Terror Infinity Side B

Chapter 18, H.O.T.D 2

In the dead of night, Shin gave chase after the escaping forty experts of the Dimond Dogs Unit. There were signs of riots finally beginning to start up and spread through the city, and were yet to be calmed down by Supreme Commander Takashi's men alongside the police who could impede their escape out of the city, so they went around all the chaos through a deserted area of Tokonosu City not yet restored from the destruction of the initial days of the apocalypse. The experts were escaping by military Humvees driving as fast as they could, yet Shin using Instant Movement to move at high speeds and flying over obstacles with Void Movement, he was closing the distance between by the minute. Shin was moving at a pace impossible for most humans even if they were to greatly enhance themselves, yet the Ki of Black Heaven and Earth Technique flowing through him with the greatest recovery speed and endurance allowed him to keep such a pace with ease. Especially after his many, many enhancements which strengthen his entire being. 

Shin: "Still, this is taking too long. Should I just enter the Second Stage and chase after them with Void Movement?"

Hikari SL: (No need. Those experts escaping appear to be preparing to make a final stand up ahead.)

And as Hikari said a few miles ahead the escaping experts slowed down and stopped their Humvees and prepared for battle. One of the experts with a unique skill in tracking knew that they were being followed by a lone man, but one with super human ability capable of following the Humvees on foot and while closing the distance. He told their leader this and he made the decision to stop. Escaping was impossible long as the pursuer wasn't killed, so he ordered everyone to prepare for battle.

Shin: "Oh, sounds fun. Hikari, pinpoint where the snipers are and where they are preparing ambushes. I may be one man, but I can take out an entire battalion of army trained Enhancers if given the chance!" 

Saying so Shin slowed down and entered the abandoned area of the city. He was still moving quickly, but not out in the open where it would be all to easy for someone to snipe him. Snipers held a great, if almost absolute advantage against a lone warrior or small group in a wide and open space with a minimal 1000 meter distance between each side, but within the concrete and metal city with hundreds, if not thousands of building to hide behind as one moved forward, a lone and skilled warrior could reach a sniper stationed over 10,000 meters away with ease. Especially one that had gone through supernatural and magic enhancements. Looking through Hikari's scans already revealed to Shin the enemy's plans and just how appropriate his actions were. The experts of Commander C's army all too quickly set themselves up to greet him. The experts despite the pressure of being on the run organized themselves in an orderly, yet swift manner. It was quite clear to even an amateur like Shin these men had extensive training, experience, and the judgment that came to veteran soldiers who risked their lives on almost a daily basis.

The experts of the Dimond Dogs Unit split themselves up into three largs groups of 20, 12 and 13, and lastly a 5 one-man group of snipers. The three large groups were combatants armed with the latest automatic weapons and the best God and Devil equipment available. The five snipers were hiding in wait in vantage points would be able to spot Shin no matter where he approached from and they could support one another with coordinated sniping. Shin viewing the enemy's set up through the scans felt a cold sweat run down his back as he imagined what would have happened if his team didn't have a Psyche Force user. Like Sachi once said Team Japan wasn't trained to directly deal with a skilled and organized army. Team Japan and the Walking Dead Unit only got away with taking our three large military compounds and City Hall in a single night due to the element of surprise and their unique powers that went beyond the norm and were largely unknown to the general public. Shin was thankful for Hikari's presence which gave him a cheat level of warning about the enemy's movements, but even with that he entered the First Stage of Unlocked Mode so he wouldn't let his guard down.

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- *BANG*!

A few minutes later the first shot of the battle rang through the city. As Shin jumped out of cover and onto the streets from an open window, by all appearances intending to quickly cross the street, but a lone sniper hidden under night-time camouflage gear on the seventh floor of a building across the street locked onto him, opening fire immediately. He should have waited a bit more so he could coordinate with his fellow snipers, but it was too golden a opportunity to pass up for any sniper who took great pride in his skills. The lone sniper also had a go ahead to kill if it was impossible to coordinate with other snipers, so this wasn't a unforgivable breech in military protocol. His target was a center mass target, the heart, and his aim was true. The sniper's actions could be called lightning fast when he took swift and decisive action to end the life of the enemy stopping them from running away, but his shooting was so quick that he failed to notice that the enemy was clearly looking in his direction as he fired and that the Z-Saber's handle was grasped in his hand. Shin knew where the sniper was and with the addition of the sudden sense of danger sweeping over him he knew that a shot was coming even before he heard the gunshot.

Shin: (Shield Boomerang!)

Shield Boomerang.

Shin with the scans and his own senses in Unlocked Mode, he saw through the bullet's trajectory as he changed the weapon form of Z-Saber and placed it before the path the bullet would cross to cut through his heart. The Z-Saber mounted onto his forearm and began spinning like a chainsaw forming an energy shield. The sniper's bullet came in contact with the spinning energy shield and was deflected away harmlessly. The sniper was shocked seeing the sudden appearance of the shield through his scope, but if he knew the details of the Z-Saber he wouldn't be. The Shield Boomerang can reflect almost all projectiles, however, it provides no protection from melee attacks, nor is it capable of deflecting exceptionally powerful attacks ranged attacks such as B tier Sci-fi guns. Extremely powerful against gunners and snipers, but a shield weak in close combat and overly powerful weapons. That was the Shield Boomerang Form of the Z-Saber, but like all form changing weapons there was more to this weapon.

Shin: "Sniper! How about a little scare! Mega-Charge, Mega Boomerang!"

