Streaks of light shot in from all directions, converging on Atticus's location.
He didn't need to look. He felt them already. Paragons of humanity.
Even Magnus was among them.
They all landed silently, standing around him with eyes locked on the sky and faces grim.
From the opened hulls, figures began to erge.
One from the Dinsari.
One from the Vampyros.
Multiple from the Dragon race.
As they stepped forward, the air around them thickened. The very presence of these beings sent waves of pressure across the sky.
The paragons of humanity reacted instinctively, their fists clenched and eyes narrowed.
But the average citizen couldn't see that far. But sohow, the invaders had accounted for that.
From the undersides of the warships, small floating devices ca out. They whirred silently, positioning themselves around the figures in the sky.
And then, just above the barrier of the Aegis Shield, three enormous screens blinked into existence.
And on those screens, projected clearly for all to see, were the figures that had just stepped out.
The invaders.
The crowd stared.
And many... forgot to breathe.
Eletantron Valerius.
Jezenet Bloodveil.
And several mbers of the Dragon Coven.
Across the human domain, there wasn't a soul unfamiliar with those nas, especially
the first two.
They weren't just figureheads.
They were the leaders of two of the most powerful races in all of Eldoralth.
And now... they had co personally?
The dread that gripped the hearts of humanity tightened into sothing far worse,
pure, suffocating terror.
So pissed themselves.
Others fell to their knees, weeping.
All of them, every single one, felt fear crawl down their spines.
Eletantron moved forward.
The screens followed his movent in perfect sync, displaying every detail.
He gazed down at the human domain like a god peering at a failed experint, cold, distant, and imasurably powerful.
Then, he spoke.
His voice did not echo.
It bood.
It reverberated across the entire domain, as if the very world had beco his
mouthpiece.
"Humans."
"My na is Eletantron Valerius. I have co to deliver an ultimatum."
"A few weeks ago, your Apex, Atticus Ravenstein, committed an act of war against the Alliance. He destroyed our military training camp and, in doing so, slaughtered millions of our youths."
"When Carius, my grandson and Apex of the Dinsari race, alongside the Dragon Apex, attempted to stop him, he killed them both."
"My son, Azrakan, and Velkarion, the leader of the Dragon race, arrived shortly after with a battalion of paragons."
"They too were slain."
"Atticus Ravenstein has committed cris beyond forgiveness. He has spilled the blood of the future. He has desecrated the legacy of entire races."
"He must be punished."
"You have one day. Lower your shield. Hand over the traitor. And we will leave without any more needless bloodshed."
"Resist... and your entire species will burn."
A silence gripped the entire human domain.
Throughout Eletantron's speech, wave after wave of shock had slamd into the people, leaving their hearts beating fast and their minds in chaos.
Their Apex? A traitor?
But hadn't Atticus just addressed them weeks ago? Hadn't he told them what happened? That he was attacked? That he defended himself?
Now, everything he said stood at odds with the accusations sounding from the sky.
Confusion, pure and complete confusion, was what many of them could feel.
So were stunned speechless, not knowing what to believe. But others... others began leaning toward the side that promised their safety.
The side of power.
To many, there was no clearer indication of power than the leaders of three of the most powerful races in Eldoralth standing together.
That was strength.
That was certainty.
And Atticus Ravenstein...
A traitor.
This thought began to root itself in the minds of everyone. Quietly and infectiously.
And just as many began to believe it, a surge of violet light burst outward across the entire human domain.
In an instant, glowing purple screens materialized in the sky, mirroring the exact positioning of Eletantron's.
Then, an image appeared showing the scene of the military training camp.
The paragons of humanity turned sharply toward Atticus, stunned. Their dread-filled
faces morphed to surprise as they saw him, standing still with one arm raised, a faint
purple glow radiating from his body.
He said nothing.
They had questions, so many questions, but none of them spoke.
Instead, their gazes shifted back to the newly ford screens, watching silently.
So of the screens moved to face the opposite direction, deliberately angled so even Eletantron, Jezenet, and the Dragons could see what was about to unfold.
The truth.
Or at least... Atticus's version of it.
The screens flickered.
Then, a glowing image appeared. The scene played out like a mory.
They saw it.
Atticus talking with Aurora and the rest of his team just before the banquet. Even their
voices sounded.
Then it soon shifted to the banquet, where he t with different people, including the
apexes of the other races.
And then, the forest.
Lucas.
The trap.
And then it beca even clearer, they weren't just watching a mory.
It was as though they were watching through his eyes.
Atticus's own gaze had started glowing now, his irises an intense violet as he stood
manipulating everything silently.
This ability... he had only just learned it.
It was one of Ozeroth's array of techniques.
And he learned it because he needed it for this mont. To counter the poison that
Eletantron's words were trying to plant.
He had seen through their plan imdiately:
Divide the human domain, Break it apart from within,
His words would only cause chaos.
Everyone watched as Lucas exploded, trapping Atticus in the containnt orb.
They saw, through Atticus's perception, Drakthanion's sudden attack on Aurora, the chaos erupting in the military training camp in the blink of an eye.
Viktor Halden.
The staff sergeant's fight with the dragon apex. His bravery, his sacrifice. They saw it
all, through Atticus's eyes.
The arrival of the race leaders.
Atticus speech.
Carius and Drakthanion's betrayal.
And the battle that followed.
The earth-shattering force.
The overwhelming force of Atticus Ravenstein unleashed.
The carnage.
None turned away. None blinked.
The silence that followed as the last flicker of the mory was deeper than anything
that had co before.
The screens went dark, leaving only the Aegis Shield's faint glow reflecting in
countless stunned eyes.
And then, his calm voice ca.
"Who would you believe?"
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