NOVPUBAtticus fell silent.
'It's true.' 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
He had noticed it too, his final words to the twins, his reply to the Zorvan general at the portal, and the things he'd said to the Spirit King.
He never used to speak to his enemies. He never granted them the dignity of words. Only death. That had always been enough. Or so he'd told himself.
But the truth was different.
He had been hiding. Hiding from the darker part of himself. The part that enjoyed it; the misery of his enemies, the way they trembled, the effects his words had on their psyches.
He liked it.
Now that he wasn't hiding anymore, there was no reason to hold back.
Still, he reminded himself of his one rule: only when it was necessary.
"This side of you," Whisker said, "is perfect for them."
Atticus turned his gaze to where Whisker gestured.
Below, slightly apart from the remnants of the survivors, over a hundred paragons stood, staring up at him with a mix of emotions.
Fear. Hope. Awe.
But none of it seemed negative. Not toward him.
Atticus gave Whisker a nod, and vanished.
He reappeared in front of the paragons in an instant.
They flinched. Most instinctively stepped back, startled by the suddenness of his arrival. None of them had seen him move.
He didn't blame them. After what they'd gone through today, even the smallest trigger could set them off.
They regained their composure quickly, steadying their startled hearts, only to have them skip again as they raised their eyes.
There, in front of over a hundred paragons, beings revered as powerhouses, capable of reducing entire domains to rubble, stood a single boy.
Yet his presence alone drowned out the collective weight of them all.
In that moment, he was all they saw. He was the center of attention. The only being that mattered. The main fucking character.
And the world… it felt like it revolved around him.
To each of them, Atticus Ravenstein looked like nothing short of a god.
Two wide grins stretched across Avalon and Magnus' faces as they watched their boy, the boy who had done what none of them ever imagined.
Even Zenon, bloodied and worn, bore a grin. This boy hadn't disappointed.
Jenera Flux was silent. So were the hundred plus paragons. No one spoke.
Instead, they waited. Because right now, only one person had the right to dictate what happened next.
"We survived the crisis, but more will come."
Atticus' voice rang out calmly, more calming than anyone expected, given the weight behind his words. Yet it carried far, across the broken land.
Billions of people that were once weeping with relief, froze.
They looked up and they listened. Hearts clutched tight.
"The battle today has left our world in ruins. Our homes are gone. Domains erased from the planet. The very terrain has changed. And this world… it will never be the same again."
He paused. Let the truth settle deep into their bones.
Then, just as dread began to stir, he continued.
"It will never be the same again, because we will rebuild it. Stronger than ever. We'll make sure we're never caught off guard again. And when the next threat rises… we'll be ready."
By now, fists had clenched tightly. Eyes burned with resolve. Even the paragons, elders, warriors, legends, felt it. The fire in his voice lit something in them.
But Atticus wasn't done.
"And that's why, from this moment forward, there will be no division of races."
He raised his head.
"We will live under one banner. One people. One leadership."
Atticus' gaze calmly swept across the paragons. None met his eyes, only Avalon and Magnus did. Zoey was still in his arms, and somehow, Noctis was fast asleep on his head despite the heavy atmosphere.
His words had been unmistakably clear.
One banner. One rule. One ruler.
The races would unite, and they would be led by him.
It didn't take a second for the paragons to figure that out. But even so, no one objected.
They had seen the power of the Gardener. They had seen the terror of the twins. None of them could have stood against it. If not for Atticus, they would all be dead.
Jenera was the first to move. She stepped forward and bowed her head low, making her stance clear. Acceptance.
The other paragons followed almost immediately, their heads lowering one after the other, bowing toward Atticus.
And as the billions of people from all races watched the scene unfold from afar, they too dropped to their knees, bowing without hesitation.
And the one they all bowed to, he simply watched, calm and unmoving.
Afterward, the work began swiftly. Atticus' first command was ensuring Eldoralth was completely purged of any remaining threats.
He divided the paragons into teams of five, each one sent out to different corners of the world to scour the land for danger.
Then came the rebuilding.
Atticus appointed Jenera and Oberon to restore order. They were to draw up a roadmap for the new society, laws, systems, structure. Of course, everything would require his approval before implementation.
Part of the Evolari, alongside the Alverian family from the human domain, had been assigned to food.
The lands were ruined, forests obliterated, beasts wiped out. There wasn't a single viable food source left.
The dwarves and the Emberforge family had been placed in charge of construction. For now, their only job was to build temporary shelters, anything that could house the billions of displaced people until something more permanent could be figured out.
And the Ravensteins, especially those attuned to the water element, were tasked with handling the water situation.
There were countless other tasks assigned across the board, but those were the key ones Atticus handled first.
As the people got to work, time moved quickly. And before long, night descended.
Atticus hovered high in the sky, staring down at the gaping hole the Spirit King had left behind, as if to leave a scar, a permanent mark upon Eldoralth.
The night air was always cold in Eldoralth.
But Atticus felt none of it.
