Ronaldo Brando, the uncle of the body he was currently inhabiting, is someone who had spent more than thirty years of his life serving in the army and had attained a rank higher than every other general in the country, and in greed for higher power, he had targeted his own brother who is the ruling president — it was a coup d'etat.

It was the summary of the entire twist Marlon was able to grasp in the few minutes he had spent interacting with the man standing in front of him.

"You must be as dense as your father to think your silly excuse would spare your life," Ronaldo said with a deep frown, standing over Marlon.

Marlon glared at him with no consideration for his own safety.

He had already rethought the entire thing and concluded there was no way he could achieve any success in this trial.

And with that mental resolution, caring about minor details like respecting the man who would kill him either way was unnecessary.

"Why do typical bad guys like you love giving long-ass speeches?" he spat out angrily.

"Just kill me already and end this bullcrap," he added, the hate and anger in his voice echoing across the spacious room.

Ronaldo paused for a second, his eyebrows furrowing before returning to normal as he responded with animosity, "Kill you? Where is the joy in that? I want you to watch me take everything from you and your stupid father, and only then would I grant you the mercy of a quick death. I do not want you coming back in the future to seek revenge."

And this he did.

Immediately he spoke, the door opened and two soldiers walked into the poorly lit room.

Ronaldo gave them orders and left.

Once he left, the two soldiers began an onslaught, kicking, slapping, and punching Marlon until his face was swollen and his clothes were soaked with his own blood.

Since Marlon was bound, he could not fight back and could only sit and receive the pain.

His eyes shone with bloodlust he could not quench.

His lips shivered with anger.

And his body trembled with hatred.

The two soldiers beat him until they were satisfied and then left, leaving him alone.

Gasping, he struggled to catch his breath.

"Apocalypse Panel."

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 13 hrs, 9 mins

That was how long he had to endure everything.

"Bullshit!" he cussed, glaring at the panel floating in front of him.

"It is all your fault," he spat out angrily, as though the system was sentient, even though he knew it wasn't.

"You should be satisfied at least with the suffering you've put me through."

He continued, his voice loud, reaching the soldiers guarding the door outside, who could not help but wonder if he was going insane.

"Why would you send me on a mission without my powers? Wasn't the breakthrough trial meant to test those powers in the first place? Why the sudden change?"

This time the guards outside nodded their heads — he had really gone insane, they concluded.

Marlon's raging speech kept ringing out, but no one paid heed as they deemed him crazy.

His rage surged.

It continued for a long time.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 8,000,000,000

—Time remaining: 0 days, 11 hrs, 47 mins

Almost one hour passed.

His rage was still boiling.

At that moment, the metallic door was flung open by two soldiers, strolling toward him with no remorse in their eyes.

The two of them loosened the rope binding him to the chair.

But as they were about to issue an order for him to accompany them, Marlon acted.

His eyes moved fast, spotting the 1911 pistol holstered on the tactical belt of the soldier to his right.

A cold glint flashed through his eyes as he swung his body up from the chair, launching himself with all the strength he could muster.

And his effort wasn't fruitless — he got a hold of the pistol, sacrificing his balance in the process as he fell to the rough ground on his back.

Gritting his teeth, he held the gun properly, using everything he had learned from movies and tutorial videos he watched back on Earth.

PA!

A sharp sound rang out.

The soldier directly in front of him was shot, but in his leg.

"Ahh! You bastard!"

He collapsed on his knee, clenching the bleeding wound as his eyes darted toward Marlon.

The second soldier moved right away.

But it was too late.

PA! PA! PA!

Marlon fired three more bullets, ignoring the painful impact on his shoulder.

THUD!

The two soldiers fell to the ground, dead.

"Serves you right!" Marlon barked as he glared at the two corpses laid beside him, pools of blood forming beneath their bodies.

"What the heck!"

But he was pretty unfortunate as the soldiers standing guard at the door rushed into the room one after the other after hearing the gunshots.

They were five in number.

They saw everything and their eyes widened.

Immediately they rushed toward Marlon.

Marlon acted and fired at them.

PA! PA! PA! PA! Click!

He ran out of bullets. It was a 1911 pistol after all.

"Shit!"

He cussed.

He wanted to stand up and put up a fight, but he was too weak, and firing the gun had weakened him further.

Luckily, the soldiers were under orders not to kill him no matter what happened. Thus, when they reached him, they knocked him out and tied his hands to prevent another incident.

Even though they all wanted to kill him, they could not disobey orders, so they dragged him away—

To the place everything would take place.

====

When Marlon's consciousness returned, he was greeted by the rays of the early morning sun.

The brightness was unexpected. For a moment, he almost thought the apocalypse had already begun.

