Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

The severed head rolled across the ground as its vision suddenly turned upside down, allowing the Monster to see its own body collapsing several meters away before everything finally disappeared.

Kael, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes as he thought, ’There was a really strong resistance even when I used my Unique Skill, Monolog Series One, together with Vesper’s innate attributes... Damn that cheat Null attribute!’ With that thought, Kael moved again.

To the Monsters surrounding him, his figure was nothing more than a blur before another severed head suddenly fell from high above, followed by the body of the massive Monster that had been using the Fire Element.

The Monster using the Thunder Element narrowed its pupil-less eyes before finally moving. This time, it didn’t simply concentrate Thunder inside its fist to make its strikes faster and stronger. Instead, it forced the Thunder Element through its spiritual veins, using the energy to directly stimulate its body and push its speed beyond its previous limits.

Although it had been shocked by Kael’s sudden increase in strength and speed, the Monster still believed that Kael’s physical abilities alone couldn’t compete with the speed that an Element could provide. At least, that was what it believed as lightning sparks began radiating around its body and its figure accelerated.

It closed the distance during Kael’s next movement. Just as Kael was moving toward another Monster, the Thunder Monster suddenly appeared directly in front of him, moving far faster than it had before. Under normal circumstances, Kael should have been caught off guard by such a sudden arrival, yet his expression was completely different from what the Monster expected.

A grin appeared on Kael’s face, ”I knew you would underestimate me!”

He immediately raised both Vesper and Noctis in front of himself, positioning the twin daggers in a cross. The two blades struck against each other as he adjusted their position, producing a sharp friction sound.

SHHHHK!

For a brief moment, everything seemed to slow around Kael and the Thunder Monster. Lightning continued crackling across the Monster’s body as its eyes widened, its instincts suddenly screaming that something was wrong. It had finally caught Kael, yet instead of seeing surprise in his eyes, it saw nothing but excitement.

”Monolog Series One — Defense Nullification.”

The moment those words left Kael’s mouth, both of his arms moved.

The twin daggers slashed forward in an X-shaped motion with all the strength Kael could put behind them. The two blades struck the Monster directly across its chest while it was moving in the opposite direction, and the result made every Monster nearby instinctively flinch.

These were the same Monsters that had shown no fear even when facing someone like Velmira, yet...for the first time since their awakening, their instincts warned them of something they couldn’t ignore.

The twin blades didn’t merely cut through the Monster’s body. The defensive properties protecting it were completely bypassed by the effect of Monolog Series One, allowing the attack to reach its body without being stopped. But that was only the first effect.

The moment the blades made contact, the second effect activated.

Everything touched by the combined attack began disintegrating.

The Monster’s flesh disappeared first, followed almost immediately by its bones. Its Thunder Element continued surging through its body, but the lightning seemed completely meaningless against the disintegration spreading from the point of contact. The attack wasn’t destroying the Monster through greater physical strength. Anything the attack touched was simply being disintegrated by the effect of Monolog Series One.

Within that seemingly slowed moment, Kael watched the Monster’s entire body disappear into thin air. Even he was slightly surprised by how quickly the disintegration spread through it, but instead of becoming cautious, his excitement only increased.

”Hahahaha! This is exciting! Come, you bastards! I have more important things to do!”

After that, the battle became nothing short of a massacre. The remaining Monsters immediately began fleeing in different directions, their speed reaching levels that ordinary SSS-rank beings would have struggled to follow. One of the Monsters using the Darkness Element completely merged itself with the surrounding darkness before attempting to escape far away from the battlefield.

Its instincts were already warning it that being touched by those blades would mean death.

But Kael didn’t give it the opportunity to escape.

The Monster had barely traveled through the darkness when its entire body began disintegrating. Even the darkness surrounding it was torn apart by the attack as the Monster’s consciousness struggled to understand what had happened. It had escaped through an Element that normally allowed it to conceal both its presence and movement, yet the attack had still reached it.

