Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Atlas extended his hand toward the invisible barrier and calmly thought, ’Mu-En.’ The Flames of Nothingness immediately coated his entire palm, their black flames remaining strangely silent as they began spreading toward the barrier in front of him.

Atlas could have used Event Absorption to absorb the Event of the barrier being created, but he decided against it. After what had happened with Orivian, he couldn’t be certain that the Laws protecting this World wouldn’t interfere with Event Absorption in some way, and there was no reason to take an unnecessary risk when he already had another method available.

The Flames of Nothingness began erasing the invisible barrier itself, and unlike an ordinary attack that would have needed to break through the Laws one by one, the barrier simply began disappearing wherever the flames touched it.

The Laws forming its structure were reduced to nothingness without producing any resistance. Atlas stepped forward once the path was opened and calmly spoke, ”Follow behind me.” Melina and the other three immediately followed him, carefully crossing the area that had previously been protected by the barrier.

Once all five of them had passed through, Atlas stopped and looked toward the enormous World Core, ”Now go and do your job.”

Melina and the other three nodded before immediately flying toward the World Core. Melina reached it first and placed her hand against its enormous surface without hesitation. The moment her hand touched the Core, sparks suddenly erupted in every direction, spreading across its surface as the connection between her and the World Will was established.

Melina’s expression became serious as she suddenly began chanting, her voice containing something strange within it. The sound was both mechanical and fluid at the same time, as though two completely different qualities had been combined into a single voice.

”Dream is not always the end,

It is the prior extension of death.

Believe the dream to be an asset,

Because...

Even the will of the Divine awaits the death.”

The moment the final words left her mouth, Melina slowly pulled her hand away from the World Core. Something translucent, resembling a soul, appeared attached to her palm as the sparks that had been continuously erupting from the point of contact suddenly disappeared.

Atlas narrowed his eyes as he observed the strange translucent energy, immediately recognizing that it wasn’t an ordinary form of energy. Jest immediately extended his hand, and a spherical orb similar to the World Core at the center of the structure suddenly materialized in his palm. Atlas’s eyes narrowed slightly as he observed the object.

’Is his ability related to creating something? Hmm, I need to see more.’ He didn’t have enough information to determine exactly how Jest had created the orb, so Atlas shifted his attention back toward Melina and the translucent energy in her hand.

’That must be the Will she has been talking about. It’s quite similar to a soul.’

Melina carefully brought the translucent energy toward the spherical orb Jest had created. The moment the World Will entered the false Core, the entire cave-like structure began shaking slightly as the Laws of the World reacted to the replacement.

Melina immediately took the newly created Core from Jest and flew toward the original World Core before swapping the two without hesitation. The false Core was left in the original position while the real Core was now in Melina’s hands.

Jest and the other two didn’t remain idle after that. They immediately began pouring their energy into the false Core, continuously reinforcing it so that it could imitate the original World Core as closely as possible. Atlas watched their actions carefully without interrupting them, trying to understand the process they were using to deceive the power governing these Worlds.

The method was far more complicated than simply replacing one Core with another, because the World Will itself had to be transferred into the substitute for the false Core to function properly. Melina eventually turned away from the false Core and appeared in front of Atlas with the real Core still in her possession.

”Sir Atlas, it is best to secure it inside an isolated dimension or space so that the massive amount of life force doesn’t disperse or blast away suddenly.”

Atlas looked toward Melina as his eyes glowed slightly. He had already altered the Logic of Truth and Lies so that she couldn’t deceive him or exploit some loophole in the contract to indirectly harm him. He carefully examined her words and confirmed that she was telling the truth before nodding.

He immediately created an isolated space by altering the Logic of Space, separating the area from the surrounding World. Atlas then reached toward the World Core and took it from Melina.

The moment he touched it, he could immediately sense the enormous amount of life force contained within it, and the sheer quantity of energy made him remain silent for a brief moment before he finally threw the Core into the isolated space.

At the same time, the accumulated pain inside his mind had already begun becoming severe again. Atlas had been continuously using Event Absorption to absorb the Event of his own pain inside his brain, preventing the sensation from overwhelming him, but even that process placed another burden on his body.

He could feel the strain gradually increasing as he continued forcing his own ability to consume the Event of his pain, and he knew that this method couldn’t continue forever.

’I’ll have to find a way to overcome this limitation soon.’

For now, however, Atlas ignored the issue and returned his attention to the three Mermaids. They were now lying on the ground while breathing heavily, their bodies visibly weakened after the process they had just completed. Atlas looked toward them before turning to Melina.

”What happened to them?”

Melina immediately looked toward her three subordinates before answering, ”To create that false Core and make it feel like the real one, they needed to put their own life force into the World Will. They used almost all of their remaining life force for the process, so they will need to replenish themselves using the portion of the real Core we have obtained.”

Atlas finally understood the entire plan they had executed.

’I knew it wasn’t going to be easy...’ His gaze shifted toward the three Mermaids as their flesh and skin began to wrinkle from the massive amount of life force they had sacrificed. Their bodies had clearly suffered from the process, but the price had been necessary for the false Core to properly imitate the original one.

”This will help keep the World from collapsing and prevent the power governing the Worlds from detecting the replacement for an entire year, so it makes sense now.” Atlas nodded to himself as he finally understood the purpose behind the entire operation. Melina nodded in agreement before walking toward her weakened subordinates.

She crouched beside them for a moment before speaking calmly, ”For now, you three need to go inside another dimension and rest. I will summon you back when we begin using the Core.”

The three Mermaids nodded weakly. Melina then waved her hand, and a spatial passage opened around them before all three disappeared into another dimension where they could recover. Once they were gone, Melina turned back toward Atlas.

”Sir Atlas, we should go to your World now that the job is done.” Atlas nodded and turned toward the direction of the portal.

”Let’s go, there are so many things that need to be done.”

He glanced briefly toward the isolated space containing the World Core before another thought surfaced in his mind, ’This is an unexpected gain. I not only obtained the Divine Relics and the World Core, but I also grew stronger, and now I have a source of knowledge who can provide information about the Galaxy.’

With that thought, Atlas vanished from his position.

Melina also disappeared immediately afterward, and the two of them reappeared in front of the portal they had discovered earlier. Atlas looked toward the strange portal for a moment before stepping forward, ready to return to Eliomor with Melina and begin dealing with everything he had gained from this unexpected encounter.