Shin charged the Shield Boomerang with 1/10 his Ki, shining with a blue light rather than its normal light green color, and was thrown through the air like a razor blade. The sniper was too shocked by this to immediately fire at Shin after reloading his gun, but let out a sigh of relief seeing the razor blade flew past the building he was in. The sniper was then about to mock Shin as he adjusted his aim and about to blow out his brain matter with one last bullet, but them a tearing sound came directly behind him interrupting his concentration. This was the last thing he heard as he was then torn apart by a blue energy razor blade tearing through the building. Then moments later as the razor flew back towards Shin and reverting back to the normal Z-Saber, the upper half of the building the sniper was inhabiting collapsed terifying all those nearby who had seen what had happened. 

Shin: "That should give them all a scare they won't be forgetting. Fear of a greater power than their own can make even seasoned veterans act stupid. Mistakes will be made and that'll be my chance!"

Shin placed the Z-Saber back into a Na Ring and replaced it with the Anti-Material Rifle borrowed from Connor and then entered the Third Stage of Unlocked Mode. Shin chose to simulate the personality and abilities of Connor. From testing different talents in the Third Stage, Zero from "Btooom" was the better sniper of the two with extreme long range sniping, but between the two it was the middle eastern child soldier who was more skilled in urban settings and chaotic battles. Shin memorized the exact positions of the snipers hidden throughout the area waiting to snipe him and chose to turn the tables on them with their own medicine. Shin sped through the streets with Void Movement and before the snipers were even aware that he was approaching he shot them dead between the eyes. One after the other the snipers fell and left the experts without their skilled sniper and began to panic. The experts on the ground were left without snipers to cover them or help corner the enemy, and so felt rushed to end that battle quickly. One of the three ground units, consisting of twenty high level Enhancer above level 30 quickly, yet still carefully checked each street that they passed searching for the enemy. They had a scout with the tracking skill, so finding him wasn't impossible, but he was stationed with their leader's group, so they were just going off the scouts guesses over a walkie talkie, so it took a while for them to find him. They were now sure that Shin was just around the corner, so once the other two groups get in position they would surround and corner him like a rat, but-

Shin: (Chain Rod!)

Expert Soldier: "Gyaaaa!!!"

-At that moment a long chain like rope held together by energy chain links with a small energy blade tip was thrown by Shin into the air. Then using the advantage of Psyche Force Scan, he manipulated the chain to turn the corner and capture one of the experts. He succeeded. The expert was caught off guard by the chain wrapping around his arms and torso tightly and the tip of the chain a stabbing into his chest. Everything happened in just three seconds. The expert was completely tied up and suffering from a critical injury, and then pulled back towards Shin around the corner and away from his comrades who could only watch. They watch their comrade fly through the air screaming as he imagined the fate that awaited him on the other side, and when they could no longer hear his screams a moment of silence passed... came a sudden rage of emotions. These experts were morally trash of society as they worked for Commander C and even did his dirty work of kidnapping women to even little kids, but they all still saw each other as brothers in arms, so they couldn't forgive the enemy to capture and most likely killed their comrade right before their eyes and they charged out. This went against their training and orders to wait for everyone to fully surround the enemy, but they could care less right now.

Shin: (Too easy! Triple Rod! Mega-Charge, Mega Lance!)

Shin jumped back with Instant Movement a good distance just before the experts were about to turn the corner in rage. The Z-Saber shifted in form once more, now taking the shape of a lance with possessing a long energy tip. Shin channeled energy into the lance now shining with an overwhelming blue light. Once the lance's glow reached its peak, Shin entering the Second Stage gave a shout and threw the lance with everything that he had. The lance crossed 1000 meters then pierced into the corner building just as the experts were ready to jump out. On impact a blue light emerged. There was no sound of explosions, but the light incinerated everything in a circular radius of fifteen meters wiping out the remaining experts. Shin was shocked by this level of destruction was overly impressed and recalled Triple Rod with through the Enchanted Item Arrow Return, and the lance flew back into his hands with the speed of a bolt of lightning. 

Shin: "I. Love. This. Sword! It's a shame it isn't a magic weapon, but best purchase ever! Hahaha! And I still haven't shown all of what it can do... though I don't need the Recoil Rod long as I have Adell's Legacy for extreme CQC. Same goes with Chain Rod as I have my Kagune... Maybe I can ask Jin to look into modifying it, but even if he can't this is still a great sword though!"

- *CONTINOUS GUNFIRE*!!!

As Shin marveled his sci-fi sword, another unit of twelve experts emerged from the other side of the street and opened fire with their automatic weapons releasing an endless rain of bullets, yet were impossibly accurate in their firing. There was nowhere to escape on the ground Shin could only use a movement technique to escape, yet-

Shin: (Push forward with the new movement technique! Dark Dance!)

Suddenly, as time seemed to slow down a change occurred before the bullets reached Shin as he activated Dark Dance and entered the Third Stage for increased reaction speed. The area before his eyes was dyed with darkness. In the distance, 12 red imprints were seen with their rifles raised and releasing a storm of bullets cutting through the air towards him. The images seemed like an infrared mode in spy movies, and all this was only visible before his eyes. And at that moment the sound of bullets slicing through the air could be heard a red footprint also appeared on the ground in front of him. It seemed like the commentary one would see in martial arts textbooks about footwork.

Shin: (Dark Walker skill, Dark Dance. Just like Ark, I'll follow the footprints!)

Shin laid a foot on the red footprint carved on the ground. The footprint had disappeared when a new one appeared in front of it. The more times he stepped on it, the faster the footprint disappeared. Although it was initially easy to follow along, over time one had to concentrate to keep up with the speed of the footprints even with the acquired focus of Unlocked Mode. However, the effects were beyond amazing. Just by following the path the footprints lead him forward and he moved like the wind and avoided all the hail of bullets. The experts continued to spray Shin with gunfire they but were left speechless and couldn't explain just how he was crossing the street, closing in at lightning speed with dance like movements, yet avoided the storm of bullets effortlessly. Shin didn't suffer a single gunshot wound due to following Dark Dance's shown path to avoid the incoming attacks. From beginning to end Shin didn't suffer a single wound and closed the distance between his attackers till he was just a few feet away.

