Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals

Atlan saw a completely white room with no discernible walls. It looked like an endless snowy expanse, similar to what he experienced when he was first drafted.

In front of him was a giant rectangular table with a very realistic and detailed depiction of the entire Genesis City. It could sit at least twenty people: fiive at the front, five at each side, and five nearest the door.

The ones that sat in front were three men and two women, whose hairs were almost as white as the space around them. They looked old. Even with the slowed aging of immortality and increased SoulTime, the wrinkles on their faces showed the long journey they had in the sands of time.

These people looked like the oldest people he'd ever seen. In Genesis City, even people who were thousands of years old didn't look a day over forty years old, yet these people looked like they were older than a hundred.

Even their discerning eyes showed the wisdom behind their minds. They pierced through Atlan's body, as if they could see right through him.

Atlan didn't dare to use his Thermal Vision on them. He didn't know if they could sense a LifeSkill being activated, but he would rather be cautious.

But even without that, he noticed that these old people were emanating no kind of power on their bodies. Absolutely none. Even Saviors who were recently drafted and was in the 1st stage of the Student realm exhibited a much stronger pressure.

Are they undrafted? They don't have any LifeSkills?

That was the only explanation he had for their lack of power. He felt like he could overpower all five of them with just his physical strength alone, but he knew better than to test that. He was in the control room; he wouldn't be surprised if there were soldiers or Saviors hiding within the white space ready to defend the five old men and women.

Ninth and her team took their respective seats at the right side of the rectangular table. Ninth took the position at the very middle, facing the people on the opposite side.

On the other side, a group of five Saviors with blue battle suits stared back at Ninth and her team.

They were Operators!

Even though they were Operators, Atlan felt resistance in his eyes when he tried to look at them directly. They were strong! The aura manifestation of their powers were completely different from the tyrannical and destructiveness of Ninth and her team, but somehow, they were at the same intensity! The aura they gave off was sharp and cold.

"We acknowledge the presence of Neumann the Ninth, and her team of Specialist Saviors," the old man with short white hair and beard announced slowly as he nodded at Ninth.

Then, he turned towards the group of Saviors with blue battle suits. "We acknowledge the presence of Carmine, and his team of Specialist Operators."

Atlan's eyes went wide as he looked towards the middle aged man with slick-back orange hair. It finally made sense why their aura was completely equal to Ninth and her team.

The two factions faced each other on the table. The 'Quills' on the left side and the 'Knives' on the right side.

And unlike most confrontations between the two when Vanguards always had the advantage, this head-to-head was completely equal.

"We acknowledge the presence of third party witnesses," the old man said as he briefly glanced at Atlan, Pterina, and Lizzie sitting on the opposite side.

"Now, I understand that a Symptom emerged in the Church localization, is that correct?" The old man looked towards the Operators and expected them to answer.

Carmine nodded and fixed his orange hair before saying, "Yes. Six hours after midnight today, we detected a Symptom in the Church.

According to our research, we are dealing with a Gastros Enterifrits. It is localized only in the Church and its four major roads."

"That's not usually where they spawn," commented the old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun.

"Yes," Carmine nodded with respect. "The Ifrit was originally located at the Masamune district, listed as an acute type of persistence, but it has now turned into a flare-up. Four clones went rogue."

"So it spread to the church…continue," she said, nodding her head.

Atlan had no idea what those terms meant. Lizzie looked like she followed the conversation, but he knew that he couldn't voice out his questions. Pterina warned him that they should only be observing like flies on the wall.

"Seeing as it has infected a Critical Point, the administration control room assigned the mission to us Specialist Operators for the procuring of the construct. We created it following protocol, with no deviations."

Carmine finished his debrief and looked over at Ninth. It was her turn.

"We received the oil lamp in perfect condition and set off to the Remedium. Using the construct, we dispatched the three clones with ease."

"What happened with the fourth? Did the construct malfunction in some kind of way?"

Ninth immediately shook her head. "No, sir. The construct worked as intended. My Savior counterpart has also perfectly assessed the parameters of the mission with good accuracy. There were no deviations or anomalies that they could have foreseen. The Operators did a perfect job to the best of their abilities."

"Then, did you mess up?"

This time, Carmine spoke up and defended Ninth and her team. "Violence was not the solution to this problem. They performed their job as well as Vanguards could have."

Atlan was surprised that both leaders defended each other. He thought all 'Quills' and 'Knives' hated each other to the bones, especially with the anomalies popping up and costing the SoulTime of hundreds of people.

I guess the high-ranking Saviors know that it's not the Operators fault that the anomalies keep happening. Only the ignorant do.

"The lone Ifrit clone somehow found their way to the Door," Carmine said with a grave tone.

The moment the 'Door' was mentioned, the five old men and women sighed and buried their faces in their hands. They knew exactly what this meant.

"They've taken our hearts hostage," the old man muttered to himself.