The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1441: Caught As Collateral

Rex walked along the road with Linthia, his expression seemed to be vacant—in contemplation.

Earlier, the man introduced himself as Blue and he came from the Arcalen House.

Being new around the area, Rex did not know about the Arcalen House.

But from the way Blue gloated about the house as well as how he handled the situation earlier, using nothing but his words—it must certainly be a strong and also reputable faction. Blue confessed that he was a recruiter, poaching strong people for an unspecified task for the house.

Seeing the stunt Rex pulled from earlier, it was natural for Blue to be interested in him.

His offer was quite alluring but other than saying that it involves fighting, Blue said nothing more.

Naturally, Rex tried probing for the details but as opposed to answering his questions and clearing the mystery, Blue instead glorified the riches and status that Rex would obtain if he accepted. It seemed he picked up that Rex was very interested in status and decided to go with this approach.

But this only made him shadier.

No matter how many times Rex tried asking for the details, Blue always changed the topic.

He was guiding the conversation away from telling Rex about the details.

Because of that very reason, Rex refused the offer.

Other than being shady, this was still only his first day in the Spirit Realm.

He should at least familiarize himself with life here before accepting such an offer so he declined.

Additionally, from Blueʼs expression, Rex knew that the offer would remain open.

If he ever chose to, he could seek out Blue at any time—another reason why he declined.

Since he was a recruiter for the Arcalen House, he should be staying in the Void Hub at all times.

Once Rex listened and declined the offer, Blue kept his word and left him alone without even using what he had done earlier as leverage. Rex expected that Blue would insist but it didnʼt seem to be the case, he stepped away without looking back.

I expected him to be pushier but heʼs not.

Focusing on the mission, Rex picked up his pace with Linthia following behind him.

Based on the guards he crossed earlier before walking through this Life Vein, the Obelisk of Life that hosted Arbitgea has seventeen Life Veins that branched outward like tree roots. Since the Life Vein that he went through earlier has the Giga Skull Crushing, a strong Voidal Monster, Rex took another route, another Life Vein.

No need to risk a battle against that Giga Skull Crusher if he wasnʼt ready.

”Rex, why did you kill that man earlier? Wouldnʼt that bring more trouble?” Linthia suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Rex shrugged, ”He looked at me the wrong way,”

Of course, that was a lie—but he couldnʼt possibly tell Linthia that the System gave him no time.

Despite her surprise, Linthia remained silent.

”Why do you ask? Are you afraid?” Rex asked back, that move was undoubtedly risky.

He wouldnʼt deny that it was risky.

Linthia nodded her head and answered, ”Yes, Iʼm afraid of us failing to reach the Well of the Untold”

As soon as she said that, a chuckle escaped Rexʼs lips—as he was not expecting her to be worried about that. But then again, it was understandable. For Linthia, that well was her last redemption, ”No need to worry. I told you earlier, didnʼt I? Iʼll take care of you”

Soon enough, both of them reached the edge of the Life Vein.

Along the way, they passed several people but here at the edge, there was only them.

Rex took a killing quest from the Void Hub, he and Linthia would need to hunt 10 Voidal Pawns called the Floating Heart. Based on the quest details, the Floating Heart is a power source for some machinery and was always desirable and needed.

Since the Shadow Hounds were also Voidal Pawns, they should be at the High Spirit rank too.

Easy kills but still worth it.

Rex could obtain more White Nightfall Stars from the kills while Linthia could train to use her power.

”I donʼt see anything outside, we should be fine” Rex murmured.

Scanning a few hundred meters beyond the Life Vein, he found no stat windows appearing so the coast should be clear. Or at least, if there were something out there—it would at least be further away and the two had more time to run to safety if it was a strong Voidal Monster.

”Can you summon your Soul Artifact?” Rex asked, keeping his gaze ahead.

Upon hearing this, Linthia nodded her head.

Channeling her life energy, the mark on her waist glowed as two wings sprouted behind her.

A pair of dark bluish butterfly wings that were entirely made of life energy.

Sheʼs in the High Spirit rank so naturally, she should be able to summon her Soul Artifact.

Back in the room, she trained under Amanirʼs directives and managed to summon her Soul Artifact, her power was now increased greatly unlike before—when she could only rely on Rex to fight the Voidal Monsters and Amanir to fly away.

Nodding his head, Rex wasted no time and transformed into his Werewolf form.

He stepped beyond the shimmering boundary of the Life Veinʼs bubble—his movements steady as well as deliberate. As soon as he re-entered the Black Rift, the darkness greeted him like a living force. The black wind howled around him, biting into his skin, its unnatural chill seeping onto his very bones.

Even with his enhanced senses, the dense gloom swallowed his vision.

Rexʼs vision was reduced as if the world around him was swallowed by the shadows and eerie silence.

Behind him, Linthia followed.

Unlike Rex, the moment her foot touched the Black Riftʼs ground, her eyes gleamed, and their depths were pulsating with an otherworldly glow. As a Seeker, she thrived within the Black Rift. Instead of having her vision impaired, it expanded instead—mapping the unseen path ahead.

A few paces in, she suddenly halted.

”Rex,” she called, her voice tense and shaky.

Rex turned, one brow arching in question.

