Atticus curled his fists as the endless desert of the domain reverted to pristine white.

The ripped body of the Willguard still lay dead beneath his grandfather, blood dripping from his claws as he drew heavy, uneven breaths.

'He hasn't changed.'

The Magnus of now reminded him of the past, of the man his grandfather had once been. An absolute presence. Someone he could rely on, someone who would always stand behind him.

Magnus slowly turned and met his eyes. Atticus' fists tightened.

'I see.'

He'd been too deep within his own world to notice anything outside it. As it turned out, Magnus had been trying to tell him something all along, and this fight had finally forced him to listen.

'I'm still Magnus. I'm still your grandfather.'

A smile crept across Atticus' face, stretching until his teeth showed. He nodded once, relieved when Magnus returned the gesture.

'Damn old man. To think you actually won,' Whisker's voice chimed in his mind. 'Gotta say, I never doubted you for a second.'

'…Thank you.'

'The lazy man lies,' Ozeroth scoffed. 'The moment the challenge started, he was already talking about revenge.'

'…Ahem. You can still take revenge when you survive—'

'Lies!'

Atticus resisted the urge to facepalm. Of all the times to start bantering, it had to be now, when nearly every power on the Verge was watching them.

'That's enough. There's still a lot to do.'

As the chatter faded, Atticus let his gaze drift across the board. Though many Marquis and champions still stood frozen in shock, the game itself had resumed the instant Magnus' battle ended.

'The fight must've shaken them.'

During their turns, none of the Marquis moved their champions toward him anymore. Some even went out of their way to steer clear of him and his people entirely.

'So that's it.'

The battle with the Willguard had been fought without will. No one could tell how strong Magnus truly was, or whether he was a true willer at all.

But what they had seen was a man tearing apart a Willguard sentinel with his bare hands.

A legend.

Apparently, that alone was enough to make the Marquis give Magnus a wide berth.

'That settles things.'

Atticus' gaze settled on Ordan. Even now, while the others had shaken off their shock and continued the game, Ordan remained still, his eyes fixed on Magnus.

It was impossible to tell what the man was thinking. But Atticus knew enough to understand this much, the matter of Magnus was finished.

He had no intention of moving him from his current position. Any future challenge would take place in a will-less domain.

After what he'd just witnessed, Atticus trusted Magnus to handle himself.

His weakness had been crushed. Now…

He turned to Raziel just as the die snapped into the man's grasp. It was his turn.

Unlike the others, Raziel still wore the same amused smile. He twirled the die lazily between his fingers, a soft laugh escaping him.

"I see you've been busy fattening him up."

The whispers died instantly as gods and champions alike listened.

Raziel slowly shook his head.

"Damn. What a colossal waste of time. The usurpers have no use for dead weight. I'm trying to help you here, why do you keep refusing me?"

All he received in return was a pair of cold, lifeless eyes.

The marked clicked his tongue.

"I guess this is what you get for playing the good guy. Well… no matter. Thanks to you, I've found a better target anyway."

Atticus frowned.

'A better target?'

Raziel rolled, and the die landed on a three.

But instead of the expected order, his voice rang out with something far more unsettling.

"Me. Three domains forward."

Atticus' frown deepened. It was the first time Raziel had moved since arriving.

And in that direction…

His brows drew together.

'Anorah.'

Now he understood. Magnus was no longer an option. The domain penalty made challenging him pointless, forcing Raziel to turn toward a target he could still influence.

A god.

Atticus clenched his jaw. Raziel wasn't after Anorah for her own sake, he was using her to reach him. But how did he know they were together?

His teeth ground.

'Shit.'

The realization came quickly. Earlier, when Ordan had planned to challenge Magnus, Atticus had warned Anorah and Ozerra to prepare just incase. Raziel must have noticed their communication, and put the pieces together.

Atticus counted the domains between them and exhaled slowly. Anorah had been moving sideways more than forward during her turns, and had ended up close to Raziel.

'Just three domains. One more turn.'

If Raziel rolled another three, he'd land directly in her domain, unless she moved.

Atticus turned to her, but Anorah was already staring at him with hard calm eyes.

'She knows.'

He'd spent enough time with her to recognize that look. The kind that never led anywhere good. The look of someone who'd already made up her mind.

She wasn't going to move.

Atticus exhaled heavily, his heart pounding in his chest. He'd learned long ago that trying to change her mind was pointless.

He'd fought Raziel before. He knew the man. He knew Anorah.

And he knew one thing for certain…

'She can't win.'

Atticus turned away and fixed his gaze on the center of the board. He couldn't allow that fight to happen, no matter what. He was too far away to intervene directly, which left him with only one option.

Reaching the center.

'Two domains.'

A roll of three would take him straight there, but…

His eyes swept across the Marquis. Ordan, Dravek, and several others stood ahead of him, clustered around the center, while the rest lagged behind.

Yet since Atticus' arrival on the Marquis board, none of the gods closest to the center had taken a single step forward.

It was strange.

As though none of them were even trying to reach the center, despite it being the game's ultimate objective.

At first, Atticus had blamed the penalties. The closer one got, the harsher they became. But he'd dismissed that explanation just as quickly. Penalties could be contested with power points.

And the game had started long before he arrived in the layer.

He couldn't imagine how many Marquis points people like Dravek and Ordan must have accumulated by now. It should have been more than enough to reach the center.

Only a single domain separated them from it. A distance they could cross in one roll.

Yet they hadn't moved.

That alone told him there was something else at play. Something tied to the goal itself. But nothing in the rules explained it.

Which meant…

'Someone reached the center before we arrived.'

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