Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 76: The Rabbit

Chapter 76: The Rabbit

On the ceiling, the abyssal enigma warped its form again, retaining its humanoid legs, though changing to a form like that of a mantis shrimp as its body stretched and curled. It kicked off the ceiling, causing the once sacred grounds to briefly shake.

Matteo readied himself as he found it crashing right towards him, bringing him to slide back as he swung his arm forward, flicking the whip for the amalgam. The tip of the enchanted weapon missed its mark, howling with a crackle of fire as the abyssal shrimp erupted towards him.

In that moment, he watched its fist cock back and shoot, moving with such force and speed that the lens of his glasses cracked before any contact was made.

–It missed its mark as its curled fist passed right above the adventurer’s hair with a sharp wind. Only due to the warrior’s presence arriving did the man-shrimp turn itself, countering with a quick punch right to Florentine’s abdomen.

The blow knocked the breath right out of the hammer-wielding woman’s lungs, though she committed to her assault, bringing the hammer down. It crashed down on the shrimp’s head, colliding with the ground into an ear-piercing explosion of sparks.

As the embers settled amidst the dust, the two familiars disconnected from the current era looked at one another as if not completely sure of their victory.

"Is it...?" Florentine exhaled.

"I believe that did the trick," Matteo remarked, seeing nothing but a sparse gathering of the black matter on the ground.

Even with the immediate threat vanquished, looking around at the sheer quantity of the abyssal growths present in just that room, pulsating with an ominous vigor, it was clear safety was a thin line.

"Let’s get out of here. If we stick around any longer, we’ll likely be having to exterminate a horde of those," Matteo suggested. "Or become their food."

"Don’t have to tell me twice. I prefer battling mighty beasts, but these things...They make my skin crawl," Florentine muttered, watching the walls.

-

Through the district of Atlantis where shops once stood, vendors destroyed and left in ruins, he moved carefully alongside the Mastorn soldier. Moving through the cityscape of clay and sea-stone houses, shrouded by colorful coral, required an amount of obscurity.

He carefully moved through the street, passing restaurants and inns. Though he could see the blood that painted the fronts, there was a surprising lack of bodies.

"How many people lived in this city?" Gael asked.

"Tens of thousands," Elijah answered.

"That many?" Gael said, finding it hard to believe.

The curly-haired soldier shrugged, "Well, it’s only what’s theorized. But, hard to tell now, isn’t it? It’s eerily empty now."

"Yeah...It’s those dark masses, isn’t it?" Gael presumed, looking into the building they passed.

"Mhm," Elijah confirmed.

It was past the entrance of a shop he walked in front of that he saw the back wall completely engulfed in the abyssal growth. Like a tumor clinging to the interior, it pulsated, clinging to the walls like a spider in the corner of a room.

He continued walking down the street, hoping it chose not to awaken, "Are they all hostile?"

"Hard to say. I don’t know what triggers those things to start moving...Hunger, maybe? They’re certainly running out of food down here," Elijah theorized.

Though he sought the castle, going there with Elijah wasn’t much of an option. Even if the Mastornian claimed to be fighting for only survival now, it was doubtful he’d go against Mastorn.

Gael watched Elijah as they moved through the narrow market of the vast city. The only thing that he knew in going along with the soldier was the idea of a "bunker" located in Atlantis, which he sought.

’I’ll have to lose him sooner or later. I’m sure he can survive on his own—why should I care? He’s with the enemy,’ he tried to convince himself.

As he ascended the steps ahead of the market road, he looked around at what looked to be a sector of houses, layered upon one another. The area was overlooked by a sprawling, orange coral that emitted a soft glow.

"Still not a sign of anybody left–" Gael remarked.

As he looked back at the soldier, he found no sight of the wounded man. There wasn’t so much as a hint of his presence, not a droplet of blood from his bandages or the scrape of a footstep.

"Hey? Elijah?" He called out, though trying not to raise his voice.

