Chapter 2074: Unmatched Awakened Demigod

Diamantona was without a doubt the strongest individual that Rex has ever gone against.

Nobody from the past was near his level of power.

Not only was he an Awakened Demigod, but he also had an ever-growing Major Law blessed by the Goddess of Dark Nature and was also a Scion of the Sadness Stratum. Someone with his power would practically be unbeatable at the same divinity.

However, Rex has gone against enemies with higher gap in power.

Even under the immense pressure from Diamantona, his willpower and feral intensity didn’t wane.

Swish—!

Rex’s blazing red eyes bore witness to the monstrous obstacle unfolding above him.

It was too late now as the crystal tree had already completed its form—its branches already covered the entire sky, and crystal leaves had already grown from their lengths, sealing the gap in between. So thick that Rex could feel the presence of the Greater Moon and the full moons growing lighter.

Hundreds—no, thousands of them completed the crystal tree.

Even their shimmering shards that flaked from their edges and fell created an illusion of falling leaves.

Such a sight was both beautiful and terrible at the same time.

On the side, Davina and Vadyn clashed with the last High Millinar—the two were struck by a powerful wave of coldness, and slid across the red shore that had now lost its colour. And when the crimson light dyed the air, the two abruptly stopped and tilted their heads skyward.

"I can’t believe this..." Vadyn’s body trembled uncontrollably. "Is this really the power of an Awakened Demigod?"

Unlike Rex, Vadyn had lived for a long time by human standards.

It was true that she had been spending most of her time in poverty and then in Larta City, deciding that she would dedicate herself to High Lord Rashal’s power, helping him secure all sectors as she was the only blood relative he had left.

Naturally, she hadn’t gone out to see what the universe had to offer too much.

But she had encountered countless geniuses.

She had crossed paths with the descendants of many powerful families, rising officials from formidable Sovereign Realms, even the so-called Saints and Saintesses of countless Gods, each inheriting a fraction of their patron’s power, a title that belonged to people directly beneath the level of the Cluster Custodian.

Even then, she had never seen someone as strong as this.

For an Awakened Demigod, the power that Diamantona wielded was ridiculously strong.

Vadyn even started to believe that only High Lord Rashal could take him down.

"Quiet yourself," Davina said sternly—shooting a sharp warning at Vadyn. "Focus on our battle."

Across from them, the last High Millinar laughed aloud.

He pointed at Davina and Vadyn with one hand while the other clutched his bleeding forehead, but there was a savage smile curled on his lip. It was the smile of utter mockery. "Did you really think you were winning? You brought a monster to this battle, and so did we. And it seems ours is stronger!"

Despite his situation, the High Millinar continued to laugh.

An unhinged laughter of someone who was manically anticipating his enemies’ demise.

Davina gritted her teeth and turned towards Rex in the distance.

’It’s all on your shoulders now, Rex. Just like you anticipated, the battle would come down to a battle— between you and Diamantona.’ She balled her hands into fists as her heart pounded hard inside her chest from the choking intensity. She had never felt death closer than this. ’Don’t lose this.’

Crack—!

Just then, the crystal tree trunk shattered open at the center.

It was not a clean break.

A violent, wet rupture; the crystal surface peeled away like a shattered eggshell to reveal what truly lay beneath. And what lay beneath was not crystal. It was flesh. Throbbing, glistening, raw flesh that pulsed with a heartbeat that was not Diamantona’s.

Blood leaked from every side.

Rivulets of crimson dripped down the trunk and fell to the dark ocean below, where the crystal tree had sprouted. It was clear now. The crystal tree wasn’t entirely made of Diamantona’s raw power. It was fueled mainly by the power of the Major Law of Killing Crystal.

Rex caught sight of something more.

From the inside, bloody tendrils slithered out.

They moved like flesh serpents, wet and muscular, their surfaces slick with blood and something thicker. They were blood vessels—a dozen of them, each the size of an arm. They slithered out of the trunk and then burrowed themselves into Diamantona’s back, elbows, and head.

They connected him to the crystal tree, binding them together in a union of flesh and crystal.

Even then, Rex forced himself to snap out of his trance and moved.

Blitz—!

He hurled lightning strikes infused with the fire element—desperate to stop Diamantona from whatever he was doing. The bolts screamed through the air, meteors of black and red, aimed directly at the Scion of the Sandness Stratum.

But the main crystal lance—that cursed, ever-present lance—had gotten stronger.

It intercepted the strikes, blocking them, deflecting them, and even when Rex adjusted the composition of his lightning to increase its penetrative power, the main crystal lance held. It did not crack. It did not yield even a little.

Once all blood vessels were connected, a light exhale escaped Diamantona’s lips.

The crystal tree was finally connected to him.

Becoming one with him.

Streams of new tears slid down his cheeks as his Blank power was riled again.

Rex watched as Diamantona’s bodily aura changed from red to blue. It was a slow, creeping corruption, the crimson bleeding away like dye in water—replaced by a cold, glacial blue that matched the hailstorm surrounding the entire realm.

Slowly, the blue slithered through the blood vessels of the crystal tree, corrupting them, changing them.

At a speed that was neither slow nor fast, the vessels turned into steaming bright blue.

And the blue climbed all the way to the opening on the crystal tree trunk.

