Tower of Heaven

"Horus…"

It had been some time since the last time Atlas saw the bird-headed genius, but it definitely wasn't a coincidence that they met here.

'After seeing his performance in the trial of wood, I was already certain that he would make it far.'

Compared to someone like Akia, Horus still had more talent. On top of that, Horus knew how to think things through before he did them. This was a trait that was bound to carry him far in life.

Only, something told Atlas that the Horus in front of him was different from the one he traveled with.

"Are you not going to speak?"

He approached slowly. Despite Horus being a familiar face, Atlas still put his guard up. He was not just being careful. No, from the moment he noticed that only he and Horus were in this room, he was expecting a battle.

Horus' behavior only made him more certain.

His face was stern. His eyes did not recognize Atlas as a friend or an associate, but instead as a target.

Atlas glanced beside him. It was hard to continue without addressing the elephant in the room.

It was not a door, but an "area."

There was a structure in the middle of the room. From within, one could see green fog oozing out. It didn't look anything like a coffin, but it was the place where the owner of this tomb rested.

And, clearly, it was more than just the regular reward of the trial.

'From the beginning, none of us were fighting for the ordinary rewards.'

If he wanted that, Atlas could've been done with this trial a long time ago.

Really, every single person in the tomb was fighting for the hidden reward. Those who weren't fit for it were expelled and either failed or passed.

It still looked like Akia, Selia, and the others were candidates for the hidden reward, but that was never the case.

Only Atlas and Horus met the qualifications.

And clearly, Horus wasn't happy about that.

'Whoever walks into that structure first will be the final victor.'

Horus was here first and didn't enter it, which meant that they needed to fight first.

'For that reason, he has prepared himself thoroughly to destroy whoever appears as his enemy, and the person who is to deal with such a Horus is none other than me.'

Atlas nodded to himself.

"Very well."

So be it.

"If you desire a fight, then I will give you one. I do not know what kind of reward motivates you, but I will not make it easy for you to get it."

Horus swept his leg back and raised his arms to take a stance.

"Not even you will stand in between me and my goals."

With one sentence alone, Horus made it clear that he saw Atlas differently from the masses. He understood that the man hid most of his strengths.

He knew that despite being an Earth Sage, this Core Formation Realm genius could absolutely usurp him if he dropped his guard.

Horus' fists and forearms were already decorated with golden gauntlets. In kind, Atas drew his chain-sickles.

The atmosphere was so silent in that moment that even a single bit of dust falling to the floor could be heard.

And in the next, that silence was destroyed.

Boom!

Atlas and Horus both shot forward. Two sickle blades went against two gauntlets. The metal clashed and sparked. The qi they infused into their weapons clashed as well, making the sparks even brighter.

Both men gritted their teeth and pushed into each other. They didn't want to lose momentum so early into the battle. However, if it was a battle of qi and sheer power alone, Horus was always bound to win.

Bang!

Atlas loosened his grip and stepped back. He allowed his chain-sickles to take the damage for him and fly out of his grip, but in the next second, they'd already returned to their proper positions.

'He is strong.'

Unmistakably, Horus had more than enough strength to reach this point.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Atlas rushed back into battle and continued the clash regardless.

Even though he was facing weapons that were essentially just fists, he was still able to parry properly. He wasn't fast enough to break Horus' guard, but he could do more than enough to keep himself from taking hits either.

As he fought, he continued to analyze his opponent's strengths. His eyes swirled with the light of [Intrinsic Foresight], and every moment became a snapshot in Atlas' mind that further characterized his opponent.

'He is skilled with his qi. That energy…seems similar to the Dao of Life, however, it is not so simple.'

Horus studied a unique Dao that Atlas wasn't familiar with. The Great Dao was infinite, after all. Even someone with thousands of years of experience like Atlas couldn't say that he knew everything about it.

'It has similarities to Daos that I have experienced. Horus himself is still inexperienced as well. There are openings that I can exploit.'

Power was not the answer this time as well. Until Atlas managed to reach a higher realm, power would never be the answer.

'Nevertheless, the power that I have is enough to support me.'

Atlas pushed back again and made distance. Horus gave chase without wasting a second, but that was exactly what Atlas wanted.

[Exploding Runes] Exclusive content from m,v lem|p,yr

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Horus was suddenly engulfed in flames. He gritted his beak and narrowed his eyes, enveloping his entire body in qi.

Earth Sage was the first realm of cultivation where practitioners could use qi to defend themselves and attack at the first time. Though Atlas forced him to put more qi into his defense, Horus could still swipe his arms and push the flames away, charging through them as if they were nothing.

"Tch!"

Atlas clicked his tongue.

'As expected, I cannot trap him so easily.'

[Flame Wheel]

[Flame Thunder]

A bolt of lightning-like flames hid itself within a wheel of the same element. As Horus tried to push the Flame Wheel aside, the Flame Thunder exploded, scorching his gauntlets and forcing him back.

Atlas didn't have a proper method to defeat Horus yet.

However, he couldn't let up on his attack and give his opponent the momentum. If Horus had the momentum, Atlas was sure to suffer.

'Huu… I need more strength.'

The moves he relied on thus far were not enough.

Atlas threw his chain-sickles and manipulated them to approach Horus from both sides. They were struck away, but with a furious pull of the chains, Atlas brought them back to attack again.

Bang! Bang!

[Flame Thunder]

Boom!

Horus stepped back. The Flame Thunder met a wall of qi, but Atlas could see that the attack was able to make a difference.

'Piercing power is the answer.'

Piercing power…piercing power…

As Atlas randomly attacked to keep Horus back, he thought about every possible attack he knew that had good piercing power.

The list was compiled and shortened within some seconds, and of the shortened list, Atlas chose the ones that were most useful.

'There are levels above, but they do not matter. At this point in my journey, my grand repertoire is my greatest strength.'

Horus was stronger than him and had defenses that seemed impossible to penetrate, but he was still confident in his odds.

He would win this fight.

Not to get to the final reward of this trial, but to prove that he was the man he saw himself as.