Antihero In the Hero Academy: I Can Connect the Past Heroes
Chapter 229: He Might Be Not Guilty

Chapter 229: He Might Be Not Guilty

Still, Artemis was very afraid. Even though Juliet was not far away, Atlas was completely alone. The great goddess could not risk one of the ancient demons, or demons of the highest rank, emerging from the demonic passageway.

Her thoughts were not far off the mark.

Azazel, one of the highest-ranking demons, had already noticed the gate. The deaths of Xezbeth and the other two had reached the ears of the ancient demon, and this was enough to tell him that another gate was open somewhere else.

While Juliet’s attention was distracted, if Azazel could get out now, Atlas could put up a good fight, but he would be torn to pieces within five minutes at most.

Alright, this was a bit of an overestimation. Perhaps Atlas could manage to kill him. Though it would be an incredibly powerful, almost unbelievable feat, in a one-on-one battle, Atlas was currently one of the most deadly beings in the world, whether alive or dead.

In his previous life, he had been able to create a huge impact in a one-on-one battle and had even managed to corner Cosmo Mammon before killing him, when he was only in a state of twelve magic rings, which was technically several times weaker than his current state.

Azazel... He was a bit of an odd character. His power was not directly tied to darkness, but rather to the depth of darkness within people. At least, that was what was said about him.

Atlas, on the other hand, was a person who truly harboured a great deal of darkness and deep emotions within him.

This was precisely what made Azazel dangerous in his presence.

Atlas had to think about Artemis’ suggestion, interest, and words, and act on them by making the most of them.

That was why he began to breathe deeply and did his best to visualise the rune patterns in his mind.

The strike and destruction runes had two different rune patterns. Many runes were drawn inside a circle or square. This ensured that the rune pattern was deep and solid, but these two runes did not work that way.

The strike rune consisted of three interlocking triangles containing the numbers ’1-2-3’ inside them, indicating the pattern that would activate the strike rune and perform three consecutive attacks.

The annihilation rune, however, was entirely different.

The Annihilation Rune, in the ancient Latin alphabet, meant ’Annihilation’ rather than ’Extinction,’ contrary to what one might expect.

This spell had a structure that illuminated the letters every second as the spell progressed, and when the spell duration, or pattern, was complete, it shattered into pieces, destroying the lock, the seal, and the name.

This was why Artemis mentioned these two runes. The Strike Rune would support the Annihilation Rune, and the pressure it generated would turn the Annihilation Rune, which normally ends in a single move, into three separate but equally powerful moves.

It was a pretty good plan, to be honest.

That’s why Atlas had started working on everything directly. In one hand, he held a small staff to draw the runes, and in the other, he held the Holy Sword Delusion to kill the demons still emerging from the gate.

He had started moving constantly around, drawing the runes one after another and sending them through the gate.

Artemis’ suggestions were working. He could see that the demon passage was shaking and even starting to crack.

It was truly fascinating.

Of course, the fact that Atlas’s magic rings had increased to eleven was the biggest help here. These runes were a hundred times more powerful than the ones he had drawn before.

The passage was shaking faster and faster with every passing second, and after almost three minutes of adding runes, it was becoming impossible for demons to escape from the passage.

Occasionally, one would emerge, and Atlas would simply obliterate it with a spell or an aura attack.

With his gaze deepened, Atlas could still see the demons following him through the trembling passage with ease.

The funny thing was that he could even see many high-ranking demons he had killed with his own hands in his previous life, demons close to the highest rank, and even valuable demons who had avoided him.

Each of them looked as if they had come to watch a show.

Among the familiar names that appeared before Atlas’s eyes was Azazel himself, the last person he wanted to see.

The ancient demon neither smiled nor looked at him with an angry expression. It didn’t take a genius to understand that his gaze and movements were much more intense than those of the other demons.

He was calm. Unusually calm. Azazel was so calm that it was as if he was telling Atlas that what he had done was insignificant.

Even if Atlas was thinking this way, the ancient demon was simply stunned in the presence of this young man and continued to watch him without uttering a single word.

After making his final touches, Atlas filled the formation he had drawn with runes that had been engraved into the demon gate, and each of the runes began to activate one after another, rather than individually.

"CRACK!!!"

"CRACK!!!"

"CRACK!!!"

"CRACK!!!"

"CRACK!!!"

The sounds of cracking echoed one after another, and every insect in the forest began to flee. The mana spreading outward was not dirty, but rather the pure mana emanating from Atlas’s runes.

The mana was so pure that, to be honest, simply inhaling it could enhance one’s mana acquisition.

The demonic passage began to fill with cracks. Hundreds of eyes peered out from within the cracks, watching Atlas. It was not difficult to see that every demon’s gaze was fixed on him.

As the cracks widened further in a short time, the passage began to disintegrate piece by piece, and within just ten minutes, the passage vanished completely from sight. Atlas, however, lay on the ground, breathing deeply in exhaustion, trying to regain his composure.

The grass was covered in devil’s blood, but Atlas couldn’t care less. All he wanted right now was to rest for a few minutes and wait here until Juliet came to pick him up.

A message had come from Nyx herself, [Are you okay?]

To be honest, Atlas was angry. It had naturally upset him that Artemis, whom he had barely spoken to, had come to his aid instead of Nyx and the others, and it had made him even more angry that she had done something worse than that.

A message had come from Gaia, [We’re sorry, Atlas. We just want you to be prepared, to learn.]

When Atlas saw this message, it was clear that he was visibly upset. No one had expected him to react this way.

"If you want me to learn, please speak. If Lady Artemis hadn’t been there, Azazel could have escaped. If that had happened, I could have died before Lady Juliet returned—you’re aware of that... I owe my life to Lady Artemis," Atlas said suddenly.

Upon hearing this, everyone watching him from the sacred land fell silent.

"By the way, if you find Master Epiales, do not harm him... I think he may have helped us in a way we never even considered," Atlas said suddenly.

These words made no sense to anyone. Epiales had already been found and forced to kneel before Nyx and the others.

Still, the precious Oneiroi had not uttered a word. It was as if Epiales knew that even if he spoke, no one would believe him. So he chose to accept the blame and the punishment that would be given to him.

Nevertheless, when Atlas spoke these words, the first person to be surprised was Epiales himself. The Oneiroi, who had refused to defend himself, was so moved that his eyes filled with tears.

"What are you trying to say?" Nyx asked with great curiosity. Nyx had been forced into a position where she could punish her child, and to be honest, she certainly did not want to do so.

What mother would want to subject her child to such a punishment, even if it did not involve death?

"I thought about it. I thought about it quite deeply while fighting. Everything started to make sense," Atlas said suddenly.

"Think about it, my lady. When there is nothing, the possibility of a demon being released is given. This possibility... or rather, this offer comes from someone who cannot be refused, directly from a god, a god in spirit. The demon is very dangerous, but it is being released at a time when it can cause the least harm..." he added to his own words.

"So in that case, Epioles is not a traitor. He just... chose to keep everything secret... That’s what I don’t understand. If my thoughts are correct, there’s nothing else I can do but try to understand why he did it..." he added to his own words again.

Meanwhile, every eye in the sacred palace turned to Epioles, and Nyx herself looked at her son and asked, "Why didn’t you try to defend yourself?"

It was clear that even Nyx was upset.