Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1743 Bye

"Consume."

The golden sea warped violently. Then it disappeared. The endless radiance vanished, leaving behind only faint wisps of smoke drifting through the darkness of space.

Silence followed.

The crown's eyes were wide. His legion… Gone? Just like that?

"Fuel."

A brilliant crimson orb formed before Atticus' outstretched hand.

The crown's widened eyes narrowed.

That energy. No. His legion wasn't gone. Consume. Atticus' flames had consumed them. And now… he was feeding them back to him.

The crimson orb trembled once before erupting forward as a beam of scarlet light. The attack seemed to tear through the fabric of reality itself before appearing directly before the crown.

"I WILL NOT LOSE HERE!" the crown roared. "I AM THE ABSOLUTE!"

His hammer crashed into the beam. A violent explosion of light and force erupted. The Middle Planes vanished beneath a tide of blinding radiance. Entire worlds were hurled through space like leaves caught in a storm.

If not for the combined efforts of the Verge and Span, the Middle Planes would have ceased to exist.

From across the universe, stars surged toward the disturbance. Even the Lower Planes had felt it. A hole in his heart steadily knitting itself shut, Quiet Flame appeared beside the Verge and Span. The other lower-plane stars arrived moments later.

None of them needed an explanation. They had felt it. The tremors of battle had crossed the boundaries between planes.

With grim expressions, they stared upward toward the fading light. Then the radiance finally dispersed. Atticus stood amidst the ruins, one hand wrapped around the crown's neck.

The latter looked pitiful in every sense of the word.

Blood dripped from countless wounds. His body was battered and broken. Upon his head, the once-pristine crown had fractured, jagged cracks spreading across its surface.

He was beaten. Exhausted. Defeated.

"H-how…" His voice trembled. "How?"

Atticus stared at him with lifeless eyes. The look alone made the crown grit his teeth. To be looked at like that… by him.

His body blazed with golden light, yet wisps of smoke continuously curled from around him. No matter how much strength he exerted, he couldn't move.

'He's burning the space around me.'

The realization made the crown's expression darken.

Finally, Atticus met his gaze.

"Do you understand now? You're not the absolute. You're helpless in my grip because you're nothing. Irrelevant. You're no better than anyone else."

"You spent eons stopping people from ascending because you already knew. It was never about protecting the Higher Planes. You were afraid. You know what happens when you get there. You become ordinary. Useless."

The crown's jaw tightened.

"You're weak. Pathetic."

The more Atticus spoke, the uglier the crown's expression became.

Somehow, every word struck exactly where it hurt most, as though Atticus could see through the deepest, most hidden corners of his heart.

"I am Atticus Ravenstein."

His voice rose, rumbling across the Middle Planes.

"You've never seen anything like me. You spent eons climbing. I spent less than a century. Compared to me, you're dirt."

Atticus yanked him downward, forcing him to look upon the Middle Planes.

"When I say I'm going to destroy the Middle Planes, there isn't a single star alive that can stop me."

He raised a hand.

"Combine: Burn. Fuel. Consume."

Atticus ignited. Blinding crimson light swallowed the Middle Planes.

Every star's expression paled. From the shattered remnants of the Crown to the Span and the Verge, everything was consumed by endless flames.

No one moved to stop it. Atticus held their strongest by the throat. What exactly were they supposed to do?

The destruction didn't even last long. The flames swept through the planes with terrifying efficiency, then it was over.

Silence followed.

Only a single planet remained.

Eldoralth.

Everything else… gone.

The crown stared at the emptiness around him, lips trembling.

"What… what have you done…"

Atticus seized his jaw and forced him to look back.

"I burnt the world."

The crown's eyes widened. Before he could fully comprehend those words, Atticus invoked;

"Turn to ash."

"AHHHHHHH!"

A deafening scream tore from the crown as fire engulfed him. Moments later, nothing remained but drifting ash.

Atticus turned toward the frozen stars. Many of them flinched, even Quiet Flame. Then his gaze settled upon the Span.

The latter's expression immediately darkened.

"Wait—"

The Verge stepped forward instinctively, but it was to late.

"Turn to ash."

The Span barely managed to make a sound before his body collapsed into ash and scattered across space.

Silence fell once more.

"Do you know why I killed him?"

The Verge's fists clenched, his six eyes trembling. Then he slowly nodded.

"Good."

Atticus' gaze swept across the gathered stars.

"I won't kill you because I need something from all of you."

The stars swallowed involuntarily. The display they had just witnessed was still fresh in their minds.

"…what?" the Verge finally asked. Most of his anger had already been replaced by caution.

"I'm going to ascend in moments." Atticus' voice remained calm. "I want you to watch over my family for me. Do you understand?"

"Your family…"

The stars finally understood. After all, he had spared a single planet.

None of them needed to think about the request for long. The alternative was death. One after another, they nodded.

Moments later, after ensuring the agreement was sealed and that the stars would uphold their end of it, several figures appeared before Atticus.

"Atticus!"

"Bond!"

"…I really don't like that look in your eyes, my star actor."

Anorah. Ozeroth. Whisker. Even Oberon, alongside many of the surviving Eldorians. All of them had come, and each stared at Atticus with trembling eyes.

What he had become. What he had just unleashed. It was beyond insane.

Anorah and Whisker, in particular, looked at him with concern. The look in his eyes… it wasn't good. Ozeroth, however, felt unsettled by the numbness that was Atticus' emotions. .

Atticus regarded all of them in silence. Many thoughts crossed his mind. Should he explain? Should he tell them why this was necessary? Should he justify what he had done?

Eventually, he dismissed every one of those thoughts. There was no point.

"I'm going to ascend to the Higher Planes now. Without you."

"What?" Ozeroth stepped forward immediately. "Bond, what the hell are you talking abou—?"

Atticus silenced him before he could continue.

"I'm not explaining myself, and I'm not changing my mind. I've made my choice. Right now, I need to reach the goal. Anything else would only slow me down."

His gaze swept across them.

"I'll come back for all of you. I promise."

For a brief moment, his eyes met Anorah's. He had silenced her as well. Atticus knew she had a lot she wanted to say. She was angry. Frustrated. Hurt. And beneath all of that… sad.

For just a moment, Atticus felt the urge to stay. Then he crushed it.

His mind had already been made up.

Atticus tore his gaze away.

Before any of them could speak again, before any of them could stop him, he vanished from the Middle Planes.