Apocalypse Redux - Chapter 300: Let’s Bloody GO!

For most of human history, there’d been two kinds of scientific discoveries.

The first was when people kept chipping away at a problem, envisioning the final result and continuing to work to get closer to it. The airplane, for example. The Wright brothers had wanted to fly, so they’d built prototype after prototype until something worked.

The second, meanwhile, was all about accidents. Alexander Fleming’s accidental mixing of microorganisms had given the world Pennicilin, and Louis Pasteur had discovered the foundation of vaccination by leaving a cholera culture out while on vacation and then had chickens exposed to the weakened strain survive a supposedly lethal strain of the same disease.

But nowadays, there was a third.

The “I already know everything but need to find a way to share that information” game was somewhat annoying, sure, but could be incredibly gratifying if pulled off successfully.

And today was going to be a fantastic day … if everything went well.

“We’ll want to be really careful with this one,” Isaac warned, “If the Walking Mountain tears its way out of the ground during its appearance, we’ll want to make sure nothing structural gets broken.”

Of course, that was exactly how the creature’s appearance would go, it was very rough on the environment, and having a huge chunk taken out of Etzel’s summoning area would not go over well.

No one would blame Isaac or Bailey for the mess, finding out what happened during the summoning was the whole point of this exercise, but it would still not be great if the whole area got trashed. Expenses, expense reports, the time required to actually fix the mess … much easier to just take a whole bunch of unnecessary precautions to cover the necessary one and then go from there.

They’d already piled a massive mountain of rock and gravel onto the summoning platform to fuel the creature’s growth, as well as added shock absorbers into the concrete underfoot, and loosened some of the connectors to the main island. That way, if something broke, this part of Etzel would smoothly tear away and be easy to replace, instead of leaving behind ragged chunks and other crap that would make reconstruction a pain.

The honor of fighting this first beast would go to the Bundeswehr, not the team, as several of them already fought Tier 10s during the TheGolem incident. And a little behind-the-scenes gladhanding had turned this part of the process into a chance for the German military to show off a little. Overall, the assumption was that there were no supremely nasty, Tier-specific surprises contained in regular monsters the same way there were in [Raid Bosses], which would hopefully make this whole affair somewhat safe.

And then, things went like clockwork. The circle precariously balanced atop the rubble was charged by Patrick, who then flew up high to remove himself from the monster’s likely reach, and finally, when signaled, triggered the summoning.

A massive crystal manifested above the circle and fell into the ground, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire as someone tried to spawn-kill the bugger. Too bad.

The massive mountain rumbled, arms and legs forming as the titanic beast rose, almost a kilometer tall. A kilometer-tall monster with a single weak spot within, barely a meter across. Assimilating new materials, ones not caught in the first body formation, was a slower process than the initial manifestation, but it was possible. If you didn’t kill this fucker outright, it’d be just fine after an hour.

“Do you want a firing solution for the core?” Isaac leaned over to the artillery officer he was standing next to.

“Can you pass it along via the party?”

“Yep,” Isaac said and did so. With over half of Germany’s S-Rankers nearby, it wasn’t like anyone was going to imagine there hadn’t been any help going on.

The Walking Mountain charged towards the nearest lines of battle, only to take an armor-piercing shell to the knee, where it detonated and caused the monster to fall with an earth-shaking crash.

Grenades and heavily enhanced bullets began to chip away at the beast’s body, taking chunks out of joints and cracking the exterior shell.

At the same time, the core zipped around like a panicked pinball, evading heavy artillery shells that penetrated deeply into the torso. Massive boulders began to fall as the holes slammed shut with loud crunches, leaving behind a whole but slimmer monster.

The artillery officer next to Isaac began barking orders, altering the firing solution in an attempt to box in the Mountain’s Heart. Didn’t work, sadly.

And then, half a dozen bunker-buster missiles speared the monster’s back, rock ballooning outwards for a brief second before the force of the detonation overwhelming the Mountain’s ability to keep itself together.

