Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

The entire street began rumbling as the stability of the Radegast seemed to be quickly reaching its limit. Time for debating the choice of "self-destruction" was over, leaving him no other choice but to sprint to some kind of cover.

He sprinted for the closest building, kicking his way through a window before throwing himself behind the far counter. The footsteps of the alien creatures pattered behind him just as he slipped over the counter, pressing his back against it before—

BOOOOM.

The intense explosion caused everything to be swept in dust as glass scattered like snowflakes. Everything shook, causing the glasses set up behind the counter to drop down and shatter.

He covered his ears, still hearing the rippling of the wind as though it was being viscerally attacked by the force. Glancing over the countertop, he had to see it—

It was as though a natural disaster sat on the street just outside; an artificial disaster.

An explosive force that perpetually existed like that of a black hole, sucking in the alien life forms into its disintegrating mass before—BOOM.

As the creatures were siphoned into the radius of the destructive force, it exploded again, filling the young man's eyes with a blinding flash.

"Ghh!—"

He pressed himself down, practically hugging the counter as it felt the entire building might be swept away. It wasn't a normal bomb of any sorts that was set off with the Radegast as the catalyst.

No, it was a disastrous weapon—something he could only feel fortunate that wasn't invented in times of war.

'Nikko—what the hell is this?' He questioned.

The intense vibrations came to an end as silence befell the street, save for the soft downfall of sediment. Picking himself up from behind the impromptu cover, he looked at the aftermath of the Radegast's explosion—

"I think that did it," he muttered.

The entire front of the building he was in was erased, along with a perfect crater left in the street. It was a perfectly scaled reaction, as though every centimeter of the radius was controlled in the seemingly unstable release.

"…I don't see those things anywhere. I guess that did the job," he remarked to himself, stepping out from the erased front of the building.

The rain of sediment trickled down as he stood there a moment, glancing side-to-side down the street.

"—Aaaaah…!"

"—?"

Finn looked up just as the panicked screaming came to a stop with the sudden crash of a metal pod. It landed right smack in the middle of the perfect crater, lodged into the caved-in concrete.

He stepped closer, finding that it was a dislodged seat of sorts, outfitted with a protective brace for landing.

"Phewwww…Made it." Explore more adventures at empire

The words of relief came from the man with brown hair, still buckled into the ejected seat. It looked as if the pilot had touched an electrical socket with a fork, with the way his once shaggy hair now stood on its own.

"Oh, you made it," Finn remarked, lightly kicking his foot against the ejected seat.

The subtle force was enough to cause the harness around the pilot to loosen, disconnected with a burst of steam.

"At least try and act relieved! I put my life on the line, man," Arnold sighed, picking himself up, brushing the dust off of his all-black uniform.

"Well, it did seem to work out pretty well though. I'm surprised how effective it is—though you did have to ditch that badass mech," Finn remarked, finding only remnants of ash drifting in the wind left of the Radegast.

He extended a hand down to the dust-covered pilot, who coughed a bit as he was straightened out.

"Thanks," Arnold said as he was helped up, glancing at the crater left in the block. "Thing is…Usually we need authorization from Nikko before destroying our Radegast. Communications are down, so I made a judgment call…"

"Scared you're going to get scolded after this? Hopeful, considering nothing might be left soon," Finn playfully said.

"Hey, man…Optimism, please," Arnold sighed.

A pat on the shoulder was given to the pilot who was certainly his senior a few years, though levels changed that dynamic entirely. Without the Radegast, the strength that the pilot wielded didn't seem all too impressive, if anything, more of a liability.

"Listen, why don't you head to the shelter? I can probably find my way from here–" Finn suggested, pointing down the road.

"Well, you're probably right…You're not too far out from the Moon's location, anyway–just keep going down the block. You can't really miss it," Arnold instructed him.

"Right. Guess I'll do that, then," Finn said, readying himself.

Arnold gave him a pat on the back before heading the opposite direction, "Don't die, alright? Pull out a win here."

"Yeah, wasn't really planning on dying–but thanks," Finn said, glancing back at the pilot.

With the state the city was in, there wasn't time to wander around, bringing him to sprint down the street in search of what could possibly be his own demise. He knew that, considering it as he moved one foot in front of another–it could very well be his end that he so hastily approached.

'Thinking about it logically…I should be running the opposite way–past the city walls, as far away as I can go. Of course, with Charlotte and Jasper, but…thinking about those kids–thinking about the future of this world–I have to fight. If there's even a chance of making things normal, I have to take it,' he resolved.

That conviction was tested as he slowed his pace, reaching a sudden end to the street as it was cut off entirely. It dipped down into a massive, deep crater that had perfectly carved its territory into the city limits.

It was like a wall existed at the edge of the asphalt and the crater; the air fluctuated, emitting a humm. A part of him wanted to reach out to touch it, but he could tell, looking at the edge of the flexing air; it wasn't something meant to be reached.

"Gravity."

–He realized what the enigmatic force was, only then noticing the peculiar figure that stood at the center of the humming crater.

[Special Entity Recognized.]

[Major Arcana: "The Moon"] [Level: 150]

Tall and slender with a body forged of glistening, snow-white skin, devoid of any features besides the holes in its own form.

'How am I supposed to fight it? The entire area around it is being rained down on by its gravity,' he questioned.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

An answer presented itself by the object that crashed beside him. At first, he thought it was an attack from the enemy, though quickly realized it was a black-steel pod.

["Designate Finn. Please place hand on the apparatus."]

A monotone voice issued the command from the nebulous object, emitting periodic "BEEPs" as steam exuded from it. While he wasn't exactly sure as to what it was, he knew it had to do with Nikko.

"Alright, don't mess me up—" Finn said, placing his palm against the pod.

["Designate Finn, recognized. Beginning equipping process."]

"Ah—?"

Before he could pull his hand away, the enigmatic device unraveled itself, first extending over his hand and up his arm. The sleek material stretched across his body, shaping itself to his form before locking down.

'Wait, this is—?' He realized.

It didn't feel heavy; it was light, almost lighter than how he normally felt, somehow. Around his body in completion, it finished forming into a perfect-fitting set of mechanical armor.

[Prototype-Perun 001 successfully equipped.]

[Beginning boot sequence—imitating gravitational skin and auto-defense measures.]

"Woah, totally legit," Finn said, finding his vision assisted by an articulate lens, unable to contain his repressed geek.

Pure power flowed through his body, amplifying every conceivable aspect of his physical attributes. It didn't feel like an exterior boost; it was as though every fiber of his muscles was being supercharged.

'This is insane…Nikko, this is what you were working on?' He thought.

[Perun at 100% capacity | All functions are full.]