Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

”Creation ─ Nihility.”

As those words came out, Zaakrax immediately felt the change. It wasn’t only him; everyone else felt it as well. Something was being created out of thin air around Zaakrax’s entire massive body, something that would normally be called energy, but this particular ’energy’ was not energy at all.

It merely looked like energy as it coated his entire body in a transparent layer, making it difficult to even perceive where the strange phenomenon began and where his physical body ended.

Zaakrax himself arched an eyebrow as he felt the distinct and overwhelming power contained within the ’Nihility’ he had just created. ’That boy was carrying something like this all this time? And this is not even the full extent of the properties he has!’ He was shocked beyond words.

Even with only a small amount of understanding, his Creation had allowed him to produce something that was slowly erasing the Ring surrounding him with complete ease, and the fact that such a phenomenon could exist within Atlas’s body made Zaakrax understand why Orivian had been so relentless in pursuing his soul.

’It’s no wonder that even a Progenitor is chasing his soul...’

He finally understood why Orivian had been so determined to obtain Atlas’s soul. ’He must have already figured out quite a bit about this power.’ Zaakrax turned toward Orivian as the Ring surrounding him finally began to disintegrate under the influence of Nihility, while the very nature of what he had created became clear to him.

It was fundamentally different from the ’Nothingness’ Atlas could produce. ’Nothingness’ was the absence of Existence itself, whereas Nihilation was the destruction of Existence. Although both sounded similar, it was easy to understand that ’Nothingness’ was infinitely superior to Nihilation.

Now, one might wonder—didn’t Zaakrax already possess the Unique Ability of Destruction? If so, couldn’t he simply destroy Orivian’s Rings with it?

The answer was simple.

What Zaakrax possessed was Destruction, not Nihility itself. If Zaakrax used his Destruction ability against the Rings, the ability itself would still have to be activated and applied to them. That activation would become an Event, and Orivian’s Rings could simply consume that Event before the Destruction could actually affect them.

Nihility was fundamentally different. What Zaakrax had created wasn’t an attack that caused destruction; it was a state in which Existence itself was being replaced by Nothingness. There was no separate destructive action that needed to occur before the effect took place, meaning there was no conventional Event for Orivian’s Rings to consume.

That was the reason Zaakrax’s Nihility could destroy the Ring with ease.

Zaakrax stared at Orivian as he finally spoke, ”Interesting, you created something similar to that Boy’s abilities? Now I’m even tempted to take your soul as well...” Orivian spoke as he immediately appeared in front of Zaakrax’s enormous body.

Already expecting him to appear, Zaakrax’s massive claw, coated in ’Nihility’, immediately tore toward Orivian with immense ferocity and pressure. The space directly in front of his claw began disappearing as the attack moved forward, making it seem as though the claw had simply teleported directly in front of Orivian’s face.

Orivian’s instincts flared as he moved his left hand upward in what appeared to be a state of absurdly slowed motion.

His hand rose ever so smoothly before Zaakrax’s claw finally struck it. No explosion occurred, and not even the slightest sound escaped from the clash. The enormous claw simply stopped in mid-motion as Orivian blocked it with his bare hand, while Zaakrax immediately felt the Nihility covering his claw being pulled away by an unknown force.

Zaakrax immediately retracted his claw, but before he could fully pull it back, he felt Orivian closing the distance between them. Orivian appeared directly in front of his massive draconic chest, and just as Zaakrax was about to move away, Orivian raised his hand in a martial stance.

It wasn’t exactly a punch. His palm struck directly against Zaakrax’s chest with overwhelming force.

The moment the strike landed, Zaakrax immediately felt the damage spreading through his body. The bones around the point of impact cracked instantly, and the fractures spread deeper into his body in a spiderweb pattern. The pain that followed was so overwhelming that Zaakrax’s entire body instinctively reacted to it.

”ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRR!”

Zaakrax screamed as the unbearable pain coursed through his entire body, his massive form being sent flying backward through the limitless darkness of the Astral Domain. Blood poured from his mouth, nostrils, ears, and even his eyes, yet the physical pain was still smaller than the shock that had struck him the moment he recognized the technique.

That strike.

He vividly remembered it.

’Luberion...’

The realization finally dawned on him as he looked toward Orivian through his fading consciousness. He finally understood where the Extraction ability had come from. There was no doubt anymore. Orivian had consumed Luberion’s soul, and the technique he had just used was one of Luberion’s strongest techniques when he had been alive thousands of years ago.

Among all Humans, Luberion was the only person Zaakrax had ever respected so deeply, and he was also the only Human who had ever made Zaakrax take the Human Continent seriously.

He still remembered the cold words Luberion had once spoken to him: ”Never be so arrogant to think you are the only strongest race or person, there are countless others stronger than you, so strong that they don’t even need to lift a finger to crush you.” Those words seemed to echo through his mind once again as Zaakrax looked at Orivian through his fading consciousness.

Zaakrax already knew that Luberion had been physically superior to his true Dragon form even before entering the Domain, but judging from the strength Orivian had displayed after consuming Luberion’s soul, it seemed that Orivian had become even stronger, ’Now I understand what you meant...’

His eyes slowly moved toward Atlas.

Zaakrax had already decided what he needed to do, and although Atlas didn’t understand the value of the gesture yet, Zaakrax raised his claw toward him for one final moment. The Oath of Law immediately activated as Zaakrax relayed his final message through the Laws, and from the Laws, that message reached Atlas directly inside his mind.

Kill Orivian at all costs.

Atlas’s eyes widened as he watched Zaakrax’s enormous Dragon body being sent flying through the darkness of the Astral Domain.

He had already known that Orivian was overwhelmingly powerful, but seeing the Dragon Emperor, someone who had just displayed something ridiculous outside the domain minutes ago, being defeated by a single palm strike still shocked him.

Atlas’s gaze remained fixed on Zaakrax’s distant figure for several moments before he finally felt a message arriving directly inside his mind.

Kill Orivian at all costs.

Atlas remained silent as he processed those words. He understood what Zaakrax was asking him to do, but what caught his attention wasn’t the command itself. It was the fact that Zaakrax had entrusted this responsibility to him after being defeated so easily.

Atlas knew the Dragon Emperor was using the debt he had just formed using those very laws that just sent him the message, but he had never expected that the time to repay it would arrive so quickly.

His eyes slowly moved toward Orivian, ”I never planned to use this because I don’t understand what it actually is, but it seems I have no other choice...”

The moment he finished speaking, Atlas activated the Trait—Metadata Axiom—and its first ability, Interference with Reality Itself.