Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

The Human was the same figure who had entered Velmira’s private chamber that day by cutting open space itself. Now, he sat beneath the tree together with the other three individuals, each of whom possessed appearances that stood far beyond what ordinary people could ever have.

Among the four, only the Human spoke while the other three quietly listened. From time to time they let out small laughs at something he said, making the conversation continue naturally without anyone interrupting him.

After some time, a gentle wind passed through the land, causing the tree above them and the endless field of purple flowers to sway together. Just as the wind settled, the Human stopped speaking and quietly raised his eyes toward the tree above them.

Seeing his reaction, the other three also shifted their gazes upward. As they looked, one of the countless purple leaves slowly separated from the tree and drifted downward before eventually touching the ground.

The moment the leaf reached the ground, the expressions of all three changed slightly as they narrowed their eyes toward it. To an ordinary person, it would have looked like nothing more than a simple purple leaf that had naturally fallen from the tree, but to them...it was anything but ordinary, and that was exactly why their attention immediately focused on it.

As all three continued looking at the fallen purple leaf, the Elven woman, dressed in a regal blue gown, finally broke the silence. Her voice sounded gentle, but there was clear suspicion within it as she spoke, ”It’s confirmed now, that Azarion is going to succeed...now, what is your opinion about this, Mostleon?”

She turned toward the Human as she spoke. It was the first time his name had been mentioned since their conversation began, and that Human was none other than...Mostleon.

Unlike the other three, whose eyes had narrowed after seeing the leaf fall, Mostleon continued looking at it with a calm and unconcerned expression. After a brief moment, he slowly shifted his gaze toward Yulia before letting out a quiet sigh.

”Sigh...my opinion doesn’t matter here, Yulia. We can’t interfere with anything happening in Eliomor anymore after all.”

His voice was deep yet smooth, carrying across the quiet surroundings without changing his calm expression. Yulia looked at him for a few moments before turning toward the Angelic woman sitting beside her.

The Angelic woman also let out a small sigh before speaking, ”Hah, Mostleon is right, Yulia, you shouldn’t worry about this anymore.”

Yulia quietly clenched her teeth as her lower lip tightened slightly, a trace of emotion appeared on her face that she hadn’t shown until now, as though something she had protected for a very long time was slowly moving toward destruction while she could do nothing except watch it happen.

Before she could say anything, the Angelic woman spoke again.

”Although the leaf falling from that tree confirms that Azarion is going to succeed...it’s still possible for everything to change, you understand what I’m trying to say, don’t you, Mostleon, Yulia, and Garthax?”

The moment she finished speaking, the other three shifted their attention toward her. The Angelic woman sat calmly with her silver wings, streaked faintly with black, folded neatly behind her back. She wore a long silver gown, and her expression remained composed as she waited for their responses.

The Dwarven man, Garthax, who had remained silent throughout their conversation until now, finally spoke. His arms stayed crossed as his deep voice broke the silence.

”Aurelis...I think I understand what you’re trying to say. You’re talking about him...aren’t you?”

Garthax didn’t point toward anyone as he spoke. He simply looked at Aurelis, his expression showing a slight disturbance that hadn’t been there before.

Aurelis met his gaze for a brief moment before giving a small nod.

”Yes, I’m talking about him, the Dragon Emperor. He reached the same stage as us just recently, the very stage we feared he would eventually reach, and unlike us...he isn’t bound by the laws.”

The moment those words left Aurelis’s mouth, Yulia’s eyes widened as the meaning behind them finally reached her. She immediately turned toward Aurelis as she finally understood what she had been trying to imply.

”Y-You mean...the Dragon Emperor can stop Azarion because he isn’t bound by the laws as us?”

Aurelis looked back at her before giving a small nod.

”Yes, he can. It won’t be easy because Eliomor itself will most likely try to restrict his actions intentionally, but even then...he is simply too powerful for those restrictions to completely stop him.”

