The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 2040: Confessing Casually

Diamantona swept his gaze across the room and saw only dead men.

Hubris. Arrogance. Many beings he had faced in the past had been extremely strong, invincible even— for them to be defeated was almost an impossibility. Nobody thought it was possible. And frankly, every person was correct to assume that.

All of them thought that for a good reason.

But death came quickly and without warning for these powerful beings.

Not because they had grown weaker, but because they had allowed their minds to degrade.

Allowed their minds to ignore reason and follow the heart.

A lifetime as one of the strongest had instilled a feeling in them that they were practically unkillable. It was a feeling that they had earned, as their strength was real, and their record was unbroken. During the early days, that feeling was an accomplishment.

One that only a few could truly feel.

But somewhere along the way, the feeling curdled into something more dangerous.

Gradually, they no longer merely felt unkillable—they believed it.

Say it enough times, and the mind would believe it.

Many societies believed that the mind is a powerful tool.

And these societies believed that was the case because the mind could adapt to anything.

It didn’t know differentiate between lies and the truth.

It simply adapted to what the person had in mind and believed that to be the truth.

In most cases—this was a good tool to achieve the impossible, as even the body could be tricked by the mind to become stronger. But it wasn’t flawless. It could also bring disasters, and the entities he fought and killed had lived long enough to taste that disaster.

Of course, the mind needed time to really believe something.

Pride, arrogance, and the thought of being the one above all hastened that process.

And through that, those powerful individuals were dead, and Diamantona was still alive until now.

Diamantona watched them, and his heart grew heavy.

High Millinar Angela was drunk. Not the casual, social intoxication of a fair woman enjoying a quiet evening, but the deliberate, numbing kind—the kind that came when someone was trying to forget. Her crystal glass was empty now, refilled thrice already, and the rosy flush on her cheeks had deepened into something less charming.

She laughed at nothing, her eyes unfocused, and her words slurring into the soft hum of the aquarium’s ambient light.

It was the sign of someone who felt being concerned for the upcoming battle was beneath her.

High Millinar Vlaos sat in his own world—his pale eyes staring at something beyond the glass walls, beyond the water dragon that swam past, beyond the realm itself. He wasn’t present. His body was here, armored and still, but his mind had wandered somewhere far away.

Somewhere no one could follow.

Diamantona recognized the look—it was the look of a man who had nothing to worry about.

Not from confidence, but because things normally go that way.

Another High Millinar was missing entirely. Not late. Not absent by accident. Simply gone. Diamantona didn’t need to ask where. He could tell that the missing High Millinar simply thought that things weren’t that serious.

No need for him to attend the last meeting when, in his eyes, they were guaranteed to win.

Just at the far end of the room sat the other two High Millinars, talking in low voices.

But they were not discussing strategy. They were not reviewing the Purgation Duel. They were talking about old battles, old victories, old friends. They were reminiscing, deciding to treat the Purgation Duel as if it was a convenient event for them to talk.

Rare for them to be in the same room, it seemed.

And High Lord Ursa—the leader and the architect of this entire confrontation was still working, buried in his papers. His attention was fixed on documents that had nothing to do with the duel. He worked as opposed to finalizing their strategy.

Naturally, this was the last cycle that Diamantona had seen time and time again.

He recognized it instantly.

Countless times already he had seen this overview, see the change in the eyes of warriors who had lived too long and fought too many wars. The last cycle was the period before death—a time when the soul began to loosen its grip on the body, when they started to believe they were untouchable.

It was nature’s way of preparing a person for the end.

An inescapable pattern for the strong and old.

And everyone in this room, except Diamantona, was in it.

Fate had already written their deaths. He could feel it in his bones. Perhaps Rex, the new Scion of the Anger Stratum, would be the one to kill them all. Perhaps the Purgation Duel would become a slaughter. Diamantona was confident he could push back fate for some of them.

He had done it before, many times. But not all. He couldn’t save everyone.

The thought brought a wave of melancholy crashing over him. Faces from his past flashed through his mind—comrades, enemies, people he had loved and lost across centuries of blood and battle. So many names. So many endings.

And the weight of them pressed against his chest, and without warning, his power stirred.

A blue glow erupted from his eyes.

Diamantona felt the energy ripple through him, a surge of something beyond normal energy—beyond ordinary perception. It was the power of a Blank—the Absolute Sadness Stratum. One that allowed him to glimpse their pasts.

It was true—their past seemed to suggest that they really believed they were unkillable.

A power that reacted to the melancholy he was feeling right now.

Naturally, due to how eye-catching it was, the others in the room noticed.

High Millinar Angela’s drunken slurs stopped. High Millinar Vlaos blinked, and his mind snapped back from wherever it had wandered. The two talking High Millinars fell silent and turned. Even High Lord Ursa put the papers away as his eyes narrowed.

Only then did Diamantona realize that they were all looking at him.

Naturally, he thought they were angry at what he said.

But in truth, they weren’t looking at him with anger or alarm. They were looking at him with surprise.

True, unguarded surprise.

