Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1728

Chapter 1728: Betrayal

Atticus took a seat, exhaustion weighing heavily on his mind.

"How long was I in there?"

"A day."

"Hm..." Atticus frowned slightly. "Somehow that feels both shorter and longe—"

Atticus froze.

His head snapped toward a particular direction, his eyes gradually turning cold.

"Stay with him."

"Bond, wha—"

Atticus vanished.

A moment later, he appeared outside, spreading his awareness outward. Once he confirmed that the others were safe and still within the mansion, he released a quiet breath.

’So it’s only them.’

Upon ascending to the Crown, Atticus had placed a mark on each of his people. At all times, those marks revealed their location and current state, especially if they were in distress.

He simply hadn’t been paying attention while focusing entirely on Whisker. But just now... two of them had triggered his awareness.

’Thomas... Tia.’

Atticus became a streak, arriving at the temple almost instantly. There, Thomas paced back and forth while nervously chewing at his nails.

"What happened?"

"W-what?!" Thomas nearly jumped out of his skin.

But the moment he recognized Atticus, some of the panic drained from his face before darkening again.

Atticus tilted his head, cold eyes fixed on the man.

He had done something stupid.

"Where’s Tia?"

"She’s... she’s... Atticus, just listen to me firs—"

Atticus was already within the temple before he could finish, but it was too late.

"Lord Solvath!"

"Lord Solvath!"

Ahead, Tia hovered above the platform while ten fragments slowly emerged from her body. The moment they shot into the pillar of light, the little girl’s body went limp.

Whoosh.

Atticus crossed the distance, catching her before she could hit the ground.

The little girl slowly blinked her eyes open.

"I-is it over?"

Atticus didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze flashed purple as he delved deep into her mind, searching carefully for anything foreign or out of place.

After a moment, he found nothing.

"...It’s over," he finally replied.

Though his face remained expressionless, he was anything but calm. A violent, almost irrational anger churned within his chest.

"Thank you, Lord Solvath... for your boundless grace."

Atticus turned. Zenon stood there watching him with a faint smile.

"Atticus!" he said warmly. "I’m glad to see you still here. Don’t tell me... You’ve finally decided to stop resisting and offer your fragments to our lord as well?"

Atticus silently regarded him without uttering a word. Several moments passed before a faint frown slowly formed on Zenon’s face.

"...Is something wrong? I—"

Atticus looked away and began walking out of the temple with Tia in his arms.

Zenon watched him leave silently, a cold glint flickering through his eyes.

The moment Atticus stepped outside, Thomas rushed toward him.

"Tia!"

"Thomas!"

The two immediately embraced. A moment later, Thomas frantically checked her body, panic still lingering across his face.

"Thomas took Tia to Zenon and had her fragments extracted." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Tia can stay," Atticus answered calmly. "But she won’t abandon Thomas. And I don’t trust Thomas anymore, so he can’t stay either."

Anastasia’s expression darkened further.

"Atticus, that’s not fair—"

"There’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind, Mom."

Anastasia froze beneath Atticus’ stare. He had never looked at her like that before.

"Calm down, son."

Avalon stepped between them, staring at Atticus with narrowed eyes.

Atticus exhaled slowly, but he said nothing else.

The truth was, the moment he stepped out of that temple, he had wanted to kill Thomas. His will demanded honesty with himself. Those who betrayed him deserved his blade.

However, the moment he saw Tia clinging to the man like that, he stopped himself. Killing Thomas would leave scars on the little girl that would never heal. Unfortunately, the years he spent together with Tia made him somewhat fond of her.

Still... that didn’t change the fact that Thomas had betrayed them.

And if he could betray them once for Tia’s sake, then he could absolutely do it again if it benefited her.

People like that could never truly be trusted.

"I’ve made my choice."

Atticus turned and began walking away.

"Atticus..." Anorah instinctively reached for him, but Azeron lightly shook his head, signaling for her to let him go.

Before Atticus could get far, Zenon suddenly came hurrying toward them with an unusually grave expression.

"Wait! Wait!" he called out. "Something’s happened."

The words made Atticus pause. He, along with the others, turned toward Zenon.

"The major faction alliance..." Zenon said heavily. "They’ve found us."

A tense silence followed before he continued:

"And they’ve declared war. They’re already on their way here."

Atticus’ eyes narrowed.