!!!
Atlan was surprised to hear the old man mention an apocalypse.
All this time, the citizens of Genesis were unaware of the precarious situation they were in. None of them knew that their immortality disappeared the moment the angels fell from the heavens.
They still believed that it was just a simple solar event from the sun.
He always refrained from telling everybody this because he knew that no one would believe him. They would label him as nothing more than a liar.
He was surprised that this old man knew about the apocalypse and was actually trying to warn the rest of the citizens. And as he guessed, they were treating his words as nothing more than fiction.
They were berating and insulting him all because he dared them to open their eyes to the truth.
"Please! Don't you see?! Immortality is an illusion!" The old man, in his desperation, grabbed ahold of one of the citizens in his collar.
He didn't like that. He pushed the old man to the ground with such force that the old man crashed his head on the pavement.
Ptooh, the man spit. "Don't grab me with your dirty hands, you decrepit old fool!"
The old man held his head as he felt red blood trickling out of his forehead.
There seemed to be a moment of clarity in his head, where his eyes turned clear and his expression turned serious. But it soon melted away after a few seconds.
Atlan looked at the crowd and saw that none of them were helping the old guy. Even though he was hurt, no one was moving to give him aid.
Everyone was just watching this scene unfold with an indifferent expression.
Why are they all just watching? Atlan wondered. It was even more weird that almost all of the citizens of the City were there to watch all of this.
Is the old man someone important?
"Excuse me, do you know who that is?"
Atlan asked someone beside him but instead of answering, the man just shook his head in disappointment. "It's best if you don't know, kid."
The old man picked himself back up and pointed at the sky.
"Don't you see? The smoke…where's there's smoke…there's fire…"
However, when everyone looked at where he was pointing, they saw that there was nothing there but the sky and the buildings beneath it.
"You've gone senile. There's nothing there!"
Everyone ridiculed him, but when Atlan looked at where the old man was pointing, he noticed that it was the place where the huge plume of smoke appeared a few days ago.
Is the old man talking about that?
According to Neumann, it was a result of a Symptom because Canzers were causing destruction in the Remedium.
It persisted for three days, but it was soon solved by Garuun and his team of Saviors in the Specialist Realm.
"What more lies are you spouting? Alien conspiracies? Flat earth? Ha! This is the reason why no one takes you seriously."
The old man didn't seem to hear the insults fired towards him. He didn't even seem to register anything around him. He looked like a deranged man who was spouting nonsense.
Perhaps, it was the reason why no one was taking his words seriously, even if it was the truth.
"They fell…they're dead! They're dead, I tell you!"
The old man went on his knees and put his hands together into a praying position. Then, he looked up and wept at the tragedy he remembered.
He's talking about the fall of angels…
As Atlan heard more about the old man's lies, the more Atlan was convinced that he wasn't insane. He was probably even more sane and lucid than most of the people who ridiculed him.
"Why is no one taking him back to the care center?"
"It's such a shame to see him like this."
"What a tragedy…"
Atlan continued to squeeze himself towards the crowd until finally, he was able to shove himself at the very front of the crowd.
And as soon as he did, the old man looked in his direction.
They made eye contact.
Atlan finally got a good look at his features and a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes. He recognized this old man!
Meanwhile, the old man was surprised when he looked at Atlan. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He looked at Atlan from his feet to his head, and even further beyond his stature.
No one was seeing things like him. He saw the truth of the world. And what he saw from Atlan…frightening.
Black tendrils made out of the very darkness of space itself were spreading out of Atlan's body like roots.
The blackness branched away from Atlan and connected to each and every person near him. Nobody was safe.
No one saw it but him. Nobody knew that they were in the proximity of the maws of death.
And when the old man looked up above Atlan, he saw a melting pot of deranged skulls and horrified deaths flowing out of his head.
This seemingly normal youth was the personification of his very fear; he was death itself.
The old man's heartbeat sped up to a thousand times per second as he started to palpitate. He was experiencing a nightmare that he could not wake up from.
His heart pumped faster and faster, much more than what his fragile body could take.
Terror and trepidation forced his heart to beat until, finally, it stopped.
His heart no longer worked.
And in his last moments, he uttered the words;
"Death hath come…"
The old man flopped on the ground, his body quickly turning cold.
Atlan stayed frozen in place until someone grabbed him by his shoulders and broke him out of his stupor.
He looked back and saw a familiar face. He recognized that long curly hair anywhere.
It was Lizzie. She gave him a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
Atlan paused for a second and couldn't utter the words at the tip of his tongue.
He was distracted by the words in front of him. It gave him mixed feelings.
[You have assisted in the death of Quinto Kindle]
[You have reaped the death of the 'First Savior']
[You have gained 10,000 experience]
[10x Booster trait acquired!]
[SSS class Apocalyptic Hellfire acquired]