Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Chapter 19The Relics Left Behind

Dust continued pouring through the collapsing underground world.

Massive fragments of black stone fell from above, crashing into the ruined battlefield while the Eternal Ruin groaned around them. The surviving Revenants stayed still for several moments, their eyes fixed on the place where the grotesque black monster had been cut apart.

Or rather, where it had stopped existing as a threat.

Only a faint distortion remained in the air ahead. Space bent unnaturally there for a few seconds before slowly stabilizing. Even after Velmira’s final slash had passed, the area still looked damaged in a way stone and flesh could not explain.

Matter Ender had not simply cut the monster.

It had marked space itself and folded the target apart.

That was the kind of attack even most S-Rank Revenants could not properly understand.

Amid the destruction, Velmira remained standing.

Blood dripped from her severed shoulder. Her breathing was heavy and uneven, and the transformed white sword rested loosely in her remaining hand. Pieces of broken stone continued falling around her, but none of the surviving Revenants approached immediately.

The reason was simple.

Even injured, Velmira’s remaining pressure still filled the battlefield. She had just killed something that had slaughtered Revenants before most of them could react. Until that pressure settled, approaching her carelessly felt more dangerous than useful.

Mark narrowed his eyes while staring at the place where the black monster died.

His expression had finally lost its calmness.

He understood one thing now.

That creature had been beyond ordinary classification.

An S-Rank would have died instantly against it.

No.

Not only S-Ranks.

Even among Ex-Ranks, very few could have survived a direct battle against that monstrosity. Its speed, prediction ability, corrupted Spirit, regeneration suppression, intelligence, and learning speed made it something that should not have existed inside a ruin this close to Imperial territory.

Yet Velmira had killed it.

Mark slowly exhaled through his nose.

”...Monster.”

The word escaped him unconsciously.

Not toward the black creature.

Toward Velmira.

Velmira finally lowered the transformed white blade slightly.

The Spirit pressure across the battlefield weakened little by little, though the ruin itself continued collapsing. Massive cracks spread through the underground structure, and somewhere far away, another section of the ceiling gave in with a heavy roar.

The Eternal Ruin was dying.

Everyone present understood it.

Velmira’s crimson eyes shifted toward the remaining Revenants.

”...Report.”

Her voice was calm.

Too calm for someone still bleeding from a severed shoulder.

One Revenant stepped forward and knelt immediately.

”Five confirmed dead, Commander Velmira.”

His voice tightened slightly.

”...Three heavily injured.”

Another Revenant stepped forward while gripping his bleeding side.

”The ruin itself is becoming unstable rapidly. We estimate complete collapse within the next hour.”

Velmira listened silently.

Then she exhaled slowly.

”Hah...”

The transformed sword in her hand dissolved into countless white particles before returning to the original thin form of Marvilas. The pure white bracelet relic separated from the blade and attached itself around her wrist again.

But her severed arm did not regenerate.

Black veins continued spreading near the wound.

Corrupted Spirit.

Mark’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

”...That wound.”

Velmira glanced toward her shoulder.

”...It blocked regeneration.”

Several Revenants’ expressions darkened.

Spirit corruption capable of stopping even an Ex-Rank’s regeneration was not something ordinary monsters could produce. If Velmira had not ended the battle quickly, the wound might have become much worse.

One of the older Revenants stepped forward without hesitation.

He reached into the storage relic near his waist and took out an object wrapped in several layers of white cloth.

A relic.

The moment it appeared, soft golden light spread across the battlefield.

The surrounding Revenants relaxed slightly.

Mark’s gaze sharpened.

A healing-type relic.

Rare.

Extremely rare.

The older Revenant unwrapped it carefully, revealing a small golden sphere floating above his palms. Ancient markings rotated across its surface, and warm Spirit fluctuations spread outward in calm waves.

He lowered his head respectfully.

”Commander Velmira, please allow us.”

Velmira remained silent for a moment.

Then she nodded once.

The Revenant activated the relic.

Hummmmmm.

Golden light flowed from the sphere and entered Velmira’s severed shoulder. The corrupted black veins reacted violently the moment the light touched them, twisting as if trying to resist removal.

Then they vanished.

Completely.

Several Revenants widened their eyes despite already knowing the relic’s function.

Its effect still felt unreasonable every time.

After the corruption disappeared, the wound closed rapidly. Muscle reconstructed. Veins reconnected. Bone formed. Skin covered the new flesh. Within moments, Velmira’s severed arm had returned as if it had never been cut off.

Mark watched silently.

His thoughts deepened.

The Royal Family’s foundation was terrifying.

An Ex-Rank commander.

Twenty S-Rank Revenants.

Relics capable of healing Spirit corruption.

Weapons like Marvilas.

And artifacts strong enough to support expeditions into Eternal Ruins.

No wonder the Empire remained dominant despite threats from monsters, ruins, rival continents, and noble factions.

Velmira slowly flexed her regenerated fingers.

Then her gaze moved past the battlefield.

Toward the rubble and smoke beyond the place where the grotesque monster had died.

Something still remained there.

The relics.

Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly.

”...Search the battlefield.”

The remaining Revenants moved immediately.

