Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

On the other hand, Atlas could be seen fighting Azarion hand to hand, with Reiden constantly activated around his fists in the form of invisible black Gauntlets. He had imitated the technique from one of the members of the Asfalon team, and although the Gauntlets couldn’t be seen with ordinary perception, their effects were obvious whenever Atlas’s fists collided with Azarion’s body.

At this moment, both of them were relentlessly charging toward each other, exchanging punches, kicks, and strikes that continuously sent powerful shockwaves through the surrounding area.

Azarion had already moved the moment Atlas suddenly appeared in front of him. Although he was still shocked by the unbelievable force behind Atlas’s earlier punch and the speed with which he had appeared, he didn’t allow that surprise to interfere with his rationality.

There was something else that concerned him far more than Atlas’s physical strength. Since the battle had begun, he had repeatedly been using Event Rewriting to alter the events taking place around him, including the punches Atlas landed on his body and the strikes he himself received. He had been trying to rewrite those attacks into empty shells, events that technically occurred but no longer contained any impact or effect.

But it wasn’t working.

Azarion had already realized the reason.

The strange substance covering both his body and Atlas’s body was interfering with the ability itself. The moment he tried to rewrite an event involving Atlas’s attacks, the substance seemed to erase the effect before the rewritten event could properly take shape.

’This thing even has the ability to erase the effects of a Unique Ability? Curse this! What the hell kind of substance is it?!’ He cursed internally as hundreds of punches were exchanged within the span of a few seconds.

Their fists collided repeatedly, with each impact producing another shockwave that spread through the surrounding area, but neither of them showed any intention of stopping. Azarion continued attacking while simultaneously trying to understand the strange substance that had appeared in his opponent’s possession.

Atlas, on the other hand, was continuously regenerating his hands and legs through his now almost-passive Regenerative HideTrait. The constant exchanges were damaging his body whenever his attacks collided with Azarion’s, but the injuries were healing almost immediately, allowing him to maintain the same level of aggression without slowing down.

His eyes remained fixed on the golden eyes of the supposed Monster in front of him as he carefully observed Azarion’s movements, ’He has been trying to use some kind of ability, but I guess Null is erasing its effects. Yet...’

Atlas’s eyes narrowed slightly as another strange sensation passed through his body, ’I can still feel some kind of force trying to act directly upon me.’

He couldn’t understand what kind of Unique Ability could continue affecting him even while Null was covering his entire body. The strange force wasn’t strong enough to overpower Null completely, but it was clearly still attempting to interfere with him in some way.

What neither Atlas nor Azarion knew was that Event Rewriting was no longer an ordinary Unique Ability. It had already touched a ceiling far beyond what could normally be categorized within the limits of Unique Abilities.

Atlas dismissed the thought for now and kept it at the back of his mind. There was no point trying to understand Azarion’s ability while they were still exchanging attacks at such a speed, and his attention soon returned to the golden bead embedded inside the Monster’s chest.

The strange hunger he had been feeling since approaching the battlefield was still growing, and the longer he remained near that bead, the stronger the sensation became.

Atlas suddenly raised his right leg and aimed a powerful kick directly toward the Monster’s head. However, Azarion reacted in time and caught his leg with his left hand before immediately twisting his body, intending to use Atlas’s own momentum to throw him far away.

Just before Azarion could complete the movement, Atlas twisted his body in midair. The invisible Gauntlet covering his hand immediately changed its shape and transformed into the thin sword resembling a Katana, the same type of weapon he had been using inside the Ruin only a few hours earlier. Acting almost entirely on instinct, Atlas swung the newly formed blade with all the force he could gather.

Azarion’s eyes narrowed when he saw the sword suddenly appear. He immediately blurred away from his position, releasing Atlas’s leg in the process and narrowly avoiding the incoming slash. The blade cut through empty air, and Atlas landed before immediately jumping backward to create some distance between them.

He stared at the Monster’s narrowed golden eyes while keeping the sword in his hand, ’Again... that same force is trying to act directly upon my body. If not for the Null coating my entire body...’

