Novel Full Chapter 1624: First Hurdle (3)
Chapter 1624: First Hurdle (3)
Rex scanned the situation and realized that it was bad.
As soon as Princess Davina sliced the mountaintop to help the legions go over it, one of the Seekers got hurt, which caused the Seeker Flare to weaken, and the ground on the right side of the legions cracked and collapsed.
It went from smooth to dire in an instant.
Since it happened right when the mountaintop was sliced, it was certainly not a coincidence.
Haxel timed this to screw with the formation.
“Hold on… Hold on!”
“Shit, there’s nothing to grab!”
Soldiers slid down the slope, reaching their hands to grasp something, but couldn’t.
Most couldn’t react fast enough or didn’t have enough strength to dig their fingers into the earth.
Even those who were able to hold on weren’t in the clear.
Crash!
Boulders rolled from the mountaintop.
Princess Davina made sure to slash the other way so that the debris wouldn’t roll down to the legions, but it couldn’t be a perfect slash. Some chunks of the mountain would certainly roll down the other way, and there’s no stopping it.
Seeing the incoming boulders, the soldiers who were hanging on paled.
But Rex reacted quickly and took control of the situation.
“Slide down more, but catch yourself before falling to the foothill!”
Hearing the command, all of them instantly let go of their grip and slid down more.
Not even wasting a single moment, Rex climbed the slope past the sliding soldiers and stopped right in front of them, becoming the wall that stood between the soldiers and the rolling boulders. He dug both of his feet deep into the earth and leaped.
Effectively, Rex struck the rolling boulders with his claws.
Each strike shattered the boulder into smaller pieces, small enough to ignore.
Despite the steep slope becoming a massive challenge to move around freely, his claws easily helped him move around. Rex stabbed his claws into the mountain and flung himself to the next boulder, easily intercepting each one.
Below him, April used her life energy to patch the collapsed part of the slope.
It would hinder the legions’ movement to keep up with the horde if it weren’t dealt with.
It’s inconvenient, but it should be fine. I can handle this much.
Seeing this, Rex nodded inwardly.
Even though Haxel got him good, he could still handle the situation.
All he needed to do was shatter the rolling boulders and help the other soldiers to climb up again.
But what were those anomalies on the voidal monsters the System detected earlier? Let me che—
Just before he could finish his thoughts, his eyes widened.
Growl!
Swoosh!
Rex looked over his shoulder with wide eyes and saw the Special Voidal Knight brush past him and head east—dashing to the right side of the mountain. He was too focused on dealing with the rolling boulders that he forgot the hole on the right side of the formation.
Since about a hundred soldiers slid down, they left behind a hole in the formation.
A hole that the voidal monsters could use to spread.
“Shit!”
Rex wanted to intercept the Special Voidal Knight, but there were still more rolling boulders.
He was forced to choose which one he would deal with.
It was then that he remembered someone.
“Ethan! Take over and intercept the boulders!”
“On it!”
Boom!
As Rex was about to move to intercept, an explosion happened directly beside him.
He was thrown to the side, barely holding on with one hand, with the right side of his body burnt.
Rapidly, his regeneration healed his burnt side as he scanned the ground with the System.
…
<Arcbomb>
Description: An item that could produce a Master Immortal Spirit-rank explosion output after being charged within the Black Rift. It can be detonated through either touching it or through a trigger mark engraved on the skin.
…
“A bomb?!” Rex gritted his teeth.
Considering that the path was made by Empress Morgana and was only shared to Rick, he thought the path would be safe, but it seemed he was wrong. Somehow, Haxel got his hands on the fixed path—and made preparations.
Now Rex understood where his confidence came from.
He was simply prepared to sabotage the mission at all costs.
Glancing over to the other side, he saw that the Special Voidal Knight was already going down the slope.
It was nearing the edge of the Seeker Flare.
Rex was about to divert his attention to the other problems, thinking that he had time to make his move.
But he was wrong.
Crash!
As opposed to slowing down, the Special Voidal Knight picked up its pace, going even faster—Its body sucked in as much voidal energy as it could possibly gather. A dark sheen glossed its entire armored skin as it slithered even faster, like an actual train going past its limit.
Upon impact, the weakened Seeker Flare shattered without resistance.
Swoosh!!
Like a torrent, the Black Rift invaded the Seeker Flare and washed over the entire legion.
Rex held on against the fierce rush.
But the legions were stumbling, and the formation was in shambles.
Fortunately, the remaining Seekers repaired the Seeker Flare instantly—lessening the rate of which the Black Rift was invading them. On the other hand, Rex turned to look at the east again and realized the Special Voidal Knight was heading straight toward the four nearby bubbles.
But what caught him off guard was the fact that there are hundreds of voidal monsters following it.
Since the strongest influence came from the White Mask, the horde should continue to surge forward—even with the formation damaged and a gaping hole in their ranks. Their priority remained unchanged: to stay close to the White Mask, no matter how chaotic the advance became.
So, it was surprising to see some of them deciding to follow the Special Voidal Knight.
Even the Special Voidal Knight… It should’ve still headed north. Why is it heading for the bubbles?
Just then, a notification appeared in his vision.
<Notice: An extract of Berserkin Berry was detected inside their System, influencing some of the Voidal Monsters’ behavior as well as enhancing their stats.>
Rex’s face turned grim.
