Novel Full Chapter 1651: Wrong to Doubt
Chapter 1651: Wrong to Doubt
Silence enveloped the area.
Soldiers and voidal monsters alike were stunned at Rex’s words.
For the soldiers who were protecting the bubble from usurpers, they were stunned at the emptied city— and also confused as to who this unhinged man was. None of them had ever seen Rex before, but they did hear about a new knight being employed in this mission.
And from Rex’s appearance—high-quality fabric clung to his body and powerful aura—it must be him.
He was the new knight.
But that begged the question: why is he doing this? Isn’t he supposed to be on their side?
“Sir Rex…?” Rick swallowed down blood, his tender eyes fixated on Rex. “You’re the traitor?”
Seeing the mangled bodies of the supposed people of the city made his heart clench as he had judged Rex wrongly. He didn’t suspect Rex since he was Princess Davina’s fiancée—and he was also sent here by Empress Morgana.
He should’ve.
Now, the entire city was wiped out.
“Did the empress make a mistake? Her influence was infiltrated?” He groaned, gritting his teeth as he reached out his hand to grab the wall, attempting to stand up and do something. But he was too weak to do anything. “I’ll make him pay… But the poison…”
Noticing his struggle and faint killing intent, Rex glanced over to him and raised a hand.
It was a signal, but Rick didn’t know exactly what that meant.
’Is he telling me to stop? Is he mocking me?’ He wracked his brain. ’What did he mean by that?!’
Unlike the soldiers who were mostly stunned at Rex’s appearance and taunt, the Faceless Reaper was angered. The city was supposed to be its prey to claim; it was the purpose for which it was given a chance and sent here.
Rex took its purpose away, and that was a harder blow than any attack could’ve been.
Feeling exactly the same as the Faceless Reaper, one phantom couldn’t hold back its fury and decided to charge. It hacked the soldiers blocking the way—with a sweep of its scythe-arm, and rushed forward like an evil ghost.
It was so fast that most of the soldiers couldn’t see its movements.
As soon as the phantom was about to reach him, its body suddenly tilted violently.
A golden halo slammed against its legs from in front, flipping its body forward.
Brak!
Comically, the phantom slammed face-first onto the bridge’s hardwood floor.
Almost instantly, it released a furious, humiliated growl and lifted its gaze—only to find Rex looming close, still seated atop the massive serpent’s head. The stumble had left the phantom kneeling just a few paces before him, lowered as though in unwilling submission.
Smirking savagely, Rex’s eyes glistened with a crimson hue.
Splash
Before it could do anything, Rex already sharpened his fangs and bit down on the phantom’s neck.
His canines sank into flesh deep before he yanked his head sideways, ripping a big chunk.
A choked, bloodied gasp escaped from the phantom’s mouth as it tried reaching for its torn neck—with its scythe-arms, that were completely useless in stopping the bleeding. It wailed furiously, reaching for Rex in anger.
However, each time it tried to make a sound, what came out was not what it wanted.
Odd noises of air going through its vocal cords.
Even so, the noises were loud.
Rex’s eyes narrowed with a hint of annoyance, “You’re quite the loud one.”
Slash!
Using nothing but his bare hands, he decapitated the phantom before its body exploded into blood mist.
All who watched sucked in a cold breath.
Not because Rex killed the phantom that was as strong as a Master Immortal Spirit rather easily, but the manner of its death—his fingers, perfectly ordinary at a glance, had somehow carved clean through its neck in a single horizontal slash.
A karate chop to the neck, with enough force, should break the spine or throw the phantom away.
But when he did it—a head flew.
Moreover, the barbaric way he bit the phantom’s neck haunted the soldiers’ minds.
Nobles, no matter how unruly they were, have never been fond of dirtying themselves like this.
Rex has no problem doing that.
In fact, he seemed to be accustomed to making this kind of savage display.
“Come on,” Rex curled his finger at the Faceless Reaper. “Your phantoms are simply not strong enough to stimulate anything in me. Only you can do it. Don’t keep me waiting here, attack me will all you’ve got! Give me a real battle!”
Roar!!
After making that roar, the Faceless Reaper stilled.
Its hollow gaze fixed on Rex, and in that silent acknowledgment came its decision—Rex was worthy.
He was worthy of the Faceless Reaper to go completely all out.
Rumble…
Slowly, the ground began to shake, a phenomenon that warned of danger.
Despite that, some of the soldiers stand their ground, unwilling to allow the Faceless Reaper to enter the holy land, even if it costs their lives. But the majority of the soldiers pulled them away, forcing them to give up grounds.
Not only are they no match for the Faceless Reaper, but the holy land was already tainted.
Rex had done that, and there’s nothing left for them to protect.
All of them went to the sides, branding Rex’s face in their minds with absolute hatred.
But Rex didn’t care; his expectant eyes fixed on the Faceless Reaper.
Once the Faceless Reaper deemed Rex worthy, it didn’t hesitate anymore—the creature tore open its last reserve. Every blood bead within the dreaded Pouch of Slaughter spilled free, dozens of deep-red orbs spilling upward in defiance of gravity.
Each one hovered in a trembling halo above its palm, glimmering with a sickly luster.
Then, the Faceless Reaper raised its hand and, with a violent thrust, shoved them into its mouth.
A sharp, guttural gulp echoed across the battlefield.
And the effect was immediate.
Like adding fuel to a fire, its aura exploded—saturating them with suffocating weight.
