Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

With that, both Kael and the System began their work, setting into motion something that could potentially create a massive change in the situation unfolding around them. Kael’s attention was still focused on the information he had just received, while the System had already begun processing the method they would use to allow him to grasp Soul Force in a much shorter period of time than normally possible.

At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, Velmira had already shifted her attention back toward Veyron. The strange Monster had completely disappeared, leaving nothing behind except a small amount of dust that was slowly being carried away by the wind. Velmira’s expression remained cold as she looked toward Veyron from a distance, one hand resting casually near the hilt of Marvilas.

”Now it’s your turn, prepare to die the most painful death you filthy bastard.”

Veyron’s expression immediately darkened when he heard her words. He had expected Velmira to turn her attention toward him after dealing with the Monster, but actually witnessing the complete destruction of his experiment still made his jaw tighten. He had spent countless years researching that strange substance, testing its properties and combining it with Spirit Energy, yet Velmira had somehow found a way to completely bypass its effects.

’Tch... I don’t know how she did the impossible, but she did.’

His eyes moved toward the empty space where the Monster had disappeared as he tried to understand what had happened. The result should have been impossible, because even though the strange substance was far weaker after being mixed with Spirit Energy, its ability to erase things was still powerful enough that Veyron had believed almost nothing in this World could simply resist it.

But there was no point continuing to analyze something he couldn’t understand right now.

’I only need to buy some more time.’

Veyron’s eyes shifted toward the distance as he thought about the preparations he had been working toward. Everything that had happened here was forcing him to reveal his cards and experiments earlier than he had intended, but the situation had already progressed too far for him to worry about preserving every secret. As long as he could delay Velmira for a little longer, the preparations would be completed.

’Although I didn’t plan to use this here...’ A strange smile slowly appeared on his face, ’Oh well... Once this is done, they are not needed anyway.’

Velmira noticed the change in his expression immediately, and her eyes narrowed into a slit. There was something different about Veyron again. He seemed unusually composed despite the fact that she had just destroyed his experiment and was now standing only moments away from killing him, as though he still had something prepared that could change the situation.

Velmira didn’t care.

She had already survived a thousand years of uncertainty, and she had no intention of allowing a mere researcher to delay her any longer. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of Marvilas as she prepared to step onto the empty air and move toward Veyron, but before she could take even a single step, Veyron suddenly snapped his fingers.

Velmira’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she sensed something change behind her. Then her expression changed completely, her eyes widening as she felt a familiar presence appear directly behind her. The sensation was so familiar that for the first time since she had returned, Velmira actually began doubting her own senses.

No...

She slowly turned her head.

The presence behind her was unmistakable. She had known that presence for far too long to mistake it for anyone else, and the moment her eyes landed on the figure floating silently behind her, her expression became one of complete disbelief.

It was... Mark.

At least, that was what her senses were telling her.

His appearance, however, was anything but familiar. The figure floating behind her looked more like the strange Monster she had just destroyed, or even the monstrous form Azarion had taken earlier. Two large horns protruded from its head, while the rest of its body was covered in unfamiliar monstrous structures, and unlike Azarion’s transformed body, there was no Dragon tail behind it.

Velmira stared at the supposed Mark in utter horror as she tried to understand what she was seeing. She could sense his soul clearly, and there was no mistake in that feeling. She had just killed him only a few minutes ago, yet the presence she knew as Mark was now standing in front of her in a completely different body.

She didn’t need anyone to explain what had happened.

Her gaze slowly shifted toward Veyron as everything around her seemed to lose its meaning. The final piece of reasoning inside her mind snapped the next moment, leaving behind nothing except the anger that had been building inside her ever since she had returned to this World.

”VEYROOOOOOOON!!!”

An immense amount of Spirit Energy burst out from Velmira’s body, far greater than the amount she had released earlier. This time, however, the energy wasn’t simply overwhelming in quantity. It was filled with Killing Intent so intense that it was difficult to believe a Human could possess such a thing, and the surrounding air seemed to tremble under the pressure.

Velmira disappeared from her position the next instant, leaving behind a massive wave of Spirit Energy saturated with red, chilling Killing Intent. The pressure was so intense that even the air around the place where she had been standing seemed to distort and melt under the force she had released.

Veyron’s eyes widened for the first time.

’Shit! Mark, prote—!’ He didn’t have enough time to finish the command.

Velmira appeared directly in front of him, her eyes filled with Killing intent as literal tears of blood flowed down her face. The enormous Killing Intent surrounding her completely overshadowed her pupils and irises, leaving Veyron staring into eyes that contained nothing except rage.

Every instinct inside Veyron’s body immediately went completely out of control. His entire being was sending him constant warnings to escape, dodge, or do anything possible to survive the attack that was about to come, but none of those instincts could change the difference in their strength.

Veyron was an SS-rank Individual.

Even with whatever hidden abilities or relics or even Artifacts he possessed, there was no way they could save him from Velmira in her current state.

Marvilas moved.

Without a single shred of hesitation or mercy, Velmira slashed directly across Veyron’s throat. However, that was only the beginning. Her sword continued moving through his body as she began cutting him apart again and again, her movements becoming so fast that Veyron couldn’t even perceive the individual attacks.

A hundred strikes became a thousand.

A thousand became ten thousand.

SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK!

Velmira continued swinging Marvilas without stopping, slicing through his flesh, bones, and internal organs until his body had been reduced to countless pieces. The speed of her attacks had already reached a level that was almost touching the speed of light, making it impossible for anyone below her level to properly follow what she was doing.

The others who witnessed the grotesque scene could only watch as even the pieces of flesh and internal organs that had fallen from Veyron’s body were repeatedly sliced into smaller and smaller fragments. Several of them instinctively swallowed hard as they watched the sight, because Velmira wasn’t simply killing him anymore.

She was destroying every remaining part of his body with an amount of anger that made the entire battlefield feel oppressive.

Yet even after reducing his physical body to countless pieces, Velmira still wasn’t finished.

She had mixed Soul Force into every single one of her attacks, causing the damage to reach Veyron’s soul directly as well. Every slash carried the force directly into his soul, making him experience pain that physical destruction alone could never produce, and because Soul Force could create damage that ordinary Regeneration couldn’t repair, even whatever remained of Veyron would not be able to escape its effects.

Velmira continued attacking until there was no recognizable piece of Veyron’s body remaining. Only after every fragment had been reduced to pieces too small to identify did she finally stop, her body remaining motionless for a moment as she breathed heavily.

Blood tears continued flowing from her eyes.

Behind her, the Monster Veyron had summoned floated silently in the air. It had arrived after receiving the first part of Veyron’s unfinished command, but by the time it reached the battlefield, the person it had been ordered to protect had already been reduced to countless fragments.

Velmira slowly turned around.

Her eyes met the Monster’s, and the moment she looked at it again, the same familiar sensation reached her. She could sense its soul, and that was what made the situation even more difficult to accept. The presence belonged to Mark, someone she had personally killed only minutes earlier, yet the body standing before her was unmistakably that of a Monster.

Velmira stared at him without saying anything, her sword seemed to loosen from her grip but Marvilas itself not being any ordinary weapon, floated on its own by her side.