Terror Infinity Side B
Chapter 5, Apocalypse Alice
Shin: Fuck! Shit! Screw you God! Did the difficulty of the Labyrinth just spike all of a sudden? Shouldn't it be more steady!? Wait ‘til I surpass you and send you into even worse worlds!
Shin was currently running for his life and badmouthing a person/thing that wasn't even there. How things reached this point is a story worth remembering.
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Almost one hour had passed since the Labyrinth manifested and Shin had begun his journey to explore the Labyrinth and find the Diseased Girl. He had no idea where he was, hadn't run into any of his comrades, newbies, Hero Team or other students.
Shin had no clear direction to follow and at times there would be two, or more paths he would have to choose to go from. Relying solely on his instincts, gut feelings, and intuition just made him feel more lost. That also led to another problem.
Shin was choosing where to go by his instinctual ability to sense danger. Because he was seeking the direction he felt danger emanating from, he had run into a lot of enemies. Shin would run into mass gravestones every five to ten minutes of his journey. The initial group of monsters Shin faced numbered only five Skeleton Warriors, yet from that encounter on, Shin began encountering 10-30 enemies at a time. Those battles were a little time consuming, but he was rewarded for his troubles with points for each 100 monster kill.
- SIDE QUEST REWARD, HUNDRED LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 10 POINTS ACQUIRED!
The individual strength of the skeletons didn't increase, but their numbers were enough to think the difficulty of the Labyrinth had gone up as he was moving forward. Not worthy of a rank 44 Labyrinth, but the difficulty was steadily climbing.
This made Shin happy in a way, because the increase in monsters could be a better sign that he was going in the right direction. For Shin, these monsters weren't very difficult, even after he switched to hand to hand combat and swordplay in order to save on bullets. While he was not concerned for himself, deep down he had a sinking feeling about how the others were doing. This feeling grew heavier and more burdensome as time went on.
Shin: (If they hadn't discovered a simpler way to easily kill the enemy monsters by now, then they may be running out of magic bullets soon. We didn't know the next mission was magic based, so we couldn't exchange for tens of thousands of magic bullets. We also didn't get the Medium and High grade magic bullets for tougher opponents that we were bound to face deeper into this Labyrinth. This small supply of low grade magic bullets is going to have to go much farther than it should.)
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Now to Shin's current crisis:
Five minutes earlier Shin ran into the latest group of monsters as he stepped into a mass grave of fifty head stones. From Shin's experience, he expected this to mean fifty monsters would pop up once he either got close, or disturbed their sleep.
Shin felt it would take too long to deal with them, so when they started to emerge from the ground he threw a grenade empowered by Ki Energy. This is a technique especially effective against magic monsters that one could only use if they understood how to emit Ki Energy. He was grateful for his options as he threw the empowered grenade in the middle of the herd of monsters.
- *EXPLOSION*!!!
- SIDE QUEST REWARD, HUNDRED LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 10 POINTS ACQUIRED!
Not only was the power increased by a degree, but even the AOE damage of the grenade had widened slightly. So much so that Shin knew that if he had exchanged for one of the higher grade grenades he could possible blow up a small park sized landmass into smithereens. That's why Shin fully expected nothing could survive that blast, yet to his shock he was proven wrong.
Ten figures emerged from within the raging flames. They were not Skeleton Warriors, but a different breed of monster. They were not skeletal, instead they had flesh, but that was all. Their skin hung loosely in rotten chunks, several of them were missing body parts. Ultimately, their appearance was similar to the THEM from H.O.T.D. They were also armed with a higher quality of armor and sword, a katana to be exact. They were certainly a higher tier of monster and could only be called-
Shin: Zombie Warriors...This place is the best!
Shin was startled by how the zombies weren't killed by the explosion like the skeletons were, yet his fighting spirit hadn't weakened in the slightest. It only grew stronger. Shin knew that his team was in a dangerous situation and could be fighting for their lives at that very moment, yet he couldn't help himself.
Until recently, Shin had been through one stressful battle after another as he fought against opponents he never wanted to deal with. Shin had to fight the people threatening Hikari's family, he fought agents of the Four pillars to protect his cousin Chika and... he even had to fight to the death with his former comrade Saki. None of those fights were enjoyable, so Shin greatly preferred these fantasy style battles in Apocalypse Alice and those found in the worlds of Manga and Anime the most.
