Novel Full Chapter 1690: Double Onslaught (1)
Chapter 1690: Double Onslaught (1)
Soundwaves rippled through the air like invisible blades.
It carried a force strong enough to push the black pillars and freed Rex from the cocoon.
More, the black pillars that were attacking the soldiers were also splintered and shattered, giving them a breathing moment to regroup and collect their strength. All of this happened in an instant, surprising everyone except for April.
Perilous as the situation was, April believed in Rex’s strength more.
Bias from living with him for years and also watching him grow stronger rapidly was probably the real reason for her fierce belief in his strength, but nevertheless, she was proven right as Rex escaped the cocoon like a beast awakening from its slumber.
Steam sizzled from Rex’s body as his gaping wounds healed instantaneously.
Blood and chunks of meat squeezed out of his gritted teeth.
And his jugular bobbed up and down, as though he were trapped in an endless loop of swallowing.
April paid it no mind.
Instead, she quickly sucked in a cold breath and pointed at the small cut her nodachi was able to make— on the Immortal Slugs’ main body. “Rex!!” She shouted loudly—her voice echoed throughout the dome. “Help me free Marquess Darius!!”
Rex’s head snapped towards her direction, and he immediately moved.
He kicked the air and shot forward with the speed of a bullet.
In an instant, he covered half the distance to reach April, but the Immortal Slugs were not done.
RUMBLE!
A roar shook the ground.
Rex could hear the roar that surely came from the Immortal Slugs, an ultrasound that only his extremely sensitive senses could pick up, while the others could only feel the ground rumbling. It was a clear sign that this unique monster was furious.
Countless black pillars rained down from the canopy overhead, but none proved to be a threat.
Dealing with the relentless onslaught, Rex was able to pick up the pattern.
It made dodging substantially easier.
First, the Immortal Slugs would attack from above. Then, the black pillars would coil inside the ground and explode back up in black spikes. And lastly, the Immortal Slugs would distract the attention of their prey and lure the prey to a trap of exploding black pillars.
As for the black cocoon earlier, it has no pattern and is hard to predict.
However, it also sapped a lot of stamina as Rex noticed the black pillars were now slower.
Not by a lot.
But against someone like him, who could even sense a point one-second difference, this was noticeable.
As Rex closed in quickly, dodging and twisting, April looked up at the black canopy.
She sensed danger coming from above.
April squinted her eyes to search for where this danger was coming from, but it was hard to find any anomaly when the black canopy was ink-black. But she found it in the next second, a small area within the black canopy that was gathering the unknown energy.
Her pupils dilated.
Swish!
Just with a blink, her heart skipped a beat when that small area unleashed a thick strand of darkness.
It was an elongating black strand that ended with a gaping mouth.
Not the mouth of a monster filled with razor-sharp teeth, but the mouth of a carnivorous plant—infused with the essence to drain the prey that it clamped on. April snapped out of her daze and focused, ’No… It’s not aiming for me. It’s aiming for Marquess Darius!’
Before the mouth could reach Marquess Darius, April got in the way.
Crash!
Both hands hold the upper mouth while her right leg presses down on the lower mouth.
She was pushed back a couple of feet, but managed to stand her ground.
“Grrgh…!”
April let out a low grunt as blood drizzled down both her arms and gathered on her elbows.
Droplets of blood clicked against the ground as she held on desperately.
Both her palms were torn open—by the sharp points of the upper maw, the wounds biting deep into her flesh, scraping so close it felt they might touch her bones. Using her black nodachi was no longer an option now. Earlier, she had managed to summon it only through force by using the power she borrowed from the entity that created the Midnight Echo.
But now, with all of its energy focused on cutting the main body, she has no other choice.
All she could do was rely on her bare hands.
Under the merciless force, April fell to one knee, but still desperately held on for dear life.
A couple of seconds will impact the situation like night and day.
Cough! Cough!
Marquess Darius dropped to his knees as he coughed a mouthful of blood, growing weaker as the timer above him dropped below ten seconds. Even the barrier protecting him was already cracked everywhere on its surface.
Looking at this, April bit her lower lip hard until it bled.
<0:08>
’Hold on…’
Krrk!
Her bones began to make cracking noises.
<0:06>
’Hold on…’
She closed her eyes, feeling that intense drowsiness assault her body like a drug.
<0:03>
’Just a bit more!’
Bam!
As she was about to pass out, and the timer dropped to zero, the maw was hurled away with a thunderous crash. Rex arrived on time, right when there were three seconds left in the timer. And without wasting a single second, he grabbed Marquess Darius by his armor and hurled him out of the Desolate Zone.
<Save the nobles: 11 / 12>
Looking up, April forced out a smile when she saw Rex—though it came out weak.
Rex stared at her for a moment, wanting to say something, but his senses flared like wildfire.
Boom!
He snapped to a direction and looked across the fissure where a cloud of smoke swirled.
Empress Morgana was the last, or should be the last one.
Before the dust was even cleared, two figures emerged—Empress Morgana and Princess Davina.
