Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground-Chapter 1166: Rules

"Good. That means I'm doing something right."

Atticus' words chilled the charred heart of the twins of bloom and blight. Their expressions hardened, but neither was given a chance to comprehend the events.

A surge of crimson spread out from Atticus and enveloped them. For a moment, both twins stared straight into his eyes.

They took in the light; wanting to help his family, protecting his world from evil forces that were them. Wanting to spend his days in peace, to live without any form of conflict. Just… silence.

Then, they took in the darkness.

Neither of them could see through it. It was pitch black, the kind of darkness that wouldn't fade even if a sun ignited in its middle.

Then, as Atticus's crimson will started to burn, they felt it.

The magnitude of the darkness hiding within those eyes.

They both shivered.

He was an unmatched talent, something they had never witnessed before. An anomaly in the flesh. However, in those eyes, they saw a child that wanted to burn down the world… and the people in it.

As the Twins of Bloom and Blight began fading into nothingness, only one word escaped their mouths in unison.

"Monster."

The crimson will engulfed them, leaving behind nothing but the scent of burning flesh. Not even a flicker of their will remained in the world. Only nothingness.

'Monster, huh.'

Atticus stared at where the twins had been lying, eyes clouded.

He had completely lost his smile.

'What was that?'

Atticus, of all people, had grinned during battle.

'I really accepted everything…'

He knew how the change had come to be, but it still shocked him. For years now, Atticus had been suppressing this dark side of himself, the side that wanted to destroy the world and its people if it meant a more peaceful future.

And now that he had suddenly released it, it was as though he had opened Pandora's box, unleashing a nightmare upon the world.

Usually, when he killed, no matter how little, Atticus always forced himself to feel a pang of regret.

He drowned that feeling out by claiming it had all been because he was stepped on first.

But the truth was, it had always been a lie.

A lie he forced himself to believe.

The truth was that since the first time Atticus had killed, back at the Ravens Camp when the Obsidian Order attacked, he hadn't felt a thing.

It had been baffling.

It had frightened him.

Could he still be considered human when he took another's life and felt absolutely nothing?

Atticus had battled with these questions.

To be human was to feel. That was what society had made many believe.

And the only exception to that… was being a psychopath.

But Atticus didn't want to be a psychopath. So he forged that lie.

Forced himself into an internal war, all in hopes of seeming human. But now, the cat was out of the bag.

He had killed the twins.

He had caused the deaths of thousands, if not more.

And he would still kill.

Yet despite all of this… Atticus felt utterly nothing.

No remorse.

No frustration.

No sadness.

The truth was, he had never truly cared about people who weren't close to him.

If they weren't in his circle, they weren't anywhere.

This was the part of him that Atticus had just unleashed.

And to celebrate being trapped in a prison for years… Atticus had lost track of himself, and grinned during battle.

'I was enjoying it.'

That was the part that made his smile disappear.

Grinning and laughing while fighting to kill was deranged in its entirety.

He had been so relieved to stop suppressing himself, that he let go too far and lost himself to the darkness, even if just for a moment.

He didn't want that.

He wasn't denying the darkness inside him. However, it wasn't who he fully was.

It was one side of him, the side that wanted chaos.

And the other side… simply wanted to live peacefully with his family.

'I have to meet in the middle.'

That was the purpose of this intense contemplation. He had to determine how he would move forward.

Though Atticus had embraced the darkness, he valued control above all.

He needed to be certain that he could control himself, that he wasn't acting out of enjoyment.

He needed to ground himself. Which was why Atticus decided on a rule.

He would kill. He would commit carnage. He would end worlds.

But it would never be done out of enjoyment.

Only necessity.

Atticus's eyes glowed a bright crimson as his will flared.

He had made his choice.

Then, he stretched out his arm and looked at his palm.

The crimson cloak surrounding him suddenly converged, compressing into a tight orb of intense crimson light that hovered above his palm.

'It became stronger…'

Atticus's will had just consumed Kaelith and Lysara's will.

Now, it felt sturdier, denser.

Although they had technically been burned due to the concept of his will, Atticus had just discovered something else.

'As long as they get burnt inside my will… I can absorb them.'

That meant, during battles where his will burned others, he wouldn't be able to absorb them unless they were completely enveloped.

'At the end of fights, it is.'

It would shock many, but Atticus had come up with the idea of compressing his will on the spot.

He was reminded of the day he formed his first domain and compressed it. And now, seeing it succeed again… it brought a rare satisfaction.

'Whisker said there's a way to measure the strength and sturdiness of a will… but only in the middle planes.'

But Atticus pushed that thought aside. There were more pressing matters at hand.

Still, before he got to them, his gaze shifted, eyes narrowing toward the distant horizon.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

Only one voice responded.

"Kuu!"

'Noctis?'

"Dada! Noctis, come?"

'No, I'm fine. What about Ozeroth?'

Atticus fell silent as Noctis tried his best to explain.

The little guy had Atticus's intelligence… and yet still somehow found it impossible to speak English properly.

A mystery of the ages, or so Ozeroth would call it. freёnovelkiss.com

By the end of the explanation, Atticus's eyes narrowed further.

'Something in the Human Domain?'

He still wasn't used to it, but Atticus heightened his senses.

His will was already spread across most parts of Eldoralth, and now he could feel faint traces of everything within it.

He was still a bit sloppy, but with some focus… he narrowed in.

And his eyes widened.

'Spiritual energy?'