Terror Infinity Side B

Chapter 9, Apocalypse Alice

Second Level of Empress' Grave Labyrinth.

Shin, Aqua, Connor and Jin continue to explore the Labyrinth in hopes of finding someone who could help them explore the Labyrinth efficiently to reach the Diseased Girl in a timely manner. They continued to encounter the spawned monsters of the Empress's Grave Labyrinth, but together this newly formed group of Veteran Players and Newbies swiftly dealt with any threats and continued on through the underground tunnel.

With Jin’s knowledge of video game Party Formations, he suggested roles and new positions for the four man group. Shin acknowledged Jin’s planning ability and seeing no problems with his suggestions he implemented them.

Aqua upfront as the Tank/Defender, Shin behind Aqua as the Assassin, Jin in the middle as commander and Connor in the rear as Ranged Fighter. Of course without the concept of HP and the like it wasn't like any game Jin had played before, but he made adjustments after each battle.

Aqua wasn't meant to take on every attack, but only gain the attention of all the monsters that they come across and deal as much damage as possible.

Shin would go around to enemy monsters back while they were distracted by Aqua and kill the monsters that survive her initial charge. Like an assassin, although Shin himself would say he was more of a fighter, he was meant to kill with one strike when he attacks.

Connor who had the skill, but lacked the weapons to truly keep up with Aqua and Shin in battle, used the borrowed infinite ammo Auto 9 from Shin with the magic amplifier tag to shoot down the Undead Assassins that constantly followed the group. The team had grown to expect the shadowy figures constantly lurking just outside of their sight. The assassins patiently waited for the Players to slip up. Connor picked them off when there was an opening and he provided general cover fire as needed.

Jin's role was to give real time battle summaries and make adjustments and directions to individual Players if needed, and in an emergency he was tasked with using Magic Attack Scrolls to fight. Jin placed himself in the safest position, yet no one complain as his he activity helped out as much as he could.

Shin: (I'm beginning to lose my confidence as leader, but it’s all for the greater good and I'm still kinda the Ace Player here. Aqua and I are just the types who are better at fighting and winning battles alone, and Jin is like a capable general who's just better at giving directions is all. Also, Jin can't do anything else but give directions and definitely isn't able to lead a charge if they had to cut through an army of thousands of monsters without dying halfway through. Only Aqua or I could do that.)

Shin was certain of that.

The spawned monsters of the Labyrinth were becoming stronger and stronger as they descended the Labyrinth. Just on the second level they were at a level where normal people couldn’t hope to survive even with all the luck in the world. Shin could imagine that if they didn’t meet any more allies by the time they reach the level where the Diseased Girl resided, then Jin wouldn’t be able to make it.

Shin: (The monsters will show their real worth as rank 44 and could kill us all with just one mistake. I don't even want to imagine what the elites will eventually be like in the end. Still… on this level they are pretty easy to handle as a group.)

Aqua: Another Elite is up ahead! An Elite Skeleton Spearman!

They all looked ahead and confirmed the enemy with their own eyes. The Elite Skeleton Spearman who was charging towards them at 70 Mph (or 112 Kmh as Kampa would say). Trailing the Elite on either side were lesser normal Skeleton Spearman who were just behind the Elite. This was not their first encounter with a random elite, so thanks to experience they didn't need to say anything more to each other.

Aqua, and right begin her Shin, sprinted towards the elite at full speed. Neither bothered to pay any attention to the normal monsters as they were all perfectly head shot and killed by Connor with the Auto 9 from the back as he ran alongside Jin.

The Elite Skeleton Spearman thrust its now glowing spear towards Aqua to impale her. With one quick twist, the head of the spear flew through the air thanks to her Adamantium Claws. The elite was shocked and had no time to try any other attack.

Aqua passed by the elites left leg and tore it apart with a single slash of her claws. Shin, coming right behind Aqua, fired a single Hollow Bullet to destroy the elites head, and then followed up with Instant Movement and Gravity Blade to almost instantly do the same as Aqua with the right leg.

- SIDE QUEST REWARD, ELITE LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 50 POINTS ACQUIRED!

The headless and legless torso of what was once an Elite Skeleton Spearman fell to the floor of the cave and withered away.

