CHAPTER 91: BREAKTHROUGH TRIAL (5/)

Inside a beautiful and spacious office, Marlon sat with his father, Orlando Brando, the president of West Nation.

Orlando was in his late middle-age and was quite handsome, with properly cut jet-black hair and hazel eyes that shone with intelligence and experience.

At the moment, he frowned slightly as he observed his son.

He leaned closer and asked in a stern tone,

"Son, I’ve always believed and trusted you, but right now I need to ask... have you started drinking alcohol?"

Marlon sighed inwardly. He already knew this would be his first response.

Who would actually believe a story like his?

"I haven’t," he responded.

And then continued, "I already expected it would be very difficult for you to believe me, and honestly, with little to no proof in my hands to show, I wouldn’t even believe myself if I were you."

"If there were enough time on our hands, I would’ve spent most of it preparing enough proof. Unfortunately, time is a luxury we lack."

Orlando listened while observing his son keenly.

There was not a single hint on his face that he was joking. In fact, this was the most serious he had seen his son in a very long time.

He found himself believing gradually. There was no way his beloved son, an inspiration to his peers, would try to prank him.

Nonetheless, this matter was an international one.

"What you’re requesting is that I inform the other four nations?"

"Yes."

He asked, and Marlon responded quickly.

"I can’t."

And then he gave his response.

"I have a meeting with the prime minister of South Nation in a few minutes. You should return home and rest, we will discuss further when I get home."

"But... there wouldn’t be enough time!"

Marlon could no longer keep his stress in check. Rising quickly, he slammed his hands on the desk and barked.

But this was the final straw.

Orlando clicked a button on his desk, and in the next three or so seconds, dozens of soldiers entered the room.

"Take him away and see to it that he rests," he ordered the soldiers.

They saluted and strolled behind Marlon.

Two of them politely stood beside him, waiting for him to move.

But Marlon remained stationed as he glared at Orlando.

This man was the key to him succeeding in his mission, yet he was holding back?

How could he leave so easily with his life on the line?

It was impossible.

"I am not leaving till you listen to me," he declared.

The frown on Orlando grew deeper, and with a simple signal to the soldiers, they acted.

The two behind him gave him a jab at the back of his neck.

Marlon felt a slight pain followed by darkness; he had lost consciousness.

The soldiers carried his unconscious body out of the purple villa and back to the mansion.

===

A few hours later.

Marlon awoke with a splitting headache, his memory was a little bit blurry for a few seconds before settling.

The last meeting that ended with his unconsciousness replayed, and instantly his eyes shot open with disbelief, desperation, and most of all... fear.

He turned to the window, and to his surprise, it was already nighttime.

"Apocalypse panel!"

He called out quickly.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 5 hrs, 33 mins

"Fuck, how long was I out for?"

He wondered with a deep frown on his face.

Unfortunately, he had barely six hours to take care of a difficult task, and thus, calculating how much time he was knocked out for was impossible.

He rose quickly and strode towards the door.

Turning the doorknob, he attempted to open the door.

But it didn’t budge.

It was locked. From the outside nonetheless.

"Open the damn door!"

He barked.

There was no response.

He barked again and again, but still, there was no response.

"Fuck!"

Biting his fingers, he cussed repeatedly.

His cortisol level had long skyrocketed. Keeping his emotions in check to analyze the situation was now impossible.

"Open the fucking door!"

After relaxing for some time, he began banging and screaming once more, but just like before, there was no response.

He stopped banging and tried to yank the door off with all the power he could summon at this point.

But without his original strength, the feat was impossible.

He continued—

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 4 hrs, 23 mins

—and before he knew it, one hour went by, and as the apocalypse drew closer, he tried even more frantically.

His screams tore through the hallways of the mansion, accompanied by his incessant banging on the door.

The workers in the house grew worried.

The maids and cooks whispered to themselves.

The guards could not help but wonder what their young master might have taken to become the way he was.

Even his personal guard, Brandon, could not help, as he was strictly commanded against it by his superiors.

According to them, the president suspected his son had lost it all from reading too much.

He requested they give him enough time to rest, and under no circumstances should they allow him out until he returns.

