The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1429: The Black Rift

Death, darkness, and despair.

A cataclysmic shift had overtaken the world, shrouding it in a suffocating veil of dark smoke—that devoured all that stood in its way. The smothering miasma carried a palpable weight, pressing down on the land with a suffocating sense of death and despair.

Inside this darkness, life had warped beyond recognition.

Shadows, monsters, and the wicked prowled, their grotesque forms relishing the new, corrupted terrain.

Unlike many, the smoke was their ally, their camouflage, and their sanctuary.

Around every corner, shadowy figures stirred like whispers of the damned—drifting aimlessly.

But that aimless gesture would change very quickly—at any sign of vitality or spirit energy, devouring even the faintest spark of goodness with a ravenous hunger. Under the shroud of the dark smoke, their shapes were formless but deliberate—gliding through the void like predators born of nightmares.

Anyone who found themselves within this dark smoke would fall into the pit of despair.

Despair would grip them before any monsters could reach them.

Being inside the dark smoke drained one of their sanity and coupled with the howling winds mixed with the guttural growls and eerie calls of the monstrosities lurking in the haze, the draining rate doubled. It doesnʼt matter how strong oneʼs will is, inside this dark smoke, it was only a matter of time—before their minds were corrupted and they went insane.

Spirit energy was weakened here.

Any sign of it, the darkness seized upon it with the swiftness of an arrow, snuffing it out instantly.

Many years ago, this was the world of the living.

Now, it had become a tomb—a playground for the damned.

Despite that, a group of twenty people could be seen walking inside this dark smoke.

All of them are wearing dark blue light armor with the crest of a horned lion on their chest plate, signing that these people came from the same kingdom or the sort. On their heads were two straight blue horns that jutted out from their foreheads and their eyes were completely glowing with blue light.

One of them, however, was wearing a different outfit than the rest.

He looked more like a priest than a knight.

Instead of the dark blue armor, he was draped in a deep blue hooded cloak.

Both of his hands were clasped together—deep blue tattoos that branched on his arms were humming with sea blue spirit energy. Levitating exactly above this priest was a glowing orb of blue light, and this orb seemed to be a source that empowered the barrier protecting them from the dark smoke.

”Old Reginald, how long until we arrived?” the leading person of the group, a dashing and regal man with deep azure hair asked.

He stopped and turned to look at the priest.

Upon hearing this, Reginaldʼs eyes hummed with spirit energy and gazed ahead.

Once his power was activated, he saw a column of green light ahead.

Its light was strong enough to pierce through the dark smoke.

”Patient, Master Franklin. Just a few miles more,” Reginald answered—politely. ”I can already see the Obelisk of Life ahead. If we keep our pace steady, we should arrive in about an hour or so. Be patient, thereʼs no need to rush”

Despite the warning, Franklin was already impatient.

”What are we scared of anyway? Nothing is here, we could pick up our pace” He said stubbornly.

Even though Reginald wanted to say something more, telling Franklin that going faster wouldnʼt be a good idea and could be very dangerous, he already picked up his pace. Having no other choice, Reginald also quickened his pace.

A few minutes later.

”Master Franklin, slow down,” Reginald called. ”Iʼm struggling to keep the detection rune working!”

”Take down the detection rune,” Frankly commanded, ignoring Reginald altogether. ”Focus only on the barrier, strengthen it with every ounce of spirit energy you have. Weʼre close anyway, we could rest at the Obelisk of Life”

Sighing exasperatedly, Reginald could only comply and took down the detection rune.

Once he did that, the streaming aura that expanded from the barrier, covering several hundred meters in radius hummed—and disappeared. Now, the group was going forward almost blindly, Reginald was the only one who could see through the dark smoke.

In addition to that, he extended his hand—infusing more spirit energy into the barrier.

As Franklin requested, the barrier hummed with more power and became thicker.

It was easily two times stronger than before.

Nodding his head, Franklin broke into a light jog, eager to reach their destination more quickly—since the Obelisk of Life stood directly ahead, they didnʼt need to know where they were going, they only needed to go in a straight line.

Ten minutes passed, yet despite their steady pace—the Obelisk of Life remained elusive.

As if the distance to it stretched endlessly.

”Come on, keep moving! Weʼre almost there!” Franklin instructed, continuing on ahead.

Just like that, another ten minutes passed with no sign of the Obelisk of Life.

Annoyed, Franklin glanced over to Reginald, ”Are you sure the Obelisk of Life is ahead? We shouldʼve arrived by now but we already ran for twenty minutes straight and thereʼs no sign of it. Reginald… Did you get senile already and lose your touch as a Seeker?”

”No, that canʼt be right,” Reginald shook his head. ”I can clearly see the light from it ahead”

However, as he said that, his breath was caught in his throat at the sight of something.

Seeing his pale face, Franklin raised an eyebrow, ”What is it?”

”That…” Reginald answered, pointing at a small trace of spirit energy on the ground. ”Itʼs my mark…”

As a Seeker, he was taught to navigate through this dark smoke.

Knowing that taking down the detection rune was bad news, Reginald decided to leave traces along the way to make sure that their sense of direction didnʼt get tampered with. It was rare for that to happen, but it could still happen so this is a preventive method.

Reginald didnʼt expect that it actually happens to his group.

”Oh, no… Something is messing with our sense of direction” He muttered raspingly, his face ashen.

”But arenʼt the ones who could do that are Voidal Monarchs?”

