The Invincible Full-Moon System Chapter 1818: Good Luck to You

The silence had deepened considerably.

Screams had ceased. Battles were over. Struggles had ended.

Emperor Dominar lounged on the throne, surveying the deserted hall. A rush of recollections overwhelmed him. This very spot marked his ascension to emperor. Here, he condemned innumerable souls to death. It was where he wed his initial consort. And the place he reveled in his inaugural triumph.

Purple hues crept through the veins of his right hand, the discoloration advancing steadily.

The corruption he had embraced without reservation.

Judging by the tremors, agony must have gripped it fiercely. Yet his expression stayed impassive.

A fellow ruler from bygone days once declared that a true monarch achieves wholeness only upon the throne amid his realm's downfall. Such a moment outshone the bitterest conquest and cut deeper than any crushing defeat.

Emperor Dominar had dismissed it as nonsense.

Yet now, he recognized it as the final revelation from a legendary sovereign's dying breath.

In this instant, Emperor Dominar sensed an unparalleled might intertwined with utter frailty.

A sensation reserved for the elite few.

For ages, he believed the vow sworn at his crowning had steeled him to press on, placing the realm's needs above all amid dire straits. As he emerged and gestured to the throng as their fresh emperor, it reaffirmed his purpose in the fray.

That ceremony aimed to equip him against any imperial trial.

No event ought to catch him off guard.

But reality proved him mistaken.

His enthronement offered no shield against the oppressive hush enveloping him presently.

It felt... smothering.

And it stung worse than an adversary's blade piercing his heart.

At last, he grasped that emperorship forged him into a figure of selflessness.

Though swallowing his dominion's ruin proved bitter, he acknowledged his utmost efforts.

Only two paths lay before him, each fraught with peril.

Emperor Dominar raised his gaze. He observed the colossal doors creak apart from the far end.

He anticipated a single guest—Rex.

Yet the figure who faced him was not Rex. Instead, a formidable warrior appeared, his skin fractured and charred. Molten lava flowed within his form, and his aura radiated strength far beyond the ordinary. A grin spread across Emperor Dominar's features.

Regardless, his realm lay in ruins after Rex thrust it into conflict with the Sky People.

No measures could evade the celestial fury.

If Rex's strike didn't claim him, the vengeful Gatekeepers surely would.

And it appeared the Gatekeepers would deliver the blow.

Dorn arrived flanked by the Gatekeeper of Light and Shadow. He fixed his gaze on Emperor Dominar perched upon the seat of power, then scanned the surroundings. Silence sufficed; the pair of Gatekeepers pivoted and departed.

He had braced for defiance.

But beholding Emperor Dominar in this state... No opposition loomed.

Upon that throne sat not a soul clinging to optimism, but one embracing resignation.

Dorn advanced. His iron-clad boots pressed into the thick rug designed to hush troops' steps—yet his immense bulk still pounded a steady, muted thump against the stone, reverberating through the chamber until he paused at the base of the throne's steps.

"Have you come to kill me?" Emperor Dominar asked. His tone carried frailty. Diminutive. Far from an emperor's commanding timbre.

"No," Dorn denied with a shake of his head. "He demanded a sacrifice from you."

A faint laugh slipped from Emperor Dominar's mouth.

Confusion had clouded Dorn's refusal, but clarity dawned now.

"I won't put up a fight." Emperor Dominar leaned back into the throne, spreading his arms as if inviting Dorn to bind him. "I'll embrace whatever destiny awaits."

Dorn held his position unmoving. He merely locked eyes with Emperor Dominar, probing for the motive behind a revered ruler's grave error. Though the Gatekeepers' core role involved monitoring Voidal Monarchs and intruders from beyond, they held knowledge of the Spirit Realm's mighty factions.

The Haeltara Empire, under Emperor Dominar's rule, stood among them.

It ascended through the Reap and Sow Echo.

Legends whispered that the emperor received the earth's favor, granting visions of forthcoming events.

A mishap like this should have eluded him.

"Why...?" Dorn posed the straightforward query.

"Why would a figure like me, favored by the earth and enduring for millennia, commit such a folly?" Emperor Dominar voiced the unspoken thought in Dorn's head, then mustered a faint smile. "Because that favor has vanished. I'm... tainted now."

He lifted his right hand, revealing the corruption's dominance.

Dorn's eyes flared wide.

In a flash, comprehension struck him regarding Emperor Dominar's chosen course.

"Chaos..."

Crack—!

Dorn's aura surged violently, shaking the throne hall to its core as a colossal lava-forged double-edged blade materialized in his grip. Its point scorched the ground, searing into the soil with every tick of time. Serenity yielded abruptly to aggression.

As if validating his decision, Emperor Dominar let out a laugh.

Not manic, but sincere.

Dorn now understood the precarious balance Emperor Dominar had navigated. The aggression stemmed not from spite—it was an age-old reflex against even the faintest hint of chaos. "You feared us," Dorn observed, his words laden with insight rather than blame. His stare intensified. "Thus, you opted to provoke him instead?"

"Yes," Emperor Dominar affirmed with a nod. His voice rasped now. "With chaos in the mix, your kind would have razed my domain, innocent or not. So I concealed it. To succeed, I had to eliminate him.

