Tower of Heaven

Bernan's faction and the factions of Euryale and Sky Garden were all moving separately. The leaders of the two influences went to see Atlas together, but they didn't keep that same camaraderie otherwise.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

They were individually targeting Dusk and getting their revenge while cooperating only when they absolutely needed to. They hadn't even made contact with Bernan's faction yet despite being aware of their activities.

However, to the rest of the world, it seemed like the work of one major coalition.

Bernan's faction mainly targeted hidden worlds. They'd find and enter Dusk's hidden worlds and destroy the facilities they came across. Their main objective was to turn the world into something Dusk could no longer use.

Atlas didn't quite understand it, but it was described by Scarlet Fox as "closing the world" and making it inaccessible to anyone but people Bernan himself allowed.

It seemed preposterous, but clearly it was being done, otherwise it wouldn't be such a widely believed rumor. It was the reason Bernan's faction had gained so much prominence in such a short period of time.

Those of Sky Garden and Euryale didn't so much focus on hidden worlds. They attacked the Dusk facilities, buildings, and Ascenders inside of the Tower, creating a much more public scene.

Their work was what originally drew attention to the conflict. If it weren't for them, the general public likely wouldn't have even noticed what was happening between Dusk and Bernan's faction.

The funny thing was, despite not wanting to work with each other, in different ways, all of them banded together under Pangea's banner.

They, who remained disconnected, found a connection point in the sun and moon symbol they all left behind in their wake.

'So, two months, was it?'

Atlas smiled to himself. It seemed that someone had also spread Pangea's name, as it was being spoken about in relation to the attacks in almost every post on the forums.

Hell, even Scarlet Fox's informants, who weren't aware of Pangea's origins like she was, left in their notes that perhaps it was a coalition of countless influences against Heaven's Gate rather than a Society itself.

Of the two months he had left before his meeting with Alaric and the rest, only two weeks had passed. This kind of effect, where the name of Pangea had spread so much, couldn't have happened naturally.

At this pace, in two months, Atlas' Society Legend would be more than powerful enough to appease the Hell Guardian even if he didn't do anything.

"It's all because of this event."

Scarlet Fox pointed it out as his eyes reached that part of the information.

The 25th Floor had been torn to shreds. It was completely destroyed; decimated to the degree where the Tower was forced to create an entirely new floor in its place.

The conflict started as a small one as a squad from Euryale carried out their mission to assassinate a group of Dusk geniuses who'd be entering the floor.

However, when the two groups confronted each other, it became clear that Dusk had been planning for the meeting. Suddenly, the 25th Floor was filled with more of their forces and the assassin squad was eliminated.

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It was a declaration of war on Dusk's part. If the influences that stood against them didn't reply, they were as good as defeated.

Euryale and Sky Garden still weren't openly entertaining conflict with Dusk, forcing the leaders of the two influences to send members whose faces were unknown into the conflict. They were equipped with armor that hid their faces and poison tablets that they could crush if they ever needed to escape through death.

Originally, only Euryale faced off against Dusk on the 25th Floor, but the war soon grew in proportion. Dusk sent so many forces that it confused their enemies. They shouldn't have had access to such reserves that they could carelessly use.

In order to face the suspicious threat, Sky Garden soon joined in as well. Secretly, Bernan sent a few of his own forces to monitor the conflict and help when he was needed. Since the Voidwalker told him to aid Atlas, he would do just that.

In this way, all of the conflicting forces found themselves on the 25th Floor. They fought in a perilous battle that lasted for over a week until all sides were forced to withdraw if they didn't want to be penalized by the Tower.

In the end, the floor was left absolutely destroyed. Dusk, Sky Garden, and Euryale all suffered from thousands of casualties, and the world was set ablaze.

It was at that moment when the entire Tower Forum was filled with news about the conflict on the lower floors.

"So, my job now is…"

"Yes. There is currently a stalemate being entertained as all sides recuperate. I think the best course of action for you is to break it."

'Dusk is going against three different influences together. The casualties both sides took were equal on paper, but it is spread out differently.'

Dusk took the entire burden of almost ten thousand deaths on their own. On the other hand, both Euryale and Sky Garden only had to cope with half that number of losses.

'The forces of all sides were meant to be roughly the same, but after what happened on the 25th Floor, we can no longer be certain that Heaven's Gate isn't providing them with disposable troops.'

The gravity of a Great Society far outweighed a Society constrained to the lower floors. With Heaven's Gate's troops, Dusk could easily outlast their enemies.

'But, that is only in the situation where Heaven's Gate drops everything in order to support Dusk.'

In reality, when the situation got bad enough, Heaven's Gate would pull out and leave Dusk to rot. That was the nature of their influence, after all.

Atlas and his compatriots needed to keep pushing Dusk without giving them a moment to rest so that Heaven's Gate could rapidly determine that dropping Dusk was better than supporting it.

Once Atlas acted and broke the stalemate, forcing everyone else to return to war, this kind of situation would slowly begin to manifest itself.

"Good."

Atlas nodded as he took it all in.

"Thank you, as always."

"There's no need for thanks between us. This organization is as much yours as it is mine."

Scarlet Fox reached her hand out, and Atlas happily shook it.

"I shall leave you to your business, then, since you seem to be a busy woman. Contact me if you ever need anything."

Scarlet Fox nodded amiably.

"Of course. How could I ever forget to contact our dear sponsor?"

As always, she maintained that slightly teasing tone, but Atlas could sense the sincerity in her words.

They were partners in this business even if the only thing he was doing was providing funds.

Atlas soon left the guild behind. Within the information were the locations of several hidden worlds that had been revealed through the conflict. He had more than enough options for where he wanted to go.

But, it was precisely because he was so focused on Dusk that he forgot to ask the most important question in his mind.

'I never did find out what she was planning to name the guild…'

Atlas shrugged his shoulders.

Well, regardless of its name, he would always be able to find it, so it didn't matter if he just asked next time.

More importantly, by the time he'd realized what he forgot to ask, he was already at the teleportation array to leave Minora.

Another storm was bound to strike Dusk soon enough.