The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1801: The Peacemaker’s Switch

”What kind of poison are you spouting, Amanir?”

Linthia emerged from the darkness.

Her steps were light as a feather, almost like she was floating, and she was with Ethan.

”A thief like you advising others?” She scoffed, finding the situation to be funny. ”Please leave the poor lady alone.”

”Linthia?” Amanir snarled and crossed his ears like he was crossing his arms. ”Back so soon? It was peaceful when you’re not around.”

”I was sent back by His Majesty—because he could not trust you protecting them,” Linthia gestured for Ethan to sit down on the side. ”You even let him walk around by himself? What are you going to do if a voidal monster caught him?”

”But he’s fine, isn’t he?” Amanir retorted.

”Yes, and that’s because of me,” Linthia nudged her chin at Ethan. ”I found him wandering out of the border.”

”What?!” Amanir exclaimed in surprise, but that surprise quickly turned to anger. He snapped at Ethan and narrowed his eyes, ”I told you not to wander too far, didn’t I? Rex would kill me if you died. If you’re suicidal, do it after you’re back home. Don’t drag me with you.”

”I’m sorry,” Ethan scratched the back of his head. ”I got lost.”

”His Majesty needs to know about this,” Linthia shook her head in disappointment.

”Hey,” Amanir floated and pointed at her face with his ear. He was grinding his teeth in both anger and annoyance mixed into one. ”You’re not the sweet and innocent Linthia that I know. What happened in the Well of the Untold? Did you get possessed by a middle-aged, spirit-hating aunty?”

”No, I’m not possessed,” Linthia shrugged nonchalantly. ”Just can see clearer how much of an idiot you are.”

”Idiot? Me, idiot?! In case you had forgotten already, I helped Rex the most.”

”Heh.. You’re bragging like a one-hit wonder—”

April could hear their bickering going further and further away.

She looked at the ground like it was more interesting than watching those two argue.

Her mind reeling with thoughts.

’Opportunity...’ She thought inside, staring at the crack on the uneven ground like the answer would crawl out if she stared hard enough. ’Vendetta against the empire.’

No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t think of what to do.

She couldn’t think of a way to make use of this opportunity.

But even so, she admitted that Amanir is right.

She can’t look pitiful, and she needed to make use of this opportunity.

That is, if she really wanted what she wanted as she admitted she wanted.

Resolve flickered behind her gaze, one that wasn’t there a minute ago.

Soon enough, Rex returned from whatever he was doing.

He made a promise to Ethan to walk side by side for one last time as friends.

But at the time when he finished talking with April, Linthia contacted him about Haxel. He told Ethan to wait for his return. The path to walk Ethan back to where he was taken from is also aligned with where April was, so she also waited for him.

Rex has ended things with April, but walking together one last time wouldn’t hurt.

Compared to before he departed to deal with some things, he regained more of his strength, but there are fresh wounds marring his body. April blinked her eyes and frowned. Her mind is a mess, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t sense the odd look.

His wounds are fresh, but what piqued her attention was the sizzling voidal energy.

Voidal monsters must’ve crossed him along the way.

However, she felt like there was something more to this.

Her gut tells her so. And it has never failed her when it comes to Rex.

”Have you been scraping?” Amanir asked with a chuckle. ”You look horrible.”

”Yeah, something like that.” Rex waved his hand dismissively, not wanting to explain himself.

Amanir looked at Linthia, asking her through his gaze alone whether she knew what Rex was doing.

She shook her head.

All she knew was he went with the Shade Crawlers somewhere. No clue as to where it was.

Both turned to look at Rex again.

Even as he was already go on ahead, walking down the circling path around the small mount, threading into the darkness with Ethan and April following behind, they saw the smirk on his face. He was happy about something.

And the smile sent a chill down their spines.

None knew what Rex was up to, but the smile on his face was a death sentence to the enemy.

Amanir and Linthia pities the empire for going against Rex.

Going by foot would be a tedious and time-consuming journey. So instead, Linthia created a makeshift floating sled with her shadow that moved at almost supersonic speed through the Black Rift. It was an incredible speed considering they were going against the current.

Returning Ethan back to his bubble would take no more than ten minutes.

Since he promised a walk, they were going to stop at about two to three miles away and walk the rest of the way.

Rex was sitting at the forefront of the sled, arms crossed.

He stole a glance at April.

She was sitting on the right flank, looking out to the empty darkness in deep thought.

Initially, he was expecting her to say something, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to talk about.

April has accepted his decision.

Just the thought of separating with her hollowed out his heart, but he was sure it’s not as painful as what she was feeling right now. This silence is good. She’s beginning to hate him, and that’s going to be her path to get through this.

It made him feel complicated. Sad, even. But this is the decision he made.

On the other hand, Ethan was more talkative than he thought.

”Is there really no changing your mind?” he asked, leaning over the front side of the sled as he stared at Rex in the eyes. There was hope behind his eyes. Hope that this wouldn’t escalate. ”I’m sure Princess Davina is going to help you clear your name. There are also Lady April here. She can help.”

”That’s naïve thinking,” Rex replied without looking. ”Both of them can’t help. In the end, the head of the family would be the one to decide. The Duke and the Marquess would decide. And to them, I’m a usurper who wronged the empress. A usurper the same as Mirza.”

Rex wasn’t wrong.

Ethan knew that he was correct.

But he still clung to the hope that there’s another way than bloodshed.

