The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 2005: Awakening of Another God

Silence enveloped the summit of a giant mountain under the shining Blood Full Moon.

It was flat as a table, as if some celestial blade had sheared it clean in a single stroke and left the summit forever scarred. No snow clung to its surface even though it was very high. And no wind dared to disturb the stillness that hung over the place like a held breath.

Instead, the ground was covered in blood.

Shallow—barely an inch deep, but it stretched across the entire summit perfectly.

Like a dark mirror that reflected the terrible reddish sky above.

And though the blood had been there for countless years, had been there long enough that the coppery scent had seeped into the very stone beneath and thickened the air until it became a physical presence— it was still fresh based on its bright color.

Just breathing in this place would make someone taste iron and salt and the ghosts of the slaughtered.

A newcomer, someone unaccustomed to the perfume of bloodbath—would have doubled over within a few seconds. Vomiting, dizzy, and having their mind recoiled from the sheer, suffocating weight of death saturated into every molecule.

But no weaklings ever reached this place.

Only entities with immense power can even enter this realm.

Besides, the summit belonged to a sovereign, and the sovereign didn’t welcome guests.

At the center of the blood-mirror, rising from the crimson pool like a monolith of dominion, was a giant throne. It was not carved from stone or forged from metal. It was made of bones and blood. Fused and twisted—the remains of things that had once been mighty enough to be killed and used as decorations.

Every inch of it spoke conquest no mortals could ever achieve.

Conquest only Gods can fathom.

And upon that throne reclined a massive werewolf with fur the color of dried blood. Deep crimson and black where the shadows pooled in the hollows of his frame, and it bristled with a savage and predatory stillness.

His chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm.

His claws, dark as obsidian with a red sheen, draped over the armrests.

His head was tilted back against the bone lattice, eyes sharp enough to cut with only a stare.

Kaiser.

Beside the throne, another figure stood. Someone bathed in honeyed light. Meloriana shimmered like a second moon; her radiance a stark and beautiful contrast to the carnage that surrounded her. Gentle and comforting God-like power clung to her form like a lover, and where it touched the blood at her feet—the crimson surface sparkled.

She stood beside Kaiser like an advisor.

And though her light was supposed to be comforting, it was more erratic right now.

Just then, the dimension shook.

Rumble!

It was a deep, resonant shudder that rolled through the fabric of the Blood Moon Realm—and shook the air. The bone-throne rattled on its dais, and concentric rings rippled outward across the blood-mirror floor. Above the summit, the dark sky flickered.

Its bruised clouds recoiled as though something vast had struck them from the other side.

Something immense was brushing past the boundary of the realm.

Something that carried enough power to make Kaiser and Meloriana look up to the sky.

Kaiser’s eyes snapped upward. They burned—two pits of molten crimson in the vast, blood-dark land of his face. His head turned toward the sky with the slow, terrible precision of a predator identifying an incoming threat.

It was the same for Meloriana.

She lifted at the same instant—her honeyed light flared brighter as her gaze sharpened to a point.

Neither of them spoke, but they had the same thing in their minds.

Both could feel it. A presence. An influence. Something had reached across the dimensional divide and brushed against the air near the Blood Moon Realm. Though it seemed to be passing, the fact that it had entered the Blood Moon Realm’s sphere of influence was worrying.

It was a power that did not sneak or skulk.

A kind that announced itself by making the world tremble.

Kaiser’s claws curled around the head of his throne’s armrests. The bone groaned under the pressure he was exerting. His lips peeled back, revealing sharp fangs, and the low rumble in his chest deepened into something that was between a quiet growl and a quiet laugh.

”Someone is coming at us.” He murmured roughly.

”No,” Meloriana shook her head as her light pulsed once in recognition. ”It’s coming at our influence.”

Just then, a green flood of energy surged across the sky, rolling in from the right horizon and sweeping over the entire realm before vanishing beyond the left. Though the energy was distant, the two could sense the immortal energy thrumming within it.

And the distinct chill and spectacular color pointed them at one God.

Most Gods would know who this energy belonged to.

”It’s the Weaver of Time... What is he doing here? Bullying the Lesser Gods?”

”No, it’s not him. It’s his Wardens.”

Kaiser reached out his hand and then manifested something in front of him. It was a blank red expanse with several white dots within it. A map of the realms under the control of the Lunirich Gods. Then, his eyes fixed on the sweeping green.

It slid through his territory without permission and settled on one realm.

One that made Meloriana frown almost instantly.

”Mortal Realm?” She muttered—with clear concern. ”It’s the Royal Black Prince. How is this possible? How did he gain favour from the Weaver of Time? This doesn’t make any sense. He barely settled into the God Realm, and now he’s already talking with an Old God?”

Kaiser’s face turned grim.

Despite the raging anger within him, the anger didn’t leak out. He didn’t thrash around violently to vent his anger, and his aura also didn’t go on a rampage. He remained in control, staring ahead at the void in contemplation.

It was surprising for the Royal Black Prince to make contact with the Weaver of Time, but it’s fine.

Since the Wardens were the ones doing this, then it won’t be a problem.

