'A precise blow on that bastard's neck is enough to make the battle much easier.'
Atlas did not consider himself an expert in battle, although he had learned much from his grandfather over the years. In fact, from an early age, that old man had trained him to face the dangers scattered throughout the World of Oblivion.
That was precisely why he had set out on this mission without any help. Indeed, the experience he had learned enabled him to cunningly analyze every obstacle in his path.
Atlas did not feel such fear in that situation. On the contrary, a pressing desire for battle burned in his heart.
Astra mutated into its deadliest form, and after a short but intense breath, its blade mowed the air directly toward the exposed neck of the goblin with the two daggers. Atlas was using the Avalance of Uturet to end that creature's life with a single blow. Alas, although its attack had been quick and silent, the creature's perception was excellent.
The shadows had concealed the adventurer to the end, but perhaps that unclean stench on his body was like a deafening bell to those beings who had dealt with the Solifuranus before.
The creature dodged that slash, abruptly moving its body to the side, but it did not come out unscathed, for Atlas promptly changed the direction of the blow, mowing down the goblin's left arm cleanly.
His plan had failed, but he had learned from his errors and avoided hitting the ground as before, still causing extensive damage to his prey.
The creature lying on the ground tried to stop the rivers of putrid blood gushing from its shoulder, but the damage had been enormous and was impossible to handle. So rather than wait for death on that icy ground. It hurled itself toward the battle that had already erupted, with a clear intent to kill the damned human with his dagger.
Meanwhile, Atlas had attempted to finish off that being, but his comrades reacted promptly against his assault, stopping the dreadful Astra a few steps from his target.
In a one-on-two battle, the young man found himself in trouble and began to suffer light wounds and minor concussions.
Although at a disadvantage, Atlas managed to keep the pain in check and accurately hit the enemies' bodies in places not covered by that useless armor.
Within seconds, the damage suffered by both sides was evident, but unlike those stupid goblins, Atlas had many aids at his disposal to help him in battle. Indeed, the Earthly Blessing Technique was giving him a more formidable body than an ordinary cultivator and slowly mending the wound as for the voracious Chaos Rune, it was greedily bringing more life energy to his body.
In that tough battle, luck could play a key role by blessing the struggling adventurer with one lethal blow after another.
Unfortunately, although the battle was going very well for the young man, the nightmare he wanted to avert by killing the trickiest goblin eventually came true.
Atlas had tried to keep an eye on that creature at all times, but at some point, when its wretched cries ended, its body suddenly vanished, shaking the young man's heart to the core.
'Heck... its elusive abilities are frightening. I have to be careful. Otherwise, it will be the end of me...'
Atlas reasoned quickly, but during a battle, getting lost in the maze of the mind could be fatal.
Only seconds had passed since that creature had disappeared, but it was too late, for the dagger soaked by the blood of the animal world was ready to strike the young man's only uncovered spot.
While the two goblins struck from the front with ferocity, the wounded goblin mercilessly lacerated his left shoulder and continued to slash his skin until it reached his wrist.
The damage had been extensive for Atlas, but not all had gone as those devious creatures had hoped for because the moment the blade was one step away from cutting the young man's hand in two, the blade grazed the scarlet stigma, causing an unexpected result.
The lower left petal became tinged with black, and a brilliant cloud appeared out of nowhere, emitting a crystalline glow like the deep ocean.
But that was not the end of it, for from that cloud took shape out of nowhere a majestic dagger with a curved shape and a blade as black as outer space.
Everyone was shocked by the incredible object that appeared out of nowhere.
In fact, the goblins and Atlas stopped for a brief moment. But the young man was the first to react and directed that mysterious blade down the arm of the wounded goblin, inflicting the same torment until it pierced its throat.
The goblin cried out in pain. However, incredibly, nothing came out of the wounds.
It was as if all its putrid green blood gushed out inside another dimension utterly different from the one they were in.
Seeing the goblin's wounds stained black and noticing what was going on, Atlas immediately distanced himself from the creature and watched it die.
"My... what a strange blade and what an exaggerated consumption of Chaos Energy."
It was precisely the alarming consumption of energy that had awakened the young man from his stupor.
In fact, the appearance of the dagger was draining his power like a bloodthirsty leech.
Maintaining the axe form, the constant usage of the technique, and using the Chaos Rune was costly, but it was nothing compared to that insatiable artifact.
Atlas immediately realized that he did not have much time, so he took full advantage of those few seconds of confusion, killing the most dangerous of the three.
Everything happened in a matter of seconds, and when the goblin's glowing green eyes faded away, that fearsome dagger also disappeared into thin air.
"Unbelievable... it only lasted for a few seconds, but it was amazing!"
Atlas stared for a brief moment at the hand that had been reduced to a poor condition, but it was not the time to dwell further, so he continued the battle against the two creatures, now terrified by what had just happened.
Because of their poor mental condition, the goblins did not last long, and within minutes, the second battle ended with the young adventurer's victory.
"Good... it definitely went better than I imagined!"
With the abundant energy flowing in his body from those three preys, Atlas tried to calm down his frantic heart and hastily mended the deep wound on his arm.
It took him dozens of minutes to get his arm back to an acceptable condition. Still, Atlas waited patiently and used that time to consolidate the power frantically moving inside his body. After all, the energy gained from them was a lot, and he needed time to make it his own.
Seated crossed-legged onto the ground, the young man started meditating and slowly growing his foundation to the bridge between the Advanced Stage and the Peak Stage of the Primordial Chaos Realm.
With all that abundant energy, his mysterious core kept stabilizing and growing more and more potent until every single trace of that turbulent energy was finally assimilated.
Replete with energy, it was time for the young man to figure out the origins of that weapon.
"Nihilir... You sent me to this place... and knew well the origin of that artifact... please, tell me what's going on!"
Indeed, that mysterious being had sent him here the promised reward of answers, yet nothing came from him other than more doubts.
"Nihilir!!"
Atlas called out his name repeatedly, but it was all useless.
Feeling dejected by this unnerving problem, Atlas moved his gaze back to his hand, right where that strange stigma was resting. He stared at the bloody palm for a long time until a deep sigh couldn't help but escape from his lips: "Dammit... I must first figure out how to activate it."
Nihilir wasn't giving him any response, but this reason wasn't enough to stop him from searching for those answers on his own. After all, the dreadful power held by the dagger was simply too enticing to make him renounce.
"Well... the dagger materialized when the weapon had reached the stigma. Maybe the stigma reacted to the threat and protected the holder from external forces. Hmm..."
That was probably one of the reasons for its appearance. But, the young man found it absurd that it was the only option available to hold that weapon, so he started condensing his energy toward the stigma. After all, this was the only way to stimulate the latent power for all the artifacts.
He tried several times and in different ways, yet nothing changed even after all those attempts. It was as if the stigma was refusing his internal energy, making the situation even more strange.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Perplexed and a bit frustrated, Atlas madly woke his internal energy, making it frantically move across his arm. Still, after a couple of minutes, he sighed in resignation.
He still had many more things to do before getting lost in silly fantasies, so the young man quickly cleaned up the area by taking full advantage of the vast space inside Nihiste.
Atlas obtained quite a few things, including two iron daggers, two leather armor, and 30 Low-Grade Chaos Stones.