Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1642  Business

Eldros made his way through the grand halls of the Willguard.

'Urg, it's always so damned creepy.'

He was being escorted by a total of four Willguard Sentinels, two trailing behind him and the other two leading the way ahead. But he still couldn't hide the irritation from his face.

Everything was golden, even down to the paintings on the walls. Eldros had never seen this much gold in his life, and the pairs of golden men walking in front of and behind him certainly weren't helping matters.

'Let's just get this over with so I can leave.'

Aside from the whole creepy color obsession, Eldros was feeling rather good about this meeting. If everything went well, he might finally be able to get his hands on the infamous Willguard tattoo technology.

Reaching a massive pair of double doors, the Willguard pushed them open, and Eldros calmly stepped inside, an easy smile already settling on his face.

"Kilon, my friend… it's been a while."

He fixed his gaze on the old hunched man seated across the table. The man's body was thin and frail, looking more like skin stretched over bones than anything else.

He wore a pure white mask with a single black line cutting vertically between the eyes. But despite his frail appearance, the man's entire body brimmed with an intense vitality.

He didn't lift his gaze from the papers before him and merely gestured toward the seat across the table.

Eldros smiled and took his seat. A long silence stretched between them, but Eldros didn't seem to mind, casually glancing around the office.

Eventually, the old man lifted his head. It felt as though a sudden wave had washed over Eldros. He shifted slightly in his seat but made sure to keep his smile in place.

The old man lightly inclined his head.

"What do you have?"

"Hmm. Is that really how you greet an old friend, Kilon? Or does sitting in that seat make you forget basic manners?"

"I am a High Judicator of the great Willguard. You have no understanding of the weight this seat carries."

"Hmm… aside from ordering other Judicators around and policing the Span? What else could there possibly be?"

The High Judicator's gaze narrowed slightly.

"What do you want, Eldros?"

"What do you mean? I came to deliver merchandise."

Eldros waved his hand, and a tiny coffin appeared on the table. He snapped his fingers, and it expanded into a normal-sized coffin the next moment.

"A beautiful lady this time around. Plump. Innocent. Full of life. One fragment. I'm sure you'll find excellent use for her."

The High Judicator scrutinized the coffin for a moment before gesturing to the Sentinel standing by the door. The Sentinel stepped forward, retrieved the coffin, and left the office.

"So our business is concluded. You can see yourself out."

The High Judicator waved a hand as though dismissing him outright, but Eldros only smiled.

"C'mon, what's the rush? You don't want to catch up with an old friend?"

"I don't."

"…ouch."

As Eldros clutched his chest in exaggerated pain, the High Judicator exhaled slowly, fixing him with a cold, unyielding gaze.

"Why have you come here? We both know you could have sent one of your minions to deliver the filth. My time is limited. Stop wasting it and tell me your purpose."

Eldros adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm… purpose, huh? Do I look like someone who walks around with one of those?"

The High Judicator's eyes narrowed, and he gestured to the Sentinels.

"Take him ou—"

"Atticus Ravenstein."

The High Judicator froze, his eyes flickering through countless thoughts in an instant. He waved the Sentinels back the next moment, then tilted his head slightly.

"…what?"

"Atticus Ravenstein. You want him, don't you?"

"He is a criminal who has evaded justice for far too long. Ensuring justice is carried out is the Willguard's duty."

'Bunch of crap.'

Eldros scarcely held back a laugh at the blatant nonsense. The old man was clearly playing some sort of game.

"What if I told you I could deliver him to you?"

"Then the Willguard would express its gratitude."

"Gratitude? Is that some new currency I haven't heard about?"

The High Judicator's eyes narrowed further, and the air in the office grew noticeably heavier.

"…what do you want?"

"I've always admired your Willguard tattoos. Th—"

"No."

Eldros frowned.

"You didn't even let me finish."

"You want our tattoo technology. The answer is no."

"So you don't want him? It's only a matter of time before he reaches your level. You wouldn't want him severing your head, would you?"

The High Judicator stared at him in silence for a moment before slowly exhaling.

"Our esteemed Grand Marshal made a deal with your Nature King. Your people will continue hunting fragment bearers for the Willguard. The details of that agreement are not our concern. What matters is that you will keep hunting fragment bearers for us."

The High Judicator's eyes began to glow a deep golden hue as the air in the room turned suffocating.

"Atticus Ravenstein is a fragment bearer. Filth. If you have information that could lead to his capture, you will speak."

'Shit.'

