The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1816: What I Want

Terror of dying seized Rezar in an unyielding grip.

Eyes stretched wide in disbelief, he gazed at the flow of his own blood along with Rex's claws plunged deep into his belly. In a fleeting moment, the error born from his avarice came rushing back to him. Next, his thoughts leaped even earlier to the day he claimed his initial battlefield triumph.

To the era when he trained with unyielding focus.

To the time his parents remained alive, showering him with affection.

Scenes from his existence raced across his vision.

Far too much time had passed since he last faced genuine peril, erasing the raw sensation from his memory.

"RAARGGH—!"

Overhead, the whirlwind pulsed with devastating surges of vital force. It eclipsed the Blood Moon amid its raging winds before unleashing a booming bolt of electricity, wide as half a mile. A thunderous bellow echoed across the sky.

Rex glanced upward and witnessed the bolt morph into a golden-hued dragon of lightning.

Empowered by a Primordial Spirit, it crashed down upon Rex with overwhelming might.

A staggering hundred billion volts hijacked his neural pathways. His bones glowed like an internal scan. The organ in Rex's torso spasmed wildly. Nerve signals erupted in a devastating, overwhelming burst. Sight faded into a blank, humming emptiness.

This marked the most intense lightning assault Rex had ever witnessed or withstood.

No other could rival it.

Without his prior safeguards, this strike would have reduced him to dust.

Yet he persisted. Withstood the agony. Absorbing each jolting torment amid chuckles like no other.

Initially, those chuckles resembled tortured moans.

"You have truly, irrevocably, messed up now, bastard!" Rezar's cackle rang out as a wild, nearly twisted yell of victory. He observed in rapture as Rex's flesh charred and tore apart, the desperate regeneration below struggling to match the savage ruin.

Next followed the damp, resounding snap of fracturing bone—a noise that ignited excitement deep within Rezar.

Rex's framework buckled, overwhelmed by the ceaseless assault from the Law of Lightning.

"I doubt your beloved backer would or even could do more than it already has!" Rezar taunted, relishing the display of suffering. "No one is coming to save you now!"

Though a hint of urgency laced his tone, his words held truth.

Ignatius had granted Rex just one boon, and it was already spent. Even if death claimed him at this instant, the elder Scion wouldn't spare a glance. Scions stand as the elite among elites, striving for ultimate dominance. Self-reliance eclipses all else.

Demise serves as mere survival of the fittest.

If it were another Gatekeeper like Dorn, Rex might have faced real peril.

But Rezar? A mere interim Gatekeeper? His power barely surpasses Emperor Dominar at most.

And such strength falls short against Rex's fortified form.

Crimson vapor rose from his beastly frame. Fractures in his bones knit together swiftly. Even his hide pulled taut and sealed at breakneck speed. As moments ticked by, Rezar's grin wavered upon realizing Rex wasn't groaning in defeat; he was chuckling.

Delighting in the torment as if it were his deepest desire.

Clashing with a foe intent on slaying you terrifies. Yet battling one who craves the suffering even more chills the soul.

His tormented existence had forged a bond with agony. Now, if rage hadn't clouded his thoughts, he might have pondered if he'd devolved into a pain-craving beast. Ignoring the electrical surge, Rex extended his arm and clamped it around Rezar's neck.

Rezar found no path to flee.

Invoking this tempest and bolt anchored him firmly.

Any shift would dissolve the technique.

This turned into a test of endurance. And endurance was Rex's domain.

Bam—!

He jerked his head rearward before smashing his brow into Rezar's visage.

From the convulsions, the strike landed off-kilter, yet it wrought greater havoc.

Both protrusions splintered Rezar's facial bones, while the brow ridge pulverized his nasal bridge.

Blood gushed without restraint. Rezar shook off the hurt and bellowed fiercer, intensifying the bolt beyond its prior fury. Rex got shoved downward with greater force. The electricity pinned him toward the earth, but he resisted.

Bam—!

A second brow strike landed, stripping away all shreds of Rezar's pride.

His facial bones now lay in ruins, warping his features grotesquely.

Bam—!

Like a demolition sphere, the third impact demolished Rezar's resolve.

The world whirled around him. Concentration slipped, making the dragon bolt flicker.

That opening let Rex unleash the Inevitable Death Spirit Genesis, infusing his lupine teeth with energy drawn from the White Mask. All four fangs shifted to a scarlet hue, and with a savage rip, he drove them into Rezar's shoulder akin to a ravenous beast.

Devo lifted his head with effort.

A wail echoed against the sanctuary's barriers. An agonized cry that nearly stirred pity in him.

From below, he watched Rex gnaw and rend Rezar's tissue while the golden electricity sought to numb him. In the end, the outcome clarified. The bolt diminished in power, and the gale began to scatter, unveiling the Blood Moon anew.

Rex teetered on the brink of unconsciousness several times, but the torment proved a boon.

It sharpened his awareness and let him conclude the fight against Rezar.

As the crushing weight lifted, Rex withdrew his talons and slashed Rezar fiercely, hurling him earthward. He collided with the device securing Devo—and then rebounded off the barrier like discarded cloth.

Devo inhaled sharply as the ache faded, allowing free breaths at last.

Steps apart, Rex's sinews twitched uncontrollably.

Restoration surged through him, and within moments, he reverted to his usual state.

A single look from him conjured a shimmering barrier encircling the sanctuary. It severed ties to the exterior. Naturally, this stemmed from the Law of Misdirection. He aimed to bar any onlookers for the moment.

He licked his lips, a soft rumble of satisfaction slipping out as he eyed Rezar's futile efforts.

