"It's done, you can't go on any further" A voice rang, seeping into his ears.
Rex opened his eyelids slowly.
He was greeted by the breathtaking sight from atop the Silken Citadel but the beauty of the place seed hollow or rather—he was hollow from what had happened. It was still stuck in his mind and he couldn't help it as he wasn't given any ti to digest it.
From behind, Elder Tilrith circled him and stopped in front.
"Going any further would only endanger you, it's best to stop here," She suggested firmly.
It was already the next day, the sun was poking shyly out from the horizon.
Despite the complete failure due to the unexpected appearance of the Invincible Apparition, Rex asked Elder Tilrith to do her best to strengthen his soul. She infused her soul power into him all night long, but even then, she only managed to give him 15% of her soul.
Needing to be careful was one thing but in addition, Rex needed to make several breaks too.
His soul was simply too dirty and broken to get the process done in one session.
"Is the risk too much?" Rex asked as he made eye contact.
"Yes." Elder Tilrith nodded. "Even if it's successful, it would hardly make a difference"
Upon hearing this, Rex averted his gaze away.
System, how far is my soul from being able to sustain the Spirit Realm?
Rex sighed deeply, it wasn't even close.
Even if Elder Tilrith helped him for three more days, that would still not be enough—and that is assuming his soul could take Elder Tilrith's entire soul, when it couldn't. It was clear to him that reaching the optimal soul power was not possible with the ti he had at hand.
"I see," Rex nodded. "let's step out then"
Once there was nothing more Elder Tilrith could do, Rex stood up and took the trinket to call for King Jorik, but Elder Tilrith stopped him. She pulled him by the arm—and asked, "Will our deal still stand?"
Upon hearing this, Rex paused for a second.
Since he couldn't reach the soul power he desired to enter the Spirit Realm—it was natural, for Elder Tilrith to be concerned about their deal. If Rex wanted to, he could go back on the deal, and there's nothing Elder Tilrith could do about it.
But Rex wasn't about to do that.
"I'll get the Maw of Oblivion, our deal still stands" He nodded assuringly. "Describe that thing for so that I won't be duped. And also, does the Spirit Emperor store it sowhere inside his exchequer or what?"
"It's a two-headed black battle axe, the blades' edges are red—it beca like that when our Origin wounded—the Blood God of the Vampires. On top of it is a mouth, you could instantly recognize it from that alone," Elder Tilrith described and she described it as if it was her own baby. "As for where it was, I don't know. But the last ti, it was held by the Spirit Emperor's first concubine"
Rex nodded his head, noting ntally of its description.
Based on the description, finding the Maw of Oblivion should be easy enough.
It was eye-catching that's for sure.
"You have my gratitude, Royal Black Prince," Elder Tilrith thanked genuinely.
Seeing her solemn face that showed she was genuinely thanking him, he noted that the Maw of Oblivion was sacred for the Demon Kingdom but there was more. Elder Tilrith's expression hinted that she was desperate for that weapon.
Reason-wise, he didn't know why but the Demon Kingdom would definitely appreciate this.
"Don't thank yet, I haven't even obtained it" Rex comnted.
Even then, Elder Tilrith shook her head, "As long as you try to obtain it, that's enough. You've no idea how important it was for us, and I am sure our Origin would appreciate you, for doing this"
Upon hearing this, Rex chuckled inside.
No, I don't think he would. He'd cursed instead.
Recalling how Rex extracted the Demon Origin's fragnt and turned Caraptaros into one of his, he was quite sure—the Demon Origin wouldn't be fond of owing sothing to him. But it doesn't matter, as long as the current Demon Queen is pleased, he'd do it.
Elder Tilrith was under the sunlight while the Demon Origin was sowhere in the darkness.
No point in fretting over a ghost.
...
Objective: Retrieve the Demon Origin's weapon, Maw of Oblivion!
Description: In return for Elder Tilrith assisting the user in preparing to enter the Spirit Realm, the user has made a deal with the Demon Queen to retrieve the Demon Origin's weapon, the Maw of Oblivion that was in the possession of the Spirit Emperor's first concubine. Complete this quest to gain the favor of the Demon Queen and avoid future complications!
Rewards: 100 million gold, Demonic Blessing, 20 Skill Upgrades, and 20 Divine Upgrades.
...
As if his intention wasn't good enough, the System ca in and gave him a sudden quest.
Rex didn't focus on other things that he didn't know, he focused on the gold, skill upgrades— and also the divine upgrades, all the things, that he knew. Judging from the amount awarded to him, it was clear that the sudden quest was going to be very difficult to complete.
From those things alone, he could pinpoint exactly how hard the sudden quest would be.
But then again, it involved the Spirit Emperor so it's definitely going to be hard.
Especially now that his soul wasn't strong enough to enter the realm.
Recalling the problem, Rex clenched his teeth and turned away, he needed to find a solution.
Just as he was about to leave, Elder Tilrith stopped him again.
"Does the others know?" She suddenly asked.
Rex turned towards her in confusion—but reading what she ant through her face, a frown propped to his face. Being so close to him last night until today, probing his insides, it wasn't a surprise if she found out.
