As his rapidly deteriorating spear blocked another of Celeron's strikes, Atlas the Titano grunted, forced back as the D-Rank's strength pushed him back. The giant looked down at the D-Rank in disgust as he tracked the boy running from Amaryllis and Verian across the plateau. Despite how scared he seemed, the human picked up a rusty sword and managed to fend off a strike from the scorpion-tailed woman.Atlas missed what happened next as he jumped back to avoid a horizontal slash from Celeron, though he mistimed the attack. As he landed, blood started dripping down his bare chest.That was sloppy, Atlas, he admonished himself, parrying one sword and blocking another. The boy's quest said there were only fifteen minutes left before the lieutenants arrived, and the punishments didn't mention the Tainted staying in the punishments. He managed to survive this long, surely he can handle a few minutes more. As much as it annoyed Atlas that a D-Rank Tainted would be pulled back, it was the best he could hope for with the human unable to handle the .1 percent the quest required, especially since the D-Rank had neglected to use the ominous whip at his side despite the powerful aura it held.Unfortunately, Atlas's estimation of the boy's abilities fell short, as less than thirty seconds later, he flew past Celeron and Atlas before rolling to a stop right before the Tainted's portal. He didn't move other than slowly turning his head to look at Atlas and Celeron. His eyes glazed over, the boy stared at them blankly.Atlas knew if the boy died, the quest would be considered a complete failure, leading to his (temporary) demise and allowing the lieutenants free range of his sector of the multiverse. He shouted out to the boy. "Atlas! Hold on! I'm coming!"Celeron cackled, his pointed teeth showing as he forced Atlas back. "I don't think so, Unbreakable. You just stay over here and watch as the boy becomes one of us."Atlas ignored him and tried to force his way past, only to be rebuffed by the D-Rank as Verian ordered Amaryllis to convert Atlas."NO!" Atlas screamed out as the woman's tail impaled the human's heart. The boy's screams only served to worsen the Titano's guilt as he watched the ugly scales of the Tainted begin spreading across his body. Still, Atlas focused back on the Tainted before him. Atlas figured the boy had less than a minute before he was fully converted, but if he continued to channel the power of the beyond until then, Atlas might manage to kill Celeron in a suicide attack. ~~~ Celeron realized what Atlas planned, and he jumped back and took a defensive stance, a cocky smile on his face. Atlas still tried rushing the Tainted, but now that he only had to defend and avoid the weakened Titano's attacks, Celeron had nothing to worry about, especially as Verian and Amaryllis left the human's increasingly corrupted body to join in his wearing down of the Titano.At least, that's what Celeron thought until a roar echoed across the plateau. At the same time, Atlas sped up, his strikes far swifter and stronger than before, which prevented Celeron from looking at the source of the sound. He snarled and shouted to his subordinates as Atlas landed a glancing blow on his cheek. "Verian, Amaryllis! What's happening?"Whatever response they meant to give got cut off as an aura surged from where the boy lay being corrupted. However, when Celeron used his D-Rank strength to make an opening between him and Atlas, he took the chance to look over at Amaryllis and Verian to see why they hadn't answered him. Seeing them staring at something in shock, he glanced past them and gasped.The human stood, his face hidden by his long as he stared at the ground, but he had changed. His hair had drained of all color, turning white as snow, and at first, Celeron thought it was only a strange mutation in the corruption process from the powers of the Beyond running through his body. He quickly realized that couldn't be the case, as the scales that had been in the process of covering the boy's body had turned into a smooth suit that held none of the toxic green of the Tainted, nor one of their cores. Instead, glowing, purple veins of energy outlined his body, and when the boy raised his head, his eyes held none of their former color, instead taking on the same glowing purple. That still didn't explain the strange sense of dissonance that nagged at Celeron, though he quickly realized what it was.The aura radiated from the boy, and Celeron couldn't detect a single trace of the Tainted's Corruption within. ~~~ Atlas Driscol stood still as he stared at each being on the plateau in turn. Even his Titano namesake looked at him wearily as the boy's aura expanded rapidly. All signs of fear gone, he didn't say anything. Finally, Verian grew tired of waiting for him to do something, and she shouted, "He's