The legless floater boasted arms large enough that made up for only two limbs. A noise like that of paper crinkling left its unseen mouth, looking towards him with its malicious irises.
He kept his distance, unsure of what the extraterrestrial existence was capable of.
'Is this the only one? Are there more? Should I regroup with the others? No—whatever that attack was, it could give any of them easily. I have to handle this,' he decided.
The communicator in his ear buzzed in with the voice of the monotone engineer:
"//Seven, I'm detecting another entity in your proximity—"
"Yup, I'm looking at it right now. It's using some kind of invisible force—I'm not sure," he relayed into his communicator.
As he spoke of what he knew, that odd sensation presented itself once more. It felt like the air vibrated around his skin, humming with an ominous tone.
No other thought was perceived in his mind except—"move." He quickly kicked off the ground, sliding back several meters.
The spot he was a moment prior was rained down on by the malicious force. A sound akin to the unison of lightning crashing down and metal being crumbled like paper in a balled fist grated his ears.
"//Invisible force…It's just a hypothesis, but it may be using gravity. It goes beyond the realm of reason, but we exist in unreasonable times. Seven, try and capture it alive—//" Haoyu requested.
Amidst his focus spent evading the rampant downfalls of crushing force, having to dash from spot-to-spot like a rabbit, the communicator buzzed.
It sounded as if Haoyu's voice was spoken over entirely—
"//Hey! Don't listen to him!//"
"May?—" Seven said in surprise, listening to the earpiece as he witnessed the hovering lifeform's arms rise.
"//If that thing is giving you trouble, don't try anything risky! Fight to win—don't put yourself in further danger!//" May's voice insisted.
All he could do was take the clashing advice as he flipped back, evading another impact that crashed down. As his feet touched the ground, he leaned forward, setting his sights on the tri-clops alien.
[Prioritizing agility…Maximizing explosive strength.]
He sprang forward, crossing meters in a mere moment to close the gap—VRRRR. That deathly hum again; the air around him trembled with an augury of death.
'Shit,' he realized.
—He came to a screeching halt, slamming his foot down and forcing himself in the opposing direction. Right as dashed away, the crushing force rained down around the entity.
'I can't even get close—it isn't affected by its own force?' He thought with a quick exhale.
As the thought ran across his mind, the earpiece buzzed in, though it went completely haywire. It wasn't a millisecond later that he felt the subtle vibrations around him before–it was too late. Every muscle in his body contracted, fighting at maximum strength to resist the crushing force.
[Lethal force recognized…Adjusting genetic structure…]
Though the voice of the Origin spoke to him, it felt like it couldn't come any sooner, flexing at his utmost to avoid being turned to paste on the ground. With each millisecond, he prayed his eyes wouldn't pop from their sockets; that his blood would be squeezed from his pores like a ripe fruit.
The more his body endured, the further it attempted to resist, the stronger the force became in response.
[Increasing bone density…Increasing muscle density…Adjusting body's response to gravitational shift.]
He could see the floating creature slowly bring its hands closer together, making the pressure that much stronger. As its palms came close to touching, the force felt like it was moments from turning his brain to mush. Yet, he began to resist, he looked towards the alien with utter contempt, thinking only one thought—
["I'm going to tear you apart."]
Feeling his muscles begin to adapt to the abnormal pressure, he began to straighten himself out before—BAM.
From behind the hovering, silver-skinned creature, a burst of azure sparks collided with its back. The echo that followed the impact was unmistakable, interrupting the alien in its attempt to crush him.
"Damn, that didn't blow through this thing?!" The question came from the blonde soldier on the other side of the walkway, holding the now smoking shotgun.
As the force was dismissed, Seven immediately dashed forward, launching himself at it with his fist cocked back—
The moment he stepped within a meter of the creature, a new sensation overtook him. It wasn't a merciless crushing power, but the opposite: a weightlessness that brought him off his feet.
"Aaah—?"
Before he knew it, he was staring down at the alien and Alexander, finding his back pressing against the ceiling above.
"Seven!" Alexander shouted from below.
