Tower of Heaven

BOOOOOOM!

The explosion was even grander from the outside. Just like every building owned by Dusk, this one was also contained within a large formation. When the inside was turned into a blazing inferno, the outside pushed against the formation barrier and expanded greatly. The external structure cracked and shattered, but it was kept in one piece. Through the veins, one could see the flames raging within.

Atlas' ears were filled with the screams of those within. He sat in a corner, hidden by flames with his eyes closed. He had to concentrate, after all.

Ninety percent of his qi had been used to manifest these flames. The other ten percent was kept as a reserve in case something drastic occurred.

The ninety percent of Atlas' qi capacity that had turned into flame was under his control. He felt every small particle of qi existing in the air.

However, such precise control was difficult with his current body. He was able to maintain the flames relatively simply, but commanding the entire mass in individual parts was impossible.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Rather than that, Atlas concentrated his mind and let his spiritual sense cover the whole building. Most of the Dusk members in the dormitory were struggling against the flames defensively, but they could never be extinguished that way.

Eventually, their defenses would falter, and they would die.

However, the flames of the concept of everburn could still be put out. As long as they were faced with a stronger qi, they would no longer be able to burn eternally.

This dormitory was not on the 11th Floor, so Atlas had access to the full extent of his power, but so did the people he was attacking. Not all of them were weaker cultivators who worked only on the earliest of floors.

He controlled the qi that was facing these specific people who decided to fight fire with fire. With his attention split between them, he concentrated more qi where they were, forcing them into exhaustion.

In the meantime, he stood up and waded through the flames. The chain sickles remained hidden, replaced by ordinary qi blades that could be made by anyone.

Those were the weapons he chose. Indistinct, just like every other technique he'd used thus far.

These flames may have been condensed through the power of everburn, but that was not what people who came later would see.

They would sense the aura of flames, unchanging and ever-present. They would sense that the entire catastrophe inside of this dormitory was caused by a single gust of flame.

Atlas moved secretly. The flames of his own creation did have the potential to hurt him, but they could not sear his current flesh. While the Dusk members who used this dormitory as their home fought back against the flames, Atlas approached the strongest of them and slit their throats.

Their corpses were swiftly burned into ash, while the rest were allowed to fight until they were left as charred husks.

Thirty minutes after the start of chaos, everything was over. There were twelve fewer corpses present than there should have been, but the ashes on the floor could only serve as proof that they were in areas of heightened flame temperature and power.

The dormitory was a large building with three floors filled with rooms. However, when Atlas left, he dispersed the formation holding the building together.

And that was when the entire three-story building crumbled.

Only rubble remained in its place.

'Hmm…'

Standing in the middle of the madness, Atlas looked out at a nearby mountain peak.

His eyes widened and his pupils dilated as his vision focused there.

His eyes met with another pair. A person watched him from afar, smiling when they noticed him looking at them.

Atlas ducked away without a word. His body turned into wind and he vanished into the world.

Whoever that person was, it was of no concern to him.

After all, he still had a plan he needed to execute.

***

"Haha…interesting."

A man stood atop a mountain peak. He had flaming red hair that framed his face and draped down past his shoulders like the wild mane of a lion. The large and scruffy beard covering the bottom half of his face was equally wild.

He had a large build like a barbarian. He stood at a height of seven feet at the very least and had robust muscles that made it clear that he could destroy the entire mountain under him with a single fist.

His attire, a pair of white pants and nothing else, and his hair, made him more noticeable than most people in a crowd.

"But right now, I'm not in a crowd."

He was on a mountain peak ten kilometers away from where that man was standing.

"Sir, what's the situation?"

A voice came from the man's hip.

"Hm?"

With a sound, he brought the communication talisman up to his face.

"Nothing. It seems I don't have to do anything."

"Sorry?"

"Someone else just destroyed that place before I could get there."

"P-pardon?"

The person on the other side was clearly confused by the news. There shouldn't have been anyone else in the Tower with the gall and motive to strike Dusk.

For now, the only thing they could do was investigate this mysterious figure.

"I apologize for sending you to do something useless. We will continue to the next part of the plan while investigating that person."

The man kept his gaze on the destroyed building below and shook his head.

"No, it's okay because I got to see something interesting. This person…I believe their goal is the same as ours."

"That might be the case, but it's not good to trust them too much until we know more. If they happen to get in the way of our plans…"

"Yeah, yeah. If that happens, I'll kill him for you, but you know…"

He smiled to himself.

'I don't think that's how things will play out.'

They were in the same place and working towards the same goal. This definitely wouldn't be their last meeting.

'A fun guy has appeared for the first time in a long time.'

The people who followed him were worrywarts who liked to consider every possibility before acting, so they were responding extremely warily to this new variable.

But he was different.

To him, this was the start of a wonderful possibility.

So, he eagerly anticipated the next time they crossed paths with that mysterious white-masked man.

***

Nothing else happened that night. Atlas made himself disappear, and the mysterious force of that red-haired man also retreated. Only destruction was left when the sun rose.

The Forums instantly went wild. The news of the Cosmic Dragon Clan geniuses dying was properly buried, and they had completely lost their chance to make use of it.

The 10 Dusk Recruitment Centers that existed across the lower floors had been decimated. Though they weren't confirmed, there were also rumors flying around that one of the main dormitories where hundreds of Dusk members stayed was decimated as well.

The upper floors didn't value the news much, but the lower floors went wild. Dusk, for a long time, had been an unchallengeable existence. They stood on a pedestal that nobody could touch.

There was one main reason for this, but nobody dared to speak it out loud. That was a surefire way to guarantee death.

Nonetheless, Dusk used to be untouchable.

However, somebody had decided to touch them.

The Ascenders in the Tower prepared themselves once again for a great conflict to sweep through its floors.