Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Velmira tightened her grip around the hilt of Marvilas, her fingers pressing against the weapon as she stared directly at the glowing spherical consciousness floating in front of her, her expression no longer carrying the usual detached calmness she showed to others, there was a clear determination in her eyes now, the kind that came from someone who had already made her decision long before she entered this place and was only waiting for the other side to give her the answer she needed.

”I need you to lift the restrictions you put on my soul, that way I would be able to do things my way, I know what I am asking is too much but...I will pay any price for that.” Velmira spoke without backing away from her request, she knew exactly what she was asking for and she also knew that Eliomor would never give her something like this without demanding something in return, but after everything she had endured for countless years, she had already decided that whatever price it demanded this time, she would pay it as long as she could finally act according to her own will.

’If I have to pay a price even higher than the last time, I will still pay it but...once I am out of these restrictions I can simply grow stronger and gain respect from Eliomor instead of remaining alive like a Slave of it.’ She thought while keeping her hatred buried deep inside herself, she had never considered the oath she made with Eliomor to be some kind of honorable contract, to her it had always been nothing more than a form of slavery, one that had taken away her ability to decide what she wanted to do with her own life and forced her to protect people she had no desire to protect.

Every part of her life after that oath had been filled with one regret after another, if not for the people she still needed to protect even now, she would have already ended her own life a long time ago, doing so would have made things much easier for herself even if it created a huge problem for the Human Kings who came generation after generation, those Kings had treated her existence as nothing more than a shield for themselves, they could hide behind her strength while committing whatever schemes they wanted, and whenever something happened to the continent she was the one who had to deal with the consequences while being unable to interfere with the people responsible.

For countless years she had wanted to do exactly what she was trying to do now, remove the restrictions from her soul and slaughter the Royal family of her own continent, after that she would have had no reason to continue living and could simply accept whatever fate came afterward, but she had never possessed a proper reason that could make Eliomor agree to such a request, even if she hated the oath, the conditions were still clear and she couldn’t simply break them whenever she wanted.

Now, however, the situation had changed completely, the oath itself had formed a contradiction through the actions of the Human King, because the original purpose of the oath was to protect the Human King, his family and the Human Continent itself at all costs, yet the very person she was supposed to protect was now preparing something that could eventually drag the entire continent into destruction, which meant that if Azarion succeeded, the Human Continent would be destroyed regardless of whether Velmira followed the oath or not.

Even Velmira wouldn’t be able to stop the Dragon Emperor if everything developed according to Azarion’s plan, so the oath’s purpose would become meaningless the moment the continent itself ceased to exist, and that was exactly the contradiction she had brought before Eliomor, she wasn’t asking it to simply ignore its own rules, she was using the very purpose of those rules against them.

’That must be why it agreed so easily, or is it something else entirely?’ Velmira thought as she stared at the spherical object, she had already reached this conclusion before coming here and that was the reason she had some hope that Eliomor might actually agree this time, but the fact that it had asked her what kind of help she wanted without demanding anything first still felt strange to her, Eliomor had never been this easy to deal with whenever she came here for something important.

Still, she had no choice but to wait, there was no point in letting her suspicion stop her from getting the answer she needed, so Velmira remained standing in the endless darkness while keeping her eyes fixed on the small glowing sphere.

A long moment of silence passed before the spherical object finally moved slightly, its light remained steady as the deep voice of Eliomor once again spread throughout the darkness, ”That is possible now, but even if the restrictions were to be lifted, what can you do if the Dragon Emperor strikes? Or are you planning to Kill Azarion before any of it can happen?”

Velmira’s eyes narrowed immediately, the question was exactly what she expected from Eliomor because it had understood the weakness in her request without needing any further explanation, she remained silent for a moment while thinking about the situation after Azarion’s death, because killing him was only the first problem, the Human Continent would still need someone to rule it afterward.

’Sharp as always, I have to kill Azarion the moment I am free of those restrictions, that’s a given but who to appoint as the King afterwards? Without a King the continent will fall apart, and those Nobles will begin scheming to get the crown...well, I can use exactly that to make them fight among themselves and appoint a good King later.’ She thought while keeping her expression calm, she had already considered this possibility before coming here, she didn’t want to kill Azarion only for the continent to fall into another kind of chaos immediately afterward.

’For now, I need to convince Eliomor into freeing me.’ She finished her thoughts before raising her head slightly and answering the question directly, ”You are completely right, I have to Kill Azarion before he drags down the whole Continent you are trying to protect through this Oath, if the continent itself doesn’t remain, what’s the use of the Oath you have bound me with?”

The moment those words left her mouth, the intensity of the light surrounding the spherical object flickered for a brief moment, although the change was small, Velmira noticed it immediately because she had spent enough time dealing with Eliomor to understand that even the smallest reaction from it could carry meaning.

”I agree that Azarion is planning something that will eventually get the whole Continent into its ruin but...even if you kill him, it won’t end there,” Eliomor replied after a short silence, its voice remaining as calm as before, ”There is someone, someone who is seeking revenge against the whole Human Continent constantly and he is already beyond control, even the Dragon Emperor won’t be able to stop him if he were to reach only your level of Cultivation.”

Velmira’s expression changed the moment she heard those words, the previous confidence in her eyes disappeared as she frowned and stared directly at the floating consciousness, trying to understand what exactly Eliomor was implying, because this was something she had never considered before.

”What?”