Reborn: Apocalypse

"How are you still alive?!" Sophia's voice was full of shock as she stared at Micheal. His body was completely free of injuries, though his clothes were not. His shirt had fallen to scraps, revealing a muscular and lean, tanned physique. His pants were just barely on, held together by a few untorn scraps of cloth.

"Hup!" Micheal swung his sword around in an arc, killing three separate Morenkai in a smooth motion. Black blood spattered out as the gruesome creatures fell. The air became tainted with the scent of this acrid Morenkai blood, a sharp stench that clung to his nose.

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 13

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 11

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—- Points Obtained —-

Points: 10

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The other Morenkai began to press forward, undaunted by the deaths of their brothers. More and more Morenkai could be seen swarming the building from the outside, dozens of the powerful figures crowding. Micheal could even make out an Abnormal in the crowd outside, its head colored a dark shade of green.

"I'll tell you later! For now, follow me!" He yelled, motioning behind him as he began to cut through the Morenkai. They had a few moments before the crowd of Morenkai fully forced themselves in, just enough time to flee to one of the stairwells.

Sophia raced behind him, overcoming her shock quickly due to the attacking beasts. While her Artifact could stop long range attacks, it wasn't very useful against melee combat.

Micheal cut down two more Morenkai before they reached the stairwell, a different one compared to the one that the Pirate Lord had taken. The stairway had returned to its well-lit state now that the Golden Morenkai was dead, making navigation easy.

"Quickly! This way!"

Micheal led Sophia up several flights of stairs. Dozens of Morenkai rushed up after them, a veritable swarming mob.

Soon they reached the 5th floor. At this point, Micheal pulled Sophia with him into the hallway.

"Wha- they're right behind us! We can't stop here!" Sophia sputtered but still followed him. Her eyes were panicked as she heard the monsters chasing after them, only a single floor down.

"We can't go up top either, the Pirate Lord might be up there!" Pirate Lord Brandon was known to be somewhat reckless in Micheal's past life. His defensive Ability was a notably powerful one and gave him a huge amount of confidence, especially when combined with his powerful physique and Earth Tier Ki Cultivation.

Because of that, Micheal hadn't and still didn't think there might be other members of the Black Flag Pirates nearby. But that didn't mean he could be careless.

He reached a room halfway down the hallway and flung the door open, pulling Sophia in.

In it was a large table with several relaxed looking chairs, some glowing fluorescent lights, and a door that led to the outside. A lounge.


He raced over to the outside door and flung it open as well, calling for his Life Orbs to appear.

He currently had two left after expending one to come back from the dead. The dimly glowing blue orbs immediately sank down to the floor as he mentally commanded them to move.

"Hup!" Micheal grabbed ahold of Sophia, scooping her up haphazardly.

"What are yo- Are you going to jump?! WHAT?" Micheal ignored her protests as he leapt forward into the air, jumping off the 5-story high outcropping.

To her credit, Sophia didn't scream or panic. She merely held on to Micheal, her eyes wide. The past few minutes had been incredibly action packed and shocking to her, but from those events… She didn't believe Micheal would just kill the both of them.

…

Then again… he did try to suicide bomb that black armored warrior and seemingly die and came back to life…

She felt as if her stomach was fluttering with butterflies as Micheal sailed into the air, falling down towards the ground.

A moment later, however, the two Life Orbs he'd summoned flew over and clung to his badly damaged shoes as if they were a part of him.

WHOOSH

Like magic, Micheal began to soar through the air, flying along the side of the skyscraper. He didn't waste any time at all as he flew, immediately jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper. The breeze blasted at him and Sophia as he flew, cool and refreshing.

Sophia's eyes widened in wonder as she saw this. She hugged on even tighter to him, her grip like stone as they soared. Down below, Morenkai forms occasionally looked up but quickly lost interest as they flew away.

They travelled for several minutes, jumping more than a dozen skyscrapers.

Finally, after fleeing almost 20 skyscrapers away, Micheal found an open lounge on the 10th floor of a random skyscraper and set them down.

The duo collapsed onto the patio, both of them breathing heavily. Micheal's heart was pounding with adrenaline, a huge smile on his face. Sophia, conversely, looked as if she was about to be sick.

