Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”That man, Orivian, has two purposes.”

Eliomor began speaking as Seraphiel turned toward Atlas. Atlas gave her a small nod before asking her through their telepathic connection to listen to Eliomor’s explanation as well. That was when Seraphiel finally realized that everything around her was actually real.

She was truly alive, Atlas was really standing beside her, and even the moment when he had caught her by the waist had actually happened. The realization immediately made her cheeks flush red, and she lowered her head for a moment before lifting it again while trying to push those thoughts aside. ’L-Let’s not think about that for now...’

”The first is to Ascend with an Ultimate Ability.” Eliomor continued speaking, and just as Atlas was beginning to wonder what exactly it meant by Ascension, he suddenly felt knowledge enter his mind. It wasn’t as though Eliomor had simply explained the meaning to him.

Instead, the moment the word was mentioned, the concept itself seemed to become accessible to his consciousness, as though the World could directly provide him with knowledge about something that existed within its own understanding.

Atlas was startled by the sudden influx of information, but he quickly calmed himself and began processing what he had learned, ”As you saw, he can now consume Events of the present. With that, he gains an advantage when he Ascends to a higher plane.”

Atlas immediately understood what Eliomor meant. From the information that had entered his mind, he learned that a universe contained countless galaxies and that those galaxies themselves appeared to possess different classifications.

Once a being reached a certain level of cultivation, they would eventually encounter a threshold separating them from the limits of their current Galaxy. Breaking through that threshold would allow them to leave their current Galaxy and reach a higher plane of existence, although Atlas still didn’t understand exactly what that higher plane looked like.

’It must be some kind of larger world or something beyond whatever this ”Galaxy” is.’ He still didn’t properly understand what a Galaxy actually was because he lacked a proper reference for the concept, but the information was enough for him to understand the basic idea. Since none of that was important to the immediate situation, Atlas decided not to waste time thinking about it.

”His second goal, however, is indirectly related to the Ascension itself.” Eliomor paused for a brief moment before continuing in a slightly lower voice, ”He desires to sell all the souls of this world to an extraterrestrial race called Eternals.”

The moment the word Eternals was spoken, another wave of knowledge entered both Atlas and Seraphiel’s minds. The two immediately turned toward each other, their expressions changing as they processed what they had just learned.

There were other worlds beyond Eliomor, worlds inhabited by living beings, and some of those beings could be far stronger than even the strongest individuals currently living on this planet. Those worlds were scattered throughout the vast expanse known as the Galaxy, meaning that Eliomor was not an isolated world as they had once assumed.

Atlas’s eyes remained widened for several seconds before he finally muttered, ”Eternals...”

The spherical orb seemed to acknowledge his words before continuing, ”Yes, Eternals. Although we do not know their real species name, they came here approximately one million years ago, when the Progenitor Race had yet to separate.”

Atlas remained silent for a moment as he organized the new information in his mind before eventually nodding, ”Hmm, I understand these things to a certain extent, but what does that have to do with the current situation?”

Eliomor remained silent for a long moment after hearing his question, because everything it had explained so far belonged to the distant past and seemed unrelated to what was happening around them now. Eventually, it decided that there was no reason to continue delaying the explanation.

”Orivian is currently no longer in control of his body. It is Azarion Embersun. His consciousness has suddenly returned.”

The moment those words left Eliomor, Atlas’s eyes widened as killing intent immediately seeped from his body. The surrounding atmosphere became heavy for a moment, but Eliomor continued speaking before Atlas could react.

”Before you allow your rage to cloud your judgment, you should know that he is planning to detonate that body and soul completely. He has realized that he was being manipulated from the beginning.” Atlas arched an eyebrow at those words as he processed the information, and the killing intent surrounding his body gradually dispersed.

He then turned toward Seraphiel, who was looking at him with a worried expression, and immediately realized that his sudden reaction had concerned her. ’Sorry...’ he sent through their telepathic connection before turning his attention back toward Eliomor.

”Although he has regained consciousness, Orivian is trying to take control of his body again. And when he does, he won’t care about taking your soul anymore. He will immediately summon the Eternals and exchange the souls for something equivalent from them.”

Atlas’s expression became more serious as Eliomor continued. ”If they return, none of the people present here, nor anyone else in this entire world, will be able to stop them. It was because of the First Progenitor, Michael, that they were unable to completely conquer this world the last time, but right now there is no one who can even withstand the attack of their weakest member.”

Atlas’s eyes widened again as he finally understood where Eliomor was going with the explanation. The threat wasn’t simply Orivian anymore. If Orivian regained control of his body and summoned the Eternals, there would be no way for anyone to even live in the world anymore.

”So we need to kill him before he comes back, right?” Eliomor immediately nodded.

”Yes, that is correct. As of now, Luberion, the First Human King’s soul fragment, is making it difficult for Orivian to regain control. The ability of Extraction that Orivian gained by consuming Luberion’s soul fragment is currently working against him.”

Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly as he listened. Eliomor continued, ”But Luberion’s soul fragment won’t be able to last long. There are currently three individuals inside a single body, and the weakest one will be the first to be destroyed.”

Another wave of knowledge entered Atlas’s mind as Eliomor explained this, giving him an understanding of who the First Human King was and the strength he had once possessed.

Atlas remained silent for several moments after receiving all the information. There had already been too many revelations in a very short amount of time, but unlike before, he didn’t feel overwhelmed by them.

Instead, he simply organized everything inside his mind and connected each piece with what he had already witnessed during the battle.

Orivian wanted Ascension and had planned to sell the souls of the world to the Eternals, Azarion’s consciousness had returned and was preparing to destroy the body rather than allow anyone else to take what he had obtained, and Luberion’s soul fragment was temporarily preventing Orivian from regaining control. Once Atlas understood the situation, he looked toward Eliomor and asked,

”Hmm, then what do you need my help with? I was about to kill Azarion myself anyway.” Eliomor stared at Atlas as the hatred and rage burning within his eyes remained unchanged. The resolve he had engraved into his heart still seemed to keep him on the edge, and until Azarion was completely dealt with, that hatred would never disappear.

”We need you to inject those Flames into him while all of his abilities are sealed. That Elven boy, who is another Anomaly in my world, has already done quite a good job.” Atlas immediately thought of Kael when he heard those words, but Eliomor continued before he could dwell on it.

”But remember that you need to inject those flames directly inside him if you want to completely erase him from existence. He may have some methods of returning from death if he is merely ’killed.’” Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly as he thought back to the strange Elven boy he had encountered earlier. ’He...was weird.’

He dismissed the thought almost immediately because there were more important matters to deal with right now. Atlas then looked toward Eliomor and the other four figures before calmly nodding. ”Although there are many things I want to speak with you about, I guess that will only be possible after you are done with this.”