She found out about the Gradual Penalty that Rex was suffering.
Another notification about it appeared days ago and the pain had gotten worse.
"No. None of them knew" He replied firmly and warningly at the sa ti.
Despite his suffering nearing the breaking point, Rex didn't want to worry the others if it was not necessary. Had Elder Tilrith not probed his soul and looked into him—she also would not notice that he was in pain.
Upon hearing this, Elder Tilrith shook her head.
"You lost your parents and you lost people who do what parents do, you lost the light in your life and now you are struggling to keep afloat what was left," She uttered—summing up what she knew about him. "I will not say I know how you feel but I do know that if you keep this up—it won't take long before bad things happen to you"
Rex turned to look at her, his face was stoic but intense.
Nevertheless, Elder Tilrith made eye contact unfearfully and continued.
"Either you will be replaced by the darkness inside of you or you both disappear," She said—aningfully, the aning behind her words, struck Rex's mind like a lightning strike. "Better find the light that could brighten your world, or make peace with the darkness before it's too late. Speaking from experience that is"
Once she said that, Rex crushed the trinket and a portal soon appeared.
Finishing her matters here, Elder Tilrith takes her leave as she has a war to battle.
King Jorik inford the sentries to allow her to pass through their forests.
Kyran intercepted Rex as there were a lot of things he wanted to say—he was waiting for Rex to finish the session with Elder Tilrith. But Rex declined to talk, he wasn't in the mood to think about anything regarding his dark past.
At this mont, Kyran was the one who knew the most about his hidden past.
His past before even enrolling the Ochyra University.
Despite Rex's response to Kyran wanting to talk, there was a sense of relief inside of him.
Knowing that soone else knew about him was sowhat comforting.
But comfort was not the feeling he needed right now.
Instead of comfort, he needed to panic as his situation wasn't good in the least.
Almost instantly after finishing the soul strengthening process, Rex, and also Iris prepared to depart to et with the newly rising Tabaxi Kingdom or from the sentries, called themselves the Rath'zir Kingdom—also called the Zahara Consortium.
It was unclear whether the Angels had already made contact with them or not.
However, based on how close they were, it was almost certain that the Angels had already.
Rex would need to reach them as soon as possible or risk being hit by trouble while he was in the Spirit Realm which was the last thing he wanted. Three more days until his departure to the Spirit Realm.
From the Dark Elf Kingdom to the Zahara Consortium, it would take days.
Going with the early ninth-rank realm mutated black panther, owned by the nobles, it would exactly take three days to reach there. But with the help of several items from the System's Shop, Rex could cut that down to two days or perhaps even less.
It all depended on how many tis Rex and Iris took a break.
Rex only needed a one-way trip there as he could teleport back to Dargena City at any ti.
Now, Rex was checking the mutated black panther in the royal stables.
Mavenna didn't go back with Elder Tilrith, Rex told her to go back to Dargena City.
Nobody was there guarding the city aside from Giana, Linthia—and also, Ugrok—so Rex sent her back as an additional helper if sothing did happen. Ryze was there too but he was not in a good ntal state the last ti he checked.
On the other hand, Kyran wanted to co with him but Rex refused.
Despite being protected—Naela needed him beside her after such a brutal tragedy.
Smiling acutely at the mutated black panther, Rex tapped her body several tis gently.
Sensing the feral air around him that could only belong to a high-caliber Werewolf, the black panther was compliant. He could've gone faster by mounting on Delta—but since the others were dealing with the Scarlet Banes Kingdom, he couldn't use Delta.
His perfect clone was there to fool the Werewolves that he was really there.
So naturally, Delta being there was mandatory.
Rex took those two items from the inventory.
One is a deep blue peach that he fed to the mutated black panther while the other is a pouch of green dust. As the black panther ate the peach and regulated its effect—Rex circled it and sprinkled the green dust on its body.
He did it absent-mindedly.
Even though his body was moving normally, his eyes were vacant—in deep contemplation.
Peeking from the door was Iris, she was already strapped in light armor and had finished her preparation for their departure. She was looking at Rex, in a new light now, it was mainly due to what she was inside that trench.
'I've seen my families get mocked, beaten, and even killed but I've never killed them myself...'
During his life inside the Noob Box, that young girl has always been there from day one.
She spent her ti tending to Rex, Edward, and Kyle for years.
By that point, Rex already treated her like a sister but he couldn't go against the lieutenant's words, and also knew that Edward wouldn't be able to do the deed, so he decided to take it upon himself to kill the young girl even though it pained him.
Such pain was foreign to Iris.
Not to ntion, he did that while keeping his face coldly composed.
"Even from back then, his self-sacrificing trait was already there," Iris mumbled silently.
Just then as she was trapped in a trance, Rex called her.
"Are you done?" He asked without even turning to look at her.
He already sensed her way before she arrived at the royal stables.
Snapping from her trance, Iris nodded, "Yes, we could depart now. I've prepared everything"
Rex nodded before he brought the mutated black panther outside.
And once he and Iris excused themselves to King Jorik, the duo departed for the Tabaxis.
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