28 Nes

Micheal leapt up into the air, using his Cloud Stepping Shoes to clear the area stained by the fat Morenkai's blood. The sharp scent spread a pungent odor, causing him to wrinkle his nose slightly.

His movements were strong and sure. Everything he did or said gave off an air of absolute confidence as he rushed forward, leading the way.

In just a split second, he arrived at the front side of the cruise ship, ahead of everyone else.

A half dozen Abnormal Morenkai were lying on the ground, dead, crushed by powerful impacts or cut by sharp blades. Several others were shambling forward, attacking the remaining warriors of the Saru Group. The Abnormals had all seemed to be power focused, with thicker arms and legs than regular ones.

The defenders were, not surprisingly, on the defensive. The warriors had formed a tight perimeter and were slowly retreating, obviously waiting for reinforcements rather than risk injury. Even if a swarm of Abnormals were attacking, if a group of C Rankers, led by a B Ranker, focused purely on defense, they would be able to last for at least some amount of time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Micheal saw several of the other members of the Stardust Coalition take to the rooftop, attacking the Abnormals up there and saving the snipers.

The rest of the Coalition members were charging forward just a few meters behind him. Many of the C and B Rankers, as well as Sophia, moved in one big group. They reached the scene of the battle just a scant moment after him. Micheal's eyes flicked at them for a brief moment, noting that fact.

"Hup!" He immediately charged at the Abnormals, his hand drifting to his waist, where his Ashari Blade lay sheathed.

"Emissi-" Before the strongest defender, Flaming Axe Maurice, could finish her grateful greeting, Micheal had already arrived and entered the fray.

SHKK

WHOOSH

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 138

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 123

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 101

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In a single motion, Micheal withdrew his Ashari Blade, coating it in a layer of Intermediate Sword Energy, and lashed out. He pulled the blade out extremely quickly, in a well-practiced maneuver. The energy swarmed from his soul as he activated his Sword Mastery by instinct, almost instantaneously.

Like a knife cutting through butter, Micheal instantly killed 3 of the attacking Abnormals, splitting them in half horizontally. Their bodies fell to the floor, literally falling apart as he jumped, leaping over the acidic pool of blood that sprayed out.

As he leapt, Micheal's left foot slammed into the head of one of the now 3 remaining Abnormals, a green-skinned one with freakishly long arms. The blow sent the Abnormal tumbling backward, knocking it off balance.

In the instant that it was falling, the green-skinned Abnormal whipped one of its sinewy arms at Micheal, the attack causing its arm to blur as it slammed through the air towards his chest.

tap

The muscles in Micheal's right leg flexed as he slammed down with it and then jumped off the air itself, flipping forward. His right arm flicked down, his Ashari Blade stabbing directly below him…

Right into the skull of the still-falling green skinned Anomaly.

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 109

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SHKK

Micheal landed on the ground, coming to an abrupt halt as he turned, facing the last few Abnormals. He jerked his blade up, pulling it from the corpse of the now dead Abnormal as he smiled. He shook his blade ever so slightly, flicking off the Abnormal's blood.

His attack had occupied a span of a couple of seconds. In that time, all of the Coalition members had just barely managed to reach the front side of the deck, just in time to witness his decimation of the Abnormals.

"My god… Emissary Heron is incredible…"

"Did he just solo 4 Abnormals in a single second?!"

"Is he… he's got to be A Rank, right?! He's so powerful!"

"Did you guys not see his palm strike against the fat Abnormal?!"

A variety of murmurs broke out as everyone looked on, stunned. Micheal's display of power had been incredibly impressive. This was the first time anyone here had actually seen him display his full strength to such a high degree. Even Officer Martin of the Godfather Organization, someone who had seen Micheal in combat and knew that he was Heron, was stunned.

He had seen Micheal's ingenuity and planning, as well as watched him take out several powerful humans, but instantly killing a large number of Abnormal Morenkai in a single strike… even some A Rankers weren't capable of that.

Behind his mask, Micheal hid a slight smile.

In terms of raw stats… Micheal's body was barely at the level to be considered B Rank. If anything, he was much closer to C Rank in terms of physique. There were even some C Rankers here that were stronger than him.

'But skill and Abilities often matter far more, down here on the First.' His eyes flashed as he began to move forward, tossing the thought to the side as he sprinted towards the last two Morenkai.

The two Morenkai turned to face him, abandoning their attack on the Saru Group defenders. One had brown skin while the other had dark grey skin. Each one had tree-stump like legs and lanky arms, somewhat similar to the green-skinned Morenkai he had just killed. They seemed to sense the threat he posed, deciding to take Micheal down first.

THUD

THUD

The sounds of their feet shambling forward, echoing as they clomped on the metallic deck and sprinted right back at him. They led their charge with a pair of long, lanky fists slamming towards Micheal's head.

'That makes it easy.' He mentally shrugged.

In a single, almost unnaturally smooth motion, Micheal ducked down so low he was almost face-planting the ground. He then stepped forward, his body tensing up at the extremely slim angle he was pushing.

The muscles in his leg bulged once more as he then leapt forward in an incredibly low strike.

The angle he had picked completely circumvented the attacking Morenkai's blows as he slipped under them. His right arm blurred as he spun around twice, his blade seeming to vanish and then reappear in an instant.

SHKK

SHKK

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 112

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—-Points Obtained—-

Points: 124

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Michael's spinning slashes sheared through each Abnormal twice, splitting each one into three sections, sending blood spattering out in small waves. The freakish creatures fell to the ground like ragdolls, unable to put up even the slightest hint of resistance against Micheal's precise attack.