Isaac watched the Heart slide through the cloud of dust and debris until it was hiding down in the titanic golem’s knee … at which point another artillery salvo blew apart the leg below it, leaving the most important body part trapped in a stone chunk in mid-air, unable to move very far.

In the end, it was a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher that cracked the last line of defense as the artillery was still reloading, but after that, blowing apart the crystal was achieved with a simple assault rifle.

The monster was dead, and cleanup was someone else’s job.

A few minutes later, the recently promoted Brigadegeneral Gram came marching onto the artillery deck, rubbing his ear, “I just got new orders, we’re not repeating this with the Walking Mountain, I just got off with the …”

What followed was an annoyingly long-winded explanation that he’d been ordered to pass along about how they’d just set off a whole bunch of seismographs, which in turn passed on a whole lot of earthquake warnings, and triggered an ass-ton of automated emergency alert systems … which no one had thought to turn off. Every civilian within several hundred kilometers getting spammed with earthquake announcements wasn’t exactly a good thing.

Isaac was perfectly fine with stopping things there, they’d gotten decent readings on the monster’s Stats, figured out the overall power tendency for Tier 10 based on their samples, and so on, but a lot of the people around him were pretty annoyed. This was supposed to have been the Bundeswehr’s hour of glory, after all.

“Let’s repair the area, and move on to the [Raid Bosses] while they get the alerts fixed,” Isaac suggested, “We can go ahead with the regular monsters once we’re no longer spamming anyone with alerts.”

It took an hour or so to set things up for the first proper Tier 9 [Raid Boss]. This summoning had been delayed for a while due to a little snafu on the other side of the Atlantic.

The US had a habit of summoning [Raid Bosses], photographing them, and then nuking them to kingdom come. That worked perfectly fine … until it didn’t. With regular monsters, there were some limits.

For example, the Walking Mountain might have been able to survive a single surface-detonated nuke, if said bomb was on the small side.

But when it came to the [Raid Bosses], once you hit Tier 9, no single nuke would suffice.

Eh, a Tsar Bomb might do the trick.

But the point was that what used to work had failed spectacularly this time around, with the entire base being evacuated and nuked down to the bedrock. After that little disaster, the Bundeswehr had been understandably leery of letting Isaac and co. play with that Tier of bosses.

Still, the one good thing that had come out of the whole thing was that now, Isaac didn’t need to worry about warning people about the fact that these fuckers came with minions.

***

The standard Demon Lord at Tier 9 was just thirty meters tall, barely half the size of its predecessors, but a hell of a lot stronger and due to its lesser size, agile as fuck. Throw in the ludicrous amount of magical firepower and its infernal legions and the Greater Demon Lord was a big step up from its Tier 8 predecessor.

Two bull’s horns rose into the sky while those of a ram curled down either side of its head, ivory-white just like its claws and fangs, starkly silhouetted on almost black skin.

White-outlined black fire curled around the Demon as it charged towards the nearest collection of soldiers while over a dozen imps popped into existence from short-lived portals.

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Those little shits were taken care of in seconds, precise gunshots blowing them to bits, but the big guy stayed up, obviously.

A gunshot rent the air as Müller fired, recoil sending him sliding across the floor of his sniper’s nest with enough speed to create skid marks.

But his 5th Evolution [Right Hand of the Reaper] could dish out a ludicrous amount of damage, all condensed into a single bullet that would have torn apart almost any rifle it came out of. All save the soulbound, masterwork, weapon that lay in his hands.

The Demon’s right eye detonated as the bullet hit it like a sledgehammer, tore clean through the beast’s brain, and blew through the back of its skull.

Being a [Raid Boss], that wound obviously didn’t stop it, but it was more than enough to give Isaac an opening. Stumbling, moving predictably, it was the perfect target for Isaac to blast straight through the second eye with [I Am The Sword].

And that’s when things went a little off-track. Unexpectedly, this damage was enough to kill the monster for the first time, which meant that by the time Isaac hit the floor on its other side amidst a spray of blood and gore, the Demon Lord had fully regenerated. And when a Tier 9 [Raid Boss] hit its second health bar, it didn’t just get access to stronger minions, but it went right ahead and summoned a massive swarm of them right off the bat.

