Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Something about it seemed off as he stared for a moment, finding the spellblade just a meter or two in front of the organic shield.

"Charlotte, watch out!" Finn shouted.

The limb of the moon-residing entity shifted again, this time changing from that of a triceratops' skull to the roaring maw of a tyrannosaurus. With clutch haste, the young woman moved herself out of the way, though it didn't stop the nebulous entity from continuing to morph and spread itself out.

"What the hell is it doing now–?!" Finn questioned, catching up beside the spellblade.

"I…I don't know!" Charlotte shouted back.

A buzz transmitted through his helmet, seeming to be shared with his companion as they shared a glance with one another–

["//Finn? Charlotte? Are you hearing this–? It's—Nikko!//"]

Finn held the side of his mask, "Yeah, we're here!" Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

While the strange entity performed whatever repulsive transformation, they listened in on the buzzing, broken up transmission from the man back on the surface.

["//Your readings…the Moon–I don't know what's going on up there, but listen! It's–down!//"]

"What? You're breaking up! Nikko?!" Finn desperately called out into the transmission device built into the suit.

["//It's coming down! The Moon–it's coming down…fast!//"]

The message received from the man sent a chill over Finn's body, sharing a look with Charlotte before glancing back towards the exterior of Earth. It undeniably seemed closer than before; that azure atmosphere being breached soon enough as it consumed the entirety of the scenic, cosmic view.

"It's…coming down to Earth?" Finn mumbled in disbelief.

The undeniable truth was right there before his eyes; the Earth came ever closer, the rumbling at his feet proved the Moon to be moving rapidly. Placed with that knowledge, the fight left his body as a sense of powerlessness washed over.

'The Moon is going to crash into the Earth…If that happens…' He thought.

["//Are you hearing me? Finn? Charlotte? I don't need to tell you what happens if the Moon collides with our planet…It can't happen! It's likely the influence of whatever entity is on the Moon with you right now–if you stop it…Maybe, maybe that'll work!//"]

It was Charlotte that responded to the transmission, "We'll take care of it! Right, Finn?--"

"Yeah. Right," Finn agreed, finding himself having to remind himself to focus as he breathed in through the oxygen provided through the armor.

The weight on his shoulders felt crushing. It was enough to have fought for the sake of the city, but now, he felt the entire world, humanity. resting on him. There was something about it all that froze him; maybe it was feeling the moon he stood on moving, sinking through space, or perhaps it was looking back, seeing the outside of his very own world, watching its potential destruction as a spectator.

"Finn!"

He snapped back into focus as his companion called his name, bringing his gaze forward, "We can do this, right? Charlotte?"

"Of course…We've always pulled through. We've always found a way," Charlotte assured him.

"Yeah…You're right," Finn accepted, looking ahead towards the morphing entity.

["We've always found a way. Through this nightmare, we've pulled through. Whether it was the darkest night, or the First Order–we survived. This is no different.

That's what I thought."]

Everything was placed in bringing down the enigmatic entity, even if it meant placing his neck on the line. It was a battle against time, racing to eliminate the enemy before the Moon collided with the Earth—

["Phantom"] ["Flicker"] ["Supercharge"]

Moving with his clones, sprinting alongside the spellblade, the morphing creature was approached. It spread itself out, creating an assembly of tentacles that sprouted many shapes—bows, swords, spears, pistols, rifles, and even artillery.

The output was overwhelming; organically-produced bows, blades, and bullets rained down.

"Charlotte!" Finn shouted, holding his hand out.

["Shell Barrier"] [0:59] ["Supercharge"]

Getting his companion behind himself, he manifested the reinforced shield just as the barrage thundered down. The faux mortar strikes befell them, colliding with the Moon into erupting explosions.

Everything became engulfed in the smoke of the aftermath, leaving his vision stunted—

'Behind!' He realized.

Coming to that quick realization, he spun around, having to duck at the same time as Charlotte as a sharp limb swept over their heads. With how fast and viscerally it moved, a single slash would no doubt cleave through their armor and bodies in one fell swoop.

Immediately after the evasion, he used the momentum from bending his knees–

["Spring Foot"] [0:29]

He dashed forward, opting to close the distance between himself and the human-resembling creature. Attempting to strike at its body with his daggers, it bent itself backwards to avoid him. Before he could move himself, it countered, lashing out with a heavy tentacle that struck right against his abdomen.

"Pyuh–!" He spat out, having the wind knocked out of his lungs as he was thrown back.

Immediately catching himself, the spellblade was already engaging the enemy as he sprinted back into the fray. There was no time for second thoughts, no consideration for himself, deafening out the warnings and suggestions from the suit.

