Princess Davina was losing her composure.
She looked at the kneeling Crown Prince Lukas and then at the other contenders.
It wasn't finished; the two could reach the tenth step, but with each passing second, that flicker of hope was waning. Though both of them showed promising talent, one with three high-grade Soul Artifacts while the other possessed a unique Spirit Genesis that pushed him to the limit, neither of them seems convincing.
'What am I going to do…?'
Princess Davina shifted from where she stood, not expecting this at all.
…
Earlier that day.
"Did any of the suitors pick your eyes?"
"No, not really."
Sitting on a pavilion in the garden, basking under the warmth of the shaded sun, was Princess Davina.
Across from her, sipping tea gracefully was her older sister, Princess Liliana.
Both of them were taking a mont of peace in the morning.
Since they were inside the mainland of the House of Castillion instead of being in their own territory, there was nothing for them to do here. Duke Lorcan, their father, was the sovereign of this land, and all matters were handled by him.
It gave the sisters a peaceful break from reality.
One that they used to talk about the upcoming Naless Dragon Arena tournant later today.
"Are you still going with what I suggested?"
"Yes, I don't need a lifelong husband. All I need is soone good enough to get Father off of my back."
Princess Davina leaned back, sighing heavily through her nose.
She said that, but Princess Liliana knew that there was sothing more to this than what she said.
"If that's the case, you can randomly pick one, anyone but instead, you rejected most of the strongest heirs years ago—why is that?"
"Back then, I wasn't planning on doing sothing like this. And besides, if I marry soone with a high royal status and promising talent, it's only going to be tireso and complicated to separate. It would only tie down."
Hearing this, Princess Liliana chuckled and looked at Princess Davina teasingly.
Princess Davina already knew what she was going to say from the look she was wearing alone.
"Just say that you're embarrassed by the number of stuffed animals you have in your room."
"Sister… the stuffed animals are off limits, you know that."
"Okay, okay, little sister. I won't bring it up again."
Her gaze trailed to the beautiful garden.
But there was still a teasing smile on her face.
"But you know… I had to bring that up to your first husband, right?"
"Please, you're only going to embarrass to death. Besides, doing that would also encourage him to be and act as if he's my actual husband, that's not good. Father forced to marry, and I'll be damn if I'd let my temporary husband think he's on my level."
"Right… Nobody in this realm is on par with your holiness. Got it.'
Both sisters laughed cheekily.
It has been quite so ti since they t and talked openly like this.
Looking out at the garden, the two enjoyed the silence.
Birds chirping and colorful insects hogging flowers' nectar, a calming sight to start the day.
As a minute passed in silence, Princess Liliana rembered sothing.
It was the elephant in the room with them.
"We made a hard test for the remaining suitors. Are you sure this is going to be fine?"
"Of course. If none of them could pass it, all the better for ."
"No, it's not all the better for you. It would only complicate you with Father more. No matter what, you have to choose today. Also, this could backfire on you. What are you going to do if the Crown Prince participates again?"
Princess Davina's face darkened at the ntion of the Crown Prince.
Out of all the suitors, the Crown Prince is the worst.
On top of his overbearing attitude, he's also the Crown Prince of the empire.
Marrying him would an becoming the future Empress, and that's sothing Princess Davina couldn't get out of easily. Her wings would be shackled down, and even the notion of freedom would be nothing but a distant mory.
No matter what, that couldn't happen.
"I picked today because the Crown Prince has a mandatory observation. He would be watching from the sidelines as the Emperor and the generals pressured a Voidal Monarch to move. He's not going to be here."
Even so, the thought of the Crown Prince coming plastered worry on her face.
One that Princess Liliana could see palpably.
Smiling, she reached out her hand to hold Princess Davina's hand.
"Don't worry. If the Crown Prince cos, I'll do everything I can to help."
"How…?"
"Father is going to be focused on you. If I see the situation is bad, I'm going to try to sneak in help for the other suitors. As long as you have another choice, other than the Crown Prince, you should be able to avoid him."
Hearing this, Princess Davina's face eased a lot.
It ant more than she could say to have Princess Liliana's reassurance.
She accepted Princess Liliana's hand and squeezed it.
"Thank you, sister."
…
Princess Davina exhaled heavily, but his gaze oddly fird on Rex.
All of her hope was on him.
Maybe the man with long white hair doesn't seem convincing, but the other one, Rex?
He boasted earlier about what kind of man he was.
Out of the two, Princess Davina believed in Rex more.
On the other hand, Princess Liliana swallowed hard.
She promised Princess Davina, but she was not expecting the situation to be a reality.
Glancing to her side, she found Duke Lorcan watching the test unfold intensely.
His gaze was unwavering.
'Father is distracted. Sister can't help the other suitors herself or else she'll get caught, but I… I can help them,' She thought, fixating her gaze on Rex, who was already at the fourth step, and the other man, who was stuck at the seventh step. 'I should help that man first, he's closer.'
Princess Liliana hid her left hand on her side and raised two fingers.
She channeled a very faint life energy to her fingertips and dropped it to the ground.
Slowly but surely, she guided the strand of life energy across the carpet.
