Tower of Heaven

There was a great uproar within Euryale and Sky Garden after their geniuses died, but with no way to affirm how it happened, they could only assume that they weren't good enough and died in the trial. There would be no justice for them if things remained the way they were.

The scene at the third was the opposite. They knew exactly how their Akia died. They saw the final moments of his life, and they were not willing to let this grudge die without doing anything about it.

"The Serpentseal Mark has moved into Vanatos. That Ascender has not chosen to climb the Tower immediately."

A man spoke to another. The two of them were in a room near the top of the main palace of Dusk. Though his position made it so his name would never be known, the man he reported to was different.

"Hm. It is a shame. We cannot touch Vanatos for as long as 'that man' is present. Call off the assassins that were waiting on the 21st Floor. They are temporarily unnecessary."

He, with his long white hair and snake-like appearance, was a man with a reputation in the Tower. He was also someone who could be called a father figure to Akia despite not being related to the late genius by blood.

The Cerulean Cross, Garrick Ionis, the leader of Dusk.

"Vanatos, huh…" Garrick muttered.

In fact, Dusk had already prepared to destroy Atlas from the moment he received the Serpentseal Mark from Akia. His decision to go to Vanatos was for his own sake, but he unknowingly saved himself from a world of trouble.

"No matter."

Garrick directed his attention back at his shadow.

"Continue to track the mark. If he ever re-enters the Tower, send the assassins immediately. If he instead decides to spend some time in the Neutral Zone…"

Garrick grinned.

"...then we may not have to raise our hands at all."

The shadow's brows perked up.

"Ah, you mean…"

"Indeed," Garrick said, cutting him off before he could continue.

"'That event' is going to start soon. He will either die in Vanatos, the realm he believed as his sanctuary, or he will die by our blades while chasing his ambitions."

Garrick didn't know who that man was or why he killed Akia, but it didn't matter.

They poured too many resources into him. At this rate, it would take decades before they could create another genius of his level.

'This is too big of a setback.'

There wasn't supposed to be a threat that could kill Akia that early in the Tower.

'I don't know how I'm going to report this to 'them.' I won't be off the hook until I can bring back that man's head.'

Akia was involved in things that neither he nor Atlas knew about. With his death, Atlas unintentionally involved himself in the plans and schemes of those who had been in the Tower for far, far longer than him.

However, while they plotted on his demise with information that he had no way of knowing, Atlas himself…

Well, Atlas was finding out that the boring few years he planned were not going to go according to plan in the slightest.

***

So how did such a situation come about?

Atlas spent the day exploring the city he was in. He wanted to know more about the ambiance of this place, and more importantly, he wanted to gain some information before leaving.

'From what I have gathered, the Neutral Zone is truly neutral in most places. There are specific zones where combat is allowed, but they are clearly delineated. As long as I avoid them until I need them, I will be fine.'

With this thought process, Atlas originally planned to leave the city and find a good place in the wild where he could train.

Where did things go astray?

Right, it was a meeting that happened a second time as if it was fated.

Atlas dashed through the forests, gazing across the various lakes and water bodies that littered the realm. That was when he noticed a commotion in the distance.

As the curious cultivator he was, he went over there to secretly observe the situation.

And that was when he came in contact with a person that he was not expecting to see.

'Am I fated to coincidentally meet my acquaintances everywhere I go?'

Arguing with another woman just a few meters away was none other than Artemia Tatsuya, a woman Atlas didn't think he'd see any time soon.

"Auntie, Mom said he'd be here any moment! Why are we just sitting around in the forest?!" She complained.

"Why? Because this is where your mother told us to wait. I know that you are anxious, but you really don't need to worry. Do you think they'll be hostile towards a friend of yours?" The woman she called "Auntie" responded.

"You know how they usually are," Artemia immediately interjected.

"It isn't hostility per se, but the environment… is not something you can just bring anyone into, right?"

"Hahaha, so that is what you're worried about. Do they really embarrass you that much? But, if that person can become friends with someone like you, then he will be fine regardless of what happens."

Atlas soon realized that their conversation was about him.

'How did they know I would appear here?'

Through context clues, he could affirm that Artemia's mother was the one who predicted his presence.

'She was with the people from Divine Sanctuary. Is her mother an important figure there? Whatever the case, it seems true that they wish to bring me to their clan for some reason.'

He had two courses of action he could follow from here.

He could reveal himself and go with Artemia and her Aunt, seeing what Divine Sanctuary had in store for him, or he could go on his way and disappear so that they couldn't find him.

There wasn't information readily available about the Great Societies, so Atlas didn't know much about them. To this day, in his mind, Dusk seemed like a greater and larger threat than Heaven's Gate because the people of Dusk were closer and truly pursuing him.

Heaven's Gate was an influence that had already forgotten about him. Until he gained some more strength, it was better to stay uninvolved with them.

Then, what about Divine Sanctuary?

'I do not have a hostile opinion of them. Artemia helped me when I was fleeing from Heaven's Gate, and her people did not participate in the manhunt. Overall, I am more prone to interact with them than anyone else.'

Plus, he owed Artemia a favor. If it weren't for her information, he wouldn't have been able to escape the 11th Floor nearly as smoothly.

[Huntress of the Night gazes upon you.]

[Huntress of the Night advises you to follow her future Apostle, saying that it will benefit you greatly.]

'If even this peculiar God is getting involved, then it must truly be worth something.'

He had to admit that he was interested.

'And in the worst-case scenario, they cannot keep me there if I do not want to stay.'

This was a Neutral Zone, right?

When Atlas looked back at this moment in the future, he could never decide whether that was his luckiest or unluckiest thought in this life.