Chapter 2071: Full Power of the Greater Lycan (1)

From the moment he evolved into the Greater Lycan race, his range of powers expanded.

But more importantly, he also gained the signature abilities of powerful bloodlines.

And now, Rex was casting one of them—the Domination of the First Alpha belonged to none other than the Original Werewolf. It allowed his presence as the alpha to grow even stronger, and it also reached the afterlife.

It was a skill that transcended the physical, that pierced the veil between the living and the dead.

Any being tied to Rex—any creature bound to his will, his blood, his essence—would answer his call. Even when they were already killed and their bodies torn to shreds, they would still answer. No matter what, even when they were on the verge of oblivion, they would answer his call.

Of course, the creatures he had summoned through the Originality of the Beast were tied to him.

Even though they were basically copies of High Millinar Julas’ abilities, they became a new species entirely when they got out of Rex’s body, making them his creation. And Diamantona completely turned the dark ocean into crystal; these creatures had been killed instantly.

More than a thousand of them snuffed out in a single, silent instant.

But regardless, their souls remained.

Each one lingered in the area, wraiths of the deep, formless and lost.

And then Rex activated his new powerful skill, the Domination of the Alpha, and it reached out.

An alpha’s command that echoed through the veil between life and death.

Naturally, the souls heard it and answered without hesitation.

Swoosh—!

One by one, they slammed into Rex’s body.

Each impact sent a cold sensation spreading across his entire frame—a chill that was not unpleasant. It felt like ice water under the harsh sun in the summer. A shock to the system. A revitalizing, invigorating cold that seeped into his muscles, his bones, and his blood.

<Calculating attained Life Points...>

<+5 Life Points...>

<+3 Life Points...>

<+7 Life...>

Rex watched as the souls were transferred into life points. His eyes were glued to the number that was climbing steadily. Fifty. Seventy. Ninety. One hundred. And finally, it settled at one hundred and thirty— a reservoir of power that pulsed within him like a second heartbeat.

And then he recalled when he was still in his mind space.

A glimpse. A fragment of memory from the bloodline he unlocked. The Werewolf Origin’s bloodline. He saw it standing strong against the White Omicron, absorbing the souls of the fallen werewolves, and growing more secure and stronger with each one.

His eyes flickered with madness.

Like water through a broken bowl, the worry he had felt against Diamantona’s Major Law went away.

Rex no longer felt the creeping dread that had settled in his chest.

It evaporated like mist under a morning sun. Leaving nothing behind.

And then, he opened his mouth and laughed.

The sound was a serrated—unhinged thing. It echoed across the new realm, a madman’s aria that danced on the edge of sanity. Anyone who heard it would feel uneasy—and afraid. He gestured with his hand, beckoning Diamantona forward, and shouted.

"Come at me!"

As soon as the last word escaped his mouth, he heard the sharp sound of wind parting.

Swoosh—!

Faster than his mind could form thoughts, a thick and unbelievably sharp red crystal lance cut through the air. It moved with blinding speed. As soon as Diamantona made the gesture, it blurred through the very distance between them.

A streak of crimson death, and it stabbed Rex through his mouth.

Crack—!

It punched through between his upper and lower teeth, his tongue—and the roof of his mouth. It pierced his brain on the way, carving a tunnel through gray matter and sinew. And then it burst out of his crown, shattering bone and spraying blood, before carving deep into the crystal ground below.

A savage strike.

One that even caused the spectators to rise to their feet, expecting Rex to die.

"Just one hit!"

"In the end, there will always be a bigger fish. How vast can this universe really be?"

"Even a life-saving ability would not be able to stop that. One would need to have an even stronger Law than Diamantona to survive that strike since his Major Law of Killing Crystal was infused into it. And unfortunately, Rex didn’t have that."

High Lord Leenim’s brows furrowed together at the sight.

Not too far away from him, Lilliana clutched the edge of her pants hard with her fingers.

Just a second ago, she was excited to see Davina managing to gain the upper hand against the two High Millinars despite being outmatched thanks to the Minor Law of Time. Now, she watched as a brutal red crystal lance stabbed through Rex’s head.

It was a roller-coaster of emotions for her, and her heart couldn’t take it.

Meanwhile, Rex’s world gradually grew dark as pain seared through every pain nerve in his body.

His arms fell first. And then his body slackened—held upright only by the red crystal lance that pierced through his mouth and skull—like a butterfly pinned to a board. As the darkness deepened around him, a single bright notification flickered into view.

A distant, red, detached observation from the System.

<Notice: the user has died!>

Just as Rex expected, Diamantona didn’t pull anything back at all.

He knew how to deal with a Scion of the Anger Stratum—knew that he was not to hesitate. Every attack should be aimed to kill, and never make the Scion angry. Recalling how Rex looked earlier, Diamantona didn’t stop there.

Swoosh—!

More crystal lances shot toward Rex’s limp form and hit their mark with a thunderous crash.

Only when the heart, brain, and all fatal organs were stabbed through did he finally nod.

It should be more than enough.

Diamantona flicked his hand as if he were done with an annoying chore, and turned to leave.

Now that Rex was dead, he could start finishing up the Purgation Duel.

Meanwhile, more notifications flooded into Rex’s vision even though all he saw was darkness.

