The Invincible Full-Moon System - Chapter 1807: Never Personal

Chapter 1807: Never Personal

Rosa looked up.

Night has finally arrived. She saw the full moon, and it was red like a pond of blood.

It was done. Her task was done. Great Elder Rosa allowed herself to close her eyes—and savor the cold breeze as it blew against her skin like gentle, massaging hands. Her skin is sticky from all the sweating, making the cold more biting, but it doesn’t deter her.

“You don’t have to do it,” Marquess Aurelius slung his arm over her waist and kissed her shoulder. “I’ll ask the emperor to let me be the one to do it.”

He mistook her relief for nervousness.

He thought she was nervous as the execution approached, but he was wrong.

“His Majesty asks me, then it shall be done by me.” She turned to him, offering a smile—so fragile it seemed made of glass. Her fingers brushed his cheek in a fleeting caress, but her eyes couldn’t find his. Downcast. A detail he didn’t miss. “I will… carry out April’s execution.”

Even as she said it, the words didn’t feel genuine.

Rosa knew that her husband was aware that she was hiding something.

She was relieved when he didn’t press further.

Soul Crusher was finally revealed.

A royal knight pulled on the silken cover and showed what was hidden underneath.

It was a circular platform of black basalt with a surface carved with ten concentric rings of luminous, ever-shifting sigils. A spiraling contract written in the magical language of torment. At its exact center lay a hollow space, precisely sized for a single pair of feet.

Curving over this focal point were four pillars of dark steel.

No, not steel. But dark wood that gleamed almost like steel.

Each arched like the taloned fingers of a colossal hand poised to clutch a prize—from above. Their tips converged, frozen inches from the hollow, awaiting the spark. A final, massive circle was also revealed in the floor before the Soul Crusher.

A power core: a dense, throbbing sphere of solidified life energy.

It was a captive verdant sun that would soon funnel its power along the sigils, up the claws, and then into the sacrificed on the hollow. And alongside the reveal, the prisoners were brought out. Four figures were dragged out of the dome.

Most were in chains, and one was not.

First was Amanir.

He was thrashing around in an attempt to break free. Spouting curses at anyone who met his eyes.

Gnarly wounds marred his body, but even then, he was still energetic.

Next was April.

Like Amanir, she was riddled with wounds and bruises that made it hard for anyone to tell that she was of blue blood. She didn’t trash around as she was dragged by her hair across the floor. She was wearing a strong front, but even that was cracking.

Rosa threw her face away, unable to watch this horror.

Marquess Aurelius pulled her close, letting her bury her face on his chest.

Siblings of April, numbering almost twenty, watched without flinching. Most regarded April with cold eyes, as if she deserved this punishment for siding with the usurper. Only one dissented. Prince Edward. His small stature hid him behind others, but he was scowling at his brothers and sisters.

Family has to stick together, so he pulled his brothers and sisters, telling them to behave outright.

Both Amanir and April were forced to kneel before the nobles’ eyes.

It was then that the air churned.

Heat charged the air as all eyes turned to the darkness beyond the door to the dome. A pair of glowing red eyes emerged. Rex emerged. No footsteps accompanied him as he was still in his cocoon. Bound in bandages, stabbed with lances, and suppressed by the Reap and Sow Echo in the form of a pink flower.

Rex was seen by many for the first time.

Just being branded as the usurper made his name mystical. It lifted the view the nobles had about him; all were comparing him to Mirza. They think him a monster. They think him a beast, more than a man. Some even think him a nemesis to the sacred Angels, a Demon.

He was only a young man.

But as his eyes swept the nobles, many avoided his gaze entirely.

Mostly, the younger nobles were avoiding his eyes.

Hearing Althea recounts his feats made them understand clearly that they were inferior.

Only the Crown Prince and Princess Davina can match his talent.

Even though the young ones were reacting the most, the seasoned ones also could feel the danger.

Rex was bound, his energy suppressed, and was also escorted by four royal knights ready for any sudden movement. Yet, even in that state, his eyes held a danger that struck at their very cores. It was as if they were standing before a Voidal Monarch made flesh.

A feeling that made them feel small and helpless.

Following behind him was the new prisoner, Althea. Now calmer than she was earlier.

Each one of them was forced to their knees, except Rex.

Rex was now facing the terrible sea of nobles, with familiar waves mingling in them. He stared at them like a hawk before his gaze finally landed on Duke Lorcan. Out of all the people gathered here, he was not expecting Duke Lorcan to be siding against him.

Siding against the person to whom he shared his vulnerabilities.

Rex saw him cry, and as if that moment meant nothing, he was now standing on the opposite side.

It was disappointing more than it hurts.

He expected more from Princess Davina’s father, but it doesn’t surprise him as much as he expected.

Pressure already got to Duke Lorcan once, and now, it was the same thing all over again.

Now Rex understood why Princess Davina hated him. Or at least, hated this version of him.

He was weak.

Rex glanced to his side and frowned when he saw Althea.

Every time he met Althea, there was only argument and trouble. Her being beside him caught him off guard. She noticed the gaze and cast him a smirk. “What?” She asked, grinning despite the blood on the corner of her lips. “Don’t fall in love with me now. I’m doing this for myself.”

