Chapter 80
Aaron opened a portal that placed us in the hallway leading up to the mutant holding area.
When you subtracted the mutants, we were up against demons and advanced soldiers, easily numbering in the high tens.
Fan-fucking-tastic. Yet, despite our outrageous odds, I liked our chances…mostly.
I had killed five supersoldiers, who gave me 100 Red Orbs each, about 23 regular soldiers, who gave me 10 each, and 150 Red Orbs for each mutant I killed, which was 4.
After my buying spree last time, I wasn't eager to drain my account again, but given the situation, I bought a second upgrade of Arbiter, brought up my trusty Axe to the 3rd grade, and lapped up the new upgrade benefits.
Arbiter (Unlocked) Grade 3
An oversized battle-axe and one of the two demonic forms of Rebellion. Bears the primal force of eruption with each swing. Deals 2.7x the damage that Rebellion deals on the same grade. Weight and damage dramatically increase with the infusion of demonic energy (7 times the weight of the Axe.)
Abilities: Mid-tier Eruption and Explosion Manipulation. High-tier weight manipulation.
That was more like it. I looked at my status that'd been beefed up after the lightning strike from the Thunder Harpy that'd nearly killed me.
HP: 390/780
SP:600/890
AE: 470/480
DE: 650/650
Strength: 52
Dexterity: (54)64
Endurance: (74)84
Vitality: 78
Angelic Energy: 49
Demonic Energy: 65
I'd grown some since I arrived, but not by much. Despite that, I was sure I could take on any demons they threw at me. I had three Stim shots, which meant enough juice to use Devil Trigger thrice without worry.
And even if that much tyrannical power was not enough, I was certain Jean and Rin could pitch in.
We pressed forward, and when I was done with the last of my purchases, an M4 in my hand, we quickly advanced. We came to a stretch where the fluorescent above us started to flicker, each bout of darkness lasting longer than the last.
I squinted my eyes suspiciously, staring up at the ceiling. Soon, all of the lights in the hallway started to act the same.
"Can you sense anyone?" I asked Jean, who'd shut her eyes. There was a pregnant pause as we waited for the verdict, each bout of darkness panicking the group. Even with Devil Eye, I could not see through the darkness. We were likely dealing with the power of a lesser demon.
"I can't," Jean said, opening her eyes. "I can sense a presence spread through the entire facility, but that's it."
"That's fucking encouraging," I said, summoning Rebellion. I had a feeling guns were not going to cut it anymore, and I was right.
Evasion activated when the lights went off, and I leaned to the side, dodging a sharp swipe. The presence I felt vanished back into the darkness, and I called out.
"Did anybody else feel that!"
"I did for a moment," Jean said, clear agitation in her voice. It's circling back. It came swinging again, but I was ready for it this time. I activated cloak, illuminating the darkness with demonic fire, channeling the fire through Rebellion and swung, splitting the demon down the middle.
It was an inky wolve made of pure darkness that oddly didn't give me any Red Orb. It was then I knew we were dealing with something else entirely.
"Gather around me," I announced, and the team obliged just as the onslaught began. Demon dogs materialized from the darkness surrounding us and pounced.
Jean spread her hand out and crushed them by the dozens while I pulled out my pistols and worked my adept Tier Gun Mastery. Rin started as apprehensive but slowly grew confident as he swung his Katana. While he wasn't gaining any more strength, he still had some from the supersoldier I put down.
Ever so slowly, the darkness that consumed the hallway started to fade and localize. Soon, we could see the ends of the hallways, but the Darkness demon was not done with us yet. The world around me suddenly slowed down, and I felt the darkness around me pulse. Faster than I could blink, blades made from absolute darkness sprouted around us, stabbing at us from impossible angles.
Jean's eyes flashed red as she held her hands out, forming a psychic energy shield. Several of the attacks shattered on it, but some made it through. As powerful as it was, Jean's barrier was a relatively new technique.
I immediately used Burst, flashing in front of Kurt, who needed the most protection, Parrying three spikes with a swing of my sword.
We felt the darkness shudder, and my eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion and understanding. Parry reflected all damage…meaning true damage.
Perturbed by my attack, the demon decided to consolidate its power, gathering all of the darkness and fusing it into a gigantic wolf with dozens of tails that ended with razor-sharp spikes.
"Hold it down for me, will you, Jean?" I called it over to her, and she stretched her hand forward, grabbing hold of the demon. It wriggled under her control, surprisingly causing Jean to scowl while I fired a shot of Thunderer, ripping through its head and most of its body.
