Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2 54 Chapter 101 - Observation

Two days later…

In the territory of the Angels Arcadia, Open Markets were a relatively common sight. The territory of the Angels Arcadia was split into miniature 'Cl.u.s.ters' within the Main Cl.u.s.ter, each one overseen by an Enforcement Branch.

Micheal was currently within the territory of the North Ocean Branch, near the North-East side of the territory, not too far from the skysc.r.a.pers controlled by the G.o.dfather Organization, and large clumps of land controlled by various smaller organizations. It was midafternoon, with the sun beating down high in the sky.

Within the territory of the North Ocean Branch, there were 3 Open Markets, situated at different locations. Anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand people would attend each weekly Open Market.

The Briar Patch Open Market was held in a large skysc.r.a.per that wasn't quite a Tower, but was still substantially above average in scope. Just like in the Stardust Cl.u.s.ter, the Open Market here was composed of dozens of stalls set up on the roof, with a mult.i.tude of private exchanges held in the interior.

There was even a large scale auction scheduled to be held in a few hours, in a special room this skysc.r.a.per had, a large theater. The North Ocean Branch oversaw and guarded each and every Open Market held in their territory.

However, instead of taking a fee or tax from the people entering, they instead charged some type of Artifact-equivalent Points fee for people that set up stalls and sold goods, a detailed arrangement that seemed to work well for them. This was their main way to draw income as the overseers of this area. Micheal wasn't too sure on the details.

Micheal had come to the Briar Patch Open Market for a very specific reason, but as of right now, he stood frozen, his eyes wide in shock.

A lot had happened the past couple days and Micheal was preparing for the future while lying low. He had been perusing a shop that sold unique types of long-range weaponry when he heard a stray conversation at the edge of his hearing.

"…"

"-but that is what makes them so great. I hear the fees they charge actually go towards protecting everyone!" The first speaker was a girl about Micheal's age, dressed in a set of slim jeans and a tank top with long, bright blonde hair. She had a set of guns on her waist, looking every bit the dangerous figure.

"Yeah, the G.o.dfather Organization also has an entire Research Branch focused on discovering the mysteries of the First Layer." The other speaker returned, another girl that was slightly older. She was rather bulky and had a huge metal s.h.i.+eld strapped to her back, with a large, steel sword on her waist.

"It's a good thing Head Cameron has recovered. If he had died, it would've caused a huge storm! The rumors had it that he was a goner." The blonde girl nodded, her voice optimistic.

"…"

When Micheal heard this, his heart froze over.

'Head Cameron is… alive? He survived and recovered?' He blinked slowly. A couple of long moments pa.s.sed as he went and walked around the Open Market, overhearing multiple people discuss Head Cameron's miraculous recovery and confirming the rumor.

In his original timeline, Head Cameron died and threw the entire Cl.u.s.ter into disarray. The G.o.dfather Organization barely held together, setting off a huge storm of events that were only made worse by the Great Arrival of hundreds of millions of humans.

Yet now… he was alive.

'Huh.' Micheal didn't panic, forcibly controlling his pounding heart as he made himself calm down.

'Is this because of my actions? It has to be, right?' He frowned, his face pensive.

The future was taking turns that he did not plan for. All of a sudden, a nervous feeling filled Micheal's heart as he felt, for the first time, as if he wasn't fully in control.

'Even if he has survived, it doesn't mean my knowledge is useless.' Micheal's pounding heart returned to normal as he nodded his head stiffly.

He was well aware that his actions would have ramifications beyond his control. He just hadn't expected such a big divergence so soon.

'What could have caused it?' He rubbed his forehead before sighing. He had no idea. Boss s.h.i.+gun was alive in this run, and the information on how to hunt Golden Morenkai and Dragon Building Liquid should also have reached the G.o.dfather Organization by now.

There were multiple possibilities, but Micheal still felt rather incredulous. The poison that killed Head Cameron was something even he had no chance fixing, not here on the First with a heavily limited Points Wall. It had been a suicidal attack from a Poison Ruler Type, something that would've easily killed Micheal.

's.h.i.+n should be within their territory, using their closed network thing to meet up with Sophia. Did he do something that caused it?' Micheal rubbed his chin, unaware that s.h.i.+n had joined the G.o.dfather Organization. If he had been aware…

He wouldn't worry too much, but he would've been in a state of disbelief. s.h.i.+n could teleport. It was extremely difficult to successfully ambush or trap someone that could teleport. In terms of escaping power, s.h.i.+n was probably among the best of Humanity, purely because of his Type Ability.

However, he had specifically told s.h.i.+n that he needed to be low-key.

As Micheal mulled things over, the memories of the past 2 days flashed by.

After he killed both Leila and Number 14, Micheal had made a beeline for the Temporary Nest that was left behind.

At that point, he had been down to a single Life Orb, and extremely unwilling to take any big risks.

