Once again, Lenny found himself butt-naked in the vast white expanse.
His eyes blurred for a moment, he tilted his head, observing his surroundings, and he let out a soft sigh "I'm back here again"
He lingered for a second, "Does this mean I conquered my First Apocalypse?" He asked.
Just as he was trying to figure out what was going on.
The status window of the Fallen System spawned before him. And he received the whisper of the Fallen System.
[You are dead]
That was the first notification he received. That was when memories came rushing to him.
He recalled his final moments in the First Apocalypse, after learning that Behovena had indeed become him.
He was forced to kill himself, to conquer his First Apocalypse.
But he didn't want to go out so casually; he needed drama, so he plucked out his heart, sacrificing it before the Altar of the mysterious Fallen of Death.
**
Lenny breathed in deeply, just remembering everything caused him to smile. "Well, that was fun," He giggled.
Staring at the transparent crimson panel, another message popped up.
[You conquered your First Apocalypse by defiling the Will of Death, sacrificing your soul to him who wills Death]
[He is pleased]
Lenny frowned at the message, "He?" He questioned, "Who the fuck is he?" His frown deepened, "Aren't they all dead?..."
"The gods are dead…..I don't know what these Fallen are, but they should be dead, right?"
Countless thoughts flooded his mind, but the Fallen System ignored his questions as it whispered again.
[You have saturated all your Stats to the maximum of 10]
Lenny wasn't surprised since before he found the forgotten city. He had encountered a few more Common rank Apocalypse creatures.
Hunting them down in secrecy to saturate his Stats to the limits of 10.
He was preparing himself for a fight, that's if he truly encountered Behovena at the center of the Eastern region.
He wasn't planning on dying a cowardly death.
Another whisper came seconds later, prompting another message to appear on the screen.
[You have surpassed the limits of an Awakener]
[You will now evolve]
As soon as the message came, Lenny felt disoriented. He felt an unknown pressure pouring into him.
He gritted his teeth, clenching his fist as he struggled to withstand the egregious pain.
"FUCKKKJ," Lenny roared. He felt his cells breaking down and rebuilding; the Fallen System was destroying him.
And rebuilding him.
He was transcending into something beyond the limits of humanity. Stepping into the realms of the supernaturals.
Lenny's eyes gleamed with excitement, the pain subsided and he could feel power coursing through his veins.
He felt faster, and stronger. His body was lighter than before, and his muscles were more flexible.
A lopsided grin appeared on his lips "So this is what it feels like to become a Fallen Regulator?" He asked.
Indeed, he has transcended into a Fallen Regulator.
[Evolution complete]
[You've now been certified as a Fallen Regulator]
[Rank: 1]
[Stage: Initial]
[SP: 0/100]
[Rune Level: 1]
[Updating Fallen System]
Lenny's smile faltered a bit when he noticed something, he stared down to see a tattoo engraved on his chest.
It was an active Fallen Rune, taking the shape of a skull.
"What is this?" He asked.
[Fallen System has been successfully updated]
[You've awakened a secondary Fallen Rune]
[Fallen Rune: Rune of the Undying]
[Rune Class: Deathless]
[Class Description: You are dead, a restless soul banished from the Underworld, you are the last gift from the Fallen of Death to a world he left behind]
[Fallen Rank: Divine]
[Rune Description: You are banished by Death]
[Mana Aptitude: Passive]
Lenny wanted to laugh, yet he couldn't.
He was dumbfounded, not wanting to believe his eyes.
Lenny wasn't surprised by the fact that he awakened another Fallen Rune, after all, the reward of conquering an Apocalypse is a secondary Fallen Rune.
It doesn't matter if you conquer the First Apocalypse, Second Apocalypse, or the Third Apocalypse.
As long as you conquered one, you will receive an automatic Fallen Rune.
But what shocked him was the particular Fallen Rune he had received.
It was his secondary Fallen Rune; Lenny had expected its rank to be either Special or Supreme.
Not even dreaming of the Mythical rank. Not to talk of the Demigod rank.
And yet his secondary Fallen Rune was of the Divine rank.
Another Divine Awakening.
The highest rank a Fallen Rune could possess.
Just as his primary Fallen Rune, The Rune of Imagination, wasn't based on the Fallen path of focused on offense, defense, or even support.
It was a versatile Rune that could craft its own laws of reality.
His secondary Fallen Rune wasn't in particular any different. It wasn't fixed on any path.
It simply made one thing clear.
He couldn't die, he was an undead.
Undying….
Immortal!
This made him excited, Lenny was flustered by how overpowered he truly was.
If the world were to know of this, all the Great Houses would surely fight to get their hands on him.
Despite being excited, Lenny wasn't going to let this Fallen Rune get to his head as he's still a Rank 1 Fallen Regulator.
He still has his limits.
Even a Rank 8 Fallen Regulator with a Mythical rank Fallen Rune could find a way to end his life, considering his current low rank.
Lenny stared at the [Stage: Initial] icon, he knew about the evolution process of Fallen Regulators.
There are three evolutionary stages every ranking Regulator must follow.
The Initial-stage, the Middle-stage, and the Peak-stage.
This stages requires a certain amount of Sp absorbed by the Player for it to advance to the next stage.
And once a Rank 1 Fallen Regulator reaches the peak stage, and passes the required quota.
They will evolve into a Rank 2 Fallen Regulator. Immediately they evolve into a Rank 3 peak stage Fallen Regulator and completed all requirements.
They'll receive the Call of the Fallen Realm to complete their Second Apocalypse.
Lenny was still satisfied with his wins; he braced himself as he knew his time in this space was up.
Just then, the whisper of the Fallen System came in.
[Your time in the Fallen Zone is up]
[You will now be rejected from the Fallen Zone]
**
Just one moment ago, he was standing butt-naked in this Fallen Zone, the other moment….
He was wrenched from the sacred realm's suffocating grasp, the world imploding into a mad whirlwind of colors and sounds.
Reality shredded like paper in a hurricane, leaving him tumbling through a void where nothing made sense.
Then, Impact.
He crashed onto a bed, the softness a jolt after the jungle's merciless grip.
Pillows exploding around him, feathers lofting like snowflakes as a dusk-lit bedroom snapped into focus like a photograph overexposed.
The backwash of disorientation left him gasping, as if he'd been underwater too long.
He breathed in deeply, recalling the bedroom he found himself in. "I'm back," His voice resonated through the air.
Indeed, he is back.
After all, this was the apartment rented by the Government to house him, hours before his descent into the Fallen Realm.