System Finale: An Apocalyptic Space Opera LitRPG (The System Apocalypse Book 12) Read online

  More intrusive than the smell is the heat. It’s cloying and higher than Earth normal, sitting in the high 30s Celsius at the very least. Add it to the humidity and I’m grateful I’m no longer human, or else we’d really be suffering. Idly, I wonder what the wet bulb index would be, or if something that was meant to tell people when to take care in high humidity and extreme temperatures even matters to System-enhanced individuals anymore.

  Probably not, now that I think about it with any real consideration. After all, you’re more likely to get eaten by a mutated koala than die from heat stroke.

  Turning my head, I scan the surroundings, grateful the team decided to get me a retracting helmet. Hot or not, I prefer keeping my peripheral vision unhampered unless I’m in the middle of a fight. Then, with the Hod or Spitzrocket, external cameras provide me full vision even if the helmet itself looks like a featureless mask.

  As for what I see now that I’m out? Churned up grass and a pile of dark grey and black sand from where the centipede exited the ground. Stepping up the mound itself, noting how the creature is curling in on itself, creating a mound of chitin and legs, its Tamer murmuring to it, I’m grateful I don’t need to fight the thing. Level 178 and backed with a Tamer would make fighting such a monster one heck of a pain.

  More importantly, the clearing we’re in looks to be rather restricted. Barely thirty meters away at the closest side is the start of the forest. The shrubs here are much shorter, their leaves spread out across a wider range of space. They’re quite a vibrant green, the shortened canopy offering other plants a chance to grow and spread out themselves. Lots of shrubbery and cane-like trunks with thorns galore beneath the primary forest layer.

  Between the proximity of the light source and the surprising amount of mildly reflective plants, illumination while walking through the forest won’t be a problem. If anything, the constant bathing of light except when a bunch of Elementals clump together by chance or desire will be an issue.

  More interestingly, with my senses extended, I note the way my Electromagnetic Force ability is twitching. The boundaries of space and time around here, the basic role of physics, are warped in this location. The Elemental floating islands above are lighter than they should be, their molecules repelling one another to decrease overall density while still holding together. The ground itself is denser under my feet, especially in a layer a couple of kilometers down.

  Even if it’s not part of my skillset, I can tell that gravity itself—the weird gravitic plane that is holding me down instead of having me collapse into the center—is happening, beginning around the incredibly dense earth location and moving onward. In fact, the sheer energy I’m feeling, I could swear that beneath our feet, there’s molten lava.

  Which makes me wonder how we went through it without getting burnt. Deciding I want to know, I ask the question out loud.

  “Separate dimensional planes coexisting with one another,” the Storm Warden replies, surprising me. It’s strange how you can spend days with a person and never speak with them, not beyond the basics, when the two of you are not people people. “Woven among one another. Sometimes the two dimensions cross, and you get flooding between the two before they pull apart.

  “Mostly though, they stand separate but somehow close enough to this reality that they both interact with it. Part of the Tamer’s job is to know how to enter the right dimension when you cross through.”

  “So all this around us…” I gesture around me. “We’re basically sharing space with a molten planetary core too that could breach at any time?”

  “No.” Ali floats over to me, hands on his hips while he sits cross-legged, looking very disapproving.

  “What?” I say innocently.

  “No,” Ali repeats, wagging a finger at me as though I’m a bad dog or something.

  “Why is your Spirit denying you?” Xaxas asks. He frowns as he does so, deepening the heavy brows that make up his face, dark brown fur rippling in the wind. Funnily enough, the frowning doesn’t make him look more intimidating but actually cuter—at least in my opinion. I kind of want to go up to him and cry out “stuffie” while snuggling into all that fur.

  What? I know I have a death wish.

  “How would I know?” I keep smiling blithely while tilting my head up to the sky, letting my senses expand fully. The Elemental Force stuff doesn’t seem to offer much, not that I expect it. My System Administrator senses, the ones that expanded when I got the Class, on the other hand… there’s something there. Right on the edges. It’s not exactly meant to be doing this, but maybe if I…

  “If you don’t stop, I swear I’m going to find a ton of goblin shit and dump it on you!” Ali threatens, floating right in front of my eyes.

