Chapter 1589 - 1589: Taking the Efficient Route
Kei Xun’s words still lingered in his mind.
He listened to her attentively, aware that extracting this kind of information from the System would cost him dearly. Though her words reached his ears, his mind was still wrapping around what she said, still struggling to fully process what she revealed.
But he knew that the bottom line was, he needed to get used to using the Invincible Apparition.
It was unclear when he could absorb the Invincible Apparition for good, but he had to be ready.
And allowing the Invincible Apparition to take control is the way to do that.
Being in the backseat while the Invincible Apparition controls his body is a scary sensation.
Rex didn’t like it as it reminded him of when he went berserk.
Fortunately, he’s in the Spirit Realm, where there are few to no people whom he cared dearly for here.
Nobody to hurt.
Rex closed his eyes and steadied his breath.
“Sigh… Here goes nothing. Go on, I’ll trust you. Take control and find Kaelthar.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
Rex answered his own question, but it wasn’t him.
Once he opened his eyes again, the crimson shade of his eyes faded away, replaced by bright orange.
It was the Invincible Apparition in control.
Princess Davina looked at Rex from behind, confused as to what he was doing standing idle there.
And when he moved, stepping into the hole he created, she noticed something.
‘His eyes changed… He did it again. But I don’t sense any disturbance, what is that?’
Oblivious to what Princess Davina was thinking about, Rex stepped into the barrier and was surprised to see that he was at the bottom of the cliff. It seemed the barrier was also enchanted with illusion on top of its stealth capabilities.
From the outside, there was no monolith, only a flowing river.
And the entrance that the System scanned earlier was located at the base of this monolith.
Rex couldn’t drill through it, that would make a lot of commotion, so the only way was to climb it.
But instead of doing that, Rex sucked in a deep breath and stretched his arms to the side.
“It’s good to be outside…”
He took pleasure in the fresh gale brushing against his skin, the sound of flowing water that soothes the soul, and even the fresh scent of the outside world. A smile climbed from deep within, but even when it reached his face, nothing changed.
Rex’s expression remained as cold as ice, different than his usual scary but relaxed expression.
“Hmm, staying in this form is unsightly.”
As if being Humanoid was a sin, Rex reverted back into his Werewolf form.
He didn’t forget to move to the side, away from the hole he created and Princess Davina’s gaze.
Then, his body grew and swelled, turning him into a vicious beast of the night.
Once he transformed fully, his power surged exponentially, and he felt like himself again.
It has been quite some time since he turned into his Werewolf form, and his body missed the sensation.
Swish!
Once he was refreshed, he elongated his fingernails into claws and leapt onto the monolith.
His claws dug into the hard surface like butter, and with a forceful pull of his arms, he threw himself up and began climbing the monolith, one pull at a time. Despite the monolith—being a couple of hundred meters high, Rex easily reached the top in a few seconds.
Making one last pull, he landed roughly at the top.
He raised his brows when he was met with several dozen pairs of eyes.
Rex already heard their heartbeats from below, so he was anticipating meeting these people.
But these people weren’t as he expected.
Considering that Duke Lorcan used Kaelthar as a bargaining chip against the Sky City, he was expecting this monolith to have a prison constructed inside it. So, the people on top should be warriors, guards, or even knights, sworn to protect the prison with their lives.
Instead of what he expected, these people looked normal, too normal.
Each one of them wore regular clothing that of a peasant, and none of them exuded a threatening aura.
An expert could be hiding amongst them, but Rex would notice if that were the case.
He was confident in his senses.
These people are regular people who were no stronger than Ascendant Spirits.
Some of them were carrying bags of fruit while others carried wet clothes, doing regular chores as if today was the same as any other normal day. Rex, who was alert before—scanned his eyes across them and pointed at a regular-looking man.
“You!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Lead me to the one called Kaelthar!”
Hearing this, the man looked confused as if Rex were speaking another language.
His instruction was loud and clear—there shouldn’t be any room for confusion.
“Are you deaf?! Lead me to the one called Kaelthar!”
“Who even are you, Sir? It’s impolite to cause a scene like this. Nobody here is called Kaelthar.”
Annoyed, Rex looked down at the ground.
He scanned the entire monolith with the System and realized that there were hundreds of people inside, doing ordinary activities one could find in a city. It was only then did he realized that there was a city or a village built inside this monolith.
On top of that, there was nobody who was above the Immortal Spirit rank here.
In fact, in the entire monolith, there was only one Immortal Spirit.
Seeing how hostile Rex was, the people around him began to distance themselves.
But Rex didn’t care.
He focused back on the man and changed his demand.
“What is the name of this place? Answer me that.”
“Lorayah Village. I don’t know how you got inside, but you can’t cause a ruckus here. We have th-“
Not even allowing the man to finish his sentence, Rex had already channeled his life energy.
Boom!
Since the entire monolith had no one stronger than him, there was no need for him to hold back or even be courteous. As soon as his aura emerged, cracking the ground underneath him, the people around him immediately dropped to their ground.