Immediately afterwards, hanging from the ceiling and hiding in the shadows, three Undead Assassins dropped down from above hoping to ambush Shin and Aqua. Three shots rang out and they all dropped lifelessly through the air.

Connor didn't even allow them to touch the floor unless they were confirmed dead. Shin and Aqua, after the tenth time of such an occurrence, didn't bother to even look up. Shin sighed at the futility of the assassin’s repeated attempts. Moments later all four Players began to sprint forward.

Shin: It doesn't take long at all anymore, but I'd still rather not face the elites if at all possible. If only they stayed by the stairwells leading down to the next level like before on the First Level.

Jin: There's no helping it. Until we find a Support magician to guide us, we can only search recklessly like this till we find one.

Aqua: You two! Stop gossiping like girls and let's get going. Be more like Connor and don't speak up if it isn't necessary.

Connor: ...

Jin: Aqua's kinda bossy. Still, she is cool with those claws.

Shin: I know, right? Ah, but don't try to get too close to her. She's my red haired beauty with Werewolf Bloodline and Wolverine's mutation.

Aqua: How ridiculous! Shin, if only you weren't strong I'll leave you... Never mind!

Following behind his ticked off comrade/girlfriend Shin ran after her, with Jin and Connor right behind.

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Yousuke: Himi! Stay behind me! If you see a chance escape on your own take it! With your ability it should be possible to stay away from any monsters by yourself and escape!

Himi: I, I can't do that! What about-

Yousuke Endou.

Himi Yuuyami.

The Defense specialist magician Yousuke and the Support specialist magician Himi. The two members of Hero Team were currently in a very desperate situation. They were backed into a corner with little to no hope of reversing the situation. Surrounded on all sides by over thirty monsters and an Elite monster in the mix as well, both Himi and Yousuke saw no way out.

Almost three hours since the Labyrinth had formed they were stuck on the second level of the Empress' Grave Labyrinth. Separated from Shiro, their comrades, and other classmates of the Girl Killing Curriculum, the two members of Hero Team still attempted to navigate the Labyrinth. They tried their best, but even after so much time little progress had been made.

Yousuke was an all Defense Magician and Himi was an all Support Magician. A magician who only uses Defensive magic and a magician who only uses Support magic. That meant they used only one type of magic and lacked other type, and in the case of the two they lacked the offensive magic to defeat monsters to cut their way through Labyrinths.

Shiro, as an all Offense magician, used to fill this fatal gap as a three man cell with Himi and Yousuke, but with his absence they had no hope of making it deeper into the Labyrinth. Yousuke and Himi knew this, but they felt compelled for personal reasons (and their friendship) to reunite with Shiro. If possible they hoped to reunite with Shinnosuke and Gunjou as well. That was why, ten minutes ago, they took the chance to push their way through the Labyrinth.

They hoped to use Himi’s Support magic to just avoid monsters and reach the next level of the Labyrinth. This would ideally result in meeting up with their friends, but that was when things took a turn for the worse. They were all too quickly surrounded by the random moving monsters. They did indeed move randomly and Himi saw them coming with her magic, yet it was impossible to avoid all battles. They would try to outrun them, but it was a fruitless effort.

Yousuke: Forget about me Himi! Find a way to meet up with Shiro and the others! At the very least they need you to navigate the Labyrinth! I... even if you leave me behind I'll find a way to stay alive alone!

Himi: Th-that's-

Yousuke: Don't forget we're here to help Shiro so he can achieve his goal! Damnit! More monsters are coming. Bamboo Grove Switch!

Bamboo Grove Switch.

Several green pillars appear before Yousuke's hands and created a wall. The enemy Zombie Warriors had the two magicians surrounded and attempted to slash Himi and Yousuke. With a loud smack they crashed into the barricade of green pillars.

They weren't infected with the green, sticky poison of the magic due to their undead status, but they were stuck in the vast barricade on green pillars. The Elite monster was still charging towards them, but with the normal monster trapped for the next ten seconds it was possible for one of the team to escape.

Yousuke: I'll hold off the elite with my next magic, so Himi, use that chance to escape. Go!

Himi: I, I can't!

Yousuke: Himi! Please! Damn! Reverse Force Switch!

Reverse Force switch

An invisible abstract space gets created before Yousuke's hand and within that space he's able to freely manipulate the strength and position of gravity to a certain extent. The forces in the targeted area will be reversed for an instant.