  “What, exactly, is the Redeemer trying to do?” Xaxas rumbles. There’s a coldness to his voice now, one that was not there before. The hair on the back of my neck rises as he speaks and shifts his balance ever so slightly.

  I grow serious, looking at Xaxas and answering his question. “I’m just feeling the edges of the dimensional boundaries. Trying to find them.”

  “The idiot is thinking he could use it as a weapon,” Ali says. “Maybe a last-ditch attempt to stop himself from getting captured. Tear a hole, probably with his Portal Skill. Right?”

  I shrug.

  To Ali’s surprise, Xaxas lets out a low rumble, one that sounds like a mixture between a trash compactor running and a cow masticating its food. “An interesting idea.”

  “A suicidal one!” Ali snaps.

  “Oh come on, you said it yourself. You can’t die. Why are you acting all upset?” I tease Ali.

  “Just because I can’t die doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt being burnt alive! Also, you might have forgotten, but you’ve got friends here too. And, you know, an entire damn civilization inside the planet. You trying for genocide now?” Ali says.

  “Not trying.”

  “A weapon is a weapon,” Xaxas says. “If he does not explore the possibilities now, there is no way to know how effective it might be. Better now than in the heat of the battle, no?”

  “You’re insane. Both of you!” Ali throws his hands up and floats toward Mikito and Harry, who are chatting quietly, catching up. As he reaches the pair, he gestures, telling them about us.

  “So, Redeemer, are you truly considering using the dimensional planes as a weapon?” Xaxas says, now that Ali isn’t around to tease.

  I look at the Yerrick, considering how I should answer. In the end, I decide to go for the truth. The truth is easier to use, simpler than trying to lie. Anyway, he deserves to know what he’s getting into. I give him a simple nod, and the Storm Warden gives me a wide smile. I barely brace before he claps me on the shoulder with enough force to shift me a little from where I’m standing.

  “Good. I had a feeling one who acted against the Council and their masters was worth following. I am glad to see I am right. I too shall contemplate this,” Xaxas says and strides off, a few seconds before Mikito and Harry descend on me to berate me on my latest idea.

  I admit, I’m uncertain if I should be worried or grateful that Xaxas agrees with me. It’s a bit worrying when you might not be the craziest person on the team anymore.

  Chapter 10

  For all my—valid—concerns, we get moving soon enough. Bolo waves us out of the clearing, pushing us to move through the forest to our next stop. Where that is, I’m not certain, since we’ve agreed not to discuss too many specifics once we left the safe house. Sadly, anything we talk about now could easily be bought. Rather, we rely on Yllis and Bolo to ascertain the best choice for our routes.

  Not that the rest of us are entirely blind to the options. We came out where we did because no one lets the centipedes exit near their settlements. While they’re mostly under the control of their Tamers, knocking out or eliminating a Tamer is an easy way to cause chaos. The rampaging high-Level monster in the middle of one’s defenses provides a suitable distraction for everything from bank raids to a
ssassinations.

  Which is why we’re trampling through the undergrowth toward a city. From there, it’s a matter of acquiring further local transportation. Unfortunately, changing environments and a forest that’s enhanced both by the environment and a surplus of Mana means that routes constantly alter. It means we’ll need to ascertain new routes to our destination.

  Tramping through the forest, Yllis at the forefront and occasionally unleashing her flame to clear out the truly stubborn vegetation, things are relatively quiet. Bolo’s Dragon Fear Aura keeps most monsters away, a clear and loud warning to anything that isn’t in the high Levels that they’re so much chaff. It’s uncomfortable, of course, for us to wander along behind him, but none of us are slackers in the Mental Resistance departments.

  Overall, the hike is long and boring and entirely eventless. Or it should be. Which is why when I’m slammed into from the side and sent spinning into the untamed undergrowth, I’m caught entirely by surprise. I bounce across the ground, destroy a couple of trees, and get impaled on a limb that refuses to move.

