Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Meanwhile, far away from both the Elven and Angelic Continents, on one of the massive islands located between the Dragon Continent and the Elven Continent, an enormous structure stood at the very center of the island, its size alone making it impossible to mistake it for an ordinary building, from a distance it resembled a massive palace because of its height and the numerous structures extending from its main body, but the moment someone looked at its architecture more carefully.

It became obvious that it was nothing other than a Church, and not an ordinary one at that, its enormous towers extended high into the sky while countless large windows and long walls surrounded the central structure, giving the entire place an appearance that was completely different from the palaces found throughout the other Continents...This was the Holy church of Eluminad.

The same church Eliana and Solaris were speaking about as of now.

The area surrounding the Church was just as massive, hundreds of kilometres of land had been developed around it, with countless smaller buildings spreading outward from the central structure, some of them were residential buildings while others appeared to be used for different purposes, though from this distance it was impossible to tell what each one was meant for.

The buildings gradually became less dense as they extended farther away from the Church, eventually giving way to enormous stretches of forest that covered most of the remaining island, while several areas contained natural terrain with hills and uneven ground, all of it surrounded by the enormous ocean that stretched toward the horizon in every direction.

The island itself was large enough to be considered a small territory rather than simply an ordinary island, and the Church occupied the most developed portion of it, roads could be seen extending from the central area toward different directions while several smaller paths disappeared into the surrounding forests, making it clear that this place was not simply a Church built in an isolated location, but an entire region that had developed around it over countless years, and despite the enormous size of the place, there was something strangely organized about everything, as if every part of the island had been planned around the central Church from the very beginning.

At the easternmost side of this massive island, far away from the main structure and the populated areas surrounding it, a person could be seen walking through the forest-covered terrain, his steps remained completely relaxed as he moved across the uneven ground without showing any concern about the surroundings.

If one were to look closely at this particular figure, they would immediately recognize him as the same Elven figure who had once been sleeping peacefully in an open field when one of those strange Monsters carrying Null had approached him, only for him to raise his hand and snap his fingers, causing the Monster to die without him needing to make any further movement.

This...was that same person, though his appearance was now completely different from what anyone had seen during that incident, a large Catope covered his entire body from head to toe, hiding his figure beneath its material and making even his face difficult to see properly, only a small portion of his features could occasionally be seen whenever he moved his head in a certain direction, and there was nothing particularly threatening about the way he walked, he simply continued moving toward the direction of the massive Church while occasionally looking at the surroundings as if he were exploring a completely new place.

’Hehe, I really liked Churches in fantasy worlds when I was a kid, so seeing an actual Church in a fantasy world with my own eyes is giving me quite the proper experience,’ he spoke while continuing to walk, his voice carrying a strange amount of amusement as his eyes remained focused on the distant structure, ’And then there is the other side of these Churches, those evil deeds they keep doing while hiding everything behind that fake Justice talk, hah! Just thinking about it gives me such a nasty feeling that I want to kill them slowly, little by little.’

He didn’t seem particularly concerned about whether someone could hear his words, though there was no one around him at this easternmost section of the island, the nearest buildings were already some kilometers ahead of him, while the massive Church remained visible through the gaps between the trees whenever he moved toward a slightly higher section of the terrain.

The more he walked, the more of the Church could be seen between the trees, and even though he had already known that it was enormous from the information he had received beforehand, seeing the actual structure with his own eyes still made him observe it for several moments, the towers were large enough to remain visible even from this distance while the central structure appeared to occupy an absurd amount of land, and the entire thing gave him exactly the kind of impression he had expected after hearing about the Holy Church of Eluminad.

He continued walking for a little longer before his steps suddenly slowed down, not because something had appeared in front of him and not because he had sensed an enemy nearby, but because something else had caught his attention, his head lowered slightly as his eyes focused on a specific point in the empty air before him, and from the way he looked at that place it was obvious that he was seeing something that wasn’t visible to anyone else.

He remained in that position for a brief moment, seemingly reading whatever had appeared before his eyes, his expression slowly changing from simple curiosity into amusement as he looked through the information only he could see, and after a few seconds, the corners of his mouth raised into a grin beneath the Catope that covered his face.

”Oh? You are going to give me such a huge reward if I reveal these so-called Ancients?” he spoke, his voice becoming slightly more excited as he continued looking at the invisible screen in front of him, ”Hehe, I suggest you prepare it ahead of time because you see, I will be using some nasty tricks on them, my dearest System.”

He didn’t immediately move after saying those words, instead he continued looking at the invisible information for another few moments, seemingly checking the details of whatever reward had been promised to him, while the massive Church remained in the distance, completely unaware that someone had already entered its territory with a specific purpose in mind.