Atlas became more cautious after reaching that conclusion. He was still angry about the words Azarion had spoken earlier, but he wasn’t going to throw away his advantage simply because of his anger. There was something else he needed to accomplish first, and that was removing the golden bead from Azarion’s body.

The hunger inside him had continued growing throughout the battle. Atlas had initially tried suppressing the sensation by using Null against it, but the result was completely different from what he had expected. The feeling continued growing despite his attempts to suppress it, and if he kept using Null to fight against something he didn’t even understand, he would only waste his limited supply of Null and exhaust himself.

So, Atlas stopped resisting it.

He allowed the strange hunger to spread naturally through his body, and the moment he did, his eyes immediately locked onto the golden bead embedded in Azarion’s chest, ’I need to pull that thing out of him quickly. But how?’

His mind began moving rapidly as he considered every ability available to him. This was only the second time he had fought another person rather than a Monster, and unlike fighting Monsters, he couldn’t simply rely on overwhelming his opponent with a single ability. Azarion was intelligent, extremely powerful, and capable of using an ability that could interfere with the events around him.

After thinking for a moment, Atlas reached only one conclusion.

’Active Vector.’

Other than that technique, he couldn’t think of anything that would allow him to remove the bead directly. But there was a problem. He needed to execute it extremely quickly, because if Azarion realized what he was attempting, the Monster would simply dodge before the technique could reach him.

The problem was that Atlas didn’t know how long the technique would take to activate now that all of his Attributes had reached 100, ’Previously, it took about three or four seconds, if not more. Maybe I can execute it within a single second now?’

As Atlas considered the possibility, another thought suddenly entered his mind. The idea itself was dangerous, but the more he thought about it, the more useful it seemed, ’Can Null erase me? Its own owner?’

Atlas’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the possibility. If Null truly had the ability to erase anything, then using Active Vector in the way he was planning could potentially create a problem. However, the answer came to him almost immediately.

’No. It can’t.’ He looked at the invisible black Gauntlet around his hand, ’If it could erase its own owner, my hand and Reiden itself would have disappeared the moment I first used it.’

A small smile formed on Atlas’s face as he finally settled on his approach, ’Alright, let’s do this.’

Azarion noticed the sudden change in Atlas’s expression. He had also been carefully observing the strange sword that had suddenly appeared in Atlas’s hand, and the more he looked at it, the more questions appeared in his mind. The weapon had appeared from nowhere, yet Atlas had wielded it naturally as though he had been using it for years...which was impossible.

Azarion narrowed his eyes before finally speaking through the hoarse voice of his monstrous body, ”How did you acquire such power? You were a weak commoner when we sent you into that Eternal-rank Ruin, and not to mention that strange substance.”

The moment Atlas heard those words, his eyes narrowed, ”So I was right. You are one of those Nobles or Royals who sent me into that Ruin.”

Azarion laughed immediately, ”Hahahahaha! You sure are late to catch on. As expected from a commoner, I am the King of the Humans, Azarion Embersun himself, you filthy common—”

Before Azarion could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt the change.

It was a shift so great that even he couldn’t ignore it.

Atlas’s expression had completely changed. His pupils trembled as an enormous amount of Killing Intent suddenly erupted from his body, far beyond what Azarion believed someone of his age should have been capable of possessing. For a brief moment, everything around them seemed to fall silent under the pressure, and Atlas finally spoke in a low voice.

”What... did you just say?”

Azarion frowned as he felt the Killing Intent surrounding Atlas. The amount was completely unreasonable, especially considering how little time Atlas had been an Explorer, ’How is he able to produce this much Killing Intent? It hasn’t even been that long, and he shouldn’t have killed enough people to produce something of this scale... What in the hell is he?’

More questions immediately piled up inside Azarion’s mind, but instead of answering Atlas seriously, he chose to mock him again. His expression twisted into a grin as he spoke through his monstrous voice.

”Heh, you commoners really piss me off. I said I am Azarion, the King of the Human Conti—”