Reborn: Apocalypse

They followed the trail of the Morenkai as they meandered on through the central part of the Cluster. Each of the two Morenkai were headed in similar directions, though Sophia said they were slowly drawing apart.

One was headed farther to the north, to the territory of the Black Flag Pirates, while the other was headed to the south, towards the inner part of the central zone.

They opted to follow the one headed south. While the territory of the Black Flag Pirates was not constantly patrolled due to its wide size, Micheal did not want to encounter any of them yet. His actions here, especially in recruiting Sophia, were liable to anger them already.

While he didn't know the details on why Sophia caved and chose to join the Tobagin Party, he could guess that it had something to do with the Black Flag Pirates after hearing their attempt at recruiting her.

"Careful, there's a battle going on over there." Micheal's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the skyscraper past the one they had just arrived at.

A long, wooden bridge connected their skyscraper to a large, red one with 3 different entrance sheds atop it. On that skyscraper, a pair of warriors were currently fighting against a group of 5 Morenkai.

The two warriors were men. As Micheal looked at them, he could see brown fur sprouted all over their skin, with muscles bulging underneath.

"Werewolves." He muttered.

Of all the Type Abilities one could gain, the most popular Type Ability were the two cheapest ones. The Lesser Vampire and the Lesser Werewolf Types. These Abilities were somewhat unique in that you could directly upgrade them through the shop, to the normal Werewolf or Vampire Type, and to the High Werewolf or High Vampire Type.

Most Type Abilities possessed the ability to grow in strength naturally the more you practiced with it, and the stronger your Soul stat became. However, very few could be directly upgraded via the Shop and usually had a somewhat pricey upfront cost.

Due to the rather cheap cost of the Lesser Werewolf and Lesser Vampire Types, as well as their potential to grow, many would pick this Ability after they gathered the Points.

"Grrooowwwlll…" Micheal watched as one of the Werewolf fighters used a large grey sword to smash one of the Morenkai to the side. The powerful attack knocked the creature backward, but not before another Morenkai lashed out with a punch that slammed into the fighter's free arm.

crunch

Even from all the way over here, the audible sound of the bone breaking could be heard. The fighter seemed to ignore this as he spun around, bringing his huge grey sword to smash directly into the head of the Morenkai. The blow stunned and seemed to injure the creature, though not enough to fully kill it. The Morenkai were brutally tough to kill.

The duo continued to battle, gradually gaining the upper hand while taking several smaller injuries.


'The Lesser Werewolf Type Ability primarily focuses on Recovery and Strength. He should be able to recover from that smoothly given a little time.' He mentally sighed. With his Life Orb Mastery Ability, he could no longer take in any kind of Type Ability. The Life Orbs were definitely worth it, but to be unable to choose a Type was an annoying side-effect.

Abruptly, his eyes flicked slightly to the left of the two Werewolves. He could just barely make out a figure crouched down against one of the sheds, watching over the two fighters as they went all out against the Morenkai. This figure had a long rifle in their hands and was watching the fight intensely.

What had drawn Micheal's attention, however, was something that just faintly set his sixth sense tingling.

The sniper had, for a split second, stared closely at him and Sophia. The movement was a quick, casual sweeping motion, as if he was checking the surroundings to look for other dangers. It was a move that felt oddly familiar to Micheal.

'A long-range scout, watching over two fighters as they trained to the north of the central zone…' Memories blossomed in his mind,

'I did the exact same thing once, as a fighter.' His eyes widened as he remembered some of his own experiences, the memories flooding into his mind.

The Saru Group liked to keep tabs on the Black Flag Pirates. They would station scouts that were ostensibly 'training' and 'hunting' in the areas near the northern half of the central zone. If the Black Flag Pirates wished to make any big moves, the most likely path they would take would be through the central area of the Stardust Cluster, and they were liable to be spotted by these scouts.

While cellphones didn't work, nor did anything that required the internet, the Saru Group had established a series of short-wave radio communication phones, enhanced by the Shop. The radio phones didn't work like they would on Earth, powered by some type of strange, indecipherable energy.

It was possible to communicate over a range of around 500 meters, which was more than enough to relay information back to the home base of the Saru Group.

'They're scouts for the Saru Group!' He reached this conclusion, his face giving away nothing.

'That said, they have nothing to do with us.'

"Let's go this way, around them Sophia. No need to potentially get slowed down." He waved over at a bridge to their right.

"Alright. We'll need to move a little quicker, then. It's still going that way." She motioned towards the center of the central area. The pair began to jog around the bridge, putting a wide berth between them and the fighters.

The Illusion-trapped Morenkai, down below, moved forward at its usual shambling pace. Sophia was only able to keep her power active as long as she was within a certain range of the Morenkai. Thus, she couldn't just send them all out and wait for the results.

Micheal was careful as he ran, staying alert for foes. They encountered a few stray Morenkai as they moved, ones he made short work of, suitably impressing Sophia.

While they had free time, Micheal decided to ask Sophia a few questions.

"So you are looking for your little sister, right?" He began, giving her a slight nod as they boarded a long steel bridge. A cool breeze swept over them as they moved, the noon light slowly shifting into the afternoon.

Sophia stared back at him, her eyes cool. She clearly didn't trust him yet.

"I'm a Seer, remember." He tapped his forehead,

"Perhaps I might be able to help you find her if you tell me about her."