Only an instant.

Just for one instant. However, even if it's only for an instant, a magic that's able to reverse forces requires great power. The body of the Elite was forced back two steps. Youskue had envisioned pushing the elite into the other monsters and using it as a chance to escape.

Yousuke cursed. The elite was too powerful and only for a moment he was off guard, yet he knew if someone like Shiro or Shinnosuke was with them, that moment would be all that they need to kill off the elite monster... And to his surprise and excitement, someone new definitely took advantage of that opening.

Aqua: Disappear!

- SIDE QUEST REWARD, ELITE LABYRINTH MONSTER KILL - 50 POINTS ACQUIRED!

Aqua charged at the Elite as it was caught off guard by Yousuke's magic and using her Adamantium Claws charged with Aura and she shredded the monster till there was nothing left of its upper body. Yousuke and Himi were still in shock of Aqua's dramatic appearance, yet they still noticed that as Bamboo Grove magic wore off, Shin appeared out of nowhere, fast as lightning and wielding a sword giving off a black light in his hands to cut down all the Zombie Warriors one after the other.

Yousuke and Himi were surprised by Aqua, Shin, and soon following behind Connor and Jin, yet they quickly calmed down. They were professionals. They didn't know who their saviors were, but the two of them were elite magicians. Connected with a group called America's Rorand Inc which was connected to the military. A life and death situation and being saved by strangers won't make them go stupid.

Yousuke: Thank you for saving us.

Himi: Really, thank you!

Shin: No problem. We were just trying to make our way to the Diseased Girl so we can get rid of this Labyrinth and then we spotted you two, so we helped.

Himi: To... Kill the girl... That's-

Yousuke: Himi! There's no need to bring that up with others. What they want to do may be what has to happen if we can't find Shinnosuke and the others.

Himi: B-But!

Shin: Um, is there something wrong?

Yousuke: Ah, it's nothing. By the way, who are you four? You even have an adult and a child with you. You’re not students of this school, right?

That was a question that we were all worried about, but one that we all finally agreed on before meeting up with Yousuke and Himi, or any other member of Hero Team.

Jin: No. We were just a group of Labyrinth Raiders who came to visit Apocalypse Alice. Not to raid that death trap, but just to see the highest difficulty rank Labyrinth in the world in person.

Shin: It like Jin here said. Still… planning a visit to that Labyrinth must have been bad luck. For the day my group planned to visit and be sucked into a Labyrinth... It could only be called misfortune.

Himi: ...

Yousuke: I would agree with you there. You said you’re a group, so are there more of you?

Shin: That's right. My name is Shin. I'm the team leader of my group. The red haired women is Aqua, the small boy is Connor, and the one in the wrinkled blue coat is Jin. There are others, but I'm not sure if all of them are alive. Most of them are new to this business and their Headphone Fuzzes weren't loaded with any magic. Now, who are you two (I knew, but I wanted to keep up appearances to dissuade suspicion)?

Yousuke: My name is Yousuke. An all Defense Magician. A student of《Metropolitan Kichijouji High》.

Himi: I-I'm Himi! An all Support Magician and student of《Metropolitan Kichijouji High》. Pleased to meet you all.

Yousuke: Now, I have a favor to ask. Like as you just heard we're magicians, and capable ones at that, but we lack the offensive power to cut through the Labyrinth's spawned monsters. If possible, I wish for us to join forces. We can offer Defense and Support magic. We also have three powerful comrades who should be alive somewhere within the Labyrinth. They can further strength your group, increasing our chances of making it to the Diseased Girl alive.

Aqua: A group effort is most welcome. We actually lack a support magician like Himi and we could always use more defense as we're more of an offensive group. How about it Shin?

Shin: Sounds good to me (I'm scared of my girlfriend’s ability to lie with a straight face). Like they say those without friends die in the Labyrinths and we could need a few more to survive this crisis. So long as Himi can help us navigate the Labyrinth and warn us of incoming monsters, I'm more then happy to have you on the team.

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With that agreed upon, Himi and Yousuke became temporary members of Team Japan. From there Yousuke and Himi began to explain their experiences within the Labyrinth and the current situation to us.

