Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

As that thought formed in Atlas’s mind, his eyes continued scanning the battlefield below. Hundreds of Angelic bodies were scattered across the destroyed forest, and as he observed them more carefully, he noticed something every one of them had in common.

None of them had their heads.

The sight immediately reminded him of the Explorer he had seen being devoured by the mutated monster earlier. That monster had also targeted the head first, and now the same pattern appeared throughout the battlefield below.

Atlas gradually reduced the speed of his flight while keeping his attention on the destruction beneath him. His eyes narrowed slightly as he continued observing the broken ground, the shattered trees, and the countless craters left behind by the battle.

’This much destruction...and I can still feel traces of Null Pressure lingering around those craters. There are more monsters carrying Null huh? But that shouldn’t be possible...’

His gaze slowly moved from one crater to another, Although the battle had already ended, faint remnants of Null pressure still remained in several places. They were weak but to Atlas they were clear, Atlas could clearly distinguish that familiar pressure from ordinary Spirit.

The more places he observed, the stronger his disbelief became.

Null...

It wasn’t something that should exist inside monsters or any Individual except him, he was sure of it as he knew from the Knowledge he had received when integrating Rei-Kokuin and increasing the Null attribute he had even felt it.

As Atlas continued thinking, another possibility gradually formed in his mind.

’Something is happening, someone is inserting Null inside these monsters...but how? Null isn’t Spirit, it isn’t another type of energy, and it isn’t a physical substance that can simply be injected into a living body.’

The thought immediately brought back the image of the enormous glass tube he had discovered inside that Ruin, remembering it made several pieces begin connecting together in his mind.

Someone...

Someone had to be behind all of this.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that multiple monsters now possessed Null while that strange tube existed inside that ruin. From everything he had seen until now, it was far more likely that someone was intentionally making monsters possess Null and...that monster he fought was S-rank, he could imagine this kind of destruction was inevitable if there were multiple like that.

Atlas could reach that conclusion without much difficulty.

However...one question still had no answer.

How?

He still couldn’t understand how anyone could possibly place Null inside another living being when Null wasn’t something that could even exist like Spirit.

After a long moment of thinking, Atlas let out a quiet sigh before speaking, ”Hah, I have no clue what’s really going on. I just have to stay aware and be more careful from now on...”

He then stretched out his left hand, slowly opened his palm, and closed it again as he quietly felt the strength flowing through his own body before continuing, ”Though...I don’t think any S-rank Monster can do anything to me anymore; I only need to be careful around SS-ranks and above.”

His confidence wasn’t arrogance, he was simply stating a fact to himself as after reaching S-rank, only his physical strength had touched a level he himself couldn’t believe before and...he still could raise his attributes through the codex, that thought made it even more terrifying.

After saying that, he shifted his attention back to the direction he was flying. He could already see the outline of the Central City in the distance. Even from where he was, its sheer size made it obvious that it was much larger than Lumivale.

Looking at it, Atlas thought, ’It already looks more advanced than Lumivale...I’ll head there first and see how different it really is...’

He then lowered his gaze toward the four books tightly held in his right hand. As he looked at them for a few moments, an idea suddenly crossed his mind, causing his eyes to widen slightly.

’Why didn’t I think of that before?...Let’s see if it works.’

With that thought, he stretched out his left hand once again, this time keeping his palm open toward the air in front of him before speaking.

”Spirit Shape Weaver...I almost forgot I had this Trait. I can just make a bag with it, and with the amount of Spirit I have now...I don’t have to worry about the consumption.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Spirit flowed out through his outstretched hand. At the same time, he activated the Trait that had remained unused until now. A faint glow appeared across his palm, and the Spirit flowing out from his body immediately transformed into countless thin threads.

Atlas carefully observed the threads forming before him, at a glance, he could already tell they were different from the threads Veloran Azatelth had used while forging his weapon. Although both were thread-like in appearance, the feeling they gave off and the way they behaved were completely different.

After a brief moment, the countless Spirit threads began weaving together at a single point on their own. Atlas didn’t interfere with the weaving itself, Instead, he only guided the final shape, forcing it to become a small but usable bag.

He already knew it wouldn’t be identical to one made from physical material, but that wasn’t important, as long as it could hold the four books, it would serve its purpose for now.

The weaving continued as more threads gathered together, gradually the countless threads fused into a single mass of Spirit Energy while the outline of the bag slowly became clearer. At first, the shape looked faint and unstable, but as Atlas steadily poured more Spirit into it, the bag became more solid and easier to see.

The process continued for a few minutes before Atlas finally felt it was enough. He slowly reduced the amount of Spirit flowing into it...and the moment he did, the condensed mass of Spirit completely settled into the shape he had been imagining.

The finished bag looked almost identical to his previous one in terms of shape, but its appearance was completely different. Its body was transparent, though looking through it clearly wasn’t possible as the Spirit forming it distorted whatever was inside. It also lacked the extra pockets his old bag had, instead of three separate compartments, this one only had a single large pocket with a chain also made from spirit energy.

Atlas didn’t mind that at all, he only needed somewhere to store the books, so one pocket was more than enough.

He quickly caught the bag before it could start falling toward the ground. As soon as he held it, he noticed that it felt much softer than an ordinary material bag. At the same time, because it was formed entirely from condensed Spirit Energy, the sensation was completely different from touching any physical object he had held before, although he couldn’t put that strange feeling into words.

For now, Atlas quickly placed all four books inside the Spirit-made bag before hanging it over his shoulder using the two straps that were also formed from condensed Spirit Energy. After adjusting it securely on his back, he shifted his attention toward the distant outline of the Central City.

Without saying anything, he narrowed his eyes and finally did what he had intended from the moment the idea of creating the bag came to him.

His posture changed as he crouched slightly in midair while keeping himself suspended by beating the Crowbeast Wings twice. Then, using Spirit Shape Weaver once again, he created a flat platform beneath both of his feet.

The moment it finished forming, Atlas pushed against it with all his strength.

WHOOOSH!

His body shot forward at a ridiculous speed as it became a streak of blur, the Spirit platform shattering into countless fading threads behind him from the force of the push.

’I should have thought of this earlier...it would’ve been much easier to reach the city this way. Hah, I can’t do anything about that now...I should focus on controlling this speed.’

That was the last thought that crossed his mind as the surrounding scenery rapidly blurred past him.

The wind pressure around his body increased sharply, forcing him to adjust the movement of his Crowbeast Wings little by little while maintaining his balance. Even with the sudden burst of speed, his control no longer collapsed as it had before reaching S-rank. His greatly increased Spirit reserves and the improvement to his perception allowed him to make constant adjustments every moment, gradually adapting to flying at this pace.

The distance between him and the Central City continued shrinking rapidly, and almost at the same time, Alberion was also approaching from another direction at nearly the same speed.

Neither of them knew the other existed, and neither had any reason to expect that both of them would arrive at the Central City at almost the exact same time.

While this was taking place near the Angelic Continent’s Central City...far away on the Human Continent, King Azarion stood inside a chamber with his eyes fixed on something before him, and as he continued looking at it...a grin slowly formed across his face.