The evaporated darkness started to gather again, reforming a smaller wolf, so I switched weapons to Aquila as it recovered. It took me 4 seconds instead of the typical 5 to send out an empowered Round trip that continuously shredded the beast, whittling it down at an absurd rate.
"What's wrong?" I asked Jean, who was panting a little bit.
"You're tired," I realized, deactivating my fire cloak.
"A little," she said, holding her knee and taking in deep breaths. I summoned Ebony and used a charged shot. It carved another hole in the monster while my eyes still focused on Jean.
I bit my lip. "I still need you." Then, I pulled out one of my Stims. I had no idea how they'd affect her, but I gathered there'd be some side effects after it wore off.
"I can't take these," she shook her head. "You worked hard for them."
"And you worked even harder," I said. "I wasn't kidding when I said I'd be pointing you at hard enemies."
She smiled sheepishly and took it, tossing it back.
I looked at the demon and saw that it was nearly down to its last leg, which was my Round Trip, so I pulled Rebellion.
I gave Jean one last affectionate pat before I turned to the monster. The monster was the size of an overgrown dog when the Round trip ended, and it stumbled, properly stunned by the technique.
I dashed forward, using pure dexterity, and slammed my blade into the shadow beast's chest. It shrieked as it was punted back, and I advanced with a flurry of stabs. I must've chained a hundred together, watching in morbid fascination and anger as the beast practically evaporated in front of me.
I turned to see Kurt staring at me, star-struck. Rin tapped his shoulder.
"I had the exact same reaction."
You've killed a Lesser Darkness Changeling. You've earned 450 Red Orbs.
--
As we descended, we met more of those shadow beasts, and I leaned more into using my sword and channeling energy through it. Demonic energy made my blade more solid, heavier, and powerful, while Angel energy allowed me to move faster at the cost of slightly more energy. At best, they both provided a lean increase in power—below 10 percent at my calculations, but the marginal increase came in really useful.
With every monster we killed, Rin grew more powerful and useful in the fight, taking the strain off of Jean and me, and we put down monster after monster.
By the fifth monster, we pretty much have it down to a science.
At some point, Kurt had suggested he teleport down to the mutant level to see what the situation down there was, but I made it crystal clear that it wasn't worth it. Things were going well for now, but things could change.
The last monster we faced didn't even last a minute before we ripped it apart. I filled my blade with Angel energy causing it to glow a bright teal as I sped around the corridor, slapping the walls. When the death spikes came, I went intangible, and Jean raised a wall that protected the party. Next, the monster became solid again, but this time, it was a humanoid with two chunky arms. It roared as it charged at me but was sent spinning by a flying kick from Rin. I tossed Garok's old metal and stone club to him, and together, we got to pounding.
I dodged under a slow swipe while Rebellion opened his sides with two swift strikes. When it tried backhanding me, I leaned out of the way, leaving it wide open for an upswing from Rin, who was grinning like a madman. The beast rammed into the ceiling, and a wave from Jean slammed it hard into the ground. As one, we ripped it apart, me with a trillion stabs and Rin with ground-shaking strikes from Garok's club.
The kid was practically in love with the thing. Maybe it was better suited for him than a sword, or why not combine both and give him a disgustingly large Great sword? I grinned, looking at the kid, which seemed to panic him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Plans upon plans," I mused. 'You have no idea what I have in store for you."
It took us five more minutes to arrive at the containment site. Kurt got us past sealed blast doors and scans until we finally came upon the 10-foot doors that separated the mutant containment from the rest of the base.
In front of it waited fourteen bloodwarped Super soldiers. They stood a solid inch taller, with their muscles swollen and red energy veins running through their bodies.
At the lead was a familiar, infamous face. A black-haired supersoldier with a single metallic arm and a mask.
"That's the Winter Soldier," Rin gulped. "I've only seen him awake once, and he's scary, strong, and fast. He makes the rest of the soldiers look like chumps. They say he can lift a car with that metal hand of his. You don't want to get hit by that."
Now that he was enhanced, I bet his punches hurt a whole lot more.
I narrowed my eyes, considering my options as I stepped forward. I'd try to spare him if I could, but we were running out of time.
"I'll keep that in mind," I said. "Get ready, everybody."
I switched to Aquila and swung out in two wide, converging arcs. Three sets of light Shuriken raced out from both sides, converging at the soldiers, forcing them to move.
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