Shin: "Dark Blade!"

In combination with Dark Dance Shin used the Dark Walker skill Dark Blade. In the original novel chaining skills together from the Dark Walker Hidden Classed showed a sharp increase in attack power, but in real life there was no such convenient game effect. Still, as they were skills from the skill set of the Dark Walker Class, the two skills seemed to flow all to well together without awkwardness. Shin with frightening timing swung the sword form Z-Saber now enveloped in a dark veil at the experts. The deltoid shaped energy blade spread out like the rib of a fan and struck the experts and bisected them right of them in one motion. These experts were wearing mutant beast armor as elites, but the cutting potential of Z-Saber and Dark Blade's ability to ignore physical defenses proved too much for anyone to hope that their armor could save them.

Shin: (Though adding Dark Blade with a sharp energy blade which can slice through reinforced steel is certainly overkill.)

Expert Soldier: "Damn you!!! Kill him!!!"

The surviving four experts activated agility enhancing skills and rushed up towards Shin who was just finishing his attack. They raised their three Kodachi Blades and swiftly swung their swords to behead and cut off his arms. It was at this moment that they showed their worth as veteran soldiers and Enhancers who have slain untold numbers of mutant beast and had reached a high of a level 35, but even this couldn't take away Shin's life. 

Shin: (Moonlight Shadow!)

Just as the swords were about to sink into his flesh Shin body was scanned by a blue light which temporarily blinded the four experts. They lost sight of Shin, yet they carried out the sword regardlessly. They felt their swords slice into flesh and were overjoyed, but an abnormal sensation soon vibrated through their trained bodies that have reaped the lives of men, zombie, and mutant beast. This wasn't the sensation of how it should feel to cut flesh, and they were right. What that had beheaded and cut the arms off was a dummy Shin had switch places with.

Shin: (Too late!)

Shin's feet executing Instant Movement reappeared behind the experts and waving Z-Saber through the air, releasing a humming sound that was the prelude to death, sliced through their necks. Blood sprayed through the air and Shin jumped back to avoid staining his clothes. One expert who appeared to be the leader of this small group got away with a shoulder wound which cut through all the way to his bone. The expert looked at Shin with a hateful expression and was about to counter-attack, but in an instant fear struck him and made him flee. He saw in Shin's eyes, no the one black eye with a red iris, a characteristic from Shin's mutation when Rc Cells flowed through his veins, yet the expert saw a vision of his own death, and so he chose to run but he did not get too far. A red tentacle with the density of steel and sharpness of a refined sword stabbed through the expert's back and out the chest the very moment he turned away, dying instantly with his remains then thrown across the street like garbage.

Shin: "*Sigh*. How boring to just run away like that in the middle of a fight. Whatever. Now all that's left are-"

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "So you're the one who's been killing my men. They were trash, but I hope you're still willing to pay the price!"

Shin: "...them."

In front of Shin now were eight impressive looking men in military Mutant Beast armor, with the man in the center of the group decked in the same type 3 Mutant Beast armor as Takashi. This man had an imposing figure that was impossible to ignore and on his back he carried six high-ranking longswords of the God and Devil System. There were five more men having masked their presence and were lying in wait in the surrounding buildings. Shin knew that the last group of thirteen experts was closing in on him through the scans, but seeing them not take immediate aggressive action like everyone else he had met gained his interest, yet more so caution and stayed in the First Stage.

Shin: "So... why aren't you attacking? If you want to give a villain style speech, I don't mind waiting for you to finish first before I run you through with my sword!"

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Know your place lower life form. You're in the presence of a higher species. You only exist to work hard for me and my fellow kind."

Shin: "Higher species? Evolver? Just because of that small advantage you think that you are-"

And it was then that I saw it. 

A familiar sight before my eyes when I would spar against comrades and fought other teams. The leader of the experts and his men all had defocused and a calm expression on their faces that was all to familiar to me as I was in the same state as them. 

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Shin: "...The First Stage of the Genetic Constraint. Then just like Takashi's Walking Dead Unit, you've all Unlocked."

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Those eyes... so your the same as us. My apologies then for missing it at first. It won't change that we have to kill you long as you hinder our escape, but I'll like to thank you my fellow superior race. You've must have taken one of the divine fruits of evolution like Takashi and his group did. We did the same. Commander C ordered us to follow the Walking Dead Unit at one time like the Mayor did recently to see if we could kill them and bring him the cute Alice. We missed our chance unfortunately, but we discovered after they left the Sacred Forest the Fruit of Evolution. We were then chased out of the forest by powerful mutant beast. I lost a lot of men that day, but all of us here before you managed to take back a unripened Evolution Fruit, and I managed to find a full ripened one that Takashi had missed! At least half of them had taken the fruit then and there and passed out in a mutant beast infested forest, so they were scrambling to escape and missed both us and the ripened fruit left behind. Hahaha! Evolver are the next step in the human evolutionary chain, and for those of us that have Unlocked are the elite of the elite of this new race! It would be an insult for me to treat you as common human filth who are only worth allowing to live to produce us food, clothing, and females to warm our beds at night. As my fellow kin, I'll ask you just once. Won't you join my new empire of the new race that stands at the top of the food chain?"

Shin saw the mad zeal in this man's eyes and knew he believed every words of garbage that came out of that mouth. As for his answer...

Shin: "...Let me think about it for... Here it is. Fuck off, is my answer! Superior race my ass and just the First Stage or Second Stage won't make you a god. Also, what did you mean by thank you?"

