Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 503: A blue sky [1]



World Integration.

The moment one's mind becomes integrated into the world, allowing them to bend nature at their will.

...And the moment one truly became the Zenith.

"As always, it's gray."

Mumbling quietly, he stared at the dark sky above.

"They say the skies in the Empire are blue, but I have a hard time... believing the tales. Can such sky really be blue?"

From what he knew, the blue sky meant light.

It meant prosperity.

And most importantly.

"Freedom."

It meant freedom.

Extending his hand, he tried to grasp the sky.

Unfortunately...

"...It's out of my reach."

He felt it at his fingertips but couldn't fully touch it.

If he could just pull it.

.....If only....

"What a pity."

Staring at his old and wrinkly hands, he lowered it back down.

"I really wanted to see the blue sky."

He could if he entered the Empires, but he didn't want to see it there.

He wanted to see it in his home.

Not just him, but the people too. He wanted everyone to see it.

The fabled blue sky.

"A pity."

Freedom only existed for those who could afford it.

Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Placing his hand on the piano, he started to play.

Dang~

It was also then that he noticed it.

"...Hm?"

The first thread.

*

"What... are you doing?"

The three of us stared at the poor excuse of an old man.

'He looks to have aged even further, and his mind seems to have regressed again. He's still conscious, and that's enough.'

We hadn't even left for less than a day and he was already on the verge of losing himself. "We're here to get you."

"...Haa..."

The old man's murky eyes fluctuated.

"You... stop. It-"

"No, you don't seem to get it."

I pointed directly at the old man.

"We're here to get you, mastermind."

11

11

Both Kaelion and Caius looked at me.

So did the old man.

"W-what? What are you...?"

"I too was surprised when I found out, but it all then clicked. How could someone as powerful

as you be subjected to such treatment and not find the culprit despite the many months that

have passed."

It would make no sense.

The old man was strong. So strong that I found myself comparing him to Delilah.

She was the strongest person I had ever met, and I thought she was still the strongest after I met the old man, but now... I was sure that wasn't the case.

The old man before me.

He was truly the closest thing to the Zenith.

Or... had been.

I wasn't so sure now, but if there was someone who could subject someone this strong to such

a situation, it'd have to be someone at the Zenith.

"Y... You're crazy."

Despite the truth being right before the old man, he refused to believe it.

And since that was the case...

"I guess we have no choice but to fight you."

"We what?"

"....Are you nuts?"

Both Kaelion and Caius looked at me as though I was a lunatic.

I wasn't.

"What? He's tangled up by all the threads. What are you afraid of? In his current state, if we work together we might have a chance at defeating him."

"But he's still..."

"Fine."

Caius was the first to agree.

Clenching and unclenching his fist, he mumbled, 'I've always wanted to fight this old man.'

His response was enough to make Kaelion raise a brow.

"Wasn't he supposed to have no emotions?"

"....He probably just wants to fight him because he's strong."

"Right."

"Cough...!"

Coughing once, the old man weakly raised his head.

"You, you've lost it."

"It doesn't matter if we do. Get ready, old man."

"You... Kh...!"

The old man's face changed for the first time.

I could see rage appear on his face.

'I told you to leave! Why are you still here!'

"This is dangerous! The moment that threads take over me completely, I will end up killing you!'

'Get out of here idiots!'

I could practically see what he was trying to say just from his face alone.

I was quite good at reading people's faces by now, but...

'Idiots are idiots for a reason.'

Then, without waiting for the old man to say something, I was the first to move. Pressing my

foot forward, the gravity around the old man shifted. I then started to feel changes happening within my body as my muscles widened and power flooded my entire body.

That's when I punched out in his direction.

Bang-!

My fist landed on his bare chest, forcing out a pained groan from him.

"....Uekh!"

The threads above him gently swayed as Kaelion followed right behind me, throwing an even

more powerful fist on the same spot I decided to hit.

Bang!

The threads swayed further and the old man's eyes flared with rage.

"You... bastard!"

If looks could kill, he'd have killed many times over.

As he raised his hand, a powerful pressure seemed to descend upon the area around me. It

rendered me stuck on the spot.

Thankfully, Caius stood right behind me, pushing his hand to the side and throwing my body

to the side.

Bang!

The floor caved in as the old man stood up.

"Huu...! Hu!"

His attack didn't contain any mana and yet the floor smashed into bits.

Seeing his attack miss, the old man turned to look at Caius, but that was when Kaelion

stepped in and smashed his foot against the back of the old man's calf.

The old man turned around and threw a punch in Kaelion's direction.

Swoosh-!

The air stirred under the weight of his punch, even causing some of the threads connected to

him to snap. I took note of the sight.

"Caius...!"