“Every single time you speak, I want to slap you,” Rex rolled his eyes.

Behind, the royal knights were busy preparing the Soul Crusher.

It created a sharp, suction sound when it was activated, and ended with the sound of a painful scream.

Rex already scanned it and realized that it was a torture device aiming at the soul.

His soul had only been mended recently, and this machine would shatter it worse than before.

“I’ve got to say,” Althea swept her eyes around. Her heart was pounding hard against her ribcage. “I’m really at your mercy here. I hope whatever you’re planning will really get us out of this. I’m still young and beautiful, you know.”

Rex didn’t answer.

All his senses sent danger signals to his brain as his ears picked up particular footsteps.

It was extremely light.

Heck, Rex firmly believed that these footsteps were so faint they could only be perceived by someone with preternaturally sharp hearing like him. For anyone else, the person moved in perfect silence, more gliding than walking.

And without him realizing, the banters from the nobles disappeared.

It was only Rex and his breaths now.

He turned his face as far as he could to glimpse this person.

A figure approached from behind. As he came to view, Rex could immediately tell that this person was far stronger than him. Leagues above him. Emperor Dominar glided to a stop before Rex, both his hands clasped neatly behind his back.

Because of the cocoon, Emperor Dominar has to look up to meet Rex’s eyes.

Even so, it still felt like he was looking down at Rex.

“Let me guess, you must be…” Rex stared down at this beautiful person. “Emperor Dominar?”

Emperor Dominar flicked his hand, and a vine burst from the pink flower, piercing through the sole of Rex’s foot and pumping toxin. It worked in an instant. Seconds in, and the veins on Rex’s neck turned a murky green.

He wanted to wipe the smile off Rex’s face, but even the pain did nothing.

Rex didn’t even flinch.

“Such defiance…” Emperor Dominar shook his head lightly. “Even now, you’re still defiant. Death does not seem to scare you.”

“Where’s the lovely empress?” Rex asks, looking around for her. “I don’t see her anywhere. If anything, I think she would want to kill me with her own two hands. After all, I killed her beloved Archangel of Knives. Are you aware of that?”

No answer.

A frown crept to his face as he searched for anger in Emperor Dominar’s eyes, but there was none.

At the same time, the System’s scan was completed.

<Notice: the person the user is looking for, Empress Morgana, is not in the area.>

Rex’s brows furrowed when he read this. He overheard from the guards that Empress Morgana is now back with the empire again, so she should be attending this celebratory gala. More than that. She should be the one to kill him.

It was odd for her not to be nearby.

“You…” A realization dawned on Rex. “She’s still missing, isn’t she?”

“Does it matter?” Emperor Dominar asked. He was surprised how fast Rex realized that fact, but his face didn’t betray anything. “You’ve caused enough ruckus—already. It’s time for you to return to your realm where you belonged.”

“Let me ask you this,” Rex’s eyes narrowed. “Why…? Why are you covering for her?”

Initially, Rex thought Empress Morgana remained in hiding because what she did was treason.

But she came back, or at least the empire claimed that she was found and reunited with the emperor.

Now, he realized that he had forgotten one crucial thing.

Spirits, or at least the Spirits in this empire, revered Angels.

Given that the Silent Consort existed solely to honor Angels, Empress Morgana shouldn’t be afraid of being branded a traitor—as she can simply tell the empire about Stelios. And thus, Emperor Dominar’s reaction should’ve been one of pure rage.

He now knew two unforgivable facts: that Empress Morgana was in contact with an Archangel, and that Rex had struck it down.

Any one of his subjects would bear immense, nigh-lunacy anger towards the killer of an Angel.

But this execution doesn’t stem from anger.

Rex thought it was initially. Now that he was face-to-face with Emperor Dominar for the first time, he realized—anger doesn’t play a part in this. There was something deeper than a simple vendetta. And he wanted to know what it was.

Even earlier, he made sure to mention the Archangel of Knives to spark a reaction.

And yet Emperor Dominar remained neutral.

This was further strengthened by the fact that the System hadn’t issued him a Killing Intent quest.

His execution was purely a necessity in the eyes of the empire.

But why?

Contacting an Angel is not treason; rather, it’s a cause for celebration. Then—why is Empress Morgana still in hiding? And why does Emperor Dominar seem to be hiding the truth that she was still in hiding? Just what is going on here?

“The dead don’t have the right to know matters of the living, but I’ll entertain your question this one time,” Emperor Dominar said. “Because you are drawing attention. You wouldn’t stop until you drew her blood. And we can’t afford that.”

He gestured for the royal knights to start.

Out of the four of them, the one who was dragged to the Soul Crusher first is April.

It has to be her.

Emperor Dominar is playing the part of an angry man, so April has to be the one to die.

Once again, it’s nothing personal. It’s a matter of necessity for a reason unknown.

But Rex has enough of trying to figure out the reason behind this.

All that matters is that he rescued those he cared about.

“This was never personal,” Emperor Dominar said and walked away. “Keep that in mind.”

“Never personal…?” Rex’s voice cuts through the air, halting the emperor’s steps. His eyes turned to April, who was being dragged to the Soul Crusher, and anger rose like wildfire. “You made it easy for me. In that case, destroying your empire… is also not personal for me.”