Chapter 169 169: Failure

Multiple Franc Clan Members stood before Atlas, all looking lifeless, but only one was being used by Yovana to talk to Atlas.

By engaging him in conversation, she actually wanted to sway him to her side, but at the same time, she also did it to delay him to some extent. As long as she succeeded in taking over Atlan, she could discuss more thoroughly.

"Change the world?" Atlas repeated. It was certainly his goal in the past, but that was before he found out that he could bring people back to life. Now his goal was different. He cared very little about the world at this point and more about gathering the remaining key Fragments.

He only had less than a month left. He couldn't waste that time by supporting Yovana and fighting the other Progenitors. He was already getting tired of running around back and forth. He had already taken Lucius' Fragment. Going against Lucius once again was no less than wasting time for him.

"Why should I trust you?" Atlas asked. "Why should I believe you will help me after getting Atlan's body?"

"I'm way more trustworthy than Lilith and the Progenitors. We are both in the same boat, so we definitely need to support each other."

"If you want me to trust you, don't you need to trust me as well? If you don't, then you can betray me anytime."

"Of course, I trust you'll help me. Why else would I offer you to join my side?"

"If you trust me, let me pass through. Let me guard the core of the formation. Can you do that?" Atlas inquired, using a bait of his own. If she wanted his support, she needed to take the bait and trust him. But if she did, he could get to her much faster.

Best

Even Yovana knew that it was a risky step. She directly refused. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen at such a crucial point. Especially since Lilith is still alive. If you kill her, I can let you come to the Core. Until then, I can't let anyone enter."

"Remember, on our goal to change the World, Lilith is the biggest obstruction. You need to take her out! Remember, she will never be truly loyal to you! She's a stooge of the Progenitors. The moment one wants to make a return, she'll backstab you in a heartbeat. If she saw you at the core, siding with me, she might get impatient and take extreme steps."

"That's why, until she is killed, I can't let her know you're siding with me. And thus, I can't allow you near me. If you do want to come near me, Lilith needs to die first!"

Yovana wasn't a fool. She wasn't naive either. She considered the possibility of Atlas bluffing to destroy the formation core. However, she also considered that maybe he was genuinely testing if she could trust him.

That's why she didn't just refuse him. She gave him an excuse as to why she was refusing, making it seem as if it wasn't related to the Progenitors.

'As expected, she won't fall for it. She's also intentionally delaying me. It seems fighting is the only option.'

Atlas observed the Mages that were blocking his path and considered his options.

"Then so be it... Since you reject, I also reject."

He used the Mist Shroud, covering his surroundings in strange mist after memorizing the positions of all the enemies. He dashed straight into the crowd of the Mages.

"Wind Blast!" All the Mages raised their hand in unison, using the Wind Blast at the same time.

A massive burst of wind explosion occurred before them. The powerful explosion hit Atlas the worst, sending him flying back.

All the Mages came out of the mist, watching Atlas land on his feet safely.

"Atlas, as I said, you can't stop me. I didn't invite you to my side because I was afraid of you. I invited you because I thought you were like me... Someone trying to mold the cruel world in a better shape so what happened to them didn't happen to others. It seems I was wrong..."

"You aren't like me. Instead, it seems you're just a coward who is happy with the status quo. So disappointing."

The fifty mages still blocked Atlas' path, who was slightly taken aback at the combined strength of the wind blast. The wind blast was no weaker than what Lilith could use. He wondered if this was the power of multiple people using the same spell at the same time.

It was like he was fighting Lilith... In any case, these people were only more dangerous than Lilith since they didn't have human emotions. They didn't feel pain or fear. It was the hardest to face people like them, especially if they all worked together.

****

In another place, Lancaster had imagined having a much easier time taking care of the enemies since there were only ten mages before him, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Just those ten were giving him a hard time since he couldn't use spells like Lilith or Atlas. He was a close-range fighter instead, but the Mages here didn't let him get close.

Invisible chains wrapped around Lancaster's hands, keeping him in place.

"As I told you before... You are too weak."

Lancaster tried to pull his hands together, but he failed as there was something akin to Fifty chains tying him, and not just one. Moreover, all those were made using Lilith's spell.

"I am not weak!" Lancaster roared at the top of his lungs. He was tired of hearing that he was weak! Castiel told him he was weak. Razil told him that he was too weak! And now Yovana was saying the same thing!

The rage... The discontent... All the negative feelings were already inside him, about being called weak so many times, but hearing that one more time, he couldn't take it anymore.

His rage overwhelmed him. His eyes started shining, and his vision slightly turned blood red. His body started getting bigger. His roar that sounded like the roar of a human was now sounding like the roar of a wild beast.

Lancaster transformed into beast form, but there was something different this time. He was slightly bigger in his world form than he was last time. Even the Royal Mark on his forehead was slightly bigger!

Rooarr~

The Wolf shattered the chains with his raw strength before leaping ahead. As for his speed... If Atlas were here, even he would've been stunned to see Lancaster's speed!