Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

It felt as if his organs had been thoroughly squeezed and twisted, a sensation that left his entire body aching.

[Injecting medical serum.]

The helmet reformed itself around his head as a sense of relief filled his body as small needles injected him from within the suit. It immediately eased the pain, washing away the desperate aching as he straightened himself.

[Current health level: 80%]

'Alright…Can't get caught by that again. It could be a death sentence,' he resolved, looking across the humming crater at the entity.

A simple breath left his lips as he watched the distorted scenery shift once more, filling with a hopeless sight; dozens of perfect meteors were summoned, shooting towards his position. It was distinctly different from facing somebody like Sirius–a tried and true "god."

Facing the collapsing meteors, looking upon that enigmatic entity; it was a force of nature–a calamity not meant to be "fought." That was the difference.

Against the overwhelming number of meteors that crashed on his position, there was only one option still in evading–

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["Shadow Realm"]

As he called upon the entrance into the safe realm, a pulse was felt through the crater; a sensation that sent tingles across his body.

[<<Disruption>>]

'--This again?' He thought.

The opening into the [Shadow Realm] was forcibly closed, leaving him within meters of contact with the falling rocks. If he couldn't avoid them, then there was only one real choice as he stared up at the gigantic rocks, consuming his vision.

'--I need something like that. Something that'll let me break through,' he thought.

What surfaced in his mind was a particular person; the heavy-handed, loud-mouthed brawler.

"Replication."

Foregoing his daggers, the emitted word brought upon a new form around both of his hands. They weren't the same, dazzling gold of what he envisioned, but forged of the black mass; massive gauntlets tenfold larger than his own fists.

["Spring Foot"] [0:29]

Bending his knees briefly, he launched himself upward, meeting the first of the colossal rocks halfway.

["Orcish Boost"] plus ["Supercharge"]

As strength flooded through his body, it was amplified doubly so as the suit matched the skill, providing a monstrous boost as he slammed his fist against the face of the meteor. It cracked and shattered, feeling no more durable than glass as the gauntlet made contact.

It exploded into chunks, raining right past him as he passed through the shower of moon-born sediment.

CRACK.

–A single punch was all the copy could endure as the replicated gauntlet broke off, leaving him landing back down just as the other meteors crashed into the crater–RUMBLE. The impact of the massive rocks made the ground shake, creating a shower of stone as he quickly discarded his sole remaining gauntlet.

He set his sights on the pale entity, immediately calling upon another weapon–

["Bloodstained Odachi"]

'If reaching it directly isn't possible, I don't need to get close,' he resolved, gripping the handle of the massive sword with both hands.

["Magenta"] plus ["Greater Gale Blessing"] plus ["Hydrostatic Pressure"] plus ["Supercharge"]

The unison of skills was focused and amplified, concentrating the swirl of bright-purple lightning around the length of the blade, feeding the ferocious winds into it. Using ["Hydrostatic Pressure"], the movement of his arms was near instantaneous, sharp and abrupt, swinging the elemental-infused blade with thunderous momentum–

The air hissed, being so violently parted as the slash etched itself through the crater, slicing through it and rending the sky itself. Moving as quick as lightning, as ferocious as a storm, the colossal slash swept forth with unavoidable speed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Performing the singular movement that carried such force with it caused him to slide back, having to plant himself down so as not to be knocked over.

"--Nrgh!"

He struggled to stay upright, catching himself as he looked towards the aftermath of the all-out slash. It felt as though he had dipped his hand into magma as steam sizzled from it after having put out such force.

Fortunately, the effect was clear as day when looking towards the end of the ravine cut into the crater; the pale-skinned entity was left with its entire upper body split in half.

'—I got it! A direct hit—it landed…!' Finn observed in relief.

That satisfaction was quickly challenged as he watched the entity twitch still, wriggling its fingers with life yet extinguished.

Both halves of its pale flesh bubbled like burning tar, reconnecting from string-like strands of tissue. It didn't pull itself back together, no–it emerged from both halves, unfolding and expanding as its body freely morphed its shape.

[Anomaly detected | Recommendation: Gain distance between self and hostile.]

He ignored the advice from the artificial intelligence, watching as the once humanoid-shaped entity now expanded into something colossal, spreading into ten digits that loomed over him into a familiar shape–

'A hand?' He realized.

As that thought came to mind, he witnessed the gigantic hand that bore a hole through its palm slam down with impunity. With the descent of the pale hand, it carried with it a propulsion of gravitational force, restricting his movements as it felt like the suit around his body anchored him down.

'Shit…! It's locking me here–?!' He realized.

[Gravitational anomaly detected | Beginning adjustment…]

There was no way of using [Blade Warp], realizing any weapon he threw would only be held down by the same gravity. Even then, the unknown disruption proved troublesome, leaving him little choice—

["Supercharge"] plus ["Supercharge"] …plus… ["Supercharge"]

He planted himself down, flooding his limbs with the rampant power of [Supercharge].

'Don't give up on me now, body,' he urged.

He slammed both hands over his head, meeting the collapsing palm halfway. There was an immediate clash of power, pushing up with all of his strength as the pressure attempted to crush him.

Having to bend his knees, folding over as he stared at the ground, nearly crushed into it as the palm weighed down, he exuded sweat. Seconds, maybe less, he'd be pushed into a red paste, he had to do something—

"Repli…cation!" The word was pushed from his lips, feeling as though his head might explode from that single utterance.

—Rumble.

"GGRAAUUUH—-!"

A massive coalesce of the black ooze erupted from the single word, rising against the crushing hand. It took the rough, unrefined form of the serpentine-necked dragon of decrepit, stone scales, using its massive body to push back against the Moon's palm.

The "Jabberwock", or at least, a crude imitation of the calamitous creature; pushed to the brink in that moment, it was the sole being that came to mind. The false beast rammed its head against the palm, grabbing onto the colossal fingers as it roared out, pushing upward with its fleeting form.

All the while, Finn stood his ground, focusing every part of his mind and body on maintaining the monstrous imitation. It felt as though every blood vessel in his body swelled, running with red-hot blood that squirted from his nose and ears.

[Vitals rapidly declining | Attempting to diagnose the problem…Internal instability.]

'Not yet…Hold it–hold it…!' He urged his body as a river of scarlet fluid streamed over his lips.

Every cell in his body screamed; each muscle constricted, holding together the initiation of the beast. He looked up, watching at the dragon of black ooze pushed the hand up, repelling the ivory limb.

As soon as the hand was sent away, the imitation of the Jabberwock collapsed into dark particles.

"Hyeugh!—"

Finn spat out, nearly falling over himself as he caught his breath. The helmet retracted, letting the blood that leaked from his face to spill out before it closed again.

[Applying serum to affected areas | Raising suit output]

"Keep it coming," he mumbled, breathing in.