Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 3, H.O.T.D 2
Ten L1 Zombies climbed out of the hole in the middle of the street and rushed forward straight at Shin and Komaru. Shin placed Komaru down on the ground next to Grim Ash to prepare for their attack. They were fifty meters away, yet this distance was shrinking by the second. They had more than five times the speed of a healthy young male and would reach them in less than ten seconds, but this was more than enough time to respond for Shin was still in Unlocked Mode. Just one second was needed to respond to their assault with his own. Shin took out a cylinder shaped object, an infinite ammo rocket launcher from his dimensional belt and took a step to the side so Komaru directly behind him wouldn't get caught in the blast (GATE) and knelt down into a firing position with it over his shoulder.
Shin: (Don't know how I'll fare yet against an L1 at close range, much less a group of L1s, but this can't be called a threat. Like I wanted to avoid, you all should have come after me as a massive army of L1s! Die!)
Shin pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher and flames erupted from the back while the rocket was shot out and flew towards the group of L1 Zombies. To Shin's surprise, they held the intelligence to know the threat of a rocket, which could kill them, yet they were unconcerned. Just one rocket would perhaps kill off half their group and injury the rest, but for zombies without fear or a sense of pain that couldn't be called checkmate. They would pick themselves back up before the human could reload and smash him into the pavement. They would then pick up his remains and devour them, along with his companions, yet they didn't know two key pieces of information, which sealed their fate.
One, Shin's rockets launcher was infinite ammo can could fire six rockets per minute without reloading, and so by the time they picked themselves up they would be wiped out by a second blast.
And two and most importantly, the rockets of the launcher over his shoulder wasn't a normal rocket from a normal rocket launcher and they would never have that chance to pick themselves up.
- *EXPLOSION*!!!
After impacting the leading zombie of the group, all ten L1s were incinerated into nothingness as the rocket detonated. Originally the power of his unlimited ammo modern weapon wasn't capable of taking out ten L1s in one blast after spreading out, so Shin smiled at the sight of the burning flesh of the zombies scattered across the street. Jin had recently inscribed onto countless infinite ammo weapons magic enchantment Rune Words to bestow the weapon with the power to deliver magic damage to the supernatural. Jin had inscribed an Advance Magic Enchantment inside the barrel of the infinite ammo rocket launcher, so his modern weapon had magic enchantment rivaling DD tier magic weapons according to their test. The actual power, speed, and AOE damage hadn't increased in the slightest, yet every part of the blast including even the burning hot winds spoke of high magic damage. The L1 who didn't know this were destined to die the moment Shin took out the rocket launcher which had been upgraded into a DD rank infinite ammo AOE magic weapon.
- SIDE QUEST REWARD 3, EVOLUTION TYPE 1 ZOMBIE. TEN L1 ZOMBIES KILLED. THE WHOLE TEAM IS REWARDED 10 POINTS!
Shin: "Just ten points to every member? Not bad, but nothing like my last mission, though that can't be helped. Hopefully, there are a lot more of THEM I can kill. More efficient than normal ones at least."
Komaru: "You're not normal to wish for that Shin... and it looked like you got your wish!"
It was as Komaru warned him. Three more L1s crawled out of the hole in the middle of the street and began to walk over towards their group. Shin laughed out loud seeing only three come out of the hole when another ten were wiped off the face of the earth with one blast of his rocket launcher, but even though he was excited and at ease, he still didn't exit Unlocked Mode. They were all still surrounded by hundreds of normal zombies and then there was still that thing that was moving underground. That was what Shin was most worried about and had already told Hikari to spread the word to the team with Soul Link about an enemy that could traverse underground. Within Team Japan only he could fly and even then it wasn't forever and wore down his endurance and Ki with each attempt.
This was a threat that could get in the team's way, especially when Hikari's is having a hard time locating the enemies without her Persona summoned to boost her Psyche Force. Shin now wanted to gather more information about this enemy and was prepared to order Grim Ash to go ahead with Komaru and learn as much about this underground enemy as possible, and hopefully kill it here and now. That's when he saw something strange. The three L1s moving stopped moving together and separated. Two walked off the street and sat down while the remaining L1 continued to move forward alone and stopped fifteenth meters away. Also, all the zombies in the area began to back away. Shin was lost at first but soon came to realize what this was.
A challenge!
The enemy was challenging his side to a 1 on 1 battle. For what purpose Shin couldn't be certain of anything yet, but he felt something was wrong here. The enemies here in this world were zombies. They shouldn't have the intelligence, sense of self, or fighting spirit to engage in a challenge between warriors. Even with the introduction of God and Devil World, a Z type evolved zombie wouldn't order a zombie to do such a thing at least from where he last read to. Also, last time he looked there weren't any control type zombies listed on his Player Watch.
Shin: (Yet it feels that way. I don't feel a fighting spirit or anything close to a sense of self from these zombies, just a mindless desire for flesh. Someone behind the scenes is controlling these guys with a purpose in mind.)