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Haha! You did us a great service by killing Commander C, and judging by the chaos going on in the distance, you and the Takagi's must have purged the other powers of Tokonosu City. This will make it easier for us to assassinate the leadership of the city when we return, claiming our rights as kings of the lowly human race in our new empire. There's still our equals in the Walking Dead Unit, but once we leave the city, as you all deal with the zombie legion, us elite will grind our levels and skills hard and then return when you are all weakened. It'll be too easy to conquer an exhausted Tokonosu City Survival Camp with just the few of us!"

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- PRE-HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD CROSS SERIES PLOT BONUS MISSION!

IN THE AGE OF THE APOCALYPSE THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW RACE OF HUMAN MOST SUITED TO SURVIVE THE GOD AND DEVIL SYSTEM OF THE SAINT HAVE ARRIVED. EVOLVERS! NOW ACQUIRING THE POWER TO REMOVE THEIR CONSTRAINTS, THESE EVOLVERS NO LONGER SEE THEIR FELLOW MAN AND WOMAN AS EQUALS, BUT AS CATTLE AND TOOLS TO EXPLOIT FOR THEIR PLEASURE. NOW EVOLVERS WILL EXPLOIT THESE CHAOTIC TIMES AND SWEEP THE LANDS WITH TERROR AND FEAR! KILL FUTURE CULT LEADER "MASTER JUNPEI" AND HIS FUTURE ELDERS IN ADVANCE. TIME LIMIT ONE HOUR. KILLING "MASTER JUNPEI" REWARDS DD RANK REWARDS! KILLING EVERYONE ELSE AND NOT ALLOWING ANYONE TO ESCAPE THE CITY ALIVE REWARDS 3000 POINTS! ALLOWING MASTER JUNPEI TO ESCAPE OR IF TIME RUNS OUT, DEDUCTS 3000 POINTS AND DD RANK REWARDS FROM EVERY MEMBER, AND ONE RANDOM PLAYER WILL BE ERASED.

At that moment Junpei released his killing intent and following his example the men by his side did the same, and those lying in wait in the shadows looked their sight on their enemy. An advanced race like themselves, but standing in their way and who needed to be killed to bring about their vision of the future. And as for Shin, object of their hatred and killing intent...

Shin: "...You, God, all of you can just go to hell!"

Shin despising the sudden Bonus Mission which could claim the life of a comrade if he failed roared loudly releasing his own killing intent. Till now all the experts, no cultist experts ever saw Shin exhibit such ferocity before and were momentarily taken back, but then let down as the opponent used this opening to escape. One of the hidden cultist experts released a storm of gunfire with powerful automatic weapons down on him, but knowing their positions from the beginning allowed Shin to easily escape with Dark Dance.

Dimond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "After him! Agility Evolvers!"

Among the Dimond Dog Unit's elite Evolvers four were Agility based Evolvers, each one in Unlocked Mode of the First Stage pursued their enemy. Shin ran around a street corner and they lost sight of him momentarily. The Agility Evolvers in Unlocked Mode felt danger around the corner and swiftly, yet with caution, they followed after him, but as they neared the corner just two seconds after Shin they felt an overwhelming premonition of danger. Of the three, two possessed the danger Perception skill and backed away with a frightening reaction speed, but for the remaining Agility based Evolver his fate was sealed. Before he could react a energy blade sliced off his head.

Shin veiled in numerous magic buffs cast thrice thanks to Hikari, rushed past the beheaded cultist and caught up to the two experts escaping, and in a two-handed slash swung Z-Saber. The two cultist experts at the last second activated agility enhancing movement techniques, barely avoid being bisected by the deltoid energy blade, but Shin didn't appear disappointed in the least. His attack was not over yet. Set loose from the edge of the energy blade was a deadly vacuum blade of air cutting the two cultist expert in half from the waist down, and not stopping there Thirty-six Pound Cannon continued to fly towards the other members of Dimond Dogs.

The vacuum blade shot out with neck breaking speed impossible for most Agility based Evolvers to dodge on a direct course the enemy's leader. The Dimond Dogs Colonel Junpei didn't even so much as bat an eyelid at the approaching attack knowing a Spirit Based Evolver would step up. One of the hidden cultist experts waved his hands, skipping the chant, and a summoning circle instantly appeared before in front of the vacuum blade. A strong and impossibly large twenty-foot tall black bear appeared out of thin air and swatted down the vacuum blade in mid-flight suffering only a shallow cut on its arm. 

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Trash! It's not over yet! Have him kiss the floor!"

The other two Spirit based Evolvers possessed the same identical skill, Vertical Gravity Control, and activated them at the exact same time. For most Enhancers and Evolvers, to use such a skill required time to chant the spell, but for those that have Unlocked they could skip this phase and immediately use powerful spells just like now. Shin sensing an immediate threat backed away with Instant Movement, but a Strength-based Evolver wielding a hammer larger and heavier than himself intercepted him with impressive speed. Shin let loose a flurry of sword slashes with Z-Saber and the expert not in the possession of a God and Devil system weapon which could block the sinisterly sharp green energy blade was ruthlessly diced up into countless pieces, but in the end serving a purpose the expert had held Shin back for one second that was needed for Vertical Gravity Control to take a hold of him.

Shin: "Nnn!!!"

As if an invisible and all encompassing hand from above pushing down on him, Shin could barely move as finger as the air distorted around him. The gravity within a one-meter area around him was taken control of by the Vertical Gravity Control skill of the two Spirit based Evolvers and placed twenty times the normal gravitational force of earth down on him. Seeing this as a chance they all raised their guns and opened fired. Shin should have now been riddled with numerous bullet holes which was a sight they all wanted to see, but their opponent surpassed their expectations. Shin entered the Second Stage of Unlocked Mode and with increased power and speed even under the weight of two Vertical Gravity Control spell, he moved just out of the way in time with Instant Movement, but clearly his speed had dropped to the bottom as it only looked like he jumped ten meters swiftly with each step rather than living up to the name of an instant movement from one place to the next.