"Finally!"

"A change to this weak government!"

"Change!"

But he was quickly pulled out of that thought as noise erupted around him, forcing him to turn toward the source.

To his surprise, there were hundreds, no, thousands, of people gathered on a vast field below him, and he realized he was lying on a high raised platform.

Before he could fully register what was going on, a familiar voice echoed.

"—From now on, I, Ronaldo Brando, will rule over West Nation!"

Turning in the direction of the voice, he saw Ronaldo standing proudly as he addressed the people.

Camera flashes burst all around.

Reporters waited eagerly at the side.

And behind Ronaldo, lying motionless on the ground, was a body.

A familiar one.

Orlando Brando.

His father.

He had already been killed, and if everything went the way it should, Marlon knew he was next.

Strangely, he wasn't afraid.

He observed the commotion for a while, watching the crowd cheer the new leadership, none of them caring about the death of their former president who had treated them with nothing but care.

Even though Marlon didn't feel a true bond with the man, since this wasn't his original body -- he still felt enraged that they could turn on him so easily.

It was disgusting.

And for a moment, he was glad they would soon be devoured.

But how soon?

"Apocalypse panel," he called out.

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 7,999,99,998

—Time remaining: 0 days, 0 hrs, 20 mins

Less than half an hour remaining.

A malicious grin appeared on his face as he scanned their joyous expressions.

He wanted to watch them die.

Time went by noisily.

The people's chants and Ronaldo's declaration kept ringing in his ears.

But he ignored all of them.

—Time remaining: 3 minutes

The chants continued.

—Time remaining: 2 minutes

The end approached.

Marlon pushed himself up.

The soldiers behind him shoved him down.

"Let him up."

Ronaldo's loud voice made them freeze.

"I want to hear what my nephew has to say."

He grinned as he stared into Marlon's eyes, but Marlon simply returned the grin while rising unsteadily.

He heard the people muttering about his weakness, mocking him.

He ignored them. The grin on his face slowly shifted into a cold smile as he stepped forward.

He took the mic and looked at the people.

He observed them briefly, his smile widening until he looked like a classic villain.

Then he spoke coldly:

"You guys… it would be my pleasure to watch all of you burn."

The crowd fell silent immediately.

His words hung in the air like a curse.

For a moment, no one reacted. They simply stared.

Then whispers started spreading.

"Burn?"

"What did he say?"

"Is he crazy?"

"He must have lost his mind after everything."

Ronaldo chuckled mockingly; he didn't expect Marlon to break down and become unstable.

But Marlon didn't care.

He raised the mic again, the cold smile still on his bruised face.

"And trust me," he said slowly, "you won't wait long."

Gasps rippled through the crowd before the usual noisy chattering erupted again.

Marlon continued speaking through the noise, letting his hatred spill out.

And then—

Ronaldo snapped.

"Grab him!" he shouted.

Four soldiers rushed forward instantly.

Marlon didn't move.

He only lifted his head slightly as the sunlight hit his face, making the blood on his cheek glisten.

"Too late," he whispered.

And then—

[ Apocalypse Panel ]

—World: Aerth

—Population: 7,999,99,998

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

[ The apocalypse has arrived! ]

Everything stopped.

A heavy silence fell as the sky darkened at an alarming pace.

Marlon lifted his gaze upward.

He watched the arrival of the meteors—tiny bright dots at first—multiplying in number and size as they descended.

"What the hell…"

"What are those…"

"Meteors! So he wasn't lying!"

"It's the end of the world!"

Fearful cries filled the field.

Ronaldo's eyes widened, his body trembling in disbelief and fear.

But the meteors didn't give them time to process.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Explosions erupted across various areas.

The crowd immediately fell into chaos.

Some ran.

Some froze.

Some knelt and cried.

Others prayed desperately.

Marlon savored their fear. He enjoyed every second.

He had unknowingly gone insane, and he loved it.

He turned to his uncle, who had already peed his pants and stood frozen, staring at the blazing sky with his mouth open.

Marlon grinned.

He loved this feeling.

He turned back to the notifications blinking before him.

—Population: 6,798,069,709

Everything was happening quickly, but he remained calm, waiting for the end.

After about twenty seconds:

—Population: 4,008,069,709

Then:

—Population: 3,898,789,405

[ Population has fallen past 50% ]

[ You've failed ]

Finally.

He looked up again, seeing two m

assive cosmic balls of earth and flame descending toward their location.

The first smashed into the field, instantly crushing everything and everyone.

The second headed straight for the raised platform.

Marlon closed his eyes.

BOOM!

The familiar explosion.

And then the unbearable heat.

They were the final sensations he felt before he died once more.

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