Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Meanwhile...

All around the world, the Null-carrying Monsters that had invaded every Continent were either dead or trapped inside specially prepared tubes for research purposes. Their fate had been sealed the moment they invaded each Continent under Veyron’s orders, because even Veyron himself had not known about the countermeasures that the Continents had prepared after the previous incident.

First was Celestara.

In the Angelic Continent, the Monsters were already being dealt with ease through the help of the newly developed weapon known as the Nihilation Arrows.

These arrows carried the same strange substance that had been extracted from the Ex-rank Monster they had captured previously, and the moment one of them struck a Monster, its entire body disintegrated into nothingness as if it had never existed in the first place.

The results were exactly the same they had expected, the properties of that substance erased each other completely.

This was another measure the researchers had developed under Solaris’s orders.

She knew that she couldn’t rely on the formation they had used previously forever because the Monsters didn’t actually die when they were sent away somewhere by that teleportation formation, and maintaining that formation required too many Greater Runes, which could quickly drain their emergency resources if they had to keep using it against an army of this size.

Because of that, Solaris had ordered the researchers to experiment with the strange substance and find a way to turn it into an actual weapon. After several days of research, they had finally succeeded, and now they could see the results with their own eyes.

Each bow and its accompanying arrows had been distributed among the Revenants of the Angelic army, giving them a simple and effective method of dealing with the enormous Monster army without having to rely on the previous formation.

As for the Elven Continent, the situation was even simpler.

The Monsters couldn’t even enter the Continent because Eliana had already commanded the World Tree itself to protect the entire Continent in her stead. The moment the Monsters attempted to cross the boundary, the World Tree stopped them before they could enter.

And when that sudden pressure descended upon the world after Orivian revealed his own name, Kael had activated the ultimate defensive ability he possessed, making both the Monsters and the terrifying pressure meaningless within the Elven Continent.

The Dwarven Continent, on the other hand, was being protected by several layers of barriers while unique Individuals captured the Monsters that managed to reach them. They placed the captured Monsters inside specially crafted tubes that had been developed after the Dwarves encountered the same type of creatures previously.

Their race had already learned enough about the Monsters to understand how dangerous they were, so they had prepared the containment measures specifically for them.

Then came the Dragon Continent.

Unlike the other Continents, the Dragon Continent had not only been targeted by the Monsters but had also been infiltrated by three different Noble families from three different Continents.

Although the Monsters had already been dealt with, the three Noble families had managed to reach the Royal Palace itself by concealing themselves and hiding their presence long before anyone except Veyron and Azarion even knew that some people other than dragons had entered the Continent.

At this moment, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of those families stood inside the Royal Palace.

Standing before them was the only heir of the Dragon Continent, Xakro Valderion, the only son of Zaakrax Valderion.

And right now, Xakro was facing all seven of them in his true form.

His massive black-scaled body towered over the Royal Palace, his enormous frame almost reaching the clouds above. His wings stretched across the sky as his golden eyes looked down at the seven humans standing below him.

The expressions on their faces were no longer arrogant. Even though they had entered the Dragon Continent with a clear objective, the moment Xakro revealed his true form, they finally understood the difference between themselves and the Dragon race.

”You dared to poison our people to death?! You will all die right here, right now!”

Xakro’s massive body suddenly lifted from the ground as his wings swung outward. An enormous amount of Spirit Energy surged through the entire Central City, causing the surrounding buildings to tremble from the pressure alone. The seven SS-rank Patriarchs and Matriarchs immediately wore grim expressions as they looked toward the enormous Dragon in front of them.

”A-Are you sure we should fight something like that?!”

The Matriarch of the Doophleshate Family shouted as she stared at the massive Black Dragon. An enormous concentration of Spirit Energy was gathering inside Xakro’s mouth, and even before the attack had been released, the shockwaves coming from it were already strong enough to make the seven of them struggle to remain standing.

She wasn’t the only one who was afraid.

