Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

While Velmira remained stunned, the projection continued changing instead of remaining on the same scene, showing more and more moments of Atlas entering each Cataclysm-rank Ruin and then coming out without a single scratch on his body, every scene making Velmira’s pupils contract further from pure shock and disbelief, because even after seeing him kill an SS-rank Angelic individual while being only an S-rank, she still had some logic left to rely on, but watching him repeatedly clear Cataclysm-rank Ruins without suffering any injuries was enough to shake even that remaining logic.

Then the scene suddenly shifted to a completely different scenario, one that happened only a day after Atlas had cleared the Cataclysm-rank Ruin.

He had entered a Divine-rank Ruin.

Even with a team of seven people consisting of six S-ranks and one SS-rank, Velmira couldn’t see any possibility of them emerging alive, because the moment the Spirit Wave came out from the Ruin, she immediately realized something was wrong with it, the Ruin had clearly gone through some kind of mutation, although it hadn’t reached the level of an Eternal Ruin and couldn’t possibly reach that level under normal circumstances, its strength was still far beyond what a normal Divine-rank Ruin should possess.

From her experience accumulated over countless years, Velmira only needed one glance at the Spirit Wave to judge the general difficulty of a Ruin, and from what she sensed, the Boss inside this one was powerful enough to crush that entire team within seconds if they confronted it directly.

Yet the seven of them still entered.

Velmira could only watch as the massive door of the Ruin automatically sealed itself after they went inside, leaving nothing behind except the strange Spirit Wave spreading from the entrance.

Then the scene skipped forward.

The sky had already turned dark and night was only a few minutes away.

That’s when Velmira saw it.

The massive door opened once again, and from within the Ruin emerged Atlas, carrying Himalton and Alberion over his shoulders as if the two of them were nothing more than bags of goods he had picked up somewhere.

Velmira’s eyes widened slightly.

But what shocked her even more wasn’t the fact that Atlas had come out alive, nor was it the fact that he had somehow carried two other people out of a mutated Divine-rank Ruin.

It was the Spirit Energy coming from his body.

Velmira could clearly sense the enormous spike in his Spirit Energy, and this wasn’t some ordinary increase that could be explained by absorbing a few resources or breaking through a single rank.

It was...

Almost a hundred times more than what he previously possessed.

Yes, nearly a hundred times more.

Velmira’s expression remained frozen as she continued staring at the projection, unable to understand how such an absurd increase could happen within a single Ruin.

And as to how she could sense it so clearly, the projection wasn’t some Relic like the one Azarion had used to observe things from a distance, this was directly the will of Eliomor showing Velmira these scenes, and although it could technically be called a projection, in reality it was far more than that.

Velmira could hear every sound coming from the scene, she could feel every fluctuation of Spirit Energy Atlas released, even the smallest changes that Atlas himself had concealed were being exposed directly to her perception.

It was like having an open textbook placed directly in front of her. Nothing could be hidden from Eliomor, because it was the World itself. The only exception was whatever happened inside a Ruin, something Eliomor had already confirmed to her.

After that, the projection finally stopped.

The massive scene disappeared from the darkness as the spherical object returned to its original form, the consciousness of Eliomor once again becoming a small glowing sphere before floating in front of Velmira.

”Now you understand what and why I was saying that?”

A brief pause passed before Eliomor continued, its voice remaining completely calm despite everything it had just shown her, ”Even if I were to lift the restrictions and let you kill Azarion, and later you appoint someone else as the King or become a Queen yourself, that Anomaly will eventually come for revenge, and when he does, you won’t be able to face him.”

The moment those words came out, Velmira finally came out of her shocked trance, her eyes narrowing as she looked directly at Eliomor’s Consciousness.

”As you saw, whenever he goes into a Ruin, he comes back with strength, it is simply an impossible thing to do, when he came out of the Eternal Ruin, he had somehow gotten his Spirit Veins opened, and now whenever he enters any Ruin, he somehow becomes stronger than he was before, even when the increase isn’t related to Spirit Energy, he still becomes stronger.”

Eliomor’s explanation finally stopped, and Velmira nodded slowly because she had also noticed the same thing from the very beginning.

