I just like the fact that she decides that she wants to drop out of a scummy school so quickly and just look for better options. She saw no reason to stay in an environment that turns hostile for some minor thing and have people against her for it.
Doubling Everything: The Lazy Student of the Battle Academy (Original)
Hahahhaha same here still waiting for the old FF updates.
Aizu: "Okay, so I can't double the amount of times per day I can double..."
Goddess looking in: "Exactly! Yes. Can't be too OP even for a blessing."
Aizu: "I'VE GOT IT!"
**DOUBLE AWAKENING COMMENCING**
Goddess: "Crap, I need to patch that before she can do it again.
**SECOND POWER REVEALED**
Aizu: "Mwahaha!"
Goddess looking in: "Exactly! Yes. Can't be too OP even for a blessing."
Aizu: "I'VE GOT IT!"
**DOUBLE AWAKENING COMMENCING**
Goddess: "Crap, I need to patch that before she can do it again.
**SECOND POWER REVEALED**
Aizu: "Mwahaha!"
Enticing Bribe
Chen: "But you can't quit our school now! You have so much potential... (You are my ticket to a better life!)"
Aizu: "They were bullying me and you just stood there and watched. Why would I want to stay here? I despise you all!"
Chen: "(Bribe it is, then...) You like those gacha games a lot, don't you?"
Aizu: "...Yeah? But if you're thinking to threaten me-"
Chen: "No no no, I assure you it's nothing like that. You've heard about Last Scenario, right?"
Aizu: *Snort.* "And who hasn't? There's now a mega-event, but it's restricted to higher sectors. I mean, you have to spend a million credits just for the chance of getting access! I'm more of a F2P person myself, so..."
Chen: "I can give you a Diamond Pass."
Aizu: "...Darn it."
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
Oh, The City from Project Moon is one of the inspiration I took while designing the setting of this story. I'm surprised someone who knew Project Moon would read this xD
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
Good job Aizu. Real winners quit.
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fpZcr9pPVC0
I wonder if it's really that easy though.
Chapter 8: Dimensional Breach
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
She woke up refreshed at noon. After she checked the clock and saw that she was already late at school, she wasn't worried. She planned on transferring out of the Awakened School after all.
She recalled about her plan yesterday, and then she used her powers to her intelligence.
"I'm not going back on St. Angela. It was a school for technology so I think doubling my intelligence is the right idea?" She felt nothing different, but she knew it worked. It was always like that whenever she doubled something.
With that done, she left her room to change into a comfortable outfit. Before she does that, she looked at her phone. She planned to check if she have anything to do with her games when she noticed a message from her brother. She opened the text message.
[Aizu, I won't be available for a moment. I got my first assignment as an intern. No need to worry. It wasn't dangerous.]
[You should look into Specialty Schools if that's what you want, and take care of yourself. I'll call you back after I'm done with my assignment.]
She frowned for a moment, before she shrugged. Even if she was worried, her brother was already there. She can only wait for him and remind him that she didn't like putting himself in danger.
"Stupid Onii-chan..." She muttered with a pout. Her feelings on the matter was complicated, but majorly was concerned in general.
She started her daily routine before she left her house.
Dimensional Breach. A term for a phenomenon when a spatial distortion occured within the artificial biosphere of Society Sphere. This spatial distortion would later be followed by a portal where monsters from beyond the protection of this artificial biosphere would emerge.
These monsters were called Outsiders. There was a variety of Outsiders from the common gigantified insects and animals, up to eldritch monstrosities beyond human comprehension. They were creatures that threatened the life of every citizens of Society Sphere.
There were systems and defenses that were built to prevent these monsters from entering their super cities. Two of the most well-known defenses were called Foreign Influence Filterer (FIF) and Dimensional Pathway Variator (DPV). FIF filtered out Outside Elements, and DPV repelled Outsiders.
That doesn't mean these defensive systems were absolute. There were a lot of sectors within the city, each sectors worked differently from each other. Each sectors have different version of FIF and DPV. Though at the same time they worked the same.
Still, due to the difference in version, the central system of this nation can't processed all of this. There were picoseconds of gaps in-between it's check-ins and data observations. These gaps were exploited either accidentally or deliberately by the Outsiders.
Dimensional Breaches occured due to these exploits. Monsters were repelled by DPV. DPV worked by creating false pathways to intruders. These false pathways were dimensional pathways which was outside the third dimension. Through exploits, these Outsiders would stop midway from these false pathways and slam a new pathway for them to go through. Hence it was called Dimensional Breach.
There were people who worked for checking for these potential breaches before it occured. They were specialized at the workings of FIF and DPV. They were part of the inner circles of the Society Sphere itself. Each of them took care of each Sectors of Society Sphere's defenses.
They were called the Observers.
As the central system can't handle all the work due to the vastness of this singular artificial biosphere, and not everything can be seen by all the artificial intelligence that Society Sphere have, humans trained for these were given the job of Observers to react on these threats.
Their main office were called the Sector Observatory, or Observatory in short. The Observatory on Sector 254 looked like a dome with transparent hexagon glass around it. Within were different facilities, with one being underground.
Underground was the only Observer on this city. Her name was Mirielle Lastismun. She was one of the A Rankers who became an Observer and was stationed on this sector to look out for spatial anomalies within the city. Her ability, Spatial Awareness, spanned the whole sector. It helped her with her job.
"I sensed an anomaly." That was why she immediately knew that an anomaly was trying to breach on this sector. "Scan the whole southeast perimeter of Sector 254."
Along with her are those who worked within the Observatory. These were Awakened People ranked E to D who have abilities that helped them on operating computers, machines, and anything that was needed for Observatory work.
"Ma'am, we found the spatial anomaly. It was on the Atom District, at a place near the Suletta Zoo." One of those operators said. On the large screen within this dark room the scene changed. It showed the overview map of Sector 254, and a red circle that indicated the estimated area where the spatial anomaly was detected.
"There were many children on that place. Use the DPV and manipulate their course out of the crowd. Call the local Awakened Offices to the designated location, and the Supporter's Association to prepare for the worst case." She quickly rattled off the instructions to her subordinates.
They quickly got to work, though in a moment one of them gasped. "Ma'am! This is bad! Another anomaly has been detected on Golden District! Dimensional Breach was imminent!"
Mirielle widened her eyes. "impossible!? They managed to hide from my senses!?" She quickly shook her head. "Thanks... it was still near Atom District. Change their course to a place without people. We can't afford to put citizens in danger." She shook her head, a bit grateful that they managed to quickly identify it.
This has been frequent lately. Outsiders managed to hide their presence even on Awakened People who were specialized on detecting spatial anomalies. It was a good thing that Sector 254 just got an upgrade on their tools. They managed to detect even hidden Outsiders within the false pathways.
"... This is bad. The hidden anomaly is breaking through our pathways. It is estimated that the Dimensional Breach will occur on the midst of a Specialty School!"
"Specialty School?" With Mirielle's question, one of her subordinate forwarded the holographic image on her eyes. "It was a non-combatant school!?" She gritted her teeth. "What's the estimated time of their arrival, and can someone identify what kind of Outsider are we dealing with?"
"On it." With a quick operation of their computer, multiple images both holographic on the air and digital on the screen were shown. Before it stopped. "Oh my god..." The people around gasped in despair.
"... How did it come to this sector!? Isn't that usually filtered out by Society Sphere's FIF!?" Mirielle screamed.
On the screen was one that usually appeared on the 200th Sector. An Outsider that was a danger even to combat oriented A Rankers. It was known as the Dragon Centipede. An insect type monster with a toughness that can withstand most supernatural powers that were ranked A or below, and was immune to conventional weaponry.
"... Call for an emergency! We need an A Rank Office ASAP!" Mirielle tried to compose herself even as her heart pounded heavily.
"We will try!"
"Along with that, issue an evacuation order on the city! Let's also tell the offices and associations to hold them back!" She felt a headache as she saw this unprecedented disaster.
There was no doubt that there would be casualties. It was unavoidable as an A Rating Threat was breaching through one of the weakest sectors. Mirielle just hoped that the A Rank Office from above arrived before the Dragon Centipede wrecked the whole sector.
[ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!]
[PLEASE GO TO THE DESIGNATED EVACUATION POINT ON THE CITY IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. AN A RATING DIMENSIONAL BREACH HAS OCCURED ON THE GOLDEN DISTRICT. ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T GET CLOSER TO THIS AREA WHILE THE AUTHORITIES, OFFICES, AND ASSOCIATIONS HAS TAKEN CARE OF THIS THREAT.]
[A C RATING DIMENSIONAL BREACH HAS OCCURED ON THE ATOM DISTRICT. ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T GET CLOSER TO THIS AREA WHILE THE AUTHORITIES, OFFICES, AND ASSOCIATIONS HAS TAKEN CARE OF THIS THREAT.]
"What!?"
Aizu was inside the Tinkerer's Hub when that warning took place. She was here waiting on this room. The school have a rule that any potential students should take an entrance exam and passed it first before they were accepted to this Specialty School.
The other Awakened People along with her who were trying to enter this school flinched, then they stood up in a start. It was obvious that most of them were scared but were holding it in. Their bodies were stiff, and others were frantically glancing around.
Directional holograms appeared on the walls of the school with the word "Evacuation Area" on top of it. After it appeared, they quickly moved orderly. Some were moving hastily, and others tried to get ahead, but generally they weren't pushing or causing chaos as they followed the holographic directions on the walls and the ground.
Aizu wasn't surprised at this. Since elementary, it was drilled into people what they should do in case of an emergency. It was evacuation in case they were on the area where a Dimensional Breach would occur.
As they left the large school building of The Tinkerer's Hub through the exit, she saw some people in varying uniforms marching towards the suspected area for Dimensional Breach. They held badges with symbols, which indicated they were from Awakened Offices.
'Awakened People aren't obligated to fight the monsters from Dimensional Breaches, but people generally thought they should be responsible for it. Of course I don't want to do that. I think I'm not that strong to fight against monsters from Dimensional Breach.' She turned her head away and continued following along with the others.
They have just walked past the street road when the sound of shattered glass resounded. The whole area shook, and the people around lost their balance. Aizu managed to stay on her feet as she looked around in shocked.
In a single blink of her eyes, the whole surroundings became dark. The first thing she saw was a large purplish wall near them. The second thing she noticed was that the purplish wall wasn't a wall at all, but a part of a carapace of an insect.
That was when she finally realized what she was looking at. "... Crap..." She gawked as she raised her head to the limit. She saw the tape-like body of a large creature with a 10 meter square body width on it's carapace alone. A length that was five hundred meters or so, and those 5 meter exoskeletal limbs of the centipede. It have countless pairs of limbs that moved in a wave-like tandem as it swam the air as if it was water.
After that realization, the panic ensues.
She recalled about her plan yesterday, and then she used her powers to her intelligence.
"I'm not going back on St. Angela. It was a school for technology so I think doubling my intelligence is the right idea?" She felt nothing different, but she knew it worked. It was always like that whenever she doubled something.
With that done, she left her room to change into a comfortable outfit. Before she does that, she looked at her phone. She planned to check if she have anything to do with her games when she noticed a message from her brother. She opened the text message.
[Aizu, I won't be available for a moment. I got my first assignment as an intern. No need to worry. It wasn't dangerous.]
[You should look into Specialty Schools if that's what you want, and take care of yourself. I'll call you back after I'm done with my assignment.]
She frowned for a moment, before she shrugged. Even if she was worried, her brother was already there. She can only wait for him and remind him that she didn't like putting himself in danger.
"Stupid Onii-chan..." She muttered with a pout. Her feelings on the matter was complicated, but majorly was concerned in general.
She started her daily routine before she left her house.
Dimensional Breach. A term for a phenomenon when a spatial distortion occured within the artificial biosphere of Society Sphere. This spatial distortion would later be followed by a portal where monsters from beyond the protection of this artificial biosphere would emerge.
These monsters were called Outsiders. There was a variety of Outsiders from the common gigantified insects and animals, up to eldritch monstrosities beyond human comprehension. They were creatures that threatened the life of every citizens of Society Sphere.
There were systems and defenses that were built to prevent these monsters from entering their super cities. Two of the most well-known defenses were called Foreign Influence Filterer (FIF) and Dimensional Pathway Variator (DPV). FIF filtered out Outside Elements, and DPV repelled Outsiders.
That doesn't mean these defensive systems were absolute. There were a lot of sectors within the city, each sectors worked differently from each other. Each sectors have different version of FIF and DPV. Though at the same time they worked the same.
Still, due to the difference in version, the central system of this nation can't processed all of this. There were picoseconds of gaps in-between it's check-ins and data observations. These gaps were exploited either accidentally or deliberately by the Outsiders.
Dimensional Breaches occured due to these exploits. Monsters were repelled by DPV. DPV worked by creating false pathways to intruders. These false pathways were dimensional pathways which was outside the third dimension. Through exploits, these Outsiders would stop midway from these false pathways and slam a new pathway for them to go through. Hence it was called Dimensional Breach.
There were people who worked for checking for these potential breaches before it occured. They were specialized at the workings of FIF and DPV. They were part of the inner circles of the Society Sphere itself. Each of them took care of each Sectors of Society Sphere's defenses.
They were called the Observers.
As the central system can't handle all the work due to the vastness of this singular artificial biosphere, and not everything can be seen by all the artificial intelligence that Society Sphere have, humans trained for these were given the job of Observers to react on these threats.
Their main office were called the Sector Observatory, or Observatory in short. The Observatory on Sector 254 looked like a dome with transparent hexagon glass around it. Within were different facilities, with one being underground.
Underground was the only Observer on this city. Her name was Mirielle Lastismun. She was one of the A Rankers who became an Observer and was stationed on this sector to look out for spatial anomalies within the city. Her ability, Spatial Awareness, spanned the whole sector. It helped her with her job.
"I sensed an anomaly." That was why she immediately knew that an anomaly was trying to breach on this sector. "Scan the whole southeast perimeter of Sector 254."
Along with her are those who worked within the Observatory. These were Awakened People ranked E to D who have abilities that helped them on operating computers, machines, and anything that was needed for Observatory work.
"Ma'am, we found the spatial anomaly. It was on the Atom District, at a place near the Suletta Zoo." One of those operators said. On the large screen within this dark room the scene changed. It showed the overview map of Sector 254, and a red circle that indicated the estimated area where the spatial anomaly was detected.
"There were many children on that place. Use the DPV and manipulate their course out of the crowd. Call the local Awakened Offices to the designated location, and the Supporter's Association to prepare for the worst case." She quickly rattled off the instructions to her subordinates.
They quickly got to work, though in a moment one of them gasped. "Ma'am! This is bad! Another anomaly has been detected on Golden District! Dimensional Breach was imminent!"
Mirielle widened her eyes. "impossible!? They managed to hide from my senses!?" She quickly shook her head. "Thanks... it was still near Atom District. Change their course to a place without people. We can't afford to put citizens in danger." She shook her head, a bit grateful that they managed to quickly identify it.
This has been frequent lately. Outsiders managed to hide their presence even on Awakened People who were specialized on detecting spatial anomalies. It was a good thing that Sector 254 just got an upgrade on their tools. They managed to detect even hidden Outsiders within the false pathways.
"... This is bad. The hidden anomaly is breaking through our pathways. It is estimated that the Dimensional Breach will occur on the midst of a Specialty School!"
"Specialty School?" With Mirielle's question, one of her subordinate forwarded the holographic image on her eyes. "It was a non-combatant school!?" She gritted her teeth. "What's the estimated time of their arrival, and can someone identify what kind of Outsider are we dealing with?"
"On it." With a quick operation of their computer, multiple images both holographic on the air and digital on the screen were shown. Before it stopped. "Oh my god..." The people around gasped in despair.
"... How did it come to this sector!? Isn't that usually filtered out by Society Sphere's FIF!?" Mirielle screamed.
On the screen was one that usually appeared on the 200th Sector. An Outsider that was a danger even to combat oriented A Rankers. It was known as the Dragon Centipede. An insect type monster with a toughness that can withstand most supernatural powers that were ranked A or below, and was immune to conventional weaponry.
"... Call for an emergency! We need an A Rank Office ASAP!" Mirielle tried to compose herself even as her heart pounded heavily.
"We will try!"
"Along with that, issue an evacuation order on the city! Let's also tell the offices and associations to hold them back!" She felt a headache as she saw this unprecedented disaster.
There was no doubt that there would be casualties. It was unavoidable as an A Rating Threat was breaching through one of the weakest sectors. Mirielle just hoped that the A Rank Office from above arrived before the Dragon Centipede wrecked the whole sector.
[ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!]
[PLEASE GO TO THE DESIGNATED EVACUATION POINT ON THE CITY IN AN ORDERLY MANNER. AN A RATING DIMENSIONAL BREACH HAS OCCURED ON THE GOLDEN DISTRICT. ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T GET CLOSER TO THIS AREA WHILE THE AUTHORITIES, OFFICES, AND ASSOCIATIONS HAS TAKEN CARE OF THIS THREAT.]
[A C RATING DIMENSIONAL BREACH HAS OCCURED ON THE ATOM DISTRICT. ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T GET CLOSER TO THIS AREA WHILE THE AUTHORITIES, OFFICES, AND ASSOCIATIONS HAS TAKEN CARE OF THIS THREAT.]
"What!?"
Aizu was inside the Tinkerer's Hub when that warning took place. She was here waiting on this room. The school have a rule that any potential students should take an entrance exam and passed it first before they were accepted to this Specialty School.
