Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Her eyes narrowed as she expanded her senses farther into the surrounding area, but Atlas was nowhere within her perception. He had completely disappeared, and Sylvaris couldn’t detect even the slightest trace of his presence. But the next moment, she suddenly sensed him again, and her eyes widened when she realized where he had appeared.

He was already between Velmira and Azarion.

Sylvaris’s expression changed completely as she stared at Atlas. She had not sensed the shift in his location at all.

Using Mu-Ho, Atlas had crossed the distance between them almost instantly and appeared directly in the middle of the ongoing battle between Velmira and Azarion. The sudden appearance forced both of them to stop their movements, and for a brief moment, the two strongest individuals on the battlefield simply stared at the person who had appeared between them.

Both Velmira and Azarion had suffered severe injuries during their previous exchanges, especially around their hands and upper bodies. However, the moment they stopped fighting, their bodies immediately began recovering, with the wounds closing and damaged flesh reconstructing within an instant.

Azarion was the first to focus properly on Atlas, and the moment he saw his face, he recognized him from the projection he had seen through the Null carrying monster he had planted the observation relic into, in that Abyss rank Ruin. He didn’t say anything, though, because he was more interested in how Atlas had arrived without him sensing the movement and, more importantly, why he had come here.

Velmira was thinking about the same person for a different reason. She had also recognized Atlas from the projection she had seen inside the Basilica, and the connection immediately formed in her mind, ’It’s... that same commoner Azarion sent into that ruin, and the one Eliomor showed me in that projection, isn’t it?’

She then shifted her attention toward Azarion and noticed that even his golden eyes had become cautious while looking at Atlas. That reaction immediately made her more suspicious, because Azarion had just gained enough strength to fight her directly, yet he wasn’t treating Atlas like an insignificant existence. Velmira narrowed her eyes before looking back toward Atlas and asking, ”You are Atlas Mariorett, right? Why are you here?”

Atlas turned toward her with a slight frown. He had no idea how this woman knew his name, and he studied her for several seconds before answering, ”I don’t know who you are, but it seems you know me. And from your tone, it seems you consider me someone to be... cautious of.”

He paused briefly before raising one hand and pointing toward Azarion’s chest.

The golden bead remained embedded at the center of Azarion’s body, and Null continued flowing through the spiderweb-like cracks in the black monstrous bare chest. Atlas’s eyes remained fixed on the bead as he continued, ”I am here because of that thing, I won’t explain exactly why because that isn’t your concern, but I am here to take it.”

The moment Atlas finished speaking, both Azarion and Velmira widened their eyes. Velmira’s reaction came from the realization that both Atlas and the golden bead were dangerous for completely different reasons. Atlas was someone Eliomor had considered abnormal enough to call an Anomaly, while the golden bead had just split apart one of the strongest attacks she had ever used.

If the two were somehow connected, then allowing Atlas to obtain the bead could produce consequences that she couldn’t predict. She still wanted to know why he wanted it, but his attitude was what surprised her most.

He was standing between two individuals who had just been fighting at a level far beyond ordinary SSS-ranks, yet he spoke as though taking the bead from Azarion was nothing more than a simple transaction.

Azarion, however, had already reached his own conclusion. He remembered the projection from the Basilica and the strange substance that existed within Atlas’s body. If that substance was the same thing contained inside the golden bead, then it could explain the strange pull he had felt earlier, ’Maybe that’s why I was feeling a slight pull toward that direction... Is it the same for him?’

His golden eyes narrowed further as he continued observing Atlas, but he didn’t reveal what he was thinking. Atlas remained floating between them before turning toward Velmira again. ”If you don’t mind me interfering between your fight, I’ll just take that thing from his chest and leave. After that, you can kill him or do whatever you want, Lady...” He stopped because he still didn’t know her name.

”It’s Velmira, Velmira Ashenworth.” She completed his sentence without taking her eyes away from him.

