Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

A faint smile appeared across his face as he watched the two completely different forces merge together. ’Now, let’s create the Ultimate Ability I have been yearning for!’

With that, something unprecedented began, something that the world itself had never witnessed before. Dark clouds began gathering above once again, but this time they were completely different from the clouds that had appeared during the previous battles.

Darkness rapidly spread across the sky in every direction, and the phenomenon was so immense that people across the world could feel something changing. It was as if the entire world had suddenly reached the edge of something it could not comprehend, and even the strongest beings in Eliomor felt the pressure spreading through the surroundings.

The previous sudden emergence of that beam was nothing compared to the precedent this was bringing upon, a suffocating pressure spread not only through this battlefield but also the entire world.

The Dragon Emperor was in the middle of explaining everything to Atlas when he suddenly stopped, ”You know now that I have demonstrated to you─ ”

His voice cut off as he immediately shifted his attention toward the man who was creating the strange phenomenon.

The Dragon Emperor’s expression changed slightly as he stared in that direction, and for the first time, the amusement that had remained on his face since arriving at the battlefield disappeared. Even someone like him could feel the danger coming from whatever the man was doing.

Atlas also turned toward the same direction, his eyes widening as his pupils trembled slightly. He could feel the enormous energy spreading throughout the world, yet he couldn’t understand what the man was trying to accomplish, ’What in the hell is he doing?’

Solaris also shifted her attention toward the same direction. Her eyes were completely filled with bloodlust as she stared at the man who had almost killed Seraphiel. She wanted nothing more than to rip his body apart and kill him mercilessly until he was begging for death himself, but she restrained herself because two rational thoughts immediately appeared in her mind.

The first was that if she charged at him while allowing her rage to control her, she would undoubtedly meet the same fate as Seraphiel.

The second, and far more important reason, was that healing Seraphiel remained her highest priority. That was exactly why Solaris had not immediately rushed toward the man after rescuing Seraphiel from that position. No matter how much she wanted to kill him, she couldn’t allow her emotions to make her forget the reason she needed to save Seraphiel first.

She stared at the phenomenon he was bringing about, and her pupils slowly contracted as she began understanding his motive to a certain extent, ’I-Is he merging two Unique Abilities? Shouldn’t that be impossible?!’

There were already anomalies in this world, individuals who possessed more than one Unique Ability. Thorsin, the Dwarven King, was one of them, possessing two Unique Abilities despite the rarity of such an existence. Then there was the Dragon Emperor himself, an anomaly since birth, followed more recently by Kael, whose existence was even more absurd because he possessed more than two Unique Abilities.

But possessing multiple Unique Abilities didn’t mean that those abilities could simply be fused together. None of them had ever heard of such a thing being possible, and even those anomalies themselves didn’t know how such a process could be accomplished. Yet the man standing before them was somehow attempting to do exactly that.

The Dragon Emperor narrowed his eyes as he watched the phenomenon continue to develop. ”This is troublesome, he is bringing about something out of this world, we need to stop him before he finishes tha—”

Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes suddenly shifted.

The boy named Kael was already standing behind the unknown man.

His fist was moving forward with terrifying precision.

’—!’

The Dragon Emperor’s eyebrow arched for the first time since he had appeared on this battlefield. Until now, he had either been amused or interested in everything and everyone he encountered, but he had never displayed genuine shock. Yet at this moment, a clearly visible expression of surprise appeared across his face.

What shocked him wasn’t merely the fact that Kael had somehow appeared behind the man without being noticed. It was what was covering Kael’s fist.

Soul Force.

That very force required hundreds of years of cultivation and understanding before an individual could even begin properly wielding it, yet a young boy who wasn’t even thirty years old was using it as naturally as if he had cultivated it for centuries. To the Dragon Emperor, that was absurd enough to make even him question what kind of existence Kael truly was.

Kael’s fist tore through the fabric of space itself before landing directly against the man’s back. The unknown man hadn’t even understood how or when Kael had appeared behind him before the attack struck.

”Khugh!”

His body was sent flying several kilometers forward as the force of the punch travelled through his entire body. The attack didn’t merely damage his physical form. The Soul Force contained within Kael’s fist also struck directly at his soul, causing his expression to change for the first time since he had appeared.

At the same time, the System’s voice sounded inside Kael’s mind.

[Host, You need to end him quickly. He is trying to fuse two Unique Abilities together and create an Ultimate Ability that exists on a Higher Plane.]

Kael narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the unknown man before asking internally, ’But how does he even know about this stuff? Did he descend or send his soul back to this lower plane to execute some grand plan?’

He was genuinely curious now, and the more unusual the situation became, the more his naturally curious side began taking over again. The possibility that the man had once existed in some higher plane immediately crossed his mind, especially because he had already learned that this individual came from an era forgotten by the current world.

’If that man really sent his soul back here after ascending to some higher plane, then that would actually make sense. There are always cases like these in those novels, after all.’

[No, Host. Although most of the information cannot be properly analyzed by the System because of your current mental capacity, one thing is simple. The situation seems to be the opposite here. This man wants to ascend with an Ultimate Ability before ascending, giving him an advantage in many things.]

Even with the vague information, Kael understood what the System was trying to say. ’I see, so he wants to make things easier for himself once he ascends, am I right?’

[Yes, Host.]

Kael didn’t waste any more time after receiving the answer. His figure disappeared from his position as he activated Instant Shift, instantly moving toward another position on the battlefield. Before completely turning his attention back toward the unknown man, however, he glanced through the corner of his eyes toward Atlas one last time.

Atlas also looked at him once with narrowed eyes before shifting his attention back toward Seraphiel. His priority remained fixed. He needed to save Seraphiel at all costs before he could move and deal with anything else happening around him.

Atlas then turned toward the Dragon Emperor and spoke seriously, ”So what do I need to do for you to save her the way you just explained?”

The explanation he had received, combined with the small demonstration of how the Dragon Emperor would be able to create an entirely different timeline for Seraphiel, was enough for Atlas to make his decision without hesitation. Whatever price the Dragon Emperor demanded, Atlas was willing to accept it as long as it gave Seraphiel a chance to survive.

The Dragon Emperor, Zaakrax, lowered his eyes as he stared at Atlas for a brief moment before nodding, ”Alright, you just need to put your hand on something that will be summoning. After that, I will immediately do my part of the job.”

Seeing that the Variable had agreed to his condition, Zaakrax didn’t waste any more time. He had finally managed to put someone like Atlas into a position where he owed him a debt of this magnitude, and there was no reason for him to delay the agreement any longer.

With that, he finally spoke, his voice carried an unfamiliar weight as the surrounding space began to tremble.