The other Awakened People along with her who were trying to enter this school flinched, then they stood up in a start. It was obvious that most of them were scared but were holding it in. Their bodies were stiff, and others were frantically glancing around.
Directional holograms appeared on the walls of the school with the word "Evacuation Area" on top of it. After it appeared, they quickly moved orderly. Some were moving hastily, and others tried to get ahead, but generally they weren't pushing or causing chaos as they followed the holographic directions on the walls and the ground.
Aizu wasn't surprised at this. Since elementary, it was drilled into people what they should do in case of an emergency. It was evacuation in case they were on the area where a Dimensional Breach would occur.
As they left the large school building of The Tinkerer's Hub through the exit, she saw some people in varying uniforms marching towards the suspected area for Dimensional Breach. They held badges with symbols, which indicated they were from Awakened Offices.
'Awakened People aren't obligated to fight the monsters from Dimensional Breaches, but people generally thought they should be responsible for it. Of course I don't want to do that. I think I'm not that strong to fight against monsters from Dimensional Breach.' She turned her head away and continued following along with the others.
They have just walked past the street road when the sound of shattered glass resounded. The whole area shook, and the people around lost their balance. Aizu managed to stay on her feet as she looked around in shocked.
In a single blink of her eyes, the whole surroundings became dark. The first thing she saw was a large purplish wall near them. The second thing she noticed was that the purplish wall wasn't a wall at all, but a part of a carapace of an insect.
That was when she finally realized what she was looking at. "... Crap..." She gawked as she raised her head to the limit. She saw the tape-like body of a large creature with a 10 meter square body width on it's carapace alone. A length that was five hundred meters or so, and those 5 meter exoskeletal limbs of the centipede. It have countless pairs of limbs that moved in a wave-like tandem as it swam the air as if it was water.
After that realization, the panic ensues.
Sorry for the delay, I don't feel well yesterday. This is the only chapter I can upload for now...
I think this is a good time to introduce Dimensional Breaches, which is one of the important factors of this story. I don't know if it was abrupt, but I think this is a good time to put this while at the same time progressing the plot... I think?
I hope you have fun with this chapter too!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
I think this is a good time to introduce Dimensional Breaches, which is one of the important factors of this story. I don't know if it was abrupt, but I think this is a good time to put this while at the same time progressing the plot... I think?
I hope you have fun with this chapter too!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
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An A-rated Dimensional Breach, in the same Specialty School where Aizu had considered changing to, right when she was there...
Coincidence? I don't think so. Something is afoot here!
Who or what could be trying to prevent her from quiting St. Angela School for Crazy Fighting People?
Coincidence? I don't think so. Something is afoot here!
Who or what could be trying to prevent her from quiting St. Angela School for Crazy Fighting People?
Chapter 9: Moving Unconsciously
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
The only A Rank on the best Awakened School of Sector 254, Selena Zephes, walked with certainty after she heard the sector-wide notice about evacuation. Her eyes were narrowed as she left the school without bothering the others.
"Wait!" She didn't stop even as the principal called out to her. "Please don't go, it is dangerous!" The principal reached out to her with her hand.
Then the tips of her fingers turned gold as they got in contact with her shoulder. Selena glanced at her with a frown. The principal nursed her fingers that were turned into gold. She was surprised.
"Don't stop me. My mother lived in the Golden District. I can't ignore that!"
"We know that, but you have to calm down. If something bad happens to you, it will be a great loss to Society Sphere!" The principal was desperate.
Selena Zephes had just awakened. Normally a newly awakened person would experiment with their powers. This would usually take several months or even years before they could master one aspect of their powers.
Low rankers like F or E only have a single aspect or two on their powers. The hidden aspect of their powers increased depending on the ranking of their power. A Rank usually have many aspects hidden within their powers.
Jenny Rooker wanted to nurture Selena to be their ticket to the higher sectors. They have given most of the resources to her. A private room with a private instructor. VIP treatment from every staff. Everything. This was to ensure she would not leave the school or even thought about it.
All of that would be a waste if she became reckless and got herself killed. Dying wasn't truly the end of a person who lived on Society Sphere, though they can't shoulder the cost of reviving someone. It wasn't affordable to anyone below Sector 200.
"Are you telling me to leave my Mom alone!?" Though that was the wrong to say to Selena.
Selena was loyal to her family. Since the death of her father, her mother was the only one who took care of her. She was taught how to live within the city. Her mother was the one who taught her that if she acted weak, she would be devoured by the city. She was grateful for her mother. If not for her, she wouldn't be here living her dream.
The principal was speechless. She doesn't care about Selena's mother. They were just a normal person. Even if the principal was just a C Ranking Awakened Person, she still have the arrogance of an Awakened Person. Society Sphere saw people without powers as trash. So she can't sympathized with her.
Selena snorted in disappointment as she turned around, before she looked at the direction where the Golden District was located. Then she raised her arms. Jenny gawked at what happened next.
'Unbelievable... she managed to discover another aspect of her power this fast!?' Excitement bloomed within her heart. In front of her were litters of gold.
Those litters of gold then transformed with the flexed of her power. It turned into a gigantic slab of gold. The slab was at least 100 meters in circumference and five meters thick. It floated on the air, the grasped of gravity absent to it.
Then Selena surprised her once more as she jumped to that floating slab above the school. It was at least 50ft above them, and she simply jumped and landed on top of it without any effort. This was the first time Selena displayed superhuman capabilities.
'Not one but two more aspects!?' Jenny gasped. She wasn't an expert on the list of powers, but her limited knowledge gave her some insights as to what those are.
Selena hasn't just displayed the capability of gold creation, but also she could control gold telekinetically. There was also that enhanced physical capability and the one that turned flesh into gold. Those were all new, and not something Selena had shown on their lessons and when she fought the students of her school.
'A genius!' Jenny felt more excited now, though at the same time she was anxious. "W-wait...!" She have more reasons to stop her now. Her great display of her insights with her powers were astounding. She can't afford for the girl to go to her death just like that.
But with a speed that surprised her, the large slab of gold on the air sped past on the skies. It have the same speed as a pistol bullet that has been shot. There was no way someone like her can keep up at that. She didn't have any mobility based abilities.
Her excitement turned into grief and horror. Though even as she lamented not stopping her, there was nothing she could do. She only stared on the skies, hoping that the girl was safe.
'I have to run!' As those thoughts ran through her mind, her body was already moving away from the large dark centipede.
A few minutes in and already, the whole surroundings were wrecked by the gigantic tape-like centipede that swam the air. Sky high buildings made of solid concrete and industrial grade steel crumbled as if they were lego blocks that were kicked. Whenever it dug through the roads, the whole ground shook. Many times she have stumbled and quickly took her footing back.
Despite the solid infrastructures made within Sector 254, the centipede ignored those. It moved unimpeded by any obstacles. It's screams were earsplitting, those who were near caused their ears to bleed. Many were taken out of commission. Aizu felt sick everytime she heard the noise. It felt like her internal organs were shook with the vibrations of it's screeched.
She heard the screams of those who wore symbols of the Awakened Offices. Despite the strong rational within her mind not to look back, she still glanced behind and felt her heart dropped when she many who lay flat on the ground, unmoving. Her feet stopped momentarily, before she forced herself to ran. She resumed her escape away from this place.
"I can't do anything with this... I should stop thinking something useless as helping them!" She knew of her own powerlessness.
She knew she could become strong with her powers, though that was in the future. Now she was weak. She don't have enough strength to deal with something like an Outsider. It was an A Rank Outsider. It's appearance was supposed to be impossible on this sector, but it was here now.
She held no delusion that she could be of help. There was no need to interfere and make things complicated. She would be wasting energy from something that she doesn't need to do.
'Where's the strong agents from the Offices on higher sectors!?' She thought in anger.
Her breathing was ragged. She was already at her limit after she used her full speed. Her perception was slower than her speed, but her reaction more than makes up to it that she can react barely whenever she encountered an obstacle. Though due to panicked and exhaustion, she haven't noticed where she was going. Her mind was only focused on getting away from the large centipede.
It was why as she turned a bend, she met face to face with humanoid insectoids. Their bodies were like armored carapaces and their face held sharp antlion mandibles. Their head were shaped like flattened spear tips. They carried spears with spiral tips on their two pair of arms, and they stood on a single pair of skeletal-like legs.
She glanced at the side for a moment, and saw the holographic signboard that showed the name of this district. She gawked when she realized that she was on Atom District, another place stated to have Dimensional Breach awhile ago along with Golden District.
She froze momentarily, before she quickly got her composure back. Hurriedly she turned her feet around and then ran as fast as possible. She heard the insectoids directed incoherent screeches at her way, but she doesn't care. She only wanted to distanced herself from danger.
"Aaah!?!?" Though she was exhausted. Her body wobbled with her sprint, and in a moment of carelessness, she slipped on the dusts and small remains of the broken building besides her.
She wasn't harmed when she slipped on the hard and dusty concrete, though she was exhausted. Even as she tried to moved through sheer will alone, her body was sluggish. Her running speed turned into a crawl. It was still as fast as an average teenage girl's sprint, though it was slow that the bipedal insects to cover the distance between them.
She felt their presence behind her. They got closer and closer. 'If that was the case I would...!' She thought it would be inevitable that she was preparing for a fight when she heard a thud, and their screeched turned into screams.
"No one can harm a civilian in front of me!" It was a woman with a fiery red hair who declared that. Her crimson hair tied in a ponytail swayed wildly as she twirled her spear. Flames formed around her as if they were dancing, each orb of flames the same size of a basketball.
The flames continuously hit the body of the insectoid monsters, their bodies burned as it got in contact. Above the fiery red hair were flames that were forming into a column of spears. They lined up and then they shot on the distant enemies that were approaching. The flame spears hits true, they pierced through the tough looking shells of their insectile body. The smell of burnt plastic and carton boxes pierced Aizu's nose, which made her grimaced.
It took a moment before the group of insectoids were taken care of. The woman stopped twirling her spear, and slammed the handle tip of the spear to the ground with a resounding bam.
"Now!" After she said that, people that were waiting above the rooftops jumped and then landed on the remaining insectoids who tried to helped the monsters that the fiery haired woman wiped out.
All of them were wearing red blazer uniforms, and they have a badge of fire with a face of an eastern dragon. Their badges were made of an esoteric metal that had an orange-y sheen on it.
'I know them...' It took Aizu a moment before she recognized these people. They were the strongest local agents of this sector. 'Aren't they from the C Rank Office, Knights of Vermillion?'
Knights of Vermillion. A C Rank Awakened Office mainly based on Sector 254. Their leader was a well-beloved B Rank Awakened Person. This Awakened Office was considered the only decent Office for the common folk due to their attitude. They were polite, and were brave when it came to injustice. They weren't scared of being ridiculed, and even chose to stay on this Sector for the safety of the non-powered citizens. They were also the only willing Office to descend on Sector 255 to help the people below on their problems.
'If that was the case, then that woman is... the Vermillion Knight!'
Secundra Augustus. Also known as the Vermillion Knight. The B Ranker whose ability was known as the Flames of Vermillion. Well-known for being the only person to build an office in the second lowest sector despite of many opportunities she had on higher sectors. She wielded her signature magic spear that burned foes. Her powers was strong. She was a match against other C Rank Offices from higher sectors by her lonesome.
She was popular on both Sector 255 and 254. On the forums UnitedSequence, forum goers gave her a lot of praises as she personally helped on dealing with criminals, gangs, and even Dimensional Breaches on both sectors. She led her office and took care of the safety of the citizens without asking for anything.
It was obvious that Aizu would know about her. Even if she was a gamer who have no interest with the affairs of the world, Secundra Augustus name and epithet were thrown around on this sector so much it would be impossible for her not to know about her.
The young woman then turned to her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?" She asked as she walked closer to her. She kneeled and then looked her over with a concerned expression.
"I'm fine..." She responded while she took a step back. She was a bit overwhelmed at the strong presence of the fiery haired woman.
"Thank goodness." Secundra stood up with relief, before she looked beyond where the centipede swam on the air. Her face turned into a grimace as she glanced at the bodies laid on the ground at the distance. "We were late... but no more. We will stop that Outsider from messing with this sector!" She turned to the others. "Nate! Escort this young lady to the evacuation site!"
The man that was called out immediately saluted. Then Secundra looked at Aizu once more.
"Please follow that good guy there. You will get to safety before you know it. Just leave it to us!" She said.
After that, the guy named Nate stood closer to her. The others took position before they left. At the same time, Nate led her away. They moved through the alleyways which made them closer to Golden District.
"Wait... why are we getting closer to that monster? Shouldn't we be getting away from it?" Aizu asked in wonder.
"Atom District was currently overrun by the Iron Ant Legions. We can only use a shortcut. Don't worry, this place has been secured."
She felt a bit reluctant, but still nodded and accepted his reasoning. It wasn't like she have any choice on the matter.
As they walked on the narrow pathway, the alleyways slowly widened until she realized that the place wasn't really wide, but rather it was caused by the centipede. The crumbled remains of the buildings and the large holes around were proof of it.
Aizu saw other people who wore different uniforms with badges being followed by a series of civilians both young and old. Her eyes settled for a moment at a middle aged woman with blonde hair who looked somewhat familiar to her, though she immediately ignored that. She have no time to think about that.
"Ugh... I'm tired..."
"Just a bit more..." Nate was patient. They were walking for awhile now and Aizu felt like her legs were weighted. Her throat felt parched.
'Next time, I will double my Stamina!' She swore to herself.
They managed to team up with the other people who were escorting the other people that were caught up by the Dimensional Breach. They talked to each other for a moment, and decided to continue as a group.
"Just a bit more. The Transport Guild were waiting on the Golden Square." Aizu vaguely recalled that it was a landmark on Golden District.
As they walked past another large hole dug by and sunk by the Dragon Centipede, one of them gasped and then exclaimed.
"What's that, I heard something!?" The others were surprised at that girl's shout.
'Is she an awakened too?' She wondered as she looked at the small girl who looked frightened.
Nate, and the people on the other offices looked at each other before they brandished their different weapons, with most of them being specially forged swords.
"Run away!" Nate exclaimed.
They took a formation behind the gathering of citizens after they said that, and urged them to ran. The others were confused, before a few shrieked as they noticed it. The bipedal insectoids climbing up from those sunken pits.
"Monsters!"
Quickly the people realized why the agents barked at them to run. While others were calm and orderly, most of them panicked.
Majority of people at Sector 254 haven't encountered an Outsider personally. At most, they heard of them terrorizing other parts of this city that were distant to their own location. Any sectors usually gave advanced warning to the citizens, while those in charge of Dimensional Breaches usually altered the course of Dimensional Breaches to uncrowded places.
That was why they were scared. It was one thing to hear of these Outsiders on TV or internet, it was another to be so close to them. These monsters were ready to kill, and the destruction that the Dragon Centipede left on it's wake further cemented the fear of death to the people right now.
Those who were calm tried to ran, but those who panicked pushed them away. They tried to get ahead of others.
'I have to run!' Aizu wasn't that scared, but the people around her that were screaming caused her to panicked.
She wasn't chaotic as the others. She only tried to sprint with her fastest even when her legs felt heavy. She was still tired. Her throat dry, and her breathing ragged. She wasn't in any condition to ran at her full speed.
"Ah!?"
She heard the gasped of the woman and turned around. Along with the familiar blonde haired woman, there were also the elderly and the young kids that were pushed away by the adults. She looked up and saw that some of the Iron Ant Legions slipped through the group of agents that were holding them back.
There were only ten odd agents that were protecting them, and while they displayed powers that helped them deal with those who got closer to them, it wasn't enough. They repelled those who got closer, but they were slowly being overwhelmed. It was obvious that some would slipped up.
These ant-like insectoids glared at the people who crawled on the ground with pure intrigue. Their gaze held the desire of their flesh. Those nearest to them, like that familiar blonde haired woman, felt that sinister gaze directed at them.
'No, don't stop. Just run!' She tried to turned around, but she heard the screams of the elderly and the cries of the children. 'There's nothing I can do about this!' She gritted her teeth.
She saw one of the agents got overwhelmed by a lot, and then screamed. The sound of his agony caused her blood to run cold. Her heart pounded as she clenched her fist.
'Why...?' She doesn't know why, but her body moved on it's own. 'Why!?' Instead of the opposite direction, her feet led her close to the melee. 'Am I such an idiot!?'
Adrenaline rushed through her as she glanced around. She saw the girl who exclaimed about the noise awhile ago nursing her bruised leg. She saw the elderly hugged a young boy. She saw a woman shielded a small girl. She saw the familiar blonde woman covered her face with her arms, and the nearest humanoid insect with their spear raised.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa--!!!"
Her loud scream caused the insectoid to momentarily stopped. That was enough for her to close the distance between them. She dashed past the blonde haired woman, and then instinctively raised her hand. She caught the upper handle of the spear with her raised palm, and while she felt the painful feedback on her wrists, she wasn't perturbed and gripped it.
At the same time, she used her shoulders as she slammed flat onto it's hardened shelled stomach. A dull thud resounded on their ears, though even when the monster haven't felt a thing, the momentum caused it to take a step back.
As if it was fated, it's foot slipped and it lost it's balance. With the force of her body that was turning before she thought about it, her other hand gripped into the middle handle of the spear, while the two of them fell on the ground.
It's hand that gripped the spear lost it's strength momentarily, and the girl through reaction speed alone rolled away with spear in hand. Then she took a kneeling posture while she looked for a comfortable gripping stance on the monster's spear.
"RUN!" It was the only word she could spout, before she thrusted the spear straight on the head of the insectoid's head who tried to stand up.
