Chapter 64 64: Same Words

Lancaster broke the door of the last room that he was yet to check and stepped inside.

The room appeared to be like a storage room that stank of blood. There were many wooden boxes in the room.

Lancaster went to the closest body and opened it to gaze inside.

As he opened the box, he noticed the box to be filled with bags of blood. He closed the box and moved to the next, which was no different either. The second box appeared to be filled with boxes of Blood as well.

Seeing the second box with blood, Lancaster had a feeling that this was the room where they kept their stock of blood. No wonder this room was so cold.

"So much blood..." Lancaster commented, observing thousands of such boxes. "But if all these boxes have blood, then where is Misella?"

"I checked all the other rooms thoroughly. She was nowhere. That must mean she can only be inside this room."

He kept moving from box to box, opening them all and checking inside. He really hoped he was going to find her here as he kept going through the boxes. If he didn't find her here, he didn't know how he was going to answer Atlas, who had his hopes set on him.

He moved like his life depended on it, tossing boxes that he had checked away to clear his path.

Ten minutes passed, and Lancaster was still to find anything other than the blood in the boxes.

****

Atlas had killed the old Witch who was creating a disturbance for him all this while. There was nothing to distract him or slow him down anymore. All that was left to deal with was Carlisle, who was standing in the distance.

Carlisle's luxurious clothes were covered in blood. It had been a long time since he had been hurt this bad.

"I can see you're strong. But what I can't understand is why us? Why did you target us? Why did you go to Severis to destroy his castle before coming to us? What is your enmity with us?" Carlisle asked, partially because he wanted to distract Atlas to have some time to heal himself, but mostly because he really was curious.

For Atlas to be this strong, he needed to be a really old Vampire, probably even older than them. And if he existed for so long, there must be a reason he was after them now. Carlisle didn't believe it was simply because Atlas hated the other lineage. If that were the case, he would've done this decades ago.

He hurt the Severis Clan just a few weeks ago, and now he was here. There was more going on than met the eyes, especially because a werewolf and a Witch were involved in this mess as well. Why were those three targeting him?

Initially, he would've assumed that the Witches had hired them to hurt him and steal the Book of Lilith, but if that were the case, they wouldn't have destroyed the castle of Severis first. It was more than just the book of Lilith.

"Why do you hate us?" Carlisle asked.

"You want to know why I'm here? You are the reason! After taking everything I held dear from me, you ask me why I hate you?" Atlas asked in disbelief.

This man... He was the reason why Atlas was all alone in this world! He did have Lancaster and Lilith, but those were just helping him. They didn't know the real him. They didn't go through what he went through! They weren't with him all their lives! There was only one person like that, and that person was lost because of Carlisle and Severis!

Just because those two wanted to play gods with the lives of the mortals, they took everything from him that he held dear.

"I don't even remember meeting you before, let alone taking anything from you! Did I do something that indirectly affected you?" Carlisle asked, still not understanding.

"Tell me, Carlisle, are you scared of me?" Atlas asked calmly.

Before Carlisle could say 'no', Atlas continued, "And why is it that you're scared? Do you think I'll eat you?"

Carlisle was confused about what this guy was talking about. Why was he talking nonsense?

Atlas didn't stop right there as he further continued, "You know, when you looked at me directly in the eyes. I thought I finally saw another person that wasn't scared of us... someone who wanted to challenge us. Apparently, there have been more and more people like you popping up who are drunk in arrogance. I thought you were one of them. However, listening to you, it seems that I was wrong, wasn't I?"

Finally, Carlisle felt something. These words... He remembered speaking almost exact words before...

"These are almost the same words I had spoken to that human girl. How do you know them?" Carlisle exclaimed. Even now, he hadn't put the pieces together. "Did someone from the Severis Clan tell you? Still, how is that relevant here? I asked you why you're after us."

"Don't tell me you are here taking revenge for that thing? That can't be possible. Those pests couldn't have known someone like you. So why?" he asked.