Atlas nodded once. ”Lady Velmira, then I suppose you will leave that to me? Or do you need some price in exchange?”

Velmira stared at him for a moment, caught off guard by the question. Atlas was actually negotiating with her in the middle of a battlefield while Azarion was standing only a short distance away from them. She couldn’t understand whether he was simply confident in his strength or completely unaware of how dangerous his current position was.

’To think he would negotiate with me for that thing in the middle of a battlefield... Is he not afraid that Azarion might attack su—’ She didn’t get to finish the thought because Azarion had already moved.

His figure suddenly appeared behind Atlas, slightly above him, with one fist pulled back and prepared to strike downward. Atlas hadn’t even turned around when Azarion’s fist descended with tremendous force and slammed directly into his back.

The impact drove Atlas downward at an extremely high speed, and his body crashed into the massive chasm beneath them before being forced nearly twenty meters into the ground. A large hole formed around his body as rocks and smoky dust were thrown into the air.

Azarion remained floating where Atlas had been standing, his transformed body covered in the organic armor that had become part of him. He had no visible mouth, yet his voice emerged clearly from the armor, completely different from the human voice he had possessed before the transformation, ”You think I am some toy you are trading in a battlefield? How dare a puny commoner even utter such a ridiculous statement?”

Azarion turned toward Velmira again, his golden eyes carrying clear contempt as he continued, ”And to think you are even considering this fool’s statements, hah! Have you lost your mind from all the strength you recovered after a thousand year—!”

Before he could finish, Azarion suddenly sensed something approaching from his left. His eyes widened as a fist tore through the space around it and moved toward his head. He immediately tried to turn, but the attack had already reached him before he could properly react.

BOOOOOOOM!

The fist connected directly with Azarion’s jaw, and his transformed body was sent flying several kilometers away from the sheer physical force behind the attack. Velmira’s eyes widened as she watched Atlas emerge from the chasm below, and for the first time since he had arrived, genuine disbelief appeared in her expression.

She had not sensed Atlas moving at all, yet somehow he had already reached Azarion and struck him with enough force to send him flying.

More importantly, Atlas had survived Azarion’s previous attack almost completely unharmed. Velmira knew exactly how strong Azarion had become after merging with Project X, and his raw physical strength was now close to her own. A direct punch from someone at that level should have caused serious damage to Atlas, especially since he had taken it directly to the back without even defending himself.

Yet...Atlas had simply emerged from the ground and retaliated with his physical strength alone.

’How is he still unharmed?’ Velmira narrowed her eyes as she watched Atlas, unable to understand what kind of body could withstand an attack from Azarion at this level.

Atlas, however, didn’t pay attention to her reaction. His eyes remained fixed on the direction where Azarion had been sent flying as he spoke in a chilling voice, ”I don’t know how you know I was a commoner, but now that you’ve mentioned it, you’ve brought something back from the depths of my past.”

His expression gradually became colder as fragments of memories belonging to the original Atlas began surfacing in his mind. The word commoner had reminded him of the treatment he had received before everything changed, and the connection between Azarion’s words and the memories buried inside him became clearer with every passing moment.

Atlas looked toward the distant figure of Azarion before continuing, ”And from what I understand, you aren’t a Monster, you’re a Human, and most likely someone from the Royal Family or one of the Nobles.”

The moment he finished speaking, Atlas slowly clenched the fist that had just struck Azarion. The memories he had suppressed for so long stirred inside him, bringing back the hatred connected to the life that had once belonged to the ’commoner’ Atlas Mariorett.

His eyes gradually turned bloodshot as that hatred spread through his body, and then...all the Killing Intent he had restrained for so long finally erupted from him.

The pressure surrounding Atlas immediately increased as his Killing Intent spread across the battlefield, bending the air around his body under its sheer intensity. Velmira’s expression became serious as she felt the sudden change, while Atlas continued staring toward Azarion without moving from his position.

All of that Killing Intent was directed toward the Human King.

Atlas had decided to kill him.