Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

What truly disturbed Kael was the accuracy of Zaakrax’s explanation. The Dragon Emperor was not simply using a vague term or describing Ascension as some mysterious phenomenon. He had explained it almost exactly the way Kael understood it from the stories he had read on Earth. ’I get that he knows about the Progenitor, but... how does he know about Ascension so accurately?’ Kael wondered, unable to understand where the Dragon Emperor had obtained such knowledge.

Before Kael could figure it out or think any further, the beam emerging from the palace garden suddenly stopped. Its disappearance should have been a relief, but the sheer scale of the phenomenon had already spread fear throughout the Human Continent. Explorers, commoners, nobles, and even people who had spent their entire lives surrounded by powerful Awakeners had watched the beam tear into the sky, and many of them were still trembling from the fear that something capable of causing such destruction had appeared without warning.

For a brief moment, relief spread across the people who had witnessed it. The beam was gone, and the sky should have begun returning to normal, but that expectation lasted only a few seconds. The clouds above the Human Continent remained dark and gloomy, and then their color slowly began changing. Deep red and black clouds intertwined across the sky, spreading farther and farther until the entire atmosphere above the region seemed to have been stained by an ominous presence.

But the relief lasted only a moment.

Kael turned toward the disturbance, but he was not the only one who did so. Zaakrax stopped speaking and looked toward the same direction, while Solaris, Eliana, Thorsin, and Sylvaris also shifted their attention toward the massive hole that had formed within the palace garden. The moment they saw two figures shooting out of it at an absurd speed, every ruler immediately moved away from their original positions because the two figures were about to collide directly with the place where they had been floating.

Kael reacted almost immediately as well, using one of his abilities to move away from the incoming figures, his reaction speed made Thorsin, Zaakrax, and Sylvaris briefly look toward him in surprise.

A cultivator at his apparent level should not have been capable of following the movements of individuals like Velmira and Azarion, yet Kael had reacted almost at the same moment as they had. However, none of them had the time to question him as their attention immediately returned to the two figures who had emerged from the hole.

One of them was none other than Velmira.

The other was... Azarion?

No, the presence coming from that figure undeniably belonged to Azarion, but his appearance seemed to contradict that fact entirely. All the rulers remained suspended at a distance as they narrowed their eyes and carefully examined the transformed figure.

Azarion floated as if he had been reborn, his body no longer bound by mortal flesh. His entire form had transformed into a smooth, flawless black structure that resembled organic armor, every part of it seamlessly connected to his body without a single visible joint.

His face had become completely featureless except for two golden eyes that burned with detached and merciless calm, while several long, black organic extensions flowed from his back and lower body, moving slowly through the air as though they were natural parts of him. A small hollow cavity had formed in the center of his chest, pulsing faintly as thin veins of energy spread outward from it like cracks across his new body.

PICTURE

Azarion and Velmira floated opposite each other, but something about the situation immediately confused everyone present. They had not simply emerged from the hole and taken their current positions. Every ruler had witnessed what happened before they appeared. Velmira’s sword had been pressed against Azarion’s neck, and then, in the very next instant, the two of them had appeared in completely different positions as if the previous event had never happened.

Even Zaakrax had failed to see exactly what had happened during that single moment.

His eyes narrowed, and his pupils briefly turned red. He remained silent for a few seconds as he examined Azarion, and then his expression changed slightly as though he had finally understood what had occurred.

”I see. So he has gained that much power. It is beyond what I expected, but nonetheless... he is now a dangerous individual.”

The red color slowly faded from Zaakrax’s pupils as the other rulers turned toward him with frowns. Eliana was the first to speak because she could not ignore what they had just witnessed.

”What are you talking about? What did he do at that moment? Velmira’s sword was at his neck, but suddenly both of them vanished from that position.”

There was genuine confusion in her voice. Azarion’s appearance could be explained by the experiments he had been performing, but the presence radiating from his transformed body was another matter entirely. Even Eliana’s instincts were warning her that whatever Azarion had become was something far more dangerous than the Human King they had known before.

Then there was the sudden change in their positions. It was not simply that Velmira and Azarion had moved somewhere else. The entire situation had changed between those two moments, yet none of them had been able to see how it happened. Everyone turned toward Zaakrax and waited for his answer, and unlike before, the Dragon Emperor did not seem to consider this information important enough to hide.

”He has gained the ability to rewrite Events,” Zaakrax said calmly. ”It may be that his previous ability, Outcome Shift, has evolved alongside his new appearance.”

The moment Zaakrax stated that, Kael was the first to blurt out, ”What?!” Even as an Earthling, he could immediately understand how ridiculous such an ability was because he had read enough novels to know that rewriting Events was practically one of the highest-grade abilities imaginable.

No, calling it a mere ability almost felt like an understatement from his perspective. It was something that could completely bypass the normal rules of cause and effect, and the fact that Azarion had apparently gained such an ability after his transformation made Kael’s mind immediately spiral.

’This is a complete cheat! System, are you sure he doesn’t have a System? Or does this Dragon Emperor have one too? How the hell did he figure out that Azarion has an Event-rewriting ability?!’ Kael’s thoughts were in complete disarray.

Even though he possessed a System himself, he still had not obtained anything as ridiculous as this in his arsenal. He did have one or two abilities that could potentially counter something like Event rewriting, but that did not make the situation any less absurd to him. The fact that someone from this world possessed such a terrifying ability without even having a System was difficult for him to accept.

Eliana who knew her Disciple well after spending almost a year training him, knew that he wouldn’t act like this unless...he knew something about what Zaakrax spoke just now. With that conclusion done, she asked him telepathically, ’Kael, do you know something about this?’ Kael arched an eyebrow as he turned towards Eliana before nodding and speaking through the telepathy, ’I just know about the ability not the situation Master, but I think the Dragon Emperor will explain in more details, it’s better if we listen to his explanation for now.’

Eliana nodded as she understood his part before turning to the Dragon Emperor, ”I think all of you already know what rewriting Events mean right? As the name suggests he can alter or rewrite any event that has taken place completely according to his desire.”

”Still, What I am concerned about right now is that Energy he has, that unknown substance and spirit energy inside him has completely merged without resistance unlike before, That Energy is more terrifying than that ability he has.” Zaakrax stated as he pointed toward Azarion’s figure, making everyone turn only to see both Velmira and Azarion finally move from their positions.