Atlas fell. He truly fell from a great height, together with the floating throne that had lost its power to fly and was now plunging freely, dropping even faster than him.
He looked toward Edrik, who was also clearly unable to control himself. This did not look like an ordinary fall. It felt more like they were being dragged violently toward the ground by a force they could not recognize or trace.
"I cannot use any skills, not even elental magic," Atlas said quietly.
"The domain binds us with its rules. It blocks everything and leaves no room for magic with specific conditions," Edrik said.
Atlas looked down and braced himself for whatever was coming. If he hit the ground at this speed, severe injuries were certain. There was no skill he could rely on at a mont like this.
What about the others? Serenith and the rest of the flying forces were scattered across the area. If Serenith fell fatally here as well, she would be in serious danger.
Everything happened too fast. Edrik suddenly shot toward Atlas and grabbed his left arm without hesitation. "Excuse , my lord," he said.
At that mont, Atlas felt himself pulled sowhere unknown. His vision vanished into darkness. Then he reappeared, only for his body to slam into the ground at terrifying speed, multiplied several tis over.
Atlas felt his body grow unbearably heavy as he tumbled and struggled to regain control.
In that sa mont, he forced himself up, trying to stand, and saw Edrik doing the sa. Edrik’s right arm hung slightly, clearly damaged. He was badly injured.
"Edrik!"
Atlas moved to check on him, but his body was suddenly yanked backward by an overwhelming force. It was unimaginably strong.
His body crashed through the trees again and again, each impact brutal, and he was powerless to stop it. It all happened so fast that he felt his back shatter under the repeated blows.
Then he collided with sothing else, like a transparent wall. A heartbeat later, he was hurled deep inside it, his body rolling wildly across the ground.
Everything blurred together. Atlas forced himself to rise and looked around, trying to understand where he was now.
It was an open field within the sa forest. Yet this place felt different. He was inside a domain, shaped like a massive do, separating the area from everything outside.
Not far from where Atlas stood, the enemy lord who had caused all of this was waiting. He stood there with a twisted grin, satisfied and unhinged, the sa expression he had shown before all of this began.
Atlas was now back on his feet. His wounds were slowly but steadily healing. He could feel his power returning within this place. Still, there was no telling what that lord had done by forming this domain. It felt like a system ability, one with an extrely large scale.
It was as if, with a single activation, the system ability stripped everyone on the island of their power to a certain degree, even forcing them all to fall to the ground.
Whatever Edrik did in the final mont might have saved Atlas. Yet it was clear that Edrik paid a heavy price for it. His right arm hung limp, badly damaged. It should still be possible to heal him. At the very least, Elyndra was also with them.
Atlas steadied himself and prepared to face the lord standing before him.
This enemy was a Pathfinder Rank lord, which ant his level should be sowhere between 150 and 200.
Atlas himself was level 167. That was not a low level at all. It was already above the standard Rank-3 lord. But even so, in a situation like this, levels did not an much if certain rules bound everything that happened inside this domain.
Atlas needed to learn more about it, and fast.
"Well..." the enemy lord said as he lifted his face, a wide and wicked grin spreading across it. "Not bad. You actually survived a fall that fast from that height. Not bad at all. Looks like you have a subordinate who is willing to die for you. Maybe? Or is that really the case?" he said.
"Morvain, so this is your system ability at work? I suppose you are quite careful when using it, to the point that there is barely any information about you out there, huh?"
"Hah!" the man replied, sounding like he was holding back his laughter. "You want it that badly? You are that curious about how my ability works, Atlas? Well, since this will also be your death, I will happily tell you a story about just how extraordinary my ability is. You will truly regret daring to walk this path and choosing as your enemy. You know, Atlas... not once in my career as a Lord have I ever lost. Not once, Atlas. I am that extraordinary, that strong, that mighty."
Atlas shrugged lightly and answered calmly. "I do intend to hear your story, but I do not have much ti. Could you speed it up and get straight to the point?"
"Well, well, well. Truly arrogant," the enemy lord said with a sneer. "No wonder you dared to challenge an alliance that is clearly far stronger than you."
Atlas shook his head once, a faint smirk forming on his face. "Maybe you need a mirror to take a better look at yourself, Morvain. You can call arrogant, but from the way you speak, I see no humility there either. You are not much different from every lord I have ever faced and defeated. And you know..."
Atlas paused for a mont. "Do you know the difference between you and ?"
He waited briefly, watching the enemy lord’s reaction. "I am arrogant, and you are arrogant. But you bow to foolish lords who use their power to crush the weak. That is arrogance mixed with cowardice, and you stand right there among them."
Morvain’s gaze hardened as he stared straight at Atlas. He fell silent for a mont before speaking. "You are quite well educated in running your mouth. I will give you that."
"Now," Atlas continued calmly, "tell about your system ability. I will gladly listen."
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