Even though Duke Lorcan wasn't aware of what she was doing, the two patrons, Rosa, and the other Great Elder, saw what she was doing. Both of them were surprised, not expecting her to help their heirs, as the leading person was the Crown Prince.
Noticing that they realized, Princess Liliana pressed a finger against her lips, silencing them.
Despite the unfairness, they remained silent and let Princess Liliana do what she was doing.
It wasn't their fault, so even if she was caught, they wouldn't be blad.
On the other hand, the man with long white hair fell to his knees.
"Kaahk!"
Blood forced its way up and burst from his mouth.
He was already using his Spirit Genesis, A Million Cutting Wind—enhanced with the Sharp Gale Echo, which was a Unique Echo from the Fundantal Niches, but it wasn't enough. Painfully, he raised his gaze and looked ahead through a blurry vision.
Cutting-edge wind could be seen swirling around him like a million small birds protecting him.
But against the glare from the erald star, the pressure slipped through and crushed his body.
Just three more steps and he would reach Princess Davina.
He was so close and far at the sa ti.
'My Soul Artifact is on the brink of breaking,' He panted, looking down at his pale green ring that was already flickering, unable to resist the pressure. 'I can push it, and maybe… maybe I can make the tenth step. But that would an being crippled a few dozen years.'
Gritting his teeth, he tried to stand up again.
Almost instantly, he fell once again, this ti on all four like an animal.
'No, I can't. It hurts… It hurts really bad.'
Even though he wanted to continue, the pressure was already pressing against his internal organs and even cracking so of his bones. It was too painful to stand up, much less make another step. He was at his limit already.
Out of nowhere, a surge of power fueled his rapidly draining life energy reserve.
So much so that he couldn't help but glance to the side, noticing that it was Princess Liliana's doing.
His limit was pushed higher.
It seed more plausible now to reach the tenth step, and he's going to try and keep going.
anwhile, it was hell for Rex.
On his back was the weight of the entire world, pressing down on him.
His Red Dawn of Kaiser and Mask of the Banished Eclipse infused life energy across his entire body, helping him resist the rushing pressure from the erald star. But it was the Aegis of Moon Sentinel that made all the difference.
Above him, the golden halo tried to weaken the rush of power from the erald star.
Added with the Minor Law of Misdirection, it was extrely effective.
But even then, it wasn't enough.
Brak!
Rex collapsed onto all fours, his palms skidding across the carpet that was wet with blood and sweat.
Blood splattered from his lips as his arms trembled beneath him.
Desperately, his body scread at him to stop as every breath he took felt like dragging knives through his lungs. Yet, even despite that, he crawled forward, inch by stubborn inch, reaching the fifth step. And the mont he did, the pressure grew harsher.
Noticing his movent, the erald star above pulsed with tyrannical radiance.
Each throb adding ga new layer of gravity upon him, crushing not only his body but also his mind.
By the ti the pressure settled, sothing inside him gave way.
A crack.
Then another.
It started from the golden exoskeleton enhancing his endurance, fracturing in a symphony of splintering echoes. Rosa flinched at the rattling sound, but it didn't take long before the real bones inside snapped and nded in the sa heartbeat.
Rex was trapped in a perpetual cycle of breaking and healing by his regeneration.
Though he was used to pain, this was a new sensation.
He never had a pain that didn't co in waves, but spiked, constant, and rciless like this.
His entire existence caught between collapse and recovery, like a man slowly drowning into the abyss.
No chance that he could keep going.
Rosa clenched her fists tightly beside her, almost as if she also felt the pain Rex was feeling right now.
At this point, Rex's muscles were already twisted, spasming uncontrollably.
No groan or squeal escaped his lips, but the pain was clearly stated on his face.
I can't lose here… I can't afford to fall.
Rex glanced to the side and saw the man with long white hair at the eighth step, and as he turned ahead, he saw Crown Prince Lukas was already there, but what surprised him the most was Princess Davina, who was looking straight at him.
She tried to remain composed, but her eyes showed signs of hope.
It was then, mory surged from the depths of his mind.
The Dark Auctoritas Echo.
Spending years training his mastery over it, he could now tap into its power better.
Clenching his teeth, Rex activated it—not on a target, not on the world, but on himself.
He opened his mouth and uttered a command.
"Let this agony sink fang-deep into your soul."
As soon as that command was unleashed, a hypnotic suggestion that struck with surgical cruelty, Rex could feel the pain strike deeper into him. Every damage, every physical wound, every painful gasp of breath turned into emotional pain.
One that triggered the feral side of him.
Even though he was suffering, the strength he obtained from the anger building inside him was slow.
He would pass out first before becoming angry enough to sustain the pressure.
But with the self-hypnosis, his anger instantly reached its peak.
Boom!
Finally, the anger ca.
It wasn't clean, nor noble, but feral.
Since he couldn't turn into his Werewolf form, the rate of growth was way slower.
But not anymore.
His Werewolf side ignited as his eyes turned a darker shade of crimson.
All of the swelling anger inside him threaded through torn sinew and broken bone like wildfire.
Rex stood up straight—his aura now pushing back the erald star's might.
Seeing this, Princess Davina's eyes widened slightly as she watched Rex take the fifth step.
And without pausing, he took another step to the sixth.
A question appeared in her mind.
'Where did this power co from?'
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