It was another scheme from Haxel.
Rex didn’t know when Haxel did this, but he had been feeding some of the Voidal Monsters within the horde Berserkin Berries. It altered their behavior to be more berserk, as well as wiping their mind of any connection to the White Mask for a designated time period.
Roar!
“Kyahh!”
Hearing a familiar scream, Rex’s head snapped downward.
He saw that April was struck by a voidal energy blast.
One of the Voidal Knights that separated from the horde struck her—while she was busy mending the collapsed ground, knocking her backward. She was falling fast as she struggled to stab her nodachi and caught herself, but what worried Rex the most was the formation.
Since nobody was handling the collapsed round, the right side of the formation couldn’t advance.
It would create a wedge between the backside and the frontside as the horde kept on climbing.
And naturally, without being handled, the hole in the formation would only widen.
I can’t handle the boulders, the legions, the breach, and also the Special Voidal Knight at the same time.
Rex gritted his teeth as he shattered another boulder that was about to fall on him with his elbow.
Like a domino effect, one mistake led to this devastating situation.
A lot of things went wrong in the span of a minute.
Ethan can handle the boulders, but there’s still the collapsed ground. April fell down, and if I leave right now, Haxel and his captain would remain behind. Both of them could do more damage if there’s nobody watching them.
“Go and intercept the Special Voidal Knight,” Haxel’s voice rang. “I’ll handle the legions…”
Hearing this, Rex clicked his tongue in displeasure.
Haxel was taunting him, and his body burned with anger.
Not even wasting a single more second, Rex summoned the Aegis of Moon Sentinel, summoning a gold disk behind him. Then, he willed it toward the collapsed ground, and expanded it—using it as footholds for the soldiers to keep on climbing.
“Ethan, I’ll leave you in charge!” He shouted, gaze turning to the Special Voidal Knight. “Once you’ve handled the boulders—help the legions go over the mountaintop, and keep your eyes open. We cannot afford another mistake!”
“Where are you going?!” Ethan glanced over his shoulder.
But Rex already went down.
He stopped himself right beside Minx.
“Grab the wounded Seeker and give her this,” Rex took out a vial from the inventory—and handed it toward Minx. “Help me handle the breach on the Seeker Flare. That’s how you could repay me for what you did, do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir!” Minx took the vial and nodded readily.
What Rex asked for was nothing compared to the presumptuousness he showed earlier.
Swoosh!
Rex wasted no time and leaped away.
Now, all he needed to do was intercept the Special Voidal Knight.
Even without saying it, April would be helping the soldiers who fell to the foothills.
As for Haxel, it shouldn’t be a problem.
It was true that his aim was to sabotage the mission, but he couldn’t do it openly.
Although Rex wouldn’t be around, handling the Special Voidal Knight, Haxel wouldn’t dare cause more damage openly—not in front of the legions. Despite whatever preparations he’d made, his accomplice was likely limited to only a few trusted soldiers.
Minx doesn’t seem to have any clue about sabotaging the mission, and he’s a part of Haxel’s legion.
So, from that, Rex could assume that Haxel’s legion wasn’t involved.
Pant!
Pant!
Rex slid down the mountainside and sprinted with all his might.
He killed the voidal monsters that he came across, chipping down the number of the separated monsters as he headed for the Special Voidal Knight. At this point, he couldn’t see the Special Voidal Knight; it was already too far away.
It was incredibly fast, perhaps even matching Rex in speed.
Looking ahead, he could see the nearest bluish smoke that the closest bubble was emanating.
It must be heading towards that bubble.
Just then, from above, a monster appeared and hovered right above Rex.
It was One.
“Did you spot it?! How close is it to the bubble?!”
Rawr!
Hearing this, Rex gritted his teeth.
One told him that the Special Voidal Knight is about thirty seconds away from reaching the bubble.
But there was hardly anything Rex could do to stop it, not when it was as fast as him.
System, scan the bubble and analyze what class its Obelisk of Life is!
<Scanning…>
Rex watched as a bluish, holographic light pulsed forward and scanned the bubble ahead.
In the next second, another notification appeared.
<Notice: It’s an old Spire-class Obelisk of Life.>
Can it sustain the Special Voidal Knight?
<Negative. A full-power strike from the Special Voidal Knight would 100% shatter the bubble.>
How many lives inside the bubble? How many people?
<Bubble Inhabitants: 311,571 lives.>
Upon reading the last notification, Rex gritted his teeth—as he wasn’t expecting that such a low-class bubble would host a lot of people. He was expecting it to be around fifty thousand or even less, but the number of people living inside it far surpassed his expectations.
In the grand scheme of things, Empress Morgana can take on this much death.
But the problem is that this is still the beginning… We aren’t even halfway to the Burrowing Valley.
Rex glanced over his shoulder, looking in the direction where the nobles and the White Mask should be as if his eyes were able to peer through the Black Rift’s darkness. A clear frown formed on his face as he contemplated what to do.
He needs to make a decision.
If I want to catch up to that snake, I need to turn into my Werewolf form.
He thought as his eyes narrowed, fixing on the colorful flares from the fearsome battle ahead.
But I don’t know if Davina is paying attention to me or not. She liked to keep her appearances, so she might not want to pay attention to me when there are people around, but I’m not sure. Should I take a risk or take some casualties…?