Spewing out whatever skills he could muster, the combination of the assassin and spellblade only drove the "Moon Thing" to abandon any semblance of a human-resembling form. It became a mess of pale flesh, of wriggling, multiplying tendrils and arms that lashed out.

Evading it became a hazard–

"Ghh!"

"Ngh!"

–They both ended up caught up in the sea of limbs, being hit and swept away. A single strike compromised the durability of the armor entirely, cracking it.

[Perun integrity decreasing.]

Feeling the land he was on rumble as he sprinted, he ignored the aching coursing through his body.

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [4500/4600]

Catching his blade, he brought himself directly within the reach of the mass of limbs, bringing his first dagger towards its flesh–

["Art of Dying"] [24:59:59]

[Disruption.]

As the blade made contact with the morphing body, it sank in without any effect. There wasn't a missed beat from his heart, nor a flinch in his expression, already preparing for such an outcome.

"Replication," he quickly pushed the word from his lips.

["Art of Dying"] [24:59:59]

With his second dagger, he pushed it into the expanding flesh, this time imbuing through it the plague of death. Like black roots spreading throughout its body, he watched the infusion of the end course through the "Moon Thing."

A breath left his lips as he slowly stepped back, only then realizing how much his lungs ached for air, how exhausted his body felt, and the tattered state the suit was in.

'...We stopped it,' he thought, in relief.

The horrific mass shriveled up like a plant without water, crumbling away without a grandiose end. He looked over, finding the young woman staring at him as well as if sharing the exact same thoughts.

It was over, the threat was saved–

["//Finn! Charlotte! The Moon–it's falling faster! It's going to enter Earth's atmosphere soon!//"]

–The desperate transmission turned his blood cold in his veins. He turned around, looking towards the exterior of Earth; it was closer than ever, seeing the outline of continents as though staring closely at a globe.

"How can this be happening…? We stopped it–we eliminated it," Charlotte shook her head, trying to process the depressing revelation.

Finn stood there, looking towards the pale, chalky surface of the Moon, finding that the shriveled up entity simply seemed to turn back into the dust coating the ground.

"I see…The Moon Thing…All we fought was a piece of it," Finn remarked.

"What're you saying?" Charlotte asked.

Finn stared at the ground some time more before looking over at his companion, "The entire Moon…That's its body. We can't kill something like that."

["//Do you both hear me–?! It's coming down…Everything–everything will be gone! Please, think of something! Anything!//"]

Hearing such pleas from the brilliant inventor, it made it feel even more hopeless for the young man as he had no such solutions.

"Nikko, this is it," Finn softly remarked, resigning hope. "I…I don't think we were supposed to stop this. This was the end of it all…We weren't given a chance."

["//There has to be something–//"]

Before the transmission could continue, he tapped the side of the helmet, disabling any more words to come from Nikko. He stood beside Charlotte, watching the Earth come closer and closer as the view of the sea and vast continents consumed the view.

"Finn…What do we do? Is there anything?—" Charlotte asked with halfhearted resolve.

While the pivotal question was placed, the young man quietly sat himself down against the chalky surface of the Moon.

"What the hell are we expected to do…? Charlotte, what are we supposed to do?" Finn asked, hanging his head.

"I don't…I—" Charlotte struggled to find an answer.

"Nothing. This time there's…nothing we can accomplish," Finn resigned. "It's unfair."

He sat there, staring at the approaching sea and continents of the world as everything lightly hummed. Beside him, the young woman sat herself, leaning against him.

"We tried our best, right?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, we did," Finn confirmed softly.

If it was the final moments of it all, going out flailing helplessly seemed like a waste. Instead, he decided to hold the one person he had, embracing herself as she did the same.

["If it was all meant to end anyway, I'm glad I met you. Everyone…In a way, this time, fighting to survive, it made me feel alive–like I had a life worth fighting for."]

He firmly held her hand, feeling the young woman squeeze his own as the rumbling intensified. It was a choice whether to watch it all come to an end, or simply to close his eyes and attempt to find some sort of peace in those final moments.

"Finn, I..."

"Yeah?"

As the rumbling intensified, he couldn't hear the heart-spoken words, though he could read her lips clear as day. Even just watching her lips profess her innermost feelings made his heart skip a beat, even as everything came to an end.

A light flush to his cheeks brought him to smile as he clutched her tighter, "--A proper answer--I'll give you a proper answer when all of this is done."

The rise in temperature made it clear without a doubt that the Moon had pierced the Earth's atmosphere, bringing an inevitable impact soon enough–

Everything hummed, blaring with a tremendous rumble before the two giants collided. An immediate shattering spread throughout the world's surface, desecrating the seas, splitting continents.

It was the end; the collision of the Moon and Earth, wiping out every remnant of civilization that had clung on so desperately.