It's drilled tip easily pierced the face of the monster. It screamed with it's sharp antlion mandibles clacking, before it slumped on the ground.
All of this took a merely five seconds. Those five seconds were enough for the stunned citizens to moved. They stood up and ran away.
At the same time, those who managed to slipped away from the agents tried to pursue but they were stopped as the young brown haired girl stood on their way, with the spear of their kin pointed at them.
"I won't let you!" Even as she said that with a glare, her body was shaking. Her fists were pale due to how desperately she was gripping onto the spear. Her eyes held fear, confusion, and determination.
Aizu doesn't know why, but her heart that felt heavy since she ignored those who fought for their safety felt lighter after she saved those people.
"Wait!" She didn't stop even as the principal called out to her. "Please don't go, it is dangerous!" The principal reached out to her with her hand.
Then the tips of her fingers turned gold as they got in contact with her shoulder. Selena glanced at her with a frown. The principal nursed her fingers that were turned into gold. She was surprised.
"Don't stop me. My mother lived in the Golden District. I can't ignore that!"
"We know that, but you have to calm down. If something bad happens to you, it will be a great loss to Society Sphere!" The principal was desperate.
Selena Zephes had just awakened. Normally a newly awakened person would experiment with their powers. This would usually take several months or even years before they could master one aspect of their powers.
Low rankers like F or E only have a single aspect or two on their powers. The hidden aspect of their powers increased depending on the ranking of their power. A Rank usually have many aspects hidden within their powers.
Jenny Rooker wanted to nurture Selena to be their ticket to the higher sectors. They have given most of the resources to her. A private room with a private instructor. VIP treatment from every staff. Everything. This was to ensure she would not leave the school or even thought about it.
All of that would be a waste if she became reckless and got herself killed. Dying wasn't truly the end of a person who lived on Society Sphere, though they can't shoulder the cost of reviving someone. It wasn't affordable to anyone below Sector 200.
"Are you telling me to leave my Mom alone!?" Though that was the wrong to say to Selena.
Selena was loyal to her family. Since the death of her father, her mother was the only one who took care of her. She was taught how to live within the city. Her mother was the one who taught her that if she acted weak, she would be devoured by the city. She was grateful for her mother. If not for her, she wouldn't be here living her dream.
The principal was speechless. She doesn't care about Selena's mother. They were just a normal person. Even if the principal was just a C Ranking Awakened Person, she still have the arrogance of an Awakened Person. Society Sphere saw people without powers as trash. So she can't sympathized with her.
Selena snorted in disappointment as she turned around, before she looked at the direction where the Golden District was located. Then she raised her arms. Jenny gawked at what happened next.
'Unbelievable... she managed to discover another aspect of her power this fast!?' Excitement bloomed within her heart. In front of her were litters of gold.
Those litters of gold then transformed with the flexed of her power. It turned into a gigantic slab of gold. The slab was at least 100 meters in circumference and five meters thick. It floated on the air, the grasped of gravity absent to it.
Then Selena surprised her once more as she jumped to that floating slab above the school. It was at least 50ft above them, and she simply jumped and landed on top of it without any effort. This was the first time Selena displayed superhuman capabilities.
'Not one but two more aspects!?' Jenny gasped. She wasn't an expert on the list of powers, but her limited knowledge gave her some insights as to what those are.
Selena hasn't just displayed the capability of gold creation, but also she could control gold telekinetically. There was also that enhanced physical capability and the one that turned flesh into gold. Those were all new, and not something Selena had shown on their lessons and when she fought the students of her school.
'A genius!' Jenny felt more excited now, though at the same time she was anxious. "W-wait...!" She have more reasons to stop her now. Her great display of her insights with her powers were astounding. She can't afford for the girl to go to her death just like that.
But with a speed that surprised her, the large slab of gold on the air sped past on the skies. It have the same speed as a pistol bullet that has been shot. There was no way someone like her can keep up at that. She didn't have any mobility based abilities.
Her excitement turned into grief and horror. Though even as she lamented not stopping her, there was nothing she could do. She only stared on the skies, hoping that the girl was safe.
'I have to run!' As those thoughts ran through her mind, her body was already moving away from the large dark centipede.
A few minutes in and already, the whole surroundings were wrecked by the gigantic tape-like centipede that swam the air. Sky high buildings made of solid concrete and industrial grade steel crumbled as if they were lego blocks that were kicked. Whenever it dug through the roads, the whole ground shook. Many times she have stumbled and quickly took her footing back.
Despite the solid infrastructures made within Sector 254, the centipede ignored those. It moved unimpeded by any obstacles. It's screams were earsplitting, those who were near caused their ears to bleed. Many were taken out of commission. Aizu felt sick everytime she heard the noise. It felt like her internal organs were shook with the vibrations of it's screeched.
She heard the screams of those who wore symbols of the Awakened Offices. Despite the strong rational within her mind not to look back, she still glanced behind and felt her heart dropped when she many who lay flat on the ground, unmoving. Her feet stopped momentarily, before she forced herself to ran. She resumed her escape away from this place.
"I can't do anything with this... I should stop thinking something useless as helping them!" She knew of her own powerlessness.
She knew she could become strong with her powers, though that was in the future. Now she was weak. She don't have enough strength to deal with something like an Outsider. It was an A Rank Outsider. It's appearance was supposed to be impossible on this sector, but it was here now.
She held no delusion that she could be of help. There was no need to interfere and make things complicated. She would be wasting energy from something that she doesn't need to do.
'Where's the strong agents from the Offices on higher sectors!?' She thought in anger.
Her breathing was ragged. She was already at her limit after she used her full speed. Her perception was slower than her speed, but her reaction more than makes up to it that she can react barely whenever she encountered an obstacle. Though due to panicked and exhaustion, she haven't noticed where she was going. Her mind was only focused on getting away from the large centipede.
It was why as she turned a bend, she met face to face with humanoid insectoids. Their bodies were like armored carapaces and their face held sharp antlion mandibles. Their head were shaped like flattened spear tips. They carried spears with spiral tips on their two pair of arms, and they stood on a single pair of skeletal-like legs.
She glanced at the side for a moment, and saw the holographic signboard that showed the name of this district. She gawked when she realized that she was on Atom District, another place stated to have Dimensional Breach awhile ago along with Golden District.
She froze momentarily, before she quickly got her composure back. Hurriedly she turned her feet around and then ran as fast as possible. She heard the insectoids directed incoherent screeches at her way, but she doesn't care. She only wanted to distanced herself from danger.
"Aaah!?!?" Though she was exhausted. Her body wobbled with her sprint, and in a moment of carelessness, she slipped on the dusts and small remains of the broken building besides her.
She wasn't harmed when she slipped on the hard and dusty concrete, though she was exhausted. Even as she tried to moved through sheer will alone, her body was sluggish. Her running speed turned into a crawl. It was still as fast as an average teenage girl's sprint, though it was slow that the bipedal insects to cover the distance between them.
She felt their presence behind her. They got closer and closer. 'If that was the case I would...!' She thought it would be inevitable that she was preparing for a fight when she heard a thud, and their screeched turned into screams.
"No one can harm a civilian in front of me!" It was a woman with a fiery red hair who declared that. Her crimson hair tied in a ponytail swayed wildly as she twirled her spear. Flames formed around her as if they were dancing, each orb of flames the same size of a basketball.
The flames continuously hit the body of the insectoid monsters, their bodies burned as it got in contact. Above the fiery red hair were flames that were forming into a column of spears. They lined up and then they shot on the distant enemies that were approaching. The flame spears hits true, they pierced through the tough looking shells of their insectile body. The smell of burnt plastic and carton boxes pierced Aizu's nose, which made her grimaced.
It took a moment before the group of insectoids were taken care of. The woman stopped twirling her spear, and slammed the handle tip of the spear to the ground with a resounding bam.
"Now!" After she said that, people that were waiting above the rooftops jumped and then landed on the remaining insectoids who tried to helped the monsters that the fiery haired woman wiped out.
All of them were wearing red blazer uniforms, and they have a badge of fire with a face of an eastern dragon. Their badges were made of an esoteric metal that had an orange-y sheen on it.
'I know them...' It took Aizu a moment before she recognized these people. They were the strongest local agents of this sector. 'Aren't they from the C Rank Office, Knights of Vermillion?'
Knights of Vermillion. A C Rank Awakened Office mainly based on Sector 254. Their leader was a well-beloved B Rank Awakened Person. This Awakened Office was considered the only decent Office for the common folk due to their attitude. They were polite, and were brave when it came to injustice. They weren't scared of being ridiculed, and even chose to stay on this Sector for the safety of the non-powered citizens. They were also the only willing Office to descend on Sector 255 to help the people below on their problems.
'If that was the case, then that woman is... the Vermillion Knight!'
Secundra Augustus. Also known as the Vermillion Knight. The B Ranker whose ability was known as the Flames of Vermillion. Well-known for being the only person to build an office in the second lowest sector despite of many opportunities she had on higher sectors. She wielded her signature magic spear that burned foes. Her powers was strong. She was a match against other C Rank Offices from higher sectors by her lonesome.
She was popular on both Sector 255 and 254. On the forums UnitedSequence, forum goers gave her a lot of praises as she personally helped on dealing with criminals, gangs, and even Dimensional Breaches on both sectors. She led her office and took care of the safety of the citizens without asking for anything.
It was obvious that Aizu would know about her. Even if she was a gamer who have no interest with the affairs of the world, Secundra Augustus name and epithet were thrown around on this sector so much it would be impossible for her not to know about her.
The young woman then turned to her. "Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?" She asked as she walked closer to her. She kneeled and then looked her over with a concerned expression.
"I'm fine..." She responded while she took a step back. She was a bit overwhelmed at the strong presence of the fiery haired woman.
"Thank goodness." Secundra stood up with relief, before she looked beyond where the centipede swam on the air. Her face turned into a grimace as she glanced at the bodies laid on the ground at the distance. "We were late... but no more. We will stop that Outsider from messing with this sector!" She turned to the others. "Nate! Escort this young lady to the evacuation site!"
The man that was called out immediately saluted. Then Secundra looked at Aizu once more.
"Please follow that good guy there. You will get to safety before you know it. Just leave it to us!" She said.
After that, the guy named Nate stood closer to her. The others took position before they left. At the same time, Nate led her away. They moved through the alleyways which made them closer to Golden District.
"Wait... why are we getting closer to that monster? Shouldn't we be getting away from it?" Aizu asked in wonder.
"Atom District was currently overrun by the Iron Ant Legions. We can only use a shortcut. Don't worry, this place has been secured."
She felt a bit reluctant, but still nodded and accepted his reasoning. It wasn't like she have any choice on the matter.
As they walked on the narrow pathway, the alleyways slowly widened until she realized that the place wasn't really wide, but rather it was caused by the centipede. The crumbled remains of the buildings and the large holes around were proof of it.
Aizu saw other people who wore different uniforms with badges being followed by a series of civilians both young and old. Her eyes settled for a moment at a middle aged woman with blonde hair who looked somewhat familiar to her, though she immediately ignored that. She have no time to think about that.
"Ugh... I'm tired..."
"Just a bit more..." Nate was patient. They were walking for awhile now and Aizu felt like her legs were weighted. Her throat felt parched.
'Next time, I will double my Stamina!' She swore to herself.
They managed to team up with the other people who were escorting the other people that were caught up by the Dimensional Breach. They talked to each other for a moment, and decided to continue as a group.
"Just a bit more. The Transport Guild were waiting on the Golden Square." Aizu vaguely recalled that it was a landmark on Golden District.
As they walked past another large hole dug by and sunk by the Dragon Centipede, one of them gasped and then exclaimed.
"What's that, I heard something!?" The others were surprised at that girl's shout.
'Is she an awakened too?' She wondered as she looked at the small girl who looked frightened.
Nate, and the people on the other offices looked at each other before they brandished their different weapons, with most of them being specially forged swords.
"Run away!" Nate exclaimed.
They took a formation behind the gathering of citizens after they said that, and urged them to ran. The others were confused, before a few shrieked as they noticed it. The bipedal insectoids climbing up from those sunken pits.
"Monsters!"
Quickly the people realized why the agents barked at them to run. While others were calm and orderly, most of them panicked.
Majority of people at Sector 254 haven't encountered an Outsider personally. At most, they heard of them terrorizing other parts of this city that were distant to their own location. Any sectors usually gave advanced warning to the citizens, while those in charge of Dimensional Breaches usually altered the course of Dimensional Breaches to uncrowded places.
That was why they were scared. It was one thing to hear of these Outsiders on TV or internet, it was another to be so close to them. These monsters were ready to kill, and the destruction that the Dragon Centipede left on it's wake further cemented the fear of death to the people right now.
Those who were calm tried to ran, but those who panicked pushed them away. They tried to get ahead of others.
'I have to run!' Aizu wasn't that scared, but the people around her that were screaming caused her to panicked.
She wasn't chaotic as the others. She only tried to sprint with her fastest even when her legs felt heavy. She was still tired. Her throat dry, and her breathing ragged. She wasn't in any condition to ran at her full speed.
"Ah!?"
She heard the gasped of the woman and turned around. Along with the familiar blonde haired woman, there were also the elderly and the young kids that were pushed away by the adults. She looked up and saw that some of the Iron Ant Legions slipped through the group of agents that were holding them back.
There were only ten odd agents that were protecting them, and while they displayed powers that helped them deal with those who got closer to them, it wasn't enough. They repelled those who got closer, but they were slowly being overwhelmed. It was obvious that some would slipped up.
These ant-like insectoids glared at the people who crawled on the ground with pure intrigue. Their gaze held the desire of their flesh. Those nearest to them, like that familiar blonde haired woman, felt that sinister gaze directed at them.
'No, don't stop. Just run!' She tried to turned around, but she heard the screams of the elderly and the cries of the children. 'There's nothing I can do about this!' She gritted her teeth.
She saw one of the agents got overwhelmed by a lot, and then screamed. The sound of his agony caused her blood to run cold. Her heart pounded as she clenched her fist.
'Why...?' She doesn't know why, but her body moved on it's own. 'Why!?' Instead of the opposite direction, her feet led her close to the melee. 'Am I such an idiot!?'
Adrenaline rushed through her as she glanced around. She saw the girl who exclaimed about the noise awhile ago nursing her bruised leg. She saw the elderly hugged a young boy. She saw a woman shielded a small girl. She saw the familiar blonde woman covered her face with her arms, and the nearest humanoid insect with their spear raised.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaa--!!!"
Her loud scream caused the insectoid to momentarily stopped. That was enough for her to close the distance between them. She dashed past the blonde haired woman, and then instinctively raised her hand. She caught the upper handle of the spear with her raised palm, and while she felt the painful feedback on her wrists, she wasn't perturbed and gripped it.
At the same time, she used her shoulders as she slammed flat onto it's hardened shelled stomach. A dull thud resounded on their ears, though even when the monster haven't felt a thing, the momentum caused it to take a step back.
As if it was fated, it's foot slipped and it lost it's balance. With the force of her body that was turning before she thought about it, her other hand gripped into the middle handle of the spear, while the two of them fell on the ground.
It's hand that gripped the spear lost it's strength momentarily, and the girl through reaction speed alone rolled away with spear in hand. Then she took a kneeling posture while she looked for a comfortable gripping stance on the monster's spear.
"RUN!" It was the only word she could spout, before she thrusted the spear straight on the head of the insectoid's head who tried to stand up.
It's drilled tip easily pierced the face of the monster. It screamed with it's sharp antlion mandibles clacking, before it slumped on the ground.
All of this took a merely five seconds. Those five seconds were enough for the stunned citizens to moved. They stood up and ran away.
At the same time, those who managed to slipped away from the agents tried to pursue but they were stopped as the young brown haired girl stood on their way, with the spear of their kin pointed at them.
"I won't let you!" Even as she said that with a glare, her body was shaking. Her fists were pale due to how desperately she was gripping onto the spear. Her eyes held fear, confusion, and determination.
Aizu doesn't know why, but her heart that felt heavy since she ignored those who fought for their safety felt lighter after she saved those people.
Sorry for the late update. I felt sick yesterday... sorry again...
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
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Once again I ask... WHERE'S THE ANIME!?! That's a full on Shonen protagonist moment!
Yikes. Maybe a doctor should see that.
Only rich people have respawn in this universe. Because of course they do.
Nice philosophy for someone who had to be saved later, by Aizu of all people.
Goddess: "She is amazing, isn't she? Someone so heroic, with strength and courage to protect those unable to protect themselves... It would be nice, being more like her. Wouldn't it? Wouldn't it?"
Aizu: "Lalalala I'm not hearing you~"
Goddess: "...At this point, you're just delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later, you will stop refusing your destiny. You will realize the truth, and you will do what is right."
"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't and then the bad things happen they happen because of you." -Peter Parker.
When you can slightly push the deadly monster, you must push it till you die, or else... - Alexandria
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Chapter 10: To The Rescue
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
Mirielle Lastismun glared at the holographic screen in front of her. The person on the other side of her important video call was shivering on his table as countless robotic infantries were surrounding him.
"Sector Leader Kano Lourdes, can you please give us the permission for the Purification Cannon, Excalibur?"
The man with a bloated stomach shook his head quickly. "No! I want it on standby! What will you do if something happened to me, huh!?" He screamed at her.
"You are on the most safest facility within the city, and the whole Sector Defense are guarding you. We only need the Purification Cannon to help on dealing with the A Rank Outsider."
"No! I want it prepared so the monster can be dealt with when it approached me!" Mirielle's face contorted for a moment at the selfishness of their own Sector Leader.
