"You useless pieces of trash!"
The roar shook the air. Atticus looked up to find Balanar staring at the carnage, eyes wide. The composed lord from earlier was gone, his calm completely shattered.
"You fools couldn't even handle one simple task!" Balanar snarled, staring at Atticus. "I don't care how you did it, it won't be enough to win!"
He stabbed a finger toward the fallen champions.
"You can only fight gods!"
'Looks like he figured it out.'
Right now, Atticus was nothing more than fuel. Noctis was the one acting, and as a champion himself, he couldn't engage gods directly. Slaughtering the champions had changed the battlefield, but it hadn't erased that limitation. This wasn't a fact he could ignore. "Every abyss god!" Balanar shouted. "Leave the fortresses and kill the others! Don't hold anything back!"
Atticus watched as more streaks of light ripped out from the forest, racing toward the hilltop fortresses manned by his gods.
'He has even more…'
His forces were already outnumbered. Adding more abyss gods to the fray would tip the balance entirely.
Still, Atticus didn't panic. He focused his attention on a single direction.
'You're up.'
Cards were ant to be revealed only when they could change the board, and there was no better mont than now.
'Anorah.'
A blinding pillar of violet light tore into the sky. An overwhelming figure descended upon the battlefield, forcing eyes to turn and wills to waver.
As the light collapsed inward, Atticus fixed his gaze on Anorah.
She now hovered above the fortress, radiant and untouchable, like a goddess.
"Attack!"
"Kill her!"
Attacks from multiple gods surged toward her, but Anorah rely lifted a hand.
Purple light spilled from her, swallowing the incoming assaults and snuffing them out as if they had never existed.
In the sa motion, beams of violet shot back toward the attackers. Shields flared, then flickered and shattered, the beams tearing straight through their bodies.
The surviving gods scattered at once, dodging the next wave.
"Another marked!?"
Balanar's eyes nearly burst from their sockets. "How!?"
'As expected… he didn't know.'
Since the abyss army's arrival, Balanar had never once acknowledged Anorah. Soone of his rank should have known of fragnt bearers, even if only rumors. Yet despite her bounty being active, no one had paid her the sa attention they had Atticus.
It was an advantage he had no intention of giving up.
The Willguard were dangerous, but gods of the sa level were not. They had no way to resist the absolute authority of Solvath.
Anorah's presence smashed the battlefield and every god's will wavered beneath her.
"How can there be another mark!?" Balanar was in disarray. "Why are you only revealing yourself now!?"
Atticus ignored him, and turned his focus to his people.
'The champions are gone. Ignore the fortresses and capture the rest.'
With the abyss champions dead, no one could threaten their fortresses anymore. Only champions could threaten champion held fortresses.
Whisker, Ozeroth, and Magnus nodded once before turning into streaks of light, tearing through the forest.
Announcents echoed across the battlefield.
"Lord Atticus has acquired one fortress. Total count: A: 11, B: 9."
"Lord Atticus has acquired one fortress. Total count: A: 12, B: 8."
"Lord Atticus has acquired…"
Balanar's eyes trembled with every report.
"What are you idiots doing!?" he roared. "Leave her and go for the other fortresses!"
"Y-yes!"
In response, Anorah raised her hand, a beam of violet fired into the sky and unfolded into a massive do, sealing the gods within. No one escaped.
"Arrgh! You bastards!"
Balanar nearly tore his hair out.
Still, Atticus didn't spare him a glance. With the abyss gods locked in place, the remaining fortresses fell in rapid succession.
Soon, the final announcent rang out.
"Lord Atticus has acquired all opposing territory. The challenge has ended in his victory."
Relief washed over Atticus imdiately, only for a scream to echo.
"Great Verge!"
Balanar whirled toward the sky, all his composure gone.
"This is unacceptable!" he scread. "Did you create rules just for them to be broken!? This is unfair! I heard about what happened with the Redflas, you broke your own laws and are playing—"
The sky split and lightning descended.
The words died in his throat as the bolt tore through him, his skeleton flashing for a brief instant before the light vanished. Clouds covered the skies once more, and silence fell across the battlefield.
No one needed to ask what had happened.
The Great Verge had acted.
"How do you feel?"
Atticus appeared before Balanar's ruined body, his calm gaze looking down at the charred figure. The man twitched weakly, smoke still rising from his fra.
Balanar let out a dry, broken laugh.
"Y-your eyes…" he rasped. "You look at like you're above . I hate them."
"Is that wrong?"
Balanar froze for a mont before he broke into laugher. "No, no!" he said. "Your eyes are right. Completely right. You beat , spectacularly. I didn't see any of this coming. Not even once. I thought my victory was guaranteed."
"Yet here we are."
Atticus let the silence stretch.
"Any last wish?"
"Y-you'd listen to my wish?"
"As long as you do sothing for in return."
"Y-your suit?"
Atticus nodded.
"I see…" Balanar coughed, then smiled weakly. "Then please… spare my family."
'His family?'
Atticus was taken aback. It was the last thing he expected from soone who wouldn't hesitate to slaughter children for his own interests.
"…Alright. I will."
Balanar exhaled heavily, clearly relieved. "Now tell what you know about my exo suit," Atticus said. "Why do you think it cos from a higher plane?"
"Because… because it can conduct will. Channel it."
"Explain."
"Any material capable of constructing will has to be ford from will itself. So think, how could sothing like that exist in the lower planes?"
Atticus stared at him, eyes hardening. Now he understood the full picture. It went without saying that for a while, the only will users on Eldoralth had been Whisker and his siblings. How was it possible for the suit to form in such an environnt? "…It's not from the lower planes," he murmured.
"Now you understand," As the battlefield began to blur, Balanar smiled faintly. "I suppose this is goodbye. It truly was a pleasure, Atticus Ravenstein."
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