"Alright… focus…" He stared at the floating sphere, his eyes calm. All of the Morenkai that had charged in were dead, and the lack of any noise meant no more would be drawn here for a while.

He stood in front of the Temporary Nest for several seconds, studying it.

Occasionally, it would send out dim flashes of white light, but mostly remained still, doing nothing at all. It was easy to miss, just a floating sphere that stood in place.

'Breaking you increases my Soul Quality.' He thought for a moment.

'But why?' When he'd broken his first Nest Core, he had been so focused on breaking it, he hadn't paid too much attention to everything that happened after. All he remembered feeling was a bit dizzy. Sophia still had the broken Core after Micheal was unable to determine a use for it.

After he broke the Core, he'd heard a strange voice call out to him, informing him that he was the third human to ever achieve that.

This was the first and only time he'd ever experienced something like that.

The only other mysterious voice he'd ever heard was the mysterious voice from the Spirit that ran the Holy Shop. Even then, the Spirit would only answer very basic questions about the functions of the Shop. There was no point in talking to it.

That voice had never spoken again and he was left with no other information about it.

'Was that the being that brought Humanity here? Does it know why we are here, or is it the one responsible?' Humanity never found out why they were here, beyond being told they had to cross the 7 Layers to reach Heaven. At least, not as far as Micheal knew.

This time, Micheal made a mental promise to focus on the actual breaking of the Nest Core and everything that happened to his Soul as a result.

He raised his Ashari Blade above his head. The Ki in his body trembled, causing his eyes to gleam with light as he stared at the floating Core.

WHOOSH

Powerful, red energy began to swarm up and around his blade, coating it. This energy was volatile and powerful, sharp and deadly. Advanced Tier Sword Energy.

Micheal's Soul was strong enough to handle using a full-powered strike with Advanced Tier Sword Energy. The amount of Sword Energy he concentrated on his blade was brought up to the absolute maximum, pus.h.i.+ng at the limits his Soul could bear.

He winced at this, feeling as if his entire body was flexing and bending under immense weight. Slowly, beads of sweat formed on his forehead, dripping down his mask uncomfortably as a wave of pain swept through him.

He'd gone beyond what he could safely wield, drawing upon as much Advanced Tier Sword Energy as he could. It was no longer a full-powered strike but him drawing all he could physically handle. A technique like this was unfeasible in a real fight, but in a place where he could charge up for several moments… it worked quite well.

Without a Bulldozer Impact stored up, he had no choice other than resorting to this. The sheer amount of Sword Energy he used for this attack far surmounted the amount he'd used on the first Nest Core.

His Ashari Blade flexed as the powerful energy ran along it, perfectly controlled by Micheal. The torrent of Sword Energy he put on his sword made it look almost like it was on fire, with energy rippling in the air.

He held the sword up, hovering it just a meter or so off from the Nest Core.

He took a deep breath as he positioned his sword carefully, ignoring the pain his Soul was undergoing.

He only had one shot at this.

WHOOSH

Without waiting longer, Micheal slashed down with his blade, aiming right at the Nest Core.

BOOM

With little fanfare, his Ashari Blade crashed into the floating Nest Core.

The Nest Core s.h.i.+vered for an instant. White light flashed out from it as it shook, energy rippling out from it for a brief moment.

When the huge amount of red Advanced Tier Sword Energy made contact with the Nest Core, a series of fine cracks spread out. The energy seemed to vibrate as it sliced into the Nest Core, meeting a huge amount of resistance.

Micheal's muscles bulged, swelling slightly as he pulled with all of his might, doing everything he could to force the blade to follow through. His Soul seemed to fluctuate with pain as he drew every bit of Advanced Tier Sword Energy he could manage, causing him to feel lightheaded.

For that single, brief moment, the Nest core stood frozen.

SHKK

crack

An instant later, an audible cracking noise echoed out as the Nest Core shattered, the web of cracks on it spreading out to cover its entire surface as it was flung from the air to smash into the ground.

His initial blow hadn't been powerful enough to shatter it, but the sheer cutting power the huge torrent of Advance Tier Sword Energy offered had managed to finish the job, though just barely. The Nest Cores truly were incredibly durable.

ping

ping

ping

The cracked Core bounced off the floor and then off the wall and the roof, slung around the first floor as the huge amount of force required to move it was expended. Eventually, it rolled off to a spot near one of the walls, falling still.

Micheal ignored all of that, however, as shut his eyes tight.

As soon as the Nest Core shattered, a wave of dizziness had swept over Micheal. Partially from the release of the much-too-large swell of Advanced Tier Sword Energy, but also partially from the Nest Core itself.

The moment he sensed that, he turned his every iota of focus upon on it, dropping to the floor as he fell to his knees. His Ashari Blade tumbled out of his grip as he closed his eyes, his breath frozen as he put his full attention towards the sensation.

As the energy from the shattered Nest Core washed over him, Micheal observed every single change that happened to him, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with mysterious light.

.