Its thoughts disappeared along with the rest of its body.

The next Monsters to fall were the two that had previously attempted to ambush Kael. After them came the five that had attacked him together only a short while ago. One after another, Kael hunted them down and killed them using the same combination of his Technique and Monolog Series One — Defense Nullification, leaving no opportunity for them to regroup or coordinate another attack.

While killing the remaining Monsters, Kael suddenly sensed a powerful gaze falling upon him. He didn’t need to look around to identify the source. From the overwhelming presence alone, he could tell that the one observing him was none other than the Dragon Emperor, ’Is he watching me because this is entertaining for him, or... is he interested in my technique?’

Kael shook his head and continued moving. There was no point worrying about the Dragon Emperor’s intentions while the Monsters were still alive. He soon reached the final Monster and killed it with the same technique, watching its body disappear before finally coming to a halt.

However, the moment he stopped, Kael sensed another peculiar presence that he had never felt before. His eyes immediately snapped toward the area where Atlas had appeared between Velmira and Azarion.

Kael’s expression changed slightly when he sensed Atlas’s Spirit Energy. It was comparable to that of an SSS-rank, yet something about the person himself felt completely different from every other SSS-rank he had encountered. Kael narrowed his eyes as curiosity immediately took over his mind.

’Who is that?’ His curiosity won out, and he immediately used his Unique Ability, Uriel’s Observation, to inspect Atlas. The result was exactly the same as what he had seen once before.

???

Kael’s eyes widened slightly before his expression changed into confusion.

’Huh? Why is it failing to analyze only an SSS-rank Individual? It was the same with Seraphiel in the meeting, and she was merely an S-rank. Are you sure my Unique Ability is a cheat ability, System?’ He remembered the exact same thing happening when he had tried to observe Seraphiel. At the time, he had assumed that perhaps there was some unusual property surrounding her, but now the same thing was happening again with someone whose apparent strength was only around the SSS-rank.

The System responded almost immediately.

[Host should thank the gods that the Unique Ability did not work. That man possesses something beyond the laws of this World.]

”What did you just say?” Kael’s usual excitement disappeared completely.

His surprise was far greater than when he encountered something unusual, the excitement he always showed toward unusual things faded away. The System rarely made statements like this, and it certainly wouldn’t warn him without a reason. If it was telling him that man possessed something beyond the laws of this World, then there had to be something seriously abnormal about him.

The System continued.

[Warning, Host. If you use any kind of Ability or Technique to perceive that man’s abilities or stats, he can sense you.]

”...” Kael was left completely speechless at this

According to everything he knew about Uriel’s Observation, the Unique Ability should have allowed him to perceive the status of anyone regardless of their cultivation rank, statistics, or abilities. Yet it had now failed repeatedly whenever he encountered certain individuals.

The Dragon emperor, the Ancients then Seraphiel and now...this mysterious man.

’So that’s why it keeps failing...?’ Kael slowly narrowed his eyes as he looked toward Atlas from a distance. He had always believed that Uriel’s Observation was practically absolute when it came to perception, but these repeated failures were forcing him to reconsider what the ability was actually capable of.

He sighed inwardly before asking the System another question.

’Then I suppose you can analyze him?’ The response arrived almost immediately.

[Yes, Host. The System can analyze him. However, it can only retrieve two or three pieces of information.]

”...” Kael was left speechless again.

His curiosity only grew stronger after hearing that answer. If even the System, which had analyzed countless things since he arrived in this World, could only retrieve a few pieces of information about this person, then Atlas clearly wasn’t an ordinary SSS-rank Individual, ’Sigh, show only that much then...’

Kael waited as the System began its analysis.

[Name: Atlas Mariorett]

[Goal: Killing the Human King and all Nobles in the Human Continent]

[Possession: Null in pure form]

[Warning: Further information on this figure will require the Universe’s Laws to bend. To accomplish this, Host would need to sacrifice his soul and would never be able to reincarnate again.]