Amazon Apocalypse: Chapter 23 (Patreon)

“Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and killing people who belong to me?” Craig demanded.

Craig - Bandit Gunslinger (Level 16)

For a moment, I was about to tell Craig I'd come to avenge myself. But then I realized why Craig was asking. With my hood up, the blood over my face, and the admittedly impressive enhancements to my body all my stats had given me, Craig didn’t even recognize me. He thought I was someone who’d just shown up and decided to kill all his people on a whim.

So I answered cryptically. “I’m the man who’s going to kill you, Craig.”

I waited for him to ask how I knew his name, but he missed the prompt.

“Well, whoever the hell you are, you’re dead now. Take this!” Craig opened fire with his handgun.

He’d already used my Deflect spell, so I had to dodge. I glanced at the ground, where a dozen glowing spots lit up on the floor as Sure Step told me the best places to position myself to avoid fire. I dove, rolled, and slid to one of them, giving Craig an odd angle around a piece of debris.

I poked my arm around the corner and fired Mana Bolt. Craig’s level was exactly the same as my own. This would be a tough fight, but I nearly beat him when he was several levels above me. Now that we were even, I planned to cut him to pieces.

“Ow!” Craig shouted when my spell punched him in the gut and lit his clothes on fire. The fire was eating at the walls now, and more fire mana than ever was pouring into my Mana Bolts.

Smoke filled the room, washing over it in great heaving waves. It gathered high toward the ceiling, and Craig’s head seemed to disappear within the clouds. I kept low so I could breathe, but it looked like Craig just planned on holding his breath.

If we were ordinary humans, neither of us would be able to fight for long with the smoke, the heat, and the crumbling office building around us. But our superhuman physiques meant we could shrug off danger that would make regular humans succumb in a moment.

Craig shot his gun, and I fired a few more Mana Bolts. He was shooting with his left hand since he was still missing his trigger finger from our earlier fight, and between that and his hip shots he shouldn't have been able to hit a thing. Yet his bullets proved strangely accurate.

“Oh, I get it. You’re one of those magic wizard types,” Craig said. “Stupid bullshit magic. I killed a guy like you earlier today. He was damn annoying.”

“I bet it would suck to fight him again,” I replied.

I could hear Craig’s teeth grinding together from where I slid behind a barricade. He unloaded six shots to the spot I’d just spoken from, but I used the distraction to change positions and take him from surprise from behind. Using Power Jump, I could soar through the layer of smoke overhead and come back unseen.

When used with Sure Step, I landed in a good spot to catch Craig with a few more Mana Bolts before diving for cover.

Fire crackled, and the wooden beams began to give under their own weight. The outside of the building was brick, but it all rested on beams of wood that were burning away with each passing moment. By some miracle, the fire alarms had survived the apocalypse, and now they were blaring loud and sharp.

The little plugs of wax in the sprinklers melted, unleashing their torrent of water on the blaze. There was a lot of water in the pipes, and the sprinklers had been pumping it out as fast as they could. But this wasn’t the kind of fire that could be extinguished so easily. Puddles of burning fuel sloshed around on the floor, dribbling everywhere. Water pooled on the floor, and the fuel just floated atop it, still burning as hot as ever.

Some of them licked the sides of the generator. There was still a lot of fuel left in the tank. Until a moment ago, it had been running. I was getting a bad feeling from it now.

“There you are!” Craig shouted as he shot twice more at me. I could have returned fire, but Sure Step pretty clearly told me to stay right where I was.

The generator exploded, and shrapnel flew everywhere. I ducked behind an office door torn off its hinges, and a shard of metal as large as my chest slammed into it point first. Globs of burning fuel sprayed everywhere, and for a moment, the heat grew even more intense. I probably would have died to that if I'd been a little less lucky. Hell, it probably would have killed me if I hadn't hit Craig with Share Curse the moment I saw him.

Your Heat Resistance Proficiency has increased to 4

Your Caster Proficiency has increased to 7.