Just the fact that the Weaver of Time did not get involved directly meant the Royal Black Prince only got lucky meeting the Wardens and gaining their favour. No matter how shocking, this didn’t mean that the Weaver of Time would mess with them for a mere Demigod.

”He’s afraid...” Kaiser muttered coldly. ”He’s protecting his pack.”

”Even so, he still got in contact with an Old God!” Meloriana exclaimed, already fearing that the Royal Black Prince could somehow band together with the Weaver of Time. ”We’re already humiliated by not being able to deal with a mere mortal. If an Old God gets involved, then we’ll be scre—”

Out of nowhere, Kaiser’s hand shot towards Meloriana.

He grabbed her by the neck and rose slowly from his throne, hauling her from the ground.

”Wh-What are you doing?!”

”You talk too much...”

Swish—!

Meloriana felt it before she understood it.

A cold, subtle pull at the edges of her being—a part of her leaving her rapidly, siphoned away like water through a crack she couldn’t see. It didn’t take long for her to realize what it was. Her immortal energy. It was her power to exist; the golden radiance that had retained her form—was being drawn out of her against her will.

Kaiser’s claws had turned to blood, and they pierced into her neck with the precision of a predator.

A predator who had done this before countless times.

And the penetration was not physical alone; she felt his immortal energy pour into her through the open wound like a flood of overwhelming force that overpowered her own immortal energy, drowned it, and pushed it away.

Only then did she snap out of her daze as she realized what Kaiser was doing.

Surprise shattered into horror.

Meloriana’s eyes went wide; the golden light within them flickered like a candle in a storm.

”No... No! It’s not time for me yet!” She exclaimed.

”If you’re only going to panic, then your presence is not needed,” Kaiser said coldly. ”Don’t fight it.”

Despite what he said, she flailed hard. Her body thrashed with every ounce of strength she possessed. Her legs kicked. Her arms wrenched against his grip. She bit down on his fingers—her sharp fangs sank into the blood-formed claws.

But it was like biting iron.

Meloriana’s claws raked across his forearms, and she felt the strength around her neck loosen up.

Almost immediately, she turned into golden light and leaped away to flee the realm, but Kaiser was not going to let her get away. Before she could reach far, his hand already clamped around her frail wrist—and then threw her down to the summit.

Kaiser then pinned her down and pushed his claws deeper than earlier.

So deep that Meloriana began to choke.

A sound escaped her lips as her body began to dissipate—half gasp and half gurgle.

Slivers of shimmering golden honey began to ooze from her skin, rising like tears in reverse—and then they fell. One by one, they dropped to the blood floor beneath her. Each droplet was a piece of Meloriana dissolving away.

And visibly, the radiance that had cloaked her began to wane.

Her form grew thinner. Fainter. Less.

”It-It’s not my time yet. The edict.” She said between gurgles. ”I still want to be awake.”

”We’re in a crisis,” Kaiser answered. ”Forget about the edict. Let the useful ones be awake.”

Meloriana thrashed harder, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing she had ever been able to do, as she was the weakest in terms of raw physical strength, and this was Kaiser’s realm. Her strength, immense by any mortal measure, was a candle in this summit.

Slowly, her body melted.

Not into bone and flesh and the meat of a corpse, but into honey.

Golden, luminous, and beautiful.

Underneath, the pool of it spread across the blood floor, a bright stain on the crimson mirror.

And then, Meloriana was gone.

Kaiser did not pause. He stood up and then shot his immortal energy downward into the golden pool—and the reaction was immediate and violent. The golden honey ignited. An enormous column of energy erupted skyward, a spear of gold that split the sky and struck the Blood Full Moon above.

The moon flickered several times, and then it blazed. Brighter than it had ever been.

Charged with energy.

Once it was ready, Kaiser reached out his hand. Twelve moons appeared within the Blood Full Moon, arranged in a perfect circle—their surfaces shimmered with distinct hues. And with a grunt, an eclipse began to form.

The great moon darkened at its center as the twelve circled within it like a crown of lesser Gods.

Kaiser’s claws moved, twisting the air, and the moons rotated.

One by one, they slid into the heart of the eclipse, and each time one settled, the color of the blackened moon shifted. He was choosing. Selecting one of his siblings. Weighing the alignment with the ice-cold deliberation of achieving one goal in mind.

And when the very top of the moon was chosen and settled at the center, Kaiser grinned.

He watched the moon’s color bleeding into the darkened disc until the entire eclipse Blood Full Moon radiated with a new terrible light. A very bright silver with a bluish hue. As soon as it was ready, Kaiser pulled back his arm and clenched his fist.

Immortal energy coiled around his knuckles.

Dense enough to crack reality.

And then, he thrust his hand forward in a savage punch—that fired another beam of red immortal energy that slammed into the eclipse moon. In the next instant, the Blood Moon Realm screamed, and a peculiar bluish-silver enveloped the entire realm.

A bright bluish-silver light sparkled from the center of the eclipsed moon.

From it, something descended.

Crash—!

Kaiser looked at the figure that landed right in front of him, cracking the summit and beyond.

”Long time no see, brother, but I need you to wake up now.”