Chapter 158

R-a - Chapter 158 (In editing - v4)

Cameron’s visage was a picture of absolute, livid fury. A tiny moment after Micheal struck at the Monster Class Nest Core, the Godfather had leapt forward to attack. Micheal had timed the moment precisely, ensuring that the Godfather wouldn’t be able to do anything else but continue his attack. 

Micheal died, as a result, but not before he finished destroying the Nest Core. 

And now, Micheal looked out at the world in his ethereal state, reading over the series of notifications that had popped up.

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—-Reward Obtained—-

Superior Soul Enrichment 

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—-Reward Obtained—-

Superior Layer Empowerment

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—-Reward Obtained—-

Champion’s Gift

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Micheal glanced over these in a hurry. The Superior Soul Enrichment looked like a stronger version of the Minute Soul Enrichment he had received before. The Superior Layer Empowerment went hand-in-hand with that. He could instantly tell that it was the ‘boost’ that the Godfather Organization’s researchers had talked about. 

‘Status!’ He pulled up his status in an instant, knowing he had just seconds to work with before he respawned. 

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— - Status — -

Name: Micheal Care

Points: 39,028

Race: Human

Physique: 1 Star

Soul Quality: 1 Star -> 3 Star

Age: 18

- Stats -

Strength - 80 

Endurance - 56 

Recovery - 55 

Soul - 29 -> 36

Abilities - (5/7)

Life Orb Master

Ki Cultivator (Earth Tier - Early)

Grandmaster Sword Mastery (1/5)

Impact Release

Ceaseless Mind

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Surprisingly, he didn’t receive any Points. Instead, he received the ‘Champion’s Gift,’ something he didn’t have time to examine. 

For, what took up most of his attention were two specific changes. 

His Soul Quality had risen from 1 Star to 3 Stars, a very large jump. While Micheal’s understanding of the new ‘Soul Quality’ stat wasn’t perfect, he could tell it was similar to his ‘Physique’ stat. It was about ‘talent’ and growth potential. 

His general Soul stat had also permanently risen by 7, a fantastic result, and then temporarily been boosted by around 24, leading to a grand total of at least 60, an unbelievably high Soul stat for the First Layer. His fine control of his Soul, combined with his memories of the past, allowed him to estimate the number with confidence. 

His other stats had been boosted as well, but none by amounts significant enough to catch Micheal’s notice. He couldn't see the specifics, anyway, since they were only temporary boosts. 

Before he came to fight Prime and destroy the Monster Class Nest, Micheal had gone out of his way to destroy several Temporary Nest Cores, bringing his Soul stat up to prepare himself to be able to use Master Tier Sword Energy. He had brought it up to the bare minimum he felt survivable, knowing there was a chance he might need it. 

A boost of 7 points was huge. While it wasn’t enough to let him freely wield Master Tier Sword Energy, it would greatly ease the strain Micheal put on his Soul. 

An additional boost of 24 points, however… 

That was more than enough to let his Soul wield Master Tier Sword Energy. 

Micheal came back to life, spawning in as far as possible away from the point where he died. 

The moment he came back to life, Micheal instantly adapted to the changes in his body. 

The power of his body had changed relatively little compared to what he was used to. The ‘boost’ from destroying the Monster Class Nest Core was much weaker in terms of physical effects. It might be noticeable by warriors at very high levels of power, but it didn’t help Micheal out very much right now. It made him stronger and faster, but not by as much as his Bracken Enhancement Fluid had. 

His Soul, however… Just as he’d predicted, his Soul had become several tiers stronger than Cameron’s. 

What was the strongest Soul stat present on the First Layer? 

If Micheal had to guess, he would expect it to be lower than 40. The difficulty in raising it could not be understated. 

Micheal’s boosted Soul stat of 60, thus, was something practically unseen on the First. It was far more powerful than a Soul stat of 30. The increase was not an additive one, but an exponentially stronger advance. 

The moment he spawned back in, a huge amount of pressure flooded the room. This pressure wasn’t something physical, but rather, oppression on a spiritual level. It was intangible, but all the more powerful due to how difficult it was to block. 

It slammed into Head Cameron like a meteor, sending the elite S Ranker stumbling backwards on the stage. A look of shock flitted onto his face, his eyes widening as he felt something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. 

A feeling that he was in the presence of someone more powerful than him. 

The moment he spawned in, Micheal activated his Spatial Ring, withdrawing several Shuriken, or throwing stars, from it. The ancient, Japanese concealed weapon was a relatively difficult one to master, not used by many. 

