Tower of Heaven

"As long as you can put this around the child’s neck, it will calm down."

Feng Ziran’s words were almost drowned out in the chaos, but Atlas barely managed to hear them.

He looked up at the item in her hands with strained eyes. It was a golden band with a sleek design that looked more like a bracelet than anything else.

"It will expand if you fill it with qi! When it’s around the child’s neck, you will form a temporary slave contract with it, making you its master. This is the only way."

Feng Ziran was a Divine Beast. For her to be telling him, a human, to enslave another Divine Beast…

It was because she knew that she would not be able to move from this position without dying. If it was him, there was a chance that he could make it to the center of the storm.

Each and every word caused her great pain, but she had to speak them.

Atlas looked out at the blazing hellstorm beyond their defenses and gritted his teeth.

He knew what would happen to him if he entered it, but it was also exactly what he knew he needed to do.

"Stay on the lookout. If I need support, provide it. This shelter will hold for maybe a minute or two after I stop supporting it, so stay aware."

Rather than using words, Feng Ziran responded with only a nod. It was enough for Atlas.

He took one last look at the storm and mourned the pain his body would be experiencing for the next few days. After praying for himself, he immediately stepped out of the protective cover.

[Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal says he got back just in time.]

[Treacherous Phoenix sighs, saying a huge crowd will gather soon.]

[Many Gods are setting their sights on you.]

[Many Demons are setting their sights on you.]

The audience that had left Atlas a long time back was reconvening one member at a time. Excitement had returned to their favorite new Ascender’s life, so they were not going to miss it.

Seeing the random messages appearing in the corner of his eye during such a dire moment, Atlas couldn’t help but smile.

Right, perhaps having Gods cheering him on did make life a little more exciting.

But, then again, that excitement was quelled in the next moment.

"KHHH…!"

Atlas stepped foot into the blaze.

[Lightning Shadow Steps]

Desperately using any means to keep himself in motion so he didn’t attract the flames, Atlas zig-zagged through the hellstorm.

[Intrinsic Foresight]

His eyes swirled with great power as his vision expanded to another level. He searched for the beast he was aiming for, collar in hand.

It was no longer about killing. The goal had once again become subjugation.

’I don’t know of a single slave collar that can subdue a Divine Beast.’

One needed special artifacts for such greedy ambitions. Feng Ziran, as a member of the Feng Clan, didn’t seem like someone who would possess greedy ambitions towards other Divine Beasts, however…

’...regardless of anything else, I have to trust that her words about this collar are true.’

Because if they weren’t, then he would have to truly risk his life in order to bring this conflict to a close.

Doubt had never plagued Atlas’ mind, and it wouldn’t today either. Still, he thought about such possibilities as he felt the heat of the flames dancing against his skin.

The pain kept him awake and conscious. His eyes felt like they were going to melt, but he kept them wide open.

That fox had to be somewhere within these flames. It had to be–

"ARGHH!"

Atlas’ neck snapped back as a sudden jolt of pain shot up his spine. His body became a bullet of light in the next moment as he avoided the flames, but it had to be remembered that he was seeing the world in slow motion.

Even through the pain of his back being seared, he noticed what he saw in the air.

[Perfect Adaptability has activated.]

[You have gained partial immunity to the [Divine Mirage] status effect.]

This time, the flames themselves were absolutely real. However, hidden within the red skies of this hell was a certain white fox cub, disguising itself as nothing more than another piece of the Heavens.

’You can’t hide this time.’

He had to end it now before things got worse.

Atlas planted his feet into the ground.

[Great Mountain Stomp]

Bang!

The force he put into the ground propelled him upward. With [Astral Step] following soon after, Atlas was airborne in seconds. He dashed to the spot in the sky where the fox was hiding and pushed his fist forward.

[Dominating Fist]

Bang!

A single fist technique wasn’t anywhere near enough force to break the illusion, but it was enough to tell the beast that it couldn’t hide. It canceled the illusion on its own and raised its head in the air as it jumped back.

ROOOAAAR–!

The hellstorm coagulated around Atlas to form an array of flaming tornadoes.

WHOOOOSH!

They filled the air with sound that made Atlas’ ears bleed and forced him away. Despite the force and pressure, he continued to push forward.

The flames pressed against his skin and evaporated it, leaving several pieces of his body an exposed fleshy pink color, but he continued to push forward.

"DAMMIT!"

He cursed out loud, forcing his body to move as he wanted it to. For several tens of kilometers, all that existed was fire. If he didn’t win here, escape wasn’t an option.

BANG!

Atlas blasted through the air and approached the fox before it could back away further. He raised the collar above his head, but before he could put it around its neck, the Kitsune’s body erupted with even hotter flames that were becoming much redder by the second.

VOOM!

Atlas stumbled back, barely holding himself in the air.

’I can’t approach.’

His arms would be incinerated before he could do anything. He wouldn’t be able to put the collar on that beast if those flames weren’t interrupted.

’How

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Unable to finish his thought, Atlas returned to dodging. He couldn’t think of an immediate solution, but he was lucky this time.

He wasn’t alone.

He saw it out of the corner of his eyes. A red shadow shot through the air behind the fox as it focused on him and latched onto its back.

"Atlas!"

Her single word echoed through the air before her body became one with the flames. She made no more sound, but that was only because she was unable to.

The flames around the beast changed color from a dark red back to a lighter orange-yellow color.

’Her flames are mixing with its flame.’

She was creating the opening he was searching for. He couldn’t waste it.

Atlas rushed forward with all of his power. Every muscle in his body screamed in exhaustion, but he forced himself to shoot through the air and reach there.

"AAAARGGH!"

[Astral Step]

Whoooosh!

Atlas roared, telling his body to continue even as he slammed shoulder-first into the beast’s chest.

BANG!

"KHHH…!"

The flames consumed him as well. It was bound to happen. However, within the burning chaos, he felt the warm flames Feng Ziran was using to protect his body.

He couldn’t lose this moment. This flaming hell had to end now.

All of the pain in his body became inconsequential as he raised his arms in the air, and–

CLANG!

–a huge sound suddenly echoed through the Heavens as Atlas brought those arms down and slammed the expanding golden collar onto the fox’s neck.

Silence reigned for a moment as a bright flash of light consumed the beast. Feng Ziran jumped off of its back, shoving several healing pills in her mouth to support the natural regeneration healing her wounds.

Atlas wanted to prepare himself to fight again, but he couldn’t. In the seconds following that flash of light, the hellstorm around them disappeared as if it never existed in the first place.

Silence and an aura of peace fell over the ruins of Gearven, leaving Atlas with only one final question.

Was it…over?

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