  Blood wells out as I tear myself free by instinct, the System already patching the wound closed and my Resistances pinging off the poison that is invading my system. It’s powerful poison—it has to be to affect anyone around here—so it’s swamping my Resistances. Not for long I’m sure, but long enough for the monster to get to me.

  I only catch a glimpse of it before it is on me, its multi-row, jagged teeth tearing into my raised arm. Plated body, a quartet of eyes, a six-limbed body that is more dinosaur-rhinoceros than sleek cat. Its head is elongated, its mouth clamping down on my hand as it flips me up. Rearing upward to its full twelve-foot height, the middle pair of legs tear into me, making me realize it’s got truly sharp claws.

  My armored jumpsuit might as well be cotton for as much good as it does. Claws dig into muscle and flesh beneath, and only my Skills provide me any form of protection. Even then, my muscles get shredded and stomach and intestine lining starts falling out.

  Instead of moving, instead of fighting back, I’m in shock. A part of my brain refuses to accept the damage, the attack. Another part is struggling to act. A year of being forced into inactivity, into becoming nothing more than a compliant doll for others to beat up on and torture, has caused more damage than I realized. A part of me expects to get ripped apart, to be put through the wringer. To be hurt and hurt more.

  Lightning arcs through the sky, slamming into the creature. It forces the monster into shock, throws it backward, and makes it open its mouth. It releases me, dropping me to the ground to tumble away, my body already healing as the rest of the team arrives.

  Mikito hits it at full charge, astride her ghost horse, swinging her naginata as she rides past it. Not a lance charge but a swing of her weapon to tear through the monster and open a long wound down one side, tough plated armor doing nothing to stop Hitoshi. A glowing red trail of lifeblood follows the weapon as it exits, Life Siphon at full work. She swerves away as the Storm Warden arrives. No weapon, he just punches right into the open wound, widening it with pinpoint accuracy as he sinks his fist into the opened flesh.

  Xaxas grins for a fraction of a second before he unloads the full extent of his ability into the monster, channeling the fury and power of a category five storm into the monster. The creature balloons, lightning dancing through its skin and grounding through the vegetation and earth around it. Even as it thrashes and attempts to get away, Xaxas uses his other hand to grip a fold of plate, refusing to be tossed aside.

  The monster screams and roars, then suddenly explodes. The explosion is enough to throw Xaxas off its back, his body arcing through the air to smash into trees. At the same time, the rest of us are assaulted by the shards of armor plate, Mikito barely dodging a spinning plate that attempts to behead her.

  It doesn’t stop the Samurai from riding in though as the bloody, naked monster with lightning burns running through it staggers back to its feet. She swings her weapon again as it rears up to face her, taking an arm off before she veers away again, dodging a retaliatory attack.

  Bolo hits it a second later, the hammer coming down on its lower back and crushing spine and legs. After that, it’s just a matter of clean up for the others.

  The others, because through it all, I’m crouched on my knee, watching. My heart beating like a machine gun, my mouth dry, my limbs refusing to move no matter how I tell them to. The rage, the anger that has driven me forward, that I used to snark back at the Administrators and to keep me defiant…

  It’s not gone, but it’s out of reach. Refusing to come to me as my friends save my ass.

  ***

  “What happened?” Bolo says, striding over to stare at me, having finished off the monster. His girlfriend has semi-transformed, parts of her elongating and expanding while she eats the corpse, one clawed hand tearing off raw and bloody strips.

  “Nothing. It just caught me by surprise,” I say defensively. I’m ashamed about my helplessness, of how little I did to save myself. For the first time, I wonder if that’s how the civilians back on Earth felt when I came striding in, saving their asses and killing monsters left and right.

  “That’s a load of year-old dragon waste,” Bolo snaps. “I’ve seen you fight. You don’t freeze after an ambush, you charge it. You were completely frozen.”

