Tower of Heaven

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Only the sounds of battle filled the space. One man clashed against three other people at once, though the real number of enemies was instead five. The last two stood far away and attacked him from positions he couldn't reach without first defeating the sword practitioners around him.

This kind of situation had been present for many minutes already. Despite the passing of time, nothing seemed to change.

But, to those observing, this only made the battle more interesting.

After all, only a single person was holding back these strong cultivators with enough ease for the battle to look equal from an outside perspective.

And it was true that Atlas outperformed the expectations of everyone present.

It wasn't about his strength. Darian was aware that he was strong.

With every move that the three sword practitioners made, they were parried and turned away. There were three of them, but they were completely unable to encircle him after a certain point, even with the aid of those on the back line.

Their ordinary attacks were parried easily as if Atlas could see every single micromovement they made. When they immersed qi into their blades and utilized sword techniques, he skillfully danced around them like the Heavens themselves were guiding his path.

They had been able to land only flesh wounds at most. They watched those flesh wounds heal in front of their eyes and gritted their teeth.

The frustration in their eyes came from the wounds that he was inflicting on them.

The curved blades of his sickles were incredibly sharp and good for slashing, creating large gashes any time they were able to rip into flesh. If he got the opportunity to stab those blades into the body, he would gouge out as much flesh as he could before his victim pulled away.

His qi was mysterious. It was clear that he was a practitioner of multiple Daos, as the flames that filled the environment were matched by great spires of rock and growths of the surrounding foliage.

It seemed impossible to those watching, yet, even his multiple Daos were not what surprised Darian.

It was his stamina.

Atlas had a stamina that could outlast three cultivators at the same level easily. When the sword practitioners started to get tired, Atlas still hadn't shed a single drop of sweat.

The reason behind it was something Darian could have never expected.

Cultivators in the Mortal Realms did cultivate their bodies, but just like Atlas did before meeting Cain, they ignored Astral Energy.

Atlas' stamina was indeed powerful on its own due to his training and experience, but that already heightened stamina was further enhanced by Astral Energy to a level that his current enemies couldn't easily reach.

It flowed through his bloodstream and enhanced his entire body, giving him a source of energy that could even replace stamina if the need arose.

Unlike Spiritual Energy, Astral Energy didn't ambiently exist in the air. It was produced by the capabilities of the body, so it was not easy to replenish.

Still, a little amount of Astral Energy went a long way, as Atlas had found in the three months before this excursion.

This was only his first time trying to use the energy in real combat, but he was already more than satisfied with its effects.

Darian watched him carefully. He watched as the minutes passed. Atlas took damage, but always healed. On the other hand, his own three sword practitioners were losing energy and accumulating injuries. Their bodies were covered in cuts and bruises, and all of them were leaking blood from different places.

The expression on Darian's face was dark. The essence of their strategy was to use the enemy's stamina against them. Even the barrier formation had an added effect of boosting the stamina of those who had been marked by it; in other words, the three that Atlas was fighting.

How was he outlasting them? How was he able to do so much despite being restricted?

He wanted the answers to these questions, but Darian had no choice.

"Do it now."

"Now?"

The woman holding the formation disk echoed his question, and he nodded. They had no other choice but to act now and hope that they could still catch their enemy off-guard.

"At the next opportunity, do it."

The woman nodded and returned her attention to the battle.

Atlas was facing them, but his attention was entirely on his opponents. His image was reflected in her eyes as she focused on him, waiting until that perfect moment arrived.

Then, she poured all of her qi into the formation disk, causing it to rapidly spin and change its form.

Abruptly, the formation glowed with a great blue light. Within the barrier, hundreds of energy swords manifested themselves and shot towards Atlas. They were so fast that they left no time to react, arriving before him in a single second.

Atlas' eyes widened the moment he sensed the disturbance. His pupils swirled like they contained a storm. [Intrinsic Foresight] activated, slowing the world down to a crawl.

He saw the qi swords. He saw the formation that created them. He saw everything.

He never knew what to expect from them, but he had always had his ears peeled for the moment "something" happened.

Now, something was happening.

He was prepared to counter anything they threw at him.

In that split second, the Formation Spark connected to the Eyes of One. Atlas' gaze shot to the top of the formation despite the swords nearing his throat.