'Regular Abnormals, even in groups…' He snorted slightly, feeling pleased.

They could no longer pose even the slightest challenge to him anymore. The only thing he would have to be wary of were Monster Class Morenkai. And, of course, other humans.

"Thank you, Emissary Heron!"

"Thank you, sir!"

"Emissary Heron!"

The Saru Group warriors were all cheers and smiles as they rushed up to Micheal, thanking him. The rest of the Coalition moved into the area, their eyes full of respect and fear as they looked at Micheal. Sophia stayed near the back of the group, her presence small and practically unnoticeable as she avoided drawing attention.

"It's nothing. How are you all? Any injuries?" Micheal glanced over the fighters, seeing quite a few bruises and cuts, but nothing too apparent.

"No, sir! How is Captain Simon?" The B Ranker Maurice stepped forward, her voice filled with a faint hint of urgency.

"I'm fine, Maurice." A male voice echoed out as Captain Simon forced his way through the crowd, hobbling forward. The bulky man was hunched over slightly, limping as he walked, but seemed otherwise fine.

As the Captain walked up to his team, he looked at Micheal and gave a long, respect-filled bow.

"Thank you very much, sir. I'm not sure I could've handled that heavy Abnormal." His every word was genuine.

"Mhm." Micheal simply nodded, maintaining the austere air of an expert. He kept up the formal impression, keeping himself a mysterious figure.

Half the reason he had agreed to bring this force with him was to build up an impressive reputation, after all. It would make his future plans easier.

"We've cleared up top!" A loud, familiar voice sounded off as the Flesh Wizard, Hunter, waved down from the roof where the sharpshooters had been. A large, lumbering red Abnormal appeared right behind him, a rewarding conquest from the battle if the pleased look on the man's face was any indicator.

"Alright. The fight is settled. Good work." Micheal waved at them, and then motioned at everyone,

"Everyone, take 20 to regroup and recuperate. Teams 9 and 1 will take over the vanguard when we start moving." Micheal's voice echoed out loud as he took command.

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, Emissary Heron!"

"Sounds good!"

He got a chorus of replies in response, as well as a grateful nod from Simon. The man sat down on the ground directly, taking a pair of Low-Tier Recovery Pills and some other type of medicine as he focused on healing.

The rest of the group began splitting up by their various organizations. Some of them talked and pointed at the dead Morenkai while others laid down to rest or practice.

'So many Abnormals…' Micheal's eyes flashed as he looked around. Sophia walked up next to him, her voice mute as she studied the dead bodies as well.

'It's probably a Nest.' A hint of excitement appeared in his heart.

Nests.

It was extremely rare to see a Nest in any of the outer Clusters. On the Great Bridge or in the Main Cluster, however, Nests were far more common. They were still quite rare, but they weren't unheard of. For them to run into one on their second day wasn't too out of the ordinary, not when given the incredible pace they were setting.

Most Morenkai came into existence from seemingly nowhere or rising from the ground, magically appearing due to whatever strange laws governed this world. Some Morenkai, however, spawned into existence clustered around a certain point in space. A large, floating black sphere.

What was known as the 'Nest Core' of a Nest.

Most Nests had a higher chance of spawning Abnormal Morenkai. And, as a result, a higher chance of spawning Golden Morenkai.

Most Nest Cores were temporary, falling apart on their own or vanishing after a few weeks. Permanent ones, however, could be staked out long term, and would provide a multitude of Golden Morenkai as time went on.

'While it won't be a permanent one, even if it's only temporary, I can still use it to test my plans.' The thought flashed through Micheal's head, his eyes pensive.

As he was thinking, he overheard a few conversations going on around him. Most of the voices were hushed, but his finely tuned senses managed to catch what a majority of people were talking about.

"Man, what a crazy battle. So many Abnormals showed up out of nowhere."

"Especially that big one. Do you think it was Monster Class?"

"Who knows. But Emissary Heron certainly crushed…"

"As expected of the Angels Arcadia, to think that the…"

Micheal smiled as he heard the last comment, putting aside the topic of Nests for a moment. The Angels Arcadia…

He didn't actually have anything to do with them. He knew their Emissaries, their elite high ranking fighters, all wore masks, so he'd decided to pretend to be one of them, borrowing their influence to set several events in motion. It made his job much easier.

And while he may have borrowed their influence originally to start things, now his own image was completely cemented. The utter devastation he'd spread had seen to that.

'I should be able to get away with using their identity for a bit in the Main Cluster, enough to find one of my targets.' He nodded slightly,

'Still, back on topic. The Nest. If there really is a Nest here… then this is a perfect opportunity to practice.' He came to a decision, nodding his head.

He had to check.

'If I go all out, using a Sword Mastery Ability that shouldn't exist on the First Layer… is it possible to do something no one has ever done before…' His eyes gleamed,

'Is it possible to destroy a Nest Core?' The singular thought filled him with excitement. Many people had talked about the idea, in the future when people grew much stronger on later Layers. How they would go back and wipe out the legendary, Monster Class Nest that existed in the center of the Main Cluster, or destroy one of the 4 Permanent Nests controlled by the Big 3. Legends of how doing so would grant special powers, rumors that were never confirmed.

Many bragged that they could do it… but no one in the First Layer had actually ever succeeded as far as Micheal was aware. People simply claimed it was possible, using the Abilities and stats they picked up when they were well into the Fourth or Fifth Layer.

"Crane, follow me." He waved his hand at the members of the Coalition, indicating he'd be back in a bit. His voice grew quieter as he walked up to her, such that only she could hear,

"I need you to control a few Morenkai, to see if they've seen a certain something…"