Chapter 359: Dormant Path

Atlas could no longer hear the man’s words as one punch after another pushed his consciousness toward the brink of collapse. Regret had begun to consume his thoughts, and he regretted his decision to remain there simply because he had grown stronger.

He had allowed his recent progress to make him overconfident, believing that he could face dangers that were still far beyond his current capabilities.

His thoughts shifted to the first statement Kael had made when they decided to confront Piscela.’Maybe... I should have just fled as a coward?’ he wondered as another strike landed, pushing him closer to true death.

Even his Metadata Axiom itself had been sealed. Yes...Metadata Axiom, his highest level of arsenal had been sealed. According to the third effect of it, Atlas’s existence itself couldn’t be sealed, however...the ability itself had no way of bypassing the sealing.

That was when Atlas had realized everything, that even when the alterations and information rewriting Metadata Axiom had done to his body, all of it would be useless if the ability itself was not even activating passively anymore and that’s exactly also when regret seemed to consume him.

Yet, beneath all those regrets and his guilt over failing to keep the promise he had made to Seraphiel just minutes ago, there was another emotion. It was something that had disappeared from within him for a long time, a thirst for revenge that had once driven him forward.

His now-pupilless eyes, which could barely distinguish anything through their blurred vision, remained fixed on the man who continued torturing him. ’I... will kill you.’

’IF THERE IS ANOTHER LIFE AFTER THIS, I WILL MAKE SURE YOUR ENTIRE RACE DISAPPEARS FROM THE FACE OF EXISTENCE!’ Those were the final thoughts that churned through his mind before his remaining consciousness began to fade.

Amid the overwhelming hatred, another thought surfaced, carrying an emotion entirely different from the one he had just felt, ’And Sera... I am sorry, I am truly sorry. I hope you forgive me.’ Tears escaped his eyes as his consciousness finally faded away completely.

Meanwhile, outside, Harbinger was no longer torturing Atlas alone, as Kael had also become a target. Both of them had already lost consciousness, yet the man continued striking their bodies and souls, damaging them before restoring them to their previous conditions and repeating the process.

Harbinger showed no signs of enjoying the torture; instead, his expression remained completely indifferent, as though he were simply carrying out an ordinary task.

Atlas and Kael had long since stopped screaming, as neither of them remained conscious enough to react to the repeated damage. Harbinger continued his actions for a while before finally snapping his fingers, causing a clone to emerge from his own being.

The two exchanged glances and nodded at each other, after which the original Harbinger vanished from the location. His clone remained behind and spoke calmly, "It is time, time to get that Unique world only for ourselves."

Meanwhile, deep within Atlas’s consciousness, he experienced the same sensation of drowning in an endless ocean of darkness. His consciousness couldn’t process what was happening around him or even understand his own condition, leaving him unable to think about anything. He simply continued sinking deeper and deeper into that darkness, as though there were no end to his descent.

Time passed, but Atlas had no way of determining how much of it had gone by. He continued drowning without being able to feel or hear anything, and his consciousness remained unresponsive until a familiar voice finally reached him.

It was the same feminine voice he had heard during his training session, and its gentle tone slowly penetrated the endless darkness surrounding him, "Son... Son... My dear, it is time to wake up."

Atlas’s eyes snapped open within the darkness, and he immediately looked around, trying to determine where he was. "Who? Where am I?" he asked, but nothing around him provided an answer, and he could barely recall anything beyond the fact that he was Atlas.

His memories felt unusually fuzzy, leaving him confused until the feminine voice spoke again. "Shouldn’t you realize everything by now?"

Atlas frowned as he tried to understand who the woman was and what she meant by those words. "Show yourself, who are you?," he demanded, his translucent eyes narrowing as he stared into the surrounding darkness.

However, the answer he received was far from what he had expected, "Oh, that is not possible, though. You see, mama is very, very far away. What you can hear is only a small part of mama’s consciousness."

His expression grew even more puzzled as he processed the woman’s words. "My mother? You mean you are my mother?" he immediately asked, an unfamiliar emotion beginning to stir within him.

An emptiness deep inside his being seemed to grow stronger the longer he listened to that voice, although he couldn’t understand why it affected him in such a manner, "Yes, yes, I am your mother, but it took you a lot of time to reach this stage where you could hear me. Now that you finally can, I see you still haven’t arrived at the stage you were supposed to reach."

’What the hell? What is she talking about?’ Atlas still found it difficult to believe anything she was saying. Just as he was about to question how she could prove that she was his mother, the voice interrupted him, "It seems we don’t have much time right now, Son. Let me share something that will help push you toward that stage."

"Although I am not supposed to help, mama can’t bear to see her Son helpless. So it doesn’t count as me breaking the promise." Her statements only made Atlas more confused, and the uncertainty gradually turned into irritation until he finally interrupted her.

"Hey, I am not hearing any more of your statements, who the hell even are you?"

"You say you are my mother, but... I have no memories of my parents or my childhood, so I don’t believe a single sentence you say." He paused briefly before his voice grew colder.

"Let’s say you are my mother. So what? What help? I do not need any help from people who were not even there when I was born." He stated those words without hesitation, causing the voice to fall silent.

A long silence descended upon the darkness before the woman finally spoke again. "...I see, so my son has become unruly just because he lost his memories? Hmph!" Atlas frowned once more, unable to understand her reaction. ’What the hell is her problem? I can’t begin to trust her no matter what. What if all this is that Harbinger’s doing—’

Before he could finish that thought, her voice suddenly interrupted him. "No! I am not that old geezer, my Son! Hmph!" Atlas’s eyes widened as he realized that she could somehow read his thoughts.

"Yes, I can read your mind, but don’t worry... Wait! The time!" she suddenly exclaimed to herself, leaving Atlas motionless as he tried to process everything that had just happened.

A moment later, her voice returned, pulling him out of his thoughts, "Son, please trust me. I am your mother." She paused for a moment before suddenly speaking something that made Atlas realize the truth, "無縁, isn’t it the name of your flames? Does this prove that I am your mother?" She questioned to herself while Atlas froze completely.

After all, no one except him knew those terms and she even knew that it represented his flames of Nothingness. However, before he could ask her any question, she began explaining something, "I would have loved to give you your memories back right now, but you are not ready for that."

"Those memories contain things that are beyond you, and if even a fragment of them enters your mind, you will die."

Her voice grew softer as she spoke, and the concern and worry within it were impossible for Atlas to overlook. Atlas arched an eyebrow, yet something deep within his being told him that her words were true, even though he hadn’t used any of his abilities to judge her statements.

The certainty he felt only made the situation more confusing. Nevertheless, he heard the woman continued speaking in a gentle tone, "Listen, my dear baby boy, you need nothing but a realization. A realization of your own Dormant path."

She paused briefly before continuing, "A path that only you walk, separate from both me and your father." Atlas hadn’t even managed to process the meaning behind those words when he heard her begin her final statement.

"You do not..." She continued speaking, and the moment she finished, an incredible surge of emotions and realizations flooded Atlas’s consciousness, reaching deep into his understanding of himself and his own powers.

Before he could fully comprehend what had just happened, the surrounding darkness vanished completely, along with him.