"How unfortunate..."

With his legs casually crossed and cheek resting lazily against his palm, the Nature King gazed down at Atticus and Whisker with an almost bored expression.

Then his eyes paused on Whisker.

"You..." The Nature King’s gaze lingered on Whisker for a moment. "You’re one of mine, aren’t you?"

He observed him for a moment before tilting his head.

"Hm... Interesting. I can’t feel Nature’s Will from you at all. So you’re the defective I sensed earlier."

"Hah..." Whisker let out a dry laugh. "Of course your seed turned out defective. I have my mother to thank for that. Otherwise, something as pathetically useless as you could only produce garbage."

The Nature King blinked, visibly caught off guard.

"Oh? The defective knows me?" he muttered, sounding more curious than offended. "That’s unusual. I abandon most of my seeds. How exactly do you know me?"

He waved his hand lazily. One of the hollow eyed Nature Spawn instantly appeared beside him.

"Who is he?"

The spawn turned toward Whisker, studying him with empty eyes. A moment later, he bowed respectfully toward the Nature King.

"He’s Seum, Nature King," the hollow-eyed spawn answered. "He calls himself Whisker Von Pounce now. Son of Mistress Senith."

"Ah... Senith."

The Nature King’s eyes brightened faintly, almost nostalgic.

"Now that woman was memorable. I’ve missed her." His smile widened slightly. "Absolutely terrifying in bed."

Whisker’s expression darkened instantly. The Nature King either didn’t notice or simply didn’t care.

"I see..." His gaze returned to Whisker. "So you’re her son. I suppose the hatred makes sense now." He shrugged. "Unfortunately, my next conquest wanted her dead, so I killed her."

Whisker’s eyes slowly turned murderous.

The Nature King noticed immediately and smiled.

"Oh? So that’s what this is? You came all this way for revenge? Against me?"

The Nature King laughed.

The entire forest quaked with each booming sound, the pressure nearly forcing Atticus and Whisker off their feet. A moment later, the laughter gradually died down.

"A defective that still doesn’t know its place..."

The Nature King’s crimson eyes glowed with a predatory light.

"You really should’ve stayed hidden."

A smile slowly spread across his face.

"Kill him."

Five Nature Spawn vanished from the skies.

The world seemed to slow as Atticus turned toward Whisker, his perception accelerating to its limit.

"Will you be okay?"

Despite the slowed world, Whisker turned toward him with a grin.

"My star actor..." he said, the atmosphere around him changing. "I’ve fantasized about killing this man for centuries. I’m doing wonderful."

He slowly faced forward.

"I’ve waited my entire life for this."

The five Nature Spawn appeared in bursts of crackling light, weapons already descending.

Whisker remained standing there one moment, seemingly untouched and unmoving, and the next appeared behind them.

Five heads flew skyward.

"Hm..." The Nature King glanced at the five falling heads with mild surprise. "So the defective can bite a little after all."

He lazily waved his hand again.

"Go."

The hundreds of Nature Spawn vanished simultaneously. They reappeared throughout the forest, wills blazing around them as countless attacks tore through the surroundings.

Whisker grinned. It was feral, exposing every gleaming fang.

"Unshackle."

A formless wave erupted from him, whipping back his hair and billowing his clothes. The incoming attacks struck him... then phased harmlessly through his body like he wasn’t even there.

The explosions had barely thundered across the forest when a fiendish roar tore from Whisker’s throat.

He stomped forward. Dust exploded around him before he vanished.

Whoosh! Slash! Thud!

Whisker flickered across the battlefield like a phantom. One moment appearing before a Nature Spawn, the next already behind them as heads tumbled through the air.

It was as though the wills protecting them didn’t exist at all.

He came and went like a reaper harvesting lives.

The surviving Nature Spawn narrowed their eyes. Their wills blazed brighter as different arts erupted across the forest and surged toward Whisker from every direction.

"Hahahaha!"

Whisker’s fiendish laughter echoed throughout the battlefield as he blurred through the attacks. Every art phased harmlessly through him before he flashed past them again.

Thin lines spread across dozens of necks, then their heads went skyward.

Atticus eyes thinned. Even he found it difficult to follow Whisker with sight alone. If not for the enhancement Solvath’s power granted his perception, he doubted he would’ve been able to keep up at all.

