Tower of Heaven

Chapter 326 Destructive Ambition [5]

"Let's end it here."

Unaware of what was happening on the other side of the world, Atlas wrapped up his conversation with the envoy.

The envoy smiled at his words, bowing his body ninety degrees.

"Then, we look forward to our cooperation. May you be successful in your ventures until our next meeting."

A contract had already been established and signed. There wasn't any further reason for the envoy to remain in Alfros,

After giving his goodbyes, he disappeared without a trace along with the Dark Prism Formation, leaving Atlas alone in the city.

They had spoken of many different things. They discussed matters related to them and unrelated to them until Atlas was finally satisfied.

In the end, he decided to accept their help. He wouldn't immediately allow the cultivators they chose to become a part of Pangea, but with Alkatiya's help, he could fill up certain gaps with much more ease.

And, it wasn't just troops that they were willing to provide. Alkatiya wanted to support Pangea and form a good relationship that would last into the future. They were playing a long game that told of their opinion of Atlas Vaun.

Now, allowing others to invest in him as they wished and have stakes in his future wasn't Atlas' usual approach, but it was different this time.

'Alkatiya is not like the rest in that I am still unaware of where they stand. They may be supporting me, but with the terms of our relationship, I have no obligation to stand by them if they do something against my principles.'

Every time he thought about it, he was more convinced that their terms were far too favorable for him. It was as if they were fans of him rather than allies.

'Still, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been able to get such clear answers.'

Atlas looked up into the sky. The meteors that had been falling like no tomorrow had become sparse and distant. There were several minute-long intervals between each impact, and none of the meteors ever struck similar spots twice.

'The Phoenixes should have already taken care of the majority of the enemy force. As for those left in this realm…'

Alkatiya's first partnership with Atlas was there. He requested their help in eliminating any traces of the enemy force that slipped through the cracks.

'But, if what the Boar said is correct, then the Feng Clan will have little to no information about the attackers.'

The Boar– No, Alkatiya had an unimaginable wealth of information and an ability to learn things that others couldn't easily see.

'If they decided to sell information, they'd be at the level of Heaven's Eye.'

However, they were not in that business. They only gave Atlas the information he asked for as a gift to celebrate the start of their cooperation.

'If I had known, maybe I would have asked for something else.'

That didn't mean he wasn't happy with what he got. In fact, what he learned was much more significant than he originally expected.

'I have to return to the Phoenix Palace.'

It was already too late for him to pretend like he'd remained in the arena. If he returned now, he didn't doubt that there would already be several Phoenixes who noticed his disappearance.

'But that no longer matters.'

What he learned in exchange for breaking their sacred rules was valuable enough that he didn't have to worry about the consequences.

Shaking his head, Atlas stopped overthinking. He would have to regurgitate everything to the Feng Clan soon enough, so there was no point in theorizing on his own.

'It's not quite over yet.'

The Feng Clan Elders still had work left to do, seeing how the meteors hadn't completely halted their descent.

Nevertheless, it was over for Atlas. His meeting with Horus' group, the golden arrow, the Kitsune that was sitting on his shoulder, Alkatiya, and now these mysteries that went deeper than all the rest.

It was hard to believe that all of it had taken place in the span of only a few hours.

Atlas made his way back to the Phoenix Palace, looking at all of the destruction standing between him and the grand structure.

Yes, the meteor shower had ended before it could become something worse.

However, this realm had still been brought to ruin.

All due to the destructive ambitions of a single group of people.

***

Six Elders of the Feng Clan –including Feng Siyu and Feng Yixin– were trapped in the same crater where they felled their enemies.

They stood encircling the crack in the world with a large formation protecting them from any outside interference. They would be stuck here for another several months before their qi and the world's interference could close the crack entirely.

It was not a small problem. Even the meteor shower it caused was no more than a minor inconvenience.

In reality, a crack like this led to pure nothingness. Everything about the fabric of the world was gone, leaving only an empty abyss in its place. If that abyss were allowed to propagate as it pleased, it would consume Alfros and make it disappear completely within a matter of years.

That couldn't happen, so it was only natural that these six Elders put down their duties and focused on closing it. In the meantime, their fellow Elders led the younger Phoenixes in the rescue and restoration efforts.

Alfros had to go through a period of change.

There were many cities destroyed by the calamity, but many more were able to remain standing after taking varying degrees of damage. All of them had to be secured like Genvera so that they could survive the meteors that would be falling for the foreseeable future.

After all, with its Iron Dome, Genvera was the only city to remain completely unscathed in the end.

It could be seen that a majority of the Feng Clan was busy. They didn't have to do as much work to capture the enemy, but they still had a mountain of tasks to complete.

Still, not the entire clan was mobilized. When Atlas arrived back at the Phoenix Palace, he was greeted by the hostile looks of the surrounding Phoenixes. He didn't pay them any mind and found the first Elder he could, organizing a meeting.

It was simple, really. He only had to say that one phrase.

"I found out the perpetrators' identities."

He swore it on forces high enough to convince them, and within fifteen minutes, three Elders were gathered around a table with Atlas, staring him down and awaiting his words.

He looked between them. Their faces were new to him, but Feng Ziran was kind enough to find him and inform him of their identities before they actually met.

From right to left, they were Feng Meiyan, Feng Mengyao, and Feng Shiya. None of them were as important in the structure of the Feng Clan as Feng Siyu or Feng Yixin, but as Elders, all of them held weight.

More importantly, as the Elders were like a single entity, telling them was the same as telling Feng Yixin. The information would reach the right ears, and as he was sure of this, Atlas didn't hold back.

He had asked the Boar about many things. He wanted to know about this conflict at first, but he found that this conflict was not something entirely unrelated to him or the world that he had been living in.

He sighed before opening his mouth.

"I will not mince my words or talk in circles. In short, I received news from a mostly verifiable source that I cannot name. I welcome you to investigate on your own to determine the veracity of the information, but for now, I will only regurgitate it to you."

The three of them nodded. This was what they wanted as well.

"According to my sources, the perpetrators are part of a single Society. A Society known as Sea of Time."

Those words instantly caused a shift in expression in the faces of those three. Atlas had the same reaction when he first heard it.

This wasn't his first encounter with the Society, nor was it his second. They were the primary force searching for the Xuanying Treasure Pagoda back then, and later on, he saw them leaving Vanatos.

He assumed they were planning something in the 20th Floor Neutral Zone, but before anything happened there, something this big happened in Alfros.

Even Atlas didn't know if he could trust Alkatiya's information wholeheartedly. He wanted to use the Feng Clan to verify it all before he put his trust in them.

But, Sea of Time was known to be a mysterious Society that rarely showed itself to the world. Its members were secretive, and when they revealed their existence, it was always for the purpose of some grand mission.

However, that was not the reason why the three Elders had dark expressions on their faces.

That reason was nothing more than a rumor that Atlas had heard a few times, but seeing their reaction, it could be considered as fact.

Sea of Time was intrinsically connected to the Nihility Council.

All of a sudden, one more Great Society had started to embrace the chaos sweeping through the Tower.

And that could never be a good sign.