Sector Leader were people who acted as the mayor for a Sector. They weren't elected through an election, but rather by the automated system from the Central System of Society Sphere. There were many factors how they were chosen, but the most accepted theory was that it chose who were more useful to the whole city.
Kano Lourdes was a selfish coward who only thought of himself. It doesn't matter what happened to the sector itself so long as he can lived decadently. He was considered by the Central System due to his powers that, while not useful for higher sectors, it was useful for the lower ones. It was a B Rank Ability called Mineral Creation.
He can create every minerals on Earth in bulk. It was only limited to minerals that existed on Earth, and not those foreign ones like Mithril, Orihalcum, Adamantite, etc. The minerals are further expanded on both artificial and natural, which meant he can also create superalloys, as his power considered it as a mineral of Earth.
He can only create the materials, and not products that were made by it. He used this to get various benefits from those at the higher sectors who needed or were interested on these minerals. Which was why he was crucial for the continued existence of Sector 254.
Even with all of those benefits, Mirielle hated working for him. He was an incompetent bastard who would rather let others die just so he can survive. Though they can't do anything, as the choice of the Central System of Society Sphere was absolute. Trying to kill or throw a Sector Leader out of their position was a punishable offense by Society Sphere's standard. An enforcer directly working for the true government of Society Sphere would hunt the offenders and, if not kill them outright, put them on a punishment that was worse than death.
That doesn't mean he can do everything in this sector. If he tried to destroy the whole sector, or cause mass genocide on the citizens of his own sector, he would be hunted by these enforcers. Society Sphere have rules that were said to benefit the whole nation.
What he was currently doing wasn't illegal by Society Sphere's standard. His existence was considered integral enough to be elected as a Sector Leader. So it was in his right to ask for protection, even if that meant putting the people at risk due to hogging all of these protections for himself.
"We can help with the subjugation of the Dragon Centipede if we have the permission to fire the Purification Cannon. If you are worried about the cost of firing it, I will personally repay it with my own allowance!" Mirielle declared even as she felt unwilling to pay that on this man.
Observers weren't part of the Sector's management. They answered directly on their own association which was the Bureau of Observation, or the true government of Society Sphere itself. Sector Leaders have no hold on them. That doesn't mean that Observers can order Sector Leaders. They were the ones who hold almost everything from their sector like the defense mechanisms or artificial forces to defend against invaders.
As she was an A Rank Observer, her salary was incredibly high. She was someone who originally lived at Sector 213. So the amount of credits she wielded were far more than every wealth of the citizens of Sector 254 combined.
Purification Cannon was one of the defense mechanism of Society Sphere that can destroy Outsiders. Outsiders brought with them Outside Elements, which were varied depending on what kind of creature they were. Purification Cannon destroys these Outside Element, and pierced these Outsiders who bore these Outside Elements on their body.
Outside Element was a collective term for Mana, Divine Energy, Cosmic Energy, Chi, Spiritual Energy, Nether Energy, Yin Energy, Yang Energy, Psionic Energy, etc. These were known as impurities for Society Sphere, as each of these elements were harmful to humans. The artificial biosphere of Society Sphere was solely created to prevent these Outside Elements to contaminate the air inside it, and for humanity to live. FIF was one that filtered these Outside Elements, which would also result with the Outsiders themselves to leave as they can't survive with these specific Outside Elements with them.
They needed the Purification Cannon to deal with the Dragon Centipede. Purification Cannon was fatal and destructive to Outsiders, but their version of Purification Cannon in this sector needed humongous amounts of esoteric materials like Orihalcum before it activated.
"No! I don't care about that! Put it on standby!" He screamed at her in anger.
"If we don't try to help the city, it will result in many casualties! Are you going to be responsible for that!?" Mirielle's glare turned colder at the screen.
"I don't care! My life is more important than those people!" He roared at her with spittle flying out of his mouth. "And that wasn't my responsibility! It was yours and the awakened office of this sector! If you can't even protect me, then what am I paying you for, huh!?"
'You weren't paying us, you fucking pig!' She screamed within her mind, and she would have given a piece of her mind to that guy if not for him suddenly cutting off their call with a parting word that she didn't bother to remember as it incredibly infuriated her.
She stomped her feet on the ground, at the same time her clenched fists slammed on the monitor. Thankfully it was tough, but her rage burned within her heart as she imagined stabbing the Sector Leader countless times. Her subordinates looked at her, concern evident on their faces. She saw that and took a calming sigh, before she turned serious once more.
"What should we do, Ma'am?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, before she opened them. "Is there any updates about the Awakened Offices above?" She lost hope at this sector's management, so she was hedging her hopes at the awakened office above.
"None has answered us so far..."
"What... but this was an A Rank Threat! Why are they not coming to help us!?"
"Ma'am... there were those who responded to us, but they didn't accept our call for help." A holographic panel was sent to her terminal.
On the panel were Awakened Offices on Sector 250 up to 254 who answered. All of them declined, stating that they won't risk their agents on something dangerous like A Rank Outsiders. As for those who responded from Sectors 249 and above, they have no intention to help due to various discriminatory excuse.
Mirielle glared at those latter examples. "Those elitist!" She grunted in anger.
Then she sighed. She knew within her heart that this would happen. She hoped that there would be some office that was like the Knights of Vermillion. Though once again she lost her respect on the Awakened Offices.
She was used to it since she lived on the higher sectors. She knew that people on those sectors selfishly clung to their status, and their self-interest. They have the ego that felt like they were gods amongst those who lived at the lower sectors. It disgusted her. She was slowly learning to believe on Awakened Offices due to the existence of the Knights of Vermillion, but now she felt like she shouldn't have hoped for nothing.
"... What about my family? Did they get my call?" Mirielle asked.
"Yes. The one you asked for will be delivered soon. Estimated time of delivery is 5 minutes!" One of her male subordinates answered her.
"I see..." She pursed her lips, before she shook her head. "Tell the others to continue guiding the awakened offices and supporter's association agents with evacuating citizens and holding off the A Rank Outsiders. As for the outbreak of Iron Ant Legion... wait, bring me a visual of 24th Golden Street!"
"On it!" She felt something sinister within her heart as she felt foreign signatures with her senses on that specific location, and when they quickly used their visuals through the overview observers above this sector, they saw something heart stopping.
"No way... there were platoons of Iron Ant Legions that broke out from our perimeter blockade!?" She exclaimed. "What's happening!? How did this happen!?"
"The Iron Ant Legions... I think they dug through the ground and it connected to the holes that the Dragon Centipede left on it's wake." One of her subordinate responded to her.
Iron Ant Legion were known to dug through ground whenever they successfully breached into a sector. So it wasn't a farfetched theory.
"What is that... is that a child?" Mirielle noticed the brown haired girl who swung her spear wildly that the insects were being kept at bay. Though she was slowly being surrounded by the others.
They can't see any identifying badges or emblems on her person, which meant she wasn't a part of any supporter's association or awakened offices.
'Is she protecting those who were running to the evac point?' She was impressed, but at the same time panicked. She saw that the agents along with that girl were being overwhelmed. More and more of the Iron Ant Legions were pouring out of the pit that the Dragon Centipede left. "Tell the others about what's happening on this place and ask them to help these people. Tell them to be quick!"
Her orders were quickly followed. She was just going to try and focused on her senses to help more when she noticed a presence that was fast approaching on the general direction of the Golden District.
"What is that? There is a presence approaching Golden District. Give me a visual feed!" One of her subordinate quickly changed what they were doing and put the feed through their overview observers, then they saw a large slab of gold that flew straight to the Golden District at subsonic speeds.
"Another young girl!? And she bore the uniform of St. Angela!?" Mirielle exclaimed in surprise. Then her eyes lit up in realization as she recalled about her. "Isn't that the A Ranker that stayed on this sector. If I recall correctly, her name is... Selena Zephes!?"
The news about Selena wasn't just limited on her school. She was the only A Ranker student who has decided to stay on this sector. Most students who got at least B Rank would have left the school and appealed themselves to the higher sectors so they could rise in life. If not that, the school staffs from schools at higher sectors themselves would descend just to recruit these students if they heard of it.
Since she acquired her powers, those on the higher echelons of Sector 254 obviously learned about her. Most of the Awakened School on this sector wanted her personally, but they've given up because she was already on the best school of this sector. Awakened Offices of this sector already made reservations on their spot just to welcome her. Some business giants of this sector hoped to befriend her, and in fact some have already reached out to her and were in good terms with her.
Mirielle wasn't that interested with Selena. Her existence was surprising as she got an A Rank ability despite being artificially awakened. Mirielle was a naturally born ability user, though even she knew how rare it was to have an artificially awakened one to be an A Rank or above. Those who succeeded could be counted by a single hand on sector 200 and below.
She thought the girl was just a glory hound who stayed on this sector to gloat about her prowess. She have the typical attitude of someone whose head was getting big because she awakened with a strong power. Though now as she saw her charged straight to danger, her impression of her changed favorably.
"What are we going to do...?"
"Does she brought a phone or something? Patch me up with her!"
"Yes Ma'am!" Quickly they did as she told, and then the call connected.
She saw the blonde haired girl who got surprised, before she took her phone from her pocket and accepted the call.
"Who is this!? I am busy at the moment!" Her voice sounded a bit high pitched, like that of someone who acted like a big shot.
"I am from the Sector Observatory 254. I'm the only Observer on this sector. I called you to ask what you are doing here?" This was just formality. She needed to introduce herself so the girl would know who she was talking to.
"Isn't that obvious!? I'm here to save Mom!" Fortunately, Selena knew about the Observers.
Mirielle quickly glanced at her other subordinates, and as if they read her thoughts, one of them had already sent a feed of her mother running along with the other civilians to the evac point.
"Actually, your mother was saved by the people currently being ambushed at the 24th Golden Street. If you want to check it out, just look below you."
Selena perked up at that, and then they saw her looked down, and then immediately descended at extreme speeds, before stopping just below the ground as if physics doesn't hold her. It took awhile of her speaking to the blonde haired woman who resembled her a lot, before she turned her gaze on the direction where the ambushed agents and one child were still fighting.
The call still hasn't ended. They saw her put her phone close to her ears once more.
"I'll help! Am I allowed to do that?" The impatient voice that she had awhile ago was lost, and now she sounded calm.
She was glad that the girl requested for it before they could ask of it. Mirielle smiled for the first time since this crisis occured.
'Why does this feel familiar?' Even as she swung the spear wildly, Aizu can't help but be immersed with the strange energy that she felt on the spear as she wielded it.
There was a mysterious feeling on the spear. Some sort of energy that gave her this nostalgia. As if she met with her old friend.
Her nerves burned due to overexertion, and her movements erratic due to her panic. There was no plan on her strikes. She swung just because she wanted them farther than her. Her heart and mind that were in a chaotic mess got into this strange calmness as she felt this alien feeling that flows on her arms.
'I recalled there was this thing called Outside Elements... is this what I am feeling right now?' She thought as she took a few step backs as the humanoid monsters almost flanked her by the sides. 'Not now Aizu! Why am I being so distracted with these useless thoughts!?'
She swung widely, her intent was just to put them away from her. There was no skill. There was no plan. It was all wild swings that were chaotic at best, amateurish at worst.
These insectoids weren't that scared. They were waiting for an opportunity. They noticed that she only relied on her own strength and reaction speed. They can easily bypassed that with skills and coordination.
And so they did. Iron Ant Legion were connected to each other. They felt what the others felt, thought what the others thought. So when one moved, the other would know the next step.
Five of them step forward at the same time, and the thrusted their spears at the same time. It was a perfect timing when she swung her spear. They hit both the tip of her spear, the handle, and the side of her shoulder, which caused her to loosen her grip on the spear momentarily.
Reaction speed saved her as she moved her head away to the side, while her other hand pushed the other spear that almost got straight to her chest with the flat of her palm, and her palm settled on the midst of it's drill-like blade, pushing it away and it resulted with it scoring a wound on her side.
She took a few more step backs as the group of Iron Ant Legions marched forward towards her. She bit back the scream that almost left her lips, opting to grit her teeth as she took a few more step backs.
'Dammit... I need to run... I don't have any weapon!' She thought to herself, but she can't. She could still hear the sounds of battle and screams behind the insectoids that were marching towards her. 'There is nothing I can do! I have to give up...'
The insectoids marched and then some thrusted their spears, while others moved to flanked her as she tried to take some distance. Each time she took a step back, her heart became heavier and heavier. It became harder to move her feet away, which caused them to score more hits on her limbs.
'Turn around, I'll die if this continues!' She muttered, her arms became limp as they bled after she was scraped by the drill-tip spears that were strangely sharper than she thought.
Then she noticed that she wasn't getting farther than them. She realized why. Her feet stopped. She can't. She wanted to move forward and fight, even if her rational was screaming at her that she would be killed.
With her sudden frozen state, the insectoids didn't hesitate. They quickly raised their weapons to do their finishing blow.
'Ah... I'm sorry... Onii-chan...'
She covered her face with her arms, then waited for the inevitable excruciating pain though there was nothing. She waited for a moment before she felt curious. Slowly she took her arms off of her face, and was surprised when she saw gold.
On the whole broken street, pillars of gold littered the whole scenery. She only knew who could do that. They were pillars of gold that became sharper on below. Their thickness were a meter, and their height ten meters. These golden spike pillars were buried deep within these broken roads, and they numbered at least hundreds of thousands, more than the number of the insectoids that overwhelmed them.
"If you are done gawking at my awesomeness, then you should run away! I will take care of that oversized centipede!" They looked up and saw the blonde haired girl.
"Selena Zephes!?" Aizu exclaimed in surprise.
The girl only glanced at her, before she directed a smile at her. Aizu didn't noticed that. She heard the surviving agents along with her cheered and thanked the girl that was floating on a floating slab of gold.
Selena left with a snort, then she vanished from their sight in a blur. Along with that, the golden pillars that crushed all the ants trembled, before they floated above and shot to the direction where Selena flew. This was when Aizu noticed that not just on this street, there were many golden pillars on the distance at the direction of the Atom District that flew to the direction of the Golden District.
"... Wow... is that the power of an A Rank?" Aizu muttered. This was the first time she saw the strength the full strength of an A Rank.
After she muttered that, her body finally registered the wounds and tiredness of her body, she noticed that her vision was tilting.
"Ah-re?" She fell on her back. Her eyes stuck on the vision of the morning skies. She saw the guy, Nate she recalled, who came to her aid quickly before she felt her eyelids that became heavy. 'Ugh... I think I might have pushed myself too much... so uncharacteristic of me...' That was her thoughts before she lost consciousness.
"Sector Leader Kano Lourdes, can you please give us the permission for the Purification Cannon, Excalibur?"
The man with a bloated stomach shook his head quickly. "No! I want it on standby! What will you do if something happened to me, huh!?" He screamed at her.
"You are on the most safest facility within the city, and the whole Sector Defense are guarding you. We only need the Purification Cannon to help on dealing with the A Rank Outsider."
"No! I want it prepared so the monster can be dealt with when it approached me!" Mirielle's face contorted for a moment at the selfishness of their own Sector Leader.
Sector Leader were people who acted as the mayor for a Sector. They weren't elected through an election, but rather by the automated system from the Central System of Society Sphere. There were many factors how they were chosen, but the most accepted theory was that it chose who were more useful to the whole city.
Kano Lourdes was a selfish coward who only thought of himself. It doesn't matter what happened to the sector itself so long as he can lived decadently. He was considered by the Central System due to his powers that, while not useful for higher sectors, it was useful for the lower ones. It was a B Rank Ability called Mineral Creation.
He can create every minerals on Earth in bulk. It was only limited to minerals that existed on Earth, and not those foreign ones like Mithril, Orihalcum, Adamantite, etc. The minerals are further expanded on both artificial and natural, which meant he can also create superalloys, as his power considered it as a mineral of Earth.
He can only create the materials, and not products that were made by it. He used this to get various benefits from those at the higher sectors who needed or were interested on these minerals. Which was why he was crucial for the continued existence of Sector 254.
Even with all of those benefits, Mirielle hated working for him. He was an incompetent bastard who would rather let others die just so he can survive. Though they can't do anything, as the choice of the Central System of Society Sphere was absolute. Trying to kill or throw a Sector Leader out of their position was a punishable offense by Society Sphere's standard. An enforcer directly working for the true government of Society Sphere would hunt the offenders and, if not kill them outright, put them on a punishment that was worse than death.
That doesn't mean he can do everything in this sector. If he tried to destroy the whole sector, or cause mass genocide on the citizens of his own sector, he would be hunted by these enforcers. Society Sphere have rules that were said to benefit the whole nation.
What he was currently doing wasn't illegal by Society Sphere's standard. His existence was considered integral enough to be elected as a Sector Leader. So it was in his right to ask for protection, even if that meant putting the people at risk due to hogging all of these protections for himself.
"We can help with the subjugation of the Dragon Centipede if we have the permission to fire the Purification Cannon. If you are worried about the cost of firing it, I will personally repay it with my own allowance!" Mirielle declared even as she felt unwilling to pay that on this man.
Observers weren't part of the Sector's management. They answered directly on their own association which was the Bureau of Observation, or the true government of Society Sphere itself. Sector Leaders have no hold on them. That doesn't mean that Observers can order Sector Leaders. They were the ones who hold almost everything from their sector like the defense mechanisms or artificial forces to defend against invaders.
As she was an A Rank Observer, her salary was incredibly high. She was someone who originally lived at Sector 213. So the amount of credits she wielded were far more than every wealth of the citizens of Sector 254 combined.