You have gained the Fire Mana Proficiency!

I was getting tons of notifications as the fight wore on, and my new heat resistance proficiency had increased with every passing moment. Craig’s had probably been going up as well, which was bad news for my fireballs. But even if he could shrug off the fire, he couldn’t shrug off the kinetic punch those fireballs carried with them.

I was shot twice more, each bullet burning my flesh as it lodged into me like a stubborn thorn. Something just felt wrong about them.

With my current stats, getting hit with ordinary bullets felt no different from getting shot with paintball guns. They packed a punch, but most of them didn’t even break the skin. But Craig’s bullets were different. Each one carried the icy chill of a piece of metal in the dead of winter.

A certain sense of maliciousness to them made a tingle run up my spine each time one whizzed past, as though those bullets wanted to strike me. There were even a couple of shots that I was sure Craig had missed, yet the bullet swerved in the air to hit me anyway.

I didn’t know what unique abilities his Bandit Gunslinger class gave him, but whatever they were, they made him a scary opponent to face. He looked even scarier now that his skin was blistered from the flames around us and his eyes bloodshot from the smoke. But I was certain I looked much the same.

“Alright, that’s it!” Craig shouted. Blood dripped from his nose and out the corners of his mouth from all the blows he’d taken. “I don’t know who you are, but you made a mistake coming here! The last time I used this superpower, I killed lots of people. This time, I’m using it just for you.”

The handgun in Craig’s hand began to glow. A phantom image of a gun far larger and more powerful than the one he held in his hands took form. It was as wide around as Craig’s chest, and it had a spinning ring of barrel whirring to life. The phantom image grew more solid, and Craig positioned his hands further down its length as the spectral minigun turned real.

I didn’t even have time to yell ‘Oh Crap’ before he opened fire. Instead, I used Power Jump to get out of the way.

Craig wasn’t even really aiming the weapon. He just held down the trigger. A continuous stream of bullets shot out in all directions, washing over the walls of the building. He spun, uncertain of where I’d hidden. He was strafing over everything that could possibly be a hiding spot to compensate. Any table or door was shredded to pieces in a hail of bullets. Every corner peppered.

The walls themselves started crumbling apart as the hail of bullets eroded enough structural material to make them collapse. Before long, I heard great groaning creeks as everything started to lean in our direction. The supports in our half of the building were completely gone, and now the weight in the other half was making itself known.

Bricks started raining from the walls, making nearly as much noise as they fell as the hail of bullets. Everything was crumbling, and I held on for dear life.

“Huh, no notification...” Craig muttered as his minigun started fading in his hands. “Did he run? Hey, bastard! Are you still in here?”

Holding my breath, I clung to the ceiling in the one place he wouldn’t look. Concealed right above his head and hidden by the smoke. My fingers burned as I gripped the beam, and hot embers crumbled every time I moved. But I’d held on and survived Craig’s relentless onslaught. Now it was time for one of my own.

I let go, twisting in the air as I fell on top of Craig’s head with the survival sword extended point first. I used Surging Strength and poured all of my power into the attack, and my blade dug into Craig’s collarbone and got stuck there, just like last time, only this time I’d cut most of the way through the bone instead of just nipping it.

“You bitch!” Craig yelled as he whipped around, ignoring the sword sticking out of him and whipping around. He caught me by the throat, and I realized this was exactly the situation I’d been in last time. But this time, the result would be very different. “I’m going to kill you!” Craig snarled as he squeezed.

I breathed fire into his eyes.

It turned out I could cast Mana Bolt from anywhere, not just my hands. When I thought about it coming out of my mouth, it did just that. I kept up the continuous stream as I twisted, legs going horizontal between me and his chest. I used Power Jump and broke his grip while shoving the point of my sword deeper into him with my hilt.

Craig cried in pain, and I rolled to my feet, nearly slipping in the burning fuel. My hood caught fire and started burning, so I grabbed my entire jacket and tossed it aside.

“Recognize me now, Craig?” I asked as I splayed my hands wide.