Rex watched as the Faceless Reaper’s skin, once deathly pale like a Shapeshifter’s skin, flushed with a grotesque vitality. A creeping red bled across its body, coloring its eerie whiteness—until it appeared as though it had been drenched in blood.
Even as its flesh writhed with this new taint, the true horror was only beginning.
A huge amount of voidal energy from the blood beads remained even after its skin turned red, undigested and boiling, poured into its weaponized limbs. Both scythe-arms swelled grotesquely, growing heavier, sharper, their edges vibrating with a lethal edge.
Their color deepened from raw crimson to a deep scarlet, and at last, ink-black
A black so dark that it appeared unnatural.
On the edges, a low, resonant hum ignited—a crimson aura that shimmered like molten steel, promising to cut through anything it touched. Seconds ago, the Faceless Reaper was haunting like a ghost; now, it was menacing like the harbinger of slaughter.
Rick, who was still inside the hole in the wall, watched the scene unfolding.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
’How could a mere Voidal Knight be this strong?’ He didn’t understand what Rex’s part in this exactly, since there were many unanswered questions, so he shifted his focus to the Faceless Reaper. ’Its power is reaching the realm of Eternal Spirits… A pseudo-eternal spirit rank. No help from its monarch, and also its Soul Artifact. This came externally, but from where…?’
In his entire life, he had never met a voidal monster that could boost itself to this extent.
Master Immortal Spirit and Eternal Spirit were each a separate rank for a reason.
No one could bridge such a disparity between them—it was impossible for a Master Immortal Spirit to wield the might of an Eternal Spirit even with talent and hard work. Across the empire, only a handful of cases existed that even near doing that, and even then, they were feats of desperate spirits.
Never voidal monsters, and every one of them had been suicidal.
But the Faceless Reaper was doing exactly that.
It went closer than most ever did.
Swoosh!
Rick blinked his eyes when a figure suddenly landed before him.
A woman in regal armor, her beautiful, bored face could be seen since she was not wearing a helmet.
April.
“April…?” Rick looked at her in aghast, but his face immediately sterned. “Go back, leave me here.”
Unlike him, who was merely an accomplished knight, the bottom of the barrel in terms of nobility, April was the heir of a Marquess House. She was infinitely more important than he was from her status alone, and she shouldn’t be anywhere near danger.
Especially now, when nobody could protect her in case her life was endangered.
“If you’re going to waste your breath, hold onto me,” April replied, reaching out her hand. “Don’t be stubborn. Don’t die here. Take my hand.”
Reluctantly, Rick took her hand as she supported him to stand.
Not even wasting a single second, she dashed away, bringing Rick along with her.
Mid-air, Rick still looked at Rex with a mix of emotions.
“I’m correct to spot that he’s someone savage, but he’s not trustworthy…” He mumbled inwardly.
Hearing this, April glanced over to where Rex was, noticing that his eyes weren’t their natural crimson color, but molten red instead—like the color of lava. It was the same as back then, “What do you mean he’s not trustworthy?”
“Can’t you see the city? It’s empty. The people…” Rick said through gritted teeth.
Once the mission was over, he would certainly make sure Rex hung for his transgression.
“What are you saying? The people are fine.” April said calmly.
She was confused as to what Rick was even talking about.
Rick snapped his gaze towards April at a loss for words, “What do you mean, the people are fine?”
“The northside of the bubble was also breached. The soldiers outside can’t contain the horde well, so the monsters were able to circle around and found a weak spot in the bubble. Even if you protected this side, the monsters would’ve gotten inside,” April explained; she was late because her focus was divided earlier. “Sir Rex single-handedly handled that side and forced the people to evacuate.”
“What…?” Rick’s eyes widened. “Then who are those people he killed?!”
April looked over to the gate and noticed the piles of dead people and monsters.
“It’s the rebellion prisoners,” She answered. “I don’t know for what reason, but Sir Rex also infiltrated the prison and slaughtered everyone inside. All prisoners were killed without exception. I guess we’ll have to ask him what that was about after this.”
Rick suck in a cold breath.
’So that’s what he had been doing…’ He thought, looking at Rex in a newfound light. ’I was wondering where he went, but to think that he had been dealing with the other side. I’m ashamed to say this, but he might be on par or even stronger than me at my peak. As expected of Princess Davina. She has eyes for these things.’
…
Meanwhile, the Faceless Reaper’s power surged higher still.
It was devastating.
And yet—Rex only smiled.
During the Faceless Reaper’s transformation, he watched silently.
His smile grew the more dreadful the transformation became.
Even his fangs poked out from how wide he was smiling, and by the time the Faceless Reaper’s scythe-arms had finished metamorphosis, Rex’s expression had settled into a savage, exultant grin. His heart was pounding, not with fear, but with exhilaration.
At last, the stimulant he was yearning for was right before his eyes.
Seeing the rising aura coming from the Faceless Reaper, Rex rises from the serpent head slowly.
A notification from the System pulled his attention.
It was foreign initially, but now, Rex was already accustomed to these odd but useful holographic panels.
<Notice: the Faceless Reaper had overloaded its body with too much stimulant!>
<Its body would not hold the amount of power it was exerting!>
<Time until implosion: 5 to 10 minutes.>
After reading the notifications, Rex lifted up his gaze right when a pulse of energy brushed against him.
“If I stall it for five to ten minutes, victory will be mine,” He mumbled, but then, his smirk widened as he too activated his powers. “But where’s the fun in that?”