Tower of Heaven

There was another corridor exiting the room opposite the one Atlas and Horus came out of. Logically, it was easy for them to run to that corridor and avoid the statues altogether.

However, Atlas believed that his rewards would be better if he fought when he could, and Horus…

Well, Horus just loved to fight.

There were sixteen statues in total, but they did not move together. Six of them against the back wall were still watching the scene without moving, while another three on each side wall were standing with their weapons pointed at the sky.

The remaining four were the only ones who moved to attack, and four was a far more manageable number.

Atlas and Horus split them evenly, taking the right and left sides respectively.

Boom!

Horus slammed his fist into the first statue, a figure of a man holding a spear, and started the battle.

Meanwhile, Atlas skirted around them and observed their attack patterns first.

He was facing a spearman and a shieldbearer. On Horus' side, there was a spearman and a swordsman.

The statues were split into four categories, of which those were three. The last was a group of four bowmen who weren't making any moves for now.

'Hmm…first, I should test their defenses.'

The shieldbearer was the closer of the two, but Atlas wasn't planning to target the sturdier one first. He dashed into the statue's periphery and used its shield to propel himself into the air.

Whoosh!

The spearman thrusted his weapon over his comrade's shoulder, aiming for Atlas while he was still in the air. He twisted his body, narrowly dodged, and used the shieldbearer's head to propel himself further.

He barely acted fast enough as the spearman's thrust turned into a sweep. The wind flew under him, disrupting his balance, but he was already in his intended position.

He spun and gathered momentum as he extended his left chain sickle on a path towards the spearman's head.

Thud!

It made contact, but the blade was unable to cause any damage. There was a small scar left by the blunt impact, but it was nothing to be proud of.

Atlas reoriented his body and kept his eyes on both of the statues below him. The shieldbearer was not moving as Atlas wasn't in a position it could reach, but the spearman was already moving again.

Allowing himself to fall through the air, he watched the spear approach him in slow motion.

His goal was never to dodge it. He retracted his chains and held the sickles by their handles, crossing them to meet the spear head-on.

Skrrrrr!

A sound like metal being cut by a spinning blade rang through the chamber.

"Kgh…!"

Atlas gritted his teeth as his arms were nearly broken by the force of the impact, but his focus always remained on the goal. He used the spear like a slide, skidding down until the spearman's head was right in front of him.

Bang!

He raised the chain sickles over his head and slammed them down into the spearman's face.

The sound it made was still dull, however, the sickles still sunk into the statue.

Atlas pressed his feet against the nearest point of contact he could find and dragged his arms down, putting two large scars on the enemy.

He didn't push further than that. The shieldbearer was approaching in a posture like he was going to charge into him. Rather than leaving himself vulnerable to such an attack, Atlas pushed away and made distance.

'They are slow, but incredibly sturdy. Destroying sixteen of them is impossible for any Ascender on the twentieth floor unless they are all standing still.'

With one small clash, Atlas was able to ascertain that this fight was not meant to be possible.

At least, not if fought in a conventional manner.

'The most common solution must be approaching as a group.'

If there were eight of them as there were when they first entered the tomb, then it would become considerably easier to win the fight.

'However, this tomb is rewarded based on individual contribution.'

There had to be a way to win with little to no people. Atlas believed that a clue had to be hidden in this room, something completely unrelated to the battle.

'Unrelated…right, the mirrors!'

It was too early to make any surefire guesses, but Atlas learned a lot about the tower in the short time he'd spent within.

It rarely tested strength alone. It always left open a path for those who excelled more in strategy and tactics, as these floors were not meant to raise a group of warriors.

The Tower of Heaven was a place that fostered Godhood in every form. There would never be a trial with only a single solution. It was entirely impossible.

Atlas returned his focus to the fight.

'The shieldbearer is not a threat if I continuously move. The spearman is more difficult, but still not impossible.'

Luckily, there were only two of them.

'I must complete my analysis before the rest start to move.'

Atlas glanced up at the ceiling.

The number of floating glass shards was high, but they were all out of reach. Atlas' jump just moments ago barely carried him half of the distance.

[Eyes of One]

The world grayed and slowed to a crawl. The subtle orbits of the mirrors became clearer, giving Atlas a chance to find a pattern in their movements.

He took a second to glance at Horus as well.

'That guy…' He thought wryly.

Rather than looking for other methods, he seemed more content with bashing the heads of the statues in.

In terms of damage, he was definitely doing more than Atlas. He had blunt force as an advantage, and when he got close enough to the statues to deal consistent blunt force damage, they were unable to touch him.

Using the difference in size to play with them was smart. Atlas was doing the same, after all.

But the tactical solution was more important to him than breaking them with his strength.

After all, only four moved, but there were twelve more lying in wait.

To aim for a perfect clear, Atlas was going to take them all down together.

He was only moments away from figuring out how.

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