Craig’s eyes widened. “You? Impossible! You’re dead!”

“Not anymore.”

“Are you some sort of ghost? Sworn to haunt me until I put you out of your misery once and for all?” Craig asked.

I laughed. “No. I’m as flesh and blood as you are.”

Craig’s jaw tightened. “Apparently, I should have torn your corpse apart. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“You won’t get the chance.”

Our exchange of threats bought me enough time for Surging Strength to recover for another use, and when Craig rushed me, I was ready.

He used the arm on his unwounded side to try for a grapple. It had to be instinctual for a man as big and strong as he was. Even wounded, he had a foot of height and a hundred pounds of muscle on me. But he didn’t have as many strength points on me as he thought. Especially not when I activated my new skill.

Surging Strength brought my effective strength stat to just over 26, which was still a bit lower than whatever Craig had, but enough to throw off his grapple when I had two good arms, and he only had one. That sword still stuck in his collarbone meant his other arm was hanging limply by his side.

When his hand went to my throat, my hand went to his fingers. I twisted them back until the bones popped, and Craig cried out in pain.

The building shook in reply, and the ceiling off to our left toppled over and collapsed. A steel I-beam as thick as my body fell from above and slammed into the ground where I’d been standing a moment ago. I’d followed Sure Step’s guidance and moved aside a moment before.

Craig, on the other hand, hadn’t been so lucky. I wasn’t sure if it was my Sure Curse ability I’d hit him with at the beginning of the fight or just plain old bad luck, but the falling beam struck him in the head, slamming him to the ground. I half expected his brains to pop out of his shattered skull like a busted watermelon, but he was made of sterner stuff than that.

Groaning, he struggled to shove the beam off him with his broken fingers. His power was enough to shove the beam off of him with one mighty heave. I grabbed the sword buried in his collarbone and tugged it free the moment before he got free.

Craig screamed in pain, reaching for his gun but unable to use it with broken fingers on one hand and a disabled arm with the other. He was helpless before me, and I watched fear dawn in his eyes as he realized it.

Craig spoke his last words. “Fuck you, cocksucker!”

I brought the sword down on his eye, piercing his brain.

Craig shook, quivered, and died.

“You’re shit at dying,” I said, giving his body a kick as I waited for the notification. “I was expecting something clever to finally come out of your mouth as your last words. But I guess that was too much to hope for.”

You have slain Craig - Bandit Gunslinger (Level 16)

Congratulations! You have advanced to level 17!

+1 all stats. You have four stats available for assignment.

I assigned my four stat points to luck, pushing that stat to 20 and giving me my last attribute skill.

Choose a Luck skill!

Blind Marksman (Common)

Increases odds of hitting targets when firing randomly.

Impregnator (Common)

Increases the probability of pregnancy after sex.

Upgrade Share Curse (Uncommon) to Share Curse (Rare)

Share Curse’s effectiveness increases, making 75% of its negative effects transfer to opponents.

I decided to pick the Share Curse upgrade. Having so much negative luck unnerved me, so I wanted the ability to shove most of it aside. Maybe I could get to the point where I had enough points in luck that the curse wouldn’t matter at all while I had the Share Curse activated.

I’d probably have to find a rat or something and carry it around in my pocket to keep cursing it. That might mitigate some of the effects of the constant monster attacks, though I doubted the curse would linger while I ran off to do other things. That was something that would bear testing. But that testing would have to wait until I wasn't standing in a burning office.

The building started crumbling around me, reminding me that the whole thing was probably going to come tumbling down soon. It was time to get out of here.

I’d been holding my breath for the last minute of the fight because even crouched low, the smoke was thick enough to have me gagging. Now my lungs were starting to burn, and I dropped to the ground to get a breath and a clear view of the office as I made my way to the door.

My body ached from the fight. I’d pushed myself hard and taken more gunshots than I liked. But I already had Mind Over Flesh active, so my regeneration was pushing those bullets out of me and patching me up. It would probably be at least an hour before I was at full strength though.

