"Damn…" Whisker let out a low whistle, eyes sweeping over the scene. "…yeah, that's one way to welco guests."
The others shared his reaction, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Atticus, however, tightened his grip on his weapon, his eyes sharp
'Odd.'
First, he had never seen these type of beasts in his lifeti, and he had seen many. They were wolf-like, but larger, more imposing. Crimson fangs protruded from their jaws, thick strands of drool slipping past them as they snarled. Along their backs, multiple crimson, spike-like bones jutted outward.
Secondly, a crimson glow wrapped around each of them.
It was obvious what it was.
Atticus had witnessed countless things in his life, yet he had never encountered so many beasts capable of wielding will.
From what he had seen in the hall, Atticus could easily piece it together, this was what Gladious and his people had been so terrified of. Gladious was soone Atticus considered stronger than every god he had t in the Span. For soone like that to be reduced to such a state could only an one thing.
They were dangerous.
Atticus gradually unsheathed his blade, his gaze turning cold.
"Get ready for battle."
The words sent a ripple through the group. They nodded with grim expressions and scattered, spreading out in a circle around the castle.
Their expressions were tense as they each summoned their will. None of them had expected an imdiate battle upon entering the Crown, yet they had trained relentlessly for this very mont. One by one, their wills surged outward. Though weaker, they remained fierce.
Among them, Anorah, Ozeroth, Thora, Freya and Azeron stood out the most.
'True wills.'
Atticus noted calmly. He cast a glance behind, where Noctis stood in his transford state beside Anastasia, Freya, and Tia.
He gave a slight inward nod before turning his attention forward once more. Atticus himself had chosen to take the front, where the largest concentration of beasts had gathered. The others were keeping a large distance from him. This way… He could fight without restraint.
A deafening silence fell as a mont passed. The ground continued to tremble as the beasts hamred relentlessly against the shield.
Then, with a single, resounding impact, it shattered.
'Here they co.'
The first thing Atticus felt was the bloodlust. Thick. Overwhelming. The kind that froze blood and chilled the bone.
For a brief mont, Atticus, despite everything he had experienced, stilled.
He had never felt such a powerful urge to kill before.
Even more, with the barrier gone, he could finally feel their will in full. It carried an innate force, one that rendered his attempts at taking control of it completely null, just like with Gladious. It felt no different from a mortal trying to seize control over Solvath's will.
There was no doubt about it, they were dangerous.
Atticus snapped out of it as the beasts surged forward in an endless tide. Power flooded his body as his will erupted. A cloak of crimson wrapped around him, distorting the very space it touched.
Ten full years. Ten years of killing gods, of tempering his mind, of refining his resolve…
His will now burned with such intensity that it warped the air itself, as though the world bent under his presence.
As the beasts closed in, Atticus took a composed step forward. The ground beneath his feet fused instantly into glass. A hundred beasts lunged at him from all sides, snarling jaws and crimson claws tearing toward him… but he vanished, reappearing behind the first line.
Faint lines traced across their bodies. Then they split apart, collapsing into an endless cascade of blood and gore.
"ROAR!"
The entire horde erupted into piercing screams in unison, as though driven into a frenzy. The energy of their collective roar shook the city, a aggressive wave blasting outward.
More beasts ca screaming toward Atticus, converging on him from all sides. Crimson light flickered within his irises as he blurred. Thousands of heads were sent flying into the sky.
Yet Atticus didn't stop.
He shifted side to side in a continuous blur, severing their heads without pause. While their wills were overwhelming, his katana had no problem cutting through it. The others, though… fared far worse.
Aside from the three apex, everyone else found it extrely difficult to cut through the beasts' will. Even Anorah, Whisker, Ozeroth, and Azeron were no different. Though they managed to carve through the horde, they had to exert twice the effort and expend far more will to bring the beasts down.
It slowed them significantly.
And without the boundless reserves from their world, their wills depleted at a rapid pace.
Worst still, the beasts' horde seed endless.
As he moved through them, Atticus didn't miss the state of the others. Ozeroth was too prideful to admit it, but the others had begun casting grim looks his way.
'They won't last.'
Atticus tightened his grip on his blade.
Asides all this, he had just made an even more troubling discovery.
As he fought, he could feel sothing stirring within him. An intense anger was building, and with it ca the urge to let go of everything, to kill, to ravage, to destroy.
His expression darkened slightly.
'Solvath.'
The sixth trial had taught him how to handle Solvath's emotions. However, Atticus could feel sothing else seeping through his defenses, stirring those sa impulses.
And the cause of it… was clear.
'It's their will.'
Every single one of the beasts shared the sa will. Even more, despite how insane it sounded, they moved as though they were a single entity. Their synchronicity was beyond anything he had ever seen. Regardless, their will carried a cancerous influence, sothing that was steadily seeping into his.
If he could feel it this clearly, he couldn't imagine what the others were experiencing.
'It can't go on like this.'
Atticus suddenly halted, sheathing his katana as he stood perfectly still. The endless horde tore toward him from every direction without hesitation.
However, he simply exhaled and shut his eyes.
He reached out to the countless energies in the air. The ten years spent training had pushed his control over every worldly force to its limits. Through constant experintation, he had learned to distinguish between each force, and more importantly, which ones to harmonize to achieve the desired result.
As his awareness extended into the world, Atticus found exactly five distinct wills, each carrying similar properties. With a thought, they surged toward him.
The next instant, a sense of lightness unlike anything he had ever experienced washed over him.
The beasts closed in, re inches away… then his eyes snapped open.
Within his irises, five distinct lights flickered.
He moved.
To the beasts and everyone else, none had caught it.
Yet, faint lines flashed across the bodies of every beast within a kiloter radius. Before any of them could react, their bodies burst apart in waves of blood and gore, painting the world crimson. The beasts beyond this range were torn apart the mont they entered it, split by the lingering slashes that still hung in the air.
A silence settled over the land, and every gaze turned instinctively toward Atticus with disbelief.
Yet, he stood calm and unmoved, the carnage he had wrought not enough to make his gaze so much as flicker.
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