Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 153: Confronting The Impossible

To his surprise, he wasn't pursued by the wielder of lightning, instead Sirius remained in the same spot, looking at him as if waiting for him to approach once again.

"Replication," Finn invoked.

Taking the freedom given to him by the confident figure, he prepared himself as his doppelganger emerged from the shadows. He didn't stop there, pushing the limits higher–

["Phantom"] [4:59]

["Phantom"]

For both himself and his copy, a shadow-born replication was summoned, increasing his own number to four. Using the advantage of numbers, along with having a complete understanding and connection to the aspects of himself, they all dispersed, taking different sides around the God of Heroes.

He sprinted along with his replications, constantly circling around the unmoving figure with enough speed to begin to blur. As he picked up such swiftness, he went further–

The two phantoms of himself also used ["Replication"], and thus did the subsequent clones, producing a total of eight versions of the assassin. As the many aspects of himself sprinted circles across the glassy sky, Finn felt his heartbeat elevating as his head throbbed.

'Eight is the limit I can sustain right now…Any more, and I'll risk hurting myself,' he thought, breathing out.

All the while he continued his confusing sprint with his copies, he readied himself, setting his eyes on the Storm King–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

["Blink Slash"]["Blink Slash"]["Blink Slash"]["Blink Slash"]

["Blink Slash"]["Blink Slash"]["Blink Slash"]

In unison, each aspect of the assassin warped to Sirius with visceral intent. So many coming in at many directions all at once, even so–

"Gah!--"

He found himself thrown back the instant he warped over, once more having the air knocked out of his lungs before landing on his feet. It was too fast to perceive, though he witnessed each of his copies be dispersed by the display of force.

'Having so many doppelgangers means they can't exactly take a hit…but what even was that? It felt like a wave of electricity expanded, though I only saw it for a split-second, maybe,' he considered.

Once again, he found himself staring at the man who had not taken a single step from the position he had confronted him in.

"I can tell you've grown a whole lot since I last saw you. Still, it doesn't change a thing–this isn't a fight you can win, Finn," Sirius said without arrogance, as if administering bad news to a patient.

It was taken as a provocation to the ears of the assassin. Perhaps it wasn't his fault directly, but he saw the God of Heroes' very existence as the reason for the deaths of Magnus and Nova.

"Let me make it clear to you," Sirius threatened.

The swirl of clear clouds darkened with a gloomy complexion as flashes of dark-purple thunder flickered within the fractured sky. As the radiance of daytime darkened with a storm, Sirius' magenta eyes heightened into a slight glow as a coalescence of lightning gathered around him.

Just standing there was a challenge as Finn tried to plant his feet down against the glass, holding his arm up as the unruly winds pushed against him.

'The air–it's electrified. Every breath I take is stinging my lungs,' he thought, tasting the divine lightning against his tongue as it shocked the inside of his mouth.

As he tried his best to straighten himself out amidst the sudden storm, he witnessed the lightning-clad hero vanish from his view. In that split-second, not attempting to track that imperceivable speed, he instead focused on defending himself–

["Impervious"] [4:59]

–An impact surged against his body no more than a thousandth of a second after his body was reinforced. What he discovered was the thunderous figure with his fist slammed against his chest, unmoving from his single moment of absolute invincibility.

Even Sirius looked somewhat surprised by it as the remnants of the lightning-infused strike scattered across the sky with a hiss. Nonetheless, he could see that it wasn't the end of the hero's assault–

"Replication!" He forced it from his mouth.

["Impervious"]

Once more, he clad his body just as the grandiose figure vanished before his presence was replaced by a calamity of lightning. All he could see was blinding, magenta light; a tidal wave of the divine force swept across him.

Even if he remained unharmed in that moment, it was settling in just the scale of the one he faced; the immeasurable chasm between them.

As the wave of fulmination dispersed, he quickly looked around, tracking the presence of the swift deity. Before he could replace the fleeting figure with his own eyes, he suddenly found himself dragged off his feet, being pulled straight up into the air.

"Huh–?" Finn reacted.