Purification Cannon was one of the defense mechanism of Society Sphere that can destroy Outsiders. Outsiders brought with them Outside Elements, which were varied depending on what kind of creature they were. Purification Cannon destroys these Outside Element, and pierced these Outsiders who bore these Outside Elements on their body.
Outside Element was a collective term for Mana, Divine Energy, Cosmic Energy, Chi, Spiritual Energy, Nether Energy, Yin Energy, Yang Energy, Psionic Energy, etc. These were known as impurities for Society Sphere, as each of these elements were harmful to humans. The artificial biosphere of Society Sphere was solely created to prevent these Outside Elements to contaminate the air inside it, and for humanity to live. FIF was one that filtered these Outside Elements, which would also result with the Outsiders themselves to leave as they can't survive with these specific Outside Elements with them.
They needed the Purification Cannon to deal with the Dragon Centipede. Purification Cannon was fatal and destructive to Outsiders, but their version of Purification Cannon in this sector needed humongous amounts of esoteric materials like Orihalcum before it activated.
"No! I don't care about that! Put it on standby!" He screamed at her in anger.
"If we don't try to help the city, it will result in many casualties! Are you going to be responsible for that!?" Mirielle's glare turned colder at the screen.
"I don't care! My life is more important than those people!" He roared at her with spittle flying out of his mouth. "And that wasn't my responsibility! It was yours and the awakened office of this sector! If you can't even protect me, then what am I paying you for, huh!?"
'You weren't paying us, you fucking pig!' She screamed within her mind, and she would have given a piece of her mind to that guy if not for him suddenly cutting off their call with a parting word that she didn't bother to remember as it incredibly infuriated her.
She stomped her feet on the ground, at the same time her clenched fists slammed on the monitor. Thankfully it was tough, but her rage burned within her heart as she imagined stabbing the Sector Leader countless times. Her subordinates looked at her, concern evident on their faces. She saw that and took a calming sigh, before she turned serious once more.
"What should we do, Ma'am?"
She closed her eyes for a moment, before she opened them. "Is there any updates about the Awakened Offices above?" She lost hope at this sector's management, so she was hedging her hopes at the awakened office above.
"None has answered us so far..."
"What... but this was an A Rank Threat! Why are they not coming to help us!?"
"Ma'am... there were those who responded to us, but they didn't accept our call for help." A holographic panel was sent to her terminal.
On the panel were Awakened Offices on Sector 250 up to 254 who answered. All of them declined, stating that they won't risk their agents on something dangerous like A Rank Outsiders. As for those who responded from Sectors 249 and above, they have no intention to help due to various discriminatory excuse.
Mirielle glared at those latter examples. "Those elitist!" She grunted in anger.
Then she sighed. She knew within her heart that this would happen. She hoped that there would be some office that was like the Knights of Vermillion. Though once again she lost her respect on the Awakened Offices.
She was used to it since she lived on the higher sectors. She knew that people on those sectors selfishly clung to their status, and their self-interest. They have the ego that felt like they were gods amongst those who lived at the lower sectors. It disgusted her. She was slowly learning to believe on Awakened Offices due to the existence of the Knights of Vermillion, but now she felt like she shouldn't have hoped for nothing.
"... What about my family? Did they get my call?" Mirielle asked.
"Yes. The one you asked for will be delivered soon. Estimated time of delivery is 5 minutes!" One of her male subordinates answered her.
"I see..." She pursed her lips, before she shook her head. "Tell the others to continue guiding the awakened offices and supporter's association agents with evacuating citizens and holding off the A Rank Outsiders. As for the outbreak of Iron Ant Legion... wait, bring me a visual of 24th Golden Street!"
"On it!" She felt something sinister within her heart as she felt foreign signatures with her senses on that specific location, and when they quickly used their visuals through the overview observers above this sector, they saw something heart stopping.
"No way... there were platoons of Iron Ant Legions that broke out from our perimeter blockade!?" She exclaimed. "What's happening!? How did this happen!?"
"The Iron Ant Legions... I think they dug through the ground and it connected to the holes that the Dragon Centipede left on it's wake." One of her subordinate responded to her.
Iron Ant Legion were known to dug through ground whenever they successfully breached into a sector. So it wasn't a farfetched theory.
"What is that... is that a child?" Mirielle noticed the brown haired girl who swung her spear wildly that the insects were being kept at bay. Though she was slowly being surrounded by the others.
They can't see any identifying badges or emblems on her person, which meant she wasn't a part of any supporter's association or awakened offices.
'Is she protecting those who were running to the evac point?' She was impressed, but at the same time panicked. She saw that the agents along with that girl were being overwhelmed. More and more of the Iron Ant Legions were pouring out of the pit that the Dragon Centipede left. "Tell the others about what's happening on this place and ask them to help these people. Tell them to be quick!"
Her orders were quickly followed. She was just going to try and focused on her senses to help more when she noticed a presence that was fast approaching on the general direction of the Golden District.
"What is that? There is a presence approaching Golden District. Give me a visual feed!" One of her subordinate quickly changed what they were doing and put the feed through their overview observers, then they saw a large slab of gold that flew straight to the Golden District at subsonic speeds.
"Another young girl!? And she bore the uniform of St. Angela!?" Mirielle exclaimed in surprise. Then her eyes lit up in realization as she recalled about her. "Isn't that the A Ranker that stayed on this sector. If I recall correctly, her name is... Selena Zephes!?"
The news about Selena wasn't just limited on her school. She was the only A Ranker student who has decided to stay on this sector. Most students who got at least B Rank would have left the school and appealed themselves to the higher sectors so they could rise in life. If not that, the school staffs from schools at higher sectors themselves would descend just to recruit these students if they heard of it.
Since she acquired her powers, those on the higher echelons of Sector 254 obviously learned about her. Most of the Awakened School on this sector wanted her personally, but they've given up because she was already on the best school of this sector. Awakened Offices of this sector already made reservations on their spot just to welcome her. Some business giants of this sector hoped to befriend her, and in fact some have already reached out to her and were in good terms with her.
Mirielle wasn't that interested with Selena. Her existence was surprising as she got an A Rank ability despite being artificially awakened. Mirielle was a naturally born ability user, though even she knew how rare it was to have an artificially awakened one to be an A Rank or above. Those who succeeded could be counted by a single hand on sector 200 and below.
She thought the girl was just a glory hound who stayed on this sector to gloat about her prowess. She have the typical attitude of someone whose head was getting big because she awakened with a strong power. Though now as she saw her charged straight to danger, her impression of her changed favorably.
"What are we going to do...?"
"Does she brought a phone or something? Patch me up with her!"
"Yes Ma'am!" Quickly they did as she told, and then the call connected.
She saw the blonde haired girl who got surprised, before she took her phone from her pocket and accepted the call.
"Who is this!? I am busy at the moment!" Her voice sounded a bit high pitched, like that of someone who acted like a big shot.
"I am from the Sector Observatory 254. I'm the only Observer on this sector. I called you to ask what you are doing here?" This was just formality. She needed to introduce herself so the girl would know who she was talking to.
"Isn't that obvious!? I'm here to save Mom!" Fortunately, Selena knew about the Observers.
Mirielle quickly glanced at her other subordinates, and as if they read her thoughts, one of them had already sent a feed of her mother running along with the other civilians to the evac point.
"Actually, your mother was saved by the people currently being ambushed at the 24th Golden Street. If you want to check it out, just look below you."
Selena perked up at that, and then they saw her looked down, and then immediately descended at extreme speeds, before stopping just below the ground as if physics doesn't hold her. It took awhile of her speaking to the blonde haired woman who resembled her a lot, before she turned her gaze on the direction where the ambushed agents and one child were still fighting.
The call still hasn't ended. They saw her put her phone close to her ears once more.
"I'll help! Am I allowed to do that?" The impatient voice that she had awhile ago was lost, and now she sounded calm.
She was glad that the girl requested for it before they could ask of it. Mirielle smiled for the first time since this crisis occured.
'Why does this feel familiar?' Even as she swung the spear wildly, Aizu can't help but be immersed with the strange energy that she felt on the spear as she wielded it.
There was a mysterious feeling on the spear. Some sort of energy that gave her this nostalgia. As if she met with her old friend.
Her nerves burned due to overexertion, and her movements erratic due to her panic. There was no plan on her strikes. She swung just because she wanted them farther than her. Her heart and mind that were in a chaotic mess got into this strange calmness as she felt this alien feeling that flows on her arms.
'I recalled there was this thing called Outside Elements... is this what I am feeling right now?' She thought as she took a few step backs as the humanoid monsters almost flanked her by the sides. 'Not now Aizu! Why am I being so distracted with these useless thoughts!?'
She swung widely, her intent was just to put them away from her. There was no skill. There was no plan. It was all wild swings that were chaotic at best, amateurish at worst.
These insectoids weren't that scared. They were waiting for an opportunity. They noticed that she only relied on her own strength and reaction speed. They can easily bypassed that with skills and coordination.
And so they did. Iron Ant Legion were connected to each other. They felt what the others felt, thought what the others thought. So when one moved, the other would know the next step.
Five of them step forward at the same time, and the thrusted their spears at the same time. It was a perfect timing when she swung her spear. They hit both the tip of her spear, the handle, and the side of her shoulder, which caused her to loosen her grip on the spear momentarily.
Reaction speed saved her as she moved her head away to the side, while her other hand pushed the other spear that almost got straight to her chest with the flat of her palm, and her palm settled on the midst of it's drill-like blade, pushing it away and it resulted with it scoring a wound on her side.
She took a few more step backs as the group of Iron Ant Legions marched forward towards her. She bit back the scream that almost left her lips, opting to grit her teeth as she took a few more step backs.
'Dammit... I need to run... I don't have any weapon!' She thought to herself, but she can't. She could still hear the sounds of battle and screams behind the insectoids that were marching towards her. 'There is nothing I can do! I have to give up...'
The insectoids marched and then some thrusted their spears, while others moved to flanked her as she tried to take some distance. Each time she took a step back, her heart became heavier and heavier. It became harder to move her feet away, which caused them to score more hits on her limbs.
'Turn around, I'll die if this continues!' She muttered, her arms became limp as they bled after she was scraped by the drill-tip spears that were strangely sharper than she thought.
Then she noticed that she wasn't getting farther than them. She realized why. Her feet stopped. She can't. She wanted to move forward and fight, even if her rational was screaming at her that she would be killed.
With her sudden frozen state, the insectoids didn't hesitate. They quickly raised their weapons to do their finishing blow.
'Ah... I'm sorry... Onii-chan...'
She covered her face with her arms, then waited for the inevitable excruciating pain though there was nothing. She waited for a moment before she felt curious. Slowly she took her arms off of her face, and was surprised when she saw gold.
On the whole broken street, pillars of gold littered the whole scenery. She only knew who could do that. They were pillars of gold that became sharper on below. Their thickness were a meter, and their height ten meters. These golden spike pillars were buried deep within these broken roads, and they numbered at least hundreds of thousands, more than the number of the insectoids that overwhelmed them.
"If you are done gawking at my awesomeness, then you should run away! I will take care of that oversized centipede!" They looked up and saw the blonde haired girl.
"Selena Zephes!?" Aizu exclaimed in surprise.
The girl only glanced at her, before she directed a smile at her. Aizu didn't noticed that. She heard the surviving agents along with her cheered and thanked the girl that was floating on a floating slab of gold.
Selena left with a snort, then she vanished from their sight in a blur. Along with that, the golden pillars that crushed all the ants trembled, before they floated above and shot to the direction where Selena flew. This was when Aizu noticed that not just on this street, there were many golden pillars on the distance at the direction of the Atom District that flew to the direction of the Golden District.
"... Wow... is that the power of an A Rank?" Aizu muttered. This was the first time she saw the strength the full strength of an A Rank.
After she muttered that, her body finally registered the wounds and tiredness of her body, she noticed that her vision was tilting.
"Ah-re?" She fell on her back. Her eyes stuck on the vision of the morning skies. She saw the guy, Nate she recalled, who came to her aid quickly before she felt her eyelids that became heavy. 'Ugh... I think I might have pushed myself too much... so uncharacteristic of me...' That was her thoughts before she lost consciousness.
Here is the new chapter, I hope you have fun with this!~
Sorry for the first bit of chapter being infodumps... While writing this, my mind was a bit blank that I wrote some of my ideas until the creative juices came back. I felt like the first part came out somewhat fine, so I decided to let it stay...
And with the help of AI art, I put how imagined Aizu would look like on the only informational section of this story thread.
That's all, and see you later everyone!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
Sorry for the first bit of chapter being infodumps... While writing this, my mind was a bit blank that I wrote some of my ideas until the creative juices came back. I felt like the first part came out somewhat fine, so I decided to let it stay...
And with the help of AI art, I put how imagined Aizu would look like on the only informational section of this story thread.
That's all, and see you later everyone!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
Last edited:
Well, this being a bit of a dystopia... Of course there's going to be some asshole in power. At least there's decent people too, like Mirielle. Interesting exposition, by the way!
Wait a second... Aizu has a Divine ability!
OH MY.
Hmm, maybe it was something like this...
Part of her mind: "You are connected to the Outside Elements. At this point, you're so exhausted and injured that staying close to the Outsiders is literally the only thing keeping you alive! If you run away, you will die. If you stay, you might die. Keep fighting and you'll still have a chance!"
- Location
- U.S.
I wonder if the system actually realized how busted double actually is and de-ranked Aizu so that she wouldn't be targeted by rookie crushers.
Chapter 11: The Power of an A Rank (Part 1)
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
'Isn't that girl one of the students of St. Angela?' Selena recognized that brunette. She was the person who wasn't interested at her despite her newly found popularity on the first day of the school. That alone gave her a big impression of her. 'I have to thank her properly later...' After she knew her Mom was safe, she decided to help out. Golden District was her home after all.
She turned her attention back on the skies where she saw the five hundred meters tape-like body of the centipede that swam on the skies. It occasionally dived on the ground with neck-breaking speeds, and the ground shook each time it fell to the concrete. Majority of the Golden District was a wreckage. Her eyes settled for a moment on the place where she lived, and then frowned at how unfamiliar it became due to the destruction around. After that she glared at the flying Outsider.
On the distance, she saw many who jumped or flew on the air, clashing against the centipede. A group of people who wore red blazers were familiar to her that she almost stopped, and then immediately continued.
"The Vermillion Knight is here!?" Selena was like the other citizens of Sector 254. She admired that fiery haired woman. She was a symbol of strength and hope for every common folk and the weak on both Sector 254 and Sector 255.
As she just thought of the woman, she saw the centipede thrashed violently as a wave of awakened jumped at him, and these wave of awakened people were blown away. One of them directly goes towards her direction.
'Honey!' She imagined the appearance and texture of a bright, pure, and golden honey before she flexed her will. Hundreds of gallons of honey manifested on her front before that someone that was blown towards her cushioned the force behind their uncontrollable body that was blown away to this direction.
The woman grunted after she landed on top of her golden slab on her feet. Her fiery red hair swayed wildly for a moment, and the bit of honey around her hair flew out of her strands and some almost hit her if not for her controlling the honey.
Quickly, Selena recognized who it was the flew on her way. She gasped in surprised, before she exclaimed. "The Vermillion Knight!" The woman in question noticed her, before she widened her eyes for a moment in recognition.
"You are... Selena Zephes, wasn't it?"
Selena's expression brightened. Her body shivered for a moment and her heart felt uplifted at the woman mentioning her name. She quickly nodded her head.
"Yes, I am Selena Zephes! I-i-it was nice to meet you!" She lowered her head, her breathing a bit haggard. 'Oh my god! I didn't thought The Vermillion Knight knew me!? This is the best day of my life!' She internally exclaimed.
Secundra was surprised, before she smiled wryly. Then she noticed her drenched and sticky state. She glanced at the bits of honey that clung to her body, before she turned to Selena with a tilt of her head.
"Where did these liquid came from...?"
"It was honey! I made it with my powers!" Selena immediately responded.
"Your powers? But I heard you can only make gold... wait..." Secundra gasped as she realized something.
"Yes! My power, Golden Manifestation, was a strong power with a lot of hidden aspects! I am proud of this ability!" She explained vaguely out of excitement.
"Golden Manifestation... It's not Gold Creation or something?"
"Yes." Selena managed to calm herself down. Her confident posture came back as she put her hand on her hip.
Golden Manifestation. Selena Zephes' innate ability. Since Selena acquired the ability, she focused on the description that she got from her ability.
At first her thoughts concentrated on the name of her ability. Manifesting gold. It can be considered as creation too. Though as she tried to comprehend the meaning of her ability, she slowly realized that there was more to it than simply the creation of gold.
She wasn't just creating gold, she could do more than that. Since she learned of that, she tried to looked for anything that can be considered gold, researched stuff on internet, and everything. She tried out stuffs that she thought would work with her powers, and when she realized that it worked, she trained it.
She have discovered many aspects of her power, with one of it the capability to create anything that was gold in name. A certain type of honey was alternatively called Liquid Gold, and her powers considered it as creating gold. She also learned more like the capability to control anything that was gold, turn anything into gold, or even empower herself through the presence of gold.
She haven't tried most of that on the school as they weren't allowed to kill students, not like she would do it. She always held herself back when she fought the students of St. Angela to stay at her rank.
"Uhmm... not to be rude, but we are currently in a crisis. Can you please help the agents take care of the Dragon Centipede?" The voice on her phone that was on her pocket made them flinched, but they quickly recovered.
"This voice... are you the Observer of this sector?"