  My lips curl up, my temper fraying. A part of me can’t help but note my reaction, wonder where the anger was earlier. Adrenaline, that had dumped into me in such volume beforehand, is now at a more manageable level but makes control hard to keep. Maybe it’s easier now for me to fight words with words, rather than blade and blade. I’m used to it now, talking and screaming and bleeding…

  “And there. That look in your eyes!” Bolo stabs a finger between my eyes, waving it in front of my face as though doing so is somehow revealing of all the things I’ve done wrong. “You lost track of me there. Went somewhere else.”

  “I’ve been doing that ever since Feh’ral dumped his goddamn Library in my head,” I reply.

  “No. Not like that. That look is like you’re somewhere else, your face goes blank. This one, you’re gone too, but you’re also here, in pain, in fear. Did they break you?” Bolo lowers his voice, a trace of sympathy in it now. “Were we too late?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” I say, pushing him away from me. Bolo lets me, which is good because he’s stronger than I am. I dumped a lot more points into Willpower and Intelligence than he did. Well, Intelligence proportionally at least. He has a very high Intelligence score. Lets him dish out a lot of damage fast, but he’s less of a long-term fighter. “I’m fine. It’s just been a bit.”

  I don’t look at him as I walk off, heading in the direction that we started off with. I don’t look at him to see his reaction or at Yllis, who is busy eating, and I definitely don’t look at Mikito, who is giving me a sympathetic look.

  Because I know he’s right. I froze, and that isn’t acceptable. Not for me. Not here. Not now.

  “Ali.”

  “Yeah, boy-o?” His voice is uncharacteristically quiet and sympathetic.

  “Remember day one?”

  “I do.”

  “Remember what you did for me?”

  “More like to you,” Ali replies, still with that same tone.

  I draw a deep breath, waving Harry away. The Storm Warden doesn’t say a damn thing, just watching as I walk off by myself, the others hanging back. “I needed it then. I need it now.”

  “John…”

  “We don’t have time to coddle me. We don’t have time for me to be slow or weak or human. This time, it was a monster. Next time, it could be Kasva or an Admin.”

  The truth of my words silences Ali’s protests. “You want me to call the monsters to you.”

  I nod, already leaving the safety of Bolo’s aura. I can feel it being suppressed, tightened up so that it doesn’t interfere with me. Me leaving the clearing is clear enough that I need time, space. Monsters. As much as I might have d
enied it, we all know I froze. I’m just grateful they’re letting me fix it. Even if, as usual, it’s not the healthiest or smartest way of doing so.

  “How many?” Ali asks.

  “Just keep them coming until I tell you to stop.”

  The silence that greets that pronouncement is profound. I know Ali wants to protest but is uncertain how to. I get it. But…

  “No time, old friend. Just do it.”

  “Never let it be said that working with you is boring,” Ali says out loud. He floats up high, hands weaving together as he pulls on the threads of the world, his Elemental affinity. I can feel it taking place, the small shocks and twitches he’s sending out to attack the monsters around us. To draw them in.

  I draw a deep breath, slip on the Spitzrocket and conjure my sword, and get ready to go to work. I just hope immersion therapy really works.

  ***

  Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

  Slow and steady, my breath rushes out of my nostrils, touching my lips and chin as it reflects off the inside of my helmet. My heartbeat is thundering in my veins. I feel an artery flicking in my neck, my hands growing clammy. I’m more nervous than the first time I sneaked a kiss with a boy—and that was, by far, more nerve-racking than my first kiss ever.

  I’m so involved in my own personal hell that I don’t even notice the monsters when they arrive. The first group is a pack, a dozen flying squirrel-like creatures with the long arms of monkeys and the tucked-in limbs of their brethren. They glide through the air above me, strafing me with plasma orbs that exit from behind.

  The world goes red and black as smoke and flames blossom around me. Nearby, a mutated plant explodes as the temperature spikes, showering the surroundings with furious, flaming hot seeds. The plasma squirrels don’t give a damn, gliding through the air and using the self-generated updrafts to hammer at my shielding.