The shock in the air was palpable, endless.
Gideon's massive figure shot skyward like a missile, but not a single person present cared to follow his ascent.
Every eye was locked on the source of the devastation— a boy whose body blazed as bright as the sun, radiating an aura of unimaginable heat.
Anastasia was speechless. Despite everything happening, her mind was surprisingly blank. The same could be said for Arya.
In just two years without seeing him, Atticus had grown this powerful? The most baffling fact was that he was currently stronger than them!
Only Freya remained somewhat calm as Anastasia supported her. Her body appeared frail, with many more wrinkles marking her face.
But she still forced herself to watch. Unlike the others, Magnus had regularly informed her about Atticus's progress, so she had an idea of his capabilities.
Even so, not even she expected this, so the reactions of Anastasia and Arya— who hadn't known anything at all— were understandable.
Anastasia had already thought of countless ways to protect her son after he finished the academy. He was an unmatched talent, but in her mind, still a lion cub in a world filled with fully grown predators.
At least, that was what she had thought. But now, what she was looking at was anything but a cub.
Atticus stood like a king of fire, calm and unhurried, as though the chaos he had just unleashed was beneath him.
His molten gaze, devoid of emotion, surveyed the battlefield with the cold intensity of a predator.
Everyone held their breath, expecting the inevitable— a follow up attack to finish Gideon off for good.
But it never came. Instead, Atticus's gaze shifted, dismissing Gideon as if he were nothing more than dust.
His eyes fell on Elysia, still suspended in the air, and in that moment, she felt it— an overwhelming sense of danger.
At that moment, the remaining branch heads realized something: he planned to kill all of them, but Elysia was his primary target.
Elysia's heart clenched in her chest as the full weight of his intent bore down on her. Atticus was about to move, his body poised to strike, when suddenly, the air warped around him.
A legion of grotesque figures materialized, surrounding him— twisted, raw flesh exposed, their skin grafted and molded into terrifying forms.
Another legion appeared just beyond them: humans with empty, lifeless eyes, soulless as they charged toward him.
The gazes of both Cassandra and Vorak glowed with intense light as they controlled their respective minions, attempting to overwhelm Atticus with sheer numbers, each minion radiating the aura of a grandmaster rank.
Clawed hands and weapons made of flesh and steel swung toward him in unison, each one aiming to tear him apart. Blades and fists surged toward Atticus from every conceivable direction.
It was a sight that would terrify many, but Atticus remained undaunted, his expression cold as the flames around him flared even brighter.
He spoke, his voice calm and cutting through the chaos like a blade:
"Endless Blade."
In an instant, the battlefield froze. One moment, Atticus stood still, and the next, the very air seemed to fracture.
A blinding flash of crimson filled the space, and the figures around him— both the twisted, skinless minions and the mindless ones— were suddenly torn apart. Their bodies split into countless pieces, limbs scattering through the air before disintegrating into ashes.
The very ground trembled as the ashes spread across the estate, a storm of death that left nothing behind.
Both Vorak and Cassandra's glowing eyes dimmed, their expressions morphing into shock. It had all happened so suddenly.
All eyes turned toward Atticus, but by the time they looked, he was already gone.
Elysia's heart dropped into her stomach. The fear of death, which had momentarily subsided, came crashing back. He was coming for her.
She didn't even have time to blink before Atticus reappeared, his flaming body blazing with an intensity that warped the air around him. His katana, cloaked in fire, descended toward her, promising nothing but the end.
But before the blade could strike, a silver figure suddenly erupted between them, blocking the blow with two enormous scythes molded from his very hands. It was none other than Gregor. His body was completely silver, his weapons aimed at slicing Atticus in half.
The clash was immediate, but it wasn't what Gregor had expected. His earlier calm expression twisted into absolute shock as the scythes melted on contact, the heat from Atticus's flames far beyond anything he had imagined.