’So this is his will.’

Whisker moved like someone completely unbound. One moment gliding effortlessly through the battlefield, the next appearing behind a Nature Spawn without the slightest warning.

It was as though the laws of the world held no meaning to him.

As though he was... free.

’True Will of Freedom.’

A faint smile tugged at Atticus’ lips. Given who Whisker was, it suited him perfectly.

"Manifest!"

Multiple colossal constructs erupted across the battlefield. Grotesque beasts towered into existence, titans formed from twisted roots rose skyward, endless spiraling vines swallowed the forest, while violent gales roared around their descending attacks.

Atticus exhaled slowly. Wisps of smoke curled from his body as the temperature around him steadily climbed.

’It’s time to stop holding back.’

Their true target was the Nature King. They couldn’t afford to waste time and energy dealing with ants.

Atticus stepped forward. Time seemed to slow.

The descending attacks, the ever-evolving forest, even Whisker’s slaughter... everything faded into insignificance. In that moment, the world seemed to contain only Atticus alone.

Countless will arts flashed through his mind before his focus settled on one.

"Obliterate."

His will exploded outward. The attacks. The massive constructs. The Nature Spawn... everything it touched was instantly reduced to ash.

The crimson force swallowed the forest and clawed into the skies, expanding into a massive dome of fire and destruction that surged in every direction.

The Nature King casually waved his arm.

Twisting roots erupted upward and collided against the inferno, halting its advance.

"Hm..."

Endless plumes of crimson smoke flooded the skies. Death and destruction consumed the battlefield.

The Nature Spawn were gone. Hundreds of his children, dead.

Yet the Nature King regarded it all with complete indifference.

"I guess..." he murmured, almost to himself, his chin still lazily propped against his palm, "they’re actually pretty strong."

Crack!

"Hm?"

The Nature King’s eyes flicked to the side before narrowing slightly.

Whisker had appeared beside him, grin stretched wide as fiendish laughter spilled from his mouth.

’How?’

For the first time, a trace of surprise surfaced in the Nature King’s eyes.

He wasn’t actively using his will, yet the space around him had always belonged to him. His domain. Not even someone on equal footing with him who specialized in teleportation should’ve been capable of appearing this close without resistance.

The Nature King scoffed, crimson eyes glowing faintly.

"Still useless."

His will lashed toward Whisker and swallowed him instantly. However... Whisker’s surging blade phased through it like mist.

The Nature King’s eyes thinned. Then his will blazed, releasing a crushing force that sent Whisker hurling backward.

Even then, the Nature King’s gaze never left him, silently analyzing.

"Vorpal Nova."

The Nature King’s head snapped upward.

Atticus hovered high above with his katana raised overhead, a violent crescent slash blazing behind him like a roaring inferno.

His arm dropped.

The slash erased the distance instantly and collided against the Nature King’s will.

BOOM!

The impact swallowed the battlefield in endless plumes of smoke and ash.

Atticus and Whisker appeared in the distance, their eyes fixed ahead.

"What do you think?" Whisker’s laughter echoed faintly through the haze. "Did we kill him already? Honestly, that’d be a little disappointing."

Atticus never looked away from the haze.

"It’s never that easy."

The smoke gradually cleared, revealing the Nature King still seated upon his throne, completely untouched.

A faint frown now rested on his face as he stared at the will surrounding him. Several moments had already passed, yet Atticus’ will continued clashing against it, slowly corroding away at the surface.

"...Annoying."

The Nature King’s eyes glowed faintly. Instantly, the crimson will vanished.

Atticus frowned. His will was meant to corrode endlessly regardless of how powerful another will was. Greater strength should only slow the process... not erase it entirely.

’It adapted.’

Aside from that, just as Atticus had expected, the Nature King had endured his will with little difficulty.

Unlike everyone he’d faced until now, this was a true willer from one of the major factions.

’He’s strong.’

Suddenly, the Nature King lifted his chin from his palm. He uncrossed his legs. Then, slowly, he rose to his feet.

Every movement was calm. Unhurried. Yet the pressure descending upon the battlefield became indescribable.

"I suppose..." His gaze settled on Atticus and Whisker. "Since I don’t have any useful toys left... I’ll discipline you myself."

The surrounding forest trembled as the Nature King slowly raised his hand.

"Genesis Forest."