Reborn: Apocalypse

For the first time against an enemy, Micheal activated his Impact Release Ability.

WHOOSH

As the hulking form of the Arkian Bear slammed into him, thousands of pounds of muscle and anger, Micheal felt a type of cool energy seep into his soul. This energy carried with it a sort of mystical feeling, magical. Different from the natural Ki that flowed within his veins.

In the span of just part of a second, a large swarm of that cool energy was stored in his soul. A perfect mirror of the impact that slammed into his body, sending him barreling backwards.

Right before he was hit, Micheal jumped forward, his arms thrusting out. He took full advantage of the reckless charge to land an attack of his own.

SHKKK

Before the bear had even reached him, Micheal had positioned his White Steel Swords, jerking them to be aimed at the shoulders of Ravager Jason's bear form. Just as the bear was about to hit him, Micheal abruptly jerked the blades to point inward.

He forced his arms to move so quickly he managed to damage the ligaments and muscles in both. The extremely abrupt movement was something he had committed to memory, from when his body was far, far stronger in the original timeline. This type of movement in his current body was impossible to perform unscathed.

At the same time, as he was hit, he pulled his legs up, using them to cushion and absorb the blow.

'Gotcha.' Micheal's only thought as he was blown backwards was one of grim satisfaction.

Micheal's left leg broke in 8 spots and his right leg broke in 9. His lower body, including hips, femur, and parts of his spine all cracked or bruised, his low Endurance notwithstanding. A wave of pain washed over him as he was rammed by the bear, pain that he forcibly ignored.

His body was hurled into the ground like a ragdoll, bouncing back into air. He slammed down and skidded off till he was around 5 meters away from Jason, somewhat close to the recovering form of Lord Byron. Micheal came to a rather abrupt halt here, somehow managing to stop himself.

"GROWWWLLLL?!" A confused and agonized growl echoed in the air as Micheal looked up, maintaining his consciousness.

Ravager Jason's bear form stood in the middle of the room, the hilts of two swords planted firmly between each shoulder and his head. Blood dripped down from the blades, each one a deadly wound in their own right.

When Jason charged at Micheal, the brown barrier that protected the man thanks to his shielding Artifact had shifted its focus. Instead of covering his whole body, it covered his head in a denser glow.

Right before he slammed into Micheal, the barrier had shifted again as the warrior saw where Micheal's blades were pointed. It moved to cover the front of his shoulders, protecting them.

Micheal's abrupt jerk and repositioning of his swords had circumvented that, slipping them under the barrier and cutting deep into Jason's flesh.


"GROWWLL!" The Ravager took a stumbling step forward, coughing up blood. The wounds that Micheal had delivered were serious but not fatal for a creature of its size. Its body shook as it tried to drive the swords out.

As Micheal saw this, he slowly raised his right hand. He'd slightly torn several muscles and some ligaments, enough to make the movement shaky but not impossible.

He smiled grimly.

'Twirl around and come back.'

The two swords quivered.

Ravager Jason's huge bear form shook for a brief moment.

A second later, an explosion of blood and gore stained the air as Micheal's two blades flew out from Ravager Jason's wounds, sailing across the ground floor to clang on the ground near him. The huge bear form immediately collapsed to the ground, the light going out of its eyes.

Right behind those two swords, two dimly glowing blue orbs emerged, covered in blood.

.

—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 4,108

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In the instant that he had stabbed the Arkian Bear, Micheal had thrown two Life Orbs, soaring out from his hands. They had shot forward under the cover of his swords, hiding beneath the metal blades. When his swords stabbed into the bear, the Orbs slid in with them.

Micheal had found, through experimentation, that it was possible to coat his Life Orbs with a thin layer of Sword Energy. While this layer wasn't comparable to what he could coat his swords with, and could only last a few seconds, it was enough to cause serious damage.

When the Life Orbs got inside the large form of the Arkian Bear, the rest had been child's play. While the outside of the bear was tough and durable, and it would be realistically impossible to pierce through it with his Life Orbs, its insides were far more vulnerable…

Micheal literally ripped the bear apart from the inside out, killing the Full Transformation User in one shot.

