Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1755

Chapter 1755: First Man

The rumble had been going for many minutes now.

Atticus sat still with the hundred Ensim, his mother, and his cousin, all of them staring up at the quaking ceiling. The God of Man had begun his battle above, and now they waited for their opening.

The barrier surrounding the sanctum was supposed to be fueled by an endless supply of primordial will. Their chance, when it came, would be brief.

Atticus had seen his mother say a silent prayer when the battle began, but he kept quiet. He imagined the woman, despite all her bravado, cared deeply for her husband and son.

He had seen the way she looked at them. If it had been within her authority, if she had truly been given the choice, his cousin would have been Solvath’s successor, not him.

His cousin, though, showed nothing through his expressionless mask. Atticus couldn’t help but think he might have been a better match for Ember than Caldor. They seemed so alike that he reminded him of her. She had always loved carrying the weight of the family on her shoulders too, as though the rest of them were decorative furniture.

He had gotten the chance to interact with his cousin, only to realize they had absolutely nothing to talk about.

Every attempt at starting a conversation was met with a monotone, blunt response. Atticus found it ironic that he was the one trying to carry a conversation. Him. Of all people.

His mother’s eyes lit up, and he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Now."

She rose.

They all rose with her, watching as the air around them began to distort.

Then darkness swallowed every eye.

The next time Atticus opened his eyes, he stood in the middle of a brightly lit room. The walls were stone, as though the chamber had been carved directly into a mountain. Aside from them, it was entirely empty.

The ground and walls trembled occasionally. Shouts rippled from outside. The air felt heavy. Tense.

Atticus had felt something like this before.

War.

They had made it.

The hundred pairs of eyes turned toward him, including his mother and cousin, and Atticus realized it was his turn.

He reached out, trying to sense Solvath’s power. A pull. A force. Anything. He found one. His gaze lowered to the floor.

"It’s below."

He couldn’t help but marvel at his mother’s ingenuity. She had barely an image and even less in the way of coordinates to work with, yet she had still brought them to the correct building.

Ilyshkara nodded.

"How far?"

Atticus focused on the sensation for a moment.

"About a kilometer down."

Ilyshkara closed her eyes. Atticus realized she was communicating with the elements when he felt them stir around her.

He missed this power. Elemental control. Unfortunately, it was more his mother’s path than his own. One could only become one star, not two. Judgment Flame. That was his path. Elemental control belonged to his mother.

Ilyshkara opened her eyes a moment later.

"We move quietly and avoid discovery. Atticus, stay with me. Tell me if we’re getting closer to it or farther."

Atticus nodded.

"The rest of you maintain a tight formation behind us. Stay alert."

The Ensim struck their chests in unison and bowed. Atticus’ gaze lingered on his mother. Right now, she seemed less like a mother and more like a general. Confident. Regal. Certain.

He supposed this was how she had always been.

"Let’s go."

They began moving.

Ilyshkara led them as though she had walked these halls a hundred times before. They passed through a door and descended a series of stairs that looked as though they had been carved directly from the mountain itself.

The closer they got to the bottom, to Solvath’s fragment, the more his thoughts spiraled. Truthfully, Atticus wasn’t certain what he was going to do once he absorbed the final fragment.

There were too many unknowns. First was Solvath himself. What if the first thing he did upon reviving was turn on his vessel? Then there was Asmerion, a Primordial Star Atticus still wasn’t sure he should trust.

Yet, given the current circumstances, he was basically trusting him. He marched toward the final fragment with the Star Killer in hand, intending to absorb it. Unfortunately, there was no alternative.

Despite how deep they were underground, the tremors from the battle above still reached them. Eventually, they entered a hallway.

Multiple doors lined the corridor, accompanied by piercing screams that echoed through the stone passage.

Atticus’ hand moved to his katana as a golden-cloaked man stepped out of one of the rooms.

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