Rex walked through the adow.
His aura was seething violently, but it caused no destruction.
It wasn’t the owner of this realm he was angry at, but he was angry at one of her vassals.
Rex followed the trail and kept his gaze downward. He watched the ground, making sure that he didn’t step on any baby-blue periwinkles. He could feel burning gazes locking onto him. Eyes from the inky darkness between trees.
Gardeners.
He knew that the Gardeners were passive.
None of them attacked him when he arrived, but now, it was different.
Sensing his killing intent, the Gardeners’ protective instinct kicked in.
All of them had their minds shattered by the Pale Defenders stripping away almost everything until only animal instinct remained. And inside, the Curse of the Cavity Oustification had been engraved deep, an unbreakable leash that trapped them within the Cavity.
It was now their entire purpose in life to harvest baby-blue periwinkles.
And from the looks of it, their purpose was also to protect their master.
Rex kept walking without heeding the probing gazes all around him. And after a few more minutes, a citadel appeared in the distance. It was still miles away, but the size made it visible. He made a sudden stop and stared at the citadel.
His eyes narrowed as the System scanned the citadel, and then a stat window appeared.
One that belonged to the person Rex was looking for.
Nearing the citadel, Rex could now take a proper look at it. Every brick and marble that made up the building was broken white like the color of bones. It was at least three stories high, but the high ceiling made the citadel far taller.
It was spherical, with glassless windows that marred the entire length, and there was an opening.
As it turned out, the entire citadel was not a single connected structure. A gap rank through it—a tenth of its total length, serving as the opening to the inner courtyard. Beyond it rose a tower that climbed a few stories higher than the citadel itself.
And that was where the person Rex was looking for was.
But it seed the mile radius from the citadel was the mark where the Gardeners drew a line.
One out of the five of them that were watching Rex from a good distance made a move. He glided faster than the eye could see, eating the distance between them—like it was nothing. It made a heavy vertical slash with both of his swords.
It missed.
Rex disappeared and reappeared a few yards away, avoiding the strike like it was nothing.
More of the Gardeners participated.
All of them attacked Rex from all sides, each wielding their own lethal fighting style. One spat hellfire from her palms; flas hot enough to lt a Demigod into sludge. Another struck with precise slashes that carved the very air, leaving shimring scars that lingered long after the blade had passed. A third tore hunting beasts from his own flesh, sending them loping toward Rex with hungry snarls.
None of them could reach Rex.
His Cavity Skipper skill teleported him away far enough before any attack reached him.
It doesn’t matter that there are five of them. It doesn’t matter that they were all lightning-fast. Rex is untouchable.
Crash—!
Rex stood a few yards back and stared at the Gardeners coldly.
And when the five were about to attack again, he took out sothing from the inventory.
Pah—!
A long whip materialized in his grip. Rex brought it down with a violent snap against the earth, and the crack that echoed like a bone breaking startled the Gardeners. All of them stopped dead; their rigorous movents now turned rigid.
One look at the whip was enough to drain the strength from their limbs.
And what replaced it was a trembling that had nothing to do with the cold.
All beings that were engraved with the Curse of the Cavity would fear this whip.
One of the summoner hunting beasts refused to cower. A grey wolf the size of a school bus roared and lunged, baring its ferocious fangs—utterly unshaken by the terror gripping its master. The whip ant nothing to it.
It wasn’t bound by the Curse of the Cavity like the Gardener.
Rex’s eyes lit up at the sight, a flicker of genuine interest.
And then, his body began to swell and warp, tearing free of human constraint, and responded in kind.
Roar!
Rex, in his werewolf form, opened his maw and roared, baring his sharp canines.
His roar stopped the grey wolf dead in its tracks.
It tucked its tail between its legs and lowered its body in fear.
Even though it doesn’t understand the importance of the whip, it does understand when it was standing before an apex predator. Rex looked down at it and then shifted his gaze back to the citadel. He sucked in a deep breath and swung.
Lighting swirled across the whip, and it exploded thunderously upon eting with the citadel’s wall.
Crash—!
A subtle shockwave of wind exploded, causing the leaves to sway.
Rex did it again, and again, putting more and more strength with each swing he did.
At last, the commotion reached Zev in his pompous tower. He moved to the window and looked down, heart pounding inside his chest. His eyes locked onto Rex, who pressed on without pause, even though he was fully aware he had been spotted.
Zev’s heart dropped into his stomach when he saw Rex.
’He’s still alive...’ He thought inside.
Frankly, he was hoping that the two assassins would be able to handle Rex entirely.
He wasn’t the one who sent the assassins, but he’d thank the person who sent them if Rex died.
Assassinated.
But that’s not the case.
Zev leaped from the window and landed right on the entrance.
"Stop attacking my citadel!" He raised his hands, gesturing for Rex to stop, as it would take ti to fix the walls if they were ever damaged badly. "I already prepared what you asked to do. I already marked all of the Pale Defenders. I’ve prepared everything! What is it that got you to do this?!"