Eldros restrained himself from cursing out loud. The worst possible scenario had just unfolded. He had intended to exploit the Willguard's obsession with capturing Atticus to his advantage, but who would have thought this old man would be this cunning? To turn the entire matter around on him like this…

"Th—"

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out, and the entire building shook violently. The High Judicator fired up from his seat, his eyes blazing with a blinding golden light.

Eldros had also risen, frowning deeply at the still-trembling building.

'What's going on?'

That explosion sounded like it had come from the ground floor. Could it be an attack? He immediately dismissed the thought. Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to attack the Willguard, especially within their own world?

Eldros turned toward the door just as a Sentinel burst into the office, striding directly toward the High Judicator.

He leaned close and whispered something incomprehensible into the old man's ear, and Eldros found himself pinned by a hard gaze the next moment.

"You must leave."

The High Judicator vanished before Eldros could even respond, and the detached gazes of the Sentinels fell on him, silently urging him to leave.

…

"Is it destroyed?"

The High Judicator fixed his gaze on the figure suspended within the transparent pod before him. The man inside was naked, bald, and covered from head to toe in countless ancient-looking tattoos.

Beside him, the Judicator bowed his head respectfully.

"No, High Judicator. We recovered him before any permanent damage could be done."

The High Judicator stared at the figure in silence for several seconds before turning away.

"And the Inscriber?"

"…he escaped. But we are searching for him as we speak. He will not go far—Urk!"

The Judicator gritted his teeth as an overwhelming weight suddenly forced him to the ground.

"You're telling me… that a worthless inscriber escaped from the Willguard's headquarters?"

The High Judicator's eyes were fierce, like those of a savage beast.

"…I-I apologize, High Judicator."

The High Judicator stared down at the struggling Judicator for several seconds before exhaling and retracting his aura.

As the god of the domain, he had already attempted to search for the man himself, but the effort had yielded nothing.

'He must have cloaked himself.'

This was one of the many reasons why inscribers were so troublesome.

"Announce a domain-wide search. Shut down every incoming and outgoing portal. I want him found."

"…yes, High Judicator."

"Also…"

The High Judicator narrowed his eyes.

"Atticus Ravenstein is in the Summit."

From his brief meeting with Eldros, he was certain of it. The man would not have come to him unless the boy was already close. However, locating Atticus would be like searching for a single drop of water in an ocean. The Summit was vast, with countless territories spread across a massive dark expanse. Trying to find Atticus without anything to anchor the search to would be a fool's errand.

"Spread the word. Find out where he is."

"As you wish, High Judicator."

…

Atticus frowned deeply at the sight of an airship shooting past them. It was the tenth one they had seen in the past few minutes.

"Damn… did they find us already?"

Thora stared at the retreating airship with narrowed eyes.

Azeron and the other Evoli tensed, but Atticus shook his head.

'No, it's not that.'

He was currently using the elements to mask the entire group. And even if they had been discovered, the Willguard would have already narrowed in on them.

'It's something else.'

Atticus exchanged a look with Azeron, who nodded back with a serious gaze.

"We keep moving."

Atticus said as he faced forward. Sprawled before him was the vast expanse of the floating island. He could see the faint outline of a massive city in the distance. 'The main city.'

But that wasn't their destination. He turned slightly to the side. In the distance, a massive structure rose high into the sky from atop a hill. Atticus had never quite seen anything like it. Even from this far away, its height was so immense that he couldn't see its end.

'The Willguard headquarters.'

According to Azeron, it was the main base of the entire Willguard in the Span, where someone known as the High Judicator, the ruler of the Willguard within the Span, resided.

'The perfect target.'

Killing such an important figure and destroying their main headquarters sounded like a very successful mission to Atticus.

As they started moving again, he frowned when he noticed Whisker lagging behind.

'He's also been unusually quiet.'

He turned toward the man and saw him silently staring at the distant city, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Atticus frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Whisker remained silent for several seconds. Then he turned toward Atticus and offered a wry smile.

"Looks like I've got some business to take care of. See you around."

"Wai—"

Before Atticus could stop him, Whisker vanished from the area.

'What the hell…'

Atticus was speechless. He was currently masking their presence, but with Whisker leaving the range of his influence, he wouldn't be able to cover him from being detected.

Staring toward the distant city for a moment, Atticus wondered if he should go after him.

He shook his head and turned to Azeron and Thora, who were staring at him with confused expressions.

"We keep moving."

Thora frowned.

"But what about Pounce?"

"He'll be fine."