As Atticus approached his door, he suddenly stopped when he saw Dario and Niall standing in front of his room, waiting for him.
Their eyes widened in shock as he approached. Dario was the first to snap out of it. He quickly bowed and greeted,
"Young master!"
The loudness of his voice embarrassed him almost immediately, and he shook his head in embarrassment. But Dario couldn't be blamed. From the last time he had seen Atticus, his entire aura had changed. In fact, it was as though he had become a completely different person.
Since Atticus had come out of the Abyssal Chasm, his aura had been lethal, like the feeling of a knife constantly pressing against your throat.
But now, his aura was different, expansive, overwhelming, and awe-inducing. Dario had the strangest urge to worship him, which made him question his own sanity.
'Where is this feeling coming from?'
Niall, on the other hand, didn't even bother to hide his shock. His crimson eyes were wide, and so was his mouth.
"Y-you… what happened to you?" Niall finally stammered, completely baffled.
Atticus knew what he meant, but he ignored the beast. Instead, he turned to Dario and acknowledged his greeting with a simple nod.
"You can stand straight. Are you guys okay?"
Atticus's words were undoubtedly a command, but to Dario, they felt more like a divine decree. His head shot up, and his back straightened instinctively as he responded quickly.
"Yes, young master. We were saved by Master Magnus during the clash between you and the Obsidian Order."
Atticus's eyes flickered. 'Huh?'
His senses had just picked up something unusual from Dario. The man's expression looked normal, but with Atticus's recent power-up, he could sense something deeper.
Dario's feelings were as clear as day, reverence, anticipation, and, surprisingly, hunger.
Dario gazed at Atticus as though he were some form of salvation.
'He's ambitious,' Atticus thought, quickly discerning Dario's intentions from his emotions and gaze. But it didn't change anything. He couldn't sense any ill intent from Dario. The man simply wanted to use him to fulfill his own ambitions.
'It's a natural human feeling… but I don't even know what to make of him.'
Atticus turned toward Niall, who was still staring at him with wide eyes. When Niall met Atticus's gaze, his eyes dropped involuntarily, as though he didn't dare meet it.
Niall shook his head, realizing what had just happened. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift his head to meet Atticus's eyes, as though his body refused to obey him.
Atticus could feel a wave of different emotions coming from Niall. Awe. Shock. Reluctance. It was too numerous and conflicting for him to make sense of.
'At least they're both okay,' he thought.
During his battle with Blackgate, the truth was Atticus hadn't cared about anything else. He knew his family wasn't in the sector, and he hadn't given anything else a thought.
Now, Atticus felt a bit guilty. While his subordinates had willingly chosen to follow him, fully aware of the risks, it didn't change the fact that they were his responsibility.
"That's fine then. Did you both want to see me?" Atticus asked.
"Not for anything in particular, young master," Dario shook his head. "Since you were awake, I thought you'd need information."
Atticus nodded. Feeding him information had always been Dario's job anyway.
"What about you?" Atticus turned toward Niall, who flinched as Atticus's gaze fell on him. It felt as though the weight of the world was pressing on him.
"I-I just followed," Niall stammered. In truth, he had simply wanted to confirm that everything was real. He had been there, he had seen Atticus battle Blackgate. And yet, days later, he still couldn't fully grasp it. His shock had been that intense.
Coming here had been his way of seeing Atticus face to face to prove to himself that he wasn't crazy, that it had really happened.
Atticus sensed his intent but chose not to address it. Instead, he called Dario into his room to hear what he had to say, leaving the still-shocked beast behind.
Anastasia had already told Atticus what had happened during his one-month sleep, but it wouldn't hurt to hear it from another perspective.
As Dario began recounting the events, Atticus listened quietly. Most of what he explained matched what Anastasia had told him. However, Dario brought up a topic that she hadn't, the Starhaven family.
Atticus raised an eyebrow slightly. "Go on."
Dario nodded.
"After that event, the majority of the Starhaven family were… changed by it."
"Changed?" Atticus's voice remained calm, but his sharp gaze pinned Dario, silently urging him to clarify.
"Yes," Dario confirmed. "They started worshiping the tree. Or rather, the spirit that came with it. They call it the Spirit King."
Atticus's eyes narrowed. "Spirit? Worship?" he muttered to himself, trying to process the information. Then his eyes widened slightly. 'Did the Spirit King come to Sector 8?'
Atticus didn't wait for Dario's response. Instead, he dived into Ozeroth's memories of what had happened after he fainted. What he saw shocked him to his core.
'He restored Sector 8?'
'Don't let that fool you, bond,' Ozeroth's voice echoed in his mind, his tone sharp. 'That bastard is as evil as they come.'
'I know,' Atticus thought. 'But if he can already perform feats like restoring an entire sector, it means we're running out of time.'
Atticus hadn't known about the Spirit King's presence. In fact, he had avoided asking about the Starhaven sector. After his battle with Blackgate, all he remembered was chaos and devastation. He had assumed the sector was lost.
The guilt crept in. Atticus didn't feel bad about the lives lost or the homes destroyed. No, he felt guilty because he had brought that destruction to Seraphina and Zoey's home.
Still, this new revelation was alarming. It meant the Spirit King's reach was growing rapidly, and there would soon come a time when he would be powerful enough to encompass the entire planet.
Atticus listened as Dario continued.
"It's not just lip service either," Dario said, his tone darkening. "They've gone fanatical. They believe the Spirit King is some kind of god. After the tree was restored, it was as if they had been shown a 'higher truth.' They've started talking about another world, one beyond ours, where beings stronger than us exist."