Chapter 1500 - 1500: The Dark Tide
Believing her was hard, mostly because she was a Priestess of Purity, but Rex, in general, was lacking in terms of believing someone. Making sure that others’ words are proper and backed with facts is the only way he could have peace of mind.
And in this case, Rex has no choice but to believe in Viora.
She knew already, so it was pointless to try and deny Kraken’s real identity.
Still, having her hold all the cards is unsettling.
On top of Casey, it seemed he also needed to find out some dirt around Viora to secure his position.
“Besides…” Viora added, looking at him intently.
Rex frowned a little, “Besides?”
A small smile curled on Viora’s lips, causing unease to rise within Rex.
“Besides, there are cute Voidal Monsters out there.”
“… What?”
Rex thought his senses were still a mess, he thought he had heard wrong.
He blinked and then saw Viora turning to look at Kraken, who was still wrapped by the syal.
Both her eyes were glimmering with anticipation.
“Go on, let me see the Voidal Monster you took in.” She continued.
Once Rex recovered from the initial shock, he shook his head.
What does it matter if it was cute or not? I bet there are cute Werewolves out there, but I still hate them.
Understanding the mind of a woman was an exercise of utility, at least for Rex, and even the women in the Spirit Realm weren’t an exception. Rex then turned to Amanir and made a firm nod, signaling to let Kraken out.
Amanir unwrapped the syal and almost instantly, a shadow leaped out.
“Oh, no!” Viora sucked in a cold breath as she recoiled backward. “That’s not cute at all!”
Since Amanir was a cute and fluffy demon spirit while Linthia was a beautiful, petite woman, Viora had anticipated Rex to like cute and pretty things. She was mortified to see a faceless creature with a mixture of squid and beast emerging out of the syal.
Her assumption was dead wrong.
“Woah, woah, woah!” Rex raised his hand in surprise.
“Is it because you turned it?!” Amanir asked hurriedly. “Is it going to go on a rampage?!”
“Give me a second, I’m trying to find out the reason!” Rex answered.
He needed to scan Kraken with the System to find out what was wrong with him.
Kraken sprang out, latching onto the corner of the carriage’s ceiling, right above the door—its senses swept warily over everyone inside. Tension radiated from its form, he was stressed, but the moment he spotted Rex, he darted forward without hesitation.
Under their nose, Kraken melted and seeped into Rex’s chest.
“He’s inside!” Viora exclaimed in horror. “He went inside you!”
“Stop shouting! I have eyes, I can see that!” Rex retorted, but he wasn’t worried.
Kraken was already a Silverstar Pack member, so he should be loyal and wouldn’t harm Rex in any way.
But then, he recalled something.
Wait, once I turned others into a Werewolf, their intention towards me, whatever it was, would be pushed to the limit. Flunra hated me, so I prepared countermeasures so that he wouldn’t be able to harm me in any way back then, and I didn’t prepare anything for Kraken.
Kraken had only been born, he shouldn’t have any intention towards me, right? This is fine, right?
Rex sweated a little, but then, a notification appeared.
<Notice: the user has been influenced by the One with the Rift innate ability!>
<All stats had been increased moderately!>
<Now, the user could replenish lost life energy with voidal energy!>
Rex was surprised—these notifications clearly showed that this was a good thing for him.
But then, he could feel a burning sensation, and without saying a single word, he left the carriage.
Viora and Amanir poked their heads out of the carriage door and saw Rex sprinting like a madman, his exhausted life energy somehow beginning to show signs of being full again based on his aura. Inside, a figure was forgotten.
Linthia was lying on the cushion with a teary face as she reached for Viora.
She wasn’t done being healed, it’s painful, but Viora’s attention was pulled away from her due to Rex.
Meanwhile, Rex continued to sprint back to the Rocky Puzzle.
His speed was becoming faster with each step he took while his body instinctively drew in voidal energy from the air and converted it into life energy, replenishing his exhausted Soul Artifact mark. Rex could not describe the sensation other than it being exhilarating and entirely new.
A strange, almost intoxicating rush of renewal.
So what do you want exactly from me, Kraken?
Almost as if Kraken understood what he meant exactly, Rex felt this urge to run in a certain direction.
He followed this urge until he realized that Kraken was guiding him to the second special Voidal Knight.
“Oh… So you were angry at that serpent earlier for hurting me, and now, you wanted to vent?” Rex put on a smile, delighted by this situation—as there were only four minutes left before he would be afflicted by the killing intent quest’s penalty. “Alright. Let’s vent.”
Soon enough, Rex’s senses picked up the sign of a powerful voidal energy inside a rock formation.
Kraken also seemed to direct him onto this particular rock formation.
Needing no more confirmation, Rex put more strength into his legs and made a powerful dash.
He clutched his right hand into a fist, cocked it back, and swung it with all his might.
Crash!
A loud, crashing sound resounded as the punch cracked and shattered the rock formation rather easily.
Once the entire rock formation crumbled—into pieces, collapsing in on itself, a lone monster emerged from the rubble. Rex stepped forward, his gaze locking onto the monster, who was a massive rat that should’ve been the one controlling the swarm earlier and was subservient to the serpent.
Rex’s appearance spooked the rat monster.
Glowing crimson eyes, stained with blood, and even veins, darkened by Kraken’s influence that snaked up from his chest to his neck, pulsing eerily. Feeling his life energy was high enough to cast his Spirit Genesis, Rex tilted his head and smiled.
