Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1539  Silence

Atticus watched in silence as each god rolled and moved their pieces across the board.

When his turn came, he rolled another three.

This time, he moved Ozeroth and Whisker forward one domain each and shifted himself one space to the right. He noted with relief that the penalty remained manageable since he hadn't advanced.

The next turn brought multiple changes. Marquis champions edged closer to his position, while Anorah and Ozerra chose to move sideways instead of forward.

Though battles broke out and deaths followed, none came from his people. Atticus felt Ordan's gaze on him throughout the turn, observing, but he paid it no heed.

Ordan, Dravek, as well as the other powerful Marquis, were closest to the center of the board. Which meant they couldn't directly come for him unless he advanced to their level himself. The champions left behind were their only means of influencing the board.

Atticus silently watched the shifting dynamics. The other Marquis avoided the major faction champions like a plague, choosing instead to move toward him. When his turn finally came, Atticus rolled a three.

All eyes turned toward him.

The time for retreat was over. Champions, and even gods, had closed in on his position. Two domains to the left stood a god from a faction he didn't recognize; to the right, another. Both watched him coldly.

His champions were no better off. Enemies flanked them on both sides. No matter what he chose, either he or one of his champions would be challenged next round.

"Forward. Three movements."

"What!?"

Eyes narrowed across the board at Atticus' choice. Forward… that meant…

Atticus felt the burning gaze of the Redflame as light enveloped him, and he was transported to the chosen domain.

"Hm?"

He studied the man before him. The other Redflame Marquis he had noticed earlier, aside from Dravek's daughter.

Count, no, now Marquis Thane.

Thane regarded Atticus with a raised brow.

"Was that a misstep," he asked, "or precisely what you intended?"

Marquis Thane, and many others watching, were visibly taken aback. Advancing one or two spaces would have placed Atticus behind Thane. Though the other gods would eventually reach him, he could have avoided confronting a Marquis from a major faction.

Yet he had stepped directly into it.

"Ho ho."

Eyes shifted to Ordan at once. The aged man tapped his staff against the board, nodding slowly.

"I see," he said. "You turned right earlier. That wasn't you trying to avoid the others. He was your destination."

Eyes sharpened, especially Thane's.

"Because of my interference," Ordan continued, "the others started circling you, believing you to be an easier target. You intend to change that perception. He's a scapegoat."

Ordan nodded once.

"An excellent decision, Atticus Ravenstein. But reality remains unchanged." His gaze settled on Thane. "The Redflame has occupied the Marquis layer far longer than you. He has slain gods and accumulated power."

Then his eyes returned to Atticus.

"So the question still stands… can you defeat him?"

The eyes of many Marquis hardened. They avoided major factions for a reason. That a newly ascended child would deliberately use one as a scapegoat was beyond shocking.

But of them all, it was Thane who reacted the most, the temperature around him rising.

"Is this truly your intent?" he asked coldly. "You would use me as a scapegoat?"

Thane was a being who had lived for millennia. A man who had clawed his way up from nothing to reach his current standing. For someone of his standing to be reduced to a tool… to a scapegoat… Still, not a single word came from Atticus.

"This domain has already been claimed. Do you choose to claim, or deny?"

"Claim."

Eyes widened. He was truly going through with it.

"The domain restriction is a forced champion duel. By choosing to claim, you agree to have this imposed on you?"

"Yes."

"Marquis Thane. Do you accept, or would you like to contest the challenge?"

Thane's eyes turned frigid.

"I accept."

"Marquis Thane has accepted the challenge. Three mandatory power points each have been staked for this battle. The battle may start now."

"Thane."

Thane stiffened at Dravek's sudden call. He turned, met the cold stare, and bowed immediately.

"Yes."

"End it in one strike."

Thane paused only briefly, then inclined his head.

"As you command."

What had just occurred was clear to everyone. Though Thane held the title of Marquis, he had only recently ascended. Within a major faction, seniority and hierarchy were absolute.

Thane still answered to Dravek.

The board fell into silence as the domain shifted, the white expanse dissolving into a vast, endless desert.

"I'll say this much," Thane said evenly. "Your reasons mean little to me."

He slowly drew his broadsword, crimson light igniting in his eyes. His will erupted in jagged bursts, heat rippling outward as the temperature spiked violently. Sand kilometers away fused into glass.

He leveled the blade at Atticus.

"I'll show you the cost of reaching beyond your station."

In response, Atticus calmly drew his katana, holding it to the side. The tension spiked, silence pressing down like a suffocating weight.

The wind brushed their attire. Then they vanished.

They flashed into the center the next instant, the only trace of their movement the sizzling trail of glass scorched into the ground.

Marquis Thane's blade hurled upward before anyone could register the movement, crashing down with such force it felt as though the world itself had followed him.

Despite the descending blow, Atticus' heart remained calm. He felt his will surge through every fiber of his body, pushing him to the very edge, and raised his katana to meet the attack.

Thane's eyes narrowed the moment he realized no will wrapped Atticus' blade.

"You overestimate yourself!" he snarled. "I'll shatter it!"

Their weapons collided in a burst of blinding light, and Thane's eyes flew wide.

The ordinary looking katana ripped straight through his will and split his weapon in two.

"What!?"

"The weapon sliced through will!?"

It wasn't only Thane. Every Marquis watching widened their eyes in shock. Dravek's expression darkened into a deep frown, while Ordan's eyes flared with a blinding glow, his hands trembling.

"Impossible…"

Thane recovered almost instantly. His stance shifted, trying to retreat and create distance, but Atticus was already moving.

The momentum of his counter vanished mid motion, his katana reversing direction as though the previous strike had never existed.

"No!"

Thane hastily condensed his will in front of him, forming a shield, but Atticus' katana fell like judgment itself, cleaving through the barrier and splitting Thane's body into two sizzling halves.

"Impossible!" Dravek's eyes burned with shock, but the declaration that followed sealed the outcome.

"Marquis Atticus has won the challenge and claimed the territory."

The silence that spread across the board, and beyond the game itself, was heavy.

A Marquis of the Redflame had fallen in two strikes to… a child.