He saw Linthia was massaging her forehead almost as if she was having a migraine.

However, before he could speak, the ground trembled violently beneath them.

Kaboom!!

At the sound of a loud explosion in the distance, Rex snapped his head towards the source of the sound with a troubled look. A deep, guttural vibration rolled through the Black Rift before he caught sight of cracks skittering across the barren terrain.

Boom!

Boom!

Not stopping at that, multiple series of explosions that shook the ground echoed again.

Unlike before, these explosions sounded a lot closer than earlier.

Despite sensing the incoming danger, Rex couldnʼt see what lay ahead—it was still shrouded for him.

Linthia, on the other hand, has her eyes widened in alarm.

”Somethingʼs coming!” She exclaimed.

Hesitating no more, Rex lunged toward her—his Soul Mark igniting with a radiant glow as threads of brilliant light wove from his body, coalescing behind him—into a floating, circular construct, it was the Aegis of Moon Sentinel.

Sensing the danger, Rex was ready in case of an attack.

At the exact same time, a thunderous shockwave tore through the darkness—rushing toward them like an invisible beast. Seeing the incoming arc of darkness, Rex reacted, willing the luminous halo to hover to his front, acting as an impenetrable shield.

Crash!

Rex was taken aback when the arc of dark energy struck.

Just the force alone created a deafening crack as it collided with the Aegis of Moon Sentinel.

He was pushed back a couple of steps, pulling Linthia with him before coming to a halt.

Rex narrowed his eyes, ”Linthia, what do you see? I canʼt see anything. Should we run?”

Upon hearing this, Linthia wasted no time and flapped her wings to get a better view—the energy arc of darkness got to them but she was quite sure that it wasnʼt meant for them. Blinking her eyes, Linthia tried gazing through the darkness but her eyes widened.

”Rex! Defend yourself! Thereʼs more coming!” She shouted as she flew higher to avoid the impact.

Getting the heads up, Rex lowered his stance.

Just as she informed, more arcs of darkness flew towards him—but since he was ready, his golden halo moved quickly and protected him. It spun and created a barrier on its hollow center, blocking one of the arcs but there were more coming.

In a swift motion, Rex summoned both his other Soul Artifacts and channeled his life energy.

Clang!

He used his claws to parry an arc of darkness but was surprised when the impact numbed his claws.

Itʼs so strong! Iʼm sure… the one who cast this must be in the Immortal Spirit rank!

Just from the force alone, he could tell that the one responsible for this was way stronger than him.

An entity in the Immortal rank or perhaps even higher.

Regardless of this surprise, he has no time to lament as more arcs pierced through the shroud.

Swoosh!

Almost instantly, Rex shifted into action, his battle-honed reflexes driving him to parry an incoming arc of darkness. His golden halo then whirled to intercept another, buying him a fleeting moment, a fraction of a second to reposition—just in time to deflect yet another deadly arc.

Rex was forced onto the defensive.

He moved with ruthless efficiency, each clash of claw against energy igniting a shower of sparks.

And like his claws that were the bulwark from the incoming rush of energy arcs, his golden halo hovered around him like a relentless guarding—intercepting attack after attack, weaving between his movements to shield him from the onslaught.

In less than ten seconds, Rex had deflected seven arcs—his halo blocking eight more.

At this point, his Red Dawn of Kaiser bore deep cracks, its once gleaming surface was now battered—and failing. Beneath it, his actual claws were shattered, the pain searing through him like fire but even then, his focus was still high.

He was unwavering, this amount of pain was nothing to him.

Just then, however, as he took a breather—one more arc of darkness flew towards him like a bullet.

Despite his alert senses, he didnʼt send this one coming as it caught him off guard.

In the nick of time, the halo was able to move fast enough to intercept but it didnʼt go as planned.

Crash!

Rexʼs eyes widened when the dark energy arc pierced through the halo and sliced his arm clean off.

Blood spurted out as the momentum threw him backward.

”Arghkk!” He fell to his back, screeching a couple of meters before coming to a halt.

Under the barrage, two of his Soul Artifacts—the Red Dawn of Kaiser and the Aegis of Moon Sentinel shattered, returning back to the mark on his back. Rex sat up—and wiped the blood drizzling down his mouth.

He glanced at his left arm and realized that it was non-existent, severed cleanly until the shoulder.

It was lying several meters away from him.

”Just whatʼs happening?” He murmured, grabbing his bleeding shoulder in pain. ”Its attack was strong enough to kill me so now that Iʼm wounded, whatever attacked us should have come to deal the finishing blow but it didnʼt”

As he was frowning, another explosion occurred.

KABOOM!!

A massive explosion echoes, its light even piercing through the dark haze of the Black Rift.

Rex stabbed his claws into the ground as the ground quaked hard and following that, a shadow blurred past him like a bullet. The forceful gush of wind it left behind—blew on his, causing his hair to flutter hard.

For a second, Rex froze as he tried to register what he saw earlier.

He slowly glanced over his shoulder with wide eyes, ”Is that a person that blew past me…?”

Due to the darkness, he didnʼt realize that behind him was a body of water—a lake from what it seemed.

And soon enough he caught sight of a mesmerizing figure emerging from the water like a goddess.

”Who is that?” Rex murmured inwardly.