"Yes."

Lifting his finger to the side, Kaelion's body flung to the side and avoided the fist.

'My turn?'

I glanced to my right and left before lifting my hand, summoning purple hands from beneath

the ground. There were over a dozen, and they all headed for the old man who tapped onto the

ground and just barely avoided them.

Even more threads snapped.

"....Come.. here!"

He was still angry.

With a fierce look, he brought his hand in my direction and I felt myself get pushed in his

direction.

Or at least, that was how it looked like.

The moment my body reached his hand, it disappeared out of nowhere.

"Ha...?"

The old man looked surprised at first before he clicked his tongue.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Pointless trick."

He swatted his hand and I felt my body get pushed to the side of the wall.

Bang!

"Uekh!"

This time, it was my real body.

"That... it hurt."

The pain was real.

"Haha."

The old man seemed to find my pain amusing as he suddenly laughed. His laugh was loud, as

loud as his snoring.

How annoying.

I held onto my nose and glared at him.

"...Fuck, I think my nose is broken."

Just touching it hurt.

Boom-!

Flicking my head up, I saw Kaelion's body get smashed all the way up the ceiling. The impact

was so strong he remained stuck there for a few seconds.

"Hehehe."

"...Haha."

I couldn't help but laugh as well.

I now started to understand why he was laughing.

At least, until the old man settled his gaze over me again.

"That.."

I looked at Caius.

"How about hi-Eukh!"

I was thrown to the side once again.

Bang!

It hurt even more than before.

"Hahaha."

A thunderous laugh reverberated through the room as the old man laughed his heart out.

Was my pain so funny to him?

To make matters even more humiliating, he pointed his finger at me while laughing.

"...Hahaha-Kugh! huff!"

His laugh was cut short by Kaelion who appeared behind him and bit his ear.

The old man hurriedly pushed Kaelion away, but the damage was already done as blood

leaked down from his ear. Touching his ear, he grew furious. "You...!"

"Pu!"

Spitting blood onto the ground, Kaelion raised his hands.

"Not so funny now is i-"

Boom!

He was suddenly thrown up again.

I swallowed my saliva upon seeing the sight.

'... He didn't even get to finish his words.'

"Huu."

Seeing the old man's gaze fall on me again, my back chilled.

'Fuck, why is he just targeting the two of us?'

No, more importantly, where was Caius?

Bang!

Right then, the wardrobe flung in the air and crashed onto the old man's head. Pieces of wood

broke everywhere and the old man's body froze.

But if that wasn't enough...

Swoosh!

The bed also flew in his direction right after.

"No...!"

With movements faster than they previously were before, the old man raised his hand and

stopped the bed in the middle of the air.

He then glanced at Caius and flung his hand to the side.

Bang!

Finally, he also got sent crashing against the wall.

"Huu... Huu..."

The old man's breathing was rough.

His face looked even older than before, but...

A smile appeared on his face.

'He's having fun.'

He felt more liberated.

As if the threads weren't weighing down on him as much as they previously were.

Snap, snap!

Seeing him like this, I tried to get up but quickly gave up and leaned back onto the side of the

wall and forced my mouth open.

"I once had a conversation with an old man before."

The old man looked at me.

"I asked him, are you scared? Do you know what he said to me?"

I had his full attention.

"He said he was. He was scared."

Someone so strong was scared. The concept was weird.

Normally, one would assume a strong person would never feel scared.

"But he wasn't scared of death."

Then again, his fears were quite deep.

"What scared him was not death, but everything that he was losing while being alive."

Like, his intelligence.

"He didn't want to go back to the naive old little boy he once was. He didn't want to be

discriminated, laughed at, and be forgotten."

There was nothing scarier than losing oneself while still being alive.

I knew because I saw it.

His fears.

His vulnerabilities.

...And his past.

"Cough, cough."

Holding onto my chest, I helped myself up and limped towards the exit of the room.

"...Follow me."

Caius and Kaelion similarly stood up as the old man stood with a blank look.

He didn't say anything and just stood there.

I knew he would follow.

After all, he was still sane. He would've killed us by now had he not been.

And a few seconds later, he followed us up.

We walked up the stairs, all the way up to the familiar upstairs room before heading down to

the courtyard.

It was then that my steps paused.

Several hundred pairs of eyes paused in our direction.

The color red dominated the surroundings.

Holding onto large drums, people looked towards the middle where a groom and bride

appeared.

Next to it was a large piano.

I looked at the old man next to me, a few threads still attached to the old man.

"This was the sight you wanted to preserve, right?" The happiest day.

To not forget, he wanted to preserve.

Even when lost, he wanted to remember.

As such, the threads arrived. They were the manifestation of his obsession.

