Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”You ignored us as if we weren’t even worth your attention. Now this sword will keep all your abilities sealed for an entire minute!” Kael said with a laugh as he gestured toward both his Master and the Dragon Emperor, giving them a quick wink to signal them to move.

He had already assumed that the battle would change the moment Orivian’s abilities were sealed, and for the first time since the beginning of the confrontation, he believed they had finally created an opening they could use. However, before either Zaakrax or Sylvaris could even react to his signal, something completely unexpected happened.

SNAP.

A strange snapping sound echoed through the battlefield.

Then came another sound.

SHHHK!

”Khug!”

Kael’s expression froze.

He slowly lowered his head while his hands remained tightly wrapped around the handle of the Katana that was still embedded in Orivian’s stomach. For a moment, he couldn’t understand why his opponent wasn’t reacting to the attack, but then his eyes moved downward and his entire body stiffened.

The same Katana was piercing his own stomach from behind.

His eyes widened in horror as he slowly looked toward the blade that had emerged from his abdomen. The weapon was identical to the one in his hands, and the realization that followed made his mind go completely blank for a brief moment. Before he could even turn around, a familiar voice reached his ears from directly behind him.

”Little guy, did you really think I wouldn’t notice you?”

Orivian’s voice was calm, ”That was merely an illusion you attacked, now it is time for you to die.”

Kael felt a hand suddenly clutch the back of his head.

The next instant, an enormous amount of Soul Force began forcing its way into his body.

His expression changed immediately as he felt the strange power pressing directly against his soul. It wasn’t attacking his body first. Orivian had completely ignored his physical defenses and targeted the place where he believed Kael would be most vulnerable.

Then the System reacted.

[Warning! Warning! Host’s soul is being attacked by an External force!]

[Protocol #$%@1 is being executed!]

Kael’s eyes widened as he saw the familiar System interface suddenly filled with warnings. He had never seen this protocol before, nor had he ever known that something like it even existed inside the System. Yet he didn’t have the luxury to question it now.

His soul was already being attacked by an existence who had lived for almost a million years, and at this moment, the only thing Kael could do was trust the System to somehow get him out of the situation.

The moment the protocol began executing, something inside Kael’s soul suddenly reacted.

BOOOM!!

A violent force erupted from within him.

Orivian’s hand was instantly blasted away from Kael’s head, and the force was so powerful that his entire body was thrown backward at the same time. Orivian’s eyes narrowed as he allowed himself to travel only a short distance before his body disappeared and reappeared much farther away from Kael.

He remained floating in the air as he stared at the young Elf, ’What just happened?’

Orivian’s expression became slightly more serious as he examined Kael from a distance. He had been certain that he was moments away from completely seizing Kael’s soul, yet the sudden force had appeared without warning and forced him away.

He had lived for almost a million years and had comprehended Soul Force to an extremely high level, yet even his Soul Force had been unable to resist whatever had erupted from Kael’s soul.

More importantly, it wasn’t only his hand that had been blown away, his entire body had been affected.

Orivian slowly narrowed his eyes as he tried to determine the source of the force, but there was nothing he could perceive. It was almost as though something deep within Kael’s soul had recognized the danger and acted independently to protect him.

That realization made Orivian’s expression become thoughtful.

His gaze slowly moved across the battlefield.

Zaakrax, Kael and Atlas.

Three individuals had already caught his attention since he appeared in this era, and the more he observed them, the more unusual they became.

’Three Anomalies who are on a completely different level compared to the anomalies born in my era. All three souls possess extremely high potential. If I can obtain them...’ Orivian’s thoughts stopped there.

There was no need to finish that thought. Instead, he recalled everything he had already learned about the three of them.

The first was the one surrounded by those strange flames. Orivian’s expression became slightly darker as he remembered what had happened earlier, ’I cannot use my Ultimate Ability on that boy in the slightest.’

The Flames of Nothingness had prevented Event Absorption from functioning against Atlas, something Orivian had never expected after obtaining his Ultimate Ability.

Then there was the Dragon Emperor, Orivian’s eyes moved toward Zaakrax, ’He hasn’t even transformed into his Dragon form yet.’

As the progenitor of all the races that existed in this world, Orivian knew exactly what the Dragon race was capable of. More importantly, he understood how terrifying the Dragon Emperor could become once he revealed the full extent of his racial abilities and combined them with the Unique Abilities he possessed.

Finally, his attention returned to Kael, ’And this unpredictable one...’ Orivian still didn’t know the boy’s name, but he did not need to know it to recognize him as a threat.

’If I can’t even take his soul because something is protecting it...’ His eyes briefly shifted toward the surrounding battlefield before returning to Kael, ’Then I better kill him completely.’

The thought wasn’t limited to Kael, it applied to all three Anomalies.

Orivian didn’t know whether he could successfully take Zaakrax’s soul, and he wasn’t particularly interested in finding out through unnecessary risks. He had already realized that the number of souls existing throughout this world was more than enough to provide him with what he needed.

’It’s a shame, but I shouldn’t risk too much just for these three.’

His decision was made.

Orivian then slowly turned his attention toward Zaakrax and Sylvaris, who had remained nearby while watching the exchange. His expression changed slightly as he looked at the two of them, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

”Let me show you two what it truly means to step into the Astral World Rank.” Zaakrax and Sylvaris both became more serious at his words, ”I can sense that the two of you have still failed to comprehend the true information you were bestowed by the Laws.”

Orivian paused for a moment, deliberately allowing his words to settle before continuing.

”Even though you two are young, you are still around a thousand years old. It shouldn’t have been too difficult for you to comprehend something that was already given to you, right?”

He laughed, ”Hahaha!”

The mocking tone in his voice immediately irritated both Zaakrax and Sylvaris, but neither of them interrupted him. They could already sense that Orivian was preparing to do something, and neither wanted to give him an opening by acting recklessly.

Orivian’s halo suddenly began to rotate.

A faint ashen glow spread outward from its surface as the halo slowly rose above his head. The glow continued expanding while the halo itself grew larger, and the atmosphere around Orivian gradually changed along with it. The surrounding space seemed to become heavier as an invisible pressure began spreading outward from his position.

Orivian looked at the two of them before speaking.

”Astral Domain ─ Event Consumer.”

The moment those words left his mouth, the ashen glow around him suddenly expanded.

Something began spreading from that expanded Halo above.

At first, it looked like nothing more than a strange darkness appearing in the distance, but within moments, the darkness mixed with that ashen flow expanded into an enormous spherical domain that continued growing in every direction.

It spread above the battlefield, below it, and across every direction surrounding Orivian, swallowing the landscape as it expanded.

The Domain didn’t stop after covering the immediate battlefield...It continued expanding.

Thousands of kilometers were gradually swallowed by the strange darkness as the sky, ground, mountains, and everything between them disappeared beneath its influence. The world outside the Domain seemed to become increasingly distant as the enormous sphere completely enclosed the area.

Zaakrax, Atlas, Kael and all the other rulers including Solaris who had just come back moments ago after making sure Seraphiel remained safe, were completely swallowed by the domain. Even Velmira, who had been Injured after that grazing on the ground, was unable to escape the expanding Domain.

The entire battlefield had been enclosed.

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[A/N: The Ranking System is updated! Go check right now Hehe~]