When the house bursted into flames, the old man was still inside. To see that he wasn't bothered by the fire, nor even concerned that it might actually make him burn down with the house, he simply went to take his jacket off the jacket hanger, and he put it around his shoulders.
Then he searched himself and realised that he had left his box of cigarettes and his new lighter on the table.
He had been looking at Neo, who the fire was busy acting all funny, burning everything around him except him.
"So this is him, huh, what a waste of talent."
The old man scoffed, as he went to take his things.
When he got to the table, he didn't look like he was in a hurry or whatsoever. The fire was burning down the whole house, it had even reached the old man, but just like Neo, the fire burned everything around him but him.
It must have been the fabric of the suit that he was wearing, because it didn't seem to be catching fire, so it's possible that it was fire resistant, because even the box of cigarettes was starting to catch fire, so would have been the lighter, but lucky for it, it was steel so it didn't burn that easily.
"You really thought that I was going to leave you behind, huh? No way, I got you all the way from Japan, so I'm not letting you out of my sight."
The old man was busy looking at his box, more like he was admiring it. The cigarette that he had in his mouth wasn't even half finished, but he spit it up anyway and took out a new one.
The fire was now starting to crack up, and the place that it was getting out of hand was where Neo's supposed to be dead body was lying. After it had avoided burning him into crisp, the fire had consumed him, and now his body was getting barbequed.
The old man was taking his time to leave the house, almost as if he was doing this on purpose, like he was waiting for someone, or at least waiting for something to happen.
As the fire was busy consuming and taking down parts of the house from the ceiling, bursting the windows and everything else that was very sensitive and would break in the fire, most of it.
The old man decided that it was time for him to leave. Before he even left, he looked at Neo's parents.
"Can't believe they chose a Devil Blood, and raised him as their own, like he was a normal human being. There's nothing human about Devil Bloods. They are a disease that don't need even the antidote, but they need to be eradicated."
Then he looked at where Neo's body was, and he saw that the fire was actually different from the other parts of the fire. It was kinda purple, which was the confirmation he needed to know that Neo was indeed a Devil Blood. Even his parents' fire colour was different. Theirs was green, showing that they were indeed part of the Crucifixion.
The old man left, and just as he stepped his foot over the threshold of the door, he sensed that something was different, and that wasn't just the smokey atmosphere, but the aura surrounding it was different.
"Something is different for sure."
He turned his head around to see what was different, and to his surprise Neo's fire colour had now changed. The purple colour was dying down, now it was becoming red.
Just as he was seeing everything unfold, it was not over yet.
When a burnt to crisp hand emerged from the fire.
"Where the fuck do you think you are going, old man? I'm not done with you yet. Remember what I promised you, I said I'm going to fucken kill you."
Another hand emerged, and just like that, within seconds, Neo emerged fully, his skin all burnt and barely recognisable.
"So you are not dead yet? Interesting."
The old man smiled.
He spit out his cigarette and directed it towards Neo. Just as it reached him, Neo grabbed it, and the cigarette was actually triggered, that once it gets to him, it burst out in flames like a nuclear bomb.
And Neo not only bursted into flames, but he also exploded.
The old man just gave a satisfactory smirk, thinking that all of this was over. He turned to exit the door, but things were not as they seemed.
Neo was standing outside, putting down his parents together, and he had covered them with a blanket from their room.
"Forgive me, I had to lay my parents into proper rest."
Neo apologized.
The old man was surprised. He didn't expect this at all. Even if he tried not to seem shocked by this unexpected twist, he simply couldn't. His face exposed him.
So he looked back at where he was certain he saw Neo exploded.
"How is that even possible?"
Only for him to only see what Neo had left behind, like a snake shedding its own skin. It was like that for Neo. He had left his own burnt and crisp skin. To make things even more interesting, he left it at the same position he did when he was grabbing the lighter.
The old man thought that maybe it was possible that he didn't see right, so he looked up ahead, and his worst fear was confirmed. Neo was indeed standing outside, kneeling next to his parents like he was bidding them farewell.
Once he stood up, he had completely changed. Even his skin had changed. There were still parts of his burnt skin remaining, but it was also falling off.
Neo was smooth, like he had just hatched out off an egg. His skin didn't have the gooey, disgusting stuff that one might have when they came out of an egg. He was just normal.
Not only that had changed when it came to him. All over his body, his veins were popping up, and they weren't just green or black like veins should be. His veins were red, like it was his blood. His eyes were all black, there wasn't an iris visible, and his teeth had decayed and became black.
Even his ears had changed. They were sharp. Even his fangs were sharp, with small horns coming out in a form of white, with red veins coming out of them.
The old man was now afraid. Everything about him was shaking. From his mouth, the cigarette wasn't staying in the same place, and he was trying to light it, but his hands were shaking uncontrollable. He eventually dropped the lighter.
"Here, let me help you with that."
Neo had now appeared next to the old man, and helping him light his cigarette with a lighter in his hand.
The old man's mind was racing, so he just reached for his cane and took out a sword, and he tried to slash Neo with it.
But Neo was nowhere to be found. He had returned to where he was standing next to his parents.
"Devil domain, Bloodlust."
Everything changed, and the old man froze, more like he was paralyzed, and the whole sky turned blood red when the clouds formed, creating a blood cloud covered sky.
The old man froze while he was still trying to slash Neo, his hand stuck in mid-air.
"What have you done to me? Release me this instant!"
The old man shouted.
Neo clapped his hands, and slowly he was appearing like he was getting closer to the old man. Each time he clapped his hands, he would transport himself near the old man.
"How are you doing that?"
The old man was now scared.
"Oh, this? It's pretty simple really. All I have to do is just clap my hands twice, and I would appear two steps in front of you."
Neo explained.
"But not only that, each clap is actually me activating your sweet, delicious, tasty blood, making you paralyzed and imaging things."
Neo continued.
The old man had fought so hard that he had actually freed himself from Neo's hold, and so he rushed. Since he had regained total control, he too had activated his own Crucifixion power that allowed him to break free, since Neo seemed like he was busy playing around with clapping his hands and not attacking the old man.
The old man saw an opportunity, and he went to take care of Neo first.
"You are dead, I'll get rid of your kind!!!"
The old man screamed as he was inches from slashing Neo, and when he got to him, he actually did slash him using his black mist eminating sword that caused a cut from Neo's shoulder to his waist.
The old man thought that he had done it, and was now relieved and laughing like a maniac when Neo's blood splattered into his face, and he licked it.
But things weren't as they seemed.