Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 14: The Spider and The Fly

Rather than accepting a contest of certain death directly, Finn stepped back, allowing himself to vanish from sight silently as if sinking into a veil of shadows:

["Hollow Disengage"] [4:59]

He became unseen and unheard, giving him space from the overwhelming opponent before him.

Raven stood in the same spot, looking to the side, "The abilities of an assassin are quite interesting. Do you believe hiding in the darkness will give you a chance?"

Staying behind the pillars, the silent assassin stayed hidden, waiting for an opening, pondering what his move was as he watched the slayer. Finn kept his dagger ready, setting his sights on the throat of his enemy.

What brought pause to him wasn't just finding an opening, but if he could commit to taking another life; it was different from slaying monsters, even if he tried to rationalize the man before him as one himself.

Raven pointed his sword towards the slumped over, bloodied man across the room, addressing the skulking assassin outloud, "I'll make this easier for you! If you don't show yourself on the count of five, I'm going to turn him into mincemeat."

The threat seemed like a promise with that twisted grin painted on Raven's lips, seeming to want the assassin to remain hidden so he could commit such an act.

Damian coughed up, struggling even to speak as he responded, picking himself off the ground, "Just try it...! Don't listen to this psycho, Finn! Take your time!"

"Still have some fight left?" Raven said with a delighted look at the bloodied warrior. "That's good! Let's have some fun the–"

Just as the slayer shifted his focus to the idea of clashing with the wounded man, that distraction was recognized by the lurking assassin. From the shadows, Finn emerged with his sights set on a killing strike–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

In that singular instant, in a flicker between milliseconds, Finn appeared, passing in front of the slayer as he brought his blade to his neck.

For the first time, true urgency shone in the beady, black eyes of Raven as that dagger bore its sharpness to his throat. The blade connected, dragging along the skin, however, the superb reflexes of the slayer allowed him to lean back just enough in time.

In that fleeting moment, Finn felt the lack of resistance against his blade before he landed, rolling across the ground before flipping onto his feet.

[0.5 second(s)]

–That was the time that elapsed from ["Blink Slash"] being triggered and the assassin now looking towards his enemy.

'Shit! All I did was graze him–fuck,' Finn thought, wiping the sweat off his cheek with sheer focus in his eyes.

Raven stood there, exhaling with a sense of relief as he touched his neck with his own fingers as a light layer of blood dripped down onto his chest, "That was close. Even at the level you're at, you almost sliced my throat right open."

Between his index finger and thumb, the lanky man rubbed his own blood with a small laugh as if enjoying the situation.

'This guy is insane. Somebody like this...I can't hesitate,' Finn convinced himself.

Raven looked towards him, "My turn."

A chill once more trickled down the spine of the assassin as he raised his dagger by mere instinct. He didn't lift it to attack, rather as a small shield in front of himself as a blur confronted him–CLANG.

["Orcish Boost"] [4:59]

It was by the reflex of his own body, summoning whatever strength it could that the ability plundered from orcs was activated. He pressed his boots down and flexed his body as he found the massive sword of the slayer pressed against his dagger.

"You defended against it," Raven observed, hiding a smile behind his blackened blade. "Good. Make it fun."

It took a moment for Finn to even realize what had happened, finding himself still being pushed back even with the momentary influx of strength. His boots slid back, giving up ground as the overwhelming superiority in level was pushed against him.

'Shit–it's like a truck is pushing against me,' he thought.

All he could do was stumble back as the blades bounced off one another, causing sparks to flutter in the air of the ivory chamber.

Before another assault could come, Finn acted quickly, raising his boot before slamming it down:

["Commanding Stomp"] [4:59]

The plundered skill from a cyclops made the action emit a powerful shock wave through the ground, pushing directly against the slayer.

"Oh?" Raven remarked, seeming more interested than worried as he was pushed back.

["Scamper"] [0:59]

With a low posture, the assassin closed the gap with only a few, quick steps; an ability stolen from the agility of goblins. He used the momentary stun of the slayer to get in close, attacking from the right as the odachi wielded by Raven was held in his left hand, lowered.

