Reborn as the Apocalypse Master

The Guild Confrontation

The black armored vehicle crushed the loose gravel of the courtyard. The engine roared over the noise of the training hunters.

Kai cut the ignition. Silence fell over the compound.

Dozens of hunters stopped their sparring matches. They lowered their weapons. They stared at the machine.

A vehicle of this caliber cost millions. They expected a guild master to step out. They expected royalty.

Kai pushed the door open. His boots hit the cobblestone.

He wore the combat coat. The fabric absorbed the sunlight. A steel blade rested against his thigh.

A hunter in the front row gasped. "That is the slum porter."

"The one Charles hired yesterday?" Another hunter asked.

Kai ignored the whispers. He walked toward the main guild hall.

Yesterday he entered this courtyard through the service gate. He walked with his head down. Hunters shoved him into the mud and spat on his shoes.

Today the crowd parted like water. The hunters who abused him stepped back. They hid behind their peers. They recognized the aura of violence surrounding him.

The doors of the guild hall swung open.

Charles Winthrop stepped out into the sunlight. Natalie Pierce walked right beside him.

Charles stopped on the top stair. His eyes locked onto Kai. His arrogant posture evaporated.

"You." Charles pointed his finger. His voice cracked.

"Good morning." Kai stopped walking.

"You are dead." Natalie gripped her staff. Her knuckles turned white. "We saw the Malakor cut you down."

"You saw the Malakor swing." Kai corrected her. "You did not stay to watch the end."

Whispers erupted across the courtyard. A merchant runner pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

"He was at the market." The runner pointed at Kai. "He dumped over a hundred cores onto the counter. Silas processed a twelve million credit exchange."

Charles turned red. The veins in his neck bulged.

"Thief." Charles marched down the stairs. "You stole our harvest."

"I carried the bag." Kai stood his ground. "You dropped it."

"Those cores belong to the Silver Fang squad." Charles shouted to the crowd. "We cleared the first floor. This rat looted our kills after we retreated."

"You retreated from a single beast." Kai spoke loudly. His voice carried across the stone walls. "You threw your porter to the monster to buy yourself time."

The hunters in the courtyard muttered. A squad abandoning a porter was a common tragedy. A squad fleeing in terror was a disgrace.

"You broke formation." Kai took a step forward. "You left your vanguard to die. You ran like cowards."

"Shut your mouth." Charles drew his broadsword. The metal scraped against the scabbard.

"I stayed in the rift." Kai stared Charles in the eyes. "I killed the swarm. I kept the spoils. That is the law of the ruins."

Charles could not kill Kai himself. A squad leader murdering a citizen in the courtyard violated guild regulations.

Charles turned his head. He looked at a brute standing near the weapon racks.

"Jax." Charles issued the order. "Execute this thief. The Silver Fangs will cover your legal fees."

Jax smiled. He drew an iron falchion. He stepped into the center of the courtyard.

"My pleasure." Jax cracked his neck.

Jax was a recognized veteran. He possessed combat skills. He relied on overwhelming force.

Jax roared. He activated an enhancement skill. A red aura flared around his muscles. He activated a haste skill. The wind swirled around his boots.

He burned half his mana pool in a single second. He wanted a public execution.

Jax charged. He crossed ten yards in a blur. He swung the falchion directly at the neck of his target.

Kai did not draw his weapon. He did not blink.

He used his Agility.

Kai took one step to the left. The iron blade sliced through empty air. The force of the swing pulled Jax off balance.

Jax recovered and pivoted. He thrust the blade toward the chest of his opponent.

Kai leaned back. The tip of the sword missed his coat by a fraction of an inch.

"Stand still." Jax spat. He swung a third time.

Kai ducked. He analyzed the movements. Jax was strong but slow. The human mana pool was a severe limitation.

Jax breathed heavily. The red aura flickered. Sweat poured down his face. His strikes grew wild. He was running out of energy.

"You are empty." Kai stated the fact.

The red aura vanished. Jax stumbled forward. His mana reserves hit zero.

Kai drew his steel combat knife. He channeled his five points of mana into the rune carved into the handle. The blade glowed with a faint white light.

Kai stepped inside the guard of the exhausted fighter.

He struck once.

The knife met the iron falchion. The iron shattered into a dozen pieces.

Kai twisted his wrist. He dragged his blade across the forearm of his attacker.

Tendons snapped. Muscle parted. Blood sprayed across the cobblestones.

Jax screamed. He dropped the broken hilt. He fell to his knees and clutched his ruined arm. He would never hold a sword again.