After saying that, the surroundings became quiet again for a few moments. Mostleon, who had remained silent after speaking only once earlier, slowly shifted his attention back toward the fallen purple leaf before speaking again.

”Aurelis, I want you to use your Axon Spirit Eyes and examine that leaf properly once more...I have a feeling something isn’t right here.”

The other three immediately looked toward the leaf after hearing Mostleon’s words. Aurelis narrowed her eyes slightly while her brows furrowed in confusion, unable to understand why he would suddenly ask her to inspect something they had all already seen.

However, she knew Mostleon well enough not to question him without reason. He had always been someone who noticed details that others among all of them overlooked, and from her perspective there wasn’t anyone among them who observed things more carefully than he did. Since he had asked her to look again, she didn’t waste any more time and immediately prepared to do exactly as he suggested.

Her blue eyes slowly began to change as red and orange mixed into their color. Around each black pupil, five small circular rings gradually formed one after another while Spirit started fluctuating around her eyes.

TTTZZTZZ

Soft crackling sounds spread through the surroundings as tiny streaks of lightning appeared around them. A moment later, Aurelis fully opened her eyes. They had always been beautiful, but after activating the Axon Spirit Eyes, they appeared completely different. The changing colors, the five rings surrounding each pupil, and the faint lightning dancing around them gave them an appearance unlike anything an ordinary person could possess.

The moment the Axon Spirit Eyes fully activated, her vision immediately settled on the leaf lying only a meter away. At the same time, the entire world around her changed. Everything she saw looked completely different from before, but she ignored those changes for now and kept her full attention on the fallen leaf.

As her eyes carefully examined it, her own eyes widened slightly.

She blinked once before focusing on it again, unable to believe what she had just seen.

”T-the color of that leaf...it isn’t purple...it’s green? Wh-why is it green?”

The confusion in her voice was obvious as she continued staring at it without looking away. Hearing her words, both Yulia and Garthax widened their eyes. Only Mostleon remained quiet, his gaze fixed on Aurelis instead of the leaf as he calmly watched her reaction without saying anything.

A moment later, Aurelis’s expression changed again. The color draining from her face became noticeable as she continued looking at the leaf through the Axon Spirit Eyes.

”W-wait...its color is changing again? It’s turning blue now...what is happening?”

Only then did Mostleon narrow his eyes, but just as he was about to speak, he sensed something. He immediately turned behind them, and the moment he did, his eyes widened as he saw space itself beginning to tear open only a few meters away. From within that torn space, a figure slowly stepped out.

The other three immediately turned toward it as well. Aurelis quickly deactivated the Axon Spirit Eyes, her eyes returning to their normal blue color as her concentration broke the moment she sensed the space of this place being torn apart.

As all four looked toward the figure, they saw a man dressed like a butler, though his attire appeared far more regal than that of an ordinary one. His broad shoulders made the clothing seem slightly out of place, and two horns extended from the front of his forehead. Those horns radiated an immense amount of Spirit, while the rest of his body didn’t release even the slightest trace of it.

The man calmly stepped out of the torn space, and the moment both of his feet touched the ground, the space behind him slowly sealed itself as though it had never been torn apart in the first place. He then began walking toward them at an unhurried pace, his eyes resting on the four figures who still looked at him with widened eyes and clear surprise on their faces.

As he approached them, he finally spoke. His voice was deeper and heavier than any of theirs, even Garthax’s voice didn’t carry this much weight, yet the way he spoke sounded unusually casual.

”You people seem to have failed to understand what is happening with the leaf that fell from the Tree of Astraya. That’s quite an insult to your own positions...don’t you think, you weaklings?”

As he spoke, the corners of his lips slowly curled upward and a faint grin appeared on his face.

Seeing that grin, all four immediately understood who the man standing before them was. There was no longer any need for guesses or confirmation.

The Dragon Emperor...had finally arrived, and from the way he stood before them, it was clear that he had finally decided to take his place among them.