"Nicely done, lad!" Officer Martin finally noticed the impact Micheal had had, killing both Silent Viper and Ravager Jason. The warrior cheered him on as he faced off against Cain, entering a stalemate. Despite not having a type, Martin focused on Endurance and Strength, just like Cain. He would be able to hold on for a few more minutes without problem.

"Keep it up! Reinforcements will be here shortly!" The few remaining guards from the Godfather Organization focused their efforts on aiding Martin, bearing bullets and blades as they attacked Cain.

"Sophia, help Martin when you can, I need a second to recover! Watch out for the Morenkai!" Micheal's legs were broken, preventing him from standing. He made no moves to use up a Life Orb, however, sitting as if waiting for something.

By now, a good dozen Morenkai were rushing towards all of the combatants, drawn by all the noise. Sophia had recovered enough that she could control a pair that were running at her, turning them into bodyguards.

BOOM

Pirate Lord Brandon and Boss Shigun were still fighting, trading explosive blow after blow with each other, cane and axe colliding loudly. They casually killed several Morenkai on accident, their duel not one that just anyone could step into.

"You bastard!"

Pirate Lord Byron had finally recovered enough to stand, an Artifact on his wrist glowing as a few bullets fell to the ground. A few of the guards from the Godfather Organization had taken shots at him when he was stunned, trying to take him out to no avail.

When the Pirate Lord saw what Micheal had done, the man was enraged. A faint, wavering yellow glow surrounded the man as he charged at Micheal, his fists trembling. While the glow wasn't as powerful as before, his Mana Body still unstable, it was more than enough to make him a dangerous threat.

Micheal shifted his body so he could see the Pirate Lord. It took Byron only a single second to reach him, his eyes blazing ferociously.

The Pirate Lord didn't hesitate at all, immediately punching directly down at Micheal's face. Micheal was in no condition to dodge, his ruined legs preventing even a slide or duck backwards.

Still, he managed to dodge anyway, ignoring logic.

His entire body shifted to the left and forward as he commanded his two returning Life Orbs to knock into him. The impact threw him into Pirate Lord Byron as if he had launched forward without using his legs or arms, something that looked incredibly unnatural.

The launch caught Byron off guard, but the man didn't let up, confident in his Abilities. He simply lowered his shoulder and rammed it into Micheal's chest, shattering several of his ribs. Even without his Mana Body, Byron's physical stats placed him at more than twice as strong as Micheal.

Micheal didn't try to absorb the impact, focused on minimizing the blow instead so that he didn't die outright. And thanks to that, despite crushing a dozen of his ribs and collapsing both of his lungs, the blow didn't kill Micheal.

As a result, Micheal's right hand flopped forward and just lightly tapped the powerful A Ranker on the neck.

A bloody rictus of a smile appeared on Micheal's face.

'Impact Release!'

His mind focused on the blow he had absorbed from Ravager Jason. A multiple tons, massive Arkian Bear that had rammed into him with maximum force.

Cool energy fluctuated in Micheal's soul as his Ability activated. The energy he had stored from that blow seemed to shiver.

A moment later, that energy rushed forward from his hand, forming an exact equal to the blow Micheal had taken from the Arkian Bear. A gargantuan, multi-ton blow concentrated right on the neck of Pirate Lord Byron.

CRACK

There was no suspense.

Getting hit by a bear of that size was like getting rammed by a car. Even for a superhuman of Byron's stature, taking a car-sized impact to the neck while his Mana Body was unstable meant almost certain death. Whatever Artifacts he had, whatever Abilities he had, all of them failed to hold up.

The Pirate Lord's neck snapped like a twig.

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 10,208

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Micheal's body tumbled onto the ground, his heart palpitating as it failed. The last thought he had was a cheerful one.

'That went well.'

Everything faded to black.

Micheal died.

WHOOSH

crack

One of his Life Orbs shattered, leaving him with two Life Orbs remaining. Warm, comfortable energy serenaded Micheal's soul, writhing.

Micheal came back to life.

He blinked as he came to, his nice suit ragged and covered in holes, but his body hale and healthy. Exhaustion tugged at him, something he pushed to the side as he looked up, his eyes focusing in on the duel between Pirate Lord Brandon and Boss Shigun.

'Let's finish this.'

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