Shin wanted to enter the Third Stage and stimulate Saki or Jin's thought patterns to come to an answer on his own, yet he didn't want to wear down his mind if he didn't have to. He just told Hikari mentally over Soul Link to connect with Jin and show him everything he was seeing. Psyche Force Scans were useless right now, but she at least confirmed that shared vision through Soul Link worked just fine. He'll leave the plans and hypothesis to Jin who's better at that stuff. Meeting up with his comrades was important as well, but his instincts were telling him that this was an important chance to learn about the mysteries of this Cross Series mission.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Shin: "Ash you're up! You'll be my representative. We don't know what they have plan, but let's give them a show and that we're not to be messed with. Kill them!"
Grim Ash: "..."
Grim Ash no longer concerned itself with the zombies backing away and silently shot towards the lone L1 like an arrow. The L1 took a long stride and threw a powerful punch towards Grim Ash. Grim Ash remembered the image of the one soldier blown off his feet and crashing into a bus by a single punch of an L1, so it took a step to the side to dodge. The L1 tried to follow up with another punch, but Grim Ash, with superior speed, moved to its backside and slammed the Barbatos Mace at its head. The L1 that the soldiers from before could barely injury was now knocked down to the floor with a crack on its hard skin and bleeding.
This didn't come as a surprise to Shin as his familiar's weapon, a D tier sci-fi blunt weapon, was now covered in bone fragments to increase its striking force which was already of a high hardness made from a rare alloy used for mobile suit frames. Enemies like the L1 with tough armor were the perfect prey for this weapon. As Shin admired Grim Ash's power, he then gave the finishing blow by stabbing the mace into the L1's face and pulling the trigger of the sci-fi weapon. The center of the Barbatos Mace, the pile driver mechanism was activated, and a needle was fired from the tip of the mace. Needle was the name for it, but it was closer to a large spiked rod that stabbed straight through the L1's head killing it instantly. The spiked rod covered in rotten brain matter even had the power left over to pierce through into the earth, nailing the L1 in place.
- SIDE QUEST REWARD 3, EVOLUTION TYPE 1 ZOMBIE. ONE L1 ZOMBIE KILLED. THE WHOLE TEAM IS REWARDED 1 POINT!
Shin was pleased with this announcement from God. It was just one point to each member of the team, but this confirmed that familiars like Grim Ash counted as his own power and so he and his team received the benefits. If not and the points and rewards for Grim Ash's kills didn't count then his value as an additional fighter would shoot down and Shin would be forced to use his familiar as a purely supportive role rather than a possible main combatant. This also confirmed that Aqua and Shuai who possessed familiars of their own could use them to gain the points and rank rewards.
Immediately after Grim Ash nailed the head of the L1 into the earth, the two L1 to the side sprang up and shot towards Ash. After losing 1 on 1, the enemy didn't hesitate to try 1 on 2, yet Grim Ash stood his ground and raised the Barbatos Mace, aiming for the zombie on its right and fired a metal spike rod. The spiked rod shot through the air with the speed of a bullet towards the L1's head, yet the zombie raised its right hand and swatted at the spike. It's entire right arm was torn off by the force of the projectile, yet unfazed it continued charging towards Grim Ash.
Shin: (They are learning quickly, or the one behind them is. So he is testing our power instead of trying to kill us for the sake of bettering his knowledge. Shit, this isn't Terra Formars! Unlike the Bugs, zombies aren't capable of growing as individuals with new knowledge. Only a Z type might do that, but that's still a stretch. Anyways, more so than the soldiers or civilians, it's best not to show our true power without first identifying the enemy.)
As Grim Ash fended off the two L1s alone Shin contacted his comrades for an update. Everything was going well according to Hikari. Hikari, Aqua, and Drake had secured Bus 2 and escaped the zombie horde and were now on the move. Sachi, Shuai, and Kisara had secured Bus 6 with little trouble, but are being chased by the zombies and would be taking a detour to lose them. Hikari had them take the best routes to the safe zones using Psyche Force Scan and kept a vigilant watch out for the zombies. Connor and Jin alone secured Bus 10 but lost most of the soldiers nearby, so they were on their own. This wasn't exactly a bad thing as they had command over the situation, yet this placed more pressure on them. Especially when they couldn't go all out.
Hikari SL: (Jin told me to tell you to that if you don't want to be left behind start running in thirty seconds. Go down the road that you are on for two miles, turn left and go on for three miles, and then turn right and use Void Movement to jump over the zombies. He said that you know it when you see it. Jin and Connor will be passing by with the bus. The others are okay for now, so I'll share my most recent scans with you.)
Shin SL: (...Okay, I got it! I'll meet up Jin and Connor in a moment.)
Shin didn't disconnect with Hikari this time as she was sharing her scans from Psyche Force, but he returned his focus to the battle between Grim Ash and the two L1 zombies. Grim Ash who had the better balance of power and speed dominated the L1 who were only superior to him in brute force. Grim Ash had taken off the arm of the other L1, and both zombies were riddled with injuries that hindered their moments despite their lack of pain and fear.
Shin: "Ash, kill them now! We're escaping!"
