Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas saw himself fighting the unknown man above them. The memories showed him the entire sequence of events that had already happened, including the moment when the man stopped his wrist, shattered the structure of Malbreat’s Glacial Singularity, and finally moved his claw toward Atlas’s chest.

However, the memories didn’t stop there. Atlas saw how Seraphiel’s Unique Ability had suddenly acted on its own, and following those memories came the final realization that he had never expected to discover: Seraphiel had fallen in love with him long ago.

Atlas’s eyes snapped open.

”HAH!”

For a brief moment, he remained completely still as he processed everything that had just entered his mind. He now understood what had happened, why Seraphiel had suddenly appeared on the battlefield, and how she had known exactly where to find him despite being unconscious only moments earlier.

Her Unique Ability had shown her a future in which Atlas died, and somehow, through the manifestation of her Space-related ability, she had reached that future and changed the outcome by placing herself between Atlas and the attack.

Yet Atlas didn’t tremble in fear, nor did he waste time thinking about his own death. His attention immediately shifted toward Seraphiel, whose condition was rapidly becoming worse.

That mixture of Null and Spirit Energy contained within the unknown man’s attack was preventing her wounds from healing, and Atlas understood that simply knowing what had happened wouldn’t save her. He needed to change the situation before the damage became irreversible.

Atlas immediately took out the Cataclysm Grade Relic capable of turning back time. The circular disc appeared in his hand before he placed it directly into Solaris’s hands and spoke without wasting another second.

”Use this immediately! My remaining Spirit Energy won’t be enough to rewind that much time. You have a massive amount of Spirit Energy, so you should be able to activate it and rewind time to before that man attacked her!”

Solaris stared at the strange circular Relic for a brief moment before understanding what Atlas was asking her to do. She didn’t question him or waste time wondering where he had obtained something capable of manipulating time on such a scale.

Her attention remained entirely focused on Seraphiel, and the moment she understood that Atlas was trying to save her, she immediately poured her Spirit Energy into the Relic.

The Relic began reacting to the enormous amount of energy entering it. Solaris directed her Spirit Energy toward the section of the circular disc that resembled a clock, and faint markings began appearing across its surface.

She increased the amount of energy she was releasing, forcing the Relic to absorb more and more Spirit Energy as she attempted to activate its power. If she could turn back time far enough, Seraphiel would return to the moment before the unknown man had attacked her, meaning the wound she had suffered would never have happened in the first place.

Solaris closed her eyes as she waited.

Several seconds passed.

Yet...nothing happened.

The markings across the Relic remained completely motionless, and there was no fluctuation in the surrounding space that suggested time was being affected. Solaris slowly opened her eyes, and the moment she realized that the Relic had failed to activate, genuine horror appeared across her face.

She stared at the Cataclysm Grade Relic in her hands before looking toward Seraphiel, unable to understand how something capable of turning back time could have failed even after receiving such an enormous amount of Spirit Energy.

”Why...?” Her voice trembled as she looked at the Relic again. She had poured enough Spirit Energy into it to activate its power, yet nothing had happened. For the first time, Solaris found herself unable to understand why one of the most powerful Relics in existence had simply refused to work.

Atlas also remained silent as he stared at Seraphiel.

Something about the situation felt wrong.

He had initially assumed that the Relic had simply failed because of some unknown restriction, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was another possibility. His eyes slowly shifted toward the Cataclysm Grade Relic before moving back toward Seraphiel, and the memories he had just received suddenly became even more important.

He had seen the future.

But that future had already changed.

Seraphiel had seen Atlas die, and because she had appeared in front of him, she had prevented that death from occurring. The moment she took the attack meant for him, the future she had originally witnessed ceased to exist and changed completely in the same form.

But there was something else.

Atlas’s gaze slowly moved toward Seraphiel’s wounds.

The attack that had struck her wasn’t made from ordinary Spirit Energy.

It contained Null.

Even though the Null had been mixed with Spirit Energy and greatly diluted, its nature remained unchanged.

’Null...’ Atlas’s expression became increasingly serious, ’Null represents Nothingness, then what happens when it becomes part of an event that has already happened?’ His eyes shifted toward the Cataclysm Grade Relic, ’The Relic isn’t malfunctioning.’

The answer slowly became clear in his mind.

Atlas looked back toward Seraphiel, ’The attack happened, Her body was damaged, but the moment Null became part of that event, the previous state of the damage may no longer exist in the way ordinary time allows it to.’

His thoughts continued rapidly, ’If Null is truly ”Nothingness”, then even diluted Null is still capable of creating a state that has no conventional past or future, there is nothing for time to restore because the original state has effectively become...nothing.’

Atlas’s eyes widened slightly.

”No...”

His voice was quiet, but Solaris immediately heard him.

Atlas looked toward the Cataclysm Grade Relic again before his gaze returned to Seraphiel, ’Time can rewind what has happened, but it can’t restore something that has already been reduced to Nothingness.’ The realization made Atlas’s expression become increasingly serious.

Atlas finally understood why his first instinct had failed, ”Why did I not think of that?”

Solaris looked toward him in confusion, but Atlas continued staring at Seraphiel.

His hand slowly clenched.

”Time rewinding won’t work on something that doesn’t exist.”

- - -

[A/N: I have shifted the super gift bonus Chapters in this way now, so the remaining three extra Chapters will come in the next three days.]