”Donʼt tell me…”

”No, thatʼs impossible. Each one of the Voidal Monarchs—was traced by the Sky City, none of them were here. We already checked before departing!”

Seeing his men panicking, Franklin wanted to calm them down but gasped at a peculiar sight.

As Franklin turned to the other knights, his breath hitched and his eyes slightly widened as he locked on something sinister emerging behind them—a pristine white mask, reptilian in design, resembling the face of a snake.

It floated unnaturally in the darkness, swaying as if untethered from a body.

Its movements are hypnotic yet filled with malice.

Behind the mask, two faint red embers glowing like the eyes of a predator lurking in the shadows, every aspect of this creature brimming with malevolence and untold power. The figure advanced slowly, and as it neared the barrier, its true form came into focus.

A towering creature around ten feet tall, cloaked in robes as black as ink.

Its fabric seemed to devour the moonlight cascading from above, casting an oppressive void around it.

Realizing what it was, Franklin didnʼt hesitate.

Making one fluid motion, he reached behind his waist, his hands gripping empty air.

A deep blue glow ignited beneath his armor, radiating from the mark on his back.

Out of thin air, two blue energy swords materialized in his grasp, their steel gleaming—with ethereal energy—his Soul Artifact. The others noticed his sudden shift and turned, their eyes also widening as they too, caught sight of the spectral stalking them in silence.

”Old Reginald, do you know about this Voidal Monarch?!” Franklin shouted.

Upon hearing this, Reginald inspected the creature in a panic and shook his head, ”Iʼve never seen it…”

Finding that it was a new Voidal Monarch, Franklinʼs expression paled.

”We have Old Reginald,” One of the knights blurted. ”Heʼs known to be one of the strongest Seekers when it comes to barrier durability. I am sure this thing could not sense our spirit energy through the barrier—it only stumbled across us and became curious”

Despite the knightʼs logical reasoning, it was false.

ʼIf it couldnʼt then it wouldnʼt have messed with our sense of direction,ʼ Reginald pondered inside.

Just then, Franklin commanded, ”Weʼll keep moving slowly, donʼt provoke it!”

Nodding their heads in a union, the group began walking away from the Voidal Monarch as it walked around the barrier like a ghost. It didnʼt seem to be hostile, and the group began to believe that it could not sense their spirit energy.

Any Voidal Monarchs would kill them instantly if they sensed spirit energy.

Since it didnʼt attack, it must not be sure that they were spirits.

But Reginaldʼs thoughts diverged sharply from the others, he has a completely different view about this new Voidal Monarch, ʼThereʼs a chance theyʼre right but to me, it seems like itʼs waiting for something. It hasnʼt attacked, not out of hesitation, but because itʼs waiting for the right momentʼ

Fearing for the worse, Reginald went over to Franklin.

”We should leave the group and run,” He whispered. ”We wonʼt go through this without casualties”

”What are you saying?” Franklin barked. ”No, weʼre staying together!”

Just then, Reginaldʼs eyes flared open when he saw other creatures approaching their bubble.

Several hundred pairs of glowing red eyes were approaching slowly, flat on the ground.

It didnʼt take long before Reginald realized that they were black snakes with polished scales.

Crack!

A cracking sound echoed that made their hearts skip a beat.

Both Franklin and Reginald glanced back to the Voidal Monarchs and saw a crack in the barrier.

The Voidal Monarch tilted its head ever so slightly, an evil, deliberate motion as if questioning whether they really believed they were safe within the barrier. Seeing this, the knights froze. But then, without a warning, its shadowed finger made a single, elegant tap, shattering the barrier into glimmering shards and exposing them to the dark smoke.

In an instant, the dark smoke surged like a living tide, consuming them in a suffocating embrace.

Feeling the influence of the dark smoke, the knights gasped as their minds began to falter, the oppressive void pulling their thoughts into oblivion. But their agony was mercifully brief. Shadows moved—with serpentine precision, snakes, black as midnight, struck their necks with venomous grace.

Spirit energy drained from their bodies and in moments, their vitality devoured completely.

What remained were husks—mere skin and bone, crumpling lifelessly to the cold ground.

As another serpent strikes, Reginald reacts.

Reginald grabbed Franklin, pulling him out of harmʼs way, and wrapped the cloak tightly around them both. In a flash, they vanished from sight—their presence erased from the unfolding massacre. Desperate cries followed them, knights calling out in terror.

”Please! Donʼt leave us!”

”Save us! Master Franklin! Old Reginald!!”

All of them pleaded not to be abandoned but it was already too late.

Moments later.

Reginald and Franklin pierced the dark smoke and arrived at a clearing.

In front of them was the bustling sight of a city, the dark smoke didnʼt reach this place.

Several people wearing the same armor as the knights from before approached them—and when they realized that one of them was Franklin, they wasted no time to help them. Coming from behind, pushing the people to the side was another person in armor.

However, his helmet has a plume on it—stating that he was of a higher rank.

”What happened?” He asked, looking at Franklin and Reginald. ”Did you find the Obelisk of Life?”

”No…” Franklin answered, still shaken up. ”But we came across a Voidal Monarch to the west”

Upon hearing this, the personʼs expression darkened.

”That makes all the Obelisk of Life near us…” He muttered gravely. ”Then there is no other choice, we are going to need to make our move on the Narsa House. Iʼll report this to Lord Garvain. No matter what, the Arcalen House will survive”