Bloodbound Codex: I Grow Stronger in Secret

Seraphiel lowered her head as every word forming inside her mind seemed to freeze in her throat and refused to come out at all. Her chest felt heavy...as if it ached from the echo of every word Atlas had spoken just now. Her pupils contracted slightly as they remained fixed on the floor, countless unknown feelings quietly surfacing inside her heart one after another, making even herself unable to understand what she was truly feeling.

’He wants to...sever the contract? Why?...I-I have to convince him!’ Her mind refused to let go of that thought. Somehow, she had to make him change his decision even though she herself couldn’t explain why she wanted to do that. It felt irrational, yet she still wanted to hold onto it. Just then, another thought suddenly surfaced in her mind, making her eyes widen slightly. ’I forgot!...If I just tell him that, he will definitely reconsider!’

The moment it clicked, Seraphiel immediately lifted her head. However, as soon as she did, she noticed both Dravenson and Atlas looking at her. Atlas still had his usual expressionless face, only a faint trace of curiosity flickering behind his eyes as if he was wondering why she had suddenly reacted like that. On the other hand...Dravenson looked worried.

Yes...that same Patriarch who had remained cold and ruthless toward the Assassin back in Lumivale and even toward Atlas only yesterday was now looking at his daughter with genuine concern. Although his expression barely changed, the worry behind his eyes could not escape notice. Even then, he deliberately spoke in his usual calm tone so Atlas would not notice anything unusual.

"Are you okay, Seraphiel...my daughter?"

Seraphiel slowly nodded before replying, "I am okay, Father but...what is this talk about severing the contract?" She asked directly as she gradually regained her usual composure, suppressing those unfamiliar emotions to some extent while thinking, ’Even though Father and Mr. Atlas both want to sever the contract, they can’t do it until I also give my consent to the Relic. But...I have to know why Mr. Atlas suddenly wants to sever it. Did Kaelion do something last night?’

Dravenson remained silent for a brief moment before his gaze shifted toward Atlas and then back to Seraphiel. Only then did he finally speak.

"I did not want to involve you in this matter, Seraphiel...but your contract is forcing me to. If we don’t sever it..." His tone gradually turned colder as his eyes settled on Atlas. "...then I won’t be able to kill this Monster hiding behind a Human’s skin."

The moment those words left his mouth, both Atlas and Seraphiel widened their eyes, though for completely different reasons. Atlas immediately frowned inwardly as countless thoughts crossed his mind. ’Seriously?...This again? Is he sane right now?...Did he once again pry into my emotions using that Ability?’

After all, this was not the first time he had heard those exact words. Back in Lumivale, Marristella had also looked at him and called him a ’Monster hiding behind a Human’s skin.’ Hearing Dravenson repeat those very same words only made Atlas even more convinced that he had once again used that Ability on him.

Seraphiel, however, couldn’t understand any of it. She frowned deeply as confusion completely filled her thoughts. ’Monster?...What is Father talking about?’ Unable to connect any of those words together, she immediately asked, "Father...if you used your Ability again and looked into Mr. Atlas’s emotions just like Mother did the oth-"

Before she could finish speaking, Dravenson silently extended his hand toward her and placed something in her palm.

The moment it landed there, Seraphiel immediately felt a strange fluctuation coming from it. That unknown energy mixed slightly with the surrounding ambient Spirit Energy, causing faint ripples to spread around the object. She lowered her eyes toward her hand and realized it was nothing more than a rough piece of bark.

Dravenson finally continued his explanation.

"This is the bark of a tree found several miles outside the city, deep within the forest route surrounding Solara, just yesterday many merchant groups suddenly stopped returning, I sent Kaelion there to investigate the reason." His eyes remained on the bark before he continued, "Instead of finding the missing merchants...he found countless Angels massacred throughout that area, This bark was recovered from that same place."

With every sentence, Seraphiel’s expression gradually changed. She suddenly remembered the journey from Lumivale to Solara.

At that time, Dravenson had specifically instructed her to remain inside the private chamber of the Spirit Jet instead of sitting near the transparent Spirit Glass outside. Back then she hadn’t questioned the decision, but now...she finally understood why he had done that. He had never wanted her to witness the massacre with her own eyes.