At fifteen meters tall and utterly packed with muscle, the new supporting monsters were a threat to be reckoned with. But what made them a hell of a lot worse was the fact now, Isaac was standing right in the middle of a dozen of them while the others tried to hold back the once-more charging Demon Lord, which was going straight at the biggest concentration of enemies while ignoring him.

The eye Müller had shot out remained gone, one of his [Skills] ensuring the injury persisted, but it was making sure to keep the other safe by covering it in a shield of hellfire.

Patrick blew out one knee with his custom-built [Titan’s Bane] spell, while Amy combined the magic of every caster around her into a singular attack to obliterate its other leg.

The Demon’s response was to just cut loose with its flames, the ground underfoot beginning to first melt, then boil, whips of flame lashing out and tearing huge gaps out of the surrounding wall, huge gouts of fire sweeping across formations and forcing soldiers to scatter where there were no mages to throw up shields.

At the end of the day, Tier 9 monsters could be between Level 121 and Level 150, and it was facing eight S-Rankers well into the 5th Evolution, each with at least twenty, likely thirty, Levels on it. 5th Evolution people fought Tier 10 monsters, everything else was just a joke to them.

And that wasn’t even mentioning that the best of the Bundeswehr, both in terms of men and material, was also hammering away at the boss.

But Isaac was currently sitting in the middle of a dozen minions, all of which had decided that he was looking particularly punchable while generating a shield that would have protected the boss if it had stayed put.

Isaac grinned. Someone had just volunteered for a beatdown.

[Aspects of the End] activated, powered not just by [Speed of Hati], but his freshly purchased [Power of the Behemoth]. The power draw would double for every additional [Sub-Skill] he activated, but he could afford it at the moment.

Of course, if he’d had another month to Level, he’d have gotten the third and final sub-[Skill] he wanted, but would that really have made too big a difference against this thing?

With just one boost burning through his available power, there was nothing obvious going on, but with two, visible signs appeared. A soft white glow outlined him, something Isaac assumed was from [Speed of Hati], but he knew that underneath his armor, his muscles burned red, baleful light radiating from inside, making him appear as though he were on the precipice of exploding.

A stomp onto the air itself launched him skywards, and a kick pushed him straight at a monster’s chest. And then, he swung his sword. No [Strikes] to support it, no flames to enhance its damage potential, just raw power.

Balmung carved through the demon’s chest and as it parted flesh, the force of the attack radiated outwards, cleaving the massive monster in half.

Another kick, against the falling skull, this time, and he was in front of the second monster.

This time, Isaac summoned his Giant Sword, the one he used to never wield since it was too heavy for him to balance with.

Not this time.

Power of the Behemoth (Subskill of Aspects of the End)

The mightiest beast of the land, the Behemoth. Eternal, immortal, unstoppable (at least to those whose power does not match those of the gods).

This is the power that this Skill grants.

While it is active, the bearer’s every footstep can make the very Earth shake and shatter the ground with a single stomp, his every punch creates storms and a single sweep of a sword creates a shockwave to cleave mountains in twain.

But there is more to this Skill than merely brute force. While it is active, it fundamentally alters the way the bearer can apply his physical force.

As long as there is a physical medium to transmit them, the shockwaves caused by the user’s movements can be directed and precisely carry along the attack. A fist of air that hits an enemy a hundred meters away from a punch thrown into empty space, a blade of compressed air unleashed by a simple sword-swipe that can bisect mountains, and a simple stomp can shatter underground structures without having to cause an entire earthquake.

In addition, when grasping an object, this Skill will help compensate for such things as balance, center of gravity, or structural integrity.

When Isaac swung the blade almost three times his weight, he didn’t go flying, he didn’t start spinning madly through the air, he just swung as he fell past the beast and split its skull.

Three more steps into the air put him above the monsters, half a dozen Giant Swords manifesting underneath him. He kicked each of them at the back of the hilt, [Power of the Behemoth] ensuring nothing went spinning off into nowhere, tearing through the demons.

Seven down, five left.

