Cough!
Cough!
Rex coughed a mouthful of blood with each cough.
He wanted to beg the moon to give him strength, to heal him from his wounds so that he could push forward, but he knew that would be futile. One—and the only part of the moon that supported him was not in a position to help him.
Nivellen wasn't there to help, in fact, she was relying on him to save her.
Rembering what he promised, he obtained the necessary strength to cross his left leg over.
Edward ca flashing in his mind next, tied and tornted within the chaos realm.
Rembering Edward's situation, he obtained the strength to flip his body over.
"Argh…"
A grunt escaped his lips as he lay flat on the ground—every part of his body was in pain.
But no amount of pain could diffuse the fire of determination within his eyes.
Pressing his forehead against the hard, cold ground, Rex positioned his hands beside him.
Just then, the faces of the people he cared about, the people he was willing to sacrifice his life for, the people he loved, flashed in his mind. Evelyn, Adhara, Kyran, Gistella, Flunra, Calidora—and also the baby inside of her.
Not to ntion, his people—those within Dargena City and the other kingdoms underneath him.
All were facing a calamity, and as his mother said, only he could stop it.
Only he could save them all from destruction.
A mortal and a God must be sacrificed.
Rex didn't care about the God who was going to be sacrificed, but he wanted the mortal to be him.
If the one sacrificed was him, then at least the others wouldn't be chosen.
And that's all that matters.
Everyone is relying on .
Rex grunted, putting the last bit of his strength gained from recalling those he loved into his arms.
All of their hope was on my back.
He pushed harder, desperately trying to get himself off the ground.
I can't afford it—the cost of failure… It's too expensive.
"Raarrggh!"
Pouring everything he had, Rex made one last push, gritting his teeth so hard they began to bleed.
It was only then, after a hazardous push, that he managed to get himself sitting.
Only a few kinds of energy within the Mortal Realm could do this to him, one is the chaos elent.
He had only been this drained and powerless during his battle against the Fifthborn.
Now, it seed the power of law was the sa—a matter of fact, it was worse.
Just sitting up already drained his remaining strength, there was no longer any strength in his body, and the moon wouldn't be able to help. He cursed himself for not seeing this sooner. Earlier, Sonanta's stat was almost halved, and the chain sudden quest wasn't completed once he beat that doll.
From those cues, he should've anticipated that Sonanta wasn't dead, but he didn't.
He was suffering from Law Predation, and his mind was all over the place.
It was no excuse, especially at his level, but it happened.
As he panted heavily, breathing in and out through his mouth, a low whisper seeped into his ears.
"Need help…?"
Opening his eyes tiredly, Rex saw a familiar figure towering in front of him.
The Invincible Apparition.
He was looking down on Rex with an amused smile, delighted to see him struggling and weak.
"Don't talk to ," Rex replied with an exhausted tone.
Dealing with the Invincible Apparition was the last thing Rex needed right now, his focus was narrowed to each breath he took and using the distant but frequent explosion coming from the ruin as motivation.
Even though the chain sudden quest wouldn't fail automatically if soone inside died, Rex couldn't allow that to happen.
Because he gave his words to Grant, he needed to do his absolute best.
"Don't be stubborn, you're about to pass out," The Invincible Apparition chuckled—as he circled Rex with a slow and steady step. "Your mind is unclear, and for your information, the backlash only affected you. I'm not affected by it because I'm simply separate from you."
"As long as you give control, there's still a chance to win this." He added aningfully.
No matter what the Invincible Apparition said, Rex wasn't going to hear it.
Instead, he purchased a bunch of healing and stamina elixirs from the Shop and drank them all.
Vial by vial, he gulped down the contents.
Based on the notifications, the vials were working, but they barely did anything.
Rex couldn't feel much difference even after downing his tenth vial—nevertheless, he kept going.
In total, under a minute, he downed more than fifty vials and could sense a sliver of his strength back.
Not recovering fully, but good enough to sluggishly move his limbs.
"Still not giving up?" The Invincible Apparition smirked and then nodded. "I'll watch you."
…
On the other hand, Viora finally managed to reach the top.
She climbed onto one of the petals and stood on it before turning to face the azure barrier.
Upon seeing her, Linthia and Crimoria banged on the barrier.
"Viora, what happened to Brother Rex?!" Linthia exclaid, worried that he might be in trouble.
"He's fine," Viora approached. "But he couldn't move. The Law Predation is too severe even for him."
"Get us out of here," Crimoria intervened, looking at Viora with hope. "I need to help those people, but I can't break it from the inside. I'm afraid the barrier is even stronger than I was, perhaps, only those at the Eternal Spirit rank could break this thing."
"I'll try. I can ask the Saintess to aid ." Viora nodded and placed both hands on the barrier.
Swish!
Channeling her power, her eyes glowed bright golden before she pushed her energy into the barrier, like a knife trying to stab through thick rubber. Soon, the sun crest on her chest also humd with power—the kind of power that felt different compared to her original life energy.
Linthia and Crimoria watched as the sun crest pumped more power into her.
For Linthia, this looked like a King Mark—the one Rex possessed.
