The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1648: Last Line of Defense (1)

Malius sacrificed himself, decisively shattering his Soul Artifact without batting an eye, and exploded it to create an explosion far stronger than any attack he could’ve mustered. He went out on his own terms as he wanted, and hurt the Faceless Reaper in the process.

It didn’t die, heck, it wasn’t even wounded too severely.

Only a burnt robe and a mildly burnt face were left behind from the explosion.

And now, the Faceless Reaper was already standing up again.

Malius was a Master Immortal Spirit 1, and the sacrifice of his Soul Artifact created a blast that had the raw power of a Master Immortal Spirit 3 or even higher. Anyone in the same rank would be decimated, even those at the Master Immortal Spirit 2 or 3 would not come out unscathed.

But the Faceless Reaper was beyond that.

Other than being inconvenienced by the blast, Malius’ sacrifice did little to nothing.

However, it wasn’t meaningless.

Every single soldier saw how he sacrificed himself to protect the holy land with absolute conviction, a devotion that outshone anything of theirs. It was such an eye-opening conviction that made the soldiers beam with more fervor and strength.

Some of them began to break ranks.

A few soldiers who could fly, who aren’t a part of the shield wall, descended and tackled the phantoms.

Each phantom was swarmed by five to ten soldiers who no longer feel any fear, only the conviction that their sacrifices would be noble—attacking wildly, more savages than men. When their ordinary Soul Artifacts failed to bite deep enough, they resorted to claws, teeth, and sheer desperation.

Biting and scratching as if madness itself had taken hold.

All of them have the same goal in mind: to buy enough time for reinforcement to come.

And under their relentless and vicious effort, they succeeded.

Swoosh!

A lash of steel swept across the phantoms, knocking or hitting them aside with the force of a train.

Rick arrived with a theatrical flair, leaping over a few phantoms battling the soldiers, and then swiping his shattered blade. He landed on his knee gracefully, hiding his bleeding wrist that was stabbed earlier, as well as the pain he was experiencing inside, behind the mask of calmness.

Noticing him, another phantom rushed forward and lifted its scythe-arms.

But Rick already anticipated this.

He reformed his blade to normal and pointed it forward.

“Spirit Genesis: Weaver of Steel…”

Boom!

At his chant, the front half of his sword shattered free and shot forward with a force that tore through the air. In a seamless strike, it punched through the phantom’s chest, carving a gaping hole, and froze its movement instantly.

In the following second, the phantom unraveled into a splash of blood that puddled on the ground.

As if the sword were a magnet, the front half flew back like a boomerang and merged back with the rest.

“Look, Sir Rick has arrived!”

“Praise the land, and praise the emperor! We’re saved!”

All soldiers cheered with united strength.

Hearing their fervor, Rick straightened his back and swept his gaze towards them.

“Prepare to fight! We’re taking them all out!” He roared, raising his sword.

Immediately after, the soldiers also raised their swords and let out a roar, fighting back harder.

Nothing was more assuring than the presence of a well-known knight.

Rick’s arrival immediately rejuvenated the soldiers, as his arrival was the sign of their success.

Despite being outclassed entirely by the Faceless Reaper and the phantoms, they were able to buy just enough time for the reinforcements to arrive. Even those who were choking on blood, sprawled on the ground as death slowly claimed them, were smiling.

Now, at the very least, they could die knowing they made a difference.

It was especially so when they saw Rick obliterating a phantom as strong—as a Master Immortal Spirit with a single strike. Such overwhelming might is only natural for one of the empire’s beloved knights, yet for the phantoms, it marked the beginning of disaster.

Or so the soldiers thought.

But that wasn’t entirely the case.

’I put too much life energy into that attack,’ Rick reached for his Soul Artifact—the tattoo crossing his eye, which was now throbbing from overexertion. It was mainly due to the poison forcing the tattoo to work harder to cast—the Spirit Genesis. ’I don’t know how long I can keep this up, especially with the real monster still standing.’

Rick swept his gaze across the phantoms that were still pushing the shield wall.

And he stopped at one that was far away from the others.

It was the real Faceless Reaper who got thrown backward from Malius’ sacrifice earlier.

’No chance that I can defeat it, not in this condition…’ He sweated nervously, knowing full well that all he could do was hold back the Faceless Reaper, which was a problem since the soldiers’ hopes were on his back right now. ’Where is Sir Rex? I thought he was right behind m—’

Rumble!

Rick flexed his core and anchored himself when the ground suddenly quaked.

His eyes flew wide as the Faceless Reaper’s aura erupted skyward, shaking the earth with the elevated might of what should be a normal Voidal Knight—voidal energy stained with a sinister crimson tinge that sharpened its destructive edge.

Such a sight rattled him to the core as this power was beyond what the creature had revealed before.

“Master Immortal Spirit 5, and it’s still climbing higher…?” He sucked in a cold breath.

Boom!

Rick raised his arms to cover his face as a devastating blast erupted from the Faceless Reaper.

Even the phantoms and soldiers outside the shield wall were shoved by the blast, their bodies crushed against neatly stacked metal shields. Had the earth not sprung forth thick, coiling enchanted roots to aid it, the shield wall would’ve surely shattered.

