Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 187: A Delectable Reunion

In an instant, he crossed the length of the city, between countless buildings and streets without being seen even for a fraction of a moment. As his daggers returned to his grasp, he immediately caught himself on the side of an apartment complex without a single sound being made.

He blended into the shadows, peering around the street that was a story drop below, seeing if anybody was there. It was eerily quiet in the neighborhood of the district, bringing him to drop down silently.

'I'd prefer to settle this quickly and easily–alone. If I got anybody else involved, I'd only risk them being eaten by him…if it is him,'

he thought, straying from the flickering street light.

It was a residential area, it looked like, with apartments and townhouses neighboring the street. There wasn't a sound he could hear, not letting his own breaths emit a noise as he quietly lurked the street. Rather than staying on the sidewalk itself, he merged into the wall, not letting even his physical shape be glanced at.

["

Turn Shadow

"] [2:59]

'I'm not exactly sure where I should be looking. If it is Crow, then what I need to be wary of most is noticing him before he notices me–that's a challenge. He has all the gifts of an assassin, and…knows me on a deep level–that's just counting the level he was at before,'

he considered.

With steps that did not utter even a trace of sound, the breathless wind felt even more silent than himself. Every complex he passed by, he gazed at the exterior, looking for signs of struggle or the stains of bodily fluid.

Every stride forward, engulfed in the shadows where nobody could feasibly sense him, his heart rose in its rapidity. The anxiousness was deeply seated within him, knowing just what kind of person could be lurking–what kind of inhuman monster it was.

It was at the turn of the block did the sound like that of a step scraping bring him to quickly spin around, partially emerging from the darkness with his dagger drawn–

A loose piece of paper, carried by a light breeze across the street; nothing–nothing that should merit his heartbeat ascending like it did.

Before he could relax his tense self, the creaking of a door brought him to quickly turn again.

"—"

He found the door to the apartment building at the corner of the street to be open, slightly swaying back still.

'That wasn't open before, was it?'

He questioned.

With careful steps, watching the darkness that laid beyond the front doors, he walked past the metal gate of the complex. Up the short steps, he moved before stopping just at the threshold of the entrance. It was cold; against his skin, a brisk wind trickled, unable to tell if it was welcoming him or telling him to leave.

He carefully moved his foot over the threshold, placing it down on the other side as a chill ran up his leg. Just standing in that lobby, the eeriness that crawled over the olive walls like mold confirmed it for him.

'I know this feeling–the taste of death in the air. He's here…I'm certain of it now,'

he told himself.

While he was initially focused on the strange feeling in the air, his attention was brought to the sound of liquid dripping down onto the pale, tile floor. He looked up between the stairs that went up for dozens of floors of the apartments, replaceing the source of the slow drip.

"--"

It was a crimson liquid, puddling onto the ground from somewhere high within the complex. Only then did it come to his sight; the marks of red that lined the walls, unnaturally painting the wallpaper as though intentionally signaling for him to move up the stairs.

'What has he done?...This place–it reeks of death,'

he questioned, carefully ascending the first steps of the old stairs.

At every moment, with every breath he allowed to escape his lips, he was ready. Though he was ready to strike, it wasn't as though he knew what the tell would be; it was impossible for him to predict that predator.

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He ascended the steps carefully, keeping his eyes peeled onto the higher floors, looking between the wooden railings for any sign of predator.

'One thing I never confirmed is how his predation works. When he eats somebody, does he gain only the system abilities they had at that point, or does he gain more as he levels? If it's the latter, then…'

He considered.

Amidst his thoughts, he quickly moved as a "squelch" met his ears. He dashed up to the second story of the steps, moving out of the way of whatever it was that crashed down from above. What landed against the steps with a harsh impact was a body–bloodied, battered, and eviscerated.

Finn carefully stepped closer to get a better look, kneeling down as he pressed his fingers against the neck of the unknown, but unfortunate soul.

'No pulse,'

he confirmed.

