Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

’Unfortunately for you... I am far from finished, you bastard!’

Atlas looked at the now-begging Azarion, and the scene in front of him immediately reminded him of his own past. The situation looked almost identical to what he had experienced countless times before.

Atlas had also begged, not once or twice, but hundreds of times whenever Nobles or Royals came to the Slums to capture children. He had begged them to stop, begged them to show mercy, and begged them to let the children go.

Yet...they had never shown any mercy. They would beat the children until they were on the brink of death, heal them, and then begin the torture again, repeating the same process as many times as they wanted.

Atlas remembered those moments clearly.

That was why Azarion’s begging meant nothing to him now. He began the same process again without caring about the pleas coming from the man in front of him, his expression remaining completely cold as he looked directly at Azarion, ”Your begging won’t let you off the hook, never.”

There was no hesitation in his voice as he continued, because Atlas had already made his decision long ago. Atlas had no intention of giving him the same mercy that had never been given to him.

Velmira watched the torture in silence. She had wanted to kill Azarion as well, but never like this, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine someone enduring this scale of torture while remaining conscious.

She had seen many forms of torture throughout her life, but even at their most extreme, there had always been a limit. Eventually, the victim would either die or lose consciousness, allowing the body and mind to escape the pain. But this was completely different.

Azarion couldn’t escape through death, and he couldn’t escape through unconsciousness either, because Atlas could simply alter the Logic surrounding his consciousness and force him to remain awake.

There was no apparent escape left for him.

That realization slowly settled inside Velmira as she watched Atlas continue. Her eyes remained fixed on him as a thought entered her mind, ’I-Is this what the Human race had produced?... He was cruel, so cruel that he himself made a monster without knowing himself.’

Velmira had spent countless years fighting against the monsters created by the world around her, yet the person standing in front of her was different. Azarion had not simply become cruel because of his circumstances. He had spent centuries making choices that had eventually turned him into the very kind of monster that he had once pretended to rule over.

Her thoughts suddenly stopped when everyone turned toward Kael, who had raised his voice toward Atlas, ”Atlas! That sword will only seal his powers for another twenty minutes! Kill him before that!”

Atlas turned toward Kael after hearing the warning. He remained silent for a moment before giving a small nod, understanding the situation immediately.

His cold eyes then returned to Azarion as he spoke in a calm voice, ”Guess even your death is pre-determined now. Only twenty minutes till your last breath.” There was no arrogance in his voice, not even the slightest attempt to boast about his strength. It was simply cold hatred, controlled to such a degree that Azarion could feel it without Atlas needing to raise his voice.

Azarion’s entire body trembled.

Tears finally began flowing from his pupilless eyes as his mind slowly drifted toward the only person who had genuinely cared about him even after knowing the deeds he had committed. ’Liora...’

His eyes slowly closed as he felt his entire life had amounted to nothing. The power he had obtained, the plans he had created, the countless people he had sacrificed, and the future he had spent centuries preparing for were all becoming meaningless as the realization of him being manipulated till now struck him once again while death approached.

Regret began filling his consciousness, but even stronger than the regret was the guilt of never taking care of the one person who had continued loving him despite everything he had done, ’...I am...sorry, my Liora.’

His remaining strength barely allowed him to speak. ”...I have one request... b-before I die... khug!” Azarion coughed as another wave of pain interrupted his voice, but he forced himself to continue. ”P-Please spare my wife, Liora... a-and if possible, please... let her live peacefully.” He struggled to breathe before adding, ”S-She had nothing to d-do with any of my deeds... p-please...”

His voice was barely audible by the end, yet he continued looking toward Atlas as if this final request was the only thing he still cared about.

Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly as he listened. Atlas remained silent for a brief moment to regain his composure and remind himself of what his actual target had always been.

”I wasn’t going to do anything to her to begin with. Hell, I don’t even know her or your family. My main target was you, so that has nothing to do with me.” Atlas’s answer was simple and direct. He had no reason to punish someone who had never been involved in what Azarion had done to him, and he had never intended to drag Azarion’s family into his revenge.