Kai wiped his blade on the shoulder of the screaming man. He sheathed the knife.

He did not break a sweat.

"Enough."

A voice thundered from the top of the stairs. The sound carried physical weight.

Kai felt a pressure drop over his shoulders. The weaker hunters in the courtyard fell to their knees.

The guild doors stood wide open. A Guild Elder walked down the steps. He wore robes woven from gold thread.

Charles rushed forward. He pointed at Jax bleeding on the ground.

"Elder Rea." Charles lied through his teeth. "This vagrant assaulted my man unprovoked. I demand his execution."

The Elder did not look at Charles. He looked at the shattered iron on the stone. He looked at Kai standing over the veteran.

"I witnessed the exchange from the balcony." The Elder spoke. His voice offered no room for debate. "Jax initiated the combat. Jax lost."

"He stole our cores." Charles tried another angle.

"The Guild respects strength." The Elder cut him off. "If you could not protect your harvest it was never yours. The credits belong to him."

Charles ground his teeth. He clenched his fists but he did not argue. No one argued with an Elder.

The Elder turned his attention to the crowd. He raised his hand. The pressure in the air lifted.

"Listen to me." The Elder announced. "We have a crisis. The sector alarms triggered ten minutes ago."

The hunters muttered in confusion.

"A category four anomaly just opened in the industrial ruins." The Elder continued. "The mana density is climbing. It will rupture within forty eight hours."

Fear washed over the courtyard. Category four rifts spawned city level threats. They unleashed hordes of monsters that could level entire districts.

"I am enacting a mandatory mobilization." The Elder declared. "All registered hunters must form strike teams. We enter the rifts at dawn."

"Anyone who refuses the draft loses their citizenship."

The Elder turned around. He walked back into the hall. The doors slammed shut.

Panic erupted in the courtyard. Hunters scrambled to find their squad mates. Entering an anomaly without a strong team meant certain death.

Kai analyzed the situation. A category four rift was a death sentence for normal humans. For a Rift Master it was an opportunity.

A high tier anomaly contained thousands of monsters. It held millions of credits worth of cores. He could harvest the entire zone and use the energy to upgrade his own dungeon.

Charles seized the opportunity. He climbed onto a stone bench. He glared down at Kai.

"Listen up." Charles shouted over the noise. "This rat has gear but he has no squad. He has no experience."

The crowd looked at Charles.

"I am blacklisting him." Charles declared. "Anyone who invites him to their team becomes an enemy of the Silver Fangs. We will hunt you inside the rift."

The threat worked. The unaffiliated hunters backed away from Kai. They chose the safety of the hierarchy. They left Kai standing alone in the center of the courtyard.

Kai did not care. He did not need their help. He had an entire dungeon waiting for his commands.

He turned around. He walked back toward his vehicle.

Two women sat on the hood of his armored car.

They wore leather armor. They carried twin curved blades strapped to their thighs. They did not look afraid of Charles or his blacklist.

"Nice ride." The woman on the left smiled. She had short dark hair and a scar across her cheek. "I am Sera. This is Lyra."

"Get off the car." Kai stopped in front of them.

"Do not be rude." Lyra tilted her head. She had green eyes. "We saw you butcher Jax. You have good reflexes."

"We also heard you have twelve million credits." Sera leaned forward. "We do not care about the Silver Fangs. We care about survival. You need a team for the anomaly. We need a vanguard."

Kai looked at them. They were opportunists. They respected wealth and power. They were exactly the type of people he could use.

"I do not follow orders." Kai stated his terms. "I decide the targets. I claim the boss cores. You keep the scraps."

Sera laughed. The sound was bright against the tension in the courtyard.

"Arrogant." Lyra crossed her arms. "But we accept the terms. Better to follow a rich killer than a broke coward."

"Meet me here at dawn." Kai told them. "Bring your own supplies."

Sera smiled. She hopped off the hood. Lyra followed her. They walked away into the crowd.

Across the courtyard Charles watched the interaction. He ground his teeth together. The sound carried over the murmurs of the crowd.

Natalie touched his arm. "He found a team."

"It does not matter." Charles rationalized his defeat. "He got lucky. He bought a sharp knife and caught Jax off guard."

"He survived the Malakor." Natalie reminded him.

"He hid until it left." Charles spat on the ground. "Money cannot buy combat experience. Tomorrow we enter a category four anomaly."

Charles stared at Kai.

"The monsters in there will rip his team apart." Charles made a promise. "I will show him the difference between a lucky rat and a true Awakened."