Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”Oroboros.”

The moment Zaakrax spoke the name, an enormous black maw emerged from his palm and instantly expanded toward the countless particles scattered throughout the surrounding space. The maw swallowed everything within its range before Orivian could react or use Event Absorption to interfere with what was happening.

The particles that had once formed Orivian’s body were completely covered by the black mass, disappearing one after another as the enormous maw continued consuming them without leaving anything behind.

At first glance, Zaakrax’s ability appeared to be the same one he had previously used when that strange black liquid had swallowed Atlas’s ’+’ slash, but...there was a fundamental difference between what Oroboros had done now and what it had done back then.

This time, it wasn’t merely consuming the visible remains of Orivian’s body.

Even the invisible soul that could only be perceived by Zaakrax was caught within Oroboros.

The Dragon Emperor watched calmly as the enormous black maw completely devoured both the scattered remains of Orivian’s body and the invisible soul that had been attempting to escape from the battlefield.

Nothing remained in the space where Orivian had been standing only moments earlier. For a brief moment, it genuinely appeared as though Zaakrax had succeeded in destroying him before he could accomplish whatever he had been attempting to do.

The black maw continued swallowing everything within its range for several more seconds before gradually shrinking and returning toward Zaakrax’s palm. The Dragon Emperor lowered his hand slightly as he looked at the empty space before him, and an amused smile slowly appeared on his face.

”And what if I destroyed you along with your soul before you could do that?” Zaakrax spoke in an amused tone as he continued staring at the empty space where Orivian had disappeared.

His voice carried confidence because, from what he could sense, there was no trace of Orivian’s body or soul remaining anywhere around him.

Oroboros had completely devoured the scattered particles and the invisible soul at the same time, leaving behind nothing that Zaakrax could detect. With that, the enormous black maw completely retracted into his palm, and Zaakrax remained where he was while considering everything that had just happened.

His expression gradually became more serious as he thought about Orivian’s identity and the implications of what he had just witnessed. ”Someone from a progenitor race...he shouldn’t even be allowed to exist in this day and age. If we allowed him to accomplish what he was doing, we all might have been in a big tro—”

Before he could finish the sentence, however, a sudden chill ran down his spine.

The sensation was so intense that his entire body instinctively reacted to it, and the smile that had remained on his face disappeared immediately.

Something had changed, even though nothing appeared to be happening around him.

There was no explosion, no sudden fluctuation of Spirit Energy, and no obvious movement that could explain the feeling spreading through his body. Yet every instinct within Zaakrax was telling him that something had just appeared, something that should not have been possible.

The dread he felt was unlike anything he had experienced throughout his entire existence, with the single exception of one memory.

Luberion.

The First Human King was the only other existence whose presence had ever made Zaakrax experience a similar feeling. However, even the dread he had felt while fighting Luberion had been fundamentally different from what he was experiencing now.

Luberion’s presence had been overwhelmingly powerful, but it had never carried the intent of complete death. There had always been something restrained within that terrifying existence, something that prevented his presence from becoming an absolute desire to end everything around him.

This presence was different.

It carried exactly that intent of complete death.

The difference alone made the sensation even more terrifying, especially because Zaakrax had never experienced anything remotely similar from anyone else throughout his entire life.

For someone who had reached his level, being overwhelmed by ordinary killing intent was almost impossible, yet the feeling spreading through his body now was far beyond killing intent. It was as though his instincts had recognized an existence that his mind itself could not comprehend, and for the first time in his entire life, Zaakrax couldn’t determine how he should respond to what was standing near him.

For the first time since the Dragon Emperor had been born, he turned his head slowly as sweat ran down his forehead and is chin alike as his body remained unusually tense. His eyes slowly moved toward the space behind him, and the moment he saw what was standing there, his expression changed completely.

Behind him stood a man, no...

A humanoid figure that looked like a man but wasn’t one.

Zaakrax swallowed hard for the first time in his entire life.

His eyes remained fixed on the figure floating behind him as he tried to understand what he was looking at, but nothing about the existence before him made sense. He had faced countless powerful beings throughout his existence, and even when confronted by opponents stronger than himself, he had never experienced this kind of uncertainty. Yet now, for the first time, he genuinely didn’t know what kind of existence was standing in front of him.

After several moments of silence, the Dragon Emperor finally spoke.

”Who are you?”

The humanoid figure slowly raised his head, revealing a tall and refined body. His entire body had an unnatural ashen colour, with a smooth and perfectly proportioned physique that was lean rather than muscular, yet every part of it carried a strange sense of perfection that none of the known races of Eliomor could possess.

His face was equally refined, almost beautiful in its structure, but there was something deeply inhuman about the mouthless feature covering his face that made it impossible to mistake him for an abnormal human. The same kind of organic armour that had previously covered Azarion’s body seemed to cover the figure’s mouth as well, leaving the rest of his face completely exposed.

His two eyes contained no pupils at all.

Only ashen-coloured irises remained within them, seemingly staring through everything in front of him without needing to focus on anything.

Above his head floated a strange halo, perfectly circular and completely detached from his body, remaining perfectly still as though it had always existed there. There were no horns, no scales, no wings, and no claws anywhere on his body, making him look completely different from the monstrous forms that had appeared before him.

PICTURE

Instead, his entire appearance carried an unnatural sense of completion that made his existence itself feel different from every other race in Eliomor, A deep and hoarse voice finally came from the figure as he answered Zaakrax’s question, ”I am...Orivian.”

He paused for a brief moment, ”Orivian Aez-Ruka.”

The moment his name left his mouth, something completely incomprehensible happened.

It wasn’t only Zaakrax who felt it.

Everyone present in the surrounding area felt an unbelievable pressure descend upon their bodies and souls at the same time. The pressure continued spreading outward from Orivian’s position, passing across the land without slowing down as it reached farther and farther into the world.

Powerful cultivators, ordinary soldiers, and countless others, all felt their bodies instinctively react to the overwhelming presence, their knees bending under the pressure before they could even understand what was happening.

Throughout the world, every single person was forced to the ground.

Even Zaakrax, the strongest person currently known to exist in Eliomor, could no longer remain standing.

His knees bent against his will as the overwhelming pressure descended upon his body and soul, while his eyes remained fixed on Orivian. For the first time, the Dragon Emperor was forced to acknowledge that the existence standing before him was beyond anything he had ever encountered.

Yet there was one exception.

One person remained completely unaffected.

Among all the beings across Eliomor who felt Orivian’s presence, only one continued standing as though nothing had changed.

Atlas Mariorett.

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[A/N: This is the first PS Bonus for reaching 250 PS! Thanks to you all! Another Bonus will come tomorrow, so in total 4 Chapters will come!

Throw some Golden Tickets!!]