Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals

"Take care not to fall in. You won't come back up," said Atlan's bodyguard beside him.

Atlan had no intention of falling into that abyss. If even Specialist-realm Saviors were wary of this trap, then a Student-realm porter like him would stand no chance of surviving that.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Let's find another route," Ninth commanded.

This was the Scout's job, so he quickly surveyed his surroundings without going off too far. Atlan saw his body lighting up in warm light with his Thermal Vision, so he knew that the Scout was using his LifeSkill to discern any traps in front of him.

And according to his expert judgment, the best way to go forward was to go back to where they came from—back to the portal.

Ninth trusted the Scout's judgment and ordered a tactical retreat that her team quickly followed. Atlan tagged along and followed in their footsteps.

No wonder she said that this journey might take days. We've been here an hour, and yet we're about to go back and retract all our progress.

But he couldn't complain. He would rather spend a week in the Remedium if it meant that they wouldn't have to worry about pitfalls suddenly taking the ground from underneath their feet.

As they walked back, the Scout would occasionally stop the group and order them to take a detour to a new street to avoid another pitfall.

And then, perhaps the most confusing of all, the Scout ordered them to go through an office building to the side.

They went through the lobby and looked for the fire exit. They scaled almost 40 levels before they were able to reach the very top floor and onto the rooftop.

Atlan finally understood why they said that this mission would be arduous. They hadn't even met any Specialist Canzers as of yet, but Atlan was already tired mentally and physically.

First of all, he was wearing the heaviest thing in existence and walking up 40 flights of stairs without any break. This made him pant like a dog from exhaustion, but he kept going up with the team because he didn't want to burden them with a break.

Second, they walked up the 40-story building in absolute silence. Everyone kept their guards up and had their weapons at the ready. They were on edge. The suspenseful air and the possibility of a Canzer ambushing them were always on their mind and prevented them from taking a break.

They hoped that there wouldn't be a confrontation in the flight of stairs. After all, it was incredibly cramped and they had to walk up one by one, with their formation completely in shambles.

Thankfully, after a few minutes, they finally reached the rooftop with no anomalies taking them by surprise. Atlan was tired at this point and wanted to take a break.

The Scout opened the door to the rooftop and walked outside.

Just as Atlan was about to say something, the words were suddenly caught in his throat as he stepped foot out of the staircase.

Instead of seeing a panoramic view of the City atop one of the skyscrapers, Atlan was surprised to see that they were back on the main road leading to the Church! It was as if they walked up 40 flights of stairs for nothing.

"How are we back here?" he asked.

"Everything was an illusion," the Scout said. "Although it may have looked like we went back towards the portal, in reality, we have been steadily advancing towards the Church."

"But what about the building? The burning feeling in my thighs is not an illusion."

"...it's a very realistic illusion," he muttered.

Atlan forced himself to calm down. At least his efforts weren't in vain; they were one step closer to the Church.

"There's another pitfall here," the Scout said as he pointed at the pathway leading to 26th Street.

Ninth and the Mage cooperated once again to tear apart the fabric of reality. This time, the cut showed a scene that seemed to have come from up above the skies.

The ground, which was supposed to be full of soil and stone, was replaced by a white sky. And below this sky was a top-down view of the Genesis City itself. If they fell through the pitfall, they would fall through the skies at terminal velocity and undoubtedly splat on the ground.

"Damn! We're trapped."

The Scout looked in every direction but only saw illusions everywhere he looked. He looked back to the door where they went through, but it was already gone–vanished as if it never existed in the first place.

"Protocol 11 everyone!" Ninth shouted.

Her team immediately altered their positions by changing their formation from a four-sided diamond to a circular one with Atlan at the very center.

Their bodies immediately emitted some sort of light as they activated their LifeSkills one by one.

The sniper took the Karabiner 98k off his shoulders and looked through its scope. With the pull of a trigger, an electric bullet whizzed through the air and pierced through the veil of illusions to show a tsunami made entirely out of lava.

The Mage, Ninth, and the Mesmer, all created 'holes' in the illusion with their LifeSkills. The Mage created those violet hands, Ninth used her sword, and the Mesmer chanted a spell that fought illusion with another illusion. This resulted in the annihilation of both, showing the true environment that lay behind it.

Thankfully, the Mesmer's pathway showed a suspension bridge held together by hemp rope and wooden planks. Below this bridge is an abyss that led to another pitfall filled with nothing but spiked stalagmites.

Despite being a sketchy fabrication, the team had no other choice but to cross it. The tsunami of lava came running towards them at uncharacteristically fast speeds.

"Cross the bridge," Ninth shouted.

The rest of her team immediately ran towards the bridge. And despite the precarious situation, they went on it one by one to prevent any undue pressure on the fragile suspension bridge.

The only ones still left on the other side were Atlan and the tank behind him.

Despite how much he tried to hurry himself, Atlan could not overcome the weight of the battle suit to go any faster.