His weapons dissolved into nothing, and his eyes met Atticus's— molten, searing, and filled with an intensity that instantly shattered Gregor's resolve.
It was the greatest mistake of his life.
Atticus's eyes flared crimson, and in that split second, two beams of unbridled energy shot forth from them, piercing straight through Gregor's skull.
The beams didn't stop there. They tore through Elysia's stomach, her body jerking violently as the searing energy passed through her, and continued onward, carving a path of destruction through the entire estate.
Walls crumbled, structures shattered, and everything in the beams' path was reduced to rubble. The sky lit up with the raw power of the attack, and the ground behind them lay in ruin.
Elysia's face twisted in agony as she clutched her stomach, her mind blank with disbelief. Her vision blurred as the pain overwhelmed her.
But Gregor's head was little more than a molten crater as his body slumped, dead before he even hit the ground.
High above, Seraphina watched the scene unfold, her brow raising slightly. 'I might not even have to interfere,' she thought, her eyes never leaving Atticus's blazing form.
Everything that had occurred until now was completely beyond her expectations. After his transformation, she had expected that he would be strong, but it was utterly terrifying to see him handle Grandmaster+ ranks with such ease. Seraphina was excited. She couldn't wait for the Nexus!
Meanwhile, Atticus didn't hesitate. In a flash, he was upon Elysia once again, his katana blazing as he moved to finish the job.
However, suddenly, another figure appeared in front of her, his arm wrapping around Elysia as he whisked her away with a speed that defied comprehension.
In an instant, he appeared with Elysia a great distance away, moving in the blink of an eye.
It was one of the branch heads of the Obsidian Order.
The gazes of the onlookers in the area suddenly narrowed.
The man was none other than Kazimir, the Obsidian Order branch head of sector 10. His face was sharp, angular, and emotionless, with cold, calculating eyes.
'His bloodline allows him to manipulate momentum,' Anastasia thought as she stared at the new arrival.
But then the people in the area abruptly noticed the two figures beside him. One was the Obsidian Order head of sector 9, but most were focused on the last figure: Alvis.
Despite the fact that he was supposed to be imprisoned, none of them were surprised.
The reasons the Obsidian Order attacked the Ravenstein estate were obvious, and seeing Alvis with them narrowed it down significantly. Anastasia's gaze shifted toward the man beside Kazimir once again. 'He was able to get through our defenses,' she surmised, thinking about the man's bloodline.
Instantly, without wasting time, the branch heads gathered around Kazimir, their expressions serious.
Kazimir suddenly spoke, his voice dark. "We're leaving."
But Gideon, whose chin had healed just enough for him to talk suddenly screamed from the distance, "No! I have to kill him! I have to kill him no matter what!" His voice was raw with anger, his pride having being utterly shattered.
Kazimir's eyes narrowed. 'I don't have time for this.' While he agreed— Atticus was a threat that couldn't be ignored— the situation had spiraled out of control.
They couldn't win this, not here, not now. The other branch heads glared at Gideon as though they wanted to tear him apart. Was his brain functioning!? Couldn't he read the current situation? One of them were dead already!
However, Atticus had never been one to waste time.
The sky abruptly darkened, turning a deep, ominous crimson as countless orbs of flame ignited above, their glow casting long, flickering shadows over the battlefield.
The air grew thick with oppressive heat as thousands of flaming spheres hovered in the sky around the estate, each one burning hotter than the last.
A moment of silence hung in the air, and then, all at once, the spheres unleashed beams of searing fire, raining down on the gathered branch heads.
The intensity of the attack bathed the entire area in a fiery glow, the ground already trembling under the weight of the incoming destruction.
The branch heads stood frozen, wide eyed as the sky turned into a sea of flame.
The bright light from the searing beams shone down on them, reflecting in their shocked, widened eyes.
In this final moments, Gideon, whose earlier bravado had shattered, could only mutter,
"What a fucking monster…"
Then, the flames struck.