Seeing the glowing blue tears that drizzled down Diamantona’s face—their instincts told them that his power was riled, that he had grown stronger. Heck, they could even feel the weight of his presence, which had grown heavier.

His emotions were riled, and a spike in strength is normal.

However, the problem was that they couldn’t feel Dimanatona’s energy at all.

It was obvious that his power was riled—from his appearance right now, even their instincts felt it, but the energy itself was beyond their scope. Something they couldn’t perceive, even though they were able to perceive the deeper layer of reality and touched immortal energy.

Diamantona was operating on a level they could not reach.

And for the first time, the other High Millinars looked at him in a new light.

”What is that power...?” High Millinar Angela placed down her crystal glass and leaned forward.

She was curious as to what Diamantona was using.

”Ah,” Diamantona realized that his power was riled, and quickly deactivated it again. ”I’m what many called a Blank, you see. And I’m from the Sadness Stratum, so whenever I feel an intense sadness, my Absolute Sadness Effect tends to be riled. Don’t mind it. Nothing you need to worry about.

”Though I need to apologize, since it also automatically made me see your past.”

”Blank? Sadness Stratum? Absolute Sadness Effect?” High Millinar Vlaos was completely at a loss. It was the same for others, as they stared at Diamantona like he was speaking a foreign language. ”I don’t understand anything you’re talking about.”

”I’m a Scion,” Diamantona replied, saying what he was as if that explained everything.

”What is a Scion of Vertex?” High Millinar Angela threw up her arms exasperatedly. She turned to High Lord Ursa and pointed at Diamantona. ”Can you do something about him, Sir? He’s speaking like what he said was common sense!”

”Care to elaborate more about what you said, Diamantona?” High Lord Ursa asked.

”A Scion, or a Scion of the Vertex to be exact, is a member of a faction of another dimension. More so than anything the inhabitants of the Primordial Meadow can comprehend. A mysterious entity chose a select few with the potential to become invincible, and I’m one of them.”

”What...?”

Everyone sucked in a cold breath and looked at Diamantona with a mixture of emotions.

Some didn’t want to believe him, but considering his power earlier that they couldn’t feel, it was really hard to deny what he claimed. An energy beyond immortal energy shouldn’t exist, and yet he was using it like it was nothing.

”Are you really telling the truth?” High Millinar Vlaos asked.

”Screw that,” High Millinar Angela intervened. ”Are you supposed to be open about something really big like this? Is it really fine to tell us this? If it’s really something beyond our comprehension—then is it really safe to tell us about it?”

”Hm? I do not know.” Diamantona shrugged. ”Just that I am not afraid of the other Scions. Hm, wait—now that I think about it, I think you guys should be worried. Many of them are not nice beings. But I can’t take back what I said. Sorry.”

High Millinar Angela exhaled through her mouth in disbelief.

She couldn’t believe how nonchalant Diamantona was.

”Is that why...?” High Lord Ursa’s voice cut through the air as a thought came to mind. ”That unknown person beside Rashal... Is he also a Scion?”

”Yes,” Diamantona nodded. ”And he wants to kill me—for some reason. It’s saddening, really. To think he loved battles so much that he didn’t realize that he was challenging death. He should have known his own limits and be mindful going forward.”

He sighed.

It was truly a shame that such a young and new Scion would meet his death so soon.

On the other hand, High Lord Ursa reclined on the sofa in realization.

”So that’s why...” He mumbled and then chuckled.

Back during the banquet, he had seen how, for some reason, the Cluster Custodian was treating Rex and those close to him with a special privilege. Throughout a thousand years and more as a High Lord, he was never given that kind of treatment.

Such a sight was strange.

All Cluster Custodians should be impassive to anyone, even those from outside the Primordial Meadow.

But it was different for Rex and those close to him.

Now he realized why the Cluster Custodian was acting like that.

’To think that even the Cluster Custodian needed to tread lightly in front of a Scion of Vertex, though he was nothing but a shrimp in front of his power. Just how strong is the entity backing the Scions? Is it stronger than the Overseer of Realms? Or perhaps stronger? It’s impossible for an entity to be—that strong, right?’

Around him, the High Millinars exchanged a look.

Seemed like High Lord Ursa had realized something, but they didn’t dare disturb him right now.

And then, he leaned forward again.

”Earlier... What do you mean by that?” High Lord Ursa asked. ”You said you see us as dead men.”

”It’s nothing.” Diamantona shook his hands—again. ”I was not planning to say it, but you forced me to say it. I know you’d be angry, so I was hesitant to say it out loud. Just do what you think best. I’ll simply sit here silently.”

”I don’t care about my feelings. Speak what’s in your mind.”

”I simply saw a cue of your nearing death. That’s all.”

”A cue?”

”Yes,” Diamantona nodded. ”Strong people tend to feel invincible and get arrogant when they are nearing their deaths. All of you weren’t treating this seriously, and that’s the cue that made me sad. But no need to worry, I’m with you, so some of you will survive.”

”Are you suggesting we are weaker than you?” High Millinar Angela asked, still slurring.

”No.” He shook his head. ”I’m saying only another Scion could defeat a Scion.”