Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 23: B.A.M

Oliver showed them to a suitable room—a lounge in the science museum that was once meant for its staff.

There were already sleeping bags placed on the floor, with a fresh container of water and other commodities stored in the room.

"A place to sleep, food, a secure roof...Ain't this the life?" Damian said while sitting himself down happily with a protein bar in hand.

While Finn felt the same way, it was funny to him that staking it out in a grayed-out, plain lounge was now the definition of "luxury."

"Make sure to clean up after yourself. Oliver was nice enough to let us stay here, so don't leave a mess," Finn said, specifically looking at the warrior.

Damian waved his hand, "Obviously! I'm not some kind of barbarian, y'know."

"It is a miracle that a place like this is still standing in perfect condition," Charlotte remarked, looking up at the ceiling.

"I guess everyone is just trying their hardest to survive, so something like this kind of comes as a surprise," Finn added in.

While the three decided to rest as much as they could, there wasn't so much as the chance to even close one's eyes before a force rumbled through the building.

"Did you feel that?" Charlotte asked.

Finn stood to his feet, looking at the tiles on the ceiling as they trembled, "Yeah–it's close."

It wasn't more than a few seconds after the tremors that the door to the lounge was opened, with the sight of the gray-haired man standing there.

"I apologize, but–" Oliver said. "You all must go–now."

"We just got here," Damian protested, picking himself up.

"I do not wish to do this, but something is approaching the museum. With you three here, I cannot protect this place. I am truly sorry, but you must leave now," Oliver advised, gesturing for them to follow. "I will escort you to a safe exit. That's the least I can do."

It seemed that no ill will existed from the elder gentleman, only that the situation itself was unfortunate.

Finn followed behind Oliver while the others did the same, having to run through the corridors of the facility as the walls around them shook. By the weight of it, like that of an earthquake shaking the structure, its size must be extraordinary.

"What's out there?!" Damian asked, having to speak over the rumbling.

"I believe it is a dragon, of some kind," Oliver answered, managing to keep up a quick pace.

"A dragon?!" Damian reacted, doing his best to keep up with his heavy set of armor weighing him down.

Oliver stopped, pointing towards the other side of the wide lobby of the building, "--At the other end. Go through there and keep moving. There should be a building across from the street, it's been unoccupied by fiends–so you can take cover there."

"Alright, thanks!" Finn said, not wasting a moment moving forward.

As he glanced back with his companions following, he watched as the elder gentleman faced towards the direction of the rumbling. It seemed as though Oliver had some sort of plan, yet he couldn't imagine such a concept working out against a dragon.

Either way, he kept up the pace, rushing through the museum before reaching the other end. He didn't stop his momentum as he kicked open the doors, stepping outside as the others were right behind.

As soon as he stepped one foot back into the street, the rumbling made itself known to a greater intensity–

"Shit! Look out!" Finn called out, looking up.

Above, a scarlet appendage whipped above the tops of multiple buildings before slamming into a skyscraper. It was hard to tell just what the colossal object was at first as windows shattered, with the impact causing the wind to crack.

"A tail—?" Charlotte recognized.

Though the colossal appendage certainly resembled a tail, it was difficult to believe one could be so large. From there, it slowly became clear in view; the beast in which the skyscraper-rivaling tail belonged to.

The creature brought one hand down at the intersection ahead, producing a massive impact from such a simple movement that caved the street in, causing the abandoned cars to momentarily jump up.

It walked on all fours, crushing the tops of smaller buildings beneath its claws, extending its wings that produced a massive shadow over the area as though a school of clouds passed.

Like a scarlet mountain, dropped into the city, the obscenely large creature exhaled through its nostrils with a breath that expelled a wave of smoke.

A magnificently daunting beast of even more daunting size; a dragon.

"That's not a normal dragon, is it?" Damian hesitantly asked in shock and awe at the sight of the enormous creature. "It's gotta be some kind of Raid Boss kind of thing, right?!"

Finn shook his head, looking up at the scaled behemoth, "--It's not. That's a World-Shaping Dragon—it's really just the definition of a B.A.M, but not something we can kill."

"B.A.M?" Charlotte asked.

"Big Ass Monster," Finn answered.

"Fitting," Damian responded.

Fortunately, the overwhelming size of the grand beast also made it so it didn't seem to notice the humans that were no more than ants to it.

"In any case, our best move is just to put distance between ourselves and the big guy. It won't target anybody unless you attack it, but I doubt anybody would be crazy enough to–" Finn began to suggest.

A flash of light interrupted him midway through his own words, calling the attention of those on the ground as the radiance dropped down like a comet upon the snout of the oversized dragon. The meteoric impact caused the mountainous beast to recoil as a shock wave tore through the asphalt, shattering the glass of neighboring windows.

"No way...It's that guy again–just what the hell even is he?!" Finn remarked, squinting to see it.

"What? I can't make out a damn thing from here!" Damian responded, cupping his hands around his eyes.

It was hard to make out, though Finn could tell it was the case; the strike came from the fist of a familiar figure.

–

["Seung"]

The giant-slaying man of gauntlets was there, responsible for directing the colossal blow straight onto the behemoth's scales. Despite the overwhelming difference in size, the strike had caused a clear crack across the scales around the dragon's snout.

"Ha-ha! A big ass target, but a slow one!" The scar-layered, young man of golden hair laughed while standing on the massive snout of the titanic beast.

The laughter poured from the man's smile, carrying through the wind as it was heard even by those that watched from afar on the street below.

To those who witnessed the baffling degree of recklessness, certain attributes were applied to the man who challenged the colossal dragon head-on: "Nutjob." "Psychopath." "Idiot."

But most of all–

"Scarily Strong."

Before the beast of majestic scales could properly respond to the ant that stood upon its snout, the man of gilded gauntlets already sprung forth, swinging his fist again. The action expelled a missile of light, exploding into a vast radiance that directly struck the face of the dragon.

"Boom!" Seung called out as the golden smoke billowed.

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