The Invincible Full-Moon System

Rex, or rather, the Invincible Apparition, was appalled at the audacity of Althea asking him to have the Reaping Seed when all she did was meddle in something that doesn't involve her. She was sent here only to check, but demanded the most precious thing from this incident.

He stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"This fucking—what a noble woman you are..."

"You owe it to me!"

"Aren't nobles supposed to be graceful? How exactly do I owe it to you?"

"Because you slapped me two times! Even my husband never got the privilege to slap me before!"

"I'm surprised," Rex cackled. "From how noisy and loud you are, I thought it would be normal for your husband to slap you. In fact, I'm surprised you even have a husband. Poor guy must have been forced to marry a big-mouthed witch."

Althea was silent.

So silent that Rex curiously glanced at her again, only to find her staring at him with teary eyes—and puffed cheeks like a kid that had her candy taken away. So much so that even Rex almost felt bad, but almost is not necessarily the same as actually feeling bad.

"Go back. I'm not giving you the Reaping Seed."

"Give it to me! You have to take responsibility!"

"Responsibility? Like hell! Judging from your behavior, you're overdue to be slapped anyway!"

In a fit of anger and frustration, Althea flailed her hands, hitting Rex's back relentlessly.

She forced Rex to raise an arm to defend himself.

"Stop hitting me!" Rex growled, eyes glowing molten red, but that didn't scare Althea at all. In fact, it prompted her to hit him harder while holding back tears. "If you don't stop, I'm going to slap you again! Do you want to be slapped again?"

"Go ahead! I'm going to tell my father that you're a woman abuser!" Althea barked back.

Even though she was supposed to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old, she was acting like a kid, and Rex was completely unready for that. One would think living that long would make anyone wise, but it seemed he was wrong.

Like Princess Davina, Althea was living in her privilege bubble.

But unlike Princess Davina, who was raised with strength, she was surely dotted by her parents.

Rex didn't even need to see her parents to know that.

Both of them struggled and even wrestled with Althea reaching for the finished Reaping Seed, while Rex played defense and put his back against her. No chance he was going to give it away when it was extremely valuable.

He could use it to enhance his existing Echo, and he would.

"Ask for something else! I'm not giving you the damn Reaping Seed!"

"Eugh—fine!"

Althea pushed Rex away and folded her arms under her chest, pouting.

She looked away, contemplating for a moment, before her eyes brightened when she got an idea.

"What is it?" Rex gritted his teeth, forcing a smile, as bloodlust was seeping out of him. It would've exploded—had it not been the real Rex screaming to stop inside. "I'll get you anything but the Reaping Seed."

"Let me slap you back. Just once—but really, really hard," Althea smirked mischievously.

Rex narrowed his gaze, suspicious, "That's it?"

"Yes. But you have to let me land it, you can't defend against it. That means no usage of life energy—no senses, and you have to close your eyes." She arched a brow in challenge, lips curling. "If you so much as flinch, it won't count. How about it? Are you going to accept it?"

Hearing this, Rex was silent for a good moment.

He knew that Althea was scheming.

"Is there really any need for you to think that hard? Being slapped by me is a privilege, you know. Many people would want it," She played with her slender, beautiful hands that had never known hardship. "You should be thankful."

"Thankful, huh?" A vein bulged on Rex's forehead. "Fine, as long as you piss off after this."

As soon as he agreed, Althea couldn't hide her smirk again.

'I'm going to snatch that Reaping Seed and vanish before he even realizes what happened.' Her gaze burned with greedy eagerness, locked on the Reaping Seed in Rex's hand. 'He would not even be able to react. As long as I reach father, he won't dare take it from me again.'

Just as soon as she thought that, her eyes widened.

Like being snuffed from reality, the Reaping Seed disappeared from Rex's hand.

"Why do you look surprised?" Rex grinned cheekily. "You aren't thinking of snatching it, are you?"

Althea's lips parted, but no words came out as she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Not only did Rex see through her, but he even has an ability like this.

'Just how many powers does he have?!' She glared at Rex in frustration. 'Unfair! So unfair!'

Even though he knew that he had messed up Althea's plan to snatch the Reaping Seed, Rex played it cool.

He suppressed his life energy, dulled his senses, and even shut his eyes before she asked, exactly as per the deal of this exchange. Leaning forward with a faint smile tugging his lips, he offered his face; it was a clear mockery of the childish noble.

"Go on, slap me with all you got. I can take it." Rex cackled in amusement.

On the other hand, Althea's face turned grim.

But it only lasted a fleeting moment as her smile returned soon.

Althea stepped forward and stood before Rex, looking at his slap-able face with extreme delight.

"I'm going to slap you now. No cheating, okay?"

"Of course. How hard can you even hit? In fact, I'll even let you slap me two times for good measure."

"No… once will be enough. After all, you'll be squealing on the ground after it."

Rex only chuckled and waited for the slap to come.

One second. Two seconds.

He waited, eyes shut, bracing himself for the slap that would soon come.

Even though he suppressed his senses completely, he could feel Althea winding up to make the slap, her presence swelling like a storm about the break. He wasn't worried. A slap was nothing—at worst, a petty little sting.

