Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Kael could be seen fighting the SSS-rank Monsters that had surrounded him several minutes earlier. The Monster directly in front of him charged toward him at the same time as Kael moved forward with both daggers in his hands, their attacks colliding head-on and producing powerful shockwaves that carried traces of Mixed Null.

The moment those shockwaves spread through the surroundings, the ambient Spirit Energy was dispersed, leaving the area around them noticeably emptier of energy, ’Damn bastard... if only that Null didn’t exist, this fight would’ve been over long ago.’

Kael gritted his teeth as he exchanged another series of blows with the Monster. His twin daggers repeatedly collided against its fists, but every time his attacks landed, the Mixed Null covering the Monster’s body interfered with the damage and prevented him from ending the fight as quickly as he normally could. The Monster’s physical endurance was also far beyond that of an ordinary SSS-rank creature, forcing Kael to continuously defend himself while searching for an opening.

Just as he was preparing to attack again, two different Monsters suddenly appeared on either side of him. Their fists were already moving toward his body with tremendous force, and both attacks were covered in the same mixture of Null and Spirit Energy that had been making the battle so troublesome. Kael didn’t even have enough time to turn his head toward either side before his instincts reacted.

His body instantly vanished from its position.

Kael had activated one of the Unique Abilities belonging to his Arsenal, ”Instant Shift.” Unlike abilities that required him to consciously decide when to activate them, Instant Shift was completely driven by his instincts.

The ability responded to the danger before his conscious thoughts could even process what was happening, making it similar in that regard to Atlas’s Trait, Regenerative Hide, which could also react automatically to a sever wound and recover it without requiring conscious activation.

The two fists collided with each other immediately after Kael disappeared.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then a tiny spark appeared between the two fists.

There was no explosion, no sound, and not even a noticeable fluctuation of Spirit Energy. Kael, who had reappeared several meters away, narrowed his eyes as he watched the strange phenomenon before asking internally, ’System, what was that? For a moment, it felt like something was pulling me toward that position.’

[Host should tread carefully, when two conceptual forces such as Null, even though the Null present in these Monsters is not pure, collide with each other, they attempt to erase one another. The phenomenon you witnessed is what could be described as ”Zero.”]

[However, the space between the two forces is also affected by the attempted erasure. When that specific section of space is deleted, the resulting collapse produces a phenomenon similar to what the Host’s previous world classified as a Black Hole.]

Kael’s eyes widened behind his mask as he stared at the two Monsters. His hands tightened around his twin daggers while he instinctively increased the distance between himself and the creatures. ’Are you kidding me? A black hole? Fuck! I need to kill them quickly, but their physical endurance is far higher than any ordinary Monster inside a Ruin, and that’s not even mentioning that Null.’

He wasn’t going to lie, he was becoming seriously irritated by the situation. These Monsters were essentially carrying the same kind of cheat that made his own abilities so troublesome to deal with, and fighting a cheat with another cheat was beginning to feel like the only solution available to him. Kael glanced at the status window that had appeared in front of him and focused on the category located beneath his other attributes.

[Available Stat Points: 690]

’System...’

Kael paused as he looked around the battlefield. More Monsters were already moving toward him from every direction, each one using a different Element. The Monster carrying Thunder was already only a few meters away, while the two that had nearly struck him earlier were approaching from above, one surrounded by Darkness and the other covered in Light. Five more Monsters were closing in from behind, while several others approached from different positions, leaving Kael surrounded once again.

’Allocate one hundred points each to Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Spirit.’

The moment Kael gave the command, the Monsters had already closed the remaining distance and launched their attacks. Their movements were so fast that there was barely any time between one attack and the next, forcing Kael to rely on Instant Shift again. His body vanished from the center of the surrounding attacks and reappeared several meters away, but this time something was different.

Another Monster was already waiting above him.

It was as though it had predicted exactly where he would appear.

Kael’s eyes widened for the first time as he sensed the attack descending from above. ’What?!’

Before he could turn his body or activate Instant Shift again, the Monster’s foot slammed directly into his right shoulder with blinding speed. The force behind the kick sent Kael flying downward toward the enormous chasm that had already been created by the battle between Azarion and Velmira several kilometers away.

CRACK!

Kael’s body crashed into the rough ground at the bottom of the chasm, and the stones beneath him shattered from the impact. Pain immediately spread through his right shoulder, but the physical damage wasn’t the only thing bothering him. The Mixed Null carried by the kick had entered his body and interfered with his Spirit Energy, creating an irritating sensation that spread through his shoulder and made it difficult for him to immediately recover.

The Monsters above didn’t give him any time to rest. They rapidly descended toward the place where Kael had crashed, their attacks already prepared as they intended to finish him before he could stand again. Dust continued covering the surrounding area as Kael slowly pushed himself up, but just as the Monsters were about to reach him, every one of them suddenly stopped.

Their instincts had reacted first.

Something had changed.

From within the dust and debris, Kael slowly stepped forward. The Spirit Energy surrounding his body had increased dramatically, but that wasn’t what made the Monsters stop. His physical strength had also risen by a considerable amount, and the Monsters could sense the change through their innate ability to detect thermal changes within another person’s body.

Kael looked at them through his mask before a grin slowly appeared on his face.

”Well, well, well... You bastards seem to have sensed my sudden increase in strength quite well. If you were normal people, you probably would’ve rushed straight toward your deaths, but you actually stopped at the right moment, I might have to give you some credit for that.”

He spun Vesper once around his hand before gripping the hilt firmly. Instead of holding the blade directly in front of him, he shifted it behind his elbow, adjusting his stance as his gaze moved across the surrounding Monsters.

”Although, stopping won’t save you anymore. All of you are about to die here and now. I have a pretty important mission, you know?” The smile remained on Kael’s face as he finished speaking.

The Monster that had managed to predict his previous movement suddenly sensed a powerful killing intent appearing behind it. Before it could turn around, Kael had already disappeared from his position and reappeared directly behind the creature. His movement was so fast that the Monster only had enough time to realize something was wrong before Vesper passed through its neck.

Its head separated from its body.

The severed head rolled across the ground while its vision suddenly turned upside down, allowing it to see its own body collapsing several meters away before everything finally disappeared.