"Yes, that was me Vermillion Knight." Behind the call was Mirielle who smiled. "Ms. Zephes offered her help on dealing with the Dragon Centipede, and as every Awakened can join on the defense of a sector regardless of their age, I have decided that she might be of help to us. That's why I'm currently acting as her guide for the Dragon Centipede, and is briefing her of the relevant information for the Dragon Centipede so she can prepare herself."
"I see..." Secundra bowed at the blonde haired girl. "I am grateful for your help, Ms. Zephes!"
"N-no need to lower your head. I would do it even without acknowledgement. This place was my house!" She snorted before she directed a glare at the floating centipede. "There is no need to worry. With my powers, I can take care of that centipede!"
"... Hmm, as you are the only A Rank we have right now, we will rely on you." Secundra then looked up for a moment. "By the way, is there any support from the Sector Management? I noticed the lack of artificial support and purification cannons here..."
"I apologize. The Sector Leader denied all requests for it."
Secundra briefly widened her eyes, before she shook her head. She knew within her heart that it would happen, though one of her hand clenched into a fist and trembled.
"What's this about Sector Management? Did they deny calls for support on my district?" Selena slowly realized what they were talking about, and her face was slowly turning furious.
"... We should talk about that later and face the Dragon Centipede first. If we continue standing by, many of us will die!"
"... Okay." Selena nodded before she glared at the centipede. "I will beat that flying insect for messing with my home!" She declared.
At the skies of the ruined Golden District, the dark centipede swam unimpeded by anything. Storms of flames, ice, lightning, and any other elements that the awakened thrown at it doesn't left any marks on it's purplish carapaces.
This large insect monster lurched for a moment, and would have dove straight to the ground once more if not for a fifty meter golden spike that suddenly manifested on the ground, and then gone straight for it's head at subsonic speeds. It swerved it's body, and while it was hit below, the large spike made of gold shattered like glass from it's tough body.
The centipede curved it's head back to the skies. It swam once more in a mobius-shaped movement. It's body vibrated for a moment and then let out steam on the gaps of it's carapace.
"Hear me, leave this place and let her take care of this!" The agents below heard the familiar commanding voice of the Vermillion Knight.
They looked up and saw her standing besides a blonde girl. Most of them immediately recognized who she was standing with.
In tandem with her words, they're phones, earbuds, or holographic comms crackled to life and those at the Observatory conveyed their plans to them. In a brief moment, these agents quickly nodded and decided to leave the whole district alone.
The monstrous centipede turned for a moment. It noticed the agents below were running. It tried to follow by diving straight to a group of agents, but was immediately met with a hundred cubic meter gold block on the face. It simply broke through it's body's destructive capabilities, though each time it was close to breaking past the gold bloc, another gold block would be created so it would continue only moving without the visuals.
The agents managed to escape before the centipede left the last pure gold block she made to block it's sight. The ground trembled as it crashed to the ground, and broke the concrete beneath and any remaining construction like the pipelines and underground tunnels within. It quickly rose up, and then seems to have glared straight at the blonde haired girl on the gold slab despite it's lacking eyes.
The agents managed to escape. They were that fast. They easily managed to cover hundred meters of distance in a short time. Secundra glanced below for a moment, before she put her index finger on her ear, rubbing the earbuds she have on her ear.
"Is it clear now?"
"Yes! There were no more presences in there other than you two and that large monster!" Mirielle answered.
Secundra nodded before she turned her gaze at the young blonde girl. "Then, I will leave this to you. Please be careful." The young girl trembled for a moment, but quickly responded to her with an enthusiastic nod.
"Don't worry, Miss Vermillion Knight. I'll take care of this!"
Secundra pursed her lips for a moment, her heart reluctant leave the girl. Though she shook her head, and then finally leapt away. She twirled on the skies as flames covered her body, before slowly she turned into a flame orb that slowly glide away from this place.
She heard the reports. The insect invaders at the Atom District were thoroughly obliterated by her golden pillars. So she knew that their job here is done.
'The gap between our power is too much... she might be the only one who can contend against it...' She glided away from the battlefield with those thoughts.
As the fiery haired woman left, Selena finally grinned as she directed a narrowed gaze at the centipede that was fast approaching her.
"This is the first time I can use my powers without holding back."
The centipede on the far distance that was getting closer to her fast was suddenly bombarded by golden pillars from above. All of them easily bounced or crumbled from it's body, but Selena was unperturbed.
"For destroying my home, and causing distress for my Mom, I will punish you. Become my punching bag, you large insect!"
She focused on creating something at the sky limit of this artificial biosphere. 10,000ft above the air, she managed to create it. A block of gold with a length of 10km² on her front. This whole block of gold have a height of 5,000ft, with the top of it at the limit of this artificial biosphere.
With the presence of this gold, she felt her body being uplifted. Her strength increased drastically with the presence of the gigantic gold that covered the light above them. Then she controlled it, letting it fall as fast as she can. Her capabilities increased due to the amount of gold around her, which caused the descent of the gigantic block above to fall not at subsonic speeds, but at escape velocity.
Her perception of the world has slowed down so much due to the empowerment she got from the gold that in a split second before the gold block that carried trillions of tonnage of weight behind it fell on their position, she quickly got to the ground with her enhanced speed that surpassed lightning and turned the whole wreckage underground into gold. This further strengthened all of her capabilities.
"Be crushed by my absolute power!" The whole ruined area around her that instantly turned into gold with her stomp rose to the skies instantly, and then it collided with the gold above, and crushed the centipede before a second passes.
She have already left the vicinity of their collision with the superspeed she got from the presence of these gold. The great shockwave that occured doesn't affect her as the two large solid blocks of gold collided and crumbled under their extreme force beneath their collision. Her strength was impossibly strengthened beyond belief that the shockwave doesn't matter to her. She floated above the skies by instantly crested a platform made of gold.
This was the power of an A Rank. A strength that surpassed B Ranks. The gap between each ranking were absurd. B Ranks were known as District Killers due to the potency of their powers, but A Ranks are considered Sector Killers. A B Rank can use their ability that can greatly affect a whole district. An A Rank can do that on a whole sector.
This was why, while they weren't that worshipped on the higher sectors like Sector 200 and above, many people from Sector 200 and below were in awe of them and at the same time terrified of their strength.
"Heh! Now let me see if you survived that!" Selena Zephes was confident. Even if the centipede was immune to conventional weaponry, something of this nature should have greatly damaged it.
Though she was surprised when she saw a burst of violet flames on the crumbled remains of the collision point of the gold blocks, before they were burnt by these flames into ashes. Not even slags remained as a spray of violet flames rained all around, and pierced these gold blocks as if they were nothing.
"What!?" Selena gasped in surprised, before she narrowed her gaze as she saw the centipede once more. This time it was releasing the purple flames on each gaps of it's carapace, along with it's mouth and tip of it's limbs. "So this is why it is called the Dragon Centipede..." A grimace settled on her face.
The Observer of this sector briefed her about it, but she thought it wouldn't matter if she could crush it before it could do it. She peered her eyes forward with the enhanced physical senses she got from the remaining gold around her, and saw that it wasn't affected by the gold she slammed around it.
"... It seems like this will take long..." She muttered under her breathe.
She turned her attention back on the skies where she saw the five hundred meters tape-like body of the centipede that swam on the skies. It occasionally dived on the ground with neck-breaking speeds, and the ground shook each time it fell to the concrete. Majority of the Golden District was a wreckage. Her eyes settled for a moment on the place where she lived, and then frowned at how unfamiliar it became due to the destruction around. After that she glared at the flying Outsider.
On the distance, she saw many who jumped or flew on the air, clashing against the centipede. A group of people who wore red blazers were familiar to her that she almost stopped, and then immediately continued.
"The Vermillion Knight is here!?" Selena was like the other citizens of Sector 254. She admired that fiery haired woman. She was a symbol of strength and hope for every common folk and the weak on both Sector 254 and Sector 255.
As she just thought of the woman, she saw the centipede thrashed violently as a wave of awakened jumped at him, and these wave of awakened people were blown away. One of them directly goes towards her direction.
'Honey!' She imagined the appearance and texture of a bright, pure, and golden honey before she flexed her will. Hundreds of gallons of honey manifested on her front before that someone that was blown towards her cushioned the force behind their uncontrollable body that was blown away to this direction.
The woman grunted after she landed on top of her golden slab on her feet. Her fiery red hair swayed wildly for a moment, and the bit of honey around her hair flew out of her strands and some almost hit her if not for her controlling the honey.
Quickly, Selena recognized who it was the flew on her way. She gasped in surprised, before she exclaimed. "The Vermillion Knight!" The woman in question noticed her, before she widened her eyes for a moment in recognition.
"You are... Selena Zephes, wasn't it?"
Selena's expression brightened. Her body shivered for a moment and her heart felt uplifted at the woman mentioning her name. She quickly nodded her head.
"Yes, I am Selena Zephes! I-i-it was nice to meet you!" She lowered her head, her breathing a bit haggard. 'Oh my god! I didn't thought The Vermillion Knight knew me!? This is the best day of my life!' She internally exclaimed.
Secundra was surprised, before she smiled wryly. Then she noticed her drenched and sticky state. She glanced at the bits of honey that clung to her body, before she turned to Selena with a tilt of her head.
"Where did these liquid came from...?"
"It was honey! I made it with my powers!" Selena immediately responded.
"Your powers? But I heard you can only make gold... wait..." Secundra gasped as she realized something.
"Yes! My power, Golden Manifestation, was a strong power with a lot of hidden aspects! I am proud of this ability!" She explained vaguely out of excitement.
"Golden Manifestation... It's not Gold Creation or something?"
"Yes." Selena managed to calm herself down. Her confident posture came back as she put her hand on her hip.
Golden Manifestation. Selena Zephes' innate ability. Since Selena acquired the ability, she focused on the description that she got from her ability.
At first her thoughts concentrated on the name of her ability. Manifesting gold. It can be considered as creation too. Though as she tried to comprehend the meaning of her ability, she slowly realized that there was more to it than simply the creation of gold.
She wasn't just creating gold, she could do more than that. Since she learned of that, she tried to looked for anything that can be considered gold, researched stuff on internet, and everything. She tried out stuffs that she thought would work with her powers, and when she realized that it worked, she trained it.
She have discovered many aspects of her power, with one of it the capability to create anything that was gold in name. A certain type of honey was alternatively called Liquid Gold, and her powers considered it as creating gold. She also learned more like the capability to control anything that was gold, turn anything into gold, or even empower herself through the presence of gold.
She haven't tried most of that on the school as they weren't allowed to kill students, not like she would do it. She always held herself back when she fought the students of St. Angela to stay at her rank.
"Uhmm... not to be rude, but we are currently in a crisis. Can you please help the agents take care of the Dragon Centipede?" The voice on her phone that was on her pocket made them flinched, but they quickly recovered.
"This voice... are you the Observer of this sector?"
"Yes, that was me Vermillion Knight." Behind the call was Mirielle who smiled. "Ms. Zephes offered her help on dealing with the Dragon Centipede, and as every Awakened can join on the defense of a sector regardless of their age, I have decided that she might be of help to us. That's why I'm currently acting as her guide for the Dragon Centipede, and is briefing her of the relevant information for the Dragon Centipede so she can prepare herself."
"I see..." Secundra bowed at the blonde haired girl. "I am grateful for your help, Ms. Zephes!"
"N-no need to lower your head. I would do it even without acknowledgement. This place was my house!" She snorted before she directed a glare at the floating centipede. "There is no need to worry. With my powers, I can take care of that centipede!"
"... Hmm, as you are the only A Rank we have right now, we will rely on you." Secundra then looked up for a moment. "By the way, is there any support from the Sector Management? I noticed the lack of artificial support and purification cannons here..."
"I apologize. The Sector Leader denied all requests for it."
Secundra briefly widened her eyes, before she shook her head. She knew within her heart that it would happen, though one of her hand clenched into a fist and trembled.
"What's this about Sector Management? Did they deny calls for support on my district?" Selena slowly realized what they were talking about, and her face was slowly turning furious.
"... We should talk about that later and face the Dragon Centipede first. If we continue standing by, many of us will die!"
"... Okay." Selena nodded before she glared at the centipede. "I will beat that flying insect for messing with my home!" She declared.
At the skies of the ruined Golden District, the dark centipede swam unimpeded by anything. Storms of flames, ice, lightning, and any other elements that the awakened thrown at it doesn't left any marks on it's purplish carapaces.
This large insect monster lurched for a moment, and would have dove straight to the ground once more if not for a fifty meter golden spike that suddenly manifested on the ground, and then gone straight for it's head at subsonic speeds. It swerved it's body, and while it was hit below, the large spike made of gold shattered like glass from it's tough body.
The centipede curved it's head back to the skies. It swam once more in a mobius-shaped movement. It's body vibrated for a moment and then let out steam on the gaps of it's carapace.
"Hear me, leave this place and let her take care of this!" The agents below heard the familiar commanding voice of the Vermillion Knight.
They looked up and saw her standing besides a blonde girl. Most of them immediately recognized who she was standing with.
In tandem with her words, they're phones, earbuds, or holographic comms crackled to life and those at the Observatory conveyed their plans to them. In a brief moment, these agents quickly nodded and decided to leave the whole district alone.
The monstrous centipede turned for a moment. It noticed the agents below were running. It tried to follow by diving straight to a group of agents, but was immediately met with a hundred cubic meter gold block on the face. It simply broke through it's body's destructive capabilities, though each time it was close to breaking past the gold bloc, another gold block would be created so it would continue only moving without the visuals.
The agents managed to escape before the centipede left the last pure gold block she made to block it's sight. The ground trembled as it crashed to the ground, and broke the concrete beneath and any remaining construction like the pipelines and underground tunnels within. It quickly rose up, and then seems to have glared straight at the blonde haired girl on the gold slab despite it's lacking eyes.
The agents managed to escape. They were that fast. They easily managed to cover hundred meters of distance in a short time. Secundra glanced below for a moment, before she put her index finger on her ear, rubbing the earbuds she have on her ear.
"Is it clear now?"
"Yes! There were no more presences in there other than you two and that large monster!" Mirielle answered.
Secundra nodded before she turned her gaze at the young blonde girl. "Then, I will leave this to you. Please be careful." The young girl trembled for a moment, but quickly responded to her with an enthusiastic nod.
"Don't worry, Miss Vermillion Knight. I'll take care of this!"
Secundra pursed her lips for a moment, her heart reluctant leave the girl. Though she shook her head, and then finally leapt away. She twirled on the skies as flames covered her body, before slowly she turned into a flame orb that slowly glide away from this place.
She heard the reports. The insect invaders at the Atom District were thoroughly obliterated by her golden pillars. So she knew that their job here is done.
'The gap between our power is too much... she might be the only one who can contend against it...' She glided away from the battlefield with those thoughts.
As the fiery haired woman left, Selena finally grinned as she directed a narrowed gaze at the centipede that was fast approaching her.
"This is the first time I can use my powers without holding back."
The centipede on the far distance that was getting closer to her fast was suddenly bombarded by golden pillars from above. All of them easily bounced or crumbled from it's body, but Selena was unperturbed.
"For destroying my home, and causing distress for my Mom, I will punish you. Become my punching bag, you large insect!"
She focused on creating something at the sky limit of this artificial biosphere. 10,000ft above the air, she managed to create it. A block of gold with a length of 10km² on her front. This whole block of gold have a height of 5,000ft, with the top of it at the limit of this artificial biosphere.
With the presence of this gold, she felt her body being uplifted. Her strength increased drastically with the presence of the gigantic gold that covered the light above them. Then she controlled it, letting it fall as fast as she can. Her capabilities increased due to the amount of gold around her, which caused the descent of the gigantic block above to fall not at subsonic speeds, but at escape velocity.
Her perception of the world has slowed down so much due to the empowerment she got from the gold that in a split second before the gold block that carried trillions of tonnage of weight behind it fell on their position, she quickly got to the ground with her enhanced speed that surpassed lightning and turned the whole wreckage underground into gold. This further strengthened all of her capabilities.
"Be crushed by my absolute power!" The whole ruined area around her that instantly turned into gold with her stomp rose to the skies instantly, and then it collided with the gold above, and crushed the centipede before a second passes.
She have already left the vicinity of their collision with the superspeed she got from the presence of these gold. The great shockwave that occured doesn't affect her as the two large solid blocks of gold collided and crumbled under their extreme force beneath their collision. Her strength was impossibly strengthened beyond belief that the shockwave doesn't matter to her. She floated above the skies by instantly crested a platform made of gold.
This was the power of an A Rank. A strength that surpassed B Ranks. The gap between each ranking were absurd. B Ranks were known as District Killers due to the potency of their powers, but A Ranks are considered Sector Killers. A B Rank can use their ability that can greatly affect a whole district. An A Rank can do that on a whole sector.
This was why, while they weren't that worshipped on the higher sectors like Sector 200 and above, many people from Sector 200 and below were in awe of them and at the same time terrified of their strength.
"Heh! Now let me see if you survived that!" Selena Zephes was confident. Even if the centipede was immune to conventional weaponry, something of this nature should have greatly damaged it.
Though she was surprised when she saw a burst of violet flames on the crumbled remains of the collision point of the gold blocks, before they were burnt by these flames into ashes. Not even slags remained as a spray of violet flames rained all around, and pierced these gold blocks as if they were nothing.
"What!?" Selena gasped in surprised, before she narrowed her gaze as she saw the centipede once more. This time it was releasing the purple flames on each gaps of it's carapace, along with it's mouth and tip of it's limbs. "So this is why it is called the Dragon Centipede..." A grimace settled on her face.
