Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1611  Blade

Slash.

Zair watched calmly as the god's body split cleanly into two equal halves, soaking the forest floor beneath it in blood. He dispersed his sword and slowly looked around. 'No more threats.'

Only a few minutes had passed since the Resource Wars began, and this had been their first encounter. The forest was unnervingly quiet, and he couldn't feel any presence beyond the two of them.

"Urgh, Brother… I told you to save the head."

Lyra grimaced as she knelt beside the corpse, studying the damage.

"I had to kill him quickly."

"There were other ways. You could've cut his neck. Pierced his heart. Taken off his limbs. Hell, even his crotch if you had to. Just not the head."

She sighed.

"Now I can't access his will. It's broken."

It was well known that Will originated from the mind, an extension of one's very being. By cleaving straight through the god's source, Zair had shattered it.

"…"

For a moment, Zair didn't know how to respond to his innocent sister casually listing methods of killing a man. Still, he knew better than to think the corpse was the real reason for her irritation.

"You're still angry about him?"

"Ugh."

Lyra's brows knit together at the mention of the white haired stranger from yesterday.

"That scammer… after we were actually nice to him, too."

"But he never promised you anything."

"So what? If someone treats you well, the least you can do is return the favour."

"That's not how the world works, Lyra."

"Then the world is wrong."

"…"

"That scammer…" Lyra clenched her fists. "If I ever see him again, I'm giving him a piece of my mind."

Zair let out a faint sigh as she turned away. Unlike what his sister believed, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about that man either. If anything, the unease he'd felt during their first meeting had only grown during the second.

The truth was… he hadn't restrained Lyra last night because she was wrong. He'd done it because he feared what would happen if she angered him.

'Atticus Ravenstein.'

Zair had looked into him that very night and had been stunned by what he found. Atticus was already a known figure across the Span. Watching recordings of the Ascension Games, seeing that power firsthand, how he stood against overwhelming odds and still came up victorious had only deepened his shock. Yet nothing unsettled him more than how quickly Atticus had reached the Core. Just mere months after entering the Span.

It had taken Zair decades.

'What kind of person climbs that fast?'

He'd chased that level of power for as long as he could remember. And now that Atticus stood on the same battlefield, he felt his competitiveness rising. 'I won't lose.'

He had no interest in the so called geniuses of the major families. To him, there was only one real competitor in this Resource War.

Eventually, Lyra's frustration faded. She began humming softly, eyes bright as she inspected the bisected remains with the same excitement a child might show a pile of sweets.

Muttering about how this contrasted her appearance greatly, Zair went ahead and captured the nearby resource. Once everything was done, they left the scene and moved deeper into the forest, eventually stopping to make camp.

He observed as Lyra settled in without a care, staring happily into the fire as she began preparing food. Though they were beings capable of going decades without eating, it was a family tradition that they never skipped any meal.

As she worked, Zair circled the area, senses extended as he scanned for any sign of danger.

'There's no one he—'

He paused the thought as a faint burning scent reached him.

'What is that?'

A blade formed along his arm in an instant as his body tensed. He moved without hesitation, darting toward the source and stopping at the edge of a small clearing.

'Hm?'

His eyes narrowed.

A large, scorching handprint was seared into the trunk of a tree, smoke still leaking from the charred bark. Several more appeared on nearby trees, spaced apart.

'Is it…?'

It could have been the work of a random god with a flame type Will, but Zair could only think of one faction brazen enough to mark territory so openly.

'Redflames.'

His expression hardened.

'I have to get back.'

He turned and sprinted at full speed, bursting into the clearing, only for his eyes to widen.

The fire had been extinguished, their cooking pot overturned and spilled. Craters scarred the ground, and six red haired figures clad in crimson stood scattered across the clearing.

Yet Zair barely registered any of it.

His wide, unblinking eyes were locked onto the still form of his sister, slung over the shoulder of a man.

"Hah… what an annoying thing. How dare you refuse a Redflame?"

"Absolute Severance."

Zair's body tore forward in a pillar of light, space collapsing as he appeared directly before the man's eye.

Clash!

A blade intercepted the strike just before it could pierce through, knocking it aside.

Zair was sent crashing through trees, but he regained his footing in an instant. His gaze sharpened as it locked onto the two bald men now standing calmly in front of Orvain.

"Wh–what was that…!?"

Orvain slapped a trembling hand over his right eye, as if to make sure it was still there. His limbs began to shake. He'd just barely escaped death.

"Y-you… you dare!"

He pointed furiously at Zair. "I am Orvain Virex! My father rules the entire Core! How dare you attack me!"

"Release her."

Zair's voice, instead, was cold, staring at Orvain as though the man's words meant nothing at all.

'She's still alive.'

He could feel her faintly. Though she was still, he was breathing. He felt a wave of relief, but it left just as fast. Getting her back wouldn't be simple.

His wary gaze shifted toward the two bald figures standing quietly before Orvain.

'They blocked my attack…'

Absolute Severance was exactly what its name implied, a single, absolute strike meant to sever anything. It should have killed Orvain instantly, buying him the moment he needed to retrieve his sister.

The fact that it could've been blocked never once crossed his mind.