The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1804: Responsibility

Rex looked up at the woman. One eye closed.

He was panting heavily, noting that the water that woke him up wasn’t normal water.

“Where am I?” He mustered a question when he caught his breath.

“An underground prison chamber underneath the royal palace, Asphodel Oubliette,” Great Elder Rosa threw the bucket aside. She then sat down on a wooden chair across from him, face unreadable. “Made by the emperor himself for the most vicious and threatening criminals.”

Rex nodded weakly.

It doesn’t surprise him to be placed here.

Stone breathes around him.

He is bound upright upon a narrow platform, wrapped head to toe in age-stained cloth like a mummy. The cloth was woven with silver. It was unclear the difference between the silver in this realm and silver from the Mortal Realm, but this one was making him dizzy on top of the weakening effect.

Underneath him was a dark pit.

Rex didn’t know what was in it since it was impossible for him to look down, but he could feel the absence of floor.

Chains bite into the hexagonal heavy steel slab wrapping around his neck, pulled taut in four directions, each link heavier than a mountain. They do not merely restrain him, but they anchor his existence to this place.

Silvery hollowed rods pierced through the wrappings cruelly.

Pinning flesh to fabric, and then fabric to stillness.

A special liquid coated these rods. Wolfscourge. A special substance that suppresses werewolf traits that could even affect the royal bloodline. Glowing sigils marred the surface of the bindings. More suppressing attempts for certain.

His hands twitched faintly beneath the bindings, fingers searching for a soft spot, but there was none.

Above, he couldn’t see the ceiling.

Only a staircase that spiraled upward into the abyss, which was the only way in and out of this place.

Guards must be hiding beyond the abyss, too.

Rex’s senses were dulled, but his sixth sense could tell that there were many guards watching him.

“You cannot escape,” Rosa said, seeing Rex inspecting the place. “It’s impossible. All of the bindings are accurate to the sacred information we Spirits gathered from infiltrating the Spirit Realm. Meant to restrain werewolves. You can’t do anything.”

“I’ve heard that line countless times,” Rex answered, his voice as dry as a leaf in autumn. A testament to the days without a drop of water since his capture. His eyes, sharpened with desperate focus, found Rosa again. “What’s the situation outside? Has the empress been found? Who’s on board with this?

“Is there a resistance? What about Amanir?” He paused and leaned forward, the chains clinking softly. “And… April?”

The last name made Rosa’s face twitch.

Rex saw the twitch, and it made him feel nervous.

“There’ll be an open gala where all nobles will attend tomorrow,” Rosa leaned back on her chair. Her voice was low and final. “It’s held by the emperor himself… and the empress,” She paused to watch the twist on Rex’s face. “You’re going to be executed then in front of the nobles along with Amanir and April.”

Deg—!

His heart pounded hard against his ribcage.

Rosa heard the wind howling across the chamber, and the heavy chains clanked against one another.

She frowned.

It was Rex’s power.

Despite every single poison inside his body, this caught her by surprise.

But the bindings hold without a problem.

“Duke Lorcan is also siding with the emperor. I believe he made a deal so that his dying house is going to receive better help from the royal family.” Rosa looked down at her lap, where her clenched fists were. “And now, they’re asking me to choose.”

Rex stared at Rosa intensely.

April got looped into his problem, so his deal with Rosa must’ve gotten exposed.

And now, she was placed in a tight spot. She must choose between the empire or her daughter.

Considering how many descendants of the Aurelius House there were, Rex was surprised that she cared this much about April. But it was a good thing that she did. I can’t use the Invincible II item. I need her help now more than ever.

The System’s refusal to use the Invincible II item was a surprise.

But now that he thought about it, the answer was clear.

He was now a Scion. Many Scions, like Ignatius has their eyes on him. Using the Invincible II item will evoke them to intervene. And though the System was loose, it would step in whenever Rex attracted a being where he had no chance of winning.

As long as he has even a point one percent chance of winning, then the System would not intervene.

But if his chance was zero, then it had to step in.

That’s the only rule of the System, which was highlighted when he escaped the Lunirich Gods.

“What is your plan?” Rex asked, raising a brow. “She’s your daughter.”

There must be a reason why Great Elder Rosa was sitting across from him right now.

“Help me free from this, and I promise I’ll protect April and your entire family,” Rex continued, eyes glistening with malice that can barely be contained. “Nothing is going to stop me. Not even the Spirit Emperor, I promise.”

Rosa stood up and approached. Her face was dark.

But the moment she was within striking distance, she slapped him across his face hard.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed across the entire chamber.

“Promise to protect April—and my family?” She asked with a restrained voice. She wanted to scream, but she held it in. Her eyes were red from anger and anguish. “What happened to your promise not to get too close to her? You can’t even fulfill that promise, and now, you ask for my trust again?

“Do you think I’m a fool?” She looked up at Rex’s eyes intensely.

She raised her hand again to slap him.

Rex didn’t move his face away, allowing her to slap him. He deserved it.

He didn’t blame Rosa for reacting like this after all she did for him.

But the slap never came.

“I only helped you because you’re going to leave,” Her eyes narrowed. There was regret behind them for ever helping Rex. “I only asked you not to be involved with my family further. And now… look at where we are.”