“You’re dead.” He mumbled before striking the final blow.
…
Swoosh!
“Is… Is it starting again?” A middle-aged man carrying his harvest sucked in a cold breath.
Hearing this, his friend beside him turned to look toward the horizon.
At the same time, a gush of wind struck them hard—forcing them to drop their harvest and raise their arms. Once the chilling gush blew past, they lowered their arms and fixed their gazes onto the ink-black tower in the distance, right beyond their land’s bubble.
Despite the distance, several miles away, the red sparks around the tower were evident.
Then, their bubble that was protecting them from the Black Rift flickered.
It was a sight that caused these two faces to pale in fear.
“S- Sound the alarm!” the middle-aged man shouted.
Both he and his friend sprinted away from the magical field, running back to their home.
Upon reaching the city—which was made on an ancient ruin, the middle-aged man, with a sense of duty, ran to the outpost. Many people, mostly men who were tending to the field and hunting, were running into the ruins like their lives depended on it.
Only the middle-aged man didn’t.
“Dhamar, are you insane?!” His friend stopped and called for him. “We need to go back right now!”
“No!” Dhamar shook his head, stubbornly climbing the outpost and pushing the extremely heavy bell with his bare hands to sound the alarm. “There are some who were mining underground, they wouldn’t realize what was happening if there was no bell!”
Knowing that there are at least a hundred of them, Dhamar wasn’t going to abandon them.
He pushed harder, but the bell was stuck, the gush of wind earlier had damaged the iron clapper.
Seeing this, the friend paces back and forth impatiently.
From the start of the flickering to the actual danger, the people had exactly five minutes to move.
It was already two minutes, and Dhamar was still trying to push the bell.
“Dhamar, forget about it!” the friend persuaded. “Even if you succeeded, they wouldn’t have any fighting chance. Let’s save ourselves first and then send a rescue team to see whether any of them survived. If you keep being stubborn, you’ll die!”
“Just leave me!” Dhamar shouted back. “I’ll get it done and follow right behind!”
Gritting his teeth, the friend reluctantly left with a heavy heart.
It took another minute until Dhamar could finally get the iron clapper to move and the bell to ring.
Once the alarm reverberated throughout the entire land, Dhamar wasted no time to leaped down from the outpost and sprinted back home. But as he landed on the ground, he felt a cold chill brushing against his nape.
He glanced over his shoulders, hoping that there was still more time.
For his sake and for the people inside the mine, but his hope stayed a hope.
Behind him, dark clouds were approaching rapidly—eating the space like a ravenous monster.
And within these clouds were malevolent entities, their eyes hungered for Dhamar’s flesh and blood.
Nobody who was caught by these dark clouds would be able to come out alive.
None has survived in a hundred years, and the chance the streak being broken was slim.
If Dhamar was the one who got caught, he was certain that the streak would continue.
Desperate, Dhamar sprinted with all his might.
He exerted everything that he had, physique-wise and even life energy-wise.
Fueled by nothing but adrenaline and life energy, his speed increased drastically—he was an Ascendant Spirit, close to breaking through to the next rank, the way he controlled his life energy highlighted his experience and precision. And surprisingly, he was able to reach the living space of the ruin.
Across the central square, his eyes flickered with hope.
About two hundred meters away, there were thousands of cubes in formation.
It was the houses of the people living here.
Once he reached his home, or even any other homes, the mechanical stone door would close—and he would be safe. ‘I can make it,’ Dhamar thought, seeing that the dark clouds were still behind. ‘It’s going to be close, but I can definitely make it!’
Glancing around, Dhamar saw he was the last in line.
Most of the people of the ruins were ahead of him, and a lot of them were already in their homes.
“Run! Keep going and don’t look back!” He shouted, encouraging the rest who were still running.
But then, his eyes snapped to the side when he saw someone trip over and fall.
If Dhamar kept running, he knew he’d be safe—but when he saw the young man sprawled on the floor, his face frozen in sheer terror, Dhamar couldn’t bring himself to leave the young man behind. Gritting his teeth, he pivoted sharply, recklessly weaving to haul the young man back to his feet.
“Come on, stand up. We can still make it!” He shouted.
Seeing this, his friend in one of the cubes cursed him for his pure heart.
“Dhamar! You stupid idiot!” He shouted exasperatedly.
Even then, Dhamar didn’t care and supported the young man.
Both of them desperately ran while the cubes began closing down one by one, with people fearing that the dark clouds would reach them—before the mechanical door could close. In a few seconds, only the friend’s cube was still open.
However, it was futile, the dark clouds were already reaching for them.
“Dhamar!!” the friend reached out his hand in a panic.
He could see the dark clouds, and the entities within them were already reaching for Dhamar. Despite that, the friend tried to step out, but a woman grabbed him, stopping him from attempting to save Dhamar.
It was already far too late.
Realizing that there was no chance, Dhamar grabbed the young man by the collar and threw him into the friend’s cube, right before the dark clouds grabbed him. Grunting in pain, the young man was safe inside the cube while Dhamar was still outside.
Seeing him being torn to pieces, the friend’s heart skipped a beat.
For a second, he couldn’t move, watching Dhamar being devoured until his survival instincts kicked in.
In devastation, he closed the mechanical stone door right before the dark clouds hit.