The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1856: Lured In

Divine energy.

It’s what Rex had initially thought or assumed the Gods were using.

He knew divine strands existed, and it’s the fuel of a God’s foundation, the core that made them what they are. But the divine energy was only an assumption. It was derived from the otherworldly power those Lunirich Gods used against him.

And now, not being able to sense what these Godlings were using made him realize that he was wrong.

Since the Lunirich Gods needed to tone down their powers when entering the lower realms, their energy might be degraded into something that Rex or the other inhabitants can sense. In truth, their energy was far stronger and also different.

That’s the reason why his senses couldn’t pick up the energies used by these Gardeners.

Rex looked down at the choking figure, gasping through a torn throat.

Not being able to sense their energy is a fatal weakness.

If the energy they were using is higher than Rex’s perception, then his terrifyingly acute senses would be rendered useless. He couldn’t react or perceive danger when the energy is basically nothing to him— subtler than air.

He needed to patch this weakness.

Rex’s eyes flickered at the sight of a notification panel opening before him.

For a moment, he read the description and looked back at the choking figure once again.

One could see a stark change in his gaze.

”Much better to kill this filth, no?” Lilliana pulled the tendrils that were wrapping around the figure with strength, opening up new, bleeding wounds that attacked the figure’s tendons, immobilizing him. ”All we need to do is wait for a little bit.”

Behind Rex, one of the Gardeners climbed back to his feet despite his wounds.

And without hesitation, they charged.

Davina moved even faster than he—arriving before he could reach Rex. She pressed him down with enhanced gravity and drilled her fist into his stomach hard. Blood poured from his mouth as she grabbed his neck and hauled him off the ground.

”I don’t think they are on the same page as you, sister,” She stared at them in the eyes. ”They are slaves.”

Seeing that these two were defending the figure, it was obvious that they were slaves.

People who were trained to the point of not being able to even muster the thought of going against their masters. She could see the reluctance behind their eyes—like they do not want to defend the figure, but have no other choice.

”It’s the same thing here, huh?” Lilliana looked around, shaking her head.

She was expecting to open her eyes into a new world, but she was wrong.

Even here, there are things that resemble the Spirit Realm.

Slaves are a lot less now that the Black Rift washed over the realm, but it was common in the past.

And it seemed it was common too in the God Realm.

Davina stared at her trembling hands.

She saw the Gardeners were fighting back with their unknown energies, but it did minimal damage to her. ”At least we now know the Divine Protection vial is working,” She nodded her head. ”I can feel its warmth, though.”

”It’ll only work against lesser divinity,” Rex squatted down before the figure. ”Not good enough.”

Initially, he wanted to devour this guy and move on.

Nash is probably waiting for them, so best for them to keep on moving.

But now, with the sudden quest suddenly appearing out of nowhere, he changed his mind.

Besides, this fatal weakness has to be dealt with right now.

Rex stared at the choking figure’s eyes and then reached out his hand to take off the helmet.

Just waiting behind the helmet was the face of a young man, or at least he looked young, around the same age as Rex was. His skin has an unnatural, ashen colored, like that of a Dark Elf, but even more bleak, close to light grey.

His eyes were showing signs of anger and reluctance.

Negative emotions that were all directed at Rex.

He was hoping this guy would trigger a killing intent, but the anger wasn’t high enough.

”I’m going to heal you now,” Rex whispered—surprising everyone, including Lilliana and also Davina. ”You don’t want to die, right? In that case, once you are healed, don’t do something stupid. If you do, there will be no more chances. Do you understand?”

Having no other choice, the guy nodded.

Rex took out a vial from the inventory, a healing vial that was potent enough to heal the guy’s wounds, and then helped him drink it. Almost instantly, the healing properties worked wonders, stitching his gnarly, torn neck and also reconnecting his tendons.

Both Lilliana and Davina went on guard again.

It’ll be convenient for Rex to tell them what he was doing, but that’s asking too much.

Later, he’ll certainly tell them.

”You’re an outsider, am I right?” the guy asked, staring at the others behind and then back to Rex again. ”People of the Spirit Realm—I assumed. Do you know where you even are? Do you know what would happen if you kill me?”

Rex rose again.

His face showed no sign of worry.

”I’m curious, how old are you? You’ll die fast if you act like this, you do know that, yes?” Rex crossed his arms, finding the guy to be absolutely stupid. Not because of what he said—but because of what he was trying to do.

”What do you mean?” the guy asked hesitantly as hard lines formed on his forehead.

”He meant your tendency to underestimate strangers, even if they came from a lower realm, would lead you to a premature death,” Lilliana shook her head. Clearly, they were dealing with someone extremely inexperienced.

”Tendency to underestimate? What are you talking about?”

”You’re luring for time, and that’s an idiotic idea.”

”W-What...? I’m not—”

He stopped mid-sentence, seeing that the look these strangers were giving him made him feel like lying would not work on them. Even though he didn’t think he had done anything wrong, their faces showed otherwise.