All at once, he felt vulnerable—left alone, perhaps with something that had taken the soldier without him knowing. He looked around at the quiet, pale buildings, finding nothing but shadows in the windows.

"I’ve sniffed you out, Outlander!"

–The proclamation howled through the abandoned sector, though he had no clue where the prideful, masculine voice came from. As he stood his ground, left lost in the middle of the cross between too many paths, his instincts flared.

All he heard was a sound like the air being pierced as though a train was bulleting through the area. In that moment, he clenched his abdominal muscles out of reflex, hardening them to their utmost–

"Pyuh!" He spat out the air in his lungs and the saliva from his mouth.

An impact drove into his stomach, pushing with such speed behind it that it seemed like it intended to through him and out of his back. Before he could even see the assailant, he was flung back by the force.

As he felt his body slam into the wall of a building behind him, he immediately unearthed himself as sediment fell from his shoulders.

"C’mon! C’mon!"

–Once again, that grating voice echoed as the hairs on his arms stood again. He looked around, though only caught a blur race across the side of the seastone structure across the open crossroads.

["I know this feeling. An unbounded spirit, uncaring for following any form of human decency–a hunter on the prowl–a Venator."]

Knowing what he was facing didn’t change the fact his eyes couldn’t track the inhuman agility presented by his assailant. While he did his best to remain on the low with unknown creatures of the undead roaming, if his visitor wasn’t playing the same, there was no point in his own reservations–

As he drew in a breath, listening to the taunting laughs of the speedy figure, along with footsteps that sounded like bullets, kicking off from one point to the other, he raised his foot. He heard the bullet-like dashes race from the top of the building across the way, then leaping off a toppled carriage, then the shattered wagon to the west–

Right then, feeling the presence as its closest, he slammed his foot down. As the shock wave howled, splintering the ground at his feet, he followed with another stomp.

—Again.

—And again.

The successive pulses through the immediate area struck the ground in a trio. It worked; the blur was halted amidst the blitzing shock waves, throwing off their path.

Only a fraction of a second was afforded, but he saw it—

The figure resembled a human man in shape, though with ears like a jack rabbit. Right as he saw those long ears, the figure erupted towards him just as he moved.

"Too slow!"

—Once again, an impact drove itself against his stomach.

The impact sounded like a cannon being fired, driving the air from his lungs. This time, he saw it; the foot of the rabbit-eared stranger kicked against him.

["I’m already getting sick of that one."]

Controlling the muscles in his legs, expanding his thighs and calves, he managed to keep himself from flying back, only sliding a few feet. Just from gathering his breath, the bruising on his stomach was certainly felt as he looked ahead.

A clear look at his assailant was finally unveiled–

With shaggy, white hair and matching rabbit ears, an albino man stood there with blood-red irises. He resembled a human in all ways except those ears and bestial eyes, bringing his foot down as he hopped in place as if trying to contain infinite energy within his body.

"You’re still on your feet after that? I’m surprised, honestly!" The strange rabbit-man remarked with a backhanded compliment, still hopping from one foot to the other.

Gael didn’t respond, instead analyzing the agile figure’s uniform, finding the loathsome cloak of sable feathers draped over his shoulders, along with a leather, black outfit beneath.

"Venator," Gael finally confirmed as he breathed out, brushing himself off.

"Sharp eye, manito! Isidro is the name–don’t worry about giving me yours! I won’t remember it!" The albino demi-human threatened with a vibrant smile as he kicked off.

Gael raised his dagger to defend himself, though found himself trying once again to perceive a blur pacing around the area. In the face of another elite Venator–a foe more than capable of ending his second life if he missed a single step–he felt the chaotic rhythm of his heart.

’I have one more familiar slot...Right now, against an opponent like this–having somebody strong to rely on would be infinitely valuable,’ he planned, readying himself.

"SSR Summon: Familiar!" He invoked, casting his singular guaranteed summoning.