The Observer of this sector briefed her about it, but she thought it wouldn't matter if she could crush it before it could do it. She peered her eyes forward with the enhanced physical senses she got from the remaining gold around her, and saw that it wasn't affected by the gold she slammed around it.
"... It seems like this will take long..." She muttered under her breathe.
So... I got delayed a lot because of a writer's dilemma. It was whether I skipped to Aizu waking up or showing the fight between Selena and the centipede.
I really wanted to skip to Aizu's part because I don't know if showing Selena's perspective will progress the plot. After some debating, I finally decided to show Selena's side because it would feel incredibly jarring if I just skip it.
Writing this... I don't know, I knew what I wanted to see. The words just don't come out when I tried to write it. I forced myself today because yesterday I was stuck looking at my screen like an idiot. I swore this morning that I will finish this chapter today, so this has been cut in half.
Next chapter is the conclusion of this fight, I hope...
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
I really wanted to skip to Aizu's part because I don't know if showing Selena's perspective will progress the plot. After some debating, I finally decided to show Selena's side because it would feel incredibly jarring if I just skip it.
Writing this... I don't know, I knew what I wanted to see. The words just don't come out when I tried to write it. I forced myself today because yesterday I was stuck looking at my screen like an idiot. I swore this morning that I will finish this chapter today, so this has been cut in half.
Next chapter is the conclusion of this fight, I hope...
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
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- Location
- Oregon, USA
Well, at least she seems like she's not in danger. It looks like this monster is specced for short range and durability. I also suspect that A-rank monsters are weaker than A-rank offices, and that the ranks represent what they're meant to be able to fight on the regular, a la Jujutsu Kaisen.
There being that large a gap between ranks is kind of silly though. It just means the grading system is really imprecise. Like, powers aren't naturally tiered. Of course there's going to be abilities between the two tiers, and I assume they just fall into the lower one. I suppose if ones that approach but don't quite make A are just massively less common due to how comparatively rare A ranks are, that makes sense? But then how are the higher ranked districts filled, I'd there's that big a gap in chances of a powerful ability occurring?
Well, I suppose it's the family and friends of those higher ranked people, along with a bunch of support staff. Also, they'd all live a lot longer due to life extension stuff. Okay, I guess that makes sense. Also, not all abilities are created equal- it seems beyond F which is largely for truly useless abilities, there's some amount of specialization and versatility that plays an important factor. So specialized abilities could also lead to people living in higher sectors, like a supernaturally good masseuse living in a high district to give really nice massages despite being F rank.
There being that large a gap between ranks is kind of silly though. It just means the grading system is really imprecise. Like, powers aren't naturally tiered. Of course there's going to be abilities between the two tiers, and I assume they just fall into the lower one. I suppose if ones that approach but don't quite make A are just massively less common due to how comparatively rare A ranks are, that makes sense? But then how are the higher ranked districts filled, I'd there's that big a gap in chances of a powerful ability occurring?
Well, I suppose it's the family and friends of those higher ranked people, along with a bunch of support staff. Also, they'd all live a lot longer due to life extension stuff. Okay, I guess that makes sense. Also, not all abilities are created equal- it seems beyond F which is largely for truly useless abilities, there's some amount of specialization and versatility that plays an important factor. So specialized abilities could also lead to people living in higher sectors, like a supernaturally good masseuse living in a high district to give really nice massages despite being F rank.
Well, as long as Selena can keep creating gold without the Dragon destroying it, she will have super-human/god-like strength. How fast could she throw a golden spear (or a million)? Perhaps the Dragon is vulnerable to piercing attacks. Could the eyes, mouth or gaps in the caparace be weak spots, susceptible to precision strikes?
...Wait. It is a Dragon. Dragons do like gold, don't they? Maybe she can bribe It?
Another idea: fill the Dragon with honey/liquid gold (somehow) and then turn it into solid gold, making the Dragon explode from the inside.
Selena could try to get close and use Midas's Touch, but it would be very risky. Although she could protect herself, creating some golden armor around her... Or a giant golden mecha! Perhaps something organic, Evangelion-like, mixing liquid and solid gold.
Or she could create a golden aura, turning herself into a Super Saiyan.
Chapter 12: The Power of an A Rank (Part 2)
Levelgap
Wielder of Destruction
The Golden District had been transformed into a wreck by the failed attempt to crush the Dragon Centipede and the subsequent flames it released. Above this mass of ruined buildings, scattered gold, and violet flames the battle resumed. For minutes the Centipede accelerated to greater and greater speeds and the blonde haired youth effortlessly moved away from the centipede as she materialized anything she could think of.
Petroleum was made as her power considered it as gold, and it covered the whole body of the centipede. She planned to burn it with it's own flames, though the purple flames worked differently than normal flame. They magically burned the highly flammable gas as if they were paper. They too were burnt to ashes despite being originally liquid.
Next, she rained down five meter tall golden spikes around it by the millions above and below it's relative position. She pelted it with countless amount of these golden spikes that moved at supersonic speeds. She specifically targeted the gaps and joints, and even it's mouth with these supersonic rain of golden destruction. Though they were easily burned, and those that managed to hit it doesn't affect it other than caused it to thrashed angrily.
The golden spikes that were broken were instantly repaired through her own enhanced senses and complete control over everything gold, and they kept returning to the centipede only to bounced off or crumble again from it's magically enhanced carapace. Even as she touched the whole air and decided to turn the whole oxygen itself into gold particles, air wasn't an issue to the centipede. Which meant suffocation wasn't an answer to it.
She thought of another solution, which was to touch the centipede and turn it into gold. Though there was the problem of actually getting closer to it. She doesn't know if the flames can instantly burn her or not, and she didn't want to risk it. Even if her whole body was being empowered by the amount of gold that she was creating on this battlefield, she wasn't sure if her enhanced speed was enough to touch it and turn it into gold before she was burned from it's everlasting violet flames.
The centipede tried to ram here with it's body that produced violet flames on each gaps and every tip of it's limbs on it's body, though she was faster than it. If it moved as fast as a speeding car, then she moved hundred times faster than it. Which meant they were in a stalemate.
Fortunately, the centipede became concentrated on her so she kept leading it around the battlefield. Though she was getting exhausted. Stamina and mental power wasn't included on her empowerment through the presence of gold, and while she have a lot of power to spare, she was getting fed up with this monster.
"You're too tenacious! Why won't you die!" She grunted as she made a whole castle made of gold and sped up it's descent above it.
The golden castle crumbled, before it was burned easily by the flames around it's body. Selena stopped for a moment above the skies. She clicked her tongue as she looked down at the centipede that moved it's head for a moment before it pointed it's head at her direction.
'I've used everything I can think of. Is there no way I can beat this monster?' Her face contorted in dismay. She wasn't satisfied with this outcome. An idea came to her mind, but she immediately shook her head. 'No, that might destroy this whole sector...'
She knew she could do more. She could create a gold block that encompassed the whole sector, which currently covered 512,000km² of land, most of it possible due to their spatial expansion technology. Though as she thought, it would include every citizens of this sector if she ever tried that. She might acquire ultimate power through that gold alone, but she have no plans to destroy her home city along with it.
She saw the A Rank Outsider moved on her way, though she simply distracted it by continuously pelting it with golden spikes that she half-consciously creating as she moved away from it and circled around it on the air. She was close to using her phone and looking up on the internet for more vague gold-related facts when her phone rung. Then it showed the symbol of an eye commonly seen on hieroglyphics, which was the symbol used for Observers and the Bureau of Observation.
"Ms. Zephes. This is Mirielle Lastismun, the Observer of this Sector. I was calling to notify you that our Purification Cannon, Claiomh Solais has been prepared and ready for firing. Please take a two hundred meters distance away from it for safety precautions."
"Claiomh Solais!? I thought we only have Excalibur!?" Selena exclaimed.
Her surprised was obvious. She knew of Purification Cannons. Their Sector Leader and the relevant people at the Sector Management always flaunted it on television, social medias, and even blogs. Specifically, they always hyped up their newest defensive technology called the Purification Cannon Excalibur. They claimed it was the latest version of Purification Cannon, and it would protect all the citizens.
Purification Cannons were absolute when it came to extinguishing Outsiders. She saw it mostly used as a plot device for most movies, and read it on documentaries how it saved many sectors time and time again. Excalibur was the only Purification Cannon she knew, so she was surprised to hear of another one.
"That Purification Cannon was owned by the Sector Leader. We have no control of that. This one personally came from my family. As it came from my own wallet, it only have a limited charge on it. Though I think it was enough to take down the Dragon Centipede." Selena was in awe. She 'ooh-ed' in amazement after she heard that.
She knew of Observers, but doesn't know how they worked. The only knowledge she got from them was that they acted as the eyes of each Sectors, and were the first to respond for any threats to a sector. Mirielle gave her an impression of a really rich person from a higher sector. To order a Purification Cannon, she thought it was impossible.
"Does it have any difference than Excalibur?" She wondered outloud. Curious about it.
"We are still in preparation phase, and it wasn't that much of a secret anyway, so I'll tell you." She nodded as she maintained her distance at the centipede. "Excalibur used many things, but the main components of it's bullet are the Fairy Dusts, and Mithril. They are hard to come by, and costs a lot. Even I can barely afford it. As for Claiomh Solais, it only needs a single thing to operate. That was Orichalcum!"
Selena knew of those objects. They were extremely expensive which was reasonable as they were Magical Objects. Magical Objects was a term used for any objects that contained the First Outside Element within it, or Mana for simplicity's sake. These Magical Objects were processed through a specialized process, which made it 'Safe' for human use.
Popular Magical Objects were Mithril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, Fairy Dust, Mandragora, Magic Orb, Magic Tome, Parts of a monster, etc. They were incredibly useful for higher sectors, though they need a specialized way of handling and processing before they could be used on mass-production and other industrialized procession.
Sector 254 doesn't have anyone who specialized on those kind of jobs, so Selena wasn't knowledgeable about those esoteric objects. She only knew they were amazing, and that they were important for Society Sphere.
"That sounds... amazing I think?" She was confused. "Wait, let me look Orichalcum first..." She became curious and was already bored as she was only dodging the monster while it tried to catch up to her.
Her eyes widened when she looked at the appearance of the Orichalcum. Though before she could fully realized it within her thoughts, Mirielle interrupted her.
"If that was all, then please keep your distance as stated awhile ago. The cannon is ready to fire for a moment now."
Selena stared blankly at the skies for a moment, before she nodded. She returned the tab of her phone to the home, while the call was still on the background. A plan was forming on her mind just in case.
Mirielle felt like coughing blood at the invoice she got digitally. She might have the selfless desires of a hero, but she was also used to the vain life of a rich person from this poor land. The amount of credits she had to pay was on the twenty one digits. Those were a large amount of Orichalcum after all.
'I have to make this one count!' She glared at the screen, and then ordered her subordinates to connect her to the team that were specifically sent here along with the Purification Cannon to operate it. Each Purification Cannon were operated differently, so those that manned the Excalibur were useless for this.
She only have three shots. That was the total amount of Orichalcum charges that they got for Claiomh Solais.
"Listen, I will state the coordinates of your shots. Carefully listen to me and shoot it when I said so." She said to the other side, before she unveiled her full power.
Her Spatial Awareness was incredibly potent. While it wasn't specialized on combat, it might as well be if she have any artillery weapon on her command. Her senses expanded on the whole sector, and if not for the contained artificial biosphere, it might have expanded more. Then she focused the image of the centipede that she marked through the feeds on their screen, before she started to fully concentrate on that centipede alone.
Her Spatial Awareness doesn't just worked as a radar, it also have it's other uses. One of it was sensing spatial distortions or anomalies, another of it was the capability to mark those she sensed and categorize them with names or whatever nickname she could think of. By marking them, even without expanding her senses, she would still know the exact location of the one she marked. Unless they left the vicinity of her range, which was a whole sector.
There was another aspect to her power, and that was the capability to predict the future of those she marked at the immediate future. At least on the next ten seconds, she knew where they would go. Predicting beyond those ten seconds would affect the accuracy of her prediction.
She doesn't need a slight inaccuracy. She needed an accurate prediction right now.
She saw it, the vague interpretation of it's next move and where it would be relatively positioned within her senses. She begun to type on her terminal, and sent it on the other side.
"Follow those coordinates, and shoot at the count of zero!"
With her declaration, she begun her countdown.
"Three!"
Selena's figure kept blurring and popping on one place to the other. The Dragon Centipede was left like a headless chicken. It moved around in an erratic manner to catch up to her.
"Two!"
On an unused plot of land five thousand miles away from that district, a seventy five meter black cannon with a design eerily similar to modern artillery, but have an added blue glowing symbols around it pointed on the direction where the battle was happening. All three bullets were loaded within a square compartment on it's side.
A few distance away at the cannon, there were people in full outfit reminiscent of a swat uniform with their palette being only black stood around on a set of tables and computers. Some of them were sitting and busily typing on their computers.
All of these people and the Purification Cannon itself came here through the teleportation services. One of the most expensive services in Society Sphere.
"One!"
The muzzle of the cannon lit up. An indicator of different numbers, letters, and a large number three was displayed in a holographic panel above the cannon.
"Zero!"
And as the words left the Observer's mouth, the one that was working on the center of these people pushed the enter button on their computer.
As soon as he did that, a single thunderclap resounded. A light beam pierced through the air and goes straight at the centipede at light speed. Despite only a single booming sound, all three has already been shot simultaneously. These three orihalcum bullets then separated into three slightly different directions. This happened in a single instant.
The next time Mirielle blinked, she saw three light beams pierced the body of the Dragon Centipede. It specifically hit upper mass, center mass, and lower mass of it's body. They were pierced, and the magical barrier that protected it from extreme harm was ignored by the Purification Cannon.
It's body was damaged. There were three large holes that formed on it's body. It's lower half was even cut. Though despite the great damage that could be considered fatal for a third party observing it, Mirielle widened her eyes not out of joy, but in horror.
"No! It missed!"
It wasn't the fault of the mechanic. Rather, it was her own fault. The others gasped when they heard her exclaim.
'This is a blunder! I should have thought this through! That was the abnormality that managed to hide from my senses!' She gritted her teeth, her fist clenched. She have an urged to slap herself for this.
Her prediction was a bit off. It wasn't supposed to hit upper mass, but rather it's head. Dragon Centipede won't die if only it's body was destroyed. It won't even die if it's head was destroyed. Dragon Centipede were tenacious enough that they needed to be crushed or dealt multiple fatal blows at the same time, with the head being crushed a specific requirement, before it could be considered dead.
Along with it's durability, there was another specific capability that it had. It was displaying that by it's flesh slowly mending as if in a time lapse. Nerves and bones grow on it at rapid pace, though it was slow if seen by afar due to it's size. Still, it would only take a few minutes before it fully recovered.
"No way... this isn't happening..." Mirielle fell to her knees, despair laced her very expression.
There was nothing they could do. The Dragon Centipede would recover soon, and then it would continue destroying the sector. Selena can't damaged it despite everything she tried to do, and there were no more help that would come due to their Sector Leader refusing to help, and the Awakened Offices that could actually helped from higher sectors refusing due to arrogance and elitism.
"... I apologize. We should begin the mass evacuation of a whole sector to another. I have to speak with the--"
"Ma'am, look!"
Much to her displeasure, she tried to composed herself and planned on talking to the Sector Leader so they could talk to a Sector Leader from a higher sector for the permission to evacuate all the people of this sector to it, when one of her female subordinates interrupted her. She looked at the screen and gasped when she saw the centipede writhed in the air as if it was in pain.
Then she peered her eyes for a moment and saw small orb-like glittering objects that swirled around the body of the centipede. It ripped through it's body and carapace as if they were nothing before those glittering objects crumbled into golden mists.
"Phew... controlling those was a lot harder than gold but... I think I know how I can beat it!"
Mirielle tried to processed what was happening, but the words of Selena on the other side of the screen was followed immediately by the skies being covered by darkness.
It was when they tried to look at it through their overview observers above the limit of their artificial biosphere, she finally knew what she was looking at. It was gold, but different. A humongous gold pillar the same size as the one she created awhile ago, but this one had a brilliance of an otherworldly light. It shimmered with an ephemeral aura of gold, and despite not being there, she could feel the sense of mystic from it's visage.
"Orichalcum!?" Mirielle screamed out in shock.
An Orichalcum Pillar with 5,000ft (1,524m) and a 10km² length was falling above, and that centipede didn't have enough time as she increased the speed of descent of this orihalcum with her control over gold.
Mirielle couldn't believe it. Orichalcum, while not rare on Society Sphere itself, was a rare commodity on lower sectors. Even Sector 200 considered it a valuable commodity. Each gram already costs a million credits.
That Orichalcum was simply created by her. It was rare for someone to be able to create Magical Objects, and Orichalcum was one of those useful metals that were used on many things like Purification Cannons. This alone raised Selena's value at Society Sphere, moreso than just creating gold.
"I read it... Orichalcum originated from gold and later turned into that due to magic right? I thought if it was gold, then I might be able to create it... and I'm glad it succeeded!" As if answering her doubts within her mind, Selena started muttering that and they heard as their call was still connected to her phone.
Mirielle vaguely recalled that little tidbit. She thought it wasn't really useful, though now it helped the star of St. Angela's Academy to achieve another breakthrough on her power.
"... She was leagues above me... a true genius!" Mirielle felt somewhat envious, and at the same time amazed at the girl who simply broke through her own conceived notions and continue to evolved with her powers.