"Who could have foreseen the usurper toppling the Sky City?" Emperor Dominar shook his head. "Even you never saw it coming."

With chaos entangled, Emperor Dominar faced just two avenues to preserve his empire.

Either erase Rex, the direct participant, to blind the Sky City to the truth, or confess the chaos link and stake the realm's fate on the unforgiving Skillian Divine Court.

One path meant crossing Rex; the other, facing the court's relentless probe.

Emperor Dominar selected the former.

And this unfolded.

"What exactly transpired?" Dorn plunged his blade into the floor; metal clanged as his scowl intensified. He hadn't anticipated such a convoluted mess. "If chaos ties into this event... into you, it must have originated from some source. It doesn't arise from void." He halted briefly, realization dawning in his widening gaze. "Your recent empress."

Prior to entering the palace, Dorn had scoured the gala site for the emperor.

There, he encountered a fading aristocrat—and gleaned details of the Tomb of Heroes assault, where the wicked usurper Rex targeted the empress. Doubts lingered among many, including this perishing lord—particularly since Rex had aided her vital endeavor.

And Dorn shared their skepticism.

He too deemed their suspicions reasonable.

Just before the palace, he crossed paths with an unassuming fellow named Kaine.

From Kaine, Dorn discovered the empress's link to an Archangel harboring grudge against Rex. No clear evidence tied her to chaos, yet every complication circled back to her.

It stood to reason that chaos might trace to her as well.

"I'm not refuting her role in this," Emperor Dominar exhaled wearily. When Kaine warned of potential land corruption, disbelief gripped him. He resisted the notion. But circumstances pointed otherwise now. "Still, I sense this taint began prior to her arrival."

Typically, intuition held little sway in weighty judgments or deductions.

Yet for Emperor Dominar, it differed.

His instincts bound to the territory. His domain. And if he perceived the corruption predating the empress, it demanded attention. "Sense?" Dorn arched an eyebrow. "Does that mean you possess evidence of her part in it?"

"I employed a method from the God Realm," Emperor Dominar revealed.

This startled Dorn, though he refrained from interrupting, letting the emperor proceed.

"It's an art I uncovered ages past. The exact time escapes me," He gestured casually aside. For one of his vast years, recollections often blended or faded. Pinpointing details grew challenging. "It lets me detect chaos intrusions with precision.

"Kaine, my trusted advisor... he urged me to apply it at the Tomb of Heroes, and indeed, we uncovered remnants of chaos energy. She had erased them. Ordinary detection couldn't reveal it. So, yes... I'm fairly convinced Morgana plays some part." He inclined his head, though uncertainty laced his tone.

Not uncertainty over her involvement, but over her as the source of his own corruption.

After all, prior to her elevation as empress, the same method had cleared her.

No chaos traces then.

Chaos likely reached her post-coronation.

Even as quiet lingered, Dorn remained silent.

He noted the furrowed brow on Emperor Dominar, signaling active contemplation.

"Kaine..." Emperor Dominar whispered the name. "He first voiced suspicions about the empress. He claimed oddities arose as she grew more prominent. She began prioritizing—her standing. She pressed me to aid in redeeming her image. Even insisting on confronting the new Voidal Monarch.

"I countered that the land itself guided me to crown her, but he suggested the land might already bear chaos's mark. Morgana had passed the same check before her ascension, clean of chaos at that point. Thus, he proved correct once more. The corruption stems from the land. Not from her.

"And that... that sparked my doubt. If chaos tainted the land solely to steer me toward making her empress, what purpose drove it?" His gaze ignited with realization. He extended his forefinger skyward, toward the heavens. "Was it not paving the way for his coming?"

"You imply..." Dorn's pulse hammered in his chest. Icy sweat beaded on his neck. "Chaos... It's scheming for that usurper's entry?"

The pieces aligned.

Kaine had noted peculiarities coinciding with Morgana's rising influence.

But her motives could tie back to Rex.

Emperor Dominar realized Kaine's view narrowed due to his zeal for safeguarding the empire and its folk. Inevitably, he would target Morgana, the direct insider with capacity for greater damage.

He, however, embodied emperorship.

His role always demanded scanning the broader canvas.

And so he perceived angles Kaine overlooked.

"Naturally, this could merely align by chance, with the land's corruption and Morgana's uprising as separate affairs," Emperor Dominar lifted his shoulders. "One to ensnare me—and twist the empire into chaos's plaything, the other an Archangel's sacred grudge fueled by chaos."

"We're both leaders," Dorn remarked somberly. "We dismiss favorable prospects. We fixate on the dire. What's the gravest possibility? If you truly hail from this domain and value its fate, lay it out plainly."

Emperor Dominar inclined his head.

He understood this intimately.

Their obligation was to envision the darkest outcomes.

Such was power's weight.

"In my view, two chaos entities view the usurper, Rex, as a danger and pursue him relentlessly," Emperor Dominar declared. Then, he met Dorn's eyes directly. "As for the direst fate... A supreme chaos entity targets him, masking its pursuit via my empire and the Archangel's grudge.

"Should it prove the latter..." He hesitated. Strain built—until a wry grin cracked his face. "Then I'd wish you fortune, Gatekeeper of Lava. I'm relieved to miss the ensuing nightmare. Yet my counsel remains: stay near Rex. Chaos deems him a menace for some cause."