Ten seconds.

The crystal tree that was once dominated by crimson was now blue. A blue crystal tree that matched the hailstorm, that matched Diamantona’s aura—that matched the cold, desolate essence of the Major Law of Killing Crystal.

Diamantona didn’t say a word.

No need to.

He was done with Rex—it was time for him to end this once and for all.

Just as he expected, he wasn’t strong enough to kill Rex without pain, as he was forced to use this—the Crystal Evergreen of Anthama. It was saddening for him to do this, as killing everyone was supposed to be out of compassion, not anger.

But it’ll have to do, or else Rex would stop him from doing what he was destined to do.

Becoming the saviour of the universe.

Diamantona raised his arm—the branches of the crystal tree followed his movement, more than a dozen limbs of blue crystal that moved with the precision of his own fingers. He swung down with gentleness, but the movement of the branches was anything but gentle.

All the branches came crashing down straight at Rex.

Rex saw the attack coming.

He leaped backward—but was blocked by a crystal wall that manifested from thin air.

Both his eyes widened as that interception broke his momentum altogether, and worse, it bounced him forward, straight toward the heart of where the branches would crash. He couldn’t avoid the attack, so he charged lightning element into his arms and crossed them to block.

From underneath, the dark ocean burst upward and wrapped around him like a dome.

Considering that he was in a place abundant in water, he changed tactics from using lightning as the basis of his moves to water. He had never controlled water this vast, but the Primordium Energy allowed him to do much more than simply control a large volume of water.

Crash—!

Rex braced for impact.

He heard the loud cracking sound, but he didn’t feel any pressure on the water-lightning dome.

Confused, Rex looked around before his eyes widened.

He had been entrapped inside a dome made entirely of blue crystal branches. More warning notifications flooded his vision, a cascade of red text that warned of impending doom. Even with the water-lightning dome around, he didn’t feel safe.

Before Rex could break through, each crystal branch began to grow thorns.

Each came out with a disturbing cracking, like the sound of bones slowly being broken.

And soon enough, they covered the branches like a second skin.

And then, in a snap, the thorns burst forth.

Crack—!

They stabbed Rex from all angles. From above, from below—from the sides, from behind. They pierced through the water-lightning dome, his hardened skin, his augmented muscles, and his reinforced bones. They pierced through his heart, his lungs, his brain

In an instant, he was dead.

No scream escaped his lips.

Just the wet, grinding sound of a hundred thorns impaling his body.

Rex’s eyes went dark.

His body hung limp, suspended in the air by the thorns, blood dripping from a hundred wounds.

Meanwhile, miles and miles away from the battle between Rex and Diamantona.

A thunderous roar cracked through the air.

It was a primordial sound, an atavistic bellow that seemed to shake the very foundations of the realm.

From the dark ocean below, a water dragon erupted.

A colossal serpent of liquid fury—its body coiled and churned while its eyes burned with the cold light of High Lord Ursa’s malice. It shot upward with unbelievable speed for something its size. And it aimed directly at High Lord Rashal.

High Lord Rashal hovered mid-air, and he was no longer as regal as earlier.

His body was now a canvas of wounds.

Cuts and gashes crisscrossed his flesh, blood seeping from a dozen injuries.

But his eyes remained sharp. His mind remained clear.

He looked down at the incoming water dragon—and his hands moved with the precision of a man who had fought a thousand wars. His palms opened. Portals to the Pure Black Dimension materialized—small, white tears in reality that hissed and steamed.

From them, a blinding white light burst forth, a lambent effulgence that coalesced into a shield.

A barrier of pure dimensional energy that met the water dragon head-on.

Clang—!

An expanding ring of white erupted from the collision, a shockwave that rattled the air and churned the dark water below. It even caused the dimensional fabric of the new realm to shudder—and crack. High Lord Rashal gritted his teeth.

He was pushed back—not much, but enough to surprise him.

High Lord Ursa had grown stronger. Stronger than he had anticipated.

Just then, his eyes widened.

The water dragon’s mouth opened, and from within its gullet, a trident was launched.

It was a weapon of divine make. Its prongs gleaming with the cold light of the deep. It pierced through the steaming white shield—as if it were paper and High Lord Rashal barely tilted his body in time. The trident carved a bloody line across his chest, a searing arc of pain that drew a hiss from his lips.

As someone who had been in countless wars, his danger perception was far stronger than that of those around him. It was what had kept him alive. It was what had allowed him to survive battles that should have killed him.

And it was screaming at him now.

The water dragon reverted to its original form.

High Lord Ursa moved in quickly, calling the trident back like it was metal—and his hand was a magnet. And then, he raised the trident overhead and hacked at High Lord Rashal in a vertical, heavy slash that was aimed at cleaving him in two.

In the nick of time, High Lord Rashal avoided it.

He then charged his palms with his power again and blasted a ray of pure, concentrated force.

It slammed into High Lord Ursa’s chest with a thunderous impact.

Blood burst from his mouth, and he was launched away.

High Lord Rashal was about to continue his offense, unwilling to give High Lord Ursa time to breathe, but he stopped abruptly. He turned to the side and saw a blue crystal tree appearing in the distance. And its energy caught him off guard.

"Rex... I need to help him!"

Boom—!