Shin: "Fire Bolt!"

Struggling to raise his free right hand straight out but in the end succeeding, Shin aimed towards the two Agility based Evolver and the giant black bear behind them. Scarlet flame and lightning flickered in front of his extended hand for a split second just before a blinding flash was set off. In the next moment the two experts were incinerated into black ash. Shin fired off a second blast at the summoned creature and the black bear lived up to its name, it's fur completely burned off and it's skin a smoldering black flesh just before it evaporated in nothingness with the spell broken. The Spirit based Evolver/summoner spit out a few mouthfuls of blood as a rebound, but was able to hang on for dear life to Shin's demise as well as Hikari watching over his battle.

Hikari SL: (Shin! They are about to fire on you again! I'll use Defensive Force Field and-)

Shin SL: (Don't bother, Hikari! We're too far apart for you to put up more than a flimsy glass shield. I'll just have to-!)

The Diamond Dog experts surrounded Shin from three different directions. Shin was just thankful for the warning from Hikari and tried to escape the crossfire, but suddenly he was unable to move. The two Spirit Evolvers and Gravity Control users poured all of their Spirit into their skills to restrain him and succeeded. Shin's knees finally fell to the ground and could now barely keep his upper body steady and up straight even with the power of the Second Stage. The experts saw their chance and opened fire without mercy. Shin couldn't escape the increased gravity pressure even in the Second Stage, and cursing out loud, but muffled by the distorted space it went unheard by the enemy. 

Just before the bullets slicing through the air towards him just under the speed of sound, Shin in a desperate ploy to stay alive coated his entire body in Silver Dragon Scales. His body reflected a silver light as he struggled to stay upright as thousands upon thousands of bullets crashed into him. The experts rejoiced in their hearts that finally their guns would tear him to bloody shreds, but were shocked at the reality before them. Thousands of bullets struck Shin's body, yet each one was deflected off his now pale silver skin as if hitting a metal wall. Silver Dragon Scales was a defensive Ki skill that gave the user the tough and durable skin of a silver scaled dragon. It originally had the ability to perfectly block blades and handguns with ease, and after gaining more Ki through enhancements and cultivation techniques, it had finally reached the point where the defense can nullify most modern firearms. Shin at least had the confidence now to tank one rocket launcher explosion and keep fighting.

Diamond Dog Expert: "This freak! Does he have a skill to turn his skin into that of a mutant beast!?"

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Don't panic like little girls! Guns are useless and I suspect so are bombs, so cut him done in close combat! Strength and Endurance based Evolvers move forward! Summoner, bring out two more black bears! Spirt Evolvers, hold him down properly, or I'll skin you alive later!"

The experts followed their leader Junpei's orders swiftly out of fear of being killed. The close range fighters all charged forward, the summoner called for two more giant black bears to appear, and even the Gravity Control casters pushed themselves further to hold the enemy down. Shin being pushed further and further down to the floor and now even struggling to draw breath. He saw all of this and-

Shin: (...This isn't looking too good. Is this what I get for dissing God and Devil World all this time? Fine! Takashi and you guys showed me the worth of the God and Devil System, so I'll show you the power of God's Dimension!)

Resolved to return the favor, Shin entered the Third Stage and flipped a mental switch of sorts in the back of his head. The naturally flowing Ki of Black Heaven & Earth Techniques throughout his body paused for but a moment, and then all too quickly began to flow once more but in reverse. And at that moment a chilling killing intent unlike anything that they've felt before swept passed all those present. It was a dark and intimidating aura with Shin at its center. The Ki within his body had now reached a boiling point, yet showing no signs of drying up as Ki and stamina endlessly regenerated, and it manifested a dense dark green vapor of Ki flowing out all parts of his body. In this state Shin slowly stood under the pressure of the gravity control skill and while there were still signs it was having an effect it no longer seemed like it would hinder his movemnts by much. The experts of the Dimond Dog unit not understanding what was going on with their enemy's body were terrified by this unknown and took a step back. They didn't know that this was the other half of the ultimate technique of the Black Heaven and Earth School and Murims most feared demon art.

Shin: (My body feels like it's on fire and mind is slipping even after entering the Third Stage, and in the end this is just a shallow entry into Black Origin Threshold. It's good enough to handle these guys, but honestly, what an outrageous technique I've gotten my hands on!)

Shin had not fully entered into the BB tier skill Black Origin Threshold, but more accurately a shallow pseudo-Black Origin Threshold. The true Black Origin Threshold would swallow up his consciousness and replace it with his subconscious self-driven by animalistic instincts along with limitless stamina, Ki, and an inhuman endurance for pain. This shallow entry into Black Origin Threshold wouldn't bestow as much stamina or endless Ki regeneration as the real one and Shin had to endure a pain of the reverse Ki flow at the price of not handing over his consciousness to his inner rage. He also had to keep in check his mutation. If he let his mind waver and entered the Kakuja while in Black Origin Threshold, he would immediately lose consciousness and awareness of friend and enemy, become a wild beast who may even return to the military base or into the populated city, and kill everyone he lays eyes on. That was another reason he could not fully enter Black Origin Threshold, but even so, the end result of this shallow application was a Ki wielding martial artist with semi-supernatural stamina and heightened Ki regeneration. 

Shin: "New race, or whatever you call yourselves! You want my life? It ain't cheap! Take it if you can!"

