Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1547  Resolve

The silence of the board was calming to Magnus.

All eyes were on him, many curious, others filled with lethal intent, and some… worried. He held on to the latter.

Once again, his stubborn nature had gotten the better of him, forcing his grandson into allowing him to fight an impossible battle.

The image of his late wife rose unbidden in his mind. This was exactly the kind of thing that used to earn him a scolding.

A slight twinge settled in his chest. He'd thought of her again. No matter what he did, he always found a way back to her. Magnus exhaled slowly and steadied himself.

The Ascension Games had been a constant reminder of his weakness. The world had grown far larger than him, to the point where he now stood at the bottom of the food chain. The grandson he had once sworn to protect had surpassed him in every imaginable way, leaving Magnus struggling to find any use for himself.

He could accept that he would never catch up to Atticus.

He could live with no longer being the family's shield.

But…

Magnus clenched his fists until veins rippled up his arms and into his neck as he stared at the Willguard before him.

He would rather die than become a burden to his grandson.

He avoided Atticus's gaze entirely. The last thing he needed was doubt. Instead, he studied the Willguard.

The man was broader than most of them. A faceless mask concealed everything but dull, unblinking eyes fixed squarely on him.

Yet none of that mattered as much as what he represented.

Atticus had always warned him about the Willguard, their danger, their unpredictability. It was impossible to tell how this battle would end.

The Willguard blinked once, then spoke.

"Your fate is already decided. Struggling will only delay it. Your death will be slow. If you want mercy, get on your knees and end it yourself."

Magnus didn't react. He flicked his arm aside instead.

Lightning crackled around his body as his eyes flared white. The energy condensed along his arm, fusing into a spear whose sheer presence warped the air around it.

The world faded into muted silence as Magnus locked eyes with the Willguard, everything else ceasing to exist.

"Begin."

The world around him blurred before the word could fully settle. Violent winds struck into Magnus as he flashed forward like a bolt of lightning, driving his spear ahead with such speed that a gale roared around its tip.

A blinding light struck his eyes the instant the blow landed, forcing him to squint. Less than a heartbeat later, pain surged through his arm. As the light faded, his eyes narrowed, taking in the result.

Golden, vibrating plates of armor now covered the Willguard from head to toe. Magnus's spear hissed uselessly against it, failing to leave even the faintest mark.

The shock lasted only a moment.

The world collapsed into a muted blur as lightning thrummed through Magnus's body. He vanished and reappeared around the Willguard in rapidly, unleashing multiple piercing strikes all at once.

Explosions thundered in his ears. Pain ripped through his arms with every impact, yet Magnus didn't slow. His movements didn't falter as he redirected his attacks toward more lethal points.

Pain was pain. Nothing more.

He narrowed his eyes as the Willguard's armor suddenly flashed gold.

"Release."

A spike of danger washed over Magnus. He halted his spear mid thrust and fired backward just as the armor detonated, a roaring explosion swallowing the horizon whole.

Magnus reappeared at a distance, staring grimly at the towering mushroom clouds clawing toward the sky. Moments later, the haze thinned, revealing the aftermath.

The Willguard stood at the center of a colossal crater, its scale almost absurd. Despite the storm of attacks Magnus had rained down on him, there wasn't a single scratch on his body.

'That armor.'

It was the same armor the Willguard they had fought on the Count layer had worn. According to Atticus, it possessed the ability to conduct and utilize will.

Magnus's eyes narrowed.

The rules forbade any of them from using will, yet the man wasn't using will at all. He didn't need to.

Atticus had once explained the concept of will forged materials to him, objects formed from will itself. For armor to conduct will meant it was will forged.

And anything forged from will could not be damaged by inferior energy. Magnus could strike it for centuries and never leave so much as a dent.

Magnus tightened his grip on the spear, watching in silence as the Willguard drew his blade and slowly raised it.

"World Sever."

Magnus hurled himself aside. A lethal arc of darkness tore through the space he had occupied a moment earlier, splitting the horizon cleanly in two. He twisted just as the Willguard appeared behind him, sword wrapped in darkness, crashing down toward his head.

Magnus's eyes flashed white.

"I am lightning."

His body fizzled apart, dispersing into sparks.

"What is this?"

The Willguard's eyes narrowed as tendrils of lightning struck his armor, slipping through its gaps and surging toward his body.

"It's pointless. Release."

The armor flared, then erupted in a violent blast that expelled the tendrils. The lightning converged, reforming into Magnus as he was hurled backward, skipping across the terrain before crashing into a massive crater.

Magnus spat blood as he dropped to his knees. A shrill scream of splitting air reached his ears and he threw himself aside without hesitation. A thunderous impact slammed into the ground where he'd been moments earlier, shaking the earth.

He rolled and sprang to his feet in a single breath, watching as the Willguard stepped calmly out of the dust and shattered earth, abyss black eyes fixed on him.

"It's time to end this."

Darkness rippled outward as the Willguard dipped, fissures racing across the ground. He appeared before Magnus the next instant in a burst of force, his blade blurring into a relentless storm of attacks.

Magnus became lightning, evading each strike while unleashing countless blows of his own. Every attack he dodged carved sweeping arcs of destruction across the horizon. The Willguard stood like an immovable mountain, making no attempt to block or evade.

Every strike landed. Yet Magnus was the one who felt pain spike through his arm.

A crushing heaviness soon settled over his body. Every attempt to break through the Willguard's armor drained him further. Each movement soon began to feel as though he were dragging the weight of the world behind him. His body began to slow, but Magnus ignored it, forcing out even more attacks.

Still, the Willguard only grew faster.

Magnus reappeared on a distant horizon in a burst of lightning, but a lethal strike followed instantly. He hardened his gaze and streaked aside, barely avoiding it. Less than a heartbeat later, darkness burst behind him.

Magnus spun, but a brutal kick smashed into his side, sending him tearing across the terrain. He swallowed the ache and blood as he twisted mid air.

His eyes widened. The Willguard was already above him.

"It's over. Release."

Blinding light erupted from the armor, followed by an explosion that slammed into Magnus and swallowed the entire domain.

When the shockwave finally began to fade, ragged, labored breaths escaped Magnus. He lay at the center of a massive crater, wet, sticky blood pooling beneath him. The ringing in his ears hadn't stopped, and he didn't need to look to know that every part of his body had been reduced to a mangled ruin.