"Aha, so there we are! Perfectly safe!" He gave her a cheeky grin, in a great mood,

"We got away!"

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

A few minutes passed as Micheal and Sophia retreated inside the skyscraper, relaxing. Sophia gradually calmed down, the shock and danger of the battle sinking into her mind and settling. She looked at Micheal with a sense of newfound respect, her eyes gleaming.

They were sitting on a few cushioned chairs in the lounge, resting. Sophia had bought them a couple of bottles of water, sharing with Micheal. Micheal had accepted, though he'd come prepared with water in his Spatial Ring. He'd also gotten himself a new set of clothes, a white shirt and a set of grey pants, as well as a pair of new shoes, discarding the scraps of his previous garments.

"Thank you for saving me." The first thing she did when she came to her senses was thank Micheal,

"And thank you for getting me those Points. Everything you said was true." Her voice was still cool, but there was a hint of warmth behind it.

Actions were louder than words, and Micheal's actions had shown his sincerity. His skill, his truthfulness, and everything he displayed had gradually won her over.

She didn't trust him completely. It was, after all, their first day meeting. But she no longer regarded him as an enemy or someone to be ignored.

"It was nothing. I didn't expect for the Pirate Lord Brandon to show up, though. Did you do something to offend the Black Flag Pirates?" He returned, glancing at her calmly. This hadn't happened in the original future. Likely something he did, perhaps even his existence, had helped cause this change.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Seer?" She eyed him.

Micheal nodded,

"Yes, but I can't see everything. My vision is an inborn gift, unrelated to the Shop." He explained. It was all true, in a way.

"Well. All I did was turn down their invitations. You said that man was the Pirate Lord Brandon?!" As what Micheal said fully hit her, her eyes widened in surprise. She shifted slightly in her seat.

"Yes, quite a brutal man." Micheal didn't know too much about him, other than that he never showed mercy to his foes.

"Is-isn't he the leader of the Black Flag Pirates?! Like, he's super strong?!" While she had only been here a few days, she had managed to get some understanding of the people that were trying to invite her to their team. She still had little information to go by, but it was better than nothing.

"One of them, yes, and it's why it was so hard to face him down. In terms of raw physical strength, he's one of the absolute best in the Cluster. Combine that with the raw defensive power of his Type Ability and he's an extremely tough foe." Micheal nodded,

"I went through all that effort to injure him badly and send him fleeing… but he didn't even lose his arm." He sighed. After he had been killed, he'd reformed his body a moment later using a Life Orb. He had found that he could delay his revival for up to a couple of seconds, giving him a bit of leeway in that regard.

Type Abilities were simply too powerful. While they might not be able to compare to, in his opinion, the ability to come back to life after dying, they still gave their users unique and powerful benefits that couldn't be ignored.

Every action Micheal had taken had been carefully planned. From using an explosive early to make the Pirate Lord believe that was his main goal, to making it subtly obvious he was aiming for the man's face, to allowing the Pirate Lord to break his arm and trap it against his chestplate.

His careful positioning of his blade, the surprise attack by stabbing through his own heart.

Micheal's long years of experience as an intrepid warrior, intent on nothing but growing stronger and getting better at fighting, came in handy. The Pirate Lord was in his grasp the entire time.

And yet, despite all of that, the Pirate Lord had escaped with wounds that could be healed.

'I didn't think I would be able to kill him… it's only Day 3 after all. But I had hoped for better.' He sighed again,

'Rank A is indeed Rank A… but think of all the Points I could've earned.'

"Wow! Well, you did great! I can't believe someone can get that powerful in only 3 months!" Sophia's voice was full of a hint of eagerness,

"If I can get that strong, it should be much easier to find my little sister." She stood up from the chair she was sitting on, giving Micheal a serious look.

"If we can keep hunting down these Golden Morenkai together, equally splitting the Points, then I'm in." The strong will of the Demon Fairy showed through as she took the initiative,

"I am willing to work with you long term." Her eyes flashed,

Micheal stood up as well, holding out his hand,

"You got a deal, girly." He gave her a solemn nod,

"But before that… there's something I need to tell you. It has to do with how time works here in the 7 Layers and your little sister…"

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