His obsession with not letting go.

*

Did miracle drugs exist?

They didn't.

There was no such thing as a miracle drug.

"....I should've known."

The old man was the first to realize this.

"What is today's date?...To forget even such a simple thing."

The old man thought he had time, but he didn't.

"You, what is your name again?" From names to places, to even his own name...

He was slowly forgetting himself even though he was still alive.

"Hah, this..." Sometimes, he felt like he was already gone. Lost in a maze of memories that he could find no way out of.

Thu Thump-!

As red dyed the world, drums boomed in the air, and people laughed and danced, the old man

stood motionless, imprinting the scene in his mind.

This looked like a wedding.

Whose wedding was this?

'...I'll slowly forget this soon.'

The old man looked around once more, and the happier he saw the people, the more he

wanted to preserve this memory.

He didn't want to forget.

And so...

He made sure he wouldn't forget.

That was when the threads rained down.

*

"You probably don't even remember you did it, but I wasn't lying when I said you were the

mastermind behind everything."

Julien's words quietly echoed through the stillness as he stood at the edge of the courtyard,

his gaze fixed on the lively wedding unfolding before him.

The vibrant celebrations seemed distant, like a world he was no longer a part of, his voice lingering in the air, swallowed by the chaos of joy that surrounded him. "With your intelligence regressing, you made everyone repeat the same thing over and over

again so that even if you did end up forgetting, you'd relieve the moments again."

The drums stopped, and all noise ceased.

The old man looked around, his face slowly lowering.

He seemed ashamed.

Perhaps, he was also aware of the truth. Or was faintly aware of it. He probably forgot all

about it. That was why he trained us and helped us deal with the situation.

Perhaps he wanted to get everyone out before it was too late and he fully lost himself.

"I-"

"Thank you for everything."

A quiet voice suddenly cut through the silence.

Before the old man knew it, someone had spoken. He couldn't recognize them, but he felt it.

He felt their warmth in his heart.

He may be losing his emotions, but not his mind.

"...Thank you for everything, master."

Another one followed right after. "The only reason why I am here is because of you." "Thank you."

"For your services, thank you so much."

One by one, people started to thank the old man.

Everyone wore smiles on their faces. This felt like a farewell. A farewell to an old man who

was not so old.

And then...

"Old man."

The groom stepped forward, appearing right at the center.

"You might not remember Master, but you were the one who picked me up when I was dying

in the streets and brought me here."

The old man actually remembered.

He remember a kid who was once starving in the streets, all skinny and on the verge of death.

Was this him?

Looking at him now... "Without you, I wouldn't even be alive."

The kid smiled.

His smile was so bright and filled with hope.

"And now, look at me."

Pointing at his bride-to-be, the young man smiled.

"I can only have you to thank. You may forget about me, but I will never forget you."

"Ah."

The old man's shoulder shook.

Snap, snap!

The threads connected to him started to snap.

His eyes were set on the piano at the center of the place.

Unknowingly, he started to move in its direction.

Snap-!

His steps were wobbly, but with each step he took, a thread would snap.

Snap, snap-!

The more threads that snapped, the faster he became.

Snap, snap, snap-!

Until eventually, he was right in front of the piano.

He halted in his tracks, staring at it for a moment before slowly sitting down.

The world grew quiet then.

Dang~

The first note played.

"This will be your first test. You will need to play this tune.'

His master's voice echoed.

It was during the time when he first took the drug.

'...It's okay if you fail, but what matters is if you can get better and complete it. If you can complete this

song, it'll mean you're getting smarter.'

His first proof of intelligence.

Da Da Da-

He played the next few notes.

Unlike before, he was no longer stuck.

His mind felt strangely clear, but at the same time, his memories started to fade.

He slowly lost sight of who he was and what made him... him.

Even so, he didn't forget to play his tune.

Dang-Da Da-!

Such a simple tune marked the start of everything for him.

The start of his life, and the start of his journey.

With such a tune, he also wanted to make the end of his journey.

Dang-Da Da-!

It was a short journey, but he didn't have any regrets. Surrounded by his family, he...

The old man's hand paused as he looked up at the sky.

It was gray.

.

.....Em doesn't like the sad sky.'

He raised his hand.

And...

Reached for the sky.

His fingers touched it.

He felt it.

And...

•

He grasped it.

.

.

.

||

The world grew silent.

No one made a noise.

All eyes were fixed on the sky above. All besides mine.

I looked in the direction of the old man who slowly brought his hand down.

Dang-

And with his last note.

He closed his eyes.

That was when he took his last breath.

That day.

A man touched the sky.

That day.

A man ripped the sky.

That day.

The sky became blue.

And that day...

A man became part of the sky.