The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1754: Power of the Werewolf Hunter (1)

A distance of roughly one hundred and fifty meters separated Rex from Stelios.

However, for entities of their caliber, such a gap was negligible—it was no different than a single stride.

In the time it took Stelios to blink, Rex had already closed the distance, his claws extended and ready to tear through flesh.

Clang!

A violent, metallic ring echoed as Stelios deflected the raking claws aimed at him.

Yet, Stelios had never been the primary target.

In a blur of motion, Rex surged past him, racing toward April, who remained suspended by her arms in the sky.

His fury, his resentment, and the battle itself were secondary concerns; his only priority was bringing her down. Rex and the Invincible Apparition would never permit her to remain in such a humiliated state so long as they still drew breath.

Suddenly, a barrier blocked his path.

He slammed into an invisible sphere enveloping April, a protective shell that denied him access to her.

"Did you truly believe it would be so simple?" Stelios let out a soft chuckle. "I anticipated your first move the moment I revealed her to you. A Werewolf’s greatest vulnerability—and their greatest power—is found in their bonds. Even you cannot resist the urge to save her first, Royal Black Prince."

Roar!!

Pure rage exploded from Rex.

He gripped the invisible surface with his claws and began striking the barrier with all his might.

After the first blow failed to leave a mark, his strikes turned into a frantic barrage.

Bang!

Channeling life energy and voidal energy into his fist, he delivered a powered punch.

Bang!

And another.

Bang!

From the ground below, witnesses could see massive shockwaves radiating from every impact.

The air itself seemed to ripple and distort under the assault.

Despite landing over a dozen heavy blows in mere seconds, the surface remained unyielding, without so much as a scratch. Rex refused to stop; in a fit of desperation, he slammed his forehead against the barrier with such force that the sound carried all the way down to the Tomb of Heroes.

Even invoking the Law of Inevitability did little more than amplify the resulting shockwave.

"It matters not what you try; you cannot shatter it," Stelios remarked with amusement. "Half of the energy from the offerings has been funneled into that ward. It possesses the strength of millions of lives. It is unbreakable. You are relegated to a mere spectator, forced to watch her hang there because you... lack the power to protect her."

Grrr...!

Rex looked back over his shoulder, his eyes wide with murderous intent.

At that moment, shimmering golden chains lashed around his throat, yanking him away with violent force.

His claws slipped from the barrier as he was hurled back down toward the Tomb of Heroes.

Crash!

"Rex!" Amanir shouted.

Though he possessed a desperate urge to intervene, Amanir hesitated, fearing he would only serve as a distraction.

Debris and dust erupted upon Rex's impact—and as he climbed to his feet, six gargantuan knives fell from the heavens. Through the rising smoke, he saw the glowing golden blades forming a perimeter around him.

Each weapon radiated holy energy and life energy equivalent to the power of an Eternal Spirit rank.

Swish!

One blade shimmered, revealing a pair of golden eyes within its surface.

Rex jerked his head aside just in time, narrowly avoiding a strike aimed at his left eye that would have left him partially blind.

"Impressive reflexes, swifter than even the noble werewolves," the voice of Stelios echoed around him.

Rex whipped his head around, catching a glimpse of Stelios merging into the metal of another blade before vanishing entirely. His scent, his aura, and even his very presence were gone. Stelios simply ceased to exist the moment he entered the knife.

"But can you handle two simultaneously?"

Swish!

Two blades pulsed with light, and a pair of Stelios manifestations emerged from them.

Attacked from both the front and rear, Rex twisted his frame to dodge one strike while raising his claws to intercept the other. Seizing an opening, he lunged at one of the massive knives, catching it with his bare hands.

He wrenched it from the earth, only to be forced to release it instantly.

Stelios materialized from that very blade and drove a weapon into Rex's midsection, sending him tumbling backward.

<Notice: the user has been infected by Enchanted Pure Silver!>

<All physical stats have been decreased by 10%!>

Growl!

Rex bared his teeth, but Stelios was already closing in, connecting a punch directly to his jaw.

However, Rex’s skin was as resilient as stone, and the blow did little damage.

Consumed by hatred and fury, Rex lunged forward with his claws bared.

A sharp swipe cut through the air, missing its mark and tearing into the ground instead.

Rex maintained his aggressive momentum, attempting to corner Stelios with a speed that was terrifyingly unnatural for a creature of his size. Yet, his agility was still overshadowed by the Archangel of Knives.

He swung a heavy overhead slash.

Stelios beat his wings to retreat in time, thrusting a blade upward toward Rex’s jaw.

Ignoring the pain, Rex pulled the weapon out and pressed the attack, devastating the platform and sending rubble flying toward the statues of Origins. Within thirty seconds of this frantic melee, the central platform had been reduced to ruins.

Deep fissures spread across the floor, and the entire chamber trembled under the weight of their clash.

Rex soon came to the realization that Stelios was untouchable.

Neither his speed nor his heightened senses were enough to pin him down.

It was like attempting to grasp an electric eel in the water—slippery and dangerous, with every failure resulting in a new wound.

"The primary advantage of a Werewolf lies in its preternatural senses, allowing it to detect threats from any direction," Stelios noted as he evaded Rex's strikes, moving like a beam of light and leaving a trail of shimmering particles. "However, it is not an absolute defense; it has a flaw."

Crash!

Evading another massive swing, Stelios spun his frame into a lethal reverse kick.

In that split second, Rex heard the whistle of the wind.

