Chapter 295: Chapter 295 - Pieces on the Board
Atlas still held Vienne in his arms, gently rocking her from side to side before spinning once and lifting her high into the air. The baby burst into delighted laughter, her tiny voice echoing through the room.
Not far away, Morganna stood with her usual sharp expression. Her words still carried the same edge they always did, cutting through the air like glass.
Atlas made his way toward the tall chair near the balcony and sat down, placing Vienne on his lap. The little girl bounced happily, giggling as Atlas kept a steady hand on her so she wouldn’t fall.
"You know," he said calmly, glancing toward the vampire queen, "you rarely ever say what’s really on your mind, don’t you?"
Morganna folded her arms, turning her gaze outward. "I’m certain a Lord has enough intellect to understand something that simple," she replied coolly. "Consider it... my way of showing respect."
Atlas breathed out softly, amused, while Vienne climbed up onto his shoulder, wrapping her small arms around his face. He chuckled as her laughter filled the room again.
"Vienne, you’re climbing that hard already?" Atlas teased. "You don’t hold back at all, huh? What’s next? Running across the mountain trails and training with a sword in a month?" He laughed quietly afterward, his voice light for the first time in a while.
Moments like this were rare, almost surreal. Times when he could actually speak with Morganna instead of around her. Despite the depth of their bond, the vampire queen remained a mystery, impossible to read.
"Now tell me, Morganna," Atlas said after a pause, glancing her way again. "Have you ever been in—"
"I’m just like you," Morganna interrupted smoothly before he could finish. "This is the first time I’ve ever had a child."
Atlas blinked, momentarily stunned. That wasn’t where he’d been going with the question at all.
But seriously... in all the tens of thousands of years she had lived, she had never once had a descendant? She must have been that committed to her role as a Lord back then.
Maybe that was why she treated her daughter not just as a child. But as a warrior in the making.
Atlas chuckled softly to himself at the thought, shaking his head in quiet disbelief.
"Now, tell me. What’s your plan?" the woman asked.
Atlas said nothing at first, letting Vienne climb onto his shoulders, the little girl gleefully tugging at his hair and babbling, "Da da da da... ba ba... papa..."
"Bolin has clearly been targeting my alliance," Atlas finally said. "He’s been reinforcing his lower-ranked lords strategically and directing them to attack Luna and Brigid."
Morganna cut him off with a faint smirk. "So you’ll strike simply because they showed aggression first? Then wait. Wait until a similar enemy comes, and you’re the one who’s targeted first."
Atlas exhaled slowly, nodding once. "Indeed... if a similar strike comes to us, and we’re not prepared—"
"You haven’t seen the true extent of everyone’s power yet, have you?" Morganna cut in again.
Atlas looked at her for a moment before giving a quiet nod. "No... not yet."
"That’s why I said you’re slow," she replied.
Atlas frowned faintly, though he said nothing in return. Even after everything he’d accomplished. Every victory, even his triumph at the Dominion Skirmish where he’d beaten opponents a rank above him. Morganna still called him slow?
Her gaze didn’t waver.
"You haven’t even tapped into the full potential of the rat yet," she added coolly. "Or of the others, for that matter."
By "the rat," she meant Kurogasa.
Her crimson gaze flicked toward him. "You have powerful pieces on the board. But most of them are still playing far below what they’re capable of. You’ve been too cautious... too restrained."
But as usual, Morganna fell silent after dropping the remark. Never explaining what she truly meant, leaving only fragments of truth behind.
Atlas sighed softly, his fingers brushing Vienne’s tiny hand as she giggled above his head.
"I assume you’ve always relied on overwhelming power to crush your enemies?" Atlas asked quietly.
"If you possess absolute power," Morganna replied coldly, "your only strategy is to hit harder."
Atlas fell silent, her words echoing in his mind. Could such a philosophy really work? Without strategy, without coordination, he would never have survived the Dominion Skirmish. It wasn’t brute force that had carried him. It was calculation, timing, and precision.
Or maybe Morganna’s definition of overpowering strength existed on a completely different level. If she had been the one leading that Dominion Skirmish instead of him... would she truly have wiped out every enemy lord one by one, ending it in minutes without a shred of hesitation or mercy?
He already knew the answer. If he asked her that question aloud, she would say the same thing she always did, that he shouldn’t hold back, that hesitation was the real weakness.
Maybe that was it. Maybe the difference between them wasn’t just strength. But how they approached war itself.
Or perhaps she was right. Perhaps he had started holding back since Vienne was born. Maybe it wasn’t fear of failure or even fear of death. It was fear of loss.
Yet deep down, Atlas knew the truth. If he truly let go, if he unleashed everything inside him... he wanted to crush every challenge that stood before him.
He wanted to accept both challenges that came to him, destroy his opponents, and burn down every trace of Bolin’s alliance before they ever had the chance to strike again.
That desire, raw, violent, intoxicating, was what truly made him hesitate.
Should he restrain it... or should he finally stop pretending and let it consume him?
After all, everything he had achieved so far. His rapid growth, his relentless training, his near-death battles, had come from forcing himself past his limits again and again.
Maybe Morganna was right. Maybe he’d been missing something crucial all along. Something that wasn’t about strength or power.
He hadn’t yet fully optimized his elite subordinates.
Each one of them held potential far beyond what he had drawn out. Morganna, Kurogasa, Edrik, Lyrassa, and the others. They weren’t just pieces on a board; they were extensions of his strength.
Perhaps that was the key he’d been overlooking.
Atlas stepped down from his chair, still holding Vienne in his arms.
They faced each other, the little girl chattering happily between them.
"Thanks for the talk," he said with a soft smile.
He closed the distance and pressed his lips to Morganna’s. For a moment she did not pull away. When he finally released her, she shifted her gaze just slightly.
"Do not do that if you do not intend to borrow my power," she murmured, her voice low.
"Come out with me," Atlas said. "We will do a gacha pull tonight and see what surprise waits. Something big is coming after this." He paused, then added, quieter, "You want war, do you not?"
Morganna lifted her face and met his eyes.
"Because," he said with a small laugh, "I want it too. Let us crush those who came for us first."
His look was sharper now, clearer than when he walked into the room. He already knew the answer. He only needed to see it plainly.
They walked out together. Atlas looked down at Vienne and asked, playful, "Vienne, do you want to pull the gacha tickets tonight? What do you think?"
"Ga... ta... Ga ta..."