Shin revealed a smile full of malice reflecting his inner torment from entering Black Origin Threshold and his own hatred of the everyone before him. Shin kicked the ground with enough force to crush the concrete of the city streets and in the next moment he vanished before the eyes of the experts. Only their leader had eyes capable of following after Shin as he used swift footwork to close in of one of his men, but he was in disbelief. He was still under effects of two gravity control skills, so it should have been impossible for him to move so fast and with such grace. Then thinking about how fast Shin would be if he was no longer under the increased gravity made the leader break out in a cold sweat.

Dimond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Be-"

Shin: (Soul Crushing Strike!)

By the time Colonel Junpei tried to warn his comrade it was too late. Instant Movement brought Shin right before an Endurance based Evolver wielding a Kodachi Blade in one hand and a rifle in the other. With these weapons the expert had claimed the lives of hundreds of men and women, including Enhancers and Evolvers, but Shin movements were too fast even for an Agility based Evolver, so when he was already in the motion of swinging his fist there was nothing that could save his life. Physical movement and circulation of Ki perfectly matched up as Soul Crushing Strike smashed the Kodaichi Blade into pieces, continuing forward then crashed into the chest of the expert, and in a comical fashion he was blown off his feet and twirling in the air. 

The Endurance based Evolver who should have had the highest threshold for damage died on impact from the internal Ki strike ripping apart his inner organs, so the rest was just for show how powerful his strength was regardless of techniques. This one punch just went to show that after entering Black Origin Threshold Shin's power and speed were enough to kill any expert present. His power, speed, physical endurance, reaction speed, and even Ki techniques shot up by a few levels. In pure physical enhancements Black Origin Threshold lost to the current Kakuja Kagune after ranking up to the A tier SS Rated One-eyed Ghoul, but in combination with Ki it far surpassed it, as well as the benefits gained from his former Lesser Fenrir Coat's Red Moon Formation.

Shin: (All directions Thirty-six Pound Cannon!!!)

Grasping Z-Saber handle tightly with two hands and in just one second, Shin spun numerous times in place brandishing his sword with speed impossible to follow even for the expert's leader. It was only a second, yet dozens of vacuum blades faster and sharper than before shot out towards every living person nearby. The blades flew through the air with blinding speed and sliced the air so clearly that a beautiful melody could be heard. Only the leader just barely had the reaction and movement speed to roll to safety, while the others had to endure the barrage of flying sword slashes. All the Strength and Endurance based Evolver that had closed in on Shin just before were slain in an instant. They were all in the First Stage and followed their combat instincts to preserve their lives, but the lightning fast vacuum blades were too much to handle and were chopped down into small pieces.

Vacuum blades chased after the Spirit based Evolvers hiding in the in the rooms of nearby buildings. The summoners had their giant black bears endure the blows for him, and one fell to the floor dead with a slash beheading one of their heads. As for the two Vertical Gravity Control users they had no defense skills to rely on as vacuum blades slice through the buildings they hid in and cut down, thus releasing Shin from his constraints. Now free to show his full might Shin charged right at the giant and sole black bear with a ruthless glint in his eyes. He latched onto the back of the beast and with his bare hands tore out its flesh. The bear's flesh were as tough as rocks, but Shin's ample strength and hands gloved in Legacy easily tore it out. The black bear wailed loudly and tried to fall backwards to crush Shin, but foreseeing this he kicked the bear first, pushing himself away and with enough force to cause the bear to smash into the ground face first.

Shin: "Fire Bolt!"

From his extended palm a scarlet shaped lightning bolts of flames struck the giant black bear and was incinerated into black ash. This was the final nail in the board the Spirit based Evolver/summoner. After having three summoned creatures who were spiritually connected to him slain, the mental feedback was so great that his mind self-destructed and throwing up mouthfuls of blood he died. Shin then checked his surrounding and realizing that no one was present, he check the area from Hikari's scans through Soul Link. The leader of the experts and his main target was fleeing towards a humvee parked a block away. If he escaped then the God would erase one of his comrades, so Shin flew into a rage as he gave chase. 

Doing this he felt his consciousness slipping and entering deeper into Black Origin Threshold, but on the plus side he felt his power was slowly rising to compensate. Shin ran after Colonel Junpei and turned a street corner to find the man already starting up the engine of his Humvee. While not as fast as Shin, this man had inhuman physical strength, speed, and had entered the Second Stage which allowed him to reach the parked vehicle in seconds after making the decision to run away, jump into the driver's seat, and start up the car. Shin cursed and was about to give chase when he noticed a pink glittering light in the corner of his eye. A remote control DRAGOON controlled by Hikari hovered above the night skies of the city and aimed the muzzle of its beam cannon towards the Humvee.

- *EXPLOSION*!

The DRAGOON fired just once and release a laser beam that in the span of a second cut through the night sky and pierce straight through the engine of the fleeing Humvee. Colonel Junpei felt the danger even before he saw the attack and by the time the beam cut through the vehicle's engine he had already thrown himself out of the car. A second later the Humvee blew up and what remained of the wreckage was burning red hot. Colonel Junpei had a furious look on his face and knowing escape was impossible he prepared for a life and death battle. 

Hikari SL: (Since he was in Unlocked Mode I didn't think I could snipe him, so I just destroyed his car.)

Shin SL: (Great job! Just leave the rest to me, but keep the DRAGOON visible and flying around to pressure him!)

Shin dashed towards Colonel Junpei with Instant Movement. His speed bordered ghostly as he crossed dozens of meters in a second, and Junpei prepared himself as best he could. Junpei entered the Second Stage of the Genetic Constraint and his muscles enlarged by three folds. He then he activated his special skill that he had upgraded four times, Second Order Steel Manipulation! After being upgraded four times it had even evolved into a higher tier Skill of the God and Devil System and was a force to be reckoned with. So much so that in pure power he was only slightly inferior to the ace of the Walking Dead Unit Takashi who was a high-level Dual Evolver and the second Dual Evolver of the Walking Dead Unit Saeko. The six swords on his back began to levitate and swinging around Junpei at incredible speed like a helicopter blade. Anything or one that came within fifteen meters of him, the six God and Devil weapons would fly out hack them to pieces.

