The name Selphira rampaged violently through Atlas's mind —like a storm of vengeance that refused to settle. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing with predatory calm as dark thoughts brewed behind that crimson gaze.
He was already planning—calculating exactly how to repay her for every ounce of torment she and that old bastard, Corvane, had inflicted upon him.
They thought they could break me… he thought, his fists curling. But now, I'll show them what it means to touch something that bleeds divinity.
But before his imagination could wander further down the path of blood and retribution, Luminaria's earlier words echoed through his mind like a haunting bell.
If I weren't a Goddess, I might have died…
His expression shifted—wrath blending with disbelief. "Luminaria," Atlas said, his tone sharp but low, "when you say you and Lilim only survived because you're Goddesses… does that mean everyone below that rank—" he paused, his crimson eyes narrowing further, "—died?"
Luminaria hesitated, her expression dimming. "Yes," she admitted softly, "but that's only my speculation. Maybe, by some miracle… they stayed alive."
Her tone carried little conviction, and Atlas knew it. Her "maybe" was a hollow attempt at hope.
He exhaled slowly, his fingers dragging through his hair in frustration. That meant the odds were slim—very slim. Thousands of souls, gone. The mortals who had drunk his blood — erased. And among them… Selphira and Corvane might have escaped the grasp of his rage entirely.
The thought made something inside him twist with quiet fury. He had wanted them to suffer, to kneel, to beg —not vanish into oblivion.
His voice dropped to a murmur, but the hatred laced in it was sharp enough to cut through the silence. "If they survived… I'll find them."
A cold light flickered in his eyes, the hunger resurfacing, tempered yet seething. "And when I do… even the concept of mercy will forget their names."
"What are you muttering about, Master?" Lilim asked.
"Oh—no one—nothing. Instead, let's focus on what this is," Atlas said, pulling out the bracelet he had put in his pocket.
The black bracelet, embedded with the black-jar gem, exuded its usual malicious intent.
It took Lilim a second to recognize the item. "Master, where did you find that?" she asked.
"On the Spirit Guardian that tried to kill me," he said—unaware he'd spoken aloud the information he would have loved to keep hidden.
"What do you mean by a Spirit Guardian that tried to kill you?!" the twin sisters asked in unison.
"I mean exactly that. Now tell me what this is," Atlas demanded.
The two women stared at him for a minute. "I mean, I'm all right — and him trying to kill me turned out to be a great thing, he indirectly helped with my ascension to High-ranked Constellation and acquire my Conceptual Divinity, so what's the big deal?" he said, hoping they would see the upside of what had happened.
"The big deal is he dared to try to kill you..." Lilim said. Luminaria, already seeing the positive, was the only one convinced. "I'll be sure to kill every single Spirit Guardian we come across. I'll make sure their kind pays for touching my Master," Lilim muttered under her breath.
Atlas once again saw the glimpse of madness he'd seen before—only this time it was fiercer.
"Now, would you please explain what this is?" he redirected the attention back to the bracelet.
Lilim took a step forward, her crimson eyes locked on the bracelet in Atlas's hand. "That…" she began, her tone laced with both awe and disgust, "isn't just any accessory, Master. It's a relic—one of the relics created by the Demon God, Sortia."
Atlas tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Sortia?"
Lilim nodded, her tone firm and precise. "Yes. Sortia — she's one of Erebus's concubines. That bracelet carries her signature energy — a malicious energy designed specifically for the amplification of chaotic spells."
She folded her arms, her crimson gaze narrowing with calculated thought. "It's a power she birthed to be wielded only by her and Erebus. What's troubling, however, is why that Guardian possessed it in the first place."
Atlas narrowed his gaze, examining the sinister gleam of the black gem. "The Spirit Guardian I fought wielded energy that felt… unnatural — even for something divine."
He looked up at Lilim. "By the way, that Guardian used strange dark flames. Could there be a connection between this bracelet and those flames?"
Lilim's expression turned serious, her sharp eyes flicking to the relic. "Dark flames?" she repeated, her voice steady and analytical.
"No… not Darkflames." She stepped closer, inspecting the bracelet with care, though she made no move to touch it. "If that relic came from Sortia's hand, then those weren't Darkflames at all."
Her gaze hardened. "They were Soulflames."
Atlas frowned. "Soulflames?"
"Yes," Lilim continued, her tone detached, calm, and matter-of-fact — her confidence unwavering.
"A kind of fire that doesn't merely burn the body… it devours the soul. Sortia was infamous for them — flames so insidious that even the divine grew wary. They tear you apart from the inside out, reducing both flesh and spirit to despair. And if that Spirit Guardian wielded Soulflames while carrying one of her relics…" she paused briefly, her expression sharpening. "Then that realm must already lie under her dominion. That Guardian was undoubtedly one of her subordinates."
Atlas said nothing for a moment. His fingers tightened slightly around the bracelet, the black gem pulsing faintly as if amused by the pain it once inflicted.
"Trust me," Atlas said finally, his voice low and venomous. "I know their effects. I've experienced them firsthand."
For a fleeting instant, the memory clawed at him — those flames burrowing under his skin, searing through muscle and vein, feeding on his divinity.
Lilim's eyes flashed with fury, not fear. "Then I swear, Master… if Sortia herself stands behind this—"
Atlas interrupted her with a faint, crazed smile that carved across his face like a shadow. "Cool yourself, Lilim. Erebus is currently my ally… which means Sortia is also my ally."
He raised the bracelet slightly, its dark aura coiling lazily around his palm. "So we won't touch her…" he paused, the smile deepening with quiet menace. "…at least not yet."