Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 45: What Drifts In The Sky

Amidst his own thoughts, while readying himself to be rushed at by the doppelganger of Raven, he was blindsided as the hunter came for him instead.

It was a burst of speed that was unrecognizable for before, as it was more as though Crow sprang forward with a push of his foot.

["Impervious"] [4:59]

With not enough time to evade, he endured the attack as the hunter's cleaver bounced right off of his chest.

"Oh?—" Crow reacted as it sounded as if his weapon struck metal.

It was only for that split-second that Finn was invulnerable, having to duck down as he found the hunter immediately following up with a strike towards his head.

In that moment, there was a change that overcame Crow's complexion; from pale skin to a vile green and bulging veins.

Like that of an orc; the snowy-haired figure displayed barbaric strength with a slam of his cleaver meant to split the assassin in half.

["Phantom Flow"]

Finn could hear the air hiss as that weapon came down, sliding back just as it missed. The impact of the cleaver against the dark-blue carpet split it apart, piercing right through the concrete below.

"How do you like it?" Crow asked as the green, swollen parts of his body returned to their normal, pale state. "This is my Predator System."

Finn focused on that strike, only losing focus for a moment as the shade of the slayer he killed suddenly rushed him from the side.

Finn reacted with what little time he had, leaning to the side just as the colossal blade sliced through the air. What could've split through his head instead cleaved a portion of his ear off cleanly before he rolled to the side.

'….Shit…!' Finn thought.

While left on the ground facing two opponents that outmatched him in his wounded state, he reached up with a hopeful trust in an unused skill:

["Cloud of Darkness"] [4:59]

From his position, a massive wave of shadows poured out like a veiling smoke. It quickly filled the clustered office; the intrusive fog left the sense of sight completely hindered.

'Good, it's not just vision alone…This darkness completely overwhelms smell as well; like charcoal,' Finn discovered, picking himself up while quietly sliding back.

It wasn't a guarantee, but it was the best he could hope for in throwing off the tracking abilities of the hunter.

He knelt down while hearing the separate footsteps moving in different directions.

["Rune Trap"] [Mana: -250] [1750/2100]

["Rune Trap"] [Mana: -250] [1500/2100]

["Rune Trap"] [Mana: -250] [1250/2100]

A few meters in front of him, to the right and left between cubicles, he placed the dormant traps. Each was marked by circular seals that glowed purple only for his vision.

He kept his back against the wall behind him, leaving no openings as the traps acted as security around him.

'I have to approach this smartly. I'm completely outmatched right now—I can't fight with one hand against both of them,' he thought.

Preparing himself for whatever may press through the dark fog—the air shifted. As if the wind flexed for a moment, it made his ears pop before—Boom.

All at once, the dormant traps set off, igniting a chain reaction that exploded with a colorful plume of smoke.

The force of it was enough to blast through the cubicles, along with the walls of the room as Finn found himself thrown back.

"Nrg!—"

Right through the wall behind him, he found himself blown outside as the bright-blue sky greeted him. He landed on his back as the rubble rained down along with a fall of dust.

"Hkk…!" He coughed out as his lungs filled with the abrasive substances in the air.

As he laid there, he leaned on his right hand to pick himself up, only forgetting it was only being held together by string.

He slipped as his wound opened more, catching himself as he clumsily stood up. There wasn't much more clarity found when standing in the street as rubble laid from the blasted open wall of the building.

Finn waited, looking at that gathering of smoke as he questioned if the triggered runes were enough to have dealt with the enemy. It was wishful thinking, however.

As he watched the swaying dust, something pierced through the unseen smog, sailing straight towards him with a fearsome rotation.

"--!"

Finn stepped to the right, leaning as he witnessed the unmistakable cleaver narrowly miss being lodged into his face. Even without looking, he felt it; that presence, staring him down from the side.

In that split-second, he glanced over at the cleaver as it passed right by his head, replaceing the hunter appearing right there as the handle was grasped in his hand. It wasn't an act of speed nor trickery; Finn knew exactly what had happened.

An act that transcended mere swiftness–teleportation.

'That skill–it can't,' he thought.

All he could do in the moment was lean back as much as he could as the follow-up strike passed right over his view. In response to being on the receiving end of the skill, he used it himself as he flicked his dagger straight behind the hunter–

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [1150/2100]

He reappeared a dozen meters away, catching the blade used as his anchorpoint, replaceing himself between a desecrated taxi and a bisected van on the street. That moment was used to draw a breath as he found his mind and heart racing; it felt as if he woke up from one nightmarish fight for survival right into another.

The adrenaline wasn't enough anymore to subside the sharp pain in his nearly amputated hand, feeling the blood running down from his cut ear as it trickled down his neck.

There wasn't any time to lament his condition as a change in the wind behind him brought him to spin around while jumping back.

He found the replicated slayer right behind him, slashing that lengthy blade in such a way as meaning to bisect him from the waist.

Finn narrowly avoided being split in half, though glancing over his shoulder to replace the hunter already rushing him down.

'Shit—I can't keep up with both,' he thought.

Flicking his dagger up, he didn't toss it towards either of his targets, instead letting it fly into the air just as both the slayer and hunter closed in from ahead and behind.

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [1050/2100]

He instantly moved himself dozens of meters into the air, looking down as he saw both foes on the ground.

In the sky, there was peace found for those few moments as he felt the wind against him, granted space to think.

For that brief time, he looked up at the clouds, freeing his mind of the stress of what awaited on the ground.

'Right now, what should I do? Right…If nothing else is working, if this guy knows my tendencies…I'll just have to improvise,' Finn decided.

As he turned back around, facing the street below as he rapidly descended, he could see the fake slayer waiting below with the hunter not far beside.

He threw his dagger down with a flick of his wrist, sending it right between the hunter and his replicated slayer.

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [950/2100]

He arrived with his feet against the asphalt, right between Crow and the fake Raven. There was only a split-second to choose his target, looking to the left at the snowy-haired man whose eyes only began to track him then.

Crow was already beginning to move his cleaver in response, along with the false slayer stepped closer with the odachi raised.

It was an all-or-nothing gamble; Finn banked on being able to snuff out the hunter's life before his own was lost.

However—

RUMBLE

It felt as if the sky itself shook, as did the street itself as all combatants were brought to a pause. A deep grumble from above brought both of their gazes up.

A cloud sat right above the block; a vast, white expanse—it began to move.

It wasn't any such formation in the sky; it was a harrowing colossus, descending upon them.

[Cloud-Fallen Collector]

What stared back down at them were hollow eyes like craters, filled only with the abyss.

At that moment, the battle of life-and-death was put on hold as Finn sprinted towards the nearest building, glancing back to see the hunter doing the same.

A single hand of the colossal being reached down like a snow-white skyscraper landed upon the street just as the young man ducked into the closest shop.

'A Collector…I don't know if this is good or bad,' Finn thought, sitting in the abandoned convenience store as he watched through the window.

All the walls shook at the tremendous scale that descended on the street. The air vibrated against his ears as he quietly crawled to the back of the shop, looking back as he saw the white mass of the entity lowering itself outside.

With his palms against the pale tiles, the vibrations of the immeasurable weight touching down outside were felt like the purr of a beast. He moved himself silently towards the back of the store, in front of the refrigerated section and in front of a shelf of spilled snacks.

As soon as he crawled into the aisle, he pressed his back against the white rack, keeping his breathing steady as he listened to the movements of the colossus.

'...Come on…' He thought, hoping it didn't see him as it descended.