His eyes locked onto the incoming heel, identifying the threat.

Rather than defending, Rex snapped his jaws open, intending to bite the leg off. His physical durability was superior; he saw no need to retreat. But Stelios altered the trajectory of the kick mid-air, slamming his heel into Rex’s lower jaw with immense force.

The impact rattled Rex, but he pushed through it, his jaws snapping shut with bone-crushing power.

He caught only empty air.

Rex swung his arms wide, trying to trap Stelios in a bear hug or at least snag one of his wings.

But Stelios tucked into a tight roll, slipping through the gap and escaping the reach of the claws.

Coming to a halt, he glanced back with a provocative grin. "Do you see...?"

Rex scowled in confusion, but a sudden sting erupted from his torso.

To his shock, a thin, long laceration had appeared across his chest, and blood began to spill onto the floor.

He hadn't even perceived the attack.

In truth, he had no idea when Stelios had even struck him.

"A Werewolf’s focus is narrowed to attacks that are immediately fatal." Stelios stood up casually, twirling a blood-stained knife like a prize. "In the heat of battle, any strike that isn't perceived as life-threatening is ignored in favor of more obvious dangers. By exploiting that oversight, I have slowly bled dry every Werewolf I have ever faced until they could no longer stand."

Rex stared down at the wound on his chest.

The cut was not closing with its usual speed, hindered by the enchanted pure silver coating the blade.

It appeared every knife was treated with the substance; Stelios had come prepared.

"This is why blades are the ideal tool against your kind," Stelios said, holding the golden knives at his sides, one of them still dripping with gore. "Hunting Werewolves is a test of endurance, and usually, the Werewolves prevail. But no one has ever triumphed over me. By now, I am certain you understand why."

Rex could feel the pressure.

Beyond the silver nullifying his healing, there was another sensation.

A searing heat, as if he were being pierced by a million phantom blades.

The source was the ethereal halo hovering above Stelios.

<Notice: the user’s mental stat is not high enough to block the Halo of Blades!>

<Halo of Blades has successfully affected the user!>

Rex jerked backward just in time.

He narrowly missed a lethal blade that emerged from a light portal right next to his head.

The movement left him off-balance, and before he could recover, Stelios darted past him as golden chains once again constricted around his neck. He was pulled violently, gasping for air. He considered going with the momentum to regain his footing, but a sharp pain in his back stopped him.

Another knife had been positioned directly behind him.

Moving backward would result in a pierced spine.

Rex dug his right foot into the ground to prevent himself from falling as the chains tightened further. He was immobilized, pinned between the choking chains at his front and the blade at his rear.

His only exit was to roll away, but two additional knives manifested and drove into his sides.

Every escape route was now sealed.

<Warning: the concentration of enchanted pure silver inside the user’s body is increasing!>

<Physical stats decrease has increased to 12%!>

"Hurghh!"

Stelios gave a powerful tug on the chains, dragging Rex across the platform.

Rex crashed into the stones, bleeding and impaled by three different blades.

"You possess no defenses against silver, and you cannot even withstand the weight of my halo," Stelios said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue in a display of disappointment. "Are you trying to sabotage my opera with such a pathetic showing? Have you already accepted your defeat?"

"Oh, how about this?" Stelios recalled another technique. "Can you handle this one?"

He slowly extended his hand.

His fingertips pulsed with holy energy, though it had taken on a strange, crimson hue.

Rex felt a flicker of recognition; this was the same power Stelios had used against him before.

With a cruel smirk, Stelios moved his hand through the air with agonizing slowness. "Slash of Destiny..."

A crimson line manifested, resembling a thread woven from the fabric of space and time.

"If you cannot surpass this, you were never a threat to me," Stelios declared, bringing his knife toward the red thread. The edge hooked the string, stretching it thinner and thinner until it reached the breaking point. "Let us see you fight once your rage is gone."

Slice!

As the red thread snapped, Rex’s pupils contracted.

The inferno of rage that had been consuming him moments ago vanished instantly.

It was a repeat of their previous encounter.

Stelios had severed his anger, and without that emotional fuel, Rex’s aura began to collapse as his power amplifier was cut off.

Kaboom!!

The silence lasted only a few seconds before the rage returned with a vengeance, sending violent shockwaves through the chamber and staining the air blood-red. Rex’s eyes glowed with an unquenchable fire as he bared his fangs and let out a low growl.

He had acquired the Weaver of Madness skill after manifesting the Blood Moon Echo.

That surge allowed him to saturate his mind with a level of madness so thick it completely shattered the grip of the Slash of Destiny. The resulting backlash caught Stelios off guard; a look of shock crossed his features before settling into a wide, delighted grin.

"Splendid, truly splendid..." Stelios nodded, beginning to turn away. "That is the bare minimum I expect, otherwise—"

"Look into my eyes," Rex’s gravelly voice cut through the air, stopping Stelios mid-sentence. "Look at them closely, Archangel of Knives."

Stelios turned back, his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Do you honestly believe I've reached my limit?" Rex stood up, his gaze locked onto Stelios with unwavering intensity. "Forget your opera. Forget the Werewolves you’ve hunted before. Forget your plans for the future... your transformation into a Dark Angel, your service to the First Darkness, all of it."

Swish!

In a flash, Rex reappeared just meters away from Stelios, his crimson gaze still fixed forward.

"This is where it ends," Rex said with a grim nod, staring first into Stelios’ left eye, then his right. "There is nothing beyond this moment. These eyes are the last thing you will ever see."