A few carriages pierced through the Black Rift like a cannon.
It burst into a clearing where nothing remained other than a few distant statues in the distance.
"Where are we?" Princess Davina asked as she looked out the window.
"I... I also don’t understand," the driver replied from the outside—also sucking in a cold breath at what he was seeing right now.
"Are you sure we didn’t get lost?" She asked again, looking outside to see nothing but flatland. "I don’t rember the Tomb of Heroes being in a place like this. There should be a massive stone construct—at which it was built."
"I’m quite sure we’re in the right place, princess," the driver said—pointing at the horizon. "The Tomb of Heroes has a special chanism built inside of it. Initially—it was built to endure the consciousness of the heroes, but it also acted as a repellent for the Black Rift."
Princess Davina’s brows furrowed together into a frown.
She believed the driver.
Other than the strict requirents that a driver of the Castillon House would need to fulfill, this driver ca from a bubble in the area. He knew this region more than anyone. He lived here for his entire life. No chance for him to get lost in an area where he already explored since he was a kid.
Turning towards the captain of the guards, she waved her hand, gesturing for the soldiers to spread out.
Nodding his head, the captain imdiately commanded the convoy to separate.
Since it was a flatland, there was no need for them to be worried about being isolated.
A few minutes in, Princess Davina finally found a change in the landscape.
Not the change of terrain, but rather scars.
"Stop," She instructed when she noticed a big crater nearby. "Let check that first."
Princess Davina got down from the carriage and knelt beside the big crater—she made sure that nobody was looking, including the driver, and then slled it with her nose. She sniffed the crater a few tis and instantly got her answer.
"It’s Rex’s scent..." She mumbled with a frown and then turned to the bloodstain. "What happened?"
Becoming a werewolf also made her senses even more acute.
From the mont she entered this space, she should be able to sll Rex’s scent instantly.
But she didn’t.
And now that she slled the crater, it was clear that this had sothing to do with Rex.
His scent was scattered in the area.
"Is soone trying to hide his scent by burning it?" Princess Davina thought aloud, suspicious that there was soone who was actively hiding his scent. "If this person really was burning Rex’s scent away, then they did a bad job at it. Unless..."
Initially, Princess Davina thought that soone attacked Rex and was now trying to cover up the aftermath.
But Rex’s scent wasn’t properly hidden.
His scent was still prevalent in the air, so much so that it shouldn’t be hard for anyone other than her to know that Rex was here. And considering this person is aiming at Rex, she refused to believe that it was soone stupid.
So, the answer beca obvious.
"Soone is trying to hide sothing bigger than Rex." Her eyes narrowed, tracing the edges of the crater like a hawk. "Since there’s no trace here but his, whoever did this erased their own presence. And they did really well."
A sharp breath caught in her throat as the implication settled.
"If that’s the case, then doesn’t that an this was done by Empress Morgana?" She asked inwardly.
Rex ca here in order to et with Empress Morgana and claid the items he requested.
Nothing more and nothing less.
Just from that fact alone, it was already easy to assu that Empress Morgana is either the one behind this or was working with soone behind this. "And from how she has no apparent motive, as to why she was going against Rex, then she must’ve been working for soone else."
Of course, when talking about this, Princess Davina only has one person in mind.
Haxel.
But that’s only a far-stretched guess, as Empress Morgana doesn’t seem to like Haxel at all.
Upon approaching the statues, Princess Davina noticed a broken carriage nearby.
She checked it and found a person buried underneath the wooden planks.
It was the driver she sent to transport Rex to the Tomb of Heroes.
"Seeker!" The captain called and pointed at the buried driver. "Check and heal him, quick!"
For the next five minutes or so, Princess Davina’s forces spread across the entire Tomb of Heroes—and checked for any clues as to what happened. All of them swept the entire place attentively, not forgetting to check even an inch of land.
As for Princess Davina, she waited for the Seeker to heal the unconscious driver.
He was alive, but his internal organs, Spiritual Veins, were crushed from excessive oppressive force.
Must be from the fight that decimated the area earlier.
’I was worried about the wrong thing,’ Princess Davina clenched her fists, sweeping her gaze across the devastation. ’I was worried that he might return to the Mortal Realm without saying goodbye, yet this happened instead.’
Even though Rex was the one who asked to et with Empress Morgana alone, she still felt bad.
Had she been present, things might’ve gone differently.
But then again, nobody expected Empress Morgana, the barely recognized—and young empress, to have any ill intention towards Rex. Frankly, there should be no reason for her to do this, but so people can hide their true intentions well.
And it seed Empress Morgana was one of those people.
"Princess, he’s awake," the captain reported.
Princess Davina focused back on the driver and then stepped forward.
"What happened here?" She asked, looking down at the still disoriented driver.
"P-Princess..." He called, still breathless and pale—only awake because of the Seeker’s constant supply of life energy. "I don’t know what happened. I-I really do not know what happened... But it happened so fast."
"Take your ti and try to rember. Your mory is detrintal; take that into consideration."
"Y-Yes..."