Ordinary Explorers came out of Ruins tired, injured and panting after surviving whatever they had encountered inside.

Atlas came out completely opposite.

He didn’t just survive...He came out stronger.

’Is this some kind of Unique Ability?...No, that doesn’t explain how his Spirit Veins unlocked, is it some Relic he obtained inside the Eternal Ruin?...No, Relics are also not this powerful, there is a limit even to Relics.’ Her thoughts came to a pause as she continued staring at Eliomor’s Consciousness, waiting to hear what it was going to say next.

”I can tell what you are thinking, that boy has gotten his hands on something you wouldn’t want to recall yourself, something similar was what brought doom to your family members, but...it is what it is, you can’t avoid it even if you tried.”

The moment those words came out of Eliomor’s Consciousness, the atmosphere surrounding the darkness changed completely, Velmira’s earlier expression became detached and cold, the emotions she had been showing only moments ago disappearing as if they had never existed.

The very next moment, the air itself seemed to scream in protest as Velmira released her Spirit Energy, but it wasn’t a sudden burst caused by losing control, instead the immense pressure spread through the darkness in a cold and controlled manner, space itself condensing and bending slightly around her figure under the pressure, ”Are you implying that he has gotten his hands on an Artifact?”

Her voice was colder than before, every word carrying the anger she was suppressing as the pressure around her continued to spread through the darkness.

Eliomor remained silent for a long moment, seemingly watching the cold rage that had appeared within Velmira before finally answering, ”Yes, he must have gotten his hands on an Artifact, other than that nothing makes sense, though I have never seen or sensed him use it directly, I believe he uses it inside Ruins, and whenever he does, his strength increases, that is the deduction I have made from observing his actions day after day.”

Velmira’s jaw tightened as her eyes remained fixed on the spherical Consciousness, but before she could say anything else, Marvilas in her hand suddenly glowed.

The faint glow caught her attention immediately.

Velmira’s expression changed slightly as she looked down at the sword in her hand, realizing that Marvilas had reacted to the anger building inside her, she immediately dispersed the Spirit Energy surrounding her and took a slow breath before turning her attention back toward Eliomor.

”Is that so?” she asked while narrowing her eyes, ”Then isn’t it all the more reason that you should lift the restrictions from me? Have you forgotten that you even restricted me from Cultivation? If you hadn’t done that...I would have already been equal to the Dragon Emperor himself and could have easily killed this threat for you, so this comes down to being your own fault.”

Velmira’s tone remained calm this time, but the meaning behind her words was much more direct.

”If you are so worried and want to protect the Human Continent, which I also want, then you need to sacrifice the current King, isn’t that simple enough? Or...does Azarion hold more value to you than the entire Continent?”

A brief pause as she narrowed her eyes ”...I have asked you this question many times, yet you always avoided answering it, but today I want an answer no matter what.”

She stared directly at the glowing sphere before asking the question she had wanted answered for years, ”Which one is more important to you?”

Velmira’s expression remained serious, but unlike before, she had already regained control over herself, she had allowed her anger to surface for only a moment before using the situation to bring the conversation back toward the reason she had come here in the first place. ’After that, I can figure things out myself...’

A brief silence followed.

Then Eliomor finally answered, ”Of course it is the Human Continent, each continent has a special ’Value’ to me, Eliomor, and you already know that you aren’t the only one who has been bound to me for centuries, right?”

Velmira’s eyes narrowed slightly at those words, but Eliomor continued before she could respond.

”And as for the restrictions you wanted to lift...this time, because of exactly my reason of protecting the Human Continent there won’t be any need for a price.”

The spherical Consciousness remained floating in front of her as its voice echoed through the darkness, ”I will lift them without asking for anything in exchange, although I won’t be severing the Oath that binds you to me.”

Velmira’s eyes widened.

For the first time since she entered this place, she didn’t immediately have an answer. It wasn’t the lifting of the restrictions that shocked her the most.

It was the fact that Eliomor was doing it without demanding a price. Her gaze remained fixed on the spherical Consciousness, suspicion immediately returning to her mind as she tried to understand what exactly it was planning.

Something about this was wrong.

And she could feel it.