Within the slowed world, Atlas raised his hand and shot a concentrated blast at a position he chose completely on instinct. Your next read awaits at empire

At the same time, his body twisted to avoid as many swords as possible and the chain sickles flew out.

[Infinite Labyrinth]

A technique that Atlas had barely started to learn manifested itself in the world. Only then did time speed back up.

The sound of chains clanging against each other and screeching was the first thing that rang out, injuring the ears of everyone close enough.

If one had the perspective of a God, one would have seen it as such:

The formation lit up and fired several tens of qi swords. The three sword practitioners who had been pushing Atlas immediately started to withdraw.

In the very same moment, Atlas raised his arm and shot a strange burst of qi before spinning. Two chains flew out from his sides and flared out, revolving around him and infinitely expanding into a massive web of chains that cocooned him.

Then, the qi swords struck.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The first several swords slammed into the chain barrier and crumpled. However, they formed spaces in the chains that the other swords flew through. The moment the barrier was penetrated, it disappeared into thin air. Atlas appeared again, his body still in motion, and slammed the sickles that had mysteriously appeared back in his hands against the last four qi swords one after another.

His qi interacted with the foreign qi. He gritted his teeth with absolute focus and pushed his energy harder, forcefully changing the blades' path perfectly so that they shot towards the three sword practitioners.

They raised their blades to block the energy swords, but it was already too late. They were able to stop the swords from piercing them, but when the energy exploded, they went flying back, coughing blood as they slammed into the barrier wall.

While everyone was frozen in shock, Atlas didn't stop moving.

[Burst Step]

He dashed over to the three collapsed sword practitioners and held his blade to the throats of two of them. After dropping the last one to the ground and putting his knee on his neck, Atlas looked at Darian.

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass rang out. The amount of time it took for everything to occur was the same as the amount of time it took for Atlas' original qi blast to make contact with the formation.

It was not an ordinary qi blast. It contained a portion of energy that had been perfectly delineated by the Formation Spark.

And, it targeted the eye of the formation that was perfectly delineated by the same spark.

The moment it struck, its power exploded forth and shattered the eye of the formation, crumbling it and cracking the formation disk it was stored in.

It was as if Atlas had predicted everything from the start. The progression of those few seconds left everyone in shock.

Of course, when his next words came out of his mouth, they dropped into a pregnant silence and shattered it as well.

"Now what?"

Did Darian want to sacrifice his people, or did he want to stop this charade?

Atlas' goal from the start was never to kill the eight of them. He knew it wasn't possible without taking serious damage himself. He was in too exposed of a position, and more importantly, he still needed to destroy the alchemy factory once the battle ended.

So, he did not move to kill the three even though he could do so easily. He only stared at Darian and made his intentions known.

Unknowingly, Darian himself was the one to create the best situation for Atlas.

The leader of the First Sun Squadron met his gaze with cold eyes before sighing and waving his hand.

The woman next to him looked at him with hesitation in her eyes, but he only shook his head.

Left with no choice but to follow his lead, she took down the barrier.

"Leave them."

Darian entered the battleground and removed the gloves on his hands.

"You understood well."

Atlas didn't argue about it and dropped the three back to the ground. They were still conscious, but their wounds were severe enough. If they continued to fight now, they were bound to die.

Their captain also told them to stand down, so despite the rough treatment, they didn't say anything and only consumed their healing pills as they were dragged to safety by their comrades.

Meanwhile, Atlas and Darian faced each other.

"You wish to fight me instead of them."

"It's always easiest to target the leader, after all."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Are you hoping that I will retreat if I lose?"

"It was never about hope. Either you do so, or I start taking heads."

Darian's eyes narrowed at the bold claim. Unfortunately, he could not refute it. Unless they all left now, Atlas would at least be able to kill four of them before they could escape. Without his protection, they would be unable to stand against him.

Gritting his teeth, Darian realized that he had no choice but to agree to Atlas' terms. In but a few moments, the battle had completely shifted in his favor.

'Nothing changes as long as I win.'

In the end, all of the negative outcomes could only progress if he lost this duel.

So, to ensure the safety of his people, Darian was prepared to fight with his all.