She wouldn't be stupid enough to hit him seriously with her power.

It was obvious that Althea was petty, so petty she could make mountains crumble out of spite—but the mission was on the line. Rex knew that she wouldn't cross that line, or at least, he hoped that she would not cross that line.

Then came the fifth second.

It was when the strike landed.

But it wasn't a slap.

Thud!

A searing, paralyzing current detonated through his body, starting from the only place every single man instinctively feared. His eyes snapped open in horror as agony shot through his crotch, crawling like an electric fire current up his spine.

His knees buckled inward, his hands shot down to cradle what was left of his dignity, and his powerful frame folded like a house of cards.

No matter how strong a man was, that place will always be the softest.

Even someone like Rex, who had killed countless people, folded without a fight.

Althea didn't slap him at all.

She had driven her knee into his family jewels with surgical, merciless precision.

It wasn't hard for her to spot where his family jewels were, as they stood out even through the fabric.

Rex toppled forward, forehead smacking the ground as he wailed—an unruly, strangled sound that could make every man within earshot twitch in sympathetic pain. Althea, ever the picture of petty satisfaction, stood smugly over him.

Her supposed slap had turned into the most devastating knee of Rex's life.

"FUCK!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!"

"That's what you get, hmph! Get a move on, will you? Don't allow any more hiccups."

Althea flicked her blue hair and walked away, leaving Rex wailing on the ground.

She didn't seem to be bothered by the blatant pain in his voice.

Gritting his teeth with absolute, animal frenzy, Rex raised his gaze and glared at Althea's back.

Despite the gruelling pain, he pointed a hand at her.

"Spirit Genesis: Inevitable Dea—"

Before he could even finish chanting his Spirit Genesis, the molten lava color of his eyes melted.

It turned to crimson again.

"Are you insane?! You're actually going to use Inevitable Death on her?!" Rex, the real Rex, exclaimed in shock, stunned by the Invincible Apparition's impulsiveness. But before his outrage could even settle, his body stiffened, eyes bulging wide as agony surged through him like lightning. "Fuck—! She used life energy at the last second!"

Being in the background meant he had no sensation of the body.

Now that he returned, the pain from being kneed right on his family jewels was his to endure.

And for a fleeting second, the thought of using the Inevitable Death on Althea doesn't sound so bad.

Meanwhile, outside of the Vinarkin Bubble.

"Heurghkk!"

Haxel covered his mouth as he looked down at the ground with widened eyes, shocked could be seen plastered across his face. He pulled his hand back and sucked in a cold breath when he saw blood smeared on it.

But what surprised him the most was the excruciating sensation.

It didn't come from within, but it came from outside—from his Echo to be exact.

"What… what's happening?" He whispered, stunned. "Why is my Echo… weakening?"

Haxel could feel earlier that the Faceless Reaper was defeated, which meant Rex triumphed over it, but that should be it. Instead, when the Faceless Reaper died, he felt a strain on his Echo—before it turned into an outright tear.

A portion of his Echo vanished as if something or something took a piece of it.

He had never heard of something like this before.

An Echo could only be damaged in a battle where the Echo was pitted against another Echo.

All Haxel had done was empower the Faceless Reaper with his Echo, a mere indirect link. He wasn't forcing his Echo beyond its limits. By all logic, if the Faceless Reaper perished—the borrowed power should have dissolved with it.

It wouldn't resist the enemy and would simply dissipate.

So, he didn't understand where this was coming from.

Earlier, when it was about to dissipate, he felt something grab it and trace him down.

'Rex, it has to be him…' Haxel felt the strength leaving him, and fear crept in. 'But how did he do it?'

Just as he turned to look at the breach again, he noticed a figure walking out.

It was Althea, and she looked satisfied.

Clearly, she was in a good mood, but Haxel didn't want her to see him after the scolding earlier.

At a time like this, it's best for him to lie low.

But as he tried to step back, to blend with the legion, her eyes caught him when she was about to leave.

Almost instantly, she pointed at him and gestured for him to come.

Unable to refute Althea's command as she came from a way higher noble household, Haxel reluctantly approached her—wiping the blood away from his lips with his arm. "Did everything go well inside? I sensed the Voidal Knight's presence had disappeared."

"Do you always ask stupid questions? Of course, it's handled if its presence disappeared," She said with clear annoyance in her tone and disappointment. "Do you have something to tell me before I leave, Sir Haxel?"

Hearing this, Haxel paused, but he quickly recovered.

"I want to apologize for my incompetence."

"Is that it?"

"Do you have something in mind?"

"You lied to me."

Deg!

Haxel's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained composed and calm.

"Lie to you?" He tilted his head in fake confusion.

"Yes. Sir Rex didn't need your help at all, so your excuse doesn't add up." Althea said firmly, her eyes turning sharper than a blade. "Once the mission is over, come see me and my father. There are a lot of questions that you need to answer."

Once she said her piece, she soared skyward, returning to report back to the nobles.

All Haxel could do was stand there, shadowed by suspicion.