The gazes of Eletantron and Azrakan darkened.
This was getting out of hand, far too out of hand. After the apexes had expressed their agreement, they could instantly feel it, the cold gazes of the paragons were directly fixed on them.
"Are you sure that child is yours?"
Azrakan's head snapped to his father to see the darkened look on his face. Words could not begin to describe the disappointment in those eyes.
Azrakan bit his lip hard, fists clenching at his sides.
"Father… Carius did something foolish. But I promise he's still your son—"
"Foolish?" Eletantron's voice rose sharply, his expression twisting into fury. "Foolish? You call this foolish?" He gestured around them, to the ruined camp, to the ashes of the dead.
"Look around you! Millions are dead! Entire divisions gone, entire futures erased! Foolish? Foolish!?"
He stepped closer, voice seething.
"Are you even sure that whore you married didn't carry another man's child?"
Azrakan's eyes darkened. His lips bled slightly from how hard he bit them. "Father…"
But Eletantron exhaled sharply, trying to suppress the fury bubbling in his voice. Allying with the Obsidian Order? To think one of his kin could be so stupid! He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself.
Then after some seconds, composed, he turned to face the paragons once more, who were now watching with cold, unreadable expressions.
His voice, when he spoke again, was calm.
"It would seem Carius has indeed committed a grave crime. I propose we discuss his punishment at the next Alliance Council meeting."
Then, slowly, his gaze shifted toward Atticus, who had watched the unfolding scene in silence, not making any moves.
"As for now," Eletantron continued, voice colder, "Carius and Drakthanion will be held in captivity until the council convenes."
Immediately, the gazes of Zenon and several apexes changed, hardening, darkening.
They understood exactly what was happening.
This wasn't justice. It was politics.
If Carius and Drakthanion were taken into custody under Eletantron's jurisdiction, the Velarius patriarch would have time to maneuver. With his tightened grip on the Alliance, he would sway opinions. And eventually, Carius would at most get out with a mana contract binding him to the Alliance.
Eletantron turned back to the paragons, watching them one by one. Some were already deep in contemplation, others visibly hesitating.
"Do you all accept?" he asked smoothly.
The paragons glanced at one another.
Then slowly, one by one, they began to nod.
It was the pragmatic choice. They needed to stabilize the situation first, recover from the devastating losses, and deal with the traitors later.
And most importantly, they needed answers, how the Obsidian Order had infiltrated the most secure place on Eldoralth.
'Good,' Eletantron thought, satisfied with how the events were going. 'The only problem now… is the Nullite.'
His eyes shifted to Youn.
The Nullite Paragon hovered silently, his gaze distant, almost dazed. He hadn't spoken a word since Karn's death had been revealed.
It was odd. Nullites were supposed to be cold, blunt, always clear-headed and decisive. But Youn… looked broken.
'Still,' Eletantron's thought continued, 'it shouldn't matter. The others have already agreed.'
But before he could seal his thoughts with certainty, he froze.
A sudden spike in bloodlust bled into the atmosphere.
Eletantron's head snapped upward.
Atticus hadn't moved. His lips hadn't parted. His eyes hadn't changed from the moment he first spoke.
And yet, his presence now burned, sharp and violent, like a blade pressed to every throat.
Eletantron's brows furrowed.
'That's right…' he thought grimly. 'He's on our level now. And worse, he's a wild card. Unpredictable and dangerous.'
No matter how impossible it sounded, it was the reality, and Eletantron had forced himself to understand that.
But then, he composed himself again, a smile creeping back to his face. 'It doesn't matter anyway.'
The Alliance had bound Atticus with a mana contract. One that tethered him to their decisions, one that turned council conclusions into commands that he could not refuse.
"This is the decision of the council," Eletantron said as he met Atticus's gaze, eyes gleaming.
"You're obligated to follow orders… General."
The paragons' eyes sharpened as they turned toward Atticus.
They understood exactly what Eletantron was insinuating.
With the mana contract they had bound Atticus to, sealed, he could not refuse the council's decisions.
No matter how powerful he had become, no matter how much weight his words carried, a mana contract was absolute, and the council's word was law to him.
And Eletantron knew it.
But even in the thickening silence, Atticus did not move.
His expression hadn't shifted. His posture hadn't changed.
Yet something in the air felt… volatile. Pressurized. On edge.
Then, finally, Atticus moved.
It wasn't sudden or aggressive, no. He merely raised his hand and touched his core.
The air shifted. A faint pulse trembled across the skies.
And then, slowly, a radiant core emerged from his abdomen, glowing with the oppressive power of a Grandmaster. The light it emitted wasn't chaotic, but calm… controlled.
The paragons' gazes flashed with confusion.
What was he doing?
But before anyone could ask, Atticus tossed the core behind him.
It drifted away, glowing steadily as it soared into the distance. Every single eye followed it, some with unease, others with confusion.
Then—
Boom.
It exploded.
A cataclysmic mushroom blast erupted in the distance, shaking the heavens, splitting clouds apart, and sending tremors rippling through the ground.
Gasps broke the silence.
Eletantron's eyes narrowed sharply, as did Azrakan's. And then, suddenly, they widened.
The connection.
Every mana contract, no matter how subtle, left a tether, a faint strand of presence between both parties. A link. It was almost imperceptible, but undeniably there.
If Atticus hadn't been in front of them, it might have been a different case. But he was, and they could feel it.
The connection was gone.
Yet he was still standing. As tall as ever. As powerful as ever.
Realization struck like a thunderclap.
He had severed the contract.
He had bypassed a mana bond.
Something that should have been impossible. Unthinkable. That had never happened in the history of Eldoralth.
Eletantron's gaze trembled as he realized the consequences of this.
Atticus wasn't obligated to follow their orders.
He was free… and dangerous!
A chill rippled through the air, the tension spiking to unbearable levels.
And then, Atticus's voice came again. One word.
"No."