'From here, he won't be able to attack if I'm already close–there's no room to,' Finn thought.

Yet, even then, a smile stretched on the lips of the man who hunted others.

"Replication."

The singular word spoken in a chant by Raven was followed by a feeling of dread that washed over the assassin, who by all means perceived himself as wielding the advantage in that moment.

As Finn came close, already aiming his sights on striking the man's heart, his instincts screamed at him to do otherwise.

["Phantom Flow"]

In order to reverse his own momentum seamlessly, he conjured the riptide of shadows beneath his feet, sliding back just as the wind hissed–

"Ah, you're good," Raven complimented with a haunting exhale.

It was by merely an inch that Finn found his innards still kept within his body as he glanced down, finding his shirt sliced and a light cut etched across his stomach. As he looked at the slayer, he discovered what happened–another blade had appeared in his right hand.

'Two swords? Where the hell did that one come from?' Finn questioned.

Going off of the knowledge he had of Avalon, he knew that summoning two weapons at the same time was impossible except for specific classes; slayer was not one of those classes.

The delighted smirk perched on Raven's lips read that confusion present on the assassin's face as the twin odachis were held up, "You possess something like this too, don't you? A system."

It was a possibility that hadn't crossed the mind of Finn until that moment; the concept he believed to be unique to him–of course, that wasn't the case.

'A system? Like my Assimilation system? It's not the same one, I think–it's something else,' Finn thought.

Remembering what he heard the man chant, that singular word–"Replication"--and the twin odachi now in Raven's right hand, that dripped with the exact same spillage of blood.

"You can replicate things," Finn guessed.

"Such an agile mind," Raven replied. "You'd have survived this new world. If only you didn't wander into my web, little fly."

Even knowing the true nature of the feat performed by the killer hardly felt like it made any difference in Finn's mind. When staring at those twin swords, it felt like the very idea of stepping within the slayer's range was a task of suicide.

Raven took an unorthodox stance, crossing his arms as his blades pointed behind him like a pair of visceral wings, crouching with his slender legs, "--The spider is coming to claim the meal its ensnared, little fly."

It felt like there was no way to evade or defend himself against what was about to come, not underestimating the sheer difference in physical capabilities between himself and the slayer.

Before Finn could think of a solution, the dual-wielder sprung towards him with malicious ferocity.

'Shit–' Finn thought.

"Bolster! Bolster! Bolster!"

The assassin was surprised to find the vicious charge of his enemy intercepted by a familiar presence.

Damian got between them, shouting out words that teetered the line between purposeful and sheer motivation, "Be like steel...! Unbreakable!"

["Bolster"]

["Ironlike"]

"Oh?--" Raven let out in surprise.

Somehow, the warrior managed to defend against the double strike of the slayer, using his axe as a defense. Still, it wasn't a complete mitigation–a pair of light lacerations cut onto Damian's already bloodied torso, though not enough to make the man of iron grit falter.

"Damian?!" Finn called out.

"I'm good! I just...needed some time to stop the bleeding!" Damian assured the man.

Though it just sounded like words of bravado at first, Finn confirmed with his own eyes that the initial slash that his friend suffered was no longer bleeding. It wasn't through some kind of magical regeneration, but something even more bizarre–

'This guy–he clenched the muscles in his chest to stop the bleeding?! Even for a warrior, that's just plain insane,' Finn realized.

"A real freak of nature, aren't you?" Raven remarked with a smile, pulling away.

Damian coughed up, catching his breath, "I don't want to hear that from you! You damn spider!"

A laugh reeled in from the slayer, who raised his right hand as the replicated odachi was relinquished to black dust, "I did not expect this to turn into two-versus-one. It's nothing I can't make up for,though."

Those remarks from Raven unnerved Finn, who stood side-to-side with his companion, taking note of what was just said.

"He's probably about to do something pretty bad. Got my back?" Finn asked.

"'Course. You don't have to ask me that," Damian said, locked in and focused as he slicked his own hair back with his bloodied hand.

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