The Invincible Full-Moon System

Rex averted his gaze, heading back to his position where Ethan was already waiting.

As he got closer, he caught sight of April and Rick, who were separated from the formation.

Rick was leaning against a boulder, and from his complexion alone, it was clear that the lethal poison had already circulated through his body. Despite April's best efforts, she couldn't do much to deal with the poison as she was no poison master.

"How is he?" Rex asked, startling April, who was focused on something.

"Not good," April shook her head, beads of sweat trickled down her face. "The poison is spreading."

Rex looked over to see what she was doing.

She seemed to be folding a few leaves together after coating them with a blue powder.

"What are you making?"

"It's a recipe from my grandmother for a medicine to stabilize life energy. I don't know if it's going to work, but I hope this could slow down the poison until we get more help."

Even as she explained what she was making, her focus was solely on what she was doing.

She looked so serious while making it, and her face was etched with urgency—and worry.

Clearly, she was really counting on it to work.

"Why don't you ask for help from the Seekers and Healers?"

"I asked the Healers, but none of them knew anything about this poison. As for the Seekers, they were busy containing the horde. I can't ask them for help. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be guiding the soldiers?"

"Ethan had it covered. He's quite capable."

"I see. That's good."

Rex's eyes glistened as he scanned the medicine with the System.

<Scanning…>

<Notice: April is making a Life Vitalizer Fold, a medicinal item that expands the Spiritual Vessel. It'll slow down the life energy circulation, thus slowing down the poison's spreading speed.>

Seeing this, Rex nodded in pleasant surprise.

Even though she's a noble, she's quite resourceful and didn't break under pressure.

"Don't worry too much," Rex straightened his back and crossed his arms. "The Life Vitalizer Fold will help slow the spreading as you hoped. I'm confident in it, so you should too."

April bit her lower lip and made the last fold.

As soon as she did, the leaves that were stacked and folded into the shape of a square were finished with a faint sizzle of green aura. She then put the Life Vitalizer Fold into Rick's mouth—and used her own life energy to push it in.

Rick was paralyzed right now, so he needed help to swallow.

For a good moment there, April checked whether there was any change on Rick's skin.

But as seconds passed, there was no chance, and he didn't seem to feel any better either.

"Did I make a mistake…?" April whispered dejectedly, but right after she said that—her eyes glistened when Rick inhaled deeply from his mouth, and color came back to his complexion. "It worked! It really worked!"

In sheer excitement, she turned to look at Rex—her face was adorned with a beautiful smile.

One that makes even Rex's heart skip a beat.

"It worked!" She beamed.

Rex cleared his throat and turned away, shrugging his shoulders, "I never doubted it."

Hearing this, April's face warmed a little as she blushed, also turning away out of embarrassment, "How do you even know about the Life Vitalizer Fold? Grandma said it was a secret medicine, and not all of my family knew about it."

"I was also taught by someone," Rex lied blatantly, but smoothly. "Maybe she also knew your grandma."

April nodded and didn't question it.

As for Rex, he was rubbing the lid of a vial in his hand, his thumb tracing its smooth effect.

It was the vial he had purchased from the System seconds ago.

I also scanned Rick with the System. I know the exact poison he was suffering from, and I also have the antidote in my hand. He could recover quicker with this antidote, but is that really the right choice? He contemplated, turning to look at April, who seemed to be proud of herself. Seeing her this happy… Sigh, I'll save the antidote. Rick will be fine either way.

Rex didn't want to ruin April's moment.

Best for him to leave Rick as he is right now, since he was too wounded to help anyway.

Even if he drank the antidote, it would still take time for him to recover, so there's no reason to insist.

Just then, April turned to look at Rex again and raised her brow.

"Say, what happened to you?" She asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Rex's mind instantly went to the prisoners—he killed earlier, as that must be what April was referring to. "My Spirit Genesis, though powerful, also has a ruthless limitation. For me to not get hurt, I need blood, and the prisoners are a great source of it."

"Besides, I only killed the prisoners on the lower floors." He added truthfully.

As he promised to the Invincible Apparition, he would allow the killing of bad people.

And the Invincible Apparition, honoring their pact, descended upon the prison beyond the city walls to harvest the blood of its inmates. That alone made it possible for Rex to shroud the entire city with the red haze, and the corpses inside were the corpses of the inmates, not the people of the holy land.

During the breach in the southern part, he forced the people of the city to evacuate.

Of course, some of them were reluctant, but a scare tactic was all he needed.

Now, the people were hiding in a nearby cave that was made solely for evacuation purposes.

"I think it's a small price to pay for the situation," Rex said firmly.

Only the ones who can make firm decisions under pressure can be leaders.

And the decisiveness Rex made was the exact trait of a leader, one that April greatly admires about him.

But that wasn't what she was talking about.

"I was wondering why you did that too, so now I understand why you decided to kill the prisoners, but that's not what I meant." April shook her head, then hesitated, her finger drifting toward Rex's lower half. A faint blush crept up her cheeks. "I-I'm talking about… that. Why are you standing like that?"

