Tower of Heaven

Atlas shot out of the treasury and blasted through the corridor leading to the surface. The arrow he had stolen from the thief was placed into his own inventory temporarily, and his eyes had been focused to their maximum potential to spot any traces of his target.

With his speed, he shot out of the hatch above ground with enough force to blow the ground to shreds, but it was able to maintain its form. It was clearly made to be handled roughly.

Levitating in the air for a moment, Atlas scanned his gaze across the courtyard.

’No person, but more than enough traces.’

The target was using qi in order to escape faster. He could see the trail of her qi dissipating as she got further and further. It was easy enough for him to follow it.

[Lightning Shadow Steps]

He matched her speed with the use of a single technique. He zipped through the halls of the Phoenix Palace and exited its area. He went in the opposite direction of Genvera into the scenery of Alfros as he followed the trail.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

No longer was he separated from the meteor calamity. All around him, countless massive boulders crashed down from the sky and put dents in the earth. Each and every one carried a great force that spread in compounding shockwaves that plagued the land.

Anywhere within ten kilometers of a meteor was unsafe to traverse. When the meteors were falling everywhere, it was almost like the trial Atlas had to complete when he first entered the Xuanying Treasure Pagoda.

Sadly, this time there was no pattern.

The meteors fell randomly all around him. He ignored their force, moving as if he was predicting their trajectories.

He wasn’t. He was only watching them fall.

[Intrinsic Foresight]

Using a feature of his eyes, he extended his vision beyond himself. He saw himself from eyes above his head, through which he could also see the meteors much earlier.

’I don’t know what strategy she’s using, but she is also avoiding everything perfectly.’

The trail didn’t end at any point. Atlas continued to follow it for several tens of kilometers. No, by the time it ended, he had traveled over a hundred kilometers.

He stopped in a clearing between several mountains. It was not a location chosen by accident.

"Is this an ambush?"

He spoke because he knew they were waiting for him. Along with his words, they showed themselves.

There were fifteen people surrounding him in a circle, including the woman that he had been chasing.

"So either you’re a small organization and all of you are here to fight me, or you’re quite a large organization and you can spare fifteen people for such a meaningless surprise attack."

His words landed on deaf ears. His enemies only prepared their blades for battle.

He sighed to himself.

’Fifteen is… a larger number than I’d like to admit.’

He didn’t want to face a group of this size without knowing anything about them.

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’I’ll have to retreat for now.’

He withdrew his blades even as he said it. He was planning to run, sure, but he wouldn’t be able to do so without a fight.

There was a moment of silence as those fifteen people stared at him.

And in the next–

"Wait!"

–a voice interrupted what would have been a grand collision.

The fifteen of them and Atlas all looked over at the person who was running down the side of the nearest mountain.

"Wait! Don’t fight! Stop!"

He kept shouting as he came closer as if he believed that they would start a battle the moment he closed his mouth.

His steps kicked up a trail of dust that had a comedic effect that lightened the tense atmosphere. When he finally made it to solid ground, he bolted past everyone and arrived right in front of Atlas.

Sensing that the boy in question was not a powerful cultivator, Atlas didn’t put his guard up at all.

"Everyone, put your weapons down!"

The boy stood in front of Atlas with his arms spread wide, He had on what looked like a school uniform and there was a strange cap adorning his head from a style that Atlas had never seen before.

He had no idea who the boy was, but that wasn’t the case for the rest of the group. Seeing his actions, their expressions immediately crumpled.

"What is it this time?"

A large man holding an axe growled at the boy. He rolled his eyes and puffed out his chest, mocking the man’s appearance.

"You big bumbling idiot! Look at this guy!"

The boy pointed at Atlas with a confounded expression on his face.

"See this mask?"

Did he teleport over?

"See these clothes?"

How was he moving so briskly from side to side without any obvious signs of cultivation?

"See these weapons? See that bracelet? Most importantly, do you see these ey–"

The boy practically tried to crawl up Atlas’ body to showcase his eyes to the rest of the group. His actions were naturally cut off as Atlas pushed him away, but the rest of them had already understood his meaning.

"It’s a coincidence, Kusko. This guy blocked Farah at the vault. He’s not one of us."

"Of course he’s not one of us, idiot! He doesn’t even know we exist!"

"That…"

The buff man couldn’t retort. Their conversation took place as Atlas listened in confusion, but from their words, it seemed that they had some sort of relationship with him.

"Do you all know me?"

At the very least, this little boy absolutely knew him.

He turned around to face him for the first time with a curious expression on his face.

"That depends… Do you know anyone named Harmon?"

Atlas’ eyes immediately widened.

"I do. It is a name that is quite familiar to me, however, how do you know it?"

"Well, somebody we know told us that if we ever see someone who looks like you, we should ask if you know Harmon. According to him, if you’re the right person, then you’ll turn out to be a friend."

Atlas frowned for a moment before sighing as his expression relaxed.

Harmon was a name he’d only used once in the Tower, because soon after, he decided that he didn’t want to use a fake name and hide his identity anymore. Only one person ever really addressed him by that name, so it wasn’t hard to understand their association.

"Haa…"

Atlas had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but it all started in the same place.

Lowering his chain sickles, he looked at the group of fifteen people around him. All of them had their weapons lowered as well. In the end, the question they wanted to ask was the same.

So, at the same time, both sides asked each other.

"Do you know the Captain?"

"What is your relationship with Horus?"

They referred to him differently, but judging by their reactions when he said his name, Atlas knew that they were indeed related to Horus.

’Well, it’s true that several years passed between the first and second time I saw him.’

But, looking at these people, it was obvious that Horus had been doing much more than he had let on.

Atlas shook his head.

"First, let’s relocate."

They were still surrounded by explosions and falling meteors, after all.

"We have a lot to discuss, it seems."

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