Crack!
Surprisingly, once the foreign power reached the azure barrier, it slightly cracked!
Even though they had little hope that Viora could do it, this bolstered their confidence in her greatly.
It seed a Priestess of Purity isn't only for show—she is powerful.
"Haahh!"
Viora exhaled roughly and pushed more energy into the azure barrier, widening the crack rapidly.
It cracked so much that there was a hole at the center of the fissure already, the inside of the barrier was now connected to the outside. Linthia and Viora stepped back, hopeful that Viora could actually crack the azure barrier open.
But then, a loud thunderous crack resounded from above.
Almost instinctively, Crimoria and Linthia snapped their head upwards to view the dark sky above.
From the coalescing shadow, a black, purplish lightning descended from above and struck the azure barrier hard. Viora was thrown backward—the power from the lightning surged through the entirety of the barrier and zapped her.
She managed to catch herself, avoiding the fall from the top for the second ti.
anwhile, Linthia and Crimoria covered their faces with their arms.
Once the residue from the lightning disappeared, they put down their arms and sucked in a cold breath.
In front of them, on the crack Viora made, there was another barrier, the sa color as the lightning that acted as a second layer of protection. Both of them were confused. This was certainly not the Forsaken Tower's chanism—this was sothing else.
Another source was helping the Forsaken Barrier.
Viora climbed back up on the flower petal and stood up, coughing several tis in pain.
However, her focus instantly landed on the second layer of the barrier.
It stunned her for a second before sothing cold tapped her cheek.
Then another—light, but deliberate, like the dark sky had reached down to touch her.
Instinctively, her fingers rose to touch her face, brushing away the wetness.
Once she took a look at her fingers, her breath was caught in her throat.
Black.
A slow dread curled in her stomach as she forced herself to look up.
Above, the dark sky, once still, now wept in silence—dark drops falling faster, heavier, until the heavens opened fully. Within half a minute, the air roared with the sound of liquid shadow, drenching the entire world in a relentless flood.
Viora stood there, her heart beating inside her chest, as a whisper escaped her lips.
"Black Rain…"
Inside, Crimoria also uttered the sa thing as she ca to realize another damnation they must face.
"I can't believe it…" Crimoria rasped. "Are the Gods adamant to take us down tonight?"
"Black Rain? What is that?" Linthia asked in worry.
She saw how Viora's face drained of all color, and instantly knew that this wasn't sothing good.
"The Black Rain is a phenonon born from an excess of voidal energy, and the Sky City was tasked to handle the naturally forming Black Rain. It was the reason why their compound was up there, beyond the sky," Crimoria explained with a trembling voice. "But this… this Black Rain ford suddenly, so it could only an one thing."
"What is it? Don't beat around the bush and tell !" Linthia exclaid.
The suspense was killing her—she needed to know what this was so she could know what to expect.
"It ant the Singing Lady there... She's one of the favored Voidal Knights," Crimoria added. "This Black Rain is ford by a Voidal Prince who took a liking to her and wanted her to succeed in what she was doing. It would strengthen her, a temporary boost, and worse, turn those who are below the Immortal Spirit rank into Voidal Monsters..."
Linthia sucked in a cold breath.
In her mind, she was already theorizing what this Black Rain could an, but this wasn't it.
She knew the Voidal Prince was almost the strongest, but she didn't know its influence could reach this far.
"Like us, Voidal Prince has their favorites, Voidal Monsters that they supported to evolve to a higher rank, a higher race." Crimoria reached out her hand and touched the azure barrier. "And those monsters who got the Voidal Prince's attention, we call them the Favored, and the Singing Lady was one."
"How do we defeat it now? There has to be a way to nullify this Black Rain." Linthia asked.
She didn't care how it ca to be.
All she cared about was the solution, so that she could help Rex.
"We can't, this is a lost cause," Crimoria shook her head. "We need a strong Seeker from the Sky City to intervene, and we're not prepared for that. We can't contact them, and frankly, even Priestess Viora doesn't have the power to call for them."
Just then, Crimoria's eyes flicked to the side.
Linthia followed her gaze and also saw what she saw.
A lone figure could be seen sprinting and stumbling towards the ruin.
His exhaustion could be seen through the way he was moving, slipping, and scrambling back to his feet every three steps or so. In addition, his entire being was drenched in droplets of black water that infused into his body.
It was clear who it was, even from a distance—Rex.
Realizing that it was him, Linthia's life energy flared, responding to her anger.
She hit the barrier several tis, roaring in frustration, trying to break free, but she couldn't.
Once again, Rex always needed to be the one who carried all the burden.
Viora, on the petal, also gazed down and gasped, "Rex…?"
Earlier—she was certain that Rex couldn't move anymore—the Law Predation was too crippling, no mortals are above that. So, seeing him sprinting toward the ruin, she was horrified for his safety.
"No…" Viora gritted her teeth. "It's already beyond our grasp right now, stop it!"
Rex would really die.
She must stop him.
Great Elder Rosa wasn't planning for this to happen.
Rex has proven himself enough.
In haste, Viora leaped down and glided to stop him.
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