Atlas knew that the Tower was not the home he remembered. That place had been shattered and turned into a mere stage for this grand existence known as the Tower of Heaven.
However, Atlas couldn't help but see the world of the Tower differently. It was the last vestige of the past world other than the people who once resided in it. This sort of fondness was what led him to act so softly when he was in these Cumulative Trials.
At the end of the day, Atlas was still the Heavenly Emperor. He felt those warm emotions here and there, but he was never one to truly act on them.
Being placed into the perspective of a God changed this. He couldn't be attached to individual Neurics unless he wanted to mourn thousands of deaths, but he was certainly attached to the race as a whole.
For this reason, he made them as intelligent as he could, and for this reason, he gave them a Hero.
