Chapter 1211: Pride

Anastasia reached Zoey and gently took her hand, offering her a warm, comforting smile.

Atticus didn’t like the sound of that.

He turned to Zoey, but she only smiled and said, "I would be delighted to spend the day with you, Mrs. Ravenstein."

"Call me Anastasia."

Atticus could only stare as Anastasia carried Zoey out of the room like a prized trophy.

"Well, that was fun," Caldor said, grinning at Atticus as he got up to leave the dining room.

"Where are you going, Caldor?"

Caldor turned to see Avalon looking straight at him.

"You’re doing the dishes."

Caldor’s eyes widened. "Why?! Atticus was the one who snuck a girl into his room!"

Atticus gave Caldor a baffled stare at his shamelessness, but the man only shrugged.

"Don’t forget I’ve received all your complaint reports from the military, Caldor. You’ve done worse. Shall I elaborate?"

"Oh. Right." Caldor scratched the back of his head. "No, no. I’ll do the dishes."

He trudged back toward the table and began clearing plates. Atticus, Ember, and Aurora all turned to Avalon with questioning looks.

If he had dirt on Caldor, they wanted in.

But Avalon only smiled. "I’ll see you all later, kids. And Atticus…"

He turned as he walked away, winking at him.

After Avalon left, Atticus bantered with Aurora a bit longer, then chatted briefly with Ember and the Apexes before finally excusing himself from the dining room.

Eventually, the room was cleared out.

’That was intense.’

Atticus appeared in his usual training spot outside, sitting down. The last few minutes had been way too much.

Who knew bringing your girl to dinner with your family would be this hard?

’Can I even call her my girl?’

They’d had a moment yesterday… kissed… but they hadn’t really talked about labels.

’She did say she wanted me…’

Zoey had made her intentions known. And Atticus was assuming it was now his move to define things.

His thoughts drifted back to Zoey and his mother leaving the room together. His frown deepened.

’I should check in on them.’

No matter what scenario he imagined… none of them ended well. At least not for him.

’She knows all my secrets.’

The first time he pooped. His first walk. His most embarrassing childhood moments.

He hadn’t exactly been a quiet child, and remembering every insane thing he’d done growing up, he arrived at one simple conclusion:

’I should check up on them.’

He was a god now. A simple thought was all it took to find them.

But just as he began to focus, a strange feeling bloomed in his chest.

’Ozeroth?’ Atticus narrowed his eyes.

Reluctantly, he vanished from his spot and appeared on the island where Ozeroth was training.

"Welcome back," Whisker greeted him with his usual textbook grin.

But Atticus’ gaze wasn’t on him.

His eyes were locked on Ozeroth, whose golden Will was visibly trembling, on the verge of erupting.

"He’s breaking through…" Atticus muttered.

"Yep," Whisker confirmed, then sighed.

"Ah… it’s been amazing while it lasted."

He sounded genuinely disappointed, as if his vacation was about to end.

’Maybe he’ll leave after breaking through?’

Whisker hoped.

After all, once Ozeroth ascended, there’d be nothing holding him here… right?

As the silence stretched between them, both waiting for Ozeroth’s breakthrough, Whisker suddenly turned to Atticus.

"So, I heard your woman woke up."

Atticus gave him a look.

Whisker shrugged. "I’ve got eyes everywhere."

"So what?"

Whisker smiled. "Just saying. You look happy. How was your night, good?"

Atticus saw the grin on his face and immediately knew what he meant.

"Nothing happened. She slept in my room, and I left to train. But you already knew that, didn’t you?"

"I do," Whisker nodded slowly. "Still can’t help but ask why the hell you did it. That’s the problem with you virgins, always waiting for the ’right time’ to pop your cherry. Hate to break it to you, but there’s no right time. You just do it."

"I wasn’t waiting for the right time."

Whisker raised an eyebrow. "Then, your royal highness, pray tell, why did you leave her and go train last night?"

Atticus frowned. "She just woke up from an eight month coma. Her mind was exhausted. Sex was the last thing she needed."

"Or it was exactly what she needed. Letting loose with a good pounding."

Atticus’ frown deepened.

Whisker raised both hands. "Alright, alright. My bad. Won’t happen again."

Atticus turned his head away, exhaling. A few seconds passed in silence before Whisker spoke again.

"You know… I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, having a harem is fucking awesome."

Atticus didn’t respond, so he kept going.

"My father’s a bastard who deserves to die, but when he’s with his harem? He’s the happiest man alive. And you… you’re a god. Endless stamina. You’d be doing a service to the world by satisfying so many women. Don’t you think so?"

"If you like it so much, why don’t you just do it?"

Whisker cleared his throat. "Who says I don’t already have one?"

Atticus turned and gave him a look. Whisker just shrugged with a smug smile.

"You’re a hopeless case."

"Well, at least this hopeless case is making a lot of women happy." He winked, deliberately emphasizing lot.

Atticus sighed. "Let’s just wait for his breakthrough."

They both fell silent. But they didn’t have to wait long.

The light surrounding Ozeroth grew more intense by the second. And then, without warning, it erupted.

An explosion of golden light detonated from his body, flooding the entire island in radiant energy.

In response, red and blue auras enveloped Atticus and Whisker as they shielded themselves from the overwhelming surge of Will.

Atticus calmly gazed around.

Ozeroth’s golden Will had now enveloped the entire island, and beyond. It didn’t just spread, it imposed.

And in the very next instant, Ozeroth’s eyes flickered open. He rose from his seated position, calm and unhurried.

And as his gaze landed on Atticus and Whiske, they felt it, what his Will now represented.

Pride.