Atlas clenched his fist, still being called a pest right before his face, but he knew this wasn't wrong. In the past, they were weak. They couldn't even be considered anything.

"Let's play a game," he said. "If you want me to answer you, take one step forward. And if you don't want me to answer you, then remain standing there. It'll be a fun game."

Atlas used a similar game to what Carlisle had used with him, but this time in reverse. He couldn't use compulsion on Carlisle, but he could do something similar.

Carlisle calmly raised his foot to take one step ahead.

His foot was just about to land on the ground, but before he could, a fist landed on his chest, which sent him flying back.

Atlas stood where he was previously standing calmly. Carlisle landed on the ground in the distance, holding his chest.

"What are you doing?!" Carlisle roared in rage. He thought Atlas had asked him to take a step forward for an answer, but he himself stopped him from taking a step forward.

"Ah, so that's it." As he thought about it, he realized the truth.

He remembered the boy he had used compulsion on. He asked him to step forward if he wanted to save his sister's life but used compulsion to stop him from coming forward. He couldn't help but feel that the man really knew about that incident. Moreover, it also appeared as if he had taken that incident too seriously.

That could also explain why he hurt Severis and him both since those two were involved in that incident. He couldn't remember anything else in which the two of them were involved.

"Are you here for revenge because of what I did with those two? How do you know them? What are they to you?!" Carlisle asked.

"Let me remind you one thing. You can't give me the excuse that you can't move. You must have heard the saying of humans. Where there's a will, there's a way. If you want an answer, then you must move. If you don't, then I'll take that as my answer," Atlas stated as he kept his hands behind his back.

There was a time when Carlisle had the strength. He toyed with them at that time. Now that he had strength, he didn't want to leave Carlisle that easy.

Standing in the distance, a pair of eyes observed Atlas carefully. The young lady who stayed in Carlisle Castle and was treated like a very special individual stood calmly and didn't try to do anything.

"You think you can toy with me?!" Carlisle raged at being mocked. He couldn't help but feel like Atlas wanted to show that he was no less than a weak human before him!

Now he really wanted to prove Atlas wrong by taking a step ahead. It was a question of his dignity! He wanted to prove that he wasn't as weak as that human!

This time, he didn't take his time. His figure disappeared as he used his fastest speed. He appeared a few steps ahead.

"There! I did it! I proved that I'm not trash like that person! Just because I'm talking to you nicely doesn't mean you're stronger than me. We don't have the same power dynamics as I had with that mortal!" Carlisle declared arrogantly. "Now answer!"

Atlas wasn't phased. He hadn't even tried to stop Carlisle this time.

"Where were you standing when I issued this challenge?" Atlas calmly inquired.

Carlisle frowned as he realized that he was standing in place of Atlas previously when he was told to step ahead. Even though he took a few steps now, he still hadn't taken a step ahead from that point on. Instead, he was standing in the back despite stepping ahead. Technically, he hadn't fulfilled the challenge.

To fulfill the challenge, he needed to get past Atlas. That's why Atlas had sent him back in the first place. Now Carlisle needed to come to him, which left more chances of mistakes for him.

The figure of Carlisle flickered as he moved. It was as if he had disappeared entirely. Atlas also vanished at the same time.

By the time the two figures appeared again, the dynamics were quite different. The ankles of Carlisle were grabbed by Atlas.

It was as if Carlisle had attempted to send Atlas flying only to be caught instead.

Atlas brought his elbow down before Carlisle could even react. The elbow landed on the knee of Carlisle.

Tuck~

The right leg of Carlisle was bent in such a way that shouldn't have been possible. His leg was broken thoroughly.

Carlisle roared in pain as Atlas swung his body, still holding onto his leg.

After a short spin, Atlas released the leg of Carlisle, sending him flying.

In another part of the battlefield, Severis was bleeding all over, but he was still standing.