Seconds ago, the guy had been begging for his life. Now, with a sliver of mercy, he was asking questions. Probing. Luring time. If he didn’t know what his captors wanted, he should have observed. Listened. Spoke only when necessary.

Instead, he’d revealed everything.

His inexperience, his fear, his hope that someone would soon come and rescue him.

Everything was there for Rex and the others to see.

He’s like an open book.

And people that easy to read? They didn’t live long.

”As you figured out yourself, we’re not from this realm. If we dare to attack, then you’d best assume that we know what we’re getting into.” Lilliana smiled. It was charming—but from the guy’s perspective, she looked like a demoness. ”Nobody is coming here to save you. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t know exactly what the stick Rex dropped earlier did.

But since he opted to attack, she was sure that he had already thought of the basics.

It’s something that doesn’t need to be questioned.

For people with their kinds of training and training, these things are automatically considered.

”Now—” Rex lowered his arms again. His lips also curled into a cynical smile, ”How about we make a deal?”

...

”Who the heck is it?” A figure draped in a red tunic, robes, and golden armor cruised through the meadow.

Every time he passes a Gardener, he gets a deep bow.

”Came from Zev’s side, didn’t it?” Another beside him with the exact same outfit answered, smiling at the implication. ”Guess he’s got a lot of balls now that his father climbed a rank.” His smile sharpened. ”Still. Someone ought to teach him a lesson. A real one.

”And we got the liberty to do that,” he added with a lecherous grin.

Soon enough, they arrived at their destination.

An invisible mark on the tree that became visible once they were near was the sign that they had arrived.

”It’s here,” the figure looked around. ”This is the end of my official grounds.”

”ZEV!” His friend roared, calling for the person who owned the territory ahead. ”Show yourself! Don’t hide like a coward!”

Even though the meadow dampened any noise that tried to reach far, his voice was echoing loud and clear. Like his voice alone was allowed to echo, while others weren’t. ”If you don’t show yourself, don’t blame us for being impolite!”

Swish—!

Across the field, the person they called Zev landed.

Both of them noticed the tremor in his limbs immediately, and the way he clenched his fists to try and hide it. He failed to hide it properly. They exchanged a glance beneath their helmets, and identical grins spread beneath steel.

Seems like what they thought to be a bold pup wasn’t so bold after all.

Zev stood there shaking like a pig that knew it was about to be brought to the slaughterhouse.

And they were more than happy to play the butcher.

”Very bold of you to attack one of my Gardeners,” the guy stepped forward and stopped exactly at the border. His toes kissed the invisible line between his territory and Zev’s. Not crossing—but reminding that in practice, their territories are quite loose.

Zev’s eyes dropped to those feet. Stayed there.

It seemed he got the message.

”I’m here for an explanation.” The guy’s voice hardened. ”For your aggression.”

”Your slave is foul-looking, and it irked me,” Zev answered. ”So, I took him out.”

He was supposed to be mocking, but his voice was trembling slightly, as if he were scared.

’A tough front?’ the guy sneered inside. ’I’ll see how long that act of yours would last.’

”Oh, I never thought you’d be the one making bold moves like this.” The other guy also stepped forward and summoned a whip. His was bumped with spikes across its length. ”You know the rules... Killing or taking others’ slaves means we can end this in a territorial war. Do you really want that?”

”All talk and no bite,” Zev waved his hand and turned around. ”Fuck off if you’re only here to talk.”

Anger immediately climbed onto the friend’s face.

His face turned red.

Never once in his entire life does he think Zev, out of all people, would act like this to him someday.

Swoosh—!

Anger overtook him.

Like an assassin, he threw a dagger from his free hand, sending it flying straight to Zev.

In the nick of time, Zev tilted his head sharply, avoiding the knife as it whistled past him. Or at least, he thought it’d whistle past him, but the furious guy suddenly appeared beside him, grabbed the dagger mid-air, and hacked.

Slash—!

Zev managed to block the slash with his arms, but the force knocked him away.

”I have the Law of Battle!” the guy announced with a maniacal laughter, staring at Zev like he was even more stupid than the Gardeners. ”If anything, picking a fight with me is the last thing you want to do. Whatever happened next... will be your own fault.”

”Your big head got the better of you, Zev.” The other guy also landed not too far away.

Both of them are now inside Zev’s territory.

Even so, Zev doesn’t seem like he understood the kind of situation he was in.

He rose to his feet again and stared at the one who attacked him.

”Caspian, if you have the Law of Battle, then use it to look at me right now,” Zev suggested, holding his arm that took the brunt of the attack earlier. ”See your odds against me. See whether you can win this battle.”

A frown crept to the guy’s face.

Heeding Zev’s warning felt like an insult, but he decided to do it anyway to be sure.

And sure enough, the moment his law was active, his senses immediately screamed at him to run away.

Three presences manifested around him.

Predators that were hiding in the darkness.

It was only then that he realized that he and his friend had stepped into a trap.