Rex paused for a second and then looked down.

It was then that he realized his feet were still curving inward as he stood.

Of course, the pain from the devastating knee was still there, but he could manage it somehow.

However, his body was still sensitive and fully conscious around that area, making him stand funny.

"Did you get hit… down there?" April hesitantly asked.

Rex immediately turned around and walked away, "Ekhmm… I'm going to check on Ethan."

Instead of answering, he decided to flee the conversation, though now that April saw him walking, she became even more sure that Rex had been hit down there. Someone struck a cheap shot, 'I can't imagine it to be that voidal monster…'

April thought about the Faceless Reaper's scythe arms and shuddered.

'If that's the case, his… thing... would probably be gone.' She rubbed her chin. 'Did Althea do it? Why?'

Meanwhile, Rex sent a thousand curses at Althea in his mind.

It was all because of her.

But he quickly shook his head and focused on the important things.

Like the notification that appeared before him right now.

A notification that warned him that Haxel was brimming with killing intent.

It was never Haxel's intention to harm or kill Rex in any way, which was the reason why there was no killing intent quest issued by the System. Ot perhaps he was good at hiding his killing intent—but Rex believed the first one more.

Haxel was here for something else.

All he wanted to do was sabotage the mission and make Empress Morgana look bad.

Her shaky position would collapse if she failed this mission.

Rex was never a part of Haxel's goal; he was only an additional amusement effect that would make the victory sweeter. But it wasn't the case anymore. For better or worse—Haxel had bared his fangs openly, and he's going to kill Rex.

…

<Killing Intent!>

Threat: Very High!

Description: Haxel—one of the beloved knights of the empire had finally let loose of his killing intent, and he's not going to stop until he kills the user! Survive—and kill Haxel before he can jeopardize the user's deal with Empress Morgana by destroying the mission!

Time Limit: 3 Days.

Penalty: Spirit form duration reduced by 10 days, Sanity decreased by 50%, Berserk increased by 100%.

…

Upon seeing the notification, Rex's eyes narrowed.

Hmm, very high? Haxel…? It's my first time seeing this level of threat rating, too.

He glanced back at Haxel, who was still glaring at him with seething malice—startled to find that Haxel, despite losing a portion of his Berserker of Skartold Echo already, the System still marked him with a high threat-rating.

For some reason, weaker or not, Haxel was still dangerous.

The Invincible Apparition was strong enough to toy with the Faceless Reaper, and Haxel isn't that much stronger than it, so how is he still very dangerous? Rex faced ahead again, his brows furrowing in deep thought. Does he also overload his body—with the same substance he overloaded the Faceless Reaper with? No, that can't be. He's still a vassal of the empire—how can he be so adamant to do this? To make sure the mission failed?

Rex was confused.

In his mind, like those spies sent to intercept his meeting with Rick, Haxel was also sent by the other concubines. But for him to be that determined was uncalled for. At most, the concubines would only be paying him to do this.

He failed to think of a scenario where Haxel was indebted to the concubines.

Or is he in love with one of them…? That's possible.

<Notice: the user's berserk stat was increased by 10%!>

Rex clenched his fists tightly at that thought.

No, I refused to believe that he's doing this only because of something that mundane. I refuse to believe that someone was getting in my way to save Nivellen simply because he wanted to win a woman's heart. I… I fucking refuse to believe it.

<Notice: the user's berserk stat was increased by 15%!>

<Be advised, the user's berserk stat has reached 60%, nearing the first threshold of going berserk!>

Seeing the notification, Rex halted his steps and closed his eyes.

He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves, as going berserk right now would screw him over.

Once he opened his eyes again, the anger sank back into his core.

No, Haxel isn't going to sacrifice himself—he doesn't look like the self-sacrificing type. Maybe the very reason the System still rated him so dangerously was because of something simple. His preparations. Regardless of his weakened state, his schemes are still dangerous.

Yes, that's it.

Rex looked skyward and exhaled roughly through his nose.

He changed his mind.

Abruptly, he made a sharp turn and headed for Haxel, deciding to confront him.

Seeing him approaching, Haxel's eyes narrowed, though he still forced a smile, acting like normal.

"Sir Rex, are you okay? I apologize for not helping inside. Outside was also a mess."

"Tell me, why are you doing this?"

Rex has no patience to dwell on small talk as he instantly goes to say what he wanted to say.

No time for them to dance around words.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?" Haxel's smile stretched wider, but it betrayed his tension.

Glancing at the old man, Rex could tell he had some inkling of what was happening, so Rex didn't shut him out of the conversation. With a casual wave of his hand, he invoked the Minor Law of Misdirection, choking their voices from prying ears.

Haxel wouldn't drop the act until they were safe, that's for sure.

Seeing the translucent bubble around them, Haxel raised a brow in surprise, sensing that it was a Law.

Then, Rex opened his mouth again, "I'll repeat it one more time. Why are you doing this?"