In the midst of the ch

Amid the storm of erupting power, voidal energy lashed in every direction like a tempest unchained.

The Faceless Reaper stood at the heart of this tempest, its aura swelling continuously past the Master Immortal Spirit rank, entering the realm between Master Immortal Spirit and Eternal Spirit. Then, with a soundless rupture, its smooth, featureless visage split open.

Cracks spiderwebbed across its head until they tore wide, forming the grotesque shape of a mouth.

ROAR!!

A devastating roar erupted, one that was filled with unbridled rage and hate.

An astral roar that quivered the shrouded heavens beneath it, and the ground convulsed, rupturing into broken earth and dust. The resonance of that roar alone tore apart the air, erasing all semblance of calm and replacing it with primal terror.

So much so that the inner wall of the bubble, the one that protected its people, cracked.

It was an invasion, and the Faceless Reaper made sure the entire bubble knew it.

’Even if there was no poison, I’m not confident that I could take that on,’ Rick thought inside, gritting his teeth—as the situation kept on getting worse. ’It hadn’t broken through to the Eternal Spirit rank, so it shouldn’t be able to breach the last line of defense.’

Rick glanced to the right side of the open plain.

Not too far away from them, there was a patch of magical flowers surrounded by trees.

Due to how decorative it was, many would think that it was a normal decoration to beautify the bubble.

But that patch served more than mere decorations.

It was the energy source that empowered the last line of defense protecting the people.

One flower there was a special flower that contained an immense amount of life energy, and the patch was a protective layer that made it hard for anyone to find out which flower was the real one, as every single flower was an exact replica.

Uprooting the entire patch was also impossible, as the trees were even stronger than the wall.

A trusted vessel of the empire created this under Dominar’s directives.

It was made that way so that if the bubble was invaded, and the monsters were somehow in possession of the information about the energy source, they would be wasting more time, as the energy source was protected by a stronger magical formation than the one protecting the wall.

Not to mention, there was also more than one patch across the entire bubble.

At an unknown interval, the special flower would change from one patch to another.

Right now, the special flower was on the patch Rick was looking at.

He was told that the special flower was right there earlier by the governor of the city.

And despite the Faceless Reaper’s surging strength, it would be hard for it to uproot the special flower, even if it knew where it was. ’But even so…’ Rick’s eyes narrowed, locking on the powerful monster before him. ’Where did his strength come from? The scent of Echo it was exuding earlier, was different than the one it was using now.’

’It couldn’t have two Echoes, so where does this power come from?’ He questioned suspiciously.

Any voidal monsters who were in possession of more than one Echo would be registered by the empire.

Since unlike Soul Artifacts, Echoes were subtle—difficult to sense. A voidal monster bearing multiple Echoes could easily deceive many. It could appear weak when, in truth, it possessed immense strength from possessing multiple Echoes.

Such misjudgment could lead to countless deaths.

So, the empire registered them and has shared the list with the public.

Rick never saw the Faceless Reaper on that list.

“You there!” Rick glanced at a soldier who was clutching the ground with both hands, resisting the blast, not too far from him. “Go inside the wall and inform the governor to evacuate the people underground. Do it now!”

Upon hearing this, the soldier’s face behind his helmet stiffened and then paled.

Clear reluctance was etched on his features.

“Sir, you can’t do that…” He rasped, eyes hardening to a strong gaze. “Think of what it would do!”

Rick knew exactly what he was asking.

Even at this moment, when the bubble broke and the Faceless Reaper was right by their doorstep, the people carried on their daily activities without worry. This was the holy land, the birthplace of the very emperor who founded the empire.

Nothing would happen to it, and for hundreds of years, this holy land remained protected and safe.

So much so that its people never doubted the land’s protection.

For him to ask the governor to evacuate the people was a clear stain on the emperor’s name, and also a blatant disrespect to the holy land. But still, he insisted, “This is a direct order, soldier! Go inside—and tell the governor to evacuate the people!”

“No,” the soldier refused stubbornly. “I can’t do that, Sir Rick. You have to trust the land.”

Hearing this, Rick’s eyes turned red.

He couldn’t believe that this soldier was refusing a direct order from him.

Unlike the inhabitants of this bubble, he was realistic and practical.

His guts told him that something would go wrong, and he decided to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

And in this situation, the worst-case scenario would be the Faceless Reaper invading the city.

“The people are one with the land; you have to believe that the land will protect.” The soldier added.

Boom!

Rick was about to knock some sense into the soldier or try to talk to another soldier who could obey his command without question. But his focus was pulled back to the Faceless Reaper again when another blast resounded.

His eyes fixed on the Faceless Reaper, who had settled on his new rageful power.

And then, without warning, it moved.

Swoosh!

It dashed not toward Rick, not toward the shield wall—but to the side, its monstrous form cutting the battlefield in a blur. Its destination was startling in its simplicity, heading towards the patch of flowers blooming on the side.

Seeing this, Rick’s face was immediately drained of all color.

“GO!” He glared at the soldier again as he bent his knees to dash. “NOW!”

Swoosh!

Almost immediately, he dashed at the Faceless Reaper, who somehow knew about the energy source.

It was as if someone was feeding it information.