Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

214  The World

[Special Entity Recognized.] [Major Arcana: "The Sun"] [Level: 150] 'Another one?' He realized. There was no feasible way to move in that direction with the astronomical heat emitting from it, forcing him to quickly spin around as he dashed in the opposite direction. As he ran down the street, the heat reached other people, leaving their skin bubbling up. One man collapsed as his blood left his body with a sizzle against the asphalt, gargling on his own screams of pain. Finn stopped briefly, wanting to help as it seemed his leveled body could at least manage the heat, though it seemed impossible by this point. The entire western district seemed hopeless with the extraordinary heat spreading through it. He kept moving, though was conflicted by the screams of agony, bringing him to clench his teeth as he came to a stop–

THWOOM. –Between him and the pillar of solar heat, a capsule of black steel drove itself into the concrete. It didn't look to be something from the Arcana, but instead an invention of Nikko. The construct was short, but built like a cauldron, shifting its plating to reveal multiple compartments. 'Nikko? What is that?' He thought. From the enigmatic invention, a massive wave of frosted wind released, pushing outward with incredible volume. All of the heat was counteracted, colliding the immense cold with the melting hotness as the wind howled with the clash of temperatures. A constant influx of cold and hot; the kind of energy needed to combat the heat of the embodiment of the Sun was something astonishing in itself. In that moment, watching the waves of frost push against the heat, stopping the boiling of the people in the streets, a sense of hope surfaced in him. A secondary compartment opened within the frost-emitting device, expanding what appeared to be an electronic veil, deployed throughout the sector of the city. Within it, the heat was kept out, now leaving the frost to cool off what was already heated. Finn watched the flames that had sparked be snuffed out by frost, finding the cold more pleasant than ever as his breath left with an icy paleness. While many were injured, their wounds would not get worse; most seemed to have passed out from the pain, comforted by the cold. '...They're saved?' He thought. It was the kind of device that seemed far too niche to have been created, though he realized quickly that line of thinking didn't apply. Nikko was well aware of this threat; there was no doubt he had prepared for it. 'You're goddamn brilliant, Nikko…!' He praised the inventor in his mind, now free to sprint without the burden of choice on his back. If at all possible, regrouping with the engineer who oversaw the city itself would likely be his best path. It would simultaneously be the best chance of locating his friends as quickly as possible. With that in mind, he set his sights on the skyscraper in the center of the city as he sprinted down the desecrated street. He kept his eyes locked on the building miles away, though found his boots not making contact with the asphalt as he stepped down again. "Huh–?"

Glancing down, his feet weren't even touching the ground, instead raising and raising higher from the street. 'I'm being brought up–? It's that thing, isn't it–?' He thought, looking up at the tiny planet suspended over the city as it was orbited by even more debris than before. It wasn't just himself that was being lifted, but the street itself; the asphalt was peeled, poles and traffic lights were guided upward as well. Though he'd experienced floating before, this was different; it was like his body was drawn towards that earthen orb like a magnet, unable to keep himself from being pulled into its orbit. "Aaahhh!"

"Help…!" "What the hell is going on?!" —He quickly realized he wasn't alone in the pull of the [World] as he saw others being lifted towards it unwillingly. Those caught in it flailed their limbs, shouting for help, though it seemed like a faraway hope. He was the furthest from the sphere's orbit, finding even the disassembled parts of Radegasts caught in its pull. 'Shit…I might be able to make it out of this, but them—? Not a chance. Shit—' He hurriedly thought. Being brought above the height of skyscrapers as the hum emitting from the tiny planet blared against his ears, his thoughts were washed away— "Aaaahh!"

"Heeeeeeeeelp—!" "Aaaauuuu!" The others caught ahead of him were violently spun in the orbital rotation around the [World]. It moved them fast enough to blur, quickly turning their bones to dust and their flesh to a red paste alongside buildings turned to pebbles. In a single moment, all of those screams were silenced; those lives were turned to a scarlet mist without any resistance. Witnessing the horrific display from the calamitous sphere, a concoction of dread and frustration bubbled up within him. It was a feeling he wasn't used to; an anger at the loss of life, even for those he didn't know at all. He clenched his teeth, suppressing the feelings welling up in his chest as he focused foremost on not joining them in their sad fate. '--It's coming!' He prepared himself. That violent hum flared as the air flexed against his ears. He was a hundred meters away from the [World], left completely exposed while floating towards it. All of the material it had gathered up; the bits of stone, steel, and blood were released at high speeds in every direction. Dodging wasn't an option at that moment; it all came too fast, and the gravitational pull was unkind to any other options. ["Mineral Armor"] Stone stretched over his body in multiple, fused layers with haste as he brought his arms in front of his body, shielding himself to the best of his ability. All he could do was turtle up as the transonic projectiles passed. One hit his left shoulder, immediately breaking the armor in that spot; another struck his leg, undeniably leaving a bruise as the stone skin was cracked. "Nnff!--" The air hissed as each of the high-speed, destructive bullets of debris passed by. Without even seeing it coming, all he could do was endure as one struck him dead center in the abdomen, shattering the mineral protecting his stomach. It took the air from his lungs, causing it to burn as he attempted to breathe back in just as another struck him in his right pec. –One.

–Two. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

–Five.

–Ten. Count was lost as the full storm pushed by, filling his ears with a violent hum as each and every impact felt like calamitous raindrops against his body. As one struck right against the stone covering his face, it undoubtedly shattered his nose as the rocks were shattered. "Pyuh–"

He gasped out as a bit of blood squirted from his nostrils, finding the hailstorm at an end for the moment before glancing behind him. The devastation left from the transonic scattershot was harrowing; clouds of dust engulfed the area of the city below, with entire buildings looking like swiss cheese. '...I got lucky–I don't think I can endure another one of these. Well, I won't have to worry about that–before it happens, I'll be pulled into that thing's gravity…I'll be turned to mush,' he realized, looking at the earth-like sphere as it loomed over him closer than ever.