Tower of Heaven

A pair of eyes fluttered open to lay their sight on the visage of a man with stained blonde hair and weary crimson eyes.

"Kade… my son? Is it…really you?"

The Emperor squeezed out his words, weakly raising his hand up to Kade's face.

"Yes, Father. It is me."

Kade was the one who responded. Within, Atlas felt a strange sense of discomfort and longing when he was called "son," by this man.

"I see… I see… so not everything is lost…"

As Atlas helped him prop himself against the wall, he looked deeply at this body's father.

Kaladyn Ataraxia. He was a powerful man that everyone respected and admired. It wasn't a stretch to call their emotions reverence.

Atlas knew that he had only just woken up, but they didn't have time to waste. The coronation that was meant to happen eighteen days after the beginning of the trial was being scheduled mere days from this moment.

The information Kaladyn had was vital. It was the reason why Atlas took the risk to find the bottom of the prison from the beginning.

He knew. Since the Dark Cult was looking for something in Ataraxia, they could not kill its Emperor, the person who was guaranteed to know the location of their target.

Atlas needed to know what they were looking for to understand their goal.

'The things written in the notebook related to their overall goals. Their actions deviate quite a bit from the original plan, so they found something here more valuable than their established objectives. I must find that thing before they do and make it impossible for them to reach.'

He needed that information from Kaladyn as soon as possible.

So, he could not hold the conversation until Kaladyn recovered from his fatigue.

"I thought you were dead. We all did. Was Klyde the one that brought you here?" Atlas asked.

Kaladyn nodded.

"I never expected my own son to be the one who brought me down. Klyde…what happened to him?"

Atlas shook his head.

"It is not Klyde. It is the Dark Cult. They are the ones behind everything, and for whatever reason, they needed you alive. Father, have they been trying to find any specific information from you?"

Atlas needed to know. Kaladyn seemed hesitant to share it for a moment, but he eventually caved.

He thought to himself that he must've been stupid for thinking about tradition in a moment like this.

"Kade, you are unaware, as even the Crown Prince is not privy to this information until he has been given the throne. In the case that the Emperor dies early, there is a method in place to teach this knowledge to every new Emperor regardless. Your elder brother was meant to receive this right, but I know that you are even more deserving of it."

The Emperor grabbed his shoulder tightly. For someone who rarely showed any emotion to his children, this was the best sign of pride and affirmation he could give.

"Our Ataraxia Clan did not raise itself into the Imperial Family of its own Empire with our Spiritual Wood Constitutions alone. While they may have given us some benefits, the true reason for our rule over this continent is elsewhere."

"Long ago, our ancestors fought in the Great Dividing War. When the earth fissured, one of our ancestors, Korgin Ataraxia, saw a glimmer in the very depths of the world and chased after it. Though he perished in the process, he managed to retrieve the item and transfer it to his clan mates before his death."

"It was taken home and studied. Soon enough, the elders of the time recognized the immense value of the item. It was a Holy Artifact that surpassed what even the era's cultivators used, a true treasure that could turn a mortal into a God."

Perhaps that part was an overstatement, but Atlas didn't interrupt. He understood what Kaladyn was saying.

"Our ancestors formed a Lineage Contract with the artifact so that only members of our family could use it. It won us many wars, kept our land free of unnecessary demon beasts, and promoted our prosperity. Once the empire was established, it became the symbol of the Emperor."

Kaladyn sighed to himself.

"The reason for everything lies in that treasure. The Sacred Chains, they are called. It is said that they were used in the Primordial Era to purify Gods and Demons. They are pure and holy, but also weapons of mass destruction."

"The reason they announced my death and trapped me here was evidently to find the location of the Sacred Chains for themselves. They tortured me for it, however, what I still cannot grasp is how they managed to learn about them."

They were an artifact that could only be used by a member of the Ataraxia Clan, so what use would it be to someone unrelated?

The Dark Cult moved as if they knew this and corrupted the Third Prince, who had the weakest mind. Now, they had everything in their hands. The only thing holding them back was the Emperor's tightly sealed mouth that kept them away from the Sacred Chains.

Atlas saw what Kaladyn didn't. For Kaladyn, the Sacred Chains were the only piece of the puzzle, but for Atlas…

'...it is the last.'

He finally understood the entirety of the Dark Cult's plan.

"I cooperated with a cultivator from the outside and found the Dark Cult's most hidden secret," he said, filling Kaladyn in.

"They are trying to revive a being they worship as the Demon God to destroy this continent. I believe they want the Sacred Chains in order to control the Demon God and force it to do their bidding."

If the Demon God was some kind of demon beast, the Sacred Chains could act as a leash. The immense holy energy that the Emperor spoke of was enough to force a being of great darkness to submit.

Kaladyn gritted his teeth immediately in frustration.

"Those chains were made to subdue Gods and Demons. If they use them to tame a great evil, let alone the continent, the entire world could crumble!"

He understood the severity of the issue perfectly.

"Just where did everything go wrong?"

He sighed with his head in his hands.

Atlas tried his best to console him.

"It is not your fault, em– father. Klyde was corrupted by a seed of darkness. His true self must be trapped within his body, completely under control. If the Sacred Chains can subdue a Demon God, then can't they also save him?"

Kaladyn's eyes suddenly cleared up.

"Yes. You are correct."

He had been thinking so negatively that he didn't even consider it.

"If it is you, Kade…"

The Emperor was looking at his son, but Atlas felt like he was looking directly at him.

"...then it is possible."

A sense of vitality returned to Kaladyn's face.

"Son, take this time and tell me about everything that has occurred in the world outside that I do not know. As of this moment, I will assume that we are the final resistance against the Dark Cult."

Atlas nodded. In that, he was absolutely correct. Only the two of them remained.

However, the two of them had advantages that others couldn't match.

"Together, let us save the Empire."

Atlas grinned. Slowly and concisely, he explained everything from the moment the Dark Cult learned about the Empire's hidden secrets to the moment he escaped his own prison cell.

The conversation that bloomed from the remnants of that explanation was focused on a single point only.

A plan to counterattack against the Dark Cult.

Together, Atlas and Kaladyn created such a plan in the darkness below the Imperial Palace.

And, at the same time, in the world outside…