The human domain had descended into chaos. However, this fact held true only for those in the lower caste, the citizens and lower ranked families.
For the elites, the situation was much different. They knew of the plans. They knew who was on top of the matter.
The smartest human in the human domain.
Oberon's counterattack came as swiftly as the Vampyros' retaliation.
In fact, he had acted before the Vampyros had even done anything.
Working together with Garvin Emberforge, Oberon had been able to achieve the result he wanted, creating an artifact in the span of a single day.
It had been draining, but neither of them had complained when they tested what they had created and saw the results for themselves.
The artifact worked in such a way that once a user had been marked, there was no changing it. No alterations, and should the user die, so did the mark.
Unfortunately, because the imposters' mana signatures had been altered to match humans, there was no distinct way to differentiate them from actual humans.
Because of this, they had added a feature that alerted the marked person should they be in the presence of an unmarked individual.
It wasn't foolproof, considering there were billions of people in the human domain who wouldn't be able to get a mark.
For now, having the entire populace prove their identity by signing a mana contract was unrealistic, which made them focus more on select areas of the human domain.
After the artifact was created, they deployed it in all of these selected areas, including the academy, making each affected individual sign a mana contract confirming that:
They were indeed human and had never been Vampyros or of any other race.
They were loyal to the human race.
Then, each verified person was marked.
Oberon had started from the most critical areas, working outward to the tiered families.
Everyone who was not a paragon had been marked, including Avalon and Anastasia.
Atticus hadn't been opposed to his parents getting marked. He considered the alert system, which warned the marker of a potential imposter, to be very useful.
During the identity verification process, a large number of Vampyros and even Dimensari imposters were identified and instantly killed.
The trick had been to make sure that only those who proved their.
And just like that, they had rid every important part of the human domain of imposters and spies.
Regardless, this didn't stop the chaos.
There were still more Vampyros spies hidden in the human domain, and without the ability to locate them, they continued causing destruction and death.
This forced the Sentinel Guardians to work overtime.
Flooding the streets with their members, they tried their best to contain the chaos.
As time passed, the citizens' fears only intensified.
Many rioted, demanding that the higher-ups accept the Vampyros' demands.
In their heads, they cared nothing for the consequences.
They only thought of their survival.
For this part, Oberon had been so tempted to instruct each paragon to make a public appearance.
To him, the rioters were all far too useless to be causing so much trouble.
There would be no need to say anything.
Only their overwhelming aura blanketing the cities would be enough to halt the rioting in its tracks, the sheer surge of fear stopping any future stupidity.
But it wasn't ideal.
There was only so much a rule based on fear could last.
To solve this, Oberon had decided on the best method.
Reigniting their hope.
With direct permission from Atticus, Oberon proceeded.
Everywhere, on the streets of the human domain, screens appeared on billboards and buildings.
It played like a movie—
The beautiful scenes of the Nexus.
Scenes where the Apex of Humanity had fought and dominated the Apexes of the mid and superior races.
The people paused their actions, watching every scene play out, reminiscing as though it had happened yesterday.
They remembered.
Their Apex. Their hope. Their sword.
But they weren't given time to think.
The screens flickered, and another scene came on—
One that sent a wave of shock and disbelief coursing through their beings.
Their Apex, Atticus. was battling Paragons!
Not just any Paragons, but Vampyros!
No one moved.
Their eyes trembled as they watched the scene of Atticus facing off against seven Vampyros Paragons—
And beheading them.
"Is this real?"
The question came from one person, but it was as though it reverberated throughout the human domain.
It was all that was on everyone's mind.
A child was battling Paragons?
Impossible!
However—
Those who had sharper minds, especially those in Sector 10, who had experienced the tremors and attacks firsthand, began to piece everything together.
Crimson Army. Vampyros. Tremors. A fight between Paragons.
It was true.
It was fucking true!
People reacted differently.
Some struggled to comprehend everything.
Others instantly rejoiced.
Some fell silent, contemplating the implications.
However—
There was one feeling that was present in all of them.
Hope.
With one move, Oberon had ended everything.
The populace settled, and the people went back to their homes.
'He handled everything better than I thought.'
Atticus, who had just finished comprehending the rest of the information, thought in satisfaction.
From the beginning, he had never intended on stepping into this matter.
Although he had been the cause, he had been curious to see how the smartest man in the human domain would handle everything.
Atticus hadn't been disappointed.
Oberon had called him some time ago to ask for permission to play his recordings, and after thinking about it for a bit, Atticus had given it.
This meant that he would be unable to feign ignorance should the other races claim that he was a Paragon and ask him to sign a contract.
For this matter, Atticus had considered and weighed his options thoroughly.
From birth, he had been given the innate ability to hide his rank from others.
This meant that he could simply claim that he wasn't a Paragon, hiding his true strength.
However—
That would mean he would be limited in the future.
He would have to hide his power.
Atticus didn't like that.