Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 249 Rebirth

Everything rapidly shifted; the complexion of the universe rapidly altered–from stained glass, grassy fields, marble walls, a boundless sea, even to spiraling, chromatic stairwells. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to it, simply overwhelming the bounds of existence, changing its properties, breaking down the barriers of dimensions–

'I have to change it all–rip out the roots! If I want to hurt this thing, I need to bring in concepts beyond reality–I have to change it,' he thought.

As the Ravager attempted to approach, it was slowed down, altered by the shifting reality. Its outstretched arm flickered from abyssal flesh, to frosted pastries, to brittle glass, to mossy stone, to roses, to coal—

"You meddle with reality…You believe I can be stopped merely by warping my constitution. An oversight; ignorance, fledgling god," the Ravager's voice emitted through the shifting dimensions.

Beyond the ever-changing planes, the hand of the destroyer pierced through every variation. Finn found it crashing through the glass complexion of the cosmos, grabbing hold of him.

"Ngh!—" He struggled.

Face-to-face with it, its appearance was that of nothingness given form. Any prolonged contact would be an undeniable way to be erased, feeling its fingers grip around his coat–

["Blade Warp"]

He flickered across the cosmos, immediately slapping his hands together as the scenery was altered once again–

The void of nothingness was filled by a boundless world of smooth stone, occupied by pillars of the pale material that reached up for light years.

'I can create whatever I want, I can warp reality however which way…It doesn't matter. These are all things the Creator could've done, yet it said I was the one suited to eliminate this. I get it now,' he realized.

–It almost made him laugh, realizing how simple it really was. Amidst the collapse of the universe, facing the embodiment of nothingness, it all came down to him and his dagger. In every direction, the tendrils of the Ravager unleashed the force of Oblivion, decimating all it reached.

Finn squeezed the handle of his dagger, breathing in before sprinting right for it. He approached it as though it were any other of the thousands of monsters he'd slain amidst the apocalypse.

As the annihilating beams swept in every direction, he swiftly maneuvered his body, flipping around and sliding himself around their range.

["There's only one thing I need to do. The Creator made this all happen on purpose—it wanted me to handle this thing."]

Closing the distance between himself and the abyssal horror, he slipped in, ducking beneath a swarm of its tendrils. In the same motion his boots slid across the stone, he stuck his blade into the sable ribcage of the destroyer—

["The Art of Dying"]

Infused directly into its nebulous body, the blueprint of death was introduced to its abnormal condition.

"Intriguing…This is "death?" Ahh…Yes, this is what we've sought; the return to nothingness."

The serpentine-bodied being spoke with a weary delight. As the blade was retracted from its body, Finn stepped back, watching the Ravager ooze blood as its flesh began to wither.

'It's done,' he thought.

However—

"Grk!"

—The Ravager spat out, suddenly convulsing as an inexplicable phenomena occurred. It's chest was penetrated from the inside as a thick blade opened it up, as if performing a surgery from within.

'Something is…cutting itself out?' He thought.

It was as the mysterious blade was dragged up, tearing the entire torso of the lifeform open did he recognize it. That weapon—it wasn't a knife or sword, but an instrument meant for slicing meat: a cleaver.

'No—' Finn thought.

As the Ravager's chest was opened from the inside, a blood soaked man stepped out with a smiling gasp.

"I've made it—haaaah…"

"Why the hell are you here," Finn asked in utter disbelief. "—Crow?"

Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire

There was no reasonable explanation he could imagine to find the nebulous man there. A part of him simply wanted to snap his fingers, casting the man of countless sins to a black hole, yet—

At the moment, he was the only other human left, at least, if he could be considered one.

"Thanks for killing that thing. I was finally able to cut my way out," Crow playfully said, licking the blood goo from his hand.

"How are you here?" Finn asked.

Crow held the same, ever-present smile laced with malice and intrigue, "…I learned a lot in there. That creature, inside of it, was the end—nothingness. Before I died, I consumed myself, waiting to be reborn, and well…"

"You were stuck inside of it?" Finn presumed.

"Bingo," Crow confirmed, pointing at him in jest. "When I was in there, I got hungry. I tasted it, Finn—Oblivion."

It was standing there, exchanging words with the man he struggled to hate, he realized it—something was off. Crow carried a nefarious wind about himself, not dissimilar to the Ravager.

["The Predator System. Now that I think about it, it's freakishly similar to what the Ravager was capable of. Assimilation through destruction. Devouring what's destroyed and turning it into your own.

If that's the case, then he…"]

The pale-haired man looked up at the ashy sky of the world of stone, laughing, "I always thought in the end, it'd be us, Finn. My gut instinct, it's never wrong. But, this? Oh, the universe is in our palms."

"Our?" Finn asked.

"Ooo…Yeah, so that's how it is, I thought so—really," Crow remarked. "We can never agree on how to run the universe, could we?"

"Everything is going back to how it was, before everything went to hell," Finn declared sternly.

Crow lightly shook his head, "That's boring. I want to try something new. I'm going to devour everything, and let it exist within me—being one with everything, everyone. Ahhh…that sounds like paradise."

Madness, or something akin to it; that's what it sounded like to the young man. The power of Oblivion in the hands of Crow was a worse case scenario, in his mind.

"I'm sorry, but…I can't allow that," Finn claimed, clutching his dagger.

Crow shrugged, "'Course you can't. You're a hero, Finn. You may not admit it, hell, you deny it even in your heart. But, I understand you intimately."

"I understand you, too. Still, that doesn't change anything. We can't coexist as it stands. All that leaves is the same thing we've done since the apocalypse," Finn declared.

"Kill, or…" Crow lingered, bringing his cleaver near his lips.

"Be killed," Finn followed.

Nothing else needed to be said as he dashed for the eccentric killer.

A natural, unspoken understanding existed between the two men that stood on opposing ends:

["There was no need for the authority of gods or destroyers. All we needed to settle this were our blades. If those broke, then our fists would do."]

The moment he found himself within steel's reach of the smiling killer, he swept his dagger for the man's neck. Crow leaned back, letting the sharp edge narrowly avoid his throat, "Hah! You're righteous, but not afraid to coldly execute somebody! I love that about you!"

"—If there's one thing I can say positively about you, you wear your emotions on your sleeve," Finn calmly responded, quickly pivoting as he attempted another strike at the man's neck.

["I don't hate him. It's because I've assimilated him, and he's done the same to me—I understand him. He's depraved, but honest. It's a twisted, heartfelt kindness he holds, though he expresses it through violence.

In the world I want to bring back, letting him run wild…I can't have that blood on my hands."]

Crow weaved around the strikes, snapping his jaws towards the assassin's wrist. Quickly, Finn moved his hand out of the way, countering by striking the pommel of his dagger against the killer's chin.

"Hah!—" Crow winced with a smile. "Haven't you noticed it, Finn?!" He shouted with an elated grin.

Like a spring, the deluded man bounced back, countering as he lunged forward. Finn attempted to slide back, though found the forehead of the man crashing against his own—

"Ghh!"

"Grh!"

—As their heads collided, they both recoiled, though bounced back within the same moment.