Rex stopped.
He straightened his spine and squared his shoulders.
Only now did his eyes finally shift to Zev, and then he tilted his head, "Is that the only thing you have been preparing?"
"What do yo—?" Zev swallowed, realizing what Rex was talking about.
Given how domineering Rex was in his way, Zev assud he had no shortage of enemies who wanted him dead. Assassins were nothing new to a man like that. And since those two were professionals, Zev was under the assumption there was no chance Rex could trace his involvent.
Or at least, it would take ti.
And by the ti Rex realized, he would probably be far away already, since he looked to be in a hurry.
But it was only hopeful thinking from Zev’s part.
Rex knew instantly.
"Ready to confess?" Rex saw the realization dawn upon Zev—and smiled devilishly. "Here I thought that we’re on the sa page. That we could work together. After all, I killed your neighbours and am also planning to kill more Pale Defenders around you.
"Once I’m done, you will be stronger. You can expand and get more slaves." He shook his head.
It was a sha that it ca to this.
Showing how strong he was is simply a thod—so that others won’t ss with him easily unless they are ready for death. And those who are useful can be spared, or even beco friends. But there are not many people who think like him.
Not many people could see that becoming his friend is beneficial.
"I’m not the one who sent those assassins. They ca to my citadel. Both of them. They interrogated about a Pale Defender. One you killed. I don’t know what business they had, but they made it clear that I would die if I didn’t tell them everything.
"And you think I won’t kill you if you did?"
A frown ford on Zev’s face.
Beads of cold sweat trickled down the side of his face.
Rex ignored him and turned to the nearest Gardener.
"You there," He pointed at the Gardener. "Kill yourself right now."
"What...? What are you doing?!" Zev’s face turned pale. He turned to the Gardener, eyes bulging with warning—and pointed at him. "You’re not going to listen to him. You’re not going to kill yourself. Do you hear m—?"
Crack—!
Before he could finish, the whip smacked the Gardener hard with a thunderous crack.
A burning gold laceration remained where the whip had struck. He fell to his knees—his body rigid as stone as he fought to endure the excruciating pain. Veins painfully bulged beneath his skin. He gritted his teeth so hard that his gums split, and the taste of iron flooded his mouth.
Just one whip reduced him to that state.
"I said kill yourself," Rex repeated.
Unable to endure the pain, the Gardener raised his hand and charged it with his own energy.
"No!" Zev roared. "You will not! I am your master. You will obey !"
Crack—!
"Raaarghk!!"
A scream tore out of the Gardener’s throat as he was struck once more.
His mind and body were torn between listening to Zev, who had been his master for countless years, or the stranger he had never seen before, but who had the whip in hand. One inclined him to obey Zev, while the other didn’t want to feel the pain anymore.
In that mont of agony, the Gardener stared at Zev.
He could see the worry on Zev’s face.
Unlike the normal whippings from Zev, the whippings from Rex were brutal and uncontrolled.
Zev held back most of his strength to give suitable pain, but not to the point of wounding the Gardeners badly. A balance that would encourage obedience more than anything. But Rex whipped with strength, and the full power of the whip was sothing the Gardeners couldn’t handle.
Eventually, the Gardener plunged his hand into his own chest and exploded his heart.
It was an instantaneous death.
Other Gardeners watched this with trembling bodies, but none of them dared to move from their spots.
As if staying still would allow them to avoid Rex’s attention.
"Seems like the whip is far stronger than the obedience you instilled," Rex smirked—nodding his head at the whip. It is indeed a special item. "Now, both of us had learned a valuable lesson. I should have instilled pain into your mind before leaving."
Zev clenched his fists and pounced at Rex.
But he stopped a distance away, fist raised, but stopping mid-track.
"Oh? What are you going to do? Attack ?" Rex raised a brow and smirked. He didn’t even need to react as Zev recalled how strong he was, and there was no chance for him to win. "You didn’t employ those assassins, but led them directly to . For that, our deal won’t stay the sa."
"W-What are you going to do?" Zev asked through gritted teeth.
It was infuriating to be in this position, but he couldn’t lose any more Gardeners.
He simply can’t.
"? I’m going to loiter around in your tower," Rex said, pointing past Zev and at the tower. "You, on the other hand, would bring the Pale Defenders that you marked to kill. Dead or alive, I don’t care. I also don’t care how you do it as long as you manage to bring them to ."
He walked toward the entrance, but stopped not too far away.
"Oh, right," Rex paused, and then looked over his shoulder. "Don’t take too long. I’ll kill the Gardeners one by one. The longer you take to finish this ager task I gave you. Since there are not many of them, I suggest you hurry."
Once he gave the instructions, Rex went toward the tower.
Despite being greeted with a unique interior of glass and marble, he didn’t linger to look around.
He went straight to the top and locked himself there.
Rex had devoured so Godlings and now has more corpses in the inventory.
It’s ti for him to browse so skills before completing the Sudden Quest.
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