Tower of Heaven

Seeing someone familiar standing on the other side of Caster's body, Atlas knew that this couldn't be a coincidence.

"You manufactured this situation?"

Caster did not die immediately upon being pierced twice. He stood there between them for several seconds, their blades still in his body, and bled out before his body went limp.

Only then did the two of them withdraw their blades in unison.

"I did."

The answer to Atlas' question also came.

"I didn't think you were the scheming type, Jason."

The signature silly expression on his face was gone. He looked like a completely different person from the jovial man he was around his comrades.

"I don't like to scheme, sure, but I'll scheme if I need to. It just so happens that I need to right now."

They were both being uncharacteristic of themselves for a reason that was obviously manifesting between them. Atlas felt it the moment his blade made contact with the enemy.

Using the blood of its enemies as fuel, the Death Relic was imitating its own creation to complete the version of its Legend where it is born without the heart of the dragon and with the deaths of people it truly despised instead.

However, if the Death Relic was manifesting, here of all places, at a time like this…

'While I was busy feeding Ruru, this guy went and killed the other five officials.'

There was no need to think otherwise, At least three of the Ascenders who entered the illusionary realm were still inside of the tomb. Atlas saw three more of them with his own eyes as he was crossing the city to enter the City Lord's Manor.

The only person who could be here was Jason.

'And rather than killing Caster, he waited until I arrived and set up the perfect scenario where the man died at both of our hands.'

In other words, both of them had killed five officials on their own, and this kill was shared between them.

Jason had become a contender for the artifact's favor.

Atlas' eyes turned cold. He wouldn't be able to understand Jason's story if he wasn't told personally by the man himself, but despite being cold, Jason didn't withhold the information.

"As I said, I have something I want, and this is a means to an end. I don't actually want to be your enemy. It's just that while I have no interest in this artifact, I know that you clearly want it for something. I'm only doing this so I can hold you here in a way where you can't escape."

With that, Jason gave Atlas what he wanted.

He entered this space not knowing that it was a matter of the Mystic Realm's main artifact. He only found that information later as he was investigating the city, which explained why he arrived at the tomb later than anyone else.

When he entered the tomb, just like everyone else, he believed that the Sacred Relic was the very same as the Death Relic. He held this same thought process until he accidentally stumbled into a secret room within his tunnel.

Rather than finding what Atlas did, Jason found the journal of someone who was conspiring against the officials who created the tomb. The identity of that person was unknown, but they'd left a record detailing such things as Ruru's existence, the catacombs, and the officials' plots.

Atlas wanted to question the identity of that person, but Jason didn't know, nor was there a way for him to find out. Everything was already over.

Explore more at empire

Jason used that information to find his way to the main chamber underneath the tomb. What he found was a facility that was completely empty. It was at a time when Atlas had already freed Ruru and left himself.

The missing dragon clearly told Jason that one of the other Ascenders who found a coin was moving faster than him. At that point, as he was aware of Atlas' existence, it didn't take him long to find out that he was none other than the Atlas he'd met in the Mystic Realm.

Around the same time, the artifact contacted him and gave him the same information it gave Atlas. That was when he hatched his plan.

He went to the City Lord's Manor and captured five of the targets in a single room while they were in the midst of a meeting.

He waited carefully until he noticed Atlas' presence at the very corner of his spiritual sense.

He rapidly killed those five and then waited. He waited as Atlas approached Caster, and at the final moment, he made his move as well.

"All of it was for this."

As he finished his story, the object between them finished manifesting.

It was a black ball roughly double the size of a fist. The entire front of its body was an eye, and coming out of both sides were pure white angel wings that matched the small proportions of its body.

It looked more like an entity than an artifact, but that was because it had developed its consciousness to the point where it was no different than a living being, other than its lack of flesh and blood.

It looked between them, and images appeared in their minds to convey its intent.

"It wants us to fight to determine who is stronger."

Atlas looked at Jason.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Do you want to give it what it wants?"

Jason immediately shook his head.

"No. As long as you do what I want, I will willingly concede it to you."

"Is there a difference between that and me killing you to take it?"

"Yes."

Jason nodded confidently.

"If you decide that we're going to fight, then I'm going to use this."

Swiftly, Jason pulled a marble out of his spatial ring. It wasn't any special sort of artifact, merely a container that stored qi.

However, when Atlas saw it, his face crumpled.

"You…What kind of lunatic keeps such a massive storage of qi? How many years did it take you to create that?"

There was such an egregious amount of qi in the artifact that if it was charged and exploded, it would level this entire Mystic Realm. Atlas would die, Jason would die, and everyone else except for Bernan would die as well.

Seeing that Atlas immediately recognized its value, Jason grinned.

"I have been filling this orb for my entire life. This is the accumulation of 30 years worth of qi that is mostly mine, but also mixed in with some qi from others."

Atlas nodded. That murkiness was exactly what made the orb so volatile that it could be used as a weapon.

"I always wanted to use this as a final card when my life was on the line, but this is basically the same thing. We can't be backed further into this corner."

Jason's expression was absolutely firm. If he didn't get the answer he wanted here, he was prepared to not only destroy himself, but also everything around him.

That kind of attitude…

"Haa…"

Thinking that it would all end if he just knocked the orb out of Jason's hand, Atlas sighed.

"What is it that you want?"

He had been speaking this entire time, but he still hadn't mentioned his purpose.

"You…"

Jason firmed his expression even more, though Atlas didn't think that was possible, and continued.

"Introduce us to Divine Sanctuary. Give us a chance to seek sanctuary with them."

What came out of his response was a request that left Atlas dumbfounded.

He did all of this…just for something like that?