Grim Ash heard his master's command and its empty eye sockets lit up with a demonic flame. Grim Ash strengthened its body with its Undead Strength and rushed the Two L1s. The Barbatos Mace was raised overhead and swung down on top of the head of one L1 closest to him. The zombie didn't die immediately with half its face caved in, but it was then finished off by a spiked rod piercing all the through the center of its chest and severing its spinal cord. At that exact moment, the other L1 waiting for this moments lunged for Grim Ash. It and the one behind the zombies learned that the mace that shoots spikes had a 6-8 second delay before it could fire again and took this chance to strike. The L1 raised its sole arm that was now glowing red and punched forward. It was the same move that stopped the moving bus and flipped it over on its back. Grim Ash only suffered a grazing blow to its right elbow but to both the skeleton familiar and Shin's shock its whole right arm holding onto its weapon and part of its ribcage shattered and turned into dust.
Shin: (A special attack that doesn't exist in God and Devil World. We can call it charged attack similar to what we encountered in Apocalypse Alice, but just less magic based. Still, sorry guys, but even with that Ash can still...)
It was as Shin said.
The magic armor incorporated into Grim Ash's began absorbing most of the damage, and like zombies, as a skeleton, it didn't feel pain or fear allowing it to immediately retaliate. The five fingers of its left hand merged as one and sharpened, taking on a thick knife-like shape, and Grim Ash stabbed into the L1. It's ability to manipulate it's bone structure after just being born, and lack of combat experience was frightening even as a Superior Grade Skeleton Demon, but it's Kaguya Clan Bloodline gave it the edge it needed to master this power. The bone knife that was now sharper and sturdier than even military grade knives used by the special forces was thrust forward and stabbed into the mouth of the L1 and opened a hole in the back of its throat. Grim Ash wasn't finished there as it then dug up into the L1's head and tearing out its rotten blackish gray brain in a gruesome manner for all to see. The skeleton demon then threw away the grotesque brain onto the floor, picked up its weapon that fell and rushed over towards his master and Komaru.
- SIDE QUEST REWARD 3, EVOLUTION TYPE 1 ZOMBIE. TWO L1 ZOMBIES KILLED. THE WHOLE TEAM IS REWARDED 2 POINTS!
Komaru: "...There's too much to comment on here, but isn't Grim Ash just too dominating!? Like some kind of a battle genius right out of a Manga."
Shin: "Yeah. Like this, I'm worried about my spot as the most popular character... Wait! We don't have time for this "Awe and amazing" moment right out of Manga and Anime! We're going Komaru! Recall Grim Ash!"
Shin directed one of his hands towards Grim Ash, and a pitch black fog swallowed up his skeleton demon and was un-summoned, recalled back to the underworld. Shin would have liked to keep him out at all times as added protection, but with the running he was about to do Grim Ash would be left behind in the dust. Grim Ash could then only wait to be swarmed and killed by zombies, and so to avoid the twenty-four-hour penalty to re-summon him it was better to recall him back to the underworld. This way he could re-summon the trusty skeleton demon anytime that he wants with just a bit of energy.
Shin: (The energy to summon Grim Ash from the underworld would increase as he becomes stronger, but with my current Ki it only takes 5% of my total reserves to summon him. Now-)
Shin had Komaru climb onto his back. Since he might need his hands free Shin couldn't carry Komaru in his arms (Princess Carry), and trying not to become more of a burden she grabbed tightly onto him so he wouldn't have to worry about her falling over. The two then began to run. More L1's were crawling out of the hole in the street and in anger about them running away they gave chase, yet they couldn't keep up with Shin's speed even with Komaru clinging to his back. The horde of zombies that had backed away now came back charging towards Shin and Komaru in seemingly endless waves, but Shin paid them no mind and jumped over their heads.
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Authors Note:
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Proofread by Azarza and Deltoren.
Infinite ammo weapons will either have one or two weakness. A delay in firing the next attack, or can fire continuously without pause at the cost of overheating and deforming. The Barbatos Mace is the former, and the EMP Rifle, sci-fi guns and most unlimited ammo normal firearms are the latter. A weapon can also be both in my opinion. Like a rocket launcher. It would be too broken if such a weapon didn't have a weakness, right?
As for calling and recalling Grim Ash, I considered it would be too powerful if I allowed Ash to just return and come out like this is Pokémon (Get it, Ash. Hahaha!), so I made a comprise. Shin can do that, but the energy for summoners like Shin and Shuai isn't small, at least for high-quality individual summons rather than in mass summons. With Grim Ash's current power it drains 5% Ki to summon him and zero cost to just recall. If Shin still had B tier energy that 5% would be 25% or greater. This gives some insight into summoner enhancers. They are powerful and don't have to engage directly into combat, but have to manage the amount of energy they have versus the strength of their summoned beings.
Also, I'll consider double releases in one day, another chapter in twelve or so hours, if my many fans add TI Side B in their favorites. It should be easier than asking for reviews. As for how many for another chapter... I don't know. There should be more than 600 of you who follow Side B who have not added it to your favorites, so let's leave it at that.