Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1468  Usurpers

Atticus' will bled out from him, surrounding his body in a thick red glow. With the arrival of the fragment bearer, the tension grew dense enough to choke on.

He scrutinized the man.

He stood at 7 feet tall, physique broad and imposing. His long staff rested across his neck, both arms draped over it casually, as if the crushing weight in the air had nothing to do with him. His presence radiated a pressure that made the entire area heavy.

"Who the hell are you?" the princess demanded. Though she was clearly hot tempered, Atticus could see that she wasn't stupid. She didn't move an inch from her position.

'He's strong.'

"Ah. I finally found you."

The man's lips slowly curled into a smile. He dropped from the building and landed without the slightest displacement. Weightless… unnaturally so.

"I really didn't think we'd meet this soon." He walked toward Atticus with calm, unhurried steps. "To think you would come to me on your own."

"Who are you?"

The man chuckled.

"That's the wrong question."

"What do you want?"

"Good." He smiled wider. "I came here for you. Hm, that sounded a bit gay, let me rephrase. I came to recruit you… or kill you if you refuse."

Atticus' eyes turned glacial. Temperature rose to unimaginable heights. His katana trembled in its sheath.

"Kill me?"

The man only grinned.

"Did I stutter?"

Magnus had long since created distance from Atticus. The moment Atticus sighted the man, he sent him away just in case. While the princess watched the scene with narrowed eyes, her subordinate held her hand tightly.

"Don't interfere, my lady." She whispered. The man slowly circled Atticus, regarding him from head to toe.

"Your will is… hot. It's more than I imagined it would be. I really didn't expect anything when I was ordered to find you."

"Who sent you?"

"Hm, good question. You're teachable, so that's a plus. Grandfather would like that. About your question, I would say my grandfather sent me, but you probably need something… more. Call us the Usurpers."

'A new organization?'

Except they recently started working with the Marked, it clearly wasn't the Will Guard. Which meant it was a newer organization that knew about him.

'Recruit or kill me.'

Atticus could determine their target from those words.

'They want the fragment.'

"But telling you about us doesn't matter, does it?" The man grinned. "I can see it in your eyes. You're just like me, you don't give a fuck."

He leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming.

"You have no intention of accepting. Which means we fight, and I have to kill you."

His will erupted outward, flooding the area with crushing pressure.

Atticus' eyes narrowed into slits.

'A true will.'

He could feel it instantly. His will was clashing against his in an unending battle of dominance. It was hard, heavy.

'It's trying to overpower mine.'

"Can I let you in on a little secret?"

The man planted his long staff on the ground and slowly lowered himself into a stance. Veins pulsed along his arms and pupils shrank into crazed pinpoints. "Regardless of your choice, I was still going to kill you!"

'He's coming.'

The man vanished, appearing before him in a burst of light, staff whirling forward.

Atticus dipped, heat rippling from his body as the staff tore past his head. His katana flashed from its sheath in the same breath, the blade screaming toward the man's ribs.

"Haha!"

He burst into laughter, then stomped forward. The ground detonated in a wave of energy that blasted across the city. Buildings were flung and toppled, and dust covered everywhere. The force blasted them upwards.

"Good, good! That's it!"

Atticus twisted in the air, evading the whizzing staff about to take his head clean off. He went with the spin, katana flashing down toward the man's neck.

"Nice try!"

The man released his staff mid swing. The weapon continued spinning upward like a living thing. With inhuman speed, he caught it again the instant it aligned with his neck. Katana and staff collided in a violent spray of sparks that lit the air like miniature stars.

They both locked eyes, and for a moment, the world ceased to exist. They saw nothing but themselves.

Then, they vanished.

They reappeared far in the distance in a flash of crimson and black, their bodies colliding at blurring speeds. Heavy force blasted out from each collision, turning buildings to dust and streets to ruins.

They tore through the city. Every god unlucky enough to be nearby was torn to shreds from the remnants of their clash. Crimson heat and black pressure flooded the city, painting everything in a hellish glow.

The temperature climbed until the ground glowed red. Stone melted to glass. Metal dripped in molten streams.

But heat wasn't the only thing strangling the world.

The man's will poured outward like an invisible mountain collapsing onto the city. Every god in range dropped to their knees under the impossible weight.

