Tower of Heaven

As they estimated, Gloria was the newest and weakest of the perpetrator's disciples. In fact, the next closest to her in cultivation was an expert at the World Core Realm.

It was hard to imagine that Atlas was already encountering someone who had the same strength that he held in his past life, but that was the world he'd been reborn into. The World Core Realm was no longer anything special.

It, just like every other realm of cultivation, was a mere stepping stone in the path of a cultivator.

And when Atlas and Artemia arrived at the next camp, that fact was reinforced in his mind.

It started raining at some point. It was an eerie sight in the crimson moonlight, but the cold droplets actually brought sense into the minds of those controlled by blood.

The roaring thunder and the strikes of lightning created quite the atmosphere as well, especially with the heroic sight that was in front of the two young geniuses.

He stood atop a true pile of corpses with his spear through the heart of a cloaked man. His hood had fallen over his head as his body drooped over the spear, but through the gaps, one could see that his body was also mostly mechanical.

There was a subtle green glow emanating from the armored prosthetics, delineating them from the artifacts in Gloria's possession.

Unfortunately, Atlas would not be able to witness their power. Their owner had already been decimated by the man holding the spear.

Naturally, from someone who could annihilate a World Core Realm expert and his party, the two measly Earth Sages could not hide. His gaze found them immediately, making them jump.

However, his presence was not unwelcome.

"Hey, when did you get back?!" Artemia shouted, jumping out of her hiding place in the bushes.

Atlas stood up and followed her while scratching his head. He didn't need to be introduced to the man. He had heard enough about him to make his ears bleed.

Artemia ran up to him with a grin on her face.

"Did you do it?" She asked eagerly.

The man rolled his eyes, throwing the enemy off of his spear and facing her.

"What, were you doubting me? Of course I did it!"

"Nice!"

The man ruffled her hair with a smile, turning his head to Atlas as he approached.

"And you must be the one that Father can't stop yapping about. It's nice to finally meet you, Atlas."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

Right, Artemia was never an only child. Merely, her two elder brothers were both in the Tower. The eldest of them was clearly still there, but her second brother, otherwise known as Malik Tatsuya, was right here in front of them.

"I've been wanting to spar you," Malik said.

"From what Father says, it'll be fun even though you're weak right now."

It was a tad bit insulting, but it didn't come from a bad place. After all, Malik was in the Stellar Revolution Realm. He was an Immortal, so how could he not see an Earth Sage as weak?

Atlas shook his head with a small smile.

"We can think about sparring at another time. There are more pressing matters to deal with first, no?"

"No. Really, it isn't as pressing as you're thinking.

It was a surprising response.

"Actually, Mother had everything planned out from the beginning. I'll assume you know what the Cleansing Spirit Talisman is capable of?"

Atlas nodded.

"Well, every single member of our clan that was mobilized to deal with this situation is wearing one of those."

Malik didn't have to say anything more.

"If there are thousands or more Azure Dragons in the world right now wearing Cleansing Spirit Talismans, then the influence of the Blood Moon will be rapidly diminished."

As Malik said, the issue wasn't extremely pressing.

"That guy came with five disciples. He didn't bring an army. Mostly, formations are being used instead of strength to subdue the rampaging demons. The majority of our active members are working on getting rid of the Blood Moon and erasing the phenomenon."

Atlas didn't feel like he'd had the opportunity to do much, but perhaps that was a good thing.

And, in the eyes of others, he'd done more than enough. After all, he was not technically involved in this conflict, yet, he saved Artemia and the geniuses of the other divine beast clans. His reputation among them was already quite high.

Atlas remained unaware of such things for now, and as he continued conversing with Malik and learning more about the situation, both of their gazes shot in a certain direction.

BOOOOOOOOM!
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It was a massive explosion. More massive than Atlas had ever seen. An entire mountain was blown away, and it wasn't even directly in the path of destruction.

"Haa, I guess Dad went on a rampage again," Artemia sighed in annoyance.

Malik nodded in agreement.

"Yup. He must've found a worthy opponent. He usually doesn't get this excited when he fights."

The two of them reacted like it was normal. To them, it was. Alaric was their own father, after all.

But to Atlas, even the destruction he was seeing from a distance was unbelievable.

It was almost like Malik could see the look on his face, or maybe his widened eyes were telling enough.

"Do you want to go take a look?"

His question was sudden, but there was only one answer.

Did Atlas want to see how one of the strongest people in the entire Tower fought his battles?

"Of course I do."

Malik grinned widely.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Grabbing Atlas' and Artemia's arms, he shouted excitedly.

"Hold on!"

It was the only warning they got before they shot into the air at ridiculous speeds. The world turned into a blur and even the rain became unable to touch them. When everything slowed down again. The three of them were standing in the air.

Strangely enough, Atlas could feel a platform beneath his feet. It didn't exist in reality, but that didn't change the fact that it was holding the weight of all three of them.

Plus, with this vantage point, everything about the battle below was visible.

Atlas could see him. He was still in his human form, which could only mean that the opponent was not strong enough to bring out his dragon form. Still, the aura around him was completely different.

Long gone was the friendly old man who acted like everybody's overzealous grandfather. Long gone was the rambunctious father who raised children like Malik and Artemia.

The only thing that remained on his face were the eyes and scowl of a great warrior. It was not the face of Alaric Tatsuya, but the Calamity Dragon.

Standing across from him was a man who wore the same robe as his disciples, only it was already in tatters. He looked more human than his students on the outside, but if one looked into the wounds that Alaric had given him, one would recognize the misconception.

No, his entire body was also an artifact. The perfect version of what he'd done to his students was represented in his own body.

And, clearly, it was doing him well.

The two men took a second to exchange words that Atlas could only barely make out, and in the next moment, they were fighting once more.

That battle, though only witnessed by three people, was bound to be a spectacular one.

It was guaranteed by the legend of the Calamity Dragon.