I emerged and stood, tattered clothes leaving strips of cloth behind me. But I wore a grin on my face. Craig was dead. Ben and all the others had been avenged. Victory was mine at last.

There was only one thing that could make it better.

“C-Carter?” Sakura stuttered, eyes wide as she watched me climb to my feet.

“You weren’t crazy, Sakura! It really is him!” Bridget said next to her.

Around them stood a bunch of other people, some of whom I recognized from Ben’s group or from the office before that. This must have been everyone who listened to Sakura when she told them to get out of the building while they still could.

“It’s me,” I assured both of them.

Sakura looked hesitant, but Bridget wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so glad you aren’t dead! I heard from the others that they threw your body away...”

That explained why Bridget was quicker to accept my revival than Sakura. She hadn’t seen my body. Sakura had held it with her own hands.

“I did die, and they did throw my body away. But I’m back now. I talked to Ben and the others who died as well. They helped me come back to avenge them and put down Craig once and for all." They both gave me quizzical looks, and I gave them a short summary of what had transpired after my death.

“The afterlife is an old run-down arcade?” Sakura asked skeptically.

“You’re just going to have to trust me on that one,” I chuckled.

Sakura’s face flushed, and she wrung her hands together. “I... I do...”

Then, like Bridget, she wrapped her arms around me.

Face buried in my chest, she mumbled. “I’m still not sure if you’re my Carter, but you smell like him.”

“Like smoke, blood, and sweat?” I chuckled.

I pulled Sakura tight. “Tell me what I can do to prove to you that I’m still me.”

She bit her lip, staring up into my eyes. “What were our plans back in my office before all this started?”

“You mentioned you needed someone to keep you company at one of your father’s corporate events and invited me along,” I replied.

Sakura smiled. “Yeah, that’s right.”

Bridget’s eyes widened. “Y-you guys were planning a date?” Her lips curled into a pout.

Sakura snuggled up a little closer to my chest. “That’s right, we were.”

“Well...” I trailed off. I hadn’t thought of it as a date at the time, just helping out my boss outside of office hours. But I supposed to outsiders, it did seem like a date. “Yeah. I guess we were.”

“It’s good to have you back,” Sakura said, eyes staring up to meet mine. “When I thought you were dead, I prayed for a second chance and promised I would do things right if I could try again. I plan to do just that.”

I ran my fingers through her hair. “We have a lot to talk about.” I needed to tell Sakura everything. Not just about dying and coming back to life, but about before then. About Myrina and the Amazonian Empire.

But before I could go into any of it, more familiar figures emerged.

“Carter, are you a zombie?” Caleb asked. Marcus hid behind him with wide and fearful eyes.

I chuckled. “No, I’m not a zombie, Caleb.”

“Good enough for me. You guys can put the guns down.” Caleb gestured to the people behind him. I recognized some of them from our flank back during the early stages of the settlement quest, and I waved to those I knew.

“Sir, it’s good to have you back,” Marcus said, finally stepping out of Caleb’s shadow.

“It’s good to be back, Marcus,” I replied. “Now, I’m betting Craig still had a lot of goons fending off monsters besides just you guys. Where are they now that the quest is over?”

“They started running a few minutes ago as soon as they got word of a fire. After that, they got a notification that Craig had died, and there was a bit of infighting. Most of the survivors headed around the corner there,” Caleb explained. “But there’s one more thing. The quest isn’t over.”

I checked the prompt and realized Caleb was right.

Settlement Establishment Quest: Now Entering Bonus Round!

1/2 challengers defeated.

Drive off or slay the remaining challenger to claim ownership of the Settlement Obelisk!

The one dead had to be Craig. But who was the other one?

As though in answer to my question, a roar echoed from the other side of the building.

<Note>

Craig’s original last words were, “It was just a prank, bro!”

I thought that was funny, but I changed them because I figured that wasn’t the moment for a joke.

Still, if Craig had begged for his life, that is what it would have looked like.