I heard the story of how Himi and Yousuke ended up together when the Labyrinth formed. They couldn't make much progress due to lacking the offensive ability to deal with the spawned monster of the Labyrinth. Not just spawned monsters, but if they were to run into an Elite monster they would be helpless. That's why, for the most part, the two of them had been hiding in safe zones of the Labyrinth and using Himi's Support to alert them of nearby monsters to avoid.

Shin: (Was all of this intentional? I don't know where the rest of Hero Team are, but for both Himi and Yousuke to be together after being swallowed up by the Labyrinth, and for us to meet them is too good to be a mere coincidence. God will never place Players in a truly hopeless mission where there is only death. God wants us to evolve, not die, so there should be one or a few ways to complete any mission. Nothing that happened during the H.O.T.D and BTOOOM missions made me believe otherwise. The danger of High School of the Dead was caused by the Side Quest I completed which changed the plot. BTOOOM wasn't impossible to complete as long as you collected the right BIMs and everyone combined their power to defeat the Btooom Lord. So... Like I originally thought the main characters of Apocalypse Alice are the key to completing the mission. The deeper we proceeded into the Labyrinth, the more powerful the monsters will become, so to conquer this rank 44 Labyrinth we need the combat power of Hero Team added on to Team Japan's. But even that wasn’t the whole story. Time! It could take days for us to reach the Girl if we moved about randomly through this endless maze of underground tunnels. Hikari has search capabilities, but hers are limited and not built for Labyrinth raids, so who knows if they would even work. That's why Himi is the key! To reach the Diseased Girl in time we needed Himi's Support Magic to guide us! That's why Himi was here with only Yousuke on the Second Level of the Empress' Grave Labyrinth. Yousuke can keep her safe, but doesn't have the fighting power to reach another level of the Labyrinth. They were fated from the beginning to stall here on the second level of the Labyrinth and to meet up with us!)

Shin could also now guess where the rest of the Team Japan and Hero Team are.

They are probably on a lower floor all together in one group. Without Himi they can't property navigate the Labyrinth, so they're probably stalled, but with their combat potential they shouldn't be dead. The others are probably on the same level as well. Hikari's Persona might actually work in the Labyrinth and they found and meet up with Hero Team, and are now making their way through the Labyrinth.

Shin didn't know which was better. His teammates making progress and leaving them behind, or fighting for their lives waiting for him and the team with Himi. Whatever the case is he hoped they were still alive. Shin wanted nothing more now than to meet up with the others, but listening to what Yousuke and Himi told him next gave him more reason to continue on.

An Army.

Himi has spotted with her Support Magic an Army of spawned monster coming towards all of them. According to Himi they are arriving from the First Level of the Labyrinth, joining the monster on this level and were not too far behind the group and are increasing in their pace.

Yousuke: That's the main reason why just now the two of us attempted to head towards the next level of the Labyrinth despite the risk. We didn't want to be swallowed up by the thousands of approaching monsters and want to join your group, Shin.

Himi: I can only see one level of the Labyrinth at a time as others are blocked out, yet my magic is very detailed so I'm positive about what I've seen. There's at least over 10,000 of them and they are growing in size rapidly as we speak.

Jin: Interesting, Maybe it's that? They're undead type monster. Skeletons, zombies and the like, so maybe all the monsters we killed on the way here revived and followed us, or maybe each time we clear a level of the Labyrinth, soon afterwards the monsters of the previous floor will follow after us.

Aqua: Who knows, but the reasons don't matter. We have no more time to waste here, so let's head to stairs leading down to the next level.

With that said nothing else needed to be discussed. Himi activated her Mapper Class Support Magic and quickly brought out a map of the second level of the Empress' Grace Labyrinth.

It would take twenty minutes of travel to arrive at the stairs leading down judging by the map, but compared to before they were saving hour and hours of meaningless running and searching. Shin, Aqua, Connor, Jin, and the additional members of Yousuke and Himi, began to hurry to escape the army of monsters coming up behind them.

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Authors Note:

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Proofread by Hoebagger

This doesn't change anything, but I've decided to chang one of the enhancements of Misaki. Instead of the psychic ability to control fire, it's simply Entry Fire Bending. Like from Avatar. The reason is because I know more about Avatar than psychic powers. No chapters will be rewritten as its basically the dame thing expect now Misaki doesn't need a tool to create fire.