Novel Full Chapter 1773: Almost Going Bad
Chapter 1773: Almost Going Bad
It was a declaration.
Or at least that’s what Alana thought initially.
Rex is a Scion, which was basically a legitimate occupation that was only reserved for those with deep and devastating trauma. One that produced a strong enough drive to propel him to invincibility, and she believed his words.
If he said that he had gone through life and death more times than Spirits, beings that lived for thousands of years, then Alana would believe him. How else would he be recognized—and become a Scion had it not been for that?
At this moment, however, her guts were telling her the complete opposite.
Rex could survive this somehow.
But his main drive right now was not to survive.
It was more out of spite.
“You’re… You’re grieving,” Alana mumbled in a whisper.
Even though Rex showed no sign of weakness, no cues in his posture or gesture—she could tell that he was grieving. He was telling her to leave to put himself in an even worse situation, one that would help occupy his mind from the darkness.
Alana couldn’t watch the whole fight because she was outside the trial arena.
But she saw the aftermath with clarity.
Now that Empress Morgana intervened and sent him out here, he basically failed to get what he wanted.
And that was the reason why he was grieving right now.
Growl—!
Growls from the approaching Voidal Monsters resounded, barely two or three hundred meters away.
Soon, very soon, this place would be surrounded.
“Just leave,” Rex repeated once again.
His shoulders are shaking as he raises his hands, preparing to fight this horde of Voidal Monsters.
Rex scanned the Voidal Monsters in the area with the System.
…
<Long-limbed Void Ghouls>
Race: Voidal Knight
Power: Immortal Spirit 4 (Second Circle)
Soul Artifact: Shadow Claws – B-grade (Attack)
…
Stat windows appeared one by one, revealing that most of these Voidal Monsters are Voidal Knights at the Immortal Spirit rank. Fodder. That is what they are in comparison to Rex, but right now, they were far more dangerous than normal.
He was akin to a bison, and these Voidal Monsters are a pack of wolves.
If the bison were healthy, it’s basically impossible for a pack of wolves to take it down.
But wounded and exhausted… that’s an entirely different scenario.
Swish—!
One of the Long-limbed Void Ghouls pounced from the shadows, revealing its stature to be the size of a rhino. It has longer limbs compared to a normal Ghoul in the Mortal Realm—has pale white eyes that are too small for its size, a massive maw, and a very long tail.
Before Rex could react, its claws slammed against his side.
It couldn’t pierce his skin.
Even with his condition, an attack from it couldn’t properly penetrate his skin.
However, the impact forced Rex to grit his teeth in pain.
“Raaargh—!”
Rex pierced his hand into the Long-limbed Voidal Ghouls’ chest, causing it to whimper.
Hot purplish blood drenched his hand.
But he didn’t wait for a reaction.
His hands seized its upper and lower jaw and wrenched them apart, tearing the creature in two.
<Killed a Voidal Knight: Obtained 11,000 Gold!>
Just killing one alone made Rex stumble on his feet; his body swayed left and right in unbalance.
He even needed to inhale more air through desperate gasps.
More came from the shadows.
One pounced from the front and the other pounced from behind; a pincer attack.
Slash!
Both were sliced into two before they could reach Rex.
“Don’t be stubborn and let me help you,” Alana said and stood beside Rex—holding a great sword made entirely of sunlight. “Someone has to remind you to survive. Grieving—and fighting will only lead you to a faster death.”
“I don’t care…” Rex pushed Alana away from him.
She stumbled a few steps away, but doing that also made him fall to his knees.
Alana straightened her back and looked down at Rex.
Even though he hadn’t said anything truthful about what he was feeling right now, she could sense the aura of pain coming from him. He was angry, very much so, but the exhaustion made it impossible for him to harness that anger.
Growl—!
More Long-limbed Void Ghouls came and attacked.
Alana dealt with them with her great sword, slashing them to pieces, but doing that drained her stamina.
It was evident.
Upon finishing the creatures pouncing on them, she drove the great sword deep into the ground—using its solidity as a crutch to keep herself standing upright. Her breath came in ragged pulls—as she fixed a weary, half-lidded gaze on Rex.
’I can’t possibly drag him out of here alone,’ She thought. ’I’ll need his help to save him.’
Just like Rex, she was too wounded beyond measure.
She didn’t even have the time to heal herself properly as the horde of Voidal Monsters already arrived.
“Nobody is around, Sir Rex,” Alana said breathlessly, placing her chin on the handle of her great sword as she stared at Rex. “Complain all you want. I know you want to. I’m a stranger to you, so you don’t need to keep your image in front of me. Do anything you want. Just help me save you.”
Being truthful to a stranger is far easier than being truthful to someone close.
It was an undeniable fact, as Alana had complained to strangers before.
She is the High Priestess of the Sun Ecclesia, so there are not a lot of people whom she can talk to freely.
And a stranger is the best outlet.
“I came to this realm with the purpose of getting the things I needed so I can protect the others. Nivellen, in particular, is the driving reason I’m here,” Rex whispered, pressing his fingers so hard that they sank into the ground. “But now I failed.”
Rex didn’t know where he was.