While Dravenson continued explaining everything to Seraphiel, Atlas quietly looked at the piece of bark resting in her hand. Slowly...the scattered pieces finally began connecting inside his mind. Kaelion had lied to him last night. This bark was the reason Dravenson had sent him, and from that single clue he had already concluded everything.

’So...that so-called Knight lied, and this is the conclusion he reached.’ Atlas thought calmly as he looked at the bark once again. ’Well...he is still a Patriarch and a Noble. Jumping to conclusions like this isn’t exactly surprising. Even then...I am not some amateur anymore to give a shit about what he thinks.’

Dravenson continued explaining everything to Seraphiel while Atlas simply remained silent. He had no intention of interrupting him, Right now, he only wanted to confirm whether Dravenson had truly arrived at the same conclusion he had been thinking about.

"This bark carries that Unknown Energy, It is the very same energy I sensed from his right hand the other day and...yesterday I sensed that exact same energy from the Monster that appeared above the Palace."

"What?!" Seraphiel let out a shocked gasp as horror instantly spread across her face. She had witnessed that Monster with her own eyes yesterday. Even remembering its existence was enough to make her heart tighten. That terrifying pressure, that overwhelming strength, it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. And now...her father was saying that same energy was connected to Atlas.

Almost instantly, everything became clear inside her mind. She finally understood why Dravenson wanted Atlas dead, why he had secretly sent Kaelion after him and why this entire situation had reached this point. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked toward Atlas once again. Her eyes unconsciously carried a trace of doubt as she stared at the man now being connected to something that terrifying.

Before she could ask anything, Atlas calmly spoke.

"I suggest you remove that thought of connecting me to that Monster. If I truly were that Monster, I wouldn’t even be sitting here to begin with...and I certainly wouldn’t have spared the Knight of your Household after he entered my room last night."

His expression remained completely detached from beginning to end, not even the slightest fluctuation appearing on his face. Those calm words caused Dravenson’s eyes to narrow slightly while, on the other hand, Seraphiel felt an invisible weight inside her heart loosen just a little.

She herself didn’t know why, but hearing Atlas directly deny it made her instinctively believe him more than the assumption her father had made.

Before either of them could interrupt or question him further, Atlas continued, "Though I have no intention of explaining myself to anyone since I have done nothing wrong, I also don’t want unnecessary trouble following me because of someone else’s misunderstanding...so."

As those words fell, Atlas slowly raised his right hand covered by the familiar finger-cut gloves. He opened his palm toward the ceiling and, almost immediately, that same unknown energy quietly flowed out from it, surrounding his hand without the slightest concealment.

The moment that energy came into contact with the surrounding ambient Spirit Energy...

TZZZTTZZ!

Sharp crackling sounds echoed throughout the room. The surrounding Spirit Energy rippled violently as if rejecting its existence, making both Dravenson and Seraphiel widen their eyes almost simultaneously. They immediately recognized it as the same strange energy contained inside the bark...but unlike the faint traces left within that piece of wood, the energy coming directly from Atlas felt vastly purer, denser and on an entirely different level.

"This is none other than...my Unique Ability." Atlas spoke calmly without changing his expression. "So don’t connect it to that Monster, not even for a moment. Even I encountered something similar to that Monster while coming here...and I was just as surprised after seeing that similarity."

After finishing his explanation, Atlas quietly sighed inwardly, ’Sigh...with this, there shouldn’t be any unnecessary trouble in the future because of someone else’s misunderstanding.’

Silence filled the room for several moments before Seraphiel finally spoke again. Although Atlas had explained the misunderstanding, there was still one thing she couldn’t understand.

"Mr. Atlas...if that’s the case, and you didn’t even know Father had made these assumptions...why are you trying to sever the contract?"

However, before Atlas could answer her question, Dravenson suddenly interrupted with another thought that had been bothering him from the very beginning.

"Wait." His eyes remained fixed on Atlas’s right hand. "When you first came to our Household, you were still only an A-rank. How did you possess that energy back then? Although it was extremely faint and almost impossible to notice, I still sensed it that day...but a Unique Ability only awakens after reaching S-rank."

He paused briefly, unable to connect the contradiction no matter how much he thought about it.

"This...doesn’t make any sense, How did you already possess it while you were still only an A-rank?"

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