Now, Shin was back to the world that he felt he belonged in. The world of Manga, Anime, Light Novels and Video Games. He was currently fighting against mindless point farming Zombie Warriors. Here and now, Shin could be himself without worrying too much about his actions.
It was a fantasy and magic battle out of an RPG. So long as he did his best and didn't die, everything would work out in the end... At least that is what he believes, yet to date he had not been wrong.
Shin: Come! I'll play with you guys for a bit!
Shin’s battle cry rang loudly. The Zombie Warriors responded to Shin by yelling loudly as well and charging at him. He, in turn, steeled himself for the upcoming battle. Taking these new opponents seriously, Shin opened the Na Ring and summoned his trustworthy black night colored magic sword and Sci-fi gun. With the Gravity Blade in his right hand, and the infinite ammo Auto 9 he inherited from Aqua in his left hand he prepared to meet the oncoming assault.
Shin: Let's go GB!
Not waiting for a response from his antisocial magic sword, Shin met the slash of the closest Zombie Warrior with his own sword in one hand, blocking the slightly rusted katana. Using his Auto 9 Shin fired three rounds into the gut of the Zombie. Being opportunistic, Shin fired an additional round into its head killing the zombie where it stood. Confirming the kill by the withering corpse, Shin moved quickly and escaped the other nine Zombie Warrior.
Shin: (I don't know why the grenade didn't kill them. Maybe the armor has magical fire resistance, or I needed more than one? Flesh with damage reduction? Who knows, but I've figured out about these monsters. Strength wise they are two to three times stronger than the skeleton warriors and tougher as well. Without Ki Energy I would’ve been overpowered.)
Shin also gained information from the gut shots he made with the Auto 9 enhanced by a Magic Amplifier Tag. This Magic Amplifier Tag empowered the gun's loaded bullets into being Low Grade Magic bullets. Since his ammunition was infinite, that meant a potentially endless source of Low Grade Magic Bullets. From the damage of the first shots Shin felt that it would take more than ten, at least 20 or even 30 magic bullets to kill one. By adding Ki Energy it would take 10-20 bullets to send these Zombie back to the ground.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Shin: Head shots still work though!
Improved by this new information, Shin fought bravely as he was surrounded by the nine remaining Zombie Warriors. Shin made sure not to exchange blows with more than 3-4 at a time, keeping the others away with the magically enhanced Auto 9 infused with Ki Energy.
The swordsmanship of these enemies were far more intense than that of the Skeleton Warriors. Shin and the Zombies locked swords and slashed at one another, his black night sword eagerly met the slightly rusted katana of the enemy. While trying to get the better of the opponents Shin was impressed, but in the end it was a far cry from Kaiyo's swordsmanship he saw on the island. This was not even at a level that he needed to enter Unlocked Mode.
Shin: Not good enough!
The Gravity Blade in Shin's hand left a black arc as it ruthlessly slashed into the neck of one Zombie Warriors. The Zombie was instantly decapitated and its torso slumped over as its head came rolling off of its shoulders. Shin could imagine that the stats between him and the Zombie Warrior weren't too far apart, but his own gear gave him the advantage in the fight.
Another zombie moved behind Shin to take his life, yet Shin was not caught off guard. Knowing the intent of his enemy, a full swing spinning slash with increased gravity crashed into the monster's sword, cutting both the sword and zombie in half. Getting surrounding on all sides, or even having his back taken was bad, but Shin was not at the point he needed to worry for his safety. The main reason for his confidence lied with his magic sword.
Shin: (This is the thing about Gravity Blade I greatly appreciate. It's definitely a weapon that can be used all the way to the end game of God's Dimension in a sense. It seems dull as a magic weapon, yet using powerful blunt force and slashes to harm your opponent, and having the sword treated as a magic weapon makes it very impressive. There are no additional effects like burning the soul, draining life force, or corrosive properties, but far as I know there's no limit to its power and it has no affinity like weaknesses. I can just keep increasing the gravity of the sword to make my attacks stronger, so there won't be a need to exchange it for a better magic weapon in the future long as I become strong enough to handle the blade at 100,000 times gravity.)