The others had their hands and legs trembling as they stared at the literal calamity in front of them. One of them looked at Xakro’s massive body before speaking in a low voice, ”I had always wondered why the Dragon Continent was revered as the strongest and untouchable Continent. Now I know why...”

The spear in his hand trembled as the shockwaves released from Xakro’s maw continued spreading through the surroundings.

”I-If it weren’t for those poisons given to us by Veyron, w-we would have been dead long ago...”

None of them had expected the poison to be necessary for their plan, but after seeing Xakro’s true form, they finally understood why Veyron had prepared it for them. Without it, there was no chance that seven SS-rank Individuals could have secretly infiltrated the Dragon Continent and reached the Royal Palace.

They could only wait for Xakro to attack.

Yet just as they were preparing themselves for their inevitable death, something suddenly changed.

Xakro stopped.

The enormous concentration of Spirit Energy inside his mouth vanished completely. His massive body remained suspended in the air for a moment before his pupils suddenly faded away.

The seven people below him immediately noticed the strange change, ”What...?” Their expressions changed as they watched the massive body of the Dragon suddenly lose control and begin falling directly toward the Royal Palace.

”Run—!” The person at the front shouted, but he couldn’t finish his sentence as his own body suddenly dropped to the ground while his pupils had also completely faded away.

The others stared at him in confusion for a fraction of a second before the exact same thing happened to them. One after another, all seven SS-rank Individuals collapsed without even having the opportunity to understand what was happening.

And yet, this was not the end.

The same thing continued happening throughout the Dragon Continent as Dragons began collapsing one after another without any warning or understanding of what was happening to them. The situation quickly spread beyond the Dragon Continent as the Elves in the Elven Continent began suffering the exact same fate, followed by the Angels in the Angelic Continent.

The Human Continent was no different, as people across the entire Continent suddenly fell dead regardless of their strength, none of them even having enough time to understand what had taken their lives.

Entire Continents became silent within moments.

Even the Church of Eluminad was not spared, as every member of the Church suffered the same fate despite almost all of them being at the Astral World Rank. Their strength, which should have placed them among the strongest Individuals in Eliomor, meant nothing against whatever had suddenly taken their lives.

The entire world had fallen silent, yet none of the people currently inside Orivian’s Astral Domain knew what had happened outside. They were completely cut off from the rest of Eliomor, unable to sense or communicate with anything beyond the boundaries of the Domain. Whatever had happened to the Continents remained completely unknown to them.

Inside the Domain, Velmira suddenly felt Semekrus violently shaking in her hand. She frowned as she looked down at the manifested sword, immediately realizing that something was wrong.

”What is it, Semekrus?” she asked while holding the sword tightly in her right hand. Semekrus continued shaking as if it were desperately trying to communicate something to her, but before Velmira could receive an answer, her attention suddenly shifted toward Atlas.

Atlas had already appeared directly in front of the Halo floating above them. Everyone turned toward him because they immediately understood what he was planning to do. Atlas looked at the enormous Halo for several seconds before speaking, ”What if I were to destroy this thing? Would it break this entire Domain itself?”

He didn’t wait for an answer as his body shifted into position and his fist began moving forward, with Flames of Nothingness covering his hand.

Just like before, Atlas intended to use the Flames to destroy the Halo in the same way he had destroyed the enormous Rings surrounding them earlier. His fist continued moving toward the Halo as the distance between them rapidly disappeared, until there was barely a centimeter left between his hand and the strange structure.

However, just as his fist was about to make contact with the Halo, his movement suddenly stopped. Atlas’s eyes widened as he realized that someone was standing directly in front of him.

Orivian.

The same figure who had been controlling the Domain had appeared directly before Atlas, one hand tightly gripping his wrist. Atlas immediately felt that something was wrong, ’He shouldn’t be able to hold my hand while it’s coated with these Flames. What’s happening?’

His eyes narrowed as suspicion filled his mind.

Atlas tried to understand how he was able to do that, but before he could think any further, Orivian finally spoke.

”Extraction...”