"Don't worry about me! Keep moving! Don't let yourself get caught by it!" Seven warned, attempting to push himself off the ceiling.
The advice came just as the floating figure turned its focus on the man behind it.
Alexander watched, quickly throwing himself back at the slight sensation of pressure, "—Woah!"
While the mountainous man dodged the pillars of gravity, Seven attempted to slide himself forward. It felt like his weight was entirely anchored to the ceiling, having to bend his knees to kick off the top.
As he pushed himself, the bounds of the anti-gravity were escaped, quickly bringing him back down.
"Hff…" He exhaled, catching himself.
As the Junon faced Alexander, the man was left without much room to move as the pressure began to manifest. Seven sprinted with haste, practically throwing himself right towards the exposed back of the entity. Clenching his fist, he placed everything into it—
[Maximizing muscular density in the right arm, strengthening shoulder and back muscles…]
The concentration caused his limb to swell to twice the size of the other before slamming his knuckles forth. Right against the creature's broad back, the force tore right through it, blasting it into a mess of yellow blood.
Swinging his arm with enough force, it felt like he momentarily popped his shoulder out of socket before it set back in. He huffed, watching the remnants of the alien crumble into a mess of grotesque flesh as Alexander stood just a few meters away.
"…Nice one," Alexander complimented after the shock wore.
[You have defeated a [5.0 Magnitude] threat to humanity. The appropriate experience will be instilled into your frame.]
[EXP: +300]
[Level 14 reached.] [103/1000]
[Genetic Evolution Obtained: "Gene Branching"]
As he stood there, catching his breath as blood dripped from his nose, his ears were still left ringing.
Wiping his nose, a series of words appeared in his vision, born of blackened inscriptions:
[Gene Branching Activated.]
[You have [2] Points to distribute.]
[Superhuman Frame: "Diamond Skin" | "Rejuvenation" | "Blade Hand"]
[Cerebral Adjustment: "Clear Mind" | "Studious" | "Bullet Time"]
[Mystic Body: "Wind Break" | "Monster Evolution" | "Water Manipulation"]
It was a lot of choices, all displayed to him at once as the adrenaline was still left fading in his body. With how his body ached, oozing blood from his nose, he naturally selected the genetic evolutions that stood out—
["Rejuventation"]
["Clear Mind"]
Throughout each cell in his body, the data of his physical form was rewritten down to the atom. Just as Alexander walked over, the earpiece began to buzz again—
"//Seven? Seven, are you alright?//" Haoyu's voice came in.
"//There were some loud bangs coming from down there!//" Lily's voice added.
"//Felt it from here.//" Shin said.
"//Please say you're fine.//" May requested.
While the voices of his comrades came in, he took a moment to compose himself. The self-healing effect of his body finally kicked in, dismissing the pain and clearing the migraine.
He tapped his ear, "I'm good…Just ran into a bit of trouble. Alexander is fine, too."
"All good!" The blonde-haired man added in, leaning the shotgun on his shoulder.
It was only a few moments later that the others regrouped with them, gathering around the battered corpse of the alien. What was left was more like a creature that had been imploded, though Haoyu happily began scanning it with a vibrant light.
"This is certainly a new one…There's no registry for this species in the database," Haoyu remarked, kneeling by the head of the life form.
"Junon," Seven said.
"What?" May glanced to the left towards him.
"That's the name of it…Well, my system—Origin showed it to me," Seven explained to the rather confused looks.
Through a bit of hesitation, the operated robot input the name given, if nothing else it was a name when there was none. Lily knelt by the junon's lifeless body, poking it while mumbling "squish."
"I'd advise you not to touch it," Haoyu warned the careless girl.
May looked at Seven with concern in her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows, "How're you holding up? Everything alright?"
"You took the full force of its attack. You're made of different stuff, but…still—" Alexander shared his concern as well.
Seven brushed it off, shaking his head as he wore a smile, "I'm fine. This body…recovers fast. I'm good to keep going."
"Alright, if you say so. I won't deny another man's spirit!" Alexander accepted, slapping his own bicep.