It was a young woman of brunette hair, though hardly recognizable when covered in such abundant blood and cut up as much as she was. Looking straight up at the spiraling stairs, he caught the glimpse of a silhouette for only a millisecond.

There was no hesitation now; Finn quickly sprinted up the stairs, keeping his steps silent, but his malice present. He wasted no time leaping around to the next set of steps, rushing up the stairs before–

squelch.

"Ah–"

He nearly slipped as his boot slid forward upon placing it down, replaceing that it had found a puddle of blood that ran along the tile. It was entirely red; the floor he had reached of the complex was practically dyed in blood.

'...What has he done?'

Finn couldn't help but question in shock at the horrific state of the apartments.

A few more floors of careful pursuit only seemed to increase the amount of blood that trickled down the stairs like a hellish waterfall. Near the top of the complex's floors, what he found was an open door–the only one left like that in the building.

Even without looking into it, he could tell just from the repulsive air that came out of it; this is where he'd replace that man. There was no point in using a tracking skill; he knew that, considering the person he pursued had access to the very same abilities that could slip beneath being found.

'I'm beginning to feel like this was an invite–he wanted me specifically to come out here. It wasn't just dumb luck with that message hitting my computer–no, it was meant for me,'

he put together, slowly approaching the opened door.

Before even stepping foot into the apartment, just standing near the threshold allowed him to smell what laid past it–a grotesque haze of death. It was a mixture of scents that overwhelmed his senses.

Despite everything he had experienced so far, it spurred him to gag as he quickly covered his mouth. It wasn't specifically the smell of it, but just what sort of inhuman reality lay within that apartment–he could sense what horrors were done.

He brought himself to step past that threshold, immediately engulfed in the air so abundantly interlaced with death. There was not a single inch of the walls not painted in splatter, it seemed, yet the floor remained spotless.

"You…"

It was the only word that could leave his lips as a lump formed in his throat at what became visible as he arrived at the end of the hallway. Within the apartment, a display like that of an artist's expression was suspended, showing nothing but terrifying brutality–

At least a dozen bodies were hanging from the ceiling, placed into abnormal positions as though being propped like statues.

"What do you think? I wanted to give you a proper reunion gift–"

That foul voice, so calm and silken despite the horrific scene; his skin crawled as he wasted no time in turning to face the left where it had come from. Without any hesitation, he launched–

["

Blink Slash

"] [2:59]

CLANG

Crossing the room in an instant, his blade failed to cut the figure's throat, only instead scraping across the familiar, heinous blade wielded by the predator. That snow-white hair and lifeless, black eyes; the tattoos of bird wings on the back of his hands–it was undeniable now as he looked at him so closely.

"How the hell are you even alive, Crow?!" Finn demanded an answer, pressing his dagger against the smiling one's cleaver.

All he was met with was that eerily calm grin as Crow spoke, "Now that we're so close, I can sense your emotions keenly again. Fear, anger, disgust–is that how you feel about me, Finn?"

Finn didn't answer, instead placing his other hand in front of the butcher's abdomen.

"Oh?--" Crow glanced down.

["

Magenta

"]

The dark room was briefly filled with a bright, purple flash as the bolt struck the killer right in the stomach. It pushed with enough force to slam Crow through the wall, throwing him into the next room.

Finn pursued without wasting a moment, ignoring the aching in his arm after the single use of lightning. There was no room for hesitation; he already knew that when it came to the killer. He jumped onto the bed that the fiendish figure had landed on, calling his second dagger into his grip before slashing both downward–

["

Ripper

"] [Mana: -100] [4300/4500]

The "X" shaped slash cleaved the bed into four sections, though was stopped from cutting into the flesh of the pale-haired man. Once again, that all-cutting cleaver stopped it short of eviscerating the hunter.

"You're so impatient to kill me," Crow said, pressing his cleaver against both blades with his back against the mutilated mattress. "I called you out here so we could have a chit-chat. Like old times."