Isaac flipped over, letting himself fall face-forward, repeatedly kicking out skywards to accelerate.

And just the test out his new limits, he decided to forego his weapons and just punched the demon as he crashed into its face. Instead of breaking his hand, wrist, or even his entire arm, the attack transferred the force of his attack without transmitting any back, messily decapitating the eight’s demon.

Another kick, and he was in front of number nine.

Clapping his hands, he unleashed a shockwave that made the monster flinch, but that was basically all. Ok, there was blood leaking into one of its eyeballs, but for the most part, the monster was fine.

So, that particular trick wasn’t quite what Isaac had hoped it’d be.

Isaac kicked himself away from the monster while lazily projecting another slash into the beast’s face, cutting open both eyes.

Numbers ten, eleven and twelve didn’t take much longer.

While he’d been busy with the ads, the others had finished off the boss. Nice.

Dripping blood and utterly filthy, Isaac made his way towards where everyone was standing for debrief.

It should be fine, but where he saw a problem was that this had all been a little too easy. They’d been too powerful for the monster, and he really, really hoped no one would think that Tier 10 [Raid Bosses] would be as easy to beat.

Then again, the regular Tier 10 had caused earthquake warnings just by dropping dead, you’d have to be especially stupid to think that the boss-variants would be easy.

All in all, today had been a good day.

And during the fight, Isaac had managed to get [Aspects of the End] to Level 10.

Aspects of the End (legendary)

The End Times. Armageddon. The Rapture. Judgement Day. Ragnarök. The End of Days … and everything else.

Be it the impact of a gigantic meteor, divine judgment, or celestial wars, there are things out there with the ability to destroy worlds. Nothing is safe from such power.

Yet it is power that can be used to prevent such calamity from coming about. Blow up the asteroid, broker peace between divine factions (if your sword isn’t at someone’s throat, they won’t listen), or maybe just poke out the eye of the chaos god about to devour the planet (something that is within the abilities of your Class as long as you play your cards right), if you dare.

And such power is what this Skill can give you. In its base form, it will merely boost you, doubling your physical Stats and quadrupling your Mana Regeneration while active, stacking (additively) with other boosting Skills.

However, this is merely the beginning of what this Skill can achieve. It can be upgraded to achieve specific things, to harness the power of certain world-ending beings.

The ancient bird who is so old it’s seen the universe end three times over, the snake that swallows the sun to bring about eternal darkness, the biblical sea beast, or maybe even the dragon that is unleashed upon the world on the heels of the four Horsemen. By drawing upon the power of these mighty beings, even telling a dark god where to shove it is not necessarily off the table.

Upon purchase of this Skill, one such aspect will be gained for free (chosen aspect: Speed of Hati), each subsequent aspect must be purchased separately (five Skill points).

This Skill can only be activated for a certain span of time every day, but that time can be distributed across the day however the user wants. This time pool refreshes fully exactly twenty-four hours after the time pool was first used.

Your time pool is calculated as ten seconds per Level in this Skill.

If multiple Aspects of the End are used concurrently, time use is doubled for each one used beyond the original one.

By slaying a monster of the end times, you may gain a lesser version of its power, weaker than one of the various upgrades that can be purchased for Aspects of the End, but still significant. Should the associated ability have already been purchased, the weaker power is not gained. Furthermore, each unique monster of apocalyptic power killed by the user will increase the time pool by 10 seconds.

In addition, at the cost of five seconds, the user may supercharge a single blow to inflict devastating damage.

Time Pool 43/100

Synergy effect: Undying Wraith

The time pool of Aspects of the End can be used to also supercharge Aspects, taking their Skills to new heights. Regeneration that fixes limbs in milliseconds, phasing that allows even mana to pass through without causing damage (within reason), and more can be achieved.

Its power increase was small, but potent. When facing an actual boss instead of just one of its supporting monsters, the ability to temporarily but massively increase his attack power would be incredibly useful.

And he’d definitely get the chance to try it out. After all, they could keep fighting [Raid Bosses] here until someone told them to stop or they ran out of cooldown [Skills]. Or something went horribly wrong elsewhere.