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "You had fun killing the small fry, so try fighting a real master!"

Junpei charged forward to meet Shin in a head-on collision. His movement speed wasn't nearly as fast as his opponent, but revealing a cruel smile as they were about to clash and he raised his right hand forward. In that split second as Shin was about to swing Z-Saber to slash through the six weaving swords hovering around Junpei, he saw the raised hand aimed pointing at him. The first thought that he had was that this was a magic attack like Takashi's Devil Flame, so he would either temporarily escape or intercept the attack with his own magic, but feeling that lack of pressing danger of an incoming attack and feeling an underline danger almost impossible to notice gave Shin pause. It was then that he noticed that the handle of his sword became heavily and tried to forcefully escape his hands.

Dimond Dogs Colonel Junpei Junpei: "It's already too late! Cutting Edge Enhancement!"

When Z-Saber tried to wrench itself out of Shin's hands it threw him off balance at this critical moment just as he was about to clash with the six helicopter spinning swords. Shin felt through every cell of his body that he was in grave danger, especially when those six spinning swords began to emit a faint cyan radiance. Those six swords of the God and Devil System were already high-level treasures superior to the Kodachi Blades which were mainstream for the strong mid-level Enhancers, and now with increased sharpness of the Cutting Edge Enhancement skill there were few who could come out alive in an exchange of swords with Junpei. Takashi with his Level 5 Treasure war hammer enveloped in Devil Flames or Saeko's lightning reinforced Level 4 katana could counter Junpei's swords, and Shin's own Z-Saber could with unparalleled sharpness and special attacks could do much more than counter, but without it...

Shin: (Fuck!)

- *CLINK*!

Junpei's helicopter blade came together as one large mass of swords and struck Shin's shoulder intending to bisect him from the shoulder down. Junpei showed a savage glee on his face seeing his swords even cut through Shin's flesh hardened with Silver Dragon Scales, but was shocked when his blades came to a stop. At the last moment Shin recalled his sword back to his ring and then blocked the incoming swords with his hands. This should have been the most foolish action imaginable by Junpei, yet when his six swords came into contact with those hands covered in only black gloves they couldn't cut through and were repelled. Junpei didn't realize that the gloves were, in fact, powerful magic weapons, so without answers he was hopelessly confused. Shin then used this opening to kick Junpei hard in the stomach, inflicting both damage and blowing him away, and jumping backwards for space. Falling backwards from the hard kick to his stomach Junpei growled in pain. Despite being in the Second Stage that one kick from Shin in Black Origin Threshold held unreal force and broke a few of his ribs. Furious, Junpei used his Steel Manipulation skill to send his six glowing cyan swords chasing after him from and from above stabbed down to skewer Shin, but he had already escaped Junpei attack range over twenty meters with Instant Movement.

Shin: "Fire Bolt!"

Unable to use a sword Shin fell back into magic as he raised a hand towards Junpei and cast Fire Bolt. In a flash of light the speed cast magic of scarlet lightning shaped flames shoot out towards the enemy, but he was prepared having seen this attack already more than once. Just as Shin had raised his hand and was about to cast Fire Bolt, Junpei ordered his six swords to hover in front of him and spin like real helicopter blades faster than ever before. When the scarlet lightning shaped flame came into contact with the makeshift helicopter blades Fire Bolt dispersed in all directions, yet away from its intended target. Junpei smiled seeing this having figured out that while Fire Bolt was quite lethal to soft body targets, it lacked a physical destructive force to break through strong defenses.

Shin: (So what if you figured that out!)

Shin wasn't dispirited at the least at seeing Fire Bolt taken out and moved on to his next attack by channeling a large amount of Ki into his combat gloves. An energy field of heat reminiscent of lava was formed around Legacy and the very air around the gloves began to burn with an audible sizzling sound. Shin then jumped into the air and repeatedly kicked with Void Movement, flickering in and out of Junpei eyes with insane speed. The air shook violently with each kick with Void Movement and in the blink of an eye Shin reappeared behind Junpei. Junpei felt the immediate threat and jumped forward as Shin came crashing down from above into the earth where he stood. With one hand pressing down on the earth the ground began to melt into molten rock. The destructive power of the energy field of the gloves shocked him and in response he sent three swords waving through the air towards Shin. The three swords shoot out at lightning speed and would give most experts no time to react, but for Shin it was all too clear. Shin waved his hands at the approaching swords and on contact with Legacy the three weapons of the God and Devil system instantly melted and the remains fell to the floor as wet molten fragments.

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "Damn! I'm... I'm... I'm a vessel of the Saint! Don't fuck with me!"

Junpei used his Steel Manipulation skill on every object in the entire area. Abandoned cars, street poles, and even the Taichi Blades and other weapons of his fallen comrades. He took command over as many objects as he could intending to smash Shin in a storm of metal. Of course, the more objects that he tried to take control of the power and accuracy of each object would fall drastically, but under the threat of being smashed, impaled, and sliced apart by hundreds of objects it would be enough to reap the life of any foe. This included Shin even if he activated Silver Dragon Scales to harden his skin for protection and even with a sword it would be impossible to intercept every incoming object. 

Shin: (Ha! Am I supposed to be sacred? This is just another chance to show off, but there's no need to use the Kakuja here!)

