Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”Extraction...”

The moment those words came out of Orivian’s mouth, Atlas suddenly felt both his Flames of Nothingness and his entire being being pulled toward something invisible. He couldn’t see what was causing the suction, and more importantly, he couldn’t feel the force coming directly from Orivian himself.

Atlas frowned as the strange pulling force suddenly intensified, but before he could understand what was happening, it disappeared completely. The Flames of Nothingness covering his hand seemed to have turned the very Extraction into Nothingness, causing the invisible force to vanish before it could affect him any further.

Yet...even after that happened, Orivian was still holding Atlas’s wrist as if the Flames covering his hand didn’t bother him at all. Atlas immediately used Mu-Ho without waiting any longer and disappeared from Orivian’s grasp before reappearing several meters away.

His eyes remained fixed on Orivian as he tried to understand what had just happened. ’What the hell was that?’ Atlas wondered inwardly as he recalled the strange suction force he had felt moments earlier.

He had already understood that Orivian’s abilities were related to consuming events, but suddenly he had another ability? And on top of that this new ability seemed to work differently, and he couldn’t determine where that invisible force had actually come from.

On the other hand, Orivian simply stared at his own right hand. There was no grin on his face, nor was there any amusement in his expression as he analyzed what had just happened.

’I was right. If I continuously extract the ”space” where those Flames exist and redirect them somewhere completely different, I can avoid being erased by them.’ His voice inside his own mind remained completely calm, almost as if he were analyzing an experiment rather than fighting people who were trying to kill him.

The slightesemotions that had once accompanied his thoughts seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving behind only a cold desire to accomplish his objective.

’Now, what if I use Event Consumption at the exact moment, I continue extracting those Flames?’ Orivian didn’t know what the result would be, but he had already decided that he needed to see it through.

Atlas’s soul was still his primary target, and even if he failed to obtain the souls of the other two anomalies, he was unwilling to abandon the opportunity to obtain Atlas’s soul now that he had gotten his hands on two ultimate abilities.

The others continued watching Orivian with different expressions, but before any of them could react, several figures suddenly appeared behind them at almost the exact same time.

They were Orivian’s clones, and each one had appeared directly behind a different person. A small rotating Ring floated above the index finger of every clone, and before anyone could properly understand what was happening, the Rings expanded and immediately surrounded their respective targets.

The moment the Rings closed around them, the surrounding space seemed to become completely isolated from the possibility of escape.

Zaakrax was the first to react. He immediately tried to break through the Ring using his raw strength, but the moment he attempted to move, he realized that something was wrong. His expression darkened as he felt the Ring preventing the very event of him escaping from occurring.

’Tch! These things are consuming the Event of me escaping...’ Zaakrax thought as he turned his attention toward the others and saw that the exact same thing was happening to them. Kael, Eliana, Solaris, Sylvaris, and the others were all trapped inside their respective Rings, while Atlas remained outside because Orivian’s attention was still focused entirely on him.

Zaakrax looked toward Orivian again and immediately understood something. ’Seems his main target is Atlas.’ He studied Orivian’s expression carefully before narrowing his eyes. The sudden absence of emotion was strange, but Zaakrax didn’t believe that Orivian had simply become incapable of feeling anything.

Whatever had changed within him, his actions were still being driven by the same objective, and he was still trying to obtain Atlas’s soul even after everything that had happened.

Zaakrax then turned his head toward the position where one of the clones had been standing, only to find that the clone had already disappeared. His gaze shifted toward Atlas, and as he continued observing Orivian’s strange abilities, a thought he had dismissed earlier suddenly returned to his mind.

’Could I create Nothingness?’ Zaakrax wondered as he thought about the limitations of his own ’creation’ ability.

There were two important limitations on this, first was he was incapable of creating a Life form, be it Insect, animals or other beings, any kind of life forms. Second was that he was incapable of creating something that he did not understand well.

For example, if he were to understand an ability of another person to the extreme, he could create the same ability for his own, it’s properties and other characteristics would also remain same while the output would depend on his energy reserves or soul force.

If he understood an ability to just a small extent, then he still would be able to create that ability for his own use, but the output and the exact properties might be not there anymore.

From what he had seen about Atlas’s abilities, he had understood the main property to a small extent so he could create something that was similar to that, not exactly the same one and it was still a bet, not certainty as he knew those abilities Atlas possessed were so ridiculous even someone like Orivian was having trouble.

’It doesn’t sound viable, but it’s worth a try.’ He continued watching Orivian as he considered the strange substance he had encountered before, remembering how several of Orivian’s abilities seemed to be connected to the concept of erasure and Nothingness.

’All of his abilities seem to have some relation to Erasure or Nothingness.’ Zaakrax’s eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to connect the information he had gathered. However, before he could explore the thought any further, he suddenly felt his own energy being drained at an alarming rate. His Spirit Energy began disappearing rapidly, and even his Soul Force was being pulled away until it reached its lowest possible limit.

Zaakrax immediately understood that he wasn’t the only one suffering from the sudden drain. Kael, Eliana, Solaris, and Sylvaris were experiencing the same thing as their energy continued being extracted from their bodies.

Sweat appeared across Zaakrax’s face as he realized that this wasn’t simply another effect of the Rings surrounding them. ’This must be that Extraction he suddenly used...’ He narrowed his eyes toward Orivian, unable to understand where someone like him had obtained such an ability. ’Where did he even get something like this?’ Zaakrax only had a moment to wonder before he finally made his decision.

’Seems I have no choice. Let’s do this.’

The next moment, Zaakrax’s entire body began glowing with an intense white light. The horns that had previously appeared from his forehead emerged once again, but this time, they were only the beginning.

His entire body began transforming as his size continued increasing, while the structure of his body gradually changed into something far more massive and powerful. The white light surrounding him intensified as thick black scales spread across his body, covering his skin from his arms and legs to his chest and back.

His torso expanded as his muscles became considerably denser, while his arms and legs reshaped themselves into the powerful limbs of a massive Dragon. The horns extending from his forehead grew longer and curved backward, while his face gradually lost its human-like appearance.

His jaw elongated as sharp teeth emerged from his mouth, and two enormous wings tore through the white light behind him, spreading outward and releasing powerful shockwaves throughout the Domain. At the same time, a long tail extended from his lower back, completely covered in black scales and ending in a heavy, sharp tip.

Within moments, the human figure that had previously stood among the others had disappeared completely. In his place stood a colossal Black Dragon, his four powerful limbs supporting an enormous body while his massive wings stretched across the Domain. Every scale covering his body was pitch-black and reflected almost no light, while two golden eyes burned beneath the enormous horns on his head.

His sheer size alone caused the surrounding space to tremble, and the pressure released from his body continued increasing as his transformation finally reached completion.

This was the true form of Zaakrax Valderion.

Yet...even after his transformation, the Ring surrounding him remained intact, expanding along with his enormous body as though its size meant nothing to the ability that contained him. His massive form immediately drew the attention of everyone else inside the Domain, but Zaakrax didn’t waste another second.

He lowered his enormous head, opened his maw, and concentrated an overwhelming amount of power inside it before his voice finally echoed throughout the Domain. Everyone including Orivian turned toward his enormous size as they heard his voice.

”Creation ─ Nihility.”