Just the gap between the Ascendant Spirit and Immortal Spirit was already fast.
Between the Ascendant Spirit and Master Immortal Spirit was akin to heaven and earth.
None of them could defy Rex’s prowess.
“Wha–?” The man’s eyes darted around in horror—he was the only one still standing while the others lay crushed to the ground. “Y-You can’t do this! Let them go, now! We haven’t done anything to you, so why?! Why are you doing this?!”
“Let me ask you one more time,” Rex stepped closer and towered before the man. “Where is Kaelthar? Do think about what you said next, because if I don’t like it, all of these people are going to die. And all their deaths would be on you.”
Hearing this, the man gulped harshly.
It seemed he really didn’t know any Kaelthar from how hard he was thinking.
But this is Lorayah Village. He’s here, so he’s definitely lying to my face.
“Let… Let me call the village head! He knew more than me!”
“Oh?”
Mercilessly, Rex blurred from his position and reappeared beside a sprawled middle-aged man.
His eyes dripped with terror when he saw Rex standing right beside him.
Not even thinking twice, Rex grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it toward an unnatural direction, ripping it with one smooth pull. Blood sprayed everywhere as the man squealed like a pig, drowned in the wave of pain from having his arm severed.
Instinctively, he wanted to twist and roll, to alleviate the pain no matter how.
But he couldn’t.
Rex’s foot pressed against him, keeping him in place.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!!”
The man shouted desperately, watching as the middle-aged man’s blood pooled around him.
In a few seconds, the fierce struggle grew extremely weak.
Losing blood from a severed arm drained the middle-aged man of his strength rapidly.
“Still trying to hide him?”
“No! No!! I really don’t know!! I really don’t know!”
Rex shook his head as he grabbed the middle-aged man’s other arm, intending to sever it too.
But before he did, someone stopped him.
“Stop! Stop this at once!”
Hearing this voice, Rex turned to the side and saw a bearded man with long black hair, rushing toward the scene with hurried steps. Noticing how relief washed over the people around him, Rex was certain that this bearded man was the one in charge here.
“And who are you?”
“My name is Abras, and I’m the village head. Retract your aura and let go of that man at once. It’s me that you wanted to threaten, not them. I’m the one who knew things, not them. Point your claws to the right person.”
Rex looked at Abras for a tense moment, and then at the bleeding middle-aged man under his foot.
Despite Abras’ provocation, it didn’t matter to him.
Abras has nothing more than words, and that alone is meaningless.
But Rex’s attention was fixated on something.
His eyes were locked onto the flowing blood, red and seductive.
Not to mention the middle-aged man’s exposed flesh, it was fresh and pinkish, tantalizing to see.
It would be a waste not to eat him, but the voice in my head is getting annoying.
Of course, the ‘real’ Rex was telling him to stop inside.
The purpose of coming to this village was to find Kaelthar, not to massacre it.
Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Rex finally lifted up his foot and retracted his aura, doing as he was told without making a fuss. He then turned to Abras and raised both hands as if he was surrendering, “I guess I got the wrong person. Now, Abras… you have my undivided attention.”
Rex approached and stood in front of him.
“Where is Kaelthar?”
“Only Duke Lorcan can demand to see him.”
“Abras… take me to Kaelthar, or I’ll kill everyone here. I have a special relationship with the duke, so if I slaughter you and raze this entire place, there’s still a chance I’ll be pardoned. Don’t you dare think I won’t do that if the next breath you take isn’t used to lead me to him.”
Hearing this, Abras clenched his jaw.
He looked at the dying middle-aged man, and at his people who were scared and confused.
“Okay,” He exhaled roughly. “I’ll take you to Kaelthar, but it will be on you.”
“Good,” Rex nudged his chin. “Lead the way.”
Just as expected, Lorayah Village was a village within the monolith.
It worked in a tower-based structure with a spiral staircase at the center, reinforcing its construct.
Abras led Rex down, passing the people who heard the commotion and were looking at Rex warily.
“Duke Lorcan was the one who paid for the barrier?”
“Yes.”
“In exchange for?”
“Why do you think we need to pay for his magnanimity?”
Rex raised a brow, looking at Abras with hostility.
It seemed Abras was treating him like a moron as the answer to that question should be obvious.
“In exchange for providing sanctuary for Kaelthar, I suppose.”
Hearing this, it was Abras’ turn to look at Rex.
Just from coming here once, Rex could already see through their village.
But then again, judging by the number of forges Rex passed on the way in, the village clearly thrived on weapon crafting. However, their work was of poor quality. Not up to the noble standards. So, there’s no way Duke Lorcan would be interested in their craftsmanship, which meant this could only be about Kaelthar.
Even then, there was still one question that lingered in Rex’s mind.
It still doesn’t explain why the city was not reinforced with powerful people.
Duke Lorcan could’ve sent several powerhouses to guard Kaelthar, but he didn’t. Why?
Since Kaelthar was most likely a prisoner, this was odd.
However, once Rex reached the very bottom and go through a secret entrance that led to an underground space below the village, he instantly learned of the reason why—there was no need of guards.