Shin looked down on the attack and warmly welcomed it. Hundreds of deadly items were then hurdled towards him. There was no room to escape through the storm of metal mass or a method to take defend against it, but summoning his Kagune Shin proved that the latter was not true. Eight blood-red tentacles surfaced, and wiggled around their master ominously before then lashed out violently at the surroundings. Cars, streets polls and swords were targeted by the tentacles and swiftly torn, sliced, and smashed indiscriminately. The Kagune suffered little to no damage as they stuck the incoming projectiles and when it did occur they regenerated in an instant without ever stopping their attacks. What was supposed to be a storm of metal in an instant turned into a red hurricane of violence with Shin at its center as the eight tentacles swirled and lashed out protecting their master. 

Shin: "The A tier mutation, SS Rated One-Eyed Ghoul is pretty good. Not even needing to use a defensive skill or that form. Now, your metal manipulation or whatever it was has been proven ineffective. Will you surrender? I'll promise to take you in... alive."

Diamond Dogs Colonel Junpei: "No! Monster! Stay away!"

Junpei, a Evolver and one who had Unlocked up to the Second Stage who was so proud of his power and authority, turned his back to the enemy and started to flee. Then in a truly desperate final ploy to keep his life he had the last three of his God and Devil System swords once more spin into a helicopter blade. It was weaker than the previous one, but it would still disperse Fire Bolt if his opponent casts it. Shin was disappointed by Junpei's decision. He was lying about taking him back alive, yet he wanted to see just what would his enemy do now backed into a corner, and he frowned when he found his answer. Junpei was a supposedly known to be extremely powerful and second only to Takashi. This was close to true enough on paper, but in actuality it was an insult to Takashi to speak their names in the same breath.

Shin: (When I fought Takashi, even when it was just a spar I felt a pressure like you can only experience facing a boss monster or team leader in a battle to the death. My actual power is greater than his, but close to everything else like skill, experience, and mentality he surpassed me and it was those things that could perhaps kill me if we were to fight to death in a real battle. Takashi and this guy are like night and day. If not for the Second Stage and fending off a unit of Unlocked Evolvers, I would question God about the difficulty of even DD for this mission.)

Shin thinking so even regretted entering Black Origin Threshold. Unless he had Hikari heal him he would have to endure a rough physical and spiritual recoil, so he was pissed. That's why he didn't bother to pursue Junpei as he ran farther and farther away, and just raised his left hand. Shin prepared to launch Fire Bolt to kill Junpei from a distance, but to accomplish this with the helicopter spinning blade as a wall between them he used the Third Stage to simulate Jin who was skilled in magic for inspiration. 

Shin: (Jin is by far the best when it comes to manipulating magic, but... Hahahahaha! I can't help but feel like a scumbag villain when I start thinking like that guy!)

Shin showed the same eyes as Jin that shined with madness as he aimed the palm of his left hand towards Junpei's retreating back. Fire Bolt's good characteristics were that the energy consumption wouldn't change as the user became more powerful and would be able to bring out more destructive power, but it came at a price that most Ki skills and magic spells didn't have. One could not alter the scale or power with additional energy. This was a different flaw than the Ki skill Spirit Wave that drained all the users Ki without reserve. Shin had felt hardships with these flaws he had no control over, yet this simply leads to a new way of looking at things as he emulated Jin's thought patterns. He had never reached this conclusion when he was training back in the Terminal Lobby, but here on the battlefield where his stress and adrenaline were higher than normal, a spark went off in his mind forming an idea.

Shin: "If you can't change the energy output, then change the way you use the energy you have! Fire Bolt-"

Using the concept of his various Ki bullet skills Shin cast the Fire Bolt spell, but held back for ten seconds. This was a grave opening an enemy could have exploited, yet Junpei was too distracted by his fear to notice the opportunity. A spark of flames and lightning ignited in front of his palms, forming a pea sized scarlet ball of energy. This scarlet energy ball grew larger by the second till it reached the mass of a ping pong ball, and then shifted in shape into a modern long rifle shell. Once the shape was finalized, discharges of both fire and lightning surrounded the bullet, and the radiating power of the scarlet bullet started to burn Shin skin of his arm to the degree he now required Silver Dragon Scales to protect himself.

Shin: "-Bullet!!!"

- *BANG*!!!

The scarlet shaped bullet formed of fire and lightning was released from Shin's palm, but the recoil far exceeded all expectations. The knock back forced Shin off his feet and tumbling backwards uncontrollably for over thirty meters where he then crashed into the wall of a building. More than half the bones of his left arm were now shattered into pieces and his flesh burned black and twisted. In the backlash Shin missed the result of the new technique, but he didn't have anything to worry over. The scarlet bullet cut through the air with the speed of a bullet fired from a high caliber sniper rifle, smashing through and melting the helicopter blades on contact, and with the bang of a thunderbolt punched a foot size circular burning hole radiating with electricity through Junpei's torso, and finally coming to a stop when the scarlet bullet crashed through the walls of a far off building and leaving a burning trail of scarlet flames and lightning.

- PRE-HIGH SCHOOL OF THE DEAD CROSS SERIES BONUS MISSION COMPLETE! AWARDED 3000 POINTS AND TWO D RANK REWARDS!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Authors Note:

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Proofread by Deltoren 

No one said evolution was easy. Powerful self-created skills, or altered skills have some risk when creating or using them. Also, Bonus Mission really came out of nowhere even for me. It became the only way I could sorta justify a confrontation between the two sides. At least it helps to foretell what future Bonus Missions in this world may be about. Anyways, were done the first part, so let's speed into the team battle! 

Scarlet Bullet - 

Rating XXX. 

The Fire Bolt spell shot out as a scarlet shaped bullet radiating sparks of electricity and flames. Strong recoil. Upon impact a large flaming thunderbolt lashes out violently. Power, speed, piercing potential, and firing range are depended on the quality of the original Fire Bolt Spell.