She paused for a few seconds as she heard his words. She bit her lip slightly and then nodded,

"Alright." Her shoulder length hair fluttered slightly,

"Her name is Denise. She left with the First Wave, when all of this happened." Sophia's voice was carefully controlled, not giving away a hint of emotion,

"She looks a lot like me, but younger. She's only 13 years old and it's already been several months." Sophia sighed,

"She's the only family I have left in the world and I would do anything to get her back." Her voice cracked slightly. Immediately she seemed to recede, her eyes full of distrust as she glared at Micheal, daring him to say something.

Micheal's mouth twisted slightly as he heard all of what she said, trying to avoid grimacing.

'She doesn't know about the time acceleration yet.' It had only been 3 days since she arrived, after all. There was no way she could know everything, especially with how she rejected most people trying to recruit her. He only found out about a week into his first time here.

While only a single month passed between each Wave on Earth, in the 7 Layers, an entire year would pass. If her sister was 13 years old when she was taken by the First Wave, she would be 16 years old now. 3 entire years would've passed…

'I don't know of any powerful Denise from the First Wave…' He mentally sighed. It would've been nice if her little sister had been a truly powerful expert or something along those lines.

Alas. 1,000,000 people had vanished with the First Wave. Only a small number of those would've become truly powerful, though there was a higher proportion of powerful experts among the First Wave than was average.

'A girl that looks like her named Denise, came with the First Wave, 13 years old.' He mentally tallied down what she said.

'I'll have to put in word with the Godfather Organization.' If anyone might be aware of her little sister's status, it would be them. The fact that the Demon Fairy of the Main Cluster had stayed insane in the original timeline made him believe they probably, and unfortunately, would have nothing.

'But what do I say now? I can't just tell her about the time gap right now… But when should I? Not telling her at all would be irresponsible.' He struggled to find a response.

"Hmm. I can't think of anything right now. But if I do, I'll let you know as soon as possible." He gave her a confident nod. Sophia merely nodded, her eyes returning to their hard, untrusting state.

They passed over bridge after bridge in mostly silence, traveling for several minutes. Along the way, Micheal occasionally felt as if eyes were watching them. The feeling only popped up every once in a while, making it impossible to tell whether they were being tracked or if it was just random people spotting them as they traveled.

Soon they entered the true depths of the central area. Once more, they encountered several Morenkai, a few even moving in groups.

Micheal's skill came in handy here as he dispatched any and all comers with ease. Even though he was physically weaker, he was now strong enough that he could easily handle regular Morenkai without risk to himself.

'Those Dragon Building Liquid sets really did their job.' He thought, his arms no longer aching after killing just a few of the creatures.

In what felt like no time at all, they arrived at one of the smaller skyscrapers, this one painted brown with a white stripe on it.

"It's here. It stopped in here!" Sophia's voice was tinged with excitement, but also a certain level of strain. Maintaining her Fairy Eyes for so long was bound to be stressful, especially when her Soul stat was likely only average.

"Alright, let me check one thing." Micheal leaned over the side of the skyscraper they were currently on, scanning the street level. Down below, he could see dozens of Morenkai shambling about, their movements ominous and uneasy to behold.

After only a moment, he saw what he was looking for.

The streetlights that could be seen on the ground level and in the intersections of every skyscraper block…

The ones that surrounded this skyscraper were currently dark.

He smiled,

"We've found the Golden Morenkai on our first try!"

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

Meanwhile, not far from Micheal, on a large grey skyscraper…

A towering, muscular figure, clad in black armor that radiated a feeling of strength squeezed down hard on the arm of a black skinned Morenkai. The duo was standing atop the skyscraper, facing off against each other.

Another man could be seen, wearing a set of relaxed sweatpants and a black shirt, with a bandana across his face.

The arm of the skeletal Morenkai held up for a few moments as the Morenkai lobbed a punch at the armor-clad figure, glancing off the black armor. The blow was powerful, however, and caused the man to slide backwards a step.

A moment later, however…

CRUNCH

The arm snapped, a sickening crunch echoing out as black blood spurted. The Morenkai didn't shriek or give any sign of pain as it continued to attack, ignoring its injury.

"You damned beasts really don't feel pain, huh?"

WHOOOSH

The skull of the Morenkai split in two, spattering black blood everywhere as a large axe cut into it, killing it.

Lord Brandon grunted as he looked at the corpse, throwing it to the side casually.

"If only I could say the same…" He muttered quietly, too quiet for anyone else to hear, and sighed, almost sadly.

"No sir, Lord Brandon, they do not." The man wearing the black bandana spoke up, his voice rough.

"I heard that they don't feel nuthin' at all. Not pain, not fear, nuthin'." The speaker had long black hair that was tied up, with wrinkles visible above the bandana that obscured his face.

Brandon stared at him for a moment, his black facemask obscuring his face.

"Where are they, Havil?" His voice was bleak and authoritative, almost mechanical in its emotionless state.

"Over there, sir. I turned the beacon off after you got here already. They went into that skyscraper." The man's voice was eager as he tapped on a grey ring he had on his hand and then motioned at a skyscraper not far away.

The Black Flag Pirates had a communication network of their own, one that involved the use of magical, crudely made 'Beacons' that could transmit a basic radio signal. The signal would grow stronger the closer you got to an active Beacon.

Brandon had no real idea how it worked, only knowing that it was a very obscure method that worked effectively.

"They haven't left since! They just entered a few minutes ago!"

Pirate Lord Brandon turned his focus to the skyscraper the man was pointing at, a brown skyscraper with a large, vertical white stripe on it.

SHHKKK

Lord Brandon wiped the blood from his axe as he began to walk forward, his eyes cold.

It was time to hunt.

.