To Micheal, however, they were a set of tools he had a large amount of experience using, long ago in his past future. 

Micheal grunted as he held three throwing stars in each hand, clutching onto them tightly. His gaze was cool as he focused in on Cameron, knowing his window to attack was bound to be very small. 

The instant he saw Cameron’s look of shock, Micheal attacked. 

The six throwing stars flashed out in a heartbeat, warm, yellow Master Tier Sword Energy enveloping them as they flew from his grasp. This Sword Energy rapidly began to expand as they cut forward, expanding to become one-meter-long, rotating stars of death. 

Cameron managed to recover after a split second. That tiny moment of time cost him dearly. 

By the time he got over his shock, the six throwing stars Micheal attacked with were just a small instant away from ripping him to shreds. 

Cameron could see and feel the power behind Micheal’s Master Tier Sword Energy. He had no illusions as to whether or not he could block such a devastating attack. As a result, he hastily raised his hands and sharply manipulated gravity. 

The area for several meters around him abruptly became a shifting vortex, where up was sometimes down, sometimes to the left, and sometimes to the right. Gravity visibly distorted around the Godfather like twisting waves at sea, becoming impossible to track. 

Micheal’s six throwing stars were each thrown with a huge amount of force, designed to reach their impact spot no matter what resistance they encountered. The manipulation of gravity itself, however, wasn’t something that could be accounted for, even if Micheal knew it was coming. 

He wasn’t a God. He couldn’t just ‘cut through gravity,’ not at his level. 

Still, the power behind his attacks was considerable. Even as the currents of gravity changed, the modifications to their attack angles only changed slightly. 

As a result, Cameron was forced to jump in the air at an awkward angle, the six attacking throwing stars leaving him no room to do anything else. Red, crackling energy covered Cameron’s body as he activated an Ability that let him freeze in place, keeping him from jumping too high. 

A split second later, the six throwing stars sheared through the stage, the wall behind it, and anything in the nearby area, cutting apart the nigh-indestructible skyscraper as if it was paper. 

Cameron managed to deflect and dodge the attack, using only his incredible sense of battle to both detect and figure out a way to safely avoid the strike. Micheal was incredibly impressed. He had done everything he could to make that attack undodgeable, closing off any ways Cameron could jump to the side and preventing blocking or simply deflecting. 

For anyone to be able to redirect his Flowing Shuriken Strike, as he called it, was a feat worthy of respect, especially given that they were on the First Layer and only three years and a few months into the apocalypse. 

That respect never wavered in his mind as he unleashed his technique again.

Right after he threw the first set of throwing stars, he withdrew six more and then threw six more, pulling back his arms from his last throw in an ‘outside’ throwing motion to leave as little time as possible between his attacks. 

Once again, six throwing stars flew out, coated in yellow Sword Energy. 

He then threw six more.

And six more.

And six more.

A total of 30 more throwing stars flew out from Micheal’s grasp in 6 new waves, each one transformed into a cutting machine of death.

It didn’t matter how experienced Cameron was, it didn’t matter how skilled he was at changing the gravity around him, it didn’t matter how close to the Sky Tier of Ki Cultivation he was. 

In the face of such an overwhelming attack, some things simply didn’t matter. 

Cameron managed to deflect the first new wave of throwing stars, just like he had the previous one. The strike, however, forced him into a more exposed position, keeping him stuck floating in mid-air. He managed to dodge the attack by shifting gravity and flying backwards, but only by the skin of his teeth. 

The second wave caused Cameron to become injured. Once again, he managed to dodge the brunt of Micheal’s Shurikens. However, because of how he was forced to dodge backwards, one of the throwing stars sliced into his left leg, causing blood to spatter out. 

Cameron had no time to recover from the injury as the third wave arrived, once more forcing Cameron to fly backwards to dodge them. The downtime between each wave was less than a second, meaning there was nothing Cameron could do but react. All of his Abilities were focused on allowing him to manipulate gravity better or become more powerful. 

He could see what Micheal was doing very clearly. Cameron’s Gravity Domain Type was doubtlessly active, letting him get a mental image of Micheal’s actions, and everything within 200 meters. With Micheal being so close, that image would show Micheal’s attacks as they came out in waves. This awareness was somewhat similar to Director Prime’s ability to know about things the instant they happened, though to a much lesser degree. 

