Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”Now, let’s deal with the problem at hand.”

Without saying anything else, Zaakrax instantly appeared in front of Seraphiel’s unconscious body and crouched down beside her. He immediately noticed that the wound had begun spreading at an increasing speed, with the unknown substance inside it continuing to erase her body little by little.

The damage had already spread farther than before, and if it continued at the same rate, more of her body would soon disappear. Zaakrax examined her condition for a moment before turning his head toward Solaris.

Solaris understood what he wanted to do without needing any explanation and simply nodded toward him. She had just seen Zaakrax performing something unbelievable and at this point, there was no reason for her to interrupt Zaakrax or question his method.

Zaakrax also nodded in response before turning back toward Seraphiel. He raised one hand, and Spirit Energy immediately surrounded her body before lifting her several meters into the air.

Zaakrax didn’t need to physically hold Seraphiel because his Spirit Energy was already supporting her entire body. He then began floating upward while keeping her suspended in front of him, and at the same time, he brought both of his hands together.

Two horns emerged from his forehead as an enormous amount of power began radiating from his body, causing the surrounding space to tremble slightly under the pressure. Everyone nearby could feel that Zaakrax was preparing something far beyond an ordinary technique.

He brought both hands into position before clapping them together, and then several words came out of his mouth.

”Creation — Birth of an Infinity.”

The moment he spoke those words, Seraphiel’s entire body began glitching while she remained suspended in the air. Her figure repeatedly became distorted for brief moments before returning to normal, and the process continued without stopping. Atlas immediately furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at her body, unable to understand what Zaakrax had done, while Solaris’s pupils widened in shock as she watched the strange phenomenon.

Thorsin and Eliana also stared at Seraphiel with serious expressions. None of them believed this was ordinary spatial interference as if that were really the case they would have been able to sense such an occurrence immediately. Something much more complicated was happening to Seraphiel’s existence, but none of them could determine exactly what it was.

Zaakrax, however, remained calm as the phenomenon was already within his expectations.

What they didn’t know was that Zaakrax had done exactly what he had promised earlier. He had created an entirely new timeline specifically for Seraphiel. His Unique Ability, Creation and Destruction, allowed him to create and destroy almost anything, but even that ability had a limitation when it came to creating living beings themselves, let alone a timeline where living beins were born or continued existing.

Instead of creating a timeline filled with living beings, Zaakrax created one where everything except life could exist. The world existed within it, along with galaxies, the universe, and everything beyond the universe even he did not know, but not a single living soul could exist there except Seraphiel.

He didn’t need to create anything else because Seraphiel was the only person who needed to exist within that timeline. As long as that condition was fulfilled, Zaakrax could use the newly created timeline for the purpose he intended.

The problem was that Seraphiel originally belonged to the existing timeline where Atlas, Solaris, Thorsin, Eliana, and everyone else were present. The strange substance mixed with Spirit Energy inside her wound was already interfering with her existence, and that same interference was now affecting Zaakrax’s attempt to stabilize her within the newly created timeline.

This was the reason her body continued glitching between the two states while Zaakrax maintained the technique.

He was making Seraphiel exist in two timelines at the same time.

One was the newly created timeline that contained no other living soul, while the other was the original timeline where everyone else continued to exist. By creating this connection between the two timelines, Zaakrax had created the opportunity he needed to restore Seraphiel’s body without allowing the same events to simply repeat themselves afterward.

Once her body was completely healed, he could destroy the macro-timeline he had created because it would no longer be necessary.

Zaakrax continued maintaining the process before looking toward Solaris.

”Now try using that Relic to rewind time only for her.”

Solaris immediately understood what he meant and nodded. She looked down at the Relic in her hands before beginning to channel Spirit Energy into it. The same Relic that had failed to activate earlier slowly began reacting as more and more of Solaris’s Spirit Energy entered it. The tiny clock hands inside the clock-like portion of the Relic finally began moving backward, showing that the Relic had finally activated.

Solaris continued pouring her remaining Spirit Energy into the Relic until she had almost nothing left. The amount of energy required was enormous, but she didn’t stop because Seraphiel’s life depended on the success of this attempt.

Once the Relic had absorbed enough energy, Solaris instantly disappeared from her position and reappeared directly above Seraphiel’s floating body. She then placed the Relic over Seraphiel.

The moment the Relic touched Seraphiel’s body, its power began affecting only her. Time started rewinding for Seraphiel while the rest of the world continued moving normally around her. The wound that had been spreading through her body began reversing, and the damage caused by the unknown substance gradually disappeared as her body returned to the state it had been in before the attack.

The process happened within only a few seconds from the perspective of everyone watching. The damaged parts of Seraphiel’s body were restored as the effects of the attack continued moving backward, and eventually the wound disappeared completely. Her body was returned to its original condition, with the unknown substance that had been erasing her no longer affecting her physical form.

Atlas watched the entire process without saying anything. He had experienced a similar miracle once before, so he understood what he was seeing, but the situation felt completely different this time because it was Seraphiel who had been saved. He had already watched her body deteriorate while every method they attempted failed, and for a while, there had been no certainty that any of them would actually work.

Now, however, Seraphiel was completely healed.

Atlas’s expression slowly relaxed as he looked at her floating body. The tension that had remained inside him since the attack finally began disappearing, and a feeling of relief spread through his chest. He didn’t say anything as he continued looking at Seraphiel, but his expression changed slightly as the reality of her survival finally reached him.

A smile appeared on his face.

It was a genuine and gentle smile, he didn’t even realize how different his expression looked at that moment. He simply continued looking at Seraphiel after seeing that she was finally safe.

It was a smile he had never had in his entire life.