Soon, most parts of the city were reduced to ruins, yet they did not stop.

The man fought like a mountain. Every attack was forceful, yet refined. His every strike felt like it came with the weight of the world.

Meanwhile, Atticus moved like fire. He flickered, blazed, vanished, reappeared. Heat erupted wherever he passed. His katana carved arcs of molten crimson through the air, countering every attack and unleashing his own in relentless succession.

The man had a large grin on his face as he fought, but Atticus had a frown.

'His will is getting heavier.'

True willers were hard to fight due to their unknown abilities. The wills of major factions, while powerful, was well known. But a random true willer's abilities would have to be figured out during battle.

'It has something to do with weight.' This Atticus was sure of. However, it was next to impossible to discover.

'We can't continue like this.'

"You can feel it too, right?"

As though reading his mind, the man said.

Due to their current cap, it was impossible to tell who was stronger. Both had capped at 50, and both had strong true wills. All they were doing was whittling down their strengths.

A change was needed.

They retracted their weapons in unison, abruptly creating distance.

Smoke rose into the sky from the ruined city. The city had been reduced to rubble and no building stood whole.

Magnus hovered along with the princess and her champion. While he stared at Atticus worriedly, the duo stared at Atticus and the man with narrowed eyes.

This power. Who the hell were they?

Still, the temperature and weight across the ruined city only kept on rising as Atticus and the man locked eyes.

"Why don't we up the stakes?"

Their eyes flashed purple, and they spoke in unison.

"Logoth."

The purple light vanished, replaced with a machine like clarity.

Atticus swept his katana to the side; the man lowered into a stance.

They moved.

A wave of crimson and black exploded as they collided in waves of attacks.

However, the eyes of Magnus and the rest narrowed the next moment.

Something had changed. Their fighting style was no longer wild or instinctive. The chaos was gone.

Every movement was stripped down to pure efficiency, clean lines, lethal attacks. No wasted steps. No unnecessary swings. Every action carried intent: kill.

Their eyes flickered rapidly, calculating, calculating, calculating. Angles read, counters predicted, openings identified the moment they appeared. Their bodies moved as if the future was unfolding right in front of them.

No Will Art had been used, yet they'd caused so much destruction.

'Something's happening.'

As they clashed, Atticus felt something odd occurring. Somehow, his attacks weren't as lethal as he'd intended.

'My will… its effect is reducing.'

From temperature to thickness, it lowered as the seconds passed. Though he was shocked this man could use Logoth, now wasn't the time to focus on that. 'It's him.'

Atticus narrowed his eyes on the man, mind spinning. It was only when he saw the crimson hue mixing with his black will did he realize what was happening.

'He's absorbing my will.'

Despite finding this out, Atticus remained utterly calm. His will only grew hotter and attacks fiercer.

'How?'

They clashed and clashed, and every second his will was absorbed, Atticus tested different theories until he came to a conclusion.

'Solvath's fragment.' He had no idea how; however, the man was absorbing his will and using it for himself!

'I need space.'

Atticus' eyes narrowed; the next clash, his will exploded in an explosion that sent them hurling apart.

Atticus hovered in the distance, staring.

"Hahaha!"

The man suddenly burst out laughing before grinning wildly,

"I changed my mind! I like you, Atticus Ravenstein." He said, twirling his staff around him as if it weighed nothing.

"I'm going to let you live. Just take an oath to join us and we can end this."

"No."

The man blinked, then frowned,

"Hmm. Let me guess, your goal is to reach the peak?"

He took Atticus' silence as yes and smiled.

"I know this because it's my goal too. The strong should follow the strong, no? Or else how can you grow?"

He frowned when Atticus didn't respond again.

"I see." He nodded, then offered a knowing smile. "I think I know why you're refusing. Something is holding you back. Family? Loved ones?"

"…"

"Your eyes say it all. Take it from someone who has been through it, families, loved ones, all they do is weigh you down. Stop you from reaching the top. Abandon them."

As the air grew hotter, steam rising from Atticus, the man only smirked.

"If you're too chicken, why don't I help you?"

He narrowed his eyes on Magnus in the distance, his will flaring around him.

"We'll start from him! Kill him."

Atticus' eyes constricted as a figure man vanished and appeared before Magnus, staff whirling out.