obviously not all there! Let's just kill the washed-up general, and we can—"Verian cut off abruptly as Atlas took a single step, appearing in front of her as his fist crashed into her stomach with the force of a freight train and a cracking sound. With a cry of pain, Verian flew off and crashed into a boulder at the edge of the plateau. Everyone stood stock still, jaws hanging at Atlas, who still had yet to speak a word. His hand hung at an odd angle, already turning black and blue over the bones visible beneath his skin. A moment later, his hand made more cracking sounds as it returned to normal, as did his leg which had broken when he moved to attack Verian.All the while, the power of his aura continued to increase by leaps and bounds. It billowed out of him in waves, the center tinged with the same purple glow as his eyes. Celeron and Big A quickly realized what was happening, though each reacted differently.Celeron shouted in surprise. "How?! Whatever. Amaryllis, kill him!"Big A cut him off from giving any further orders as he flashed forward with his spear, forcing the Tainted to dodge back. The Titano felt far more of his power flowing through his body enough to push him to D-Rank, and he only grew stronger as Atlas absorbed more power. He just hoped the boy would stop before it burned him from inside. Still, he had to kill Celeron before he could worry about that.Amaryllis had no such concerns as she charged at Atlas, her tail pulled back to strike. She moved far slower as the pressure the boy released washed over her, but she pushed through. However, the moment she entered the radius of the purple part of his aura, threads began appearing in the air behind her connecting her to the portal and her comrades. In the chaos of the moment, no one noticed. No one except Atlas.The moment the threads appeared, his head snapped to look at her so fast it cracked. His eyes stared at her intently, and his aura grew even stronger. Amaryllis forced herself through and as she moved within 5 meters of him, she launched her tail forward. Her unexpressive face finally showed surprise as Atlas merely twisted his body to the side, avoiding the tail before he lunged forward with the same speed that he'd attacked Verian with, his ankle snapping once again from the force.Amaryllis crossed to block her body from the strike, but Atlas shot past her. He stopped right behind her. Before she even had time to react, Atlas's aura shrunk down, concentrating around his hand until it glowed so brightly that it disappeared. With a voice far different than his own, Atlas said, "Your Fate Is Mine to Decide." As he finished speaking, Atlas slashed down with a bladed hand and cut the threads.The whole battlefield went silent at his actions as a shockwave rolled out from his action, the threads unraveling and fading into the air. Even Big A and Celeron stopped attacking as the shockwave crashed over them, though the former just looked shocked whereas the latter seemed somewhat ill. The silence was broken as Amaryllis dropped to the ground shrieking and flailing as if in pain.His aura returned to its uncontrolled state as his gaze drifted away from the woman writhing in pain. His eyes landed on Celeron for less than a moment before moving off the D-Rank and focusing on the boulders Verian had landed in, though he did nothing more than stare. The only indication he gave of even noticing Celeron was his aura ratcheting up to at least double the strength.The next moment, Atlas the Titano threw aside the spear that had broken down from his rapidly increasing presence as his suspicions were confirmed. It seemed the potential World Vanguard from Earth had figured out how to use the power of the Beyond he absorbed from the gold-skinned giant to boost himself, though how he did that Atlas didn't know. Either way, the loosening of restrictions on the Titano allowed him to throw aside the broken-down spear he had been holding together with sheer will as his power flooded back into his body.Celeron wasn't about to let such an opportunity go. He blasted off the ground with all the force his D-Rank legs could muster and launched a pair of overhead slashes at Atlas in an attempt to split him down the middle. As he did so, his swords began glowing the same toxic green as the core in his chest as he activated his skill.However, just as the swords came within inches of Atlas a blinding golden light blasted out from his hands and blocked the blades before swinging out at Celeron and forcing him back. The light died down and Atlas slammed the butt of his newly conjured spear into the ground before looking at it fondly."It has been too long, Apollyon, my old friend," he said softly to the golden spear before turning back to Celeron. "Now, I think it's time I showed you why your useless elders are so scared of me, Worm."