Though aware of his doom, the man still resisted.

This represented the final throes of cornered quarry.

And the view drew a slim trail of saliva along Rex's jaw.

Rex advanced. He glanced at Devo nearby, who shivered while attempting to rise.

Turning, he headed to Devo first and seized him by the midsection. His palm loomed enormous in this form, or maybe Devo appeared diminished, but it encircled the torso fully and hoisted him airborne.

"You’ve done wonderfully in the Spirit Realm," Rex murmured in a deep rumble.

It dripped with mockery.

He had endured endless trials to extract Devo, fueling irritation beyond measure.

"Much has changed... since my return," Devo rasped, forcing the words past a constricted airway. His frame ached—overborne by Rex's immense aura. Strength had surged in him since their prior encounter. "I cannot... brute force my way free of this."

"I should kill you right now...." Rex exposed his gore-stained teeth and snarled.

Severe furrows etched his brow as he weighed the act in earnest.

But Amanir stepped in swiftly.

"Now, now..." He appeared from thin air, clamping Rex's limb with his appendages. "It would be more than a waste to kill him after doing so much already, isn’t it? Let him make amends in the future. Am I right, Devo?"

Devo dipped his head. What choice remained?

Yet Rex remained unmoved.

"How about you spare him right now as a favor for me?" Amanir bartered. "I brought April to safety. I could at least bargain with that, right?"

Rex tsked and flung Devo away. A spark of leniency showed. His attention swung back to Rezar, discovering the figure had seized the moment to slip from the sanctuary. But progress halted abruptly.

Beyond, the colossal reptile still orbited the structure.

A barrier of ebon hide and icy hatred, sealing off all routes to freedom.

Without pity, Rex's grasp lashed out and ensnared Rezar's lower limb. Amid a moist snap, he wrenched it from its joint. Ignoring the piercing wail that ensued, he simply latched his free hand beneath Rezar's limb and hauled him back.

"There has to be another way!" Rezar begged. "There’s no need for any more bloodshed! What is it do you want?!"

Those pleas shattered Rex's fragile hold on composure.

Fury ignited within him.

"I have given this realm a chance!" Rex thundered. His tone boomed like shifting earth. One enormous palm gripped Rezar's frame, splintering plating and air in equal measure, then lifted him skyward. "Do you understand me?! You lowly sack of meat. What I want is for no one to touch what is mine. I want every living being to retract their claws when what is mine draws near.

"I want every sense to go blind when they hear the name Silverstar!" He bellowed.

His roar carried seismic force, slamming into Rezar like a tangible force.

With savagery, he hurled Rezar downward, fracturing the surface.

Then Rex crushed his foot onto the chest.

"Animals like you can only learn through pain." Rex growled, revealing his crimsoned canines. "Now, I want the blood of Spirits and Voidal Monsters to reach all across this pathetic realm. And the whimper of pain to choke the air until the end of time.

"I will drain the blood of every spirit in this city so the horror can never be washed away from the street, the buildings, and the hearts. And with the broken souls and mangled wills of the survivors, I will drill the mark of fear into the heads of generations to come."

Rex rested his elbow on his leg and bent forward.

The guttural sounds from his throat evoked the final ominous rumble a victim hears from its hunter.

"Only then," his tone sank to a resonant depth that hummed through the skeleton, "will you born-preys understand the consequence of baring your fangs at us." He drew closer, the threat in his stare deadlier than the Blood Moon. "Then, you born-preys will remember the night Rex Silverstar painted this realm red."

Rex climbed aboard the coiled reptile and plunged through the fractured heavens.

"Holy..." Devo rose with Amanir's support beneath him. He had witnessed and absorbed the confrontation, left in awe. "What did I miss? What happened to him in this realm? He’s almost as angry as when his mother died."

"About that," Amanir grinned awkwardly.

"Is it a girl?" Devo arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, something like that," Amanir aided Devo in leaving the sanctuary. "He got close with a girl from the House of Aurelius, and she was targeted by the enemies he made along the way. This is the third time."

"Third time...?" Devo huffed. "No wonder he’s that mad. Who’s the girl?"

"A young girl called April. Both of them got close after training in the Forsaken Tower."

Hearing this, Devo drew in a sharp intake of air.

"What?" Amanir lifted a brow. "You know her?"

"I know her, but I never talked to her. I didn’t think she’s his type," Devo shrugged, thinking of those near Rex. "To be honest, I thought if anyone would get close to him, it’d be the Duke’s daughter, Princess Davina."

"Well, she’s his fiancée. And she’s also a Silverstar now."

"Huh?" Devo stared at Amanir. Surprise and doubt mingled on his expression. "She’s what?"

"He was trying to get to you the legitimate way, but the empire is too corrupt."

"You don’t say."

It required nearly five minutes to arrive at the cloud's boundary.

Gazing below, Devo surveyed Sky City for the initial time and couldn't suppress a sharp breath. Rezar's earlier plea sufficed to signal Sky City's dire straits. He wouldn't have yielded otherwise.

But the extent surpassed his expectations.

Certain Gatekeepers lingered here, rendering such devastation unforeseen.

Devo struggled to accept that Rex orchestrated this.

He turned to Amanir seeking explanation, receiving only a shoulder lift. Amanir shared the ignorance on Rex's methods. Much of Rex's groundwork for this occasion occurred in hidden ways, known solely to him.

Suddenly, their attention snagged on a scarlet array in the central plaza.

One might assume Rex had accomplished plenty for the evening.

But completion eluded him.

Amanir and Devo could merely mourn Rex's adversaries as their torment extended without end.