Rosa gestured towards the entire chamber with her hands, “Look at how we ended up!”

“You should’ve been better than this,” She covered her face with both hands. Gone was her composure of nobility. Gone was her quiet strength. “Even if that naïve girl offered herself to you, you should’ve declined. Now… Now they’re asking me to execute her with my own two hands.”

Hearing this, Rex’s eyes widened.

Asking her to kill her own daughter should be too much.

But it’s how the strong operate.

Any sign of weakness will be punished severely.

Rex’s head dropped to the metal slab around his neck, mind churning from the new information.

In his mind, he heard April’s timid voice.

’But take responsibility.’

I’m already too late.

Rex’s lips curled into a self-mocking one—only now realizing that it was far too late for April to leave his world. She already touched his darkness, and now that darkness has spread to her. Telling her to leave isn’t saving her.

It’s killing her.

Just like Rosie. He killed her because he pushed her away when she was already in his world.

Now… It’s going to be different.

April will survive.

Absolute conviction and malice that could drown everything flashed in his eyes.

She’s already in my world. She’s already mine. And nobody can hurt what’s mine.

I don’t care how much blood it would take to save her. But I’m willing to drown this realm in it.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Rosa wiped a tear on her cheek—and turned to leave. “I only wanted to vent, but that’s childish of me. Our deal ends here, Rex.”

Just a few steps away, Rex’s voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

’I made a mistake. I understand that.’ He said, prompting her to turn once again.

She stared at him and saw the change in his eyes.

’I’m going to take responsibility for it. Responsibility of saving April from the empire’s clutches.’ Rex continued. Rosa frowned when she realized Rex wasn’t talking aloud. He was using telepathy, which should be impossible in his current condition.

His lips weren’t moving, but his voice echoed loudly in her mind.

’How…?’ Rosa’s frown deepened. ’All of his power is suppressed. How did he manage this?’

’But if you go through this…’ Rex’s voice snapped her out of her daze again. ’If you go through with their demands and kill April,’ His face twisted into a dark one as his eyes turned into molten lava. ’You and your family will drown along with the empire. I promise you that. Give me one more chance. Allow me to make it right.’

Rosa finally turned fully.

She already made her decision seconds ago, but now, she was undecided again.

Logically, there was no need for her to consider Rex’s words.

Emperor Dominar was leagues beyond Rex’s power. Not even close. A dragon compared to an ant. So logically, she knew she must side with the throne, which was most likely the dominant side. But her instincts screamed otherwise, pulling her toward the man before her.

Rex was weakened. Shackled. Helpless. But somehow, it felt inverted.

As though, by siding with the empress, it was not Rex who was trapped in a prison cage.

It was the empire instead.

Rosa was placed in a tough spot again.

She felt it in her bones. That her decision would dictate the fate of her and her family.

’I want to believe you, but I really don’t know if I can trust you,’ Rosa muttered in her mind.

She needed to be convinced.

She couldn’t believe in Rex through his words alone.

’The easy answer would be that the Divine Saintess has abandoned the empire to side with me,’ Rex answered, which instantly changed Rosa’s expression. This was a very good start. ’But I don’t want you to side with me because of her, because I won’t be asking for her help. I’m going to try my best, and I want you to believe in me.’

Rosa’s brows dropped again.

Even though there was a sacred pact between the emperor and the Divine Saintess. An unbroken pact that prohibits the Divine Saintess from going against the empire, having her presence would easily dissuade many nobles from going against Rex.

For him not to use such an advantage was outright stupid and prideful.

But Rosa was willing to hear him out.

’You want to know my plan? To tell you the truth, I intended to be captured one way or another from the start. It happened faster than expected, but even so, I’m right where I want to be.’ A menacing, dark cackle escaped Rex’s lips.

’How are you planning to escape this prison?’ Rosa asked in doubt. ’It’s impossible.’

Rex looked skyward and sniffed the air as if the dampness was relieving.

His eyes sparkled with a reddish light, more intense than normal.

’Your realm may research a werewolf’s weakness in general. And it is accurate. But when is the last time your people check—again?’ Rex offered a small grin. ’Do you think werewolves remained the same throughout the years? Even if they are, do you think I’m a normal werewolf?’

Rosa felt her throat going dry.

Because of the Black Rift, Spirits adapted better over the years.

What’s stopping the werewolves or any other supernatural races in the Mortal Realm from doing the same?

And with the Black Rift harassing them constantly, there is no time to check the Mortal Realm again.

If the Mortal Realm is an extreme regime of survival of the fittest, then how strong are the inhabitants now? The energy level of the Mortal Realm might have dropped, making them weaker compared to the Spirit Realm, but their mutations never stopped.

Placed at the same energy level, perhaps the beings in the Mortal Realms are far stronger.

’I was a weakling in the Mortal Realm once,’ Rex continued, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly tone. ’In barely a year, I became the strongest. I arrived here a mere High Spirit, and now I am an Eternal Spirit. I’ve never known peace. Powerful figures have sought my death. Kings, queens… even Gods. And yet,’ He let the silence hang, thick and charged. ’Here I am.’

’Make the right choice, Rosa. I’ll show you exactly why many down there fear the name Rex Silverstar.’