The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1802: Killer Squad

April touched down several dozen meters distant, her eyes stretched wide in sheer terror.

From her spot, she spotted the subtle signs of combat around Rex's position. Just a short distance off to the left, flashes sparked from the clash between Amanir and Linthia.

A ruthless surprise attack.

Everything was falling into place now regarding the Black Rift's unnaturally fierce howls. Such powerful gusts typically blew only close to the ocean—and they were miles from any shore. This uproar was fabricated, engineered by hand, a ploy to shatter the element of surprise despite Rex's sharpened instincts.

Word had spread that Rex hailed from the Mortal Realm as a usurper.

A werewolf.

The Spirit Realm held far more knowledge of the Mortal Realm than mortals did of it.

Ever since Mirza's era, the whole realm had collaborated to probe the Mortal Realm, archiving the details in fortified vaults scattered worldwide. The Haeltara Empire, of course, possessed entry to one such guarded repository.

Uncovering facts about werewolves proved straightforward.

Heightened senses. Swift reactions. Terrifying healing. Full moon. Flower bane. Pure silver. All of it.

Every detail served as extra assurance for pulling off this ambush successfully.

Yet the roaring winds shocked April the deepest.

She remembered a relic known as the Fan of Chaos, capable of whipping up such chaos. It warped spaces inside the Black Rift to bewilder voidal beasts, or summoned rift storms to ensnare foes. Among the empire's most treasured, unmatched artifacts.

And it belonged to her father.

"Ethan..." April spun toward the snake at her side, yanked her hand free from his grip, and shoved him back. "Have you lost your mind?" Genuine bewilderment sharpened her words. "I figured only nobles possessed such icy hearts. You betrayed him? You drew him into this snare? Tell me, did you choose this path on your own?"

Ethan averted his eyes, dodging her stare.

His mute response stung April like a slap. Then escaped a mocking snort.

Open scorn.

Scorn for Ethan's betrayal after the honor Rex had shown him.

"So this is what you were up to when you slipped off?" She pressed further. "Reaching out to the royal knights?"

Silence.

Ethan's mouth stayed sealed, refusing to speak.

Or perhaps he simply couldn't muster the words. Either way, it changed nothing.

"He named you his friend..." April glared at this treacherous snake. "And this is your repayment?"

"The moment we hit the bubble, we'd turn foes. That's what he hinted," he shot back—but even as he uttered it, the absurdity rang clear. He'd exploited Rex's vulnerability, a truth he couldn't escape.

"Keep lying to yourself," April hissed with disgust. "I'm not turning on him."

April whirled and prepared to bolt.

One arm hung useless, and wounds from Stelios still ravaged her, yet she wouldn't stand idle as Rex faced peril. A gust whipped across her frame, halting her in her tracks.

Something icy pressed to her throat.

She glanced sideways. Ethan loomed close.

At her neck dangled a dagger. Its gleaming edge bit into her flesh, carving a light slice. A thin stream of blood trailed to her collarbone. But fury surged through her more than any ache.

Her features contorted into a snarl.

"You're staying put," he declared firmly. "Don't force my hand, April."

"I'm battered, but you really think you can hold me back?" April sneered.

He'd misjudged her gravely.

A greenish force rose from the earth and surged up Ethan's form, boosting his strength.

April recognized it instantly.

This was Emperor Dominar's essence. Aid flowed to Ethan.

"Curse you..." She muttered under her breath, her frame trembling with wrath. "Weren't you the one pleading for him to halt? You believe this will make him cease? No, Ethan. You're not mending this mess. You're stoking the flames, and he'll strike even harder."

"He'll halt," Ethan countered, though he hesitated before adding, "He'll halt once he's gone."

Boom—!

April and Ethan jerked their heads downward.

The earth didn't shatter—it lunged. Sharp, forking cracks raced their way, not as gashes in the soil, but like bony claws, clawing at their ankles. They both dodged aside as the terrain ruptured with a deafening roar.

Through the gloom-shrouded field, a torrent of vivid red force burst skyward—a fountain of fury.

It blazed the heavens and clamped the atmosphere with a heaviness that choked the air from chests.

April felt the weight crush her too.

Beyond the veil of shadows, Rex fought back. She yearned to charge to his side. In her state, battling alongside him seemed impossible, but words might sway things. Slim odds against the royal knights heeding her, yet a spark of hope lingered.

But Ethan shook his head.

Should she push toward Rex, he'd bring her low.

April lifted her eyes.

Next to the scarlet blaze, another force ascended.

A wave of green, richer than jade—a vital essence surpassing Eternal Spirit or Master Eternal Spirit levels. It rose not to rival the red, but to enfold. It twisted around the crimson shaft like a canopy of timeless willow, easing the oppressive force, soothing the blaze.

Denying what this energy meant would make her a simpleton.

The Reap and Sow Echo formed the empire's very bedrock. It sustained the soil's richness—and propped the emperor on his seat from his rule's earliest light. It let him draw in all forms, from solid objects, pure forces, or seldom, elusive concepts.

Every power source turned into his personal arsenal.

He stood as an unstoppable force, tireless.