It only became clear to him after blinking and having the air siphoned from his lungs that the collar of his coat was in the grip of the God of Heroes, who accelerated higher into the great beyond above with him in his grasp.

"--Let me show you. There's nowhere to hide–there's nowhere safe, not in this world nor any other!" Sirius' voice boomed against his ears.

He grabbed at the arm that held him, though it felt as though he was trying to bend steel with a noodle. The air fluctuated against his ears as he kicked and punched at the figure that dragged him higher and higher, though none of it was effective.

Attempting to plunge his dagger into the chest of Sirius only brought a current of electricity to transfer from the God of Heroes' hand right into his body, causing him to seize up.

"Ngh!--" Finn struggled.

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All he could do was watch as he was dragged from the heights of the fractured sky, past the stratosphere and to the ceiling of the broken world.

'I can't…breathe–the air…I can't–!' He thought, gasping.

As he found his lungs aching for oxygen, the rapid ascent finally came to a stop as he found the sight of the fragile sky far beneath, not surrounded by a more grand view: a boundless stretch of space, as far as the eye could see.

The cosmos, in all of its daunting glory.

Yet, it was different than he imagined, though he'd never seen it firsthand before. Monuments the scale of stars hung in the reaches of space, overlooking the fragmented world; colossal heads, statues of faceless beings, encased in nebulae and crystalline growths of the cosmos.

"This is…?" Finn asked, replaceing himself somehow able to breathe.

"The Beyond," Sirius informed him, clutching his coat still as he looked up as well. "This is what lies outside our worlds–watching us, governing us, controlling us–look."

What the God of Heroes averted the assassin's attention to was what loomed over the First Order itself. Casting a shadow over the fractured planet was a being large enough to fit the world in the palm of its hand; a faceless humanoid of smooth, snow-white skin.

It hovered its hands around the sides of the world, peering down at it as its palms pressed against the surface of the planet, causing the fractures to extend.

"That…What is that?" Finn let out in quiet disbelief.

"That is the Apocalypse," Sirius answered, looking on towards the colossal entity as well. "I've tried fighting against it countless times. The truth of it is, the damn thing doesn't even notice when I attack it. Do you get it now? There's nowhere left in existence that's safe."

Seeing a being of such immeasurable scale made his stomach sink, even more so imagining that the man who dragged him up there, who dwarfed his own strength, couldn't budge it.

"I imagine one just like it is at your world. Likely just watching–for now, but the time will come when it takes action," Sirius said. "When that happens, you'll be able to do nothing to stop it."

It left him speechless before he refocused himself, turning his attention back to the one he still knew he had to defeat, "--That doesn't change what I have to do!"

Finn kicked his legs up, wrapping them around the arm that held him as he got the God of Heroes into an armbar, though it more so only seemed to annoy Sirius.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that–" Sirius told him.

As he squeezed his legs around the arm, Finn found his sight distorting as he was suddenly overtaken by overwhelming g-forces. It felt as though the skin was peeling from his face as his cheeks flapped, replaceing himself being plunged from the distorted cosmos back into the reach of the fragmented sky–

Crashing down as the one who held him descended like a bolt of lightning, he found himself tossed down by the hand of Sirius.

"Ngh!--"

He flipped himself around, replaceing at least his momentum lessened by the throw before catching himself back on the glass platform amidst the high-altitudes. Just as he found his footing, the lightning bolt crashed down, replaceing the magenta sparks dispersing around the God of Heroes.

"There's nothing left to say, is there? I've tried to be reasonable," Sirius claimed, bringing his hands together as the vibrant strands of electricity emitted between his palms. "--All that's left to do now is to fight. Like I always have."

The hostility of the divine figure was felt clearly by Finn as the air itself became electrified, lightly zapping against his body like touching a static piece of fabric.

In response, Finn regulated his breathing even as the energized oxygen shocked his lungs, focusing himself as he abandoned all other fears. All he placed his mind on was the enemy ahead; that's all he had to think about.

'I can do it–right now, right here–I have to,' he convinced himself, drawing in one more breath.

["Abyssal Agent: Hades"] [Mana: -2000] [1500/4000]