Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Zaakrax slowly lowered his hand and looked at his own palm. A burning mark remained where the strange black slash had touched him, and instead of showing any concern, he smiled slightly as he examined it. ’Oh? It resisted even after being devoured. What an amusing substance.’

The mark continued burning for another moment before the wound began healing on its own. Within seconds, the burning sensation completely disappeared, leaving his palm perfectly intact as if nothing had happened.

Zaakrax then turned his attention toward the two individuals standing some distance away. Atlas was still holding the half-dead Azarion by the neck, while the Human King barely had enough strength left to keep his body suspended. Zaakrax’s eyes shifted toward the golden bead that had once been embedded inside Azarion’s chest, only to find that Atlas was now holding it in his hand. ’So it did not do anything to its owner...’

He thought about what he had just witnessed and quickly reached a conclusion. ’It is obvious, though. If it harmed its owner, both Azarion and this man, Atlas, would have been erased by their own powers long ago.’

The Dragon Emperor nodded slightly as the pieces came together in his mind. Whatever that strange substance was, it clearly possessed some kind of compatibility with the person using it, otherwise the two Humans standing before him would have already suffered the consequences of their own powers.

Atlas, meanwhile, continued staring at Zaakrax from the corner of his left eye while keeping his attention primarily on Azarion. ’He devoured my Active Vector? What kind of power does he even possess? Or is it his Unique Ability?’ The thought remained in his mind for only a moment before he dismissed it. He had no enmity with the Dragons or the Dragon Emperor, and he understood why Zaakrax had intervened.

His attack had nearly begun eating away at the world’s reality itself, so it wasn’t strange for someone of Zaakrax’s level to interfere before the situation became even more dangerous.

Atlas no longer cared about what Zaakrax had done.

His attention returned completely to the half-dead Azarion hanging from his hand. His eyes contained no emotion anymore, yet the rage inside him continued leaking outward as Killing Intent, spreading through the surrounding area without any sign of stopping.

’Now, how should I exact my revenge? I should kill him slowly through torture so that he understands the same pain I suffered.’ Atlas tightened his grip slightly around Azarion’s neck before deciding that simply killing him would be far too easy.

He immediately began with one of the new Traits he had obtained from the SSS-rank Boss inside that Divine-rank Ruin.

[Malbreat’s Freeze Gem]

The moment Atlas activated the Trait internally, the temperature of the entire area suddenly dropped. The change was so abrupt that even the surrounding air seemed to become still as an intense cold spread outward from his body. A deep blue glow emerged from the palm of Atlas’s extended right hand, and within that glow, a small gem completely made of frost slowly took shape.

The gem was almost identical in size to the golden bead that had previously occupied Azarion’s chest. Atlas carefully moved it toward the massive hole he had created when he pierced through Azarion’s body, guiding the frozen gem directly toward the empty space where the golden bead had once been. It slowly traveled forward before finally settling at the center of the wound.

The moment the gem came to a stop, Azarion’s body reacted.

His golden eyes, which had already been completely shut, suddenly snapped open.

”KHUGGGGHHHHH!!! GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

A scream erupted from Azarion’s throat as the freezing power immediately seeped into his body. The gem became the center of the phenomenon as countless spiderweb-like cracks spread across his chest, with ice rapidly forming along every fracture. The cold didn’t remain on the surface of his body either. It continued spreading deeper, freezing his flesh, muscles, blood, and even his bones at a fundamental level.

Azarion’s entire body began trembling violently as another scream escaped his mouth. His fingers twitched uselessly while his body remained suspended in Atlas’s grip, completely incapable of resisting the power being forced into him. The freezing sensation continued spreading through every part of his body, turning even the blood flowing through his veins into a source of unbearable pain.

Atlas didn’t care whether the other rulers were watching him or not.

His entire focus remained on Azarion as the screams continued. Every painful day from his past returned to his mind one after another, reminding him of everything he had endured for more than two decades. His rage slowly began to diminish as he listened to Azarion’s suffering, but even then, a part of him remained dissatisfied.

’This pain isn’t nearly enough.’ The thought came naturally, ’The pain and torture I went through for more than two decades...this isn’t even a speck of dust compared to that.’

Atlas continued staring at Azarion as his mind searched for something that could inflict even greater suffering. He didn’t want Azarion to simply experience pain. He wanted him to understand what it meant to have his body and soul subjected to suffering without any escape.

Another Trait immediately came to mind.

Atlas activated Spirit Poison.

The poison seeped directly into Azarion’s bloodstream, mixing with the freezing power already spreading throughout his body. Although Spirit Poison was one of the lowest-ranked Traits Atlas possessed, its effect became considerably more painful when combined with Malbreat’s Freeze Gem. Every blood cell already being frozen was now affected by the poison as well, causing the pain throughout Azarion’s body to increase several times over.

Azarion’s screams became even louder.

Atlas watched without changing his expression.

Yet even after seeing the increased suffering, he still wasn’t satisfied. His eyes slowly moved toward the frozen body of Azarion as another thought appeared in his mind.

’I have one more.’ His next Trait was one of the two SSS-rank Traits he had obtained from Malbreat.

[Malbreat’s Glacial Singularity]

Without hesitation, Atlas activated it.

The moment the Trait took effect, an enormous amount of Spirit Energy suddenly erupted from his body in waves. The surrounding rulers immediately narrowed their eyes as they sensed the sudden surge. None of them had seen anything quite like it before, and even those standing at the highest levels could clearly feel how unusual the energy Atlas was releasing had become.

All of that Spirit Energy immediately rushed toward a single point in front of Atlas.

Atlas himself was slightly surprised by the amount of energy the Trait demanded. The enormous amount of Spirit Energy leaving his body continued gathering in one location, becoming increasingly compressed as it was forced into an ever-smaller space.

The surrounding rulers watched in silence.

Even Zaakrax’s expression became slightly more serious as he observed the phenomenon. ’Spirit Energy converted into a Glacial type? But he hasn’t even awakened any elements yet... What is this?’

Before Zaakrax could find an answer, the compressed energy finally began forming something.

A tiny blue-colored rotating hole appeared in front of Atlas.

It was so small that it almost looked like the tiniest possible Black Hole, yet the sensation coming from it was completely different. The surrounding air seemed to distort around its existence while the frozen Spirit Energy continued rotating inside it at an incomprehensible density.

Atlas’s instincts immediately reacted.

His right hand shot upward beneath the tiny Singularity, and the moment his palm came close enough to support it, an enormous weight suddenly pressed down against his hand.

Atlas’s expression changed.

His arm trembled as the pressure traveled through his palm and into his entire body. His nerves began fracturing under the sheer weight of the Singularity, forcing him to grit his teeth as he struggled to keep his hand beneath it, ’This... this will give him quite the pain.’

A faint smile appeared on Atlas’s face despite the strain, ’Good...Now.’

He slowly raised his hand, the Glacial Singularity followed his command.

Atlas directed it toward the Freeze Gem embedded inside Azarion’s chest, intending to force the two Traits together and increase the torture several times beyond what either one could accomplish alone.

The Singularity moved forward.

It was almost there...

But just before he could fully embed the Singularity into the position where the Freeze Gem had been placed—

Atlas suddenly felt a force stop his movement.