So, he could not disobey.

Unaware of the setup, Marlon continued.

Another hour passed, two drifted by, and now there were only minutes remaining.

Sitting beside the door, Marlon stared at the apocalypse panel with reddened eyes.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 8 mins

Less than ten minutes till it all ends.

Just a short time remaining for him to lose the mission he was so confident on winning and lose his life.

The reality was too harsh to accept.

"I should’ve listened."

Biting his fingers that had begun to bleed, he muttered to himself.

"They all warned me—Crimson, Gigaman, heck, even my own brother."

He continued, his eyes growing even more terrified.

"But I did not listen. I was too confident in my ability, and it seems fate is trying to give me a reality check by taking away the ability I was so proud of."

That was the only explanation.

His breakthrough trial’s primary mission was to break his ego.

There was no other explanation for this.

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 3 mins

His eyes remained peeled on the countdown.

At this moment, he prayed for a miracle—for a restart... just maybe he could take a different route and actually make things work.

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 1 mins

He knew it was impossible as the timer continued.

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 0 mins

[ The apocalypse has arrived ]

Following the last panel, the world seemed to come to an abrupt halt.

Silence spread across its entirety, and even time itself felt like it paused for a brief moment.

Marlon slowly pushed himself to his feet and walked to the window.

His legs felt weak, but he forced himself forward. He needed to see it with his own eyes.

He had already failed to stop it; the least he could do was witness the end he had tried so hard to avoid.

And reality... was merciful enough to show him everything.

At first, the night sky brightened slightly, as though the moon had suddenly grown stronger. But then the light intensified, turning from pale silver to a blazing orange.

Marlon’s eyes widened.

Dozens... no, hundreds... and then millions of flaming meteors appeared above the clouds.

They covered the sky like a second sun broken into countless pieces. Their glowing trails stretched endlessly, painting the darkness with fiery streaks.

The sight was beautiful for a fraction of a second.

Then the beauty twisted into terror.

The meteors descended at terrifying speed, tearing through the sky with a burning roar that shook the glass in Marlon’s window. He could hear the panic rising from the people outside—their confused shouts, their footsteps, their screams as they finally saw what was coming.

"Please... no..." someone shouted in the distance.

Another voice cried out for God.

Someone else wailed and begged to be saved.

But Marlon couldn’t look away. He fixed his trembling gaze on the falling destruction.

BOOM!!

The first meteor crashed far away, but the impact shook the entire ground like a sudden earthquake. A fiery mushroom of smoke exploded upward, lighting up the entire horizon.

BOOM!!

Another one hit, closer this time. The shockwave slammed into the buildings, tearing rooftops apart and sending debris into the air.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!

One after another, meteors rained down on Aerth like divine punishment.

The sky became a mixture of orange flames and black smoke.

Buildings across the city were swallowed in explosions, turning into crumbling ruins within seconds.

People ran everywhere, but there was nowhere to run.

Cars overturned from the shockwaves. Streetlights bent. Trees snapped into pieces. Flames erupted across the streets like living creatures searching for new fuel.

The screams grew louder and more desperate.

But Marlon barely heard them anymore. He was drowning in the sheer scale of destruction before him.

He felt his knees weaken.

Despite everything burning around him, not a single meteor touched the mansion.

They fell to the left, to the right, behind it, ahead of it, but the mansion stood untouched like the eye of a hurricane.

He knew why.

The trial was forcing him to watch every second of it.

His eyes fell to the apocalypse panel, observing the population.

—Population: 5,088,678,890

..

—Population: 4,777,799,888

..

—Population: 4,102,331,000

..

—Population: 3,999,968,800

The numbers fell in a matter of millions per second.

[ Population has fallen past 50% ]

[ You’ve failed ]

His breath hitched.

And before he could read the entire message—

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion erupted right beside the mansion. The walls rattled violently, and for the first time, the

protective calm around the building cracked.

A burning shockwave smashed through the window.

Marlon barely had time to raise his arms—

A blazing force hit him head-on.

A searing pain tore through his body as the explosion swallowed him whole.

And then...

Everything went blank.

He died.