Atticus took a seat, exhaustion weighing heavily on his mind.
"How long was I in there?"
"A day."
"Hm…" Atticus frowned slightly. "Sohow that feels both shorter and longe—"
Atticus froze.
His head snapped toward a particular direction, his eyes gradually turning cold.
"Stay with him."
"Bond, wha—"
Atticus vanished.
A mont later, he appeared outside, spreading his awareness outward. Once he confird that the others were safe and still within the mansion, he released a quiet breath.
'So it's only them.'
Upon ascending to the Crown, Atticus had placed a mark on each of his people. At all tis, those marks revealed their location and current state, especially if they were in distress.
He simply hadn't been paying attention while focusing entirely on Whisker. But just now… two of them had triggered his awareness.
'Thomas… Tia.'
Atticus beca a streak, arriving at the temple almost instantly. There, Thomas paced back and forth while nervously chewing at his nails.
"What happened?"
"W-what?!" Thomas nearly jumped out of his skin.
But the mont he recognized Atticus, so of the panic drained from his face before darkening again.
Atticus tilted his head, cold eyes fixed on the man.
He had done sothing stupid.
"Where's Tia?"
"She's… she's… Atticus, just listen to firs—"
Atticus was already within the temple before he could finish, but it was too late.
"Lord Solvath!"
"Lord Solvath!"
Ahead, Tia hovered above the platform while ten fragnts slowly erged from her body. The mont they shot into the pillar of light, the little girl's body went limp.
Whoosh.
Atticus crossed the distance, catching her before she could hit the ground.
The little girl slowly blinked her eyes open.
"I-is it over?"
Atticus didn't answer imdiately.
His gaze flashed purple as he delved deep into her mind, searching carefully for anything foreign or out of place.
After a mont, he found nothing.
"…It's over," he finally replied.
Though his face remained expressionless, he was anything but calm. A violent, almost irrational anger churned within his chest.
"Thank you, Lord Solvath… for your boundless grace."
Atticus turned. Zenon stood there watching him with a faint smile.
"Atticus!" he said warmly. "I'm glad to see you still here. Don't tell … You've finally decided to stop resisting and offer your fragnts to our lord as well?"
Atticus silently regarded him without uttering a word. Several monts passed before a faint frown slowly ford on Zenon's face.
"…Is sothing wrong? I—"
Atticus looked away and began walking out of the temple with Tia in his arms.
Zenon watched him leave silently, a cold glint flickering through his eyes.
The mont Atticus stepped outside, Thomas rushed toward him.
"Tia!"
"Thomas!"
The two imdiately embraced. A mont later, Thomas frantically checked her body, panic still lingering across his face.
"Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Did they do anything weird to you?"
"Mm mhm." Tia shook her head before pointing toward Atticus. "Uncle Atticus caught before I could fall. You were right, Thomas…" She lowered her voice slightly. "He doesn't actually eat children."
Thomas' expression stiffened slightly at those words. Slowly lifting Tia properly into his arms, he looked toward Atticus with a conflicted expression.
"Listen… I know I should've spoken to you first, but she's just a kid, Atticus. I couldn't keep watching her live like that. I had to give her a chance at a normal life…"
"I understand." Atticus replied calmly.
And he truly did.
Tia was essentially a child carrying ten fragnts. Her future would've been filled with endless danger and suffering.
"But…" Atticus' continued. "I can't keep people I don't trust around . Good luck."
Without another word, he turned and walked away.
Thomas could only stare at Atticus' retreating back with a horrified expression.
He had basically cast them out of the group.
"Atticus!"
"What happened!?"
Anorah and the others rushed toward him with alard expressions.
"Ozeroth alerted us," Azeron said seriously. "What happened?"
"Thomas took Tia to Zenon and had her fragnts extracted."
Atticus' voice carried no emotion whatsoever.
The expressions of those who understood imdiately darkened.
"He did what?" Thora's eyes turned cold instantly. "Where the fuck is he?"
"At the temple."
Then after a brief pause, Atticus added calmly:
"I removed him from the group."
Silence fell. Everyone stared at Atticus' indifferent expression with slowly widening eyes.
"But Atticus…" Anastasia looked genuinely shaken. "What about Tia? She's just a child…"
"Tia can stay," Atticus answered calmly. "But she won't abandon Thomas. And I don't trust Thomas anymore, so he can't stay either."
Anastasia's expression darkened further.
"Atticus, that's not fair—"
"There's nothing you can say that'll change my mind, Mom."
Anastasia froze beneath Atticus' stare. He had never looked at her like that before.
"Calm down, son."
Avalon stepped between them, staring at Atticus with narrowed eyes.
Atticus exhaled slowly, but he said nothing else.
The truth was, the mont he stepped out of that temple, he had wanted to kill Thomas. His will demanded honesty with himself. Those who betrayed him deserved his blade.
However, the mont he saw Tia clinging to the man like that, he stopped himself. Killing Thomas would leave scars on the little girl that would never heal. Unfortunately, the years he spent together with Tia made him sowhat fond of her. Still… that didn't change the fact that Thomas had betrayed them.
And if he could betray them once for Tia's sake, then he could absolutely do it again if it benefited her.
People like that could never truly be trusted.
"I've made my choice."
Atticus turned and began walking away.
"Atticus…" Anorah instinctively reached for him, but Azeron lightly shook his head, signaling for her to let him go.
Before Atticus could get far, Zenon suddenly ca hurrying toward them with an unusually grave expression.
"Wait! Wait!" he called out. "Sothing's happened."
The words made Atticus pause. He, along with the others, turned toward Zenon.
"The major faction alliance…" Zenon said heavily. "They've found us."
A tense silence followed before he continued:
"And they've declared war. They're already on their way here."
Atticus' eyes narrowed.
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