Despite exhaustion and injuries, they spread across the shattered underground chamber, checking broken sections while avoiding unstable cracks. Dust rolled heavily through the area, and pieces of ruined pillars lay scattered everywhere.

The deeper they moved, the stranger the battlefield became.

Velmira’s final slash had altered the underground structure itself. Entire walls had vanished. Massive sections of the ruin no longer existed. Some areas still held faint spatial distortions where Matter Ender had passed through.

One Revenant swallowed unconsciously.

”...What kind of attack was that?”

Another answered quietly.

”Don’t ask.”

None of them truly wanted to understand.

Then one Revenant stopped.

His eyes widened slightly.

”...Commander.”

Everyone’s attention shifted.

Ahead, beyond collapsed stone and drifting smoke, a pedestal remained standing.

Untouched.

Completely untouched.

The area around it had been devastated, but the pedestal itself had not moved. No cracks spread across its surface. No dust settled on it. Even the collapse of the ruin seemed to avoid it.

Velmira’s gaze sharpened.

The surviving Revenants approached cautiously. Even though the black monster was dead, none of them trusted an untouched object inside a collapsing Eternal Ruin.

Then the relic became visible.

A strange silver cube floated quietly above the pedestal. Countless runic symbols rotated across its surface, and faint pulses of Spirit Energy spread outward from within it. The pulses were calm, but the density inside the relic was far above ordinary measurement artifacts.

Mark narrowed his eyes.

A measurement-type relic.

But not an ordinary one.

The Spirit density alone exceeded most royal-grade artifacts.

One Revenant whispered unconsciously.

”...A relic capable of measuring beyond Ex-Rank...”

Another inhaled sharply.

Because relics like that were almost mythical.

Even the Royal Family possessed only a few capable of measuring beings beyond common rank classifications. Such relics could change military planning, identify hidden talents, evaluate monsters before battle, and expose power that ordinary measuring tools failed to read.

Velmira stepped forward carefully.

She took the floating silver cube into her hand.

The moment she touched it, the cube released a faint pulse of light.

Then it stabilized.

Her crimson eyes remained unreadable.

But even she understood the importance of this discovery.

Then another Revenant spoke.

”...There is something else here.”

Everyone turned again.

Beside the shattered pedestal, partially buried beneath rubble, lay a scroll.

Ancient.

Dark silver.

Covered in strange symbols none of them recognized immediately.

Velmira picked it up.

The moment her fingers touched the scroll, a faint chill spread through the surrounding air.

Mark’s eyes narrowed sharply.

Dangerous.

That scroll felt dangerous.

Velmira did not hesitate. She stored both relics inside her spatial storage calmly, then turned around.

”The mission is complete.”

Her voice echoed through the collapsing underground world.

Then the Eternal Ruin shook violently again.

BOOOOOOM.

A huge section of ceiling collapsed somewhere nearby, and cracks spread rapidly across the battlefield. The structure was no longer slowly failing.

Complete collapse had begun.

Velmira turned at once.

”We leave. Now.”

The surviving Revenants moved instantly.

No one hesitated.

Everyone understood clearly that if they stayed any longer, they would be buried inside the Eternal Ruin they had come to clear.

The remaining Revenants disappeared into the collapsing darkness.

Meanwhile—

Far away from the Eternal Ruin, Atlas stood silently outside a massive building.

The Ruin Explorer Guild.

Warm golden lights spilled through the large windows, and countless voices echoed from inside. Explorers entered and exited while carrying weapons, relic fragments, monster materials, sealed documents, and mission records. Some looked exhausted. Some looked drunk. Some looked like they were one failed mission away from death and still laughing anyway.

Atlas remained outside.

His black attire shifted slightly in the cold night wind, and his eyes stayed fixed on the entrance.

Thinking.

Revising.

The conversation with the receptionist replayed inside his mind.

To gain access to Guild information, he needed to become an official Explorer first.

No exception.

No bribe.

No shortcut.

Atlas exhaled slowly.

”...Troublesome.”

His original plan had been simple. Gather information quietly, understand the current state of Ormolio, then disappear from the Human Continent before the Royals or Guilds could connect anything to him.

But the Guild had placed a gate in front of the information he needed.

Registration.

A record.

An identity.

A trace.

And Atlas hated traces.

Especially now.

His fingers brushed against his chest where the Codex rested hidden within him. The warmth remained faint, silent, and dangerous.

Atlas lowered his gaze slightly.

”...Still...”

He needed information.

About continents.

About ruins.

About relics.

About Spirit.

About Revenants.

And most importantly, about how strong this world truly was.

After surviving the Eternal Ruin, gaining Spirit, and discovering the Codex, Atlas understood one thing clearly: he knew almost nothing about the real world beyond the slums. He had lived by scraps of information stolen from taverns, guards, hunters, and rumors.

That was no longer enough.

Ignorance was deadly.

Especially for someone carrying a relic that could plunge kingdoms into war.

The sounds from inside the Guild continued spilling outward.

Laughter.

Arguments.

Mission negotiations.

The normal noise of Explorers living around danger and coin.

Atlas stared at the entrance for a few more seconds.

Then he started walking.

Slowly.

Toward the Ruin Explorer Guild.

- - -

[A/N: From here on, the real progression begins. These five Chapters were for the foundation of a future major arc. Thank you for your patience, guys.]