Unfortunately for Cameron, even if he knew what Micheal was doing, he was helpless to stop him. 

Cameron managed to escape the third attack without receiving another injury. 

But the fourth wave of throwing stars cost Cameron dearly. 

For, it was in this wave that Cameron’s back slammed into the back of the stage, preventing him from dodging backwards. 

Cameron adapted in a split second, flying upward and adjusting the way he manipulated gravity. His reaction speed was so fast it was practically inhuman. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

Five of the throwing stars Micheal sent out missed. But the sixth one moved forward with almost unerring accuracy, shearing off Cameron’s right arm. 

The shock of such a huge injury wasn’t something easily described in words. Cameron’s body took on the full brunt of that shock, causing him to stumble in mid-air, his control of gravity weakening. 

The subsequent fifth and sixth waves arrived, just moments later. And while Cameron had weakened, neither of Micheal’s last waves had lessened in power. 

Cameron did his best to dodge, but the final two waves slammed into him with the ferocious power of a Master Tier Swordmaster. 

The result was to be expected. 

Cameron collapsed to the floor of the stage, blood dripping from his body as he slammed down to the floor in a heap. The injuries he had taken were fatal, and aimed in a way that effectively neutered his attack power. 

Both of his arms were gone, sheared off at the shoulder. Cameron might be a genius, but he had yet to develop the power to manipulate gravity purely without the use of his hands, greatly weakening his technique. The rest of his body was riddled with serious injuries, to such a degree that they were impossible to come back from. 

In just a few split seconds, the fate of the battle was decided. 

A single, unavoidable misstep from Cameron became a fatal one when Micheal was able to use his Master Tier Sword Energy. 

It wasn’t fair, but life never was. If he gave Cameron even a moment to gather his strength, Micheal wouldn’t have stood a chance. His body wasn’t able to keep up with most styles of combat, forcing him to use one of his best long-range techniques. 

‘Arrgh!’ Micheal’s body trembled as his Soul fluctuated. While he was able to use significant amounts of Master Tier Sword Energy with a Soul as powerful as his boosted one was, he had still to let it adapt to the powerful, sharp energy. He became injured, once again, as a result. 

Micheal didn’t let that injury show as he stepped forward, his eyes full of bitterness as he looked at the dying Godfather. Once more, he clenched his fists behind his back, the knuckles white as he spoke aloud, 

“Cameron… I’m sorry.” He walked up next to the dying S Ranker, his mouth twisting. 

The Godfather wasn’t dead yet, but he was rapidly losing blood. The powerful warrior looked up at Micheal, staring into him with eyes that shocked Micheal to his core. 

Instead of shock, confusion, anger, or any of the emotions he expected to see, Micheal found himself staring into something completely unexpected. 

Eyes full of clarity and compassion. 

“Lad… My mind… is my own… right now.” Cameron’s voice shuddered as he spoke, somehow able to speak despite his body being in ruins. 

Micheal’s heart dropped as he saw this. His mind, however, forced him to shove aside his emotions, zeroing in on what Cameron said. 

His mind was his own. 

Micheal’s eyes widened, 

“You can think?! You are free from his control?!” His voice turned into a hiss when he said ‘his,’ the hatred he felt to the man known as the ‘Vile King’ difficult to put in words. 

“Yes… for a while now… my mind… not my own…” Cameron’s body shook once more as the dying warrior tried to shake his head, 

“I almost… did the… unspeakable…”

As Micheal saw this, he knew that his experiment had been a success. 

Before he fought against Cameron, he had forcefully overloaded a Signal Seer Bracelet, causing it to explode. This detonation didn’t cause any physically visible effects, but instead impacted the world on a spiritual level. 

For a short amount of time, everything within 40-50 meters of this spot had become a ‘dead zone’ for transmission of certain types of signals. 

This was an idea of his own, one he came up with after months of planning when it came to the Vile King and his ‘Seeds.’ It was the true reason he had so many of the bracelets, enough to gift to Sophia and Shin, after a few modifications. 

In order for a ‘Seed’ to return to the Vile King, and to give him the memories of its host, it must have to send out a sort of signal. Micheal had seen the remnants of the Vile King’s seed back when he killed the serial killer Xavier Shallot. 

And if that was the case, that ‘return signal’ probably relied on the Soul stat of its user to send it back, or an amount of energy it had stored up, something of that nature.

And here, on the First Layer, everyone had a relatively low Soul stat. 