The moment Atlas said those words, Azarion’s expression became slightly less grim. The guilt was still there, but some of its weight seemed to disappear from his consciousness.

Atlas didn’t give him any more time to think about it.

He continued the torture again, but this time he used a completely different method. Instead of allowing the pain to remain connected to Azarion’s physical body, Atlas directly altered the Logic connecting physical damage to the sensation of pain and redirected that relationship toward his soul.

Every time Atlas punched his body, the damage reflected directly onto his soul instead. The soul was already one of the most vulnerable parts of any living being, and Azarion now had to experience the same million-fold pain directly through it.

Azarion screamed.

The sound echoed across the battlefield as the pain spread through his soul. It became so intense that even his thoughts began breaking apart, with memories appearing and disappearing without warning as his consciousness repeatedly approached its limit.

He would feel himself nearing the point where everything should have gone dark, only for Atlas’s altered Logic to force his consciousness back into awareness again.

Minutes passed while Atlas continued.

Every passing minute brought him closer to the end that Kael had warned about, only after nineteen minutes had passed, Atlas finally stopped. His right hand slowly began releasing the familiar black flames.

Flames of Nothingness.

Atlas stared at the flames for a moment as a strange wave of emotions suddenly spread through his heart.

’It’s finally time...’

Fear, relief and several other emotions he couldn’t understand.

Atlas shook his head and dismissed them. There was no reason to think about them now. He had spent his entire life waiting for this moment, and after everything he had endured, there was only one thing left to do.

He directly inserted his right hand into the center of Azarion’s chest. His fingers pierced through the remaining flesh as the black flames immediately began spreading across his body. ”There might not be any next life for both you and that bastard, so this is the last time you are seeing the light of the world.”

The Flames of Nothingness instantly began their work.

Azarion’s expression changed as he finally stopped resisting. After everything he had endured, he was simply tired. He had reached the point where he couldn’t endure another moment of pain, and death no longer felt like something he needed to escape.

His final thought was of Liora.

Orivian, however, reacted completely differently.

His consciousness screamed from inside the same body as he desperately struggled against the Flames of Nothingness. He tried to regain control, tried to escape, and tried to interfere with Atlas’s power, but Luberion’s soul fragment continued interfering with his consciousness and prevented him from taking control of the body.

Orivian’s desperation only grew as the flames continued spreading through him, because unlike Azarion, he had no intention of accepting death.

Even Luberion’s soul fragment was being erased.

Yet...unlike Orivian, Luberion offered no resistance. He understood that there was no longer anything he could do, and the fragment of his soul simply remained as the Flames of Nothingness consumed it alongside the other two consciousnesses.

The black flames continued spreading until Azarion’s existence disappeared first, followed by Orivian and finally Luberion’s remaining soul fragment.

Atlas continued watching.

The body slowly disintegrated into nothingness, just as everything did when it came into contact with the Flames of Nothingness.

Atlas slowly closed his eyes, ’It’s... finally over.’ For the first time in his life, the goal that had remained inside his heart for so long had finally been completed. Atlas let out a long breath as the satisfaction of revenge slowly washed over him.

’I had thought it would take a lot of time... but it seems I could execute it way earlier.’ Atlas lowered his head and looked at his own hands, ’These powers...’

He stared at them silently for a moment before continuing his thoughts. ’I would have said that they did not mean anything to me now that I have gotten my revenge, but... they are mine.’ Atlas understood that truth now. He could not simply deny their importance because the original reason he had needed strength was finally gone, ’I cannot avoid what is truth.’

Atlas accepted what had been given to him by fate without hesitation.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the clear sky above him. The darkness that had loomed over the entire world was finally gone, and the battlefield had become strangely quiet after everything that had happened.

Atlas remained there for several moments without speaking, simply staring at the sky as the weight he had carried for so long finally disappeared.

His revenge was finally over.