Tower of Heaven

'If they are not meant to be reached, then perhaps I should bring them down to me?'

He glanced over at the statues. The spearman's patterns were quite simple and repetitive. As he was thrusting now, he would follow with a powerful sweep.

Atlas first dodged his ability. The shieldbearer charged at him when he was in the air, but he was already prepared.

[Burst Steps]

It wasn't nearly as effective of a footwork when used in the air, but the burst of flame still pushed Atlas to the side and helped him dodge the attack.

The second he hit the ground, he dashed several meters away from the two statues and tossed a sickle into the air.

The infinite extension property of this trial reward was perfect. Atlas couldn't be said to possess an immense amount of qi, but it felt like his reserves were limitless when he used the weapon skill.

It barely took any energy to extend the chain until the sickle was flying between mirrors. Atlas pulled the chain to the right, hooking a mirror within his sickle and pulling it down to the ground.

He jumped up and grabbed it before it could hit the ground. While retracting the sickle, he tried to look at his own reflection only to find that it was nonexistent.

'Hm?'

He couldn't see himself, but the environment behind him was displayed clearly. Curiously, he turned it around and watched how it displayed the rest of the environment.

Oddly enough, neither the statues nor Horus appeared. Only the environment was reflected in the mirror's surface.

'It is not so simple.'

If the answer wasn't in the mirrors individually, then perhaps it was hidden within their numerosity?

What kind of interaction could mirrors have?

'Mirrors…are apostles of light.'

In the ancient era, it was said that mirrors took the world's light and transformed it into truth.

To explain the multitude of phenomena that would appear when mirrors and light interacted strangely, they researched and learned that the seemingly common devices were actually extremely interconnected with the Dao of Light.

Through mirrors, other Daos like the Dao of Illusion were able to progress to a great extent. These realizations about the interaction between the Great Dao and the objects and people in the world were still in their infancy when Atlas was alive, but it was enough information for him to form inferences from.

If light bounced between these mirrors, what kind of scene would appear?

Atlas observed the environment again and suddenly realized that there were small chrome domes topping each and every pillar in the chamber.

'That is the answer.'

It must have been a matter of light.

Atlas needed to form a light that activated the mechanism.

'I have a way.'

He controlled fire, after all. Fire and light were always heavily interconnected.

To get fire to the top of a pillar…

'Perfect.'

The two statues he left on the other side of the chamber finally reached him again. He dashed over to them, prepared to attack.

As they went through their usual patterns, Atlas used them and leapt as high as he could. When he reached the peak of his arc, he summoned his qi and transmuted it with the Dao of Fire.

[Flame]

It wasn't necessarily a technique. Instead, it was the first thing that every practitioner learned to do when they first came in contact with their Dao. A pure manifestation of law created through the flow of one's own qi.

[Flame] created a spark that grew into something close in size to a bonfire. It flew through the air and struck one of the chrome balls.

Rather than creating a splash of blackened metal, the fire was absorbed by the chrome structure and transmuted into pure light.

All it needed was a single spark.

A beam of light was produced almost instantly. It bounced between the mirrors and struck each and every chrome piece, turning into dozens of rays that lit up the chamber.

Atlas watched the interaction. Most of the light remained in the ceiling, but a single beam changed its trajectory and struck towards the ground.

Meeting it at its destination, he placed the final mirror in its path, allowing it to lead the way.

The light bent unnaturally, turning into six beams that directed him towards six of the statues that were still in the wall.

'Three bowmen, two swordsmen, and a spearman.'

He marked their position before letting go of the mirror. Ignoring the statues he was supposed to be fighting, Atlas rushed towards the nearest of the six and climbed onto its shoulders.

'It does not feel different from the rest, but there must be something.'

If it wasn't visible from the outside, then he needed to check its interior.

The statue was large, but it wasn't to the point that it was outside of his sensing range. He spread his spiritual sense and activated [Intrinsic Foresight] together, completely breaking down its internal schematics.

'There.'

Hidden in its chest cavity was a blue gem that Atlas had never seen before. The Formation Spark wasn't informing him of its identity, so it must have been created for the sole purpose of this trial.

'Then, the rest…!'

Boom!

His head suddenly whipped to the side, where he saw Horus destroying the swordsman statue on his side.

"Tch!"

Atlas couldn't blame him at all, but he knew instinctively that it was the wrong move. With the death of their comrade, the remaining statues suddenly became animated. Six more of them stood up and entered the field, of which two were Atlas' targets.

He frowned as he realized that he wouldn't be able to safely unravel the chamber's secrets, but that was the end of it.

Boom!

He punched into the chest of the statue he was standing on. Unlike the rest, it crumpled without much resistance at all.

Grabbing the gem, he turned around and dashed for the next closest statue.

Along the way, he made eye contact with Horus. He flashed the gem in his hand, hoping that it was enough of a signal.

Until he had acquired the four gems that were not in moving statues, Horus would need to bear the combined force of the entire enemy group.

[Burst Steps]

It was another technique that didn't consume much qi. Atlas had been very conservative with his energy thus far, but Horus wasn't the same.

He had to lace each and every attack with powerful qi in order to take down the swordsman statue. Facing such a large group, he was bound to exhaust himself soon.

'I must hurry.'

Atlas and Horus didn't have much of a connection, but looking at this trial, it would be difficult to clear the rest alone.

Rather than sacrificing his teammate now, Atlas preferred to save him.

He dashed to the second statue and grabbed the red gem out of its chest. When he held it next to its blue sibling, they merged into a single purple gem.

He dashed from the second statue to almost the opposite side of the chamber, where he found and took the third and fourth gems.

With green and yellow added to the equation, the main gem's color changed once again.

Atlas finally turned his attention back to Horus. No more than a minute had passed, however…

Bang!

"ARGH!"

Horus had a trail of blood leaking from his mouth. It was only natural, as he had been slammed against the wall by a shieldbearer.

The two remaining statues were the very same ones that aimed for Horus' life now that he was stunned.