The ‘dead zone’ of an overloaded Signal Seer would only last for a couple of minutes. But given how low Cameron’s Soul stat was, in the grand scheme of things, it should be enough to seriously limit his ability to send out signals. While this would impact literally none of Cameron’s Abilities, it should have a sizable impact on the Vile King’s Seed. 

Micheal had only planned on this to prevent the Vile King from knowing exactly what happened here. However, an unanticipated side-effect seemed to have taken place. 

Cameron managed to briefly shake off the effects of the Vile King’s Seed in the moments of his death. 

“Cameron...” Micheal’s hands trembled behind his back when he heard this. The warm taste of blood filled his mouth as he bit on his tongue, forcing himself to stay in control. 

“Thank… you…” Cameron’s eyes grew unfocused, but a took on a relaxed edge, as if he had been freed from a heavy burden. 

“I am so sorry, Cameron.” Micheal’s voice was small as he replied, 

“I did everything I could. I tried-“

Cameron cut him off, grinning even in the face of death as he replied, 

“That’s life… lad… sometimes… you fail…” Cameron’s body suddenly began to stiffen,

“You just… gotta… move on…” His words slowly faded out as his body grew still. The light in his eyes faded, the clarity and emotions fleeing as they were replaced by emptiness. The world around him seemed to shiver one last time, as if gravity itself was sending him off. 

In the early months of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, the annals of history recorded the death of Cameron Giordano.

An S Ranker.

A hero.

A father.

A man beloved by many, revered by his enemies and allies alike. The changes he wrought upon the First Layer impacted the lives of billions, focused only on making the world a better place. 

He was truly a good man.

In the moment of his death, unrecorded in the history of man, a single human stood vigil alone, watching as this great man passed on from life. Watching as a small Seed of darkness rose and then fizzled about in confusion, eventually dissipating into nothingness. Tears of blood spilled from this man’s hands as he held watch, his fists clenched so tight they seemed as if they might break apart. 

That vigil quickly came to an end. The lone man that stood guard took one last studied glance at Cameron’s corpse and left, ignoring the Points notification he got. Shortly after that, Executive Andrew of the Godfather Organization arrived, the next human to see what had happened. 

Far away from here, Number 1 gradually weakened as his boosted powers fled from his grasp. Tandrum’s attacks were relentless, in conjunction with General Pedro’s aerial strikes. Where Number 1 struck, Tandrum blocked. Where Tandrum struck, Number 1 was forced to dodge. 

By the time Number 1’s boosted power had fully fled, the rest of the Godfather Executives, apart from Andrew, had arrived. 

Number 1 was left with no path of escape, a plan of doom that he walked into of his own free will. Devious and intrepid, the plan was one with no holes, inescapable. 

In the early months of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Garen Olsteis, Number 1 of the Nightrunner Numbers, died, alongside the rest of the Numbers. The Nightrunners collapsed, their organization falling apart. 

Likewise, the Angels Arcadia fell into disarray, their lack of leadership forcing them to break into pieces. 

Admiral Cardell went on to seize upon this chance to take over both areas, causing the Godfather Organization to rapidly expand in power and become the dominant power on the First Layer. The powerful warrior quickly became the newest S Ranker, cementing the Godfather Organization’s reign of power for the future. 

The Golden Morenkai hunting method and the Dragon Building Liquid method were both freely released to the general public, skyrocketing the fame and prestige of the Godfather Organization to the level of near-worship among the populace of humanity. Its foundations became unshakable, supported by nearly everyone. 

The ‘erratic’ Morenkai vanished and even ‘regular’ Morenkai quickly transformed into creatures that would only attack when first attacked themselves. They no longer hunted indiscriminately, but became far more docile. The First Layer was still a dangerous world where death walked, but it was no longer a slaughterhouse. 

Moments after Number 1’s defeat, Shin and Sophia collapsed, their reactions to the Bracken Enhancement Fluid oddly making it seem like they had been poisoned, as if someone they trusted had tried to kill them. When the truth of Cameron’s death was revealed, this occurrence took on much more significance, helping free them from suspicion. 

Director Prime was never heard from on the First Layer again.

On that fateful day, no one saw as a lone man slipped into one of the many subway entrances that dotted the land of The Towers, slinking underground and sitting down on one of the many empty benches underground. 

No one saw as this man vanished, his body and soul teleported away. 

As one story must end, another yet begins. 

In the early months of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Micheal left the First Layer.

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The end of Volume 2.

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