<Notice: the Domination of the First Alpha skill was triggered!>

<Two points have been deducted from Life Points.>

<Life Points: 128>

Almost as soon as the last notification flickered into view, the world snapped back to Rex. Power surged through him as the souls within were vanquished into oblivion—their essence stripped away, absorbed by his own body to drag him back to life.

Rex’s eyes shot open again, and he grabbed the crystal lance that was still impaled through his skull.

His fingers wrapped around the cold surface, and then squeezed.

Crack—!

Diamantona stopped mid-flight and turned to look back at where Rex was.

And the moment he saw Rex was moving again despite several holes across his body, a frown crept to his face. Nobody should be able to survive that many fatal strikes. Not to mention, the Major Law was also making sure that he stayed dead.

But Rex had more than one Law, and he used it to the absolute limit to break the hold.

Slowly, eerily, Rex pulled his head free from the remnants—blood and brain matter still dripping from the wound. The hole in his skull began to close rapidly. The torn tissue knitted itself back together, and it was finished by the time Rex straightened his head.

Moreover, through it all, Rex was laughing.

Not a chuckle. Not a giggle. A full-throated, maniacal—unhinged laugh that pealed across the battlefield like a funeral bell ringing in reverse. Rex threw his head back hard, blood still dripping from his chin— and howled with mirth.

And as his aura returned, the other crystal lances stabbing his body began to crack and shatter.

It was a surprising sight.

One that even Diamantona couldn’t help but feel amazed.

Rex knew that his sole power lay in his anger. His Lycan form had already boosted his survivability to a terrifying degree—but it wouldn’t be bad to take a step further than that. It was precisely why he took the Domination of the First Alpha skill.

As long as he survived, no wounds were lethal.

Just as he expected, things could still escalate even further.

But thanks to his preparations, he survived.

’I was wondering what had happened to his Absolute Anger Effect. I thought—he hadn’t really gotten used to using it.’ Diamantona thought, noticing how easily the crystal lance had pierced through. He had not dwelled on it—so long as the lances landed, the details didn’t matter. But now the truth clicked. ’Damn barbarian. He actually let himself be killed simply to show me this power. Does he truly believe I can’t kill him through everything he has?’

Spite began to surface inside Diamantona’s heart.

He couldn’t believe that Rex would take such a risk against him.

Of course, Rex could block the attack earlier with the Absolute Anger Effect. Any lethal attack done to him would be blocked by it. But he suppressed the blank organ in order to test how the Domination of the First Alpha would feel.

Risky? Maybe.

But his blood simply beckoned him to do exactly that.

Pain has always been the catalyst for anger, and since Diamantona was making sure that he only attacked without insinuating anger, Rex had to get creative. He has to spike his anger without needing others to do it for him.

Once he recovered, he looked at Diamantona once more.

His eyes were wild.

His grin was a crescent of bloodied teeth.

And the laugh continued to echo, a sound that promised nothing but endless, relentless violence.

Rex channeled his Primordium Energy.

The sky above began to darken. Not with the gentle fall of dusk, but with the sudden, violent coalescence of a cumulonimbus cloud—a massive, churning formation that blotted out the night. It was a leviathan of vapor and shadow, its edges rumbling with the promise of violence.

And yet—somehow, impossibly, the Greater Moon, the full moons, and the distant stars still filtered through its shroud. Their light pierced the cloud like needles through cloth, unhindered, undimmed. The celestial bodies watched from above, indifferent to the storm brewing beneath them.

Blitz—!

Black lightning sparked across Rex’s eyes.

His laughter stopped abruptly. The maniacal sound that had echoed across the battlefield was swallowed by a profound silence—a silence that crept through the air like a living thing, wrapping around every ear and every mind.

For a suspended second, nothing moved. Nothing breathed.

Then a whisper escaped Rex’s lips.

"My turn."

Crack—!

Diamantona’s eyes widened.

An ear-deafening crack reverberated through the air—the sound of a thunderclap detonating at point-blank range—and Rex disappeared. He simply vanished without a trace. The space where he had stood was empty, a void that mocked the eye.

Diamantona spun, searching for Rex.

His senses flared, reaching outward, grasping for any trace of Rex’s presence. Nothing.

And then, his senses screamed.

Above.

Diamantona looked up. His eyeballs reflected the image—Rex, emerging from a black lightning strike, descending with claws reaching forward like a god of slaughter descending from the sky. The red crystal lance moved, turning liquid, protecting Diamantona again.

Clang—!

Sparks flew from the collision, a shower of crimson and silver.

But Rex was already gone.

He reappeared elsewhere. Struck. Vanished. Struck again. The Primordium Energy had given him range and variety beyond anything Diamantona had faced. His attacks were stronger. Faster. Endless. No need to rely solely on his werewolf powers.

A hundred lightning strikes descended from above.

They came down, up, and down again—a catastrophic shower of black fulgurations that turned the sky into a lattice of death. And inside each one, Rex moved. Ether Blink plus wind affinity—parting the air before the lightning strike came—made his speed twice as fast.

From Diamantona’s eyes, he tried to follow Rex’s shape. But all he saw was a lightning tail.

A streak of black. A flicker of movement at the edge of perception.

In the next fraction of a second, claws raked the side of his face.

The red crystal lance blocked it, but the impact threw him away. He tumbled through the air, spinning, trying to regain his balance. Ten more claws came—in rapid succession. A relentless, overwhelming barrage that gave him no time to breathe, no time to think, no time to counter.

He was being overwhelmed.