But it certainly would take more than one day to return to the Tomb of Heroes.
That is assuming Empress Morgana hadn’t retrieved the Phoenix Feather and the Maw of Oblivion.
Once he reached back there, it would already be too late.
Nivellen would be no more.
To add a finishing blow to the moment, a notification appeared before Rex’s very eyes.
<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>
<She will die in eight minutes.>
<It’s advised to quickly gather the materials and use the cure on her!>
Alana kept protecting Rex from the creatures, moving around while keeping him directly behind her.
She will buy time for Rex to let it out.
“I failed to grasp that the rules between realms are different and Kaiser is unrestricted in this realm,” Rex continued as his entire body turned numb from the pain and anguish. “Failing my promise to her is bad enough—and I also couldn’t save April. I don’t know how she’s doing right now. Probably dead, and that’s going to be my fault for bringing her into this.”
“Again, again, and again!” Rex exhaled in frustration. “Someone has to get in my way!”
“I become a Scion? I’m closer to invincibility? Who cares about that?!”
“I only want power to protect,”
A bead of sweat dropped from his chin and landed on the ground.
Rex’s shaky eyes fixated on the ground.
He then raised his gaze and stared at Alana, who was panting in front of him.
“Look at these hands,” Rex raised his bloodied hands, showing them to her like they were the summary of his entire life. “I drowned them in blood, and would continue to do so to protect what’s mine. All I’m asking is to keep those around me out of the bloodshed. But nobody listened.”
Alana stared at his hands.
And for some odd reason—perhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her—everything turned red.
Like her world dissolved, and she was suddenly elsewhere—a silent, boundless plane where a shallow sea of blood stretched to every horizon. Not water—but a still, crimson lake, barely ankle-deep, littered with bones and half-submerged corpses.
And at its center, Rex knelt.
Above him hung the Blood Moon, swollen and bright, casting the world in a shade of scarlet.
Its light bleached the scene, leaving Rex’s form a silhouette—a shadow carved out of the gloom. Only his hands stood out clearly, dripping with blood so vivid it seemed to glow as each drop fell like a liquid ruby into the shallow scarlet below.
“Every action I take, no matter how brutal, heartless, and disturbing… serves—as a warning. To make my enemies understand. To protect…” Rex’s voice hardened, especially at the last few words, to really emphasize what he truly wanted. “… what is mine. To tell them to attack me, rather than those around me. But my enemies chose to attack them still.”
Murderous intent poured from him like a visible red mist.
A pressure that stole the air and chilled Alana’s spine.
“Here I am,” Rex continued as his fangs elongated, sharp and predatory. His body trembled, not with fear, but with rage so potent it vibrated the space around him. “What is mine was attacked. I failed to protect. My reason to exist… That’s what they took from me.”
“Now there’s only one thing left for me to do,” Rex slowly rose to his feet.
Alana unconsciously swallowed.
Even though they were supposed to be on the same side, she couldn’t help but take a step away.
Her senses were screaming danger at her.
’Oh, no…’ Alana gritted her teeth, realizing that Rex was losing his mind. ’This is going to be bad!’
<Notice: the Countess of the Banished Dark Moon is vanishing!>
<She will die in five minutes.>
“I will devour this empire to the ground for what it cost me, and with my newfound power, I will paint this realm red with blood,” Rex said with a shaky voice—a promise that he intended to keep. “Everyone will feel how it felt to lose… what they love.”
Alana approached to make Rex snap out of it, knowing full well that this wasn’t him.
She needed to stop him from thinking like this or else there’s going to be another ’Mirza’ tragedy.
One that the realm would’ve recovered if that tragedy really happened for the second time.
Just then, her eyes snapped in a direction.
She sensed a sudden burst of energy in the distance—a few miles away or maybe more.
A sudden vortex of flames erupted in the far distance—the fire burned with an unnatural, brilliant clarity, and its heat carried a strangely soothing warmth. It swirled and danced skyward in a column, piercing the Black Rift’s darkness.
Alongside it was a high, piercing cry like that of a great bird.
Then the flames coalesced, folding into the form of a massive, radiant bird with wide wings.
It was the same for Rex; he could also hear and feel the burst of energy and watched this flaming spectacle.
“A Phoenix Feather?” Alana tilted her head in confusion.
“Amanir?!” Rex’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of this spectacle. “Amanir got it?!”
Just then, Rex recalled that he tried finding the chests earlier, but they were missing.
He thought it was his angle that blocked him from seeing the treasure chests, but he was wrong.
As opposed to trying to open the treasure chests there, Amanir brought them away.
And this theatrical flair of a great bird must be his way to signal Rex that he has the Phoenix Feather.
Even though Rex had accepted his fate of failing to cure Nivellen, failing her, and leaving her to die in regret, hope came at the last second. It was especially painful considering he had denied Nivellen’s divinity with the promise that she would still need it.
Rex didn’t even want to go to the Banished Realm, too ashamed to do so.
But Amanir came at the last moment and gave him hope again.
He gave Rex hope that there’s still a chance of keeping his promise to Nivellen.
“You useless bastard,” Rex cursed, but his lips curled into a grin. “You’re finally useful for once.”