Sentence:  His rage assumes a religious form ; that is , on the basis of his own sinfulness and abject wretchedness , Piepsam becomes a prophet who in his ecstasy and in the name of God imprecates doom on Life - not only the cyclist <WSD>now</WSD> , but the audience , the world , as well : `` all you light-headed breed '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events