Clashing with him dragged into a grueling war.

Where each tick of time edged the foe nearer defeat.

Gradually, the lush glow lured the furious red downward, and further down, until the final spark faded.

It was done.

Ethan held his tongue.

And April required no words to grasp the outcome.

She dashed into the night.

Ethan stood unmoving.

No point in blocking her once the fight ended.

Her fingers gripped the blanket fiercely as icy fear bloomed deep in her core. Her mind spun nightmarish visions. But the truth mirrored her darkest fears closely.

When shapes sharpened in the far-off murk, her breath snagged in her windpipe.

Rex knelt on the ground.

He'd shifted back to human shape.

Swollen veins snaked over his whole body like wriggling serpents beneath the skin. The sight was grotesque, particularly those bulging in his throat. Crimson glow still flickered in his eyes. Lethal. Craving slaughter. Twin gems hungry solely for carnage and gore.

Spiky vines twisted under his skin, a coiling web that pulsed and burrowed like ocean serpents.

Each thorny pierce through the flesh hooked his muscles and clamped his limbs, freezing him in place.

Directly below him bloomed a rosy flower.

It channeled the greenish vital force that tamed Rex's wild power and Laws.

Three Rings of Tanya orbited his head—like a crown. Among Emperor Dominar's legendary relics, whispered as an old boon from the earth itself. One drained bodily might. Another sealed Spiritual Veins. The third reportedly bound the spirit.

Just two of the trio shone bright.

One alone couldn't subdue Rex.

Likely the mind-binding ring failed, given Rex's seething fury.

Encircling him stood a dozen royal knights.

By their cloaks and plate, they ranked as the empire's elite warriors.

A strike squad built to battle any threat head-on.

"Typical of scum from the Mortal Realm. That savage fury is repulsively potent." A royal knight sneered down at Rex as he strained against his bonds. "I pumped dark silver into his veins plus a hefty load of Archaic Scorpion Venom—enough to drop a Voidal Prince—and he's still alert and thrashing."

Another royal knight stepped up from the flank and unleashed a brutal right swing.

His iron glove crashed into Rex's jaw with crushing force.

That blow would've shattered most skulls, yet it barely fazed Rex.

Just a thin rivulet of blood from his nostril.

He fixed a piercing stare on the knight who'd struck him, as if boring through the visor.

"What're you staring at, brat?" The royal knight swung again. This strike pulsed with life energy—cracking the bone in Rex's nose. The snap sent a thrill racing through the knight. A thrill of delight. "That hit just right."

Rex tongued the knocked tooth from his mouth and spat it aside.

His expression stayed savage. Rage still blazed in his gaze.

"Step aside," A wide-framed royal knight nudged his fellow back. "My go now."

One after another, the royal knights lined up to unleash their wrath on Rex.

Pounding without mercy.

A savage blow to the cheek. To the snout. To the lips. To the opposite cheek.

Each landed with a snap that could unsettle hardened fighters.

It was a savage thrashing.

Once his features turned to pulp, they shifted aims.

Jeering with laughter, a royal knight rammed his fist into Rex's belly, spattering blood from his lips.

"Check this out," the royal knight displayed his glove to the group. Knuckles dented, a tiny fracture spidered across it, smeared in crimson. He sensed the blood's heat against his flesh.

A few whistled in awe, as striking Rex felt like hammering stone, "Gotta admit, this beast's mug is tough."

Rex's head drooped now.

A watery strand of blood and spit dripped from his mouth to the dirt.

About then, the remaining royal knights returned.

Precisely three.

Beside them floated a sealed blossom of shimmering pink, forged from dense, pure life energy. From its glowing folds echoed dull, steady pounds—the desperate flails of a captive who'd strayed into the bloom's grasp, now hammering its ghostly barriers.

"Just one?" The broad-shouldered royal knight, edged in gold on his cape, queried.

Even helm-hidden, his scowl hung heavy.

"Affirmative, the second slipped free. She's crafty," the plumed-helmet royal knight responded. "That one's odd. No trace of her aura or being. Stay vigilant. At minimum until the royal bubble."

Right then, the plumed royal knight eyed Rex.

He strode over, planted himself before the prisoner, and crouched.

Deliberately, he threaded fingers into Rex's dense black locks and wrenched sharply.

Through the narrow visor gap, he drilled his stare into the invader's eyes.

"So this is the fool stirring up trouble of late," he muttered, scanning Rex's battered visage. Disappointed. "Figured some ancient fiend scarred by battles, but he's barely a youth. Even my fresh chamber pot at home's got more years on it."

The group burst into chuckles.

Rarely did they deploy as a unit, but this felt like pointless drudgery.

A single pair would've handled it.

"Take your shot at him, Woody. We've all had ours."

"No turns once we hit the royal bubble."

"His healing's fierce, so snap a few limbs without worry."

"Should I...?" Woody's mouth twisted into a twisted grin under his helm as he seized Rex's jaw and cocked his arm for a strike. Yet his fist froze mid-motion when a yell yanked his attention elsewhere.

"You filthy swine!" April stormed forward like a furious beast. "What in the hells do you think you're doing?!"