CHAPTER 223: CHAPTER 224: WHAT I MUST

But she didn’t move.

She stayed there, curled into him like someone trying to hold back winter.

Atlas closed his eyes for a moment. Her weight was familiar, almost grounding. He could still remember when she first stood beside him—wild, unpredictable, and brilliant. Now there was something more fragile beneath her flame. Something tender.

He rested his chin gently atop her head.

Outside, thunder murmured far off in the sky. Distant. But not gone.

"Lara," he said after a while.

"Mm?"

"If another god came... and I failed to stop them... what would you do?"

She paused.

Her breath caught for a second. Then she answered.

"I’d stand beside you. Even if it meant dying."

Atlas smiled, faintly. "Let’s not die. Not yet."

"Then don’t face gods alone," she said, voice sharper now.

He nodded.

There was quiet again. Only the sound of wind brushing against the stone windowpanes. And in that silence, something settled.

Not closure. Not peace.

But a promise. Unspoken.

Her fingers traced light circles against his chest as she spoke, voice quiet again. "You scared me, you know?"

"I scare myself."

"That makes it worse."

He said nothing. Because she was right.

The weight of what was growing inside him—this evolution, this god-facing power—it wasn’t clean. It wasn’t beautiful. It was strange. Almost...unnatural.

The system still pulsed behind his eyes.

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And he didn’t know what would come out the other side.

He stroked her hair again, his voice barely above a whisper. "Whatever comes next... stay with me. Even if I change."

"I will," she answered, not missing a beat.

And in that moment, it wasn’t a romantic promise.

It was survival.

The kind of bond made not in warmth, but in fire and death and loss.

She tilted her head up slightly. Met his eyes.

"If she says that again—about making me family—I’m breaking her nose."

Atlas laughed. A real one this time. "Noted."

She kissed his chin and laid her head back down.

Outside, the wind picked up again. The clouds above shifted. Somewhere far off, the earth trembled faintly—like something ancient was waking again.

And in the quiet, the panel flashed again.

But Atlas didn’t look at it yet.

He held Lara closer. Not because she needed it.

But because he did.

They sat together in total comfort with each other.

For the first time in weeks, perhaps months, Atlas allowed himself to simply breathe. With Lara curled into him, soft and warm, her presence like a balm, he drifted. Her breathing matched his. The slow rhythm of two warriors finally allowed to pause. The world outside, with its storms and gods and betrayals, could stay at the threshold for now.

Rest did not come instantly—but peace did. Eventually, their eyes closed. Together.

One hour...two hours...

The light had changed.

Atlas gradually opened his eyes.

Something shifted. Not sharply. Just enough.

A presence.

He didn’t move immediately. His senses had long been trained to stay still before acting. In that stillness, he let the sensation crawl across his skin.

The room had changed. The air was cooler. The light softer. Afternoon had surrendered to night. Moonlight pooled through the high arched windows in long silvery trails. And within it—

A silhouette.

Someone stood there.

Atlas didn’t startle. He only blinked once and sighed.

"...Of course," he muttered.

Slowly, deliberately, he shifted Lara. Her body was still relaxed. Not dreaming, not anymore—just deep in slumber, the kind of sleep that came after too much emotion and too little rest.

He gently slid his arms under her, lifted her with practiced ease, and walked toward the bed. His movement was quiet, precise, as if every muscle remembered how to be invisible.

"Noise Cancel."

The air shimmered faintly as the skill activated. A soft barrier wrapped around the bed like a glass dome, keeping sound both in and out. Lara didn’t stir as he laid her down, brushing a stray lock of hair from her cheek.

Then, turning from her sleeping form, he made his way to the window.

The figure was still there.

Waiting.

"...You said you’d be a good girl. Said you’d wait for me," Atlas said, his voice low, unreadable.

The woman stepped forward. The moonlight kissed her form like it remembered her, casting her silver hair in liquid light.

Eli smiled.

"...Well. After seeing you... after taking in your scent... I just.... couldn’t bear the distance."

Her voice, sultry and smooth, carried the weight of old fires.

"Of course," Atlas replied flatly. "And I believed your promise, too."

His eyes narrowed. "How did you escape Aurora’s vision?"

Eli tilted her head. Her smile didn’t fade. "In the end... Merlin’s still her master."

Atlas exhaled sharply through his nose.

He should’ve known.

Should’ve known they couldn’t keep both Merlin and Elizabeth locked away. Not for long. Not with how deep their ties ran. Not with how tangled their fates had always been.

"So you want to run?" he asked, arms crossed.

"Me?" Her eyes glittered. "Run away? Never. There’s no place left for me now. I’m sure my brother has already declared me dead and begun his enthronement ceremony."

Atlas paused. "...Pretty sad, if I must say."

She chuckled softly. "I’d say... more complex than it should be."

Eli stepped closer. Slowly. Testing the space between them like one testing thin ice. She reached out and placed her hand inside his.

He didn’t pull away.

Not yet.

But the moment crackled. As if the air between them knew there were ghosts watching.

"You sure are brave, thinking I won’t kill you in a heartbeat," Atlas said. His tone roughened. The threat wasn’t a bluff.

The tension was immediate. The temperature dropped a degree.

Eli’s instincts surged—he could see it. Her breath hitched, her pulse flared. Her body screamed to flee. But she didn’t.

She stood her ground.

"...Not enough to push me away," she whispered. "You know..... I still love you."

Atlas closed his eyes. His head dipped, just slightly.

What was he supposed to say to that?

"...What do you want, Eli?"

"You," she said. "That’s all I want."

He barked a laugh. "You still think I’m naive."

She shook her head. "No. I know you aren’t."

Atlas took a step back. "I hope you have the virus injection on you. Because believe me—if you try again, that thing will empower me far beyond your expectations..... You won’t live long enough to regret it."

Eli’s eyes fell. But her grip on his hand remained. Tight.

"I... I made mistakes," she said. Her voice cracked. "I wasn’t thinking straight."

"...I almost died, Eli."

"I was desperate! You were leaving me!"

Her voice was too loud. Too sudden. The words cracked against the silence like thrown stones.

His eyes widened for a split second. His heart stumbled.

"...And you comatosed me just because of that?"

Silence.

From the bed, Lara stirred.

"Umm..." she mumbled in her rest. Her hand shifted beneath the blanket. Then went still again.

Both Atlas and Eli froze.

The air thinned.

Neither dared speak.

Then slowly, Eli pulled away. Her hands trembled at her sides.

"...Just come with me to the dungeon cell," Atlas said. "Stay there. In peace."

The words were firm. But there was something behind them.

A final offer.

A plea, disguised as a command.

Eli’s eyes shimmered. She blinked rapidly. Fighting the tears. Her chest rose and fell quickly. Her lips parted as if to argue—but no words came.

Then...

She kneeled.

It was abrupt. Almost shocking. Her knees hit the floor with a soft thud.

Atlas stiffened. "What are you—"

Her fingers reached for his belt.

Unbuttoned it. Slowly. Carefully.

"Wh... what are you doing?" Atlas asked, his voice tight.

"...What I want," she said. "And what I must."