They heard the screeched of the centipede as it tried to burn the descending Orichalcum pillar, though the flames barely managed to burn it. It's descent fell at a speed of a shot pistol bullet, and the force behind it along with the esoteric nature of the pillar affected the centipede that tried to thrashed around.
It never managed to escape and fell to the ground where it was splattered as it's barrier and carapace that was immune to anything mundane was destroyed by this pillar. The wake on the ground further cracked, before it sunk onto itself as the pillar buried itself deep. Smoke spread through the whole destroyed district, though half of the pillar was still visible from the smog.
Everyone was silent for a few moments as they watched this historical scene, before slowly Mirielle stood up straight and spoke.
"The Dragon Centipede... is no more...!"
It vanished from her senses, and only the lifeless husks of it's body remained. Which meant it was undeniably dead.
With her words, the silence slowly turned into relieved, before a single holler and a scream of joy started the people to cheer within the Observatory.
On their screen was the young blonde girl who stood above the skies with a golden platform as her foothold. A bead of sweat forming on her face as she crossed her arms and looked down with a smile both proud but strained.
'Selena Zephes... you might be one of the strongest A Rank that I saw...' Mirielle muttered. She knew that with this feat, Selena's fame would spread far and wide.
For good and bad reasons!
Petroleum was made as her power considered it as gold, and it covered the whole body of the centipede. She planned to burn it with it's own flames, though the purple flames worked differently than normal flame. They magically burned the highly flammable gas as if they were paper. They too were burnt to ashes despite being originally liquid.
Next, she rained down five meter tall golden spikes around it by the millions above and below it's relative position. She pelted it with countless amount of these golden spikes that moved at supersonic speeds. She specifically targeted the gaps and joints, and even it's mouth with these supersonic rain of golden destruction. Though they were easily burned, and those that managed to hit it doesn't affect it other than caused it to thrashed angrily.
The golden spikes that were broken were instantly repaired through her own enhanced senses and complete control over everything gold, and they kept returning to the centipede only to bounced off or crumble again from it's magically enhanced carapace. Even as she touched the whole air and decided to turn the whole oxygen itself into gold particles, air wasn't an issue to the centipede. Which meant suffocation wasn't an answer to it.
She thought of another solution, which was to touch the centipede and turn it into gold. Though there was the problem of actually getting closer to it. She doesn't know if the flames can instantly burn her or not, and she didn't want to risk it. Even if her whole body was being empowered by the amount of gold that she was creating on this battlefield, she wasn't sure if her enhanced speed was enough to touch it and turn it into gold before she was burned from it's everlasting violet flames.
The centipede tried to ram here with it's body that produced violet flames on each gaps and every tip of it's limbs on it's body, though she was faster than it. If it moved as fast as a speeding car, then she moved hundred times faster than it. Which meant they were in a stalemate.
Fortunately, the centipede became concentrated on her so she kept leading it around the battlefield. Though she was getting exhausted. Stamina and mental power wasn't included on her empowerment through the presence of gold, and while she have a lot of power to spare, she was getting fed up with this monster.
"You're too tenacious! Why won't you die!" She grunted as she made a whole castle made of gold and sped up it's descent above it.
The golden castle crumbled, before it was burned easily by the flames around it's body. Selena stopped for a moment above the skies. She clicked her tongue as she looked down at the centipede that moved it's head for a moment before it pointed it's head at her direction.
'I've used everything I can think of. Is there no way I can beat this monster?' Her face contorted in dismay. She wasn't satisfied with this outcome. An idea came to her mind, but she immediately shook her head. 'No, that might destroy this whole sector...'
She knew she could do more. She could create a gold block that encompassed the whole sector, which currently covered 512,000km² of land, most of it possible due to their spatial expansion technology. Though as she thought, it would include every citizens of this sector if she ever tried that. She might acquire ultimate power through that gold alone, but she have no plans to destroy her home city along with it.
She saw the A Rank Outsider moved on her way, though she simply distracted it by continuously pelting it with golden spikes that she half-consciously creating as she moved away from it and circled around it on the air. She was close to using her phone and looking up on the internet for more vague gold-related facts when her phone rung. Then it showed the symbol of an eye commonly seen on hieroglyphics, which was the symbol used for Observers and the Bureau of Observation.
"Ms. Zephes. This is Mirielle Lastismun, the Observer of this Sector. I was calling to notify you that our Purification Cannon, Claiomh Solais has been prepared and ready for firing. Please take a two hundred meters distance away from it for safety precautions."
"Claiomh Solais!? I thought we only have Excalibur!?" Selena exclaimed.
Her surprised was obvious. She knew of Purification Cannons. Their Sector Leader and the relevant people at the Sector Management always flaunted it on television, social medias, and even blogs. Specifically, they always hyped up their newest defensive technology called the Purification Cannon Excalibur. They claimed it was the latest version of Purification Cannon, and it would protect all the citizens.
Purification Cannons were absolute when it came to extinguishing Outsiders. She saw it mostly used as a plot device for most movies, and read it on documentaries how it saved many sectors time and time again. Excalibur was the only Purification Cannon she knew, so she was surprised to hear of another one.
"That Purification Cannon was owned by the Sector Leader. We have no control of that. This one personally came from my family. As it came from my own wallet, it only have a limited charge on it. Though I think it was enough to take down the Dragon Centipede." Selena was in awe. She 'ooh-ed' in amazement after she heard that.
She knew of Observers, but doesn't know how they worked. The only knowledge she got from them was that they acted as the eyes of each Sectors, and were the first to respond for any threats to a sector. Mirielle gave her an impression of a really rich person from a higher sector. To order a Purification Cannon, she thought it was impossible.
"Does it have any difference than Excalibur?" She wondered outloud. Curious about it.
"We are still in preparation phase, and it wasn't that much of a secret anyway, so I'll tell you." She nodded as she maintained her distance at the centipede. "Excalibur used many things, but the main components of it's bullet are the Fairy Dusts, and Mithril. They are hard to come by, and costs a lot. Even I can barely afford it. As for Claiomh Solais, it only needs a single thing to operate. That was Orichalcum!"
Selena knew of those objects. They were extremely expensive which was reasonable as they were Magical Objects. Magical Objects was a term used for any objects that contained the First Outside Element within it, or Mana for simplicity's sake. These Magical Objects were processed through a specialized process, which made it 'Safe' for human use.
Popular Magical Objects were Mithril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, Fairy Dust, Mandragora, Magic Orb, Magic Tome, Parts of a monster, etc. They were incredibly useful for higher sectors, though they need a specialized way of handling and processing before they could be used on mass-production and other industrialized procession.
Sector 254 doesn't have anyone who specialized on those kind of jobs, so Selena wasn't knowledgeable about those esoteric objects. She only knew they were amazing, and that they were important for Society Sphere.
"That sounds... amazing I think?" She was confused. "Wait, let me look Orichalcum first..." She became curious and was already bored as she was only dodging the monster while it tried to catch up to her.
Her eyes widened when she looked at the appearance of the Orichalcum. Though before she could fully realized it within her thoughts, Mirielle interrupted her.
"If that was all, then please keep your distance as stated awhile ago. The cannon is ready to fire for a moment now."
Selena stared blankly at the skies for a moment, before she nodded. She returned the tab of her phone to the home, while the call was still on the background. A plan was forming on her mind just in case.
Mirielle felt like coughing blood at the invoice she got digitally. She might have the selfless desires of a hero, but she was also used to the vain life of a rich person from this poor land. The amount of credits she had to pay was on the twenty one digits. Those were a large amount of Orichalcum after all.
'I have to make this one count!' She glared at the screen, and then ordered her subordinates to connect her to the team that were specifically sent here along with the Purification Cannon to operate it. Each Purification Cannon were operated differently, so those that manned the Excalibur were useless for this.
She only have three shots. That was the total amount of Orichalcum charges that they got for Claiomh Solais.
"Listen, I will state the coordinates of your shots. Carefully listen to me and shoot it when I said so." She said to the other side, before she unveiled her full power.
Her Spatial Awareness was incredibly potent. While it wasn't specialized on combat, it might as well be if she have any artillery weapon on her command. Her senses expanded on the whole sector, and if not for the contained artificial biosphere, it might have expanded more. Then she focused the image of the centipede that she marked through the feeds on their screen, before she started to fully concentrate on that centipede alone.
Her Spatial Awareness doesn't just worked as a radar, it also have it's other uses. One of it was sensing spatial distortions or anomalies, another of it was the capability to mark those she sensed and categorize them with names or whatever nickname she could think of. By marking them, even without expanding her senses, she would still know the exact location of the one she marked. Unless they left the vicinity of her range, which was a whole sector.
There was another aspect to her power, and that was the capability to predict the future of those she marked at the immediate future. At least on the next ten seconds, she knew where they would go. Predicting beyond those ten seconds would affect the accuracy of her prediction.
She doesn't need a slight inaccuracy. She needed an accurate prediction right now.
She saw it, the vague interpretation of it's next move and where it would be relatively positioned within her senses. She begun to type on her terminal, and sent it on the other side.
"Follow those coordinates, and shoot at the count of zero!"
With her declaration, she begun her countdown.
"Three!"
Selena's figure kept blurring and popping on one place to the other. The Dragon Centipede was left like a headless chicken. It moved around in an erratic manner to catch up to her.
"Two!"
On an unused plot of land five thousand miles away from that district, a seventy five meter black cannon with a design eerily similar to modern artillery, but have an added blue glowing symbols around it pointed on the direction where the battle was happening. All three bullets were loaded within a square compartment on it's side.
A few distance away at the cannon, there were people in full outfit reminiscent of a swat uniform with their palette being only black stood around on a set of tables and computers. Some of them were sitting and busily typing on their computers.
All of these people and the Purification Cannon itself came here through the teleportation services. One of the most expensive services in Society Sphere.
"One!"
The muzzle of the cannon lit up. An indicator of different numbers, letters, and a large number three was displayed in a holographic panel above the cannon.
"Zero!"
And as the words left the Observer's mouth, the one that was working on the center of these people pushed the enter button on their computer.
As soon as he did that, a single thunderclap resounded. A light beam pierced through the air and goes straight at the centipede at light speed. Despite only a single booming sound, all three has already been shot simultaneously. These three orihalcum bullets then separated into three slightly different directions. This happened in a single instant.
The next time Mirielle blinked, she saw three light beams pierced the body of the Dragon Centipede. It specifically hit upper mass, center mass, and lower mass of it's body. They were pierced, and the magical barrier that protected it from extreme harm was ignored by the Purification Cannon.
It's body was damaged. There were three large holes that formed on it's body. It's lower half was even cut. Though despite the great damage that could be considered fatal for a third party observing it, Mirielle widened her eyes not out of joy, but in horror.
"No! It missed!"
It wasn't the fault of the mechanic. Rather, it was her own fault. The others gasped when they heard her exclaim.
'This is a blunder! I should have thought this through! That was the abnormality that managed to hide from my senses!' She gritted her teeth, her fist clenched. She have an urged to slap herself for this.
Her prediction was a bit off. It wasn't supposed to hit upper mass, but rather it's head. Dragon Centipede won't die if only it's body was destroyed. It won't even die if it's head was destroyed. Dragon Centipede were tenacious enough that they needed to be crushed or dealt multiple fatal blows at the same time, with the head being crushed a specific requirement, before it could be considered dead.
Along with it's durability, there was another specific capability that it had. It was displaying that by it's flesh slowly mending as if in a time lapse. Nerves and bones grow on it at rapid pace, though it was slow if seen by afar due to it's size. Still, it would only take a few minutes before it fully recovered.
"No way... this isn't happening..." Mirielle fell to her knees, despair laced her very expression.
There was nothing they could do. The Dragon Centipede would recover soon, and then it would continue destroying the sector. Selena can't damaged it despite everything she tried to do, and there were no more help that would come due to their Sector Leader refusing to help, and the Awakened Offices that could actually helped from higher sectors refusing due to arrogance and elitism.
"... I apologize. We should begin the mass evacuation of a whole sector to another. I have to speak with the--"
"Ma'am, look!"
Much to her displeasure, she tried to composed herself and planned on talking to the Sector Leader so they could talk to a Sector Leader from a higher sector for the permission to evacuate all the people of this sector to it, when one of her female subordinates interrupted her. She looked at the screen and gasped when she saw the centipede writhed in the air as if it was in pain.
Then she peered her eyes for a moment and saw small orb-like glittering objects that swirled around the body of the centipede. It ripped through it's body and carapace as if they were nothing before those glittering objects crumbled into golden mists.
"Phew... controlling those was a lot harder than gold but... I think I know how I can beat it!"
Mirielle tried to processed what was happening, but the words of Selena on the other side of the screen was followed immediately by the skies being covered by darkness.
It was when they tried to look at it through their overview observers above the limit of their artificial biosphere, she finally knew what she was looking at. It was gold, but different. A humongous gold pillar the same size as the one she created awhile ago, but this one had a brilliance of an otherworldly light. It shimmered with an ephemeral aura of gold, and despite not being there, she could feel the sense of mystic from it's visage.
"Orichalcum!?" Mirielle screamed out in shock.
An Orichalcum Pillar with 5,000ft (1,524m) and a 10km² length was falling above, and that centipede didn't have enough time as she increased the speed of descent of this orihalcum with her control over gold.
Mirielle couldn't believe it. Orichalcum, while not rare on Society Sphere itself, was a rare commodity on lower sectors. Even Sector 200 considered it a valuable commodity. Each gram already costs a million credits.
That Orichalcum was simply created by her. It was rare for someone to be able to create Magical Objects, and Orichalcum was one of those useful metals that were used on many things like Purification Cannons. This alone raised Selena's value at Society Sphere, moreso than just creating gold.
"I read it... Orichalcum originated from gold and later turned into that due to magic right? I thought if it was gold, then I might be able to create it... and I'm glad it succeeded!" As if answering her doubts within her mind, Selena started muttering that and they heard as their call was still connected to her phone.
Mirielle vaguely recalled that little tidbit. She thought it wasn't really useful, though now it helped the star of St. Angela's Academy to achieve another breakthrough on her power.
"... She was leagues above me... a true genius!" Mirielle felt somewhat envious, and at the same time amazed at the girl who simply broke through her own conceived notions and continue to evolved with her powers.
They heard the screeched of the centipede as it tried to burn the descending Orichalcum pillar, though the flames barely managed to burn it. It's descent fell at a speed of a shot pistol bullet, and the force behind it along with the esoteric nature of the pillar affected the centipede that tried to thrashed around.
It never managed to escape and fell to the ground where it was splattered as it's barrier and carapace that was immune to anything mundane was destroyed by this pillar. The wake on the ground further cracked, before it sunk onto itself as the pillar buried itself deep. Smoke spread through the whole destroyed district, though half of the pillar was still visible from the smog.
Everyone was silent for a few moments as they watched this historical scene, before slowly Mirielle stood up straight and spoke.
"The Dragon Centipede... is no more...!"
It vanished from her senses, and only the lifeless husks of it's body remained. Which meant it was undeniably dead.
With her words, the silence slowly turned into relieved, before a single holler and a scream of joy started the people to cheer within the Observatory.
On their screen was the young blonde girl who stood above the skies with a golden platform as her foothold. A bead of sweat forming on her face as she crossed her arms and looked down with a smile both proud but strained.
'Selena Zephes... you might be one of the strongest A Rank that I saw...' Mirielle muttered. She knew that with this feat, Selena's fame would spread far and wide.
For good and bad reasons!
This was supposed to be a short chapter... and it got long because I got incredibly excited at writing this... sorry for the late update.
By the way, Orihalcum in this story will originate on gold. Mithril on silver. Then Adamantite on platinum. I just thought it would be neat if I do it like that. (This idea has been inspired by a certain Isekai novel that I read a year ago...)
As for the size of the whole Sector 254, yes it was that absurd. The population of each Sector was absurd, though as they got to higher sectors, fewer people lives on it.
This also meant that lower sectors have more people living in it than higher sectors, with Sector 255 having the highest one. Sector 254 have an approximately 512 million citizens. Make of that as you will.
I was still building the world as it is, but I have a solid idea how the whole Society Sphere works.
I hope you have fun with this chapter too!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
By the way, Orihalcum in this story will originate on gold. Mithril on silver. Then Adamantite on platinum. I just thought it would be neat if I do it like that. (This idea has been inspired by a certain Isekai novel that I read a year ago...)
As for the size of the whole Sector 254, yes it was that absurd. The population of each Sector was absurd, though as they got to higher sectors, fewer people lives on it.
This also meant that lower sectors have more people living in it than higher sectors, with Sector 255 having the highest one. Sector 254 have an approximately 512 million citizens. Make of that as you will.
I was still building the world as it is, but I have a solid idea how the whole Society Sphere works.
I hope you have fun with this chapter too!~
If you want to support me, you can go to my Kofi account here.
Thank you for reading this!~♪
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We're talking about a lot of credits here... and Selena can create Orichalcum at will, with barely any limits. Talk about OP! The power of an A Rank, indeed.
Selena: "You can keep it, Miss Mirielle! It should cover the cost of those three shots, and then some. Consider it your reward, for going beyond your duty to help my district. Hmm... Should I rebuild the Golden District using gold, or Orichalcum?"
Mirielle: O_O
The System: "We can basically do whatever we want with her, for the Greater Good. She doesn't get to choose anymore, this is too important now. Besides, Selena is just an impressionable and inexperienced young girl... What could she possibly do to oppose us?"
*Some time (and Aizu shenanigans) later...*
The System: "What do you mean, Sector 254 has declared Independence?!"
- Location
- Oregon, USA
>people who can create magical materials are really rare
MC: ???
MC: ???