Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1535

Chapter 1535: Board

The celebration that followed the battle with the Abyss faction was grand. For days on end, the entire territory remained in a state of constant jubilation.

People sang praises of the heroes who had saved them from the clutches of evil. Banners were raised, and new statues were built in their honor.

Yet none of those heroes joined the celebration.

The rest after the battle had been so brief it might as well not have existed. Atticus had immediately begun preparations for ascension.

The Abyss faction in the Count layer was nothing more than a blip in the vast scale of enemies that opposed them.

Atticus fully expected the Marquis layer to be the hardest they had ever faced, and his preparations reflected that reality.

Among the gods, only he and Anorah had reached the required level to ascend. Ozerra and the two resistance gods remained below the threshold.

To make up for this, Atticus dispatched scouts in every direction in search of territories. Each discovery was followed by a challenge, and so the waiting began.

Some took a full day before responding. Others accepted immediately. Regardless, every battle was resolved without issue.

During each encounter, Atticus focused on allowing the others to grow rather than ending things fast. And when he said others, he meant Magnus above all.

While Ozerra continued to hold her own and steadily grow stronger, Magnus still struggled against other champions.

Even so, after countless bouts, Atticus began to see clear improvement. Against strong Count level champions, Magnus was now able to hold his ground.

More days passed. Only when Atticus was satisfied with their progress did he finally relent in his pursuit of territories.

’This should be enough.’

By now, Ozerra had far surpassed the level required for ascension.

And Magnus...

’He’s stronger.’

Standing atop a skyscraper, Atticus surveyed the territory below. At its center, Magnus trained relentlessly with Kiara.

Compared to before, a fully formed crimson glow now surrounded him, the air itself warping under the heat. Even as he clashed continuously with Kiara, that aura remained stable and firm.

According to Whisker, he’d ranked up once more.

’Bastion rank.’

His vastness were still unclear due to the game’s restrictions, but the weight of it was unmistakable.

Bastion rank was a major milestone on any non god path, the stage where will began to seep into the psyche and shape behavior itself.

It was difficult to tell how deeply it affected him, since Magnus was even more withdrawn than Atticus. Still, Atticus chose to focus on what mattered.

Magnus was gaining power. That was enough.

His gaze shifted, taking in the others. Ozeroth and Ozerra were bickering as usual. Whisker observed them with Noctis held loosely in his grasp. Nearby, Anorah spoke quietly with her resistance members.

’It’s time.’

The Count layer was vast. He had long since accepted that traversing it in full was a waste of time.

Every moment spent lingering here was time the enemies above could use to grow stronger.

Atticus focused inward, taking in his will.

’That’s a lot of worlds.’

The days spent in the Count layer had not been wasted. From the Will Guard, from Balanar, and from the others, his collection had grown to over two million minor worlds.

Fifty minor worlds formed a major world.

A hundred major worlds formed a grand world.

One hundred and fifty grand worlds formed a dominion rank world.

Two million minor worlds became four hundred grand worlds.

Roughly 2.6 dominion rank worlds.

’Damn. When you put it like that, it’s tiny.’

He almost regretted doing the conversion. In the scale of the Marquis layer, it was insignificant. Still, it was better than staying behind. Anything else he gathered here would barely move the needle.

And...

’The rules should favor us.’

Across every layer he’d passed through, Atticus had noticed the same pattern. The Verge always imposed a buffer, something that prevented the strong from effortlessly crushing the weak.

He disliked relying on it, but there was no other choice.

...

After making his decision, Atticus gathered everyone and informed them of the need to ascend. The reaction was exactly what he’d expected.

Of the group, only the resistance members visibly paled.

"I-I think it’s best we stay here."

"Y-yeah..."

Atticus exchanged a glance with Anorah. She nodded without hesitation.

"You two will remain behind," she said. "Regroup with the others when they ascend."

Both gods let out quiet breaths of relief.

"Yes, Saint."

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