Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground-Chapter 1657: Leave?
An explosion ripped through the air as Atticus’ katana burst out from the back of the man’s skull, splitting the massive floating island into two.
Atticus watched the man’s eyes flare, the purple will around him churning violently.
His entire body tensed, but the light dimmed the next instant, and the glow in his eyes faded away.
The man slumped to the ground, lifeless.
Atticus dropped heavily to the ground, releasing long, ragged breaths.
"Haa... haa..."
His body felt unbearably heavy, as though he was dragging the weight of the world with every movement.
Pain flooded his senses. He could feel a wet, sticky liquid trailing down from his eyes, ears, and nose. He didn’t need to touch it to know it was blood.
Leaning back, Atticus let his body rest against the ground, his gaze fixed on the golden sky above. He was tired. Completely drained. But... he had survived.
’Kuu!’
’Heh... figures. Stick with me long enough, you were bound to pick up some of my greatness.’
Hearing Noctis and Ozeroth’s voices echoing in his mind, a faint smile appeared on Atticus’ lips. He chuckled. Somehow, Ozeroth’s usual absurdity felt... welcome right now.
’Oi... where’s that woman? Don’t tell me she slipped away. I still have a few things to settle with her.’
The smile faded almost immediately. The moment the Arbiter’s image surfaced in his mind, a dull ache settled in his chest.
She had sacrificed herself for him.
They hadn’t spent much time together, and they weren’t nearly close enough for Atticus to lose himself over her wellbeing. Even so... she had helped him. She had saved him. Without her, he wouldn’t be here.
As her final moments replayed in his mind, his hand moved to the stump on his chest, his fingers tightening unconsciously. He would find a way to repay her. Somehow.
Atticus’ eyes widened slightly, and he abruptly pushed himself up. Ozeroth said something else, but it no longer registered.
The memory had just brought back her final words.
’There were more things to worry about.’
Atticus’ gaze snapped toward the corpse of the weapon, only to freeze. The man’s body had begun to emit a faint purple light.
His expression darkened.
’The fragments.’
The body suddenly ignited in a brilliant light that flooded Atticus’ vision, forcing him to raise his arm and shield his eyes.
By the time the light began to fade, his gaze settled on dozens of purple fragments hovering just above the corpse.
Atticus’ eyes narrowed. There were more than fifty of them.
’I can’t handle it.’
He was barely holding on with six fragments as it was.
Forcing himself up, Atticus was just about to move when the fragments abruptly shifted and pointed toward him.
His eyes sharpened, and he instinctively reached out to molecules with the last shred of strength he could muster.
"Telepo—"
The molecules had only just begun to stir when the fragments shot into him all at once.
’S-shit.’
Atticus staggered backward, a strange warmth rapidly building within his body.
A surge of energy slammed into him, followed by another, and then another in quick succession. His entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.
He dropped to his knees, gritting his teeth as his hand clutched his chest tightly. Multiple emotions began to rise within him, colliding and stacking continuously.
He could hear Ozeroth and Noctis’ voices, but he ignored them completely.
’Logoth.’
His gaze turned cold and emotionless. The rising emotions vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
His fists tightened as his eyes widened slightly. Was that... was that it?
A moment later, he shook his head.
’No...’
Even with Logoth pushed to its limit, he could still feel Solvath’s emotions, seeping through.
’Hold on... Hold on...’
"Y... Y... O!"
Atticus suddenly clutched his head as something ancient echoed within his mind.
’What... what is that?’
’Kuu!’
’Bond! What the hell is going on!? You’re not answering, your emotions are going crazy again! Why am I feeling anger from you!? Talk to me!’
"I-it’s n-not m-me."
’Huh!? Then whose is it—?’
Atticus’ gaze began to glow purple as the suppressed emotions finally broke free, flooding his entire body.
’...S-Solvath.’
A blinding radiance erupted from him, tearing into the heavens as a towering pillar of purple light.
Atticus gnashed his teeth as the overwhelming surge of emotions churned violently within him.
’Logoth. Logoth. Logoth.’
He repeatedly tried to slip into Logoth, but it was like paper trying to hold back the full force of an ocean. It tore through every time.
Images began flashing through his mind. The Big Bang. The betrayal. The fragments. The rage... the rage... the rage... 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Then, just as suddenly, everything vanished.
For a brief moment, there was only endless darkness... before a flash of purple light engulfed everything.
As it faded, Atticus’ eyes locked onto a single eye staring straight through him. A crushing weight slammed into his mind with overwhelming force.
’N-no.’
Atticus gritted his teeth and summoned his will, forcing it forward, but the eye ignited in a blinding radiance that swallowed it whole.
An ancient voice boomed.
"I AM THE ORIGIN STAR. THE SOURCE FROM WHICH ALL THINGS WERE BORN. I AM SOLVATH, PRIMORDIAL STAR OF HARMONY. YOU WILL SURRENDER YOURSELF. YOU WILL BECOME THE VESSEL THAT RIGHTS WHAT WAS WRONGED."
"N-no."
Atticus dragged forth even more of his will, throwing it at Solvath with everything he had, but it dispersed instantly, as though it had never existed.
"YOU WILL SERVE. SURRENDER."
The light intensified, swallowing everything.
Outside, the gold of the Willguard world had vanished, replaced by a flood of violet that swallowed the entire domain.
Streaking through the air, Whisker fixed his gaze on the blinding pillar of light rising on the horizon, his expression darkening.
Under normal circumstances, he would have trusted Atticus to handle something like this.
However, the world had turned completely purple, and an ancient, overwhelming presence that made his very bones tremble had descended across everything.
Nothing about the current situation felt under control.
’Something’s wrong.’
Whisker could feel it clearly.
Beside him, the expressions of Thora, Thomas, and Azeron had also grown grim.
Just a moment ago, they had been awed by the sheer scale of the battle, and the next, a towering pillar of purple was tearing into the sky.
As they drew closer, Whisker suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
His gaze turned cold.
"We can’t go any further."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Thora stepped forward, but Azeron’s firm grip caught her before she could move any closer.
"He’s right."
He gestured toward one of the floating islands near the pillar. As they turned and focused on it, their eyes widened.
The island was unraveling bit by bit. It made no sense. It was as though the very forces holding it together were coming apart.
"Shit! Now what do we do?"
Their gazes shifted toward Thomas almost immediately.
"...what?"
"You made that weapon, didn’t you?" Thora said. "Then you should know how Solvath works. This... this is him, isn’t it? What’s going on?"
Feeling all eyes on him, Thomas let out a slow breath before turning toward the pillar.
"...yeah. That’s Solvath. He’s waking up."
He gave a slight nod, already noticing their confusion.
"When too many fragments gather in one vessel, it triggers an awakening. A piece of Solvath’s consciousness starts coming alive. The weapon was built to suppress that... those tattoos were meant to keep it contained. If this is happening now... then the fragments have left him and found someone else."
Thora’s eyes widened.
"That means—"
"Yeah."
Whisker shook his head slightly, turning towards the pillar with an unreadable expression.
"My star actor killed the weapon."
Thomas gave a firm nod.
"No one can handle that many fragments. It’s only a matter of time before Solvath takes over him."
Their eyes widened almost instantly.
"You’re the expert! Then think of something! How do we help him!?"
Thomas’ expression darkened as he shook his head.
"...we can’t. It took decades just to create that weapon. We don’t have anything close to what it took."
"Then what, we just stand here and watch him get swallowed!?"
Thomas shook his head again.
"No. We leave. Now. Once Solvath takes over, he’ll come after the rest of the fragments."
As he spoke, his grip on the young girl tightened instinctively.