It seemed Princess Davina was able to help Empress Morgana escape without needing any help, and now, the two were heading out of the Desolate Zone to regroup with the others. Considering her talent, Rex wasn’t surprised.
“Let’s go. Let’s leave the White Mask and this damn serpent here as food,” Rex whispered.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the White Mask and the serpent were struggling to break free.
But without any outside help like the nobles had, it couldn’t break free.
Rex’s eyes met with the serpent, the petty serpent who was now stuck in her, being devoured by the infamous Immortal Slugs. Then, the corner of his lips curled into a smirk. One that clearly showed how delighted he was that the serpent was now going to die.
Anger burned behind the serpent’s reptilian eyes, but what could it do? Nothing.
Pivoting away, Rex commanded the soldiers to leave the Desolate Zone.
Then, he helped April stand up. “Good work.”
“I’m only helping as much as I can.” She smiled, pleased with the outcome.
“Don’t be happy about this. In case you forgot, I told you to stay back.”
Rex’s voice dropped into a chilling warning, reminding April that he did tell her to stay back since this could get dangerous. Fortunately, Haxel wasn’t stupid or desperate enough to cause a commotion—and attack her right now before the nobles’ eyes.
Naturally, April forced out a sheepish smile.
She wanted to argue, she really does—but the form Rex was wearing right now made it impossible.
Just being near him alone, her instincts were screaming at her to run.
Rex raised a finger when April was about to say something.
Not because he didn’t care about her reason, but because he realized something that made him sweat.
He turned around and saw that Empress Morgana was already outside.
Princess Davina was the only one left behind, scanning the dome in search of someone.
But it didn’t seem like she was searching for Rex.
“Wait… why is the quest not finished?” Rex thought aloud, frowning in confusion.
Since Empress Morgana was the twelfth noble, the quest should be finished by now, or at least one part of the chain sudden quest should be completed, which left Rex with finding one proof that Haxel was the mastermind behind this disaster.
But no notification came from the System.
No sign of completion at all.
Only then did Rex realize or remember… Empress Morgan hadn’t been counted.
Empress Morgana had the full backing of the royal house, and even the Spirit Emperor himself—there was no reason—she would not be guarded. Whether through powerful artifacts, a royal knight sworn to her side, or some hidden skill or ability she had mastered, protection should have been certain.
From the very start, she was the only one who could break free on her own.
And the System didn’t classify her as a noble in need.
Rex forgot that Empress Morgana was excluded from the count in the quest, which could only mean… there’s another noble!
Deg!
At that realization, Rex’s heart skipped a beat as he looked around.
He swept her gaze across the entire dome, searching for the last one, and he found him near the edge.
But the timer above him was only ten seconds.
Rex’s body moved on instinct as he prepared to dash straight at the last noble that he lost track of in all the chaos. His crimson, predatory eyes dilated when he saw the same maw—like the one that attacked Marquess Darius, descend from the black canopy.
Swoosh!
It’s… faster than me!
Despite pouring his all, he couldn’t reach the last noble in time.
Time slowed down.
Instead of rushing toward the noble, his gaze snapped upward as he launched himself into the air, aiming straight for the black pillar from which the maw sprouted. It was closer than the last noble, buying him a few seconds to rescue the last noble.
If he could seize it, he might still turn the tide.
<0:08>
Rex grabbed the black pillar and yanked it hard to pull the maw away from the last noble.
In the next second, he realized something horrifying.
He could barely budge it.
Muscles and veins bulged across his entire monstrous body as he pulled hard, but the black pillar barely budged. As the maw was about to reach the last noble, Rex pulled with all his might, exerting everything he had for one last pull.
Crash!
Once the crash resounded, Rex looked down to check, hoping for the best.
<0:05>
He did it!
Even though barely, he managed to make the maw miss by a foot away from the helpless noble.
But to his horror, the maw twisted and stuck again.
Crash!
Another crash resounded as Rex’s eyes widened in surprise.
No notification from the System informing him that his failed chain sudden quest appeared.
But the reason didn’t make Rex happy at all.
Gritting his teeth—Rex dropped down near the fissure where the last noble was, quite a distance away from where the maw was. At the last second before the maw struck, Ethan appeared and hurled the last noble out of the way.
It happened in an instant, but Rex caught it.
Not even knowing what happened, the noble rose slightly.
But before he could do anything, Rex already tossed him out of the Desolate Zone right when the timer above him reached a second. And as the last noble exited the dome and reached safety, the long-awaited notification appeared.
<Save the nobles: 12 / 12>
Rex could finally breathe easily.
Clenching his fists, he looked to the other side and saw Ethan sprawled on the ground.
From the angle, there was no way Rex could tell what Ethan’s condition was, but he should be alive.
Rex immediately came to the rescue, catching the maw that was about to deal the ending blow to Ethan, wrapping his hand around it—before severing it with his claws. His Law of Inevitability cuts through it like butter.
Once he dispatched the maw, Rex turned to check Ethan.
And his breath was immediately caught as half of Ethan’s torso was torn completely.
He was still alive, barely, but clearly wouldn’t last a minute.
Despite his situation, Ethan cracked a smile, “Is he fine?”