It was as Shin thought. Shin wielding the Gravity Blade overpowered the enemy with increased weight slashes, and it didn't end just there. The force field of the Na Ring added on top of and the black night sword, enveloping it with a soft glow.
Whenever the sword made contact with any part of the enemy's body they would begin to melt like butter and were finished off by the sheer brute force behind the increased weight of the strike. They had no viable way of defending themselves.
Shin: Really, that was almost too easy. I do get that if anyone didn't have a magic weapon or a tool like the Na Ring they would have a more difficult time, even with enhancements. I feel bad for the others, but aren't I amazing!?
In the end, the whole fight didn't even take one minutes to come to a close. All ten of the Zombie Warriors were taken out and Shin felt confident that, even if he had to face more of them at once, he could take them out with little effort... And that's what lead to his carelessness.
Shin failed to notice that a single gravestone, one with Chinese characters was still there and wasn't harmed or activated in the previous battle. That's why as Shin passed by the grave stone boldly and the trap activated. The walls of the cave began to glow brightly. Before Shin knew what was going on the ground, walls and ceilings began to shake violently... Then they emerged.
Hands.
Hands of all sizes.
Dozens of hands.
Hundreds of hands.
Too many for Shin to count began to erupt from the ground, and slowly the rest of their bodies followed after. Shin didn't wait for all of them to come up for air and as he began to sprint down deeper into the cave.
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Shin: Fuck! They are catching up!
Shin ran away from over a hundred spawned monsters of the Labyrinth as he moved through the cave at top speed. Shin occasionally shot a glance backwards as he ran and he saw many types of spawned monsters. The Skeleton Warriors, Zombie Warriors and a new type monster he had yet to encounter. This new one was a larger spear wielding skeleton. They didn't appear as physically strong as the Zombie Warriors from the way they carried themselves and their weapons, yet their movement speed far surpassed them. So much so that even Shin had to occasionally dodge a spear thrust as they kept up with him.
Shin: Should I just use Instant Movement to escape?
Shin didn't wait too long to come to that decision since the stampede of monsters steadily increased in size as he traversed the Labyrinth. Shin ran through many gravestones and hidden traps where more monsters were buried and as Shin disturbed their sleep they joined the fun.
Shin: Fuck all of you and leave me alone!
Shin retrieved multiple grenades from his Na Ring and started infusing them with Ki Energy. When he was finished, he threw them up into the air directly below the ceiling and then fled with Instant Movement to escape the coming blast.
- *EXPLOSION*!!!
The blast went off intensely. Countless sharp rock fragments hit Shin's back as he escaped the blast, yet thanks to his Lesser Fenrir Coat they just harmlessly broke and fell down his back.
Shin was thankful and not just for his magic armor. Like he once feared and now wanted, the ceiling of the cave caved in and blocked the way he had come from. Shin just barely escaped as thousands of rocks rained down from above as those below were crushed.
- SIDE QUEST REWARD, HUNDRED LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 10 POINTS ACQUIRED!
- SIDE QUEST REWARD, HUNDRED LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 10 POINTS ACQUIRED!
- SIDE QUEST REWARD, HUNDRED LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 10 POINTS ACQUIRED!
Shin: S-Safe! That was really close. I almost-
- *RUMBLE*!
Shin felt through the ground a small quake and looked around at last to see where he was. So far he had been traveling through similar looking tunnels of the cave, but now he was in a large space. A naturally formed chamber of sorts.
It was incredibly spacious like a large pro sports field. Behind Shin was an oversized entrance and along the walls at the ceiling were multiple opening. It looked like Shin came through the main entrance and not a side entrance. This is a shame because taking a side entrance would mean he could’ve scouted the area first... Due to his failure to scout he was now in trouble.
Shin had stumbled upon the chamber where one could descend to the next level of the Labyrinth. A staircase lead to the next level below. Taking this staircase would lead one closer to where the Diseased Girl waits, but for that very reason the staircase leading down was guarded by a formidable force.
An untold number of Skeleton Warriors.
Hundreds of Zombie Warriors.
Dozens of Undead Spearmen.
And lastly...
Shin: So that's an elite, huh? Well, I think the easy part comes to an end here.
Shin thought as much as he stared into the one remaining decayed eye of the Elite Skeleton Knight.
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Authors Note:
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Proofread by Hoebagger