It took the driver a few minutes to really wake up before he eventually spoke.
Recalling what happened to the best of his mories.
"I... I was told to wait outside, and I did," He started, clearly rembering that he stayed behind instead of following Rex into the Tomb of Heroes. "Minutes later, the world was shaking. I panicked, so I tried leaving the premises and seeing what was going on. But the carriage... It shattered."
"Shattered?" Princess Davina’s brows furrowed, attentively listening to his description.
She needed to find out what really went down.
Considering that this involved Empress Morgana, she knew that this would reach the Spirit Emperor.
And at that point, she hoped that she could protect Rex sohow.
"A wall. A wall of light. I don’t really know—but I hit sothing and the carriage shattered. Then I saw a bright light above," His eyes stared into the void, almost like he was reliving the mont. "I cannot really see or know what it was, but... but it’s powerful. And I... I..."
The driver stuttered, unable to articulate what he was seeing and feeling at the mont.
But it was absolutely normal, and Princess Davina wasn’t mad at him.
"Take your ti. Really think it through."
"I can’t really describe it, but it’s like... I can feel and see that it’s sothing hostile, but intrinsically, I feel this thing is sothing good. Can you understand what I an?"
"Princess Davina!"
Just then, a voice called out to her, prompting her to lift up her gaze and look ahead.
One of the soldiers called her from inside the Tomb of Heroes.
"I found soone!" He shouted again.
"Keep him alive and secure him. He cannot co to harm," Princess Davina commanded the captain, knowing the driver would be a vital witness. Then she was moving, dashing towards the Tomb of Heroes to see for herself who had been found.
"She’s here," the soldier pointed at beside the main chamber. "I think she’s noble."
Princess Davina looked over and saw a very familiar woman.
Her entire body froze at the sight of this figure.
"April...?" She sucked in a cold breath and imdiately rushed towards her. "Call the Seeker, now!"
Once the soldier sprinted away to do exactly what he was told, Princess Davina summoned her erald cloak, her Soul Artifact, and used it to cover April’s body. Princess Davina inspected April and breathed in relief to find that she was still alive.
Despite the massive hole in her stomach, she was still alive.
But her relief was short-lived, painfully so.
Seeing April sprawled here unattended made her even more uneasy.
"If she’s here, what happened to Rex...?"
Just not too long ago, Rex made it obvious how high she regarded April since he went to an absolutely fierce and insane length to rescue April. Everyone basically knew now about their relationship. So, to find her here, alone and unattended, could only an one thing.
A cold dread settled in the air.
"Did Rex... lose? Die?" Princess Davina muttered breathlessly.
For April to be left here, then that could only an sothing must’ve happened to Rex.
And it’s sothing bad.
"No... I would’ve felt it if he really died in this realm," Princess Davina combed her hair back, utterly confused as to how this could even happen in the first place. "From the very start—how did April even get here? She should’ve been sent back to her family to be healed."
As she contemplated, her eyes suddenly fixated on the statue before her.
"It’s hostile—but it sparked intrinsic goodness in people? There’s only one thing that could fit that exact description," Princess Davina repeated the driver’s words—as the puzzle pieces began to form into the whole picture inside her mind. "An Angel got into our realm...?"
...
Such a devastating and opportune strike sent them into a random direction.
Empress Morgana didn’t plan for any of this.
All she planned to do was slice Rex and Alana in half, taking them down in one decisive strike.
Both survived.
But as soone who was on the path toward invincibility, there’s no easy way to achieve it. A Scion will always be tested, no matter what. It doesn’t matter what the current condition was, or whether it was fair in any way.
A Scion will simply always be tested, sharpening them to beco diamonds that could sit on the throne.
Rex and Alana went from one giant maw to another.
Being able to absorb voidal energy through the Sable Physique not only gives Rex amplification to his abilities’ raw power. It also helped him adapt to the Black Rift, allowing him to peer into the shade and see beyond the veil.
His head was spinning, his body was exhausted, and his vision was blurry—but he could see them.
Blades of black steel.
Mouth filled with sharp and jagged fangs.
Poisonous concoction that of a witch dripping from the mouth.
Voidal Monsters.
"Heads-up, Alana," Rex exhaustedly looked around. "We’re surrounded..."
Alana paused for a second and looked around, but all she saw was drifting dark smoke no matter where she looked. But she very quickly realized that Rex wasn’t playing around when she heard the rumbling, low growls.
Light at first, but they were gradually getting louder.
Her eyes can’t see it, but all other senses told her that Rex was correct.
"Just leave," Rex said with a rough grunt—pushing himself to stand, though his entire body was shaking. "Go back to your Divine Saintess’ domain. Stay here, and you’re only going to die for soone you don’t even know."
As Rex got to his feet, he exhaled roughly through his mouth.
He was barely able to stand on his feet.
"What about you?" Alana asked, staring at his unwavering back. "Can you survive this?"
"Please, I’ve been through this many tis..." Rex chuckled a little and turned to look at her. "I’ll find away. I’ll always find a way."
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