, a small, black blur shot across from his skyscraper all the way to the neighboring one, out in open space for just a scant couple of seconds.

The moment he reached the wall, Micheal stood back up and leaned against it, blinking furiously as he looked up and down the skyscraper.

After a few seconds of frenzied observation, he heaved a sigh of relief.

He hadn't been spotted.

He continued to lean flat against the skyscraper as he looked up and down it, ascertaining his exact position. He flew over to one of the windows that dotted this level, peering into it.

In it, he saw a small, empty office room devoid of any Morenkai or humans.

With just a few quick motions, he brought his Ashari Blade out and cut into the window. His Advanced Tier Sword Energy glowed dimly around his sword as he slowly slashed a large enough hole for him to slide through.

Once he finished cutting it, he pushed the glass forward, catching it before it could hit the ground. He then snuck forward through the hole and hopped off his Life Orbs, landing on the floor of the office room.

He glanced around to the left and right, confirming it was empty. He took the glass he'd cut and slowly replaced it back on the window. He then used some glue to seal the window back up.

As he closed it, he carefully glanced at the window throughout the process, ensuring it fit snugly. This type of glue was something new he'd gotten from the Godfather Organization, something bought from Earth, a type of clear, sealant glue that only cost 42 Points. It worked a bit better than what he had used before, and was a great deal cheaper.

As he finished putting it into place, he took one last examination of the hole. It was sealed perfectly, and pretty much impossible to tell it had been cut into at all.

He raised his hand and pressed, ever so slightly, on the window, causing it to shift.

Faintly, several long scratches became visible on the window. These scratches lined the long, circular cut he'd made, and outlined the entire hole. They were difficult to see and could be easily missed if one wasn't careful.

After he finished that up, he walked over to the entrance of the office room and put his ear down to the ground, listening for movement outside.

He heard nothing.

After a few seconds, he slowly opened the door and stealthily looked to the right and left.

An open hallway appeared in front of him, dotted with neon lights. Several doors spread out along the outside of the hall, whereas the inner part was bereft of any rooms at all. Instead, a pair of large doors could be seen, down all the way on the right.

It was empty of Morenkai. A strange sight for the supposedly Morenkai-crowded Tower, but he wasn't going to complain.

Micheal didn't hesitate. He jumped onto his Life Orbs and flew down the hallway, trying to remain as absolutely silent as possible. His senses were expanded to the maximum as he carefully moved forward, ready to react to any threat whatsoever.

In just a few seconds, he finished rushing down the hall and reached the large doors. He peered through a set of small windows on the face of the door, his eyes narrowing.

A large auditorium could be seen, exactly what he was expecting. The Godfather Organization had just recently been in here and gathered information on the layout of the building, info he was able to put to his advantage as he zeroed in on one spot at the right of the stage.

Just as reported, a large, watermelon-sized orb stood floating about 3 meters up in the air. This orb was colored gold and gave off a faint, aura of light.

Strangely enough… there were no Morenkai in this room at all either.

Micheal put up a frown when he noticed this. The report he'd read through had stated the room was swarming with Morenkai. Internally, all he did was sigh, as if in grudging respect and expectation of something.

He pushed past the doors and walked into the auditorium without further hesitation.

The room was truly very large. There must've been at least several thousand seats, set up in long rows with a few balconies on the sides, and an overhanging section up above. Micheal had entered from the middle on the side, a few levels back from the stage.

His eyes swept through the room in an instant. He looked all around for signs of any Monster Class Morenkai, or any Morenkai at all. He had just finished scanning the lower half and-

A loud clapping interrupted his thoughts, drawing his attention to the overhanging theater section above.

"I had a feeling I would meet you here, Heron." A commanding, but cheerful voice echoed out, filling the large, empty room.

Micheal turned his head towards the speaker, his face emotionless.

Sitting on the very front row of the overhang section was a rather calm looking man.

He had short, golden-blond hair that looked as if it had been recently cut, giving his face a stern look. His eyes were green, and flashed with green light, something Micheal recognized as the tell-tale sign of his World Matrix Type Ability. He stood a little taller than Micheal and wore a simple set of khaki pants and a white polo shirt.

His legs were currently kicked up on the edge of the overhang as he sat back in his chair, looking down at Micheal from above.

Next to the man were two black spears that had been planted on the floor of the overhang, wedged between a few seats. When Micheal saw them, his mouth couldn't help but twist slightly.

Not at the spears themselves, but at what was on the spears.

Each spear bore the corpse of a Morenkai.

A Monster Class Morenkai.

He recognized the two of them instantly. They were none other than the infamous 'Twins' that had caused him quite a bit of grief with his own operation here the other day.

Each of the duo was clearly dead, covered in various bruises, cuts, and other injuries that looked incredibly surreal on their skin. Monster Class Morenkai had durability to a rather extreme degree. Seeing injuries like this on them so casually, it was an incredible feat in and of itself.

"Director Prime." Micheal sized the man up, his heart rate spiking as he faced down the First Layer legend.

The strongest man in the First Layer, the highest-ranked S Ranker, a genius tactician with the power to stop time itself.

"It's about time we had a talk."

.