Seeing how hard Ethan was thinking from the creased on his forehead like wet silk, Rex couldn’t help but also thought the same. His anger lies on Empress Morgana, not the empire. All he wanted was for the empire to hand her over and help him talk with the Sky People.

If the empire could somehow agree to those conditions, then he wouldn’t pursue bloodshed.

Even though he wanted to with every cell of his being, he could restrain himself.

His bloodlust is likely the Blood Moon’s.

Once the rage subsided, he probably wouldn’t care anymore.

Not to mention, this time he has a choice to not pursue violence since the System didn’t bind him with any quest against the empire. It was odd that there was no quest. Rex felt uneasy. But it was probably his paranoia talking.

Either way, he has a choice.

And he would choose peace if he got what he wanted.

But that is if he got what he wanted.

Demanding an empire to hand over their empress... It’s unlikely that the empire would bend the knee.

Maybe I can locate her somehow.

Rex recalled Empress Morgana’s gaze as she stared at Stelios.

It was almost like she was staring at a deity.

She wanted to become a true Angel. She didn’t return to the empire, thinking that the Spirit Emperor or the people would not side with her. Hah... Evelyn got to her head. Really got into her head.

He heard what Evelyn said to Empress Morgana.

How she’s nothing more than a puppet empress whose sole purpose is to smile and wave.

That must’ve struck a nerve.

If Rex were in Empress Morgana’s shoes, he’d probably crash out.

His lips curled into a smile as a guess struck his mind on what Empress Morgana was doing.

Once he has a guess on the what, then he now can proceed to figure out the where.

Perhaps there was no need for bloodshed.

As long as he found Empress Morgana first and dealt with her, the empire would only need to slightly compromise to him. No need to bend the knee all the way by handing over their empress. Just lower their pride a bit to accept that this is consequences catching up.

Rex changed his plan in mind.

He didn’t tell it to Ethan.

Not because he didn’t want to, but because there’s still a big chance the empire, with its manpower, would be the first one to find Empress Morgana. At that point, the bloodshed would be inevitable, so it is best not to promise anything to Ethan.

Linthia dissolved the sled and the group continued onward to the bubble in the distance.

No voidal monsters here.

It was a regulated area with constant population control and scouting.

Ethan kept trying to convince him for taking another path.

He sounded really desperate. Friendship? Fear of losing the empire or Rex? It’s unclear.

But his panic was genuine.

And for some reason, the closer they were to the bubble, the more panic he became. Probably because he knew that once they parted ways, there’s no way he could meet and convince Rex ever again. They would be enemies for good.

Now the group was standing about a few hundred meters from the glowing dome of a city.

The air was warmer near the bubble, contrasting to the coldness gripping the group tightly.

And the wind was howling harder.

Even though this was goodbye, the vastness of the realm didn’t care.

Rex has never been in this part of the region, never been on an area where the wind howls this hard.

He thought he knew it all by now, but he’s not.

A frown crept to April as she glanced around, confused about something.

But Rex didn’t focus on her.

Ethan stood motionlessly. His head hung low.

”Hide well,” Rex said and placed his hand over Ethan’s shoulder. ”For your sake, I’ll keep the damage to the minimum. I won’t kill civilians blindly. And once I got the empress, I will leave the empire. That, my friend... I can promise.”

For a moment, Ethan didn’t answer.

Rex spotted him holding April’s hand, which was a surprise to him as much as it was a surprise to her.

Now that he thought about it, Ethan had been standing beside him throughout the way.

But he was now standing beside April, creeping closer to her.

”I’m sorry,” Ethan murmured.

Rex’s brows dropped into a frown.

A cold chill spread across hischest as he heard the words. He snapped his head up, scanning the area with the System in haste, but he was a tad too late. Two spiraling roots climbed from beneath and wrapped around Linthia and Amanir.

An energy bomb was launched from a distance and slammed onto them in an instant.

”Ambush!” Rex roared as he shapeshifted into the monster he was.

He tried reaching for Ethan, but he leapt away, pulling April alongside him.

A streak of verdant flashed past his vision.

A massive war-axe hammered from above, but the mystical organ pounded inside Rex’s body, activating his Blank state. A gathering of reddish energy stopped the war-axe from slicing his head in half, and for a second, he could now see who he was dealing with.

It was a royal knight, donned in his complete war gear.

Emerald armor, a fluttering cape of white and royal green, and a battle intent of a thousand years.

He caught sight of one during the formal ceremony of his knighting, so he knew what a royal knight looks like.

Not a weak one at that too. An Eternal Spirit.

But the aura he was exuding far surpassed his own rank.

Two booming sounds followed as two more streaks of verdant dived towards him, keeping their center of gravity low to avoid his peripheral. But the senses of a werewolf is not to be underestimated.

Rex lifted his foot, avoiding a sharp slash, and leapt backward to get away.

Another royal knight appeared above him, the fourth one, and axe-kicked him to the ground.

Boom—!

Inside the cloud of smoke, Rex coughed a mouthful of blood.

A pointy thorn-surfaced vine was waiting for his descent, and now impaled him through his stomach.

Giving no chance for him to even use his power, the fifth royal knight kicked his right leg.

The steel boot slammed squarely on his knee. And with a popping sound, his right kneecap was broken, forcing a hiss out of his mouth. His regeneration kicked in almost instantly. Monstrous to behold. But the fifth royal knight quickly took out a needle the size of an adult’s index finger and jabbed it into Rex’s neck.

Venom seeped into his bloodstream, paralyzing his regeneration and blocking his energy flow.

Rex was captured.