Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground - Chapter 1499 Finally
Chapter 1499 Finally
Merek had witnessed many impossible things in his life.
The middle planes were vast and overflowing with wonders. A millennium spent climbing through the ranks had taught him that the universe held countless inexplicable phenomena.
He had learned to simply accept such things when he encountered them. It was easier that way.
But what unfolded before him could not stand beside those unexplainable oddities. Those were distant mysteries. This was something that violated the very idea of “impossible.” Impossible things were meant to stay impossible. Nothing should have had the right to drag them into reality.
And yet, before his eyes, one had.
‘What… is happening?’
Merek felt his heart pounding as the wills of the Redflames he’d been about to absorb spiraled around Atticus before assimilating with him.
‘He copied it?’
It was unthinkable. To copy a will art of such complexity and magnitude in seconds was unheard of. This was why Atticus had chosen to get so close. Why he’d ignored Merek and aimed for the weaker generals.
‘He set this up from the start.’
Merek clenched his fist so hard the air shuddered. “What… what are you?”
Atticus’ burning gaze locked onto his. His hand closed around his katana, the blade trembling in its sheath as his swelling will twisted the air into rippling heat. “I’m the last thing you’ll ever see.” Merek’s eyes flew open as Atticus vanished, a scorching trail left in his wake. Heat struck into him a heartbeat before a world splitting slash descended from above. His instinct forced his arms up, his will snapping into a gauntlet that met the attack in a flash that stole the world from view. A violent tremor shot through Merek’s body, followed by a sudden surge of pain. His eyes trembled.
‘I–I l–lost.’
The scorching wind crushed against his back as he was flung through the horizon in a streak of red. Trees vaporized before contact, erupting into clouds of black ash. The ground beneath him glazed over into molten glass from the heat chasing his wake. Merek gritted his teeth as the agony hammered through him. For a Redflame viscount to feel heat from a will that wasn’t Redflame was beyond humiliating, yet this boy seemed intent on making the impossible possible. ‘Get a grip!’
Merek spun and twisted, his hair and attire whipping violently around him. From that blow alone, he could already tell how haggard he must look, but that was the least of his concerns.
‘He burned my gauntlet.’
An artifact of that quality, destroyed in a single clash. What in the gods was the boy’s weapon made of?
The temperature spiked. Merek snapped his head up just as Atticus appeared before him in a streak of light, his will blazing like a storm of white fire. He drove his katana forward in a thrust that carved a vacuum in the air. ‘I can’t clash directly!’
“Solar Drift.”
He flickered aside, feeling the air scream as the thrust tore past. His arms fired forward toward Atticus’ head, only for his eyes to flash gold.
“Solar Drift.”
Atticus flickered away, evading the punch that tore through the horizon. He reappeared in a spinning arc, katana whirling toward Merek.
He vanished just in time, but Atticus was relentless. His body moved like pure fire. Fire was him. He flickered in rapid succession, sending attacks that burned the air from every direction.
Merek could barely evade, vanishing and reappearing helplessly as his mind raced. ‘He’s ascended to the peak of the Viscount rank.’
The death of his generals and the subsequent assimilation had made it undeniable. Atticus now stood as a peak Viscount, equal to him. Only…
‘True will.’
Merek had encountered many true willers before, even some on his level. But none possessed a will as potent and overwhelming as this boy’s. At the same rank, that true will formed a gap so vast no will art could ever hope to bridge it.
His heart pounded as he barely evaded another strike, the heat licking across his sweat drenched face.
‘I can’t win.’
He gnashed his teeth. The thought scraped against his pride like a blade. He ruled the Redflames in the Viscount layer. He was a man of influence and promise. Admitting defeat was admitting weakness. And with the Redflame powers watching this battle from afar, losing here was the same as signing his death.
‘I have to win. No matter what…’
He felt the distant wills of his army, and an idea sparked in his mind.
“Rift Flash.”
His will surged, and he vanished, reappearing high above a raging battlefield. Scarlet flames flooded the land, and the clangorous crash of metal against metal rose to meet him.
‘I have to win. Anything it takes…’
At his appearance, the temperature of the battlefield spiked so fiercely that both the resistance and Redflame forces froze, turning skyward toward his blazing form hovering above.
“It’s Lord Merek!”
“Yes, finally! He’ll end this!”
The Redflame viscounts and champions erupted into cheers, while the expressions of the surviving resistance members drained pale. Even Anorah and Whisker paused their fight, eyes narrowing.
Merek’s gaze sharpened at the streak of light racing toward him at insane speed. Atticus was almost upon him. He quickly raised his arm.
‘It’ll work.’
His will surged through him as his voice boomed across the land.
“Solstice Annihilation!”
His will burst outward, spreading behind him as a sun ignited in the night sky, swallowing the moon whole. Scorching rays poured down upon the land. Trees shriveled instantly, and even the gods were forced to reinforce their wills just to keep their bodies intact.
The Redflames’ chanting intensified, roaring in victory, until Merek’s eyes drifted toward them. They froze.
Beams of light tore from the artificial sun, spearing down into the Redflames below and turning them into charred husks. Their screams echoed through the battlefield as the remaining Redflame viscounts stared at